The Changeling's Source (Evedon Legacy Book 1)

by Sarah Lynn Gardner

  “You’re wearing a dress,” I said.

  “What?”

  “Seven years from now.” I ruffled his hair and laughed. “When you’re my maid of honor.”

  Jack snorted. “Careful, milady. You might get what you ask for.”

  As he backed up, I caught a glimpse of Sam, standing on her porch, watching us.

  I avoided her glance like the plague as I waved to Jack and turned on my heel.

  It really was the worst, living across the street from your ex-best friend.

  With the intent of closing the garage door, I headed inside the garage. Coming up alongside the driver side, I noticed Daniel still sat inside, head down on the steering wheel. Nathaniel and Oops weren’t in the car.

  Concerned, I stopped and tapped on the window.

  He straightened. I’d never seen his face lined with more worry.

  “Are you all right?” I backed out of the way as he opened the door.

  He got out with a deep breath and plastered on a smile. “It takes it out of me seeing my sister, Hannah, like that. I’m fine.”

  “Oh.” A heavy feeling tightened in my chest. I had never really considered the amount of stressors he had—and I had always been a big one on him.

  “You look nice for your date tonight,” Daniel said. A real smile drove away some of his worry. “Mind if I meet him? What’s his name again?”

  “Asher.” Had this been a week ago, I would have said no, but after being scrutinized by Asher’s mother, I’d realized there was something nice about having a parent interested in their child, and who she dated. “Don’t embarrass me.”

  “Tara, that’s a parent’s job.” He grinned.

  I laughed a little.

  He pushed the button for the garage as we headed inside, and it rumbled down.

  “But…” I thought back to my guilt the previous night.

  In the kitchen, Daniel raided the fridge, pulling out a soda. He cracked it open before looking at me, waiting for me to continue.

  “It’s strange, but I feel like you love me—” tears welled up in my eyes “—as much as you love Ashley, and she’s your actual daughter. How can you possibly care about me when I’ve treated you so horribly, and I’m the second-hand kid you got when you married Mom?”

  “Second-hand kid?” Daniel repeated. “Tara, you’re nothing of the sort. Look, my dad died of a heart attack when I was ten, and afterward, I was a foster kid.” Daniel’s brows furrowed. “Which, I understand, you aren’t. But I can understand what it’s like being willing to accept a stranger as your parent.”

  “Really?” How did I not know that? This must be the sob story he’d referred to when talking to Mom.

  “My father’s death was pretty hard on my mom, and I was in and out of her home a lot. It wasn’t until middle school, when Holden’s aunt and uncle took me in, that I finally had a permanent place. They raised me as if I was their own. Guess I had fantastic examples of good people loving a kid who wasn’t theirs.”

  “I feel really horrible right now because I didn’t know any of that.”

  Daniel took a huge swig of his soda before sitting on one of the stools. “I would have had a hard time accepting a stranger as a guardian a year after my dad’s death. I don’t blame you for giving me a run for my money.” Setting the can down, he traced the edge with a finger. The hard expression on his face suggested he had veiled thoughts he wasn’t sharing.

  “Yeah.” I leaned against the island, wanting to pry for more. “How did you meet Mom?”

  A puzzled expression flitted across his face. “When was there not a Jenn?”

  “What?”

  “Jenn to me is like Jack to you. We grew up in town together. We were always together. Partners on assignments in classes we shared. She was the first girl I ever went on a date with.”

  “What?” I asked, blown away.

  “Jenn’s the reason I met my first wife, Maurine. They became best friends in high school.” Tears filled his eyes, and he found it difficult to speak. “Maurine was a changeling alva like you.” He took a large gulp from the can.

  His story tugged on my chest. “How did I not know any of this?” I was repeating myself. I was almost on the verge of crying also.

  He smiled a little and shrugged. “I lived in California until your father died. Obviously, not a figure in your life until I invaded it like a pirate.”

  “I was born in California.” I sat down on one of the stools.

  “Yes, you were.” Daniel smiled in a way that made me wonder if he’d known me as a baby.

