The Changeling's Source (Evedon Legacy Book 1)

by Sarah Lynn Gardner

“Tomorrow?” he whispered, his breath on my lips.

  Heart pounding, positive source flaring, I closed my eyes.

  His warmth disappeared.

  I looked at him as he got into his Subaru. I waved as he backed up, then disappeared inside.

  Daniel stood in the entrance of his office, looking more rested than earlier, which eased my prior worries about him.

  “Did he kiss you?” Daniel asked.

  “No,” I said, too loud in protest, shocked that Daniel would have the nerve to ask. Then, grinning a little, I said, “His mother has weird strict rules about everything, and he’s actually pretty good about keeping them.” I scurried up the stairs.

  “That’s good to hear,” Daniel called after me. “Maybe we should have a talk about some of our own rules.”

  I didn’t let him see my smile.

  A few steps from the top, I looked down at him. Then, with a spur of the moment feeling, I hurried back and gave him a side hug. “Thank you for everything. I know I haven’t been the easiest.”

  Not giving him time to process, I raced up to my room, pausing briefly to look over my shoulder at Daniel.

  He had a reflective, crooked grin on his face as he watched my retreat.

  “Good night, Tara,” he said.

  A whole different swirl of positive source filled me. It felt like light had illuminated inside me and remained as I prepared for bed and lay down next to Stardust.

  Stroking her over and over, I was a little surprised that I had any dark source for her to draw out from me. Everything about the afternoon and evening had been wonderful. With it gone, I fell asleep, feeling more content than I could ever remember being.

  21. Coming Home

  The next morning, confidence burned inside me as I penciled on eyeliner, applied a thin layer of mascara, then finished with clear lip gloss. Instead of my usual straightening, I took the time to curl my hair into waves.

  I only had a couple of dresses suitable for cooler weather, so it didn’t take long to settle on a long-sleeve maxi dress with a maroon background and floral pattern.

  The way I felt today was so different from Friday. My anxiety was gone. Was Asher really going to let me buy him lunch?

  The doorbell rang.

  “He’s here!” Nathaniel shouted up the stairs. “Can I open the door?”

  “Yes, please do!” It seemed odd that I wasn’t worried about Nathaniel embarrassing me anymore.

  I stepped into a pair of pink heels, which I hadn't worn in months. They would give me a couple of extra inches to reach Asher’s height.

  Walking around, I felt odd. They stripped me of my confidence, so I kicked them off and slipped my feet into the pink flats waiting by the door. Next week, when this hopefully wasn’t a weekend fling, I could try the heels again.

  When I came out, Mom handed me a purse. “You look beautiful.”

  “What’s this?”

  Mom undid the zipper and pulled it open. “Daniel’s cookies. A new wallet with some cash. Some new lipgloss. And this.” She pulled out a kid’s smartwatch. “Ashley’s new one. It’s linked to Daniel’s and my phones, if you should need us.”

  “Oh—okay.” I’d helped Oops learn how to use her old one.

  “I figured you wouldn’t want to wear it.” Mom smiled. “I know you haven’t wanted a phone.”

  Nope, not at all. I didn’t even want Asher to know I had it. Still, she was trying to be thoughtful. “Thank you,” I said.

  She held out her arms. “Can I give you a hug?”

  I stepped into her hug and her warmth surrounded me. Positive source swirled with the contact.

  “Have fun.” She gave me a kiss on the cheek.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had any kind of physical affection from her, which was as much my fault, so this felt awkward, but I appreciated the contact. I smiled and headed down the stairs.

  Daniel talked with Asher in the entry. As I descended, both looked my way, and I felt like a girl in a movie, going down for her prom date.

  Asher’s eyes grew wider as he smiled. I soaked in his star-struck look. His green eyes were stunning against the wine-red button up he wore. My heart skipped, increasing my positive source even more. Maybe the two of us had outdone ourselves. “Ready?” I asked.

  Asher nodded, then opened the door for me.

  I glanced at Daniel. His expression was soft with a smile of admiration. “Do we have time to talk about those rules?” he whispered.

  “No,” I mouthed.

  “Did you plan to match?” Oops squealed.

