She heard the rustle of leaves as the wind blew through the trees behind Rhett’s house. For a second, she thought she felt some sort of connection. Nothing as strong as she did when she ran, but it was there nonetheless. And then something weird happened. Or weirder than usual.
Mia jerked in surprise as a suppressed memory sucked her attention from trying to connect to the earth, to a past she’d forgotten.
She was standing on the bank of the falls, grinning and barefoot. Cool damp rocks dug into her feet and grass tickled her toes. She closed her eyes and reached her hands out, feeling a tug deep in her gut. When she opened her eyes, the water from the lake was in the air, swirling around in massive bubbles.
Someone came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck. “Impressive,” he whispered.
“I know,” she said, her grin widening. “I’m pretty amazing.”
“You really are.”
Mia laughed and let her arms fall, the bubbles of water crashing back into the lake. She wiggled around in his grip and came face to face with Rhett’s beautiful green eyes. He smiled down at her, cupping her cheek with his hand and kissing her. A slow, lazy kiss that promised they had all the time in the world.
Mia gasped, her eyes flying open and colliding with Rhett’s. He frowned, eyebrows creasing in concern. “Are you alright?” he asked.
Mia nodded, her whole body too warm as she recalled the memory. The way his kiss had made her lips tingle and how happy they had looked. Like they didn’t have a care in the world. Like they loved each other more than anything else. Her heart yearned for that feeling again. But then she remembered that had been before they shut the gate between Faerie and the human world. Before he had had Cillian suppress her memories and her mother take her away from town without her consent. That thought sobered her and she glanced away before she got lost in his eyes or almost made herself forget the truth of what had happened.
She rubbed her arms and nodded. “Yeah,” she murmured. “I’m fine.”
“Did you feel it?” Ryker asked.
Mia shook her head, glancing up at him.
His jaw set. “Then let’s try again. You can’t access your magic until you grasp this.”
“I’m done for today.”
“Done? We’ve barely even begun. You can’t just stop because you feel like it.”
Mia glared at him, anger bubbling up inside her. “Look, I’ve