  “What happened to Maurine?” I half-expected to be told she’d been killed in a fight with a demon like Dad.

  “She had cancer. It progressed too rapidly for treatment. By the time your mother arrived to try to help with her alva healing talent, it was too late. She couldn’t do anything.”

  My heart pounded. “You said Maurine was Mom’s best friend?”

  Daniel nodded.

  Tears blurred my vision. Mom and Daniel had both lost so much, and here I’d been making everything worse for them.

  The doorbell rang. My heart jumped into my throat. I wiped the tears clogging my eyes and came back with black on my fingers. Crying had ruined my mascara.

  “That must be your date,” Daniel said. “I’m going to answer it.”

  “I need to fix my face.” I jumped and raced ahead of Daniel. “Don’t embarrass me,” I shot at him. As I went up the stairs, anxiety weighed on my chest. I was not ready to go on a date, just me and Asher.

  In the bathroom, I had finished wiping clean my cheeks when Daniel appeared in the doorway.

  “Your date tonight is Asher Scoville?”

  The name was meaningful to Daniel, and I looked at him. Meaningful in a bad way.

  I’d never seen Daniel look more irritated, and my heart was in my throat. The realization that I wanted him to approve of Asher struck me like a lightning bolt.

  “Yes?” I swallowed to moisten the sudden dryness in my throat. “What’s the problem?”

  Daniel rubbed his temples. I could tell he was trying to control his temper.

  “Jack thinks he’s all right,” I said. “They’ve known each other for awhile.”

  “Yeah.” Daniel’s tone suggested he knew that already. He folded his arms. “You don’t know how hard it is for me right now to not tell him to go home.” Daniel was not at all trying to disguise his voice. If Asher was right downstairs, he for sure heard him. “If he hadn’t told me ahead of time his plan, he would definitely be gone right now.”

  His comments sparked my irritation, and I was tempted to snap back into how the old Tara would have responded. Instead, I took a deep breath and barely managed a civil, “What’s wrong?”

  “His nickname, Sculley. Have you heard it before?” His volume was still elevated.

  “I’ve heard it before.” I shrugged. “Some basketball player at a neighboring high school also had it. But that was back when Holden was in high school.”

  “Sculley the Skull is the same person as Asher Scoville.”

  My anger flew out the door, and an instant drain of energy coursed through my body, making me light-headed.

  The image that instantly crossed my mind was of a tall teen with a muscular physique, hair a dark shag that got in his eyes, face void of all expression as he drove the ball down the court. Nothing like the Asher I knew.

  “But Asher is blond, taller, skinnier. Nothing like Sculley. Are you sure?”

  Daniel lifted his brows and nodded. “Yes. He confirmed it for me.”

  “Shouldn’t he have graduated by now?”

  “He was a freshman when Holden was a senior.”

  “Playing on the varsity team?” I shook my head. So Asher was held back.

  “Talent, character, and age don’t always go together. Now do you understand why I’m not thrilled about you going on a date with him?”

  I slowly nodded.

  When I was in eighth grade, Sculley
was infamous for sparking fights. In one of Holden’s last home games, Sculley had repeatedly targeted Holden, baiting him for a rise. Over and over again, he directed this frustrating, evil smirk at Holden, speaking words we couldn’t understand from the stands. Goading him, constantly messing with Holden’s play.

  The frustration from that moment crashed over me like it was yesterday.

  In the last minute, when the score was tied, I’d jumped to my feet as Holden was laying up for the winning shot. Sculley blocked his way. Holden, keeping his cool, passed the ball to a teammate who made the basket instead, scoring in the final seconds. I’d missed the ball going into the net because Sculley stepped straight up to Holden, mocking him with a rude enough comment that Holden wouldn't even repeat it later.

  Daniel had stood up, ready to go after him. I had never seen Daniel so incensed.

  The next year, Sculley’s infamy continued. I never saw him in an actual game, but didn’t need to, because of a couple viral videos that went around. He was no longer the cocky manipulator of fights. No. Instead, the videos were of a blank-faced basketball prodigy.