  I turned around to her walking toward us, dragging Nathaniel. “Nathaniel, take a picture. They look like a prince and princess.” She clasped her hands.

  “We’re just working on our project,” I said. “For an hour. Not going to a dance, then I’m buying Asher lunch.”

  Asher chuckled. “About that…”

  I quickly narrowed my eyes at him, and he closed his mouth.

  Nathaniel pulled out his phone and held it up. “Pose.”

  Asher reached his hand around my waist. “Maybe we could drive up to the beach,” he whispered in my ear. “Turn on the car stereo and have our own private homecoming dance.”

  My cheeks burned. I hadn’t gone this year. I liked the idea, but that would put us thirty minutes in the car together each way.

  Meanwhile, Nathaniel snapped pictures.

  “Do not post those on social media!” I shot at him, as Asher pulled me outside.

  “Of course!” Nathaniel said.

  “Back by noon?” Daniel stood in the doorway.

  “Yes,” Asher said.

  “Call if you change plans,” Daniel said. “And no kissing her in the car.”

  I looked over my shoulder and lifted my eyebrows at him.

  “I had to get one rule in.” He grinned.

  “That was two,” I said.

  Daniel laughed.

  Asher walked me to my side of the car. “Do you think I won him over, yet?”

  “Not quite,” I teased. Slipping into the front seat, I paused and took a deep breath to still my butterflies. Asher got in, then leaned across me to get into the glove compartment. Which made the butterflies take flight again.

  “Excuse me,” he said.

  His usual cologne drifted over me, doing little to help calm the flurries. I bit my lip and resisted an urge to run my fingers through his hair.

  Asher pulled a small bakery bag out, then handed it to me. “From my dad. He’s mad he hasn’t gotten to meet you yet.” Asher grinned.

  Amused, I smiled, then peered inside at the strawberry glazed donut. White icing stuck to the bag. “Were there two before?”

  “No. There were three.”

  I snorted, then quickly covered my nose. Such an unflattering sound.

  He chuckled, then pulled down my hand. “That was cute.”

  “Um.” I took out the donut and took a bite to fill in my awkwardness. “Yum.”

  Asher drove down my street. When he got to the end of it, I realized I hadn’t even worried about Samantha. What a great feeling.

  “You lived near Jack as a kid, right?” he asked. “I can get us that far.”

  “Yeah.” An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach. Was I ready to go back to where I grew up with Dad? I’d never been back since moving. I pressed my lips together. “Do you want to stop at the apartments I lived in after Dad died? They’re on the way.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief.

  Before driving onto the road, Asher considered me a moment longer without saying anything, then tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

  The gesture inspired a calm, connected feeling inside me. I wanted to capture his hand against my cheek, but that seemed too forward.

  I directed Asher to the run-down complex, which took less than ten minutes. Soon we pulled into the drive that wound through the sprawl of two-story buildings. The white structures were exactly as I remembe
red them. Needing a new layer of paint. The pavement of the parking lot riddled with holes. Absolutely nowhere for kids to play.

  “This place looks like it could use a smile,” Asher said.

  I pointed at an upstairs apartment. “That’s where we lived.”

  Asher slowed, then pulled into where the parking spaces were, coming to a stop.

  I pointed at the lower level one straight beneath it. “And Daniel lived there.”

  “Right under you, huh?” He leaned forward for a better view.

  “I just found out this past week they knew each other growing up,” I said. “I always thought he’d already been living there, and then met. In reality, he moved from California to help Mom out.” When I said that aloud, the realization hit me that Daniel’s whole purpose in living by us, even sticking with us, was to make sure all of us were all right.

  “Really?”

  I nodded. My chest tightened, conflicted with gratitude for Daniel and guilt for how horrible I’d been to him. “Yeah, they were childhood sweethearts.” I choked up and swallowed to control the emotion. “I think my grandma may have been opposed to him. She’s never liked Daniel.”

  “Ahh. So Oops wasn’t completely the reason they’ve stuck together.”

  I shook my head. I tried hard not to tear up, but one escaped and slipped down my cheek. Quickly, I wiped it off.