  Sculley’s moves were flawless, sometimes even mind-blowing.

  Then the season ended. No one talked about him anymore. He was the viral sensation that enjoyed momentary glory, then disappeared in a puff.

  Or a car crash that almost killed him.

  I leaned against the sink.

  Knowing his infamous history, knowing he’d gotten Emma drunk—purposefully or accidentally—was I really ready to move past just being lit partners?

  Squeezing my eyes shut, I took a controlled breath, trying to keep at bay the dark source threatening to unleash. I needed to make this choice without it.

  I’d told Asher I was willing to set aside what had happened with Emma. To start fresh with him. In all ways imaginable, he didn’t even resemble Sculley. But Sculley the Skull had a reputation for being horrible. If that was what he was like in public, who knew what he was like in private.

  Thinking about how he’d incited Holden inspired the same wave of dark source the moment had stirred within me.

  I knew what Asher acted like now. I liked him in the present. But I knew so little of his past. Should I pressure him for more? Did it matter?

  My gaze fell on my shirt—the one from Grandma Evedon. Grandpa had had a troubled youth, but that hadn’t stopped Grandma from later pursuing him. Ultimately, they were the happy couple I someday wanted to emulate.

  Talking to her would calm me down. Help clear my mind.

  “I need to call Grandma Eve.” I headed toward Mom’s room where she kept a handheld by her bed. “Please, keep Asher here for me.”

  “So don’t send him away?” Daniel gritted his teeth.

  “No,” I paused in the door, glancing toward the stairs.

  “I am going to have a chat one on one with him,” Daniel said.

  “That’s fine.” I sat down on Mom’s bed, then flopped backward.

  It would make everything simpler if we’d stayed lit partners.

  17. “I do too”

  Uncle Einar answered on the second ring. “I was beginning to think you had forgotten us,” he said this without knowing who he spoke to from my family.

  “When are you going to visit?” I shot back, lying on Mom’s bed.

  He laughed, then as a small girl’s voice shrieked in the background, he shouted, “I’m on the phone, Sweet Biscuit. Get your own water.” He came back to me. “Sorry. Cheyenne is at the doctor’s, leaving me to watch the kids. I still have no clue what I’m doin— Damian, the kitchen is not a splash pad. Clean this up now. Good grief.”

  “Is Grandma there?” I asked.

  “She’s knitting a scarf somewhere. Porcupine, child, you are NOT to feed chocolate to Fido. He’s a fish.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Seriously, you have no control over your children?”

  “Guess what? We’re having another baby in March. I’m not sure why. I’m a horrible father.” He sounded desperate. “Half of them are changelings, and half aren’t. I’m not. Want to come live with us this summer? Chey does a great job, but I'm sure she’d love some help.”

  “How many kids do you have?” I sat up, intrigued by the possibility of at least visiting my Minnesota cousins for a summer.

  “Like, fifteen? I don’t know these things. That number seems too high. We have three at home and a couple in school. Don’t ask me their names. Oh, here’s Grandma. Just a second, Mom. Tara, I talked to your mom about three months ago about you coming to visit on your spring break. She thought I should ask you.”

  “Does that connect with when Aunt Cheyenne is having that baby?”

  “It most certainly does, but I catch what you’re hinting at, and it has nothing to do with the timing, although, now that you mention it—”

  “Give me the phone, Einar!” Grandma snapped in the background. She spoke into the receiver a half second later. “Do you want a pink or purple scarf for Christmas?”

  “Grandma, I’m not five anymore.”

  “I figured it would likely end up on your little sister rather than you. What’s this call for? It’s been eight months since you called.”

  You could call me, too.

  “I…” I rested against Mom’s stack of pillows. What I really wanted to know was what had changed her mind about marrying Grandpa. All her tales about him when they were kids were horror stories. I’d only gotten to meet Grandpa a couple of times before he passed away, but my memory of him was of a cheerful, jolly old elf. The two of them had been happy. But if she was going to answer that question, I needed to get her talking.“Tell me about Grandpa when you were younger.”