  Asher rubbed my back. “Has that eased your feelings toward Daniel and your mom at all?”

  I nodded.

  He rubbed my back for a second longer and another tear escaped. Asher caught it on his finger. “Well,” he said, quietly, “shall we get a picture of you in front?”

  I bit my lip and took a deep breath, then teased. “Is that really why you want to do this format for the project?”

  Asher’s brows furrowed together. “Huh?”

  “So you can have a photo of me on your phone?”

  His cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink. “No, Tara, I never—”

  “I’m only teasing.” I opened my door. “Come on. Let’s be quick.”

  “Tara?” A young woman’s voice said as soon as I exited.

  A girl somewhat shorter than me stood near a bronze minivan across the lot. She had long, straight blonde hair and looked familiar. Four children younger than her tumbled out of the van, two girls and two boys, while the dad helped get another boy out of a car seat.

  The vaguely familiar girl approached Asher and me.

  I finally recognized her. “Izzy?” Whoa. She looked different when she did something with her hair and wore a little makeup and left behind the glasses. “Do you live here?” I asked.

  Izzy shook her head. “My grandparents do. We have breakfast with them every Sunday.”

  As if on cue, the door of the apartment opened and a tall, lean man answered, allowing Izzy’s family to enter. “Tomas,” I whispered. “Tomas is your grandpa?” He and his wife, Ema, were the reason Holden and I had warm, home-cooked meals after Dad died. I was pretty sure Ema was a pure alva, but I didn’t know her ability.

  Isabel nodded, surprised. “You know him?”

  “I lived here after my dad died.” I pointed over my shoulder.

  She narrowed her eyes, a little puzzled. “You know what. I think we played a couple of times. Ah hah! That’s why you always looked so familiar to me when we moved here.” She laughed.

  A warm feeling settled inside my heart. “I don’t remember. Sorry.”

  Asher stepped behind me, and Izzy’s gaze moved to him. “Hello, Asher.”

  “Hi, Isabel,” Asher said.

  “How’d you do on the history exam?” she asked.

  “I think I got a C.”

  “Oh no.”

  “It’s okay.” Asher shrugged.

  A twinge of jealousy whispered in my heart. “Don’t tell me she’s your history partner.”

  Asher chuckled, and he rested a hand lightly on the small of my back. “Nope.”

  Isabel looked from Asher’s hand to his face, then at me. “No, we don’t even sit near each other. We’re just in the same class.” Curiosity glowed in her eyes, and I was pretty sure she’d have something to talk about in science tomorrow.

  “Tara Evedon?” a frail voice spoke in a harsh whisper.

  I turned toward it. A thin, elderly woman walked with a cane down the walk. Her hair was far more silver than I remembered.

  “Ema?” I said, nervously pulling my hands into my sleeves.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” she said. “Leave, now.”

  Ema had always been a little cold, but this greeting was almost hostile.

  I stepped closer to Asher, while worry creased Isabel’s forehead.

  “Grandma?”

  “We’re just getting a photograph for a school assignment, then we’ll go,” Asher said.

  Ema gestured toward Isabel. “Come on, Isabel. Inside, now.”

  “I’ll see you both at school.” Isabel shrugged as if to say she didn’t know why her grandma was acting crazy.

  I wondered if she had any idea her grandmother was an alva. Did the cold greeting have something to do with me being a changeling? Was I in some sort of danger here?

  As I stepped in front of my old apartment, Ema remained on her doorstep, watching.

  My disheartened smirk for Asher reflected the way I felt about my time living here.

  Asher quickly snapped a photo on his phone, and then opened the door for me. I slipped inside, glancing at Ema.

  The elderly woman pulled out her phone and spoke to someone through it.

  Asher got in. “I’m pretty sure I heard her say Daniel.”

  “So strange.” I scratched my chin. Isabel’s grandma was an alva, which meant Isabel had alv in her blood. I’d been close enough to her to know she wasn’t a changeling or a pure alva. Were any of her siblings? It was possible if grandma was.

  Backing out, Asher directed the car onto the road. “Well?” he asked.

  “Hmm?”

  “Are you ready to go back to your childhood home? You seemed reluctant earlier.”

  I sighed. “Could we stop by Jack’s first? That will at least get us most of the way there.”

  “Ugh.” Asher rubbed his jaw. “Now you’re asking me to do something hard.” He took a deep breath.

  “Oh, I didn’t even think…” I trailed. Jack and Asher seemed to get along with each other, despite their past history. In fact, Jack had played a role in the two of us spending more time together. I’d forgotten that Jack’s extended family might hold grudges against Asher. “We don’t have to.”

  “It’s all right. Having my sister Becca married to Jack’s brother has helped smooth things between us. They’re not perfect, but we can stand each other.”

  Oops’s smartwatch signaled someone calling me.

  “You have a phone?” Asher asked, surprised.

  Was that eagerness I saw in his eyes?

  “No.” I groaned. A little embarrassed, I stooped to retrieve my purse from the floor, then rifled through it for the watch and showed him. “Mom and Daniel made me take this with me because they still don’t trust you.”

  “Ha!” Asher said.

  Smirking, I looked at the message Daniel had sent.

  WHERE ARE YOU?

  All caps to signal he was yelling at me. I cringed, and dark source immediately turned in my gut. “Can I call him on your phone? He’s mad for some reason.” The old irritation at Daniel’s interference festered, but he was concerned about me, so I squashed it.

  Asher handed me his unlocked phone, already calling Daniel.

  “Where are you?” Daniel asked in a controlled yet still elevated tone.

  “We’re headed to Jack’s now.”

  “You were at the old apartments. Why?”

  First thing I wanted to say was, “If you knew where I was, why did you even have to ask?” Instead of being a smart aleck, I bit my tongue. Took a deep breath. Then said, politely, “Yeah. Asher’s taking pictures of me in front of p
laces I used to live for our school assignment. Why’s this a problem?”

  “I know what your school assignment is. You only said you were going to your home in Valley Acres.” Daniel sighed heavily. “Some of your Dad’s murderer’s family lives at that complex. And they would hurt you if they saw you.”

  My chest felt heavy.

  “Don’t ever go back there, all right?”

  “Sure,” I whispered. Tears swam in my eyes.

  “And Tara,” he said, more gently.

  “Yeah?”

  “Stay away from your grandma’s house, too, all right?”

  “Anywhere else I should know about?”

  “If you decide to go anywhere else, tell me first. ’Kay?”

  “’Kay. Thank you.” I ended the call, glad I hadn’t chewed him out for worrying about me. A numb feeling burned in my chest and shoulders, making dark source circle within them.

  “What’s wrong?” Asher asked.

  “I never knew…”

  “Knew what?” Asher prompted.

  “That the man who killed my dad had family here in town. Apparently, they live at that complex. Daniel said they’d hurt me if they saw me.”

  “Tara.” Asher reached for my hand and squeezed it.

  He didn’t let go. The warmth from the contact stirred positive source. One by one, I laced my fingers with his. “So…” I looked at his face, now etched with worry.

  “So?”

  “We’re hand-holding lit partners now?”

  Asher’s cheeks dimpled as he kept his gaze on the road. “I told you my thoughts yesterday.”

  “That you don’t just want to be lit partners?”

  “Right.” He looked straight at me.

  “Okay.”

  “Really?” His green eyes glowed.

  “We can be friends.”

  He yanked on his hand to rip it from mine, but I clung on.

  Asher muttered something, then changed his hand’s position within mine to a more comfortable one.

  “Let’s work on my one page bio of you while we drive,” I said.

  “Nope. I’m holding your hand until we get there. You might not ever let me hold it again.” He glanced at me sideways.

  My cheeks warmed. “I think that is unlikely.” Instead of working on our project or even talking, I spent the next several minutes gently massaging his hand. Interconnecting our fingers one by one, I soaked in the sensation our fingers created as I slid them alongside each other, fascinated by this newfound ease between us. I could hold his hand, and he was equally receptive to it. The contact spiraled positive source like hot cocoa in my stomach. I avoided sharing any of it with him, but I really wanted to. When and how would I tell him about being a changeling? If this continued between us, I’d have to at some point.