  “Oh, that grouchy old cotter—” And she rambled off about all the horrible things he’d done. Put bubble gum in her hair. Framed her for stealing candy from the shop. Smeared glue all over her chair at school.

  I needed to curb the conversation. Asher, presumably, was sitting downstairs waiting for me.

  “But he changed at some point?” I prompted.

  “Boy, did he,” Grandma said, “It took me five years to get over all the evil he did as a child, but even people with a past need a chance to live. He had a hard time figuring out how to control his source, and it came out as bad behavior.”

  That statement made my heart pound. The complete behavioral difference between Sculley from one basketball season to the next to what Asher acted like now—didn’t that all point toward a teen having trouble figuring himself out?

  A chance to live. A chance to start fresh.

  “Once Dieter found control, he was the most golden gentleman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

  “Thank you, Grandma.” Tears burned in my eyes. The Asher sitting downstairs waiting for me—he deserved a chance to start fresh. As much as I needed one with him. Hopefully, Holden, if he ever called or came home, wouldn’t hold it against me. He had some serious apologizing to do first, anyway. “Tell Einar I’ll think about spring break.”

  “You know if I tell him that, he’s going to buy you a plane ticket without asking.”

  I laughed. I should call and talk to them more. “If it’s not too much to ask, could you make me two green scarves? I have a friend I want to give one to.”

  “Ooh. I’ve got a pretty green—” the phone call ended.

  Feeling like a morning rainshower had ended, leaving the day fresh, I replaced the handheld phone.

  Feeling better from talking with them, I took a deep breath and headed downstairs.

  This was a first date. If we didn’t have fun, we didn’t have to do it again.

  Sitting on the sofa in the music room, Asher, bless his heart, was reading a book to Oops. He was dressed up in his typical nice casual, today a plaid button-up with folded sleeves at the elbow and trendy jeans.

  Such a contrast to the Sculley the Skull image. No wonder it was hard to believe. Plus, he’d lost all the extra meat on him, and his hair was definitely not a black shag.


  Seeing me, Oops burst into a smile. “My name is like his. Asher. Ashley. We’re both Ashes!”

  I smiled at her. “How fun is that?”

  Caution filled Asher’s eyes when he looked at me, and I smiled at him, hoping to relieve a little of it.

  “Daddy said when you come back down, I have to go,” Oops whispered. “It was nice to meet you,” she told Asher. Taking her book, she retreated through the entrance into the family room, but paused to tell Asher one more thing. “Remember what I said about her needing a good friend.” With a glance at me, she quickly disappeared.

  What, exactly, had Oops said to Asher about me?

  “The blond hair,” I asked, pointing at my chestnut waves, “is it natural? Or was the dark?”

  He stood slowly, rubbing his hands on his pants. “I’m blond. I started dying it brown in middle school when people teased me about not being my dad’s kid. Everyone else in my family is brunette or darker.”

  I nodded, coming down the remaining steps.

  In the silence that followed, I could hear the heater working.

  “I like you blond,” I said.

  “Tara, I probably should have said something—”

  “I don’t need an explanation,” I quickly interrupted. “Or an apology. If you feel like you need to, I’ll end up feeling like I probably should, because my history, it ain’t any prettier. It just isn’t quite as infamous.”

  He smiled a little.

  “Either way, we agreed to not dig up the past.” I took a few steps closer to him. “You’ll have to convince Daniel that he should like you. He was livid after that game you played against Holden. I was too.”

  “Yeah, the way I acted that year still makes me cringe. When you told me your brother’s name was Holden, I wondered if he was the same person. I was hoping it wasn’t. Someone else I should apologize to.” Asher sighed and looked straight at me, rubbing his neck. “So we’re still on for our date tonight?”

  “Yes,” I said, maybe too firmly, but it brought a grin to his face.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought food here to make you dinner. I asked your stepfather ahead of time, and he said it would be fine. How does that sound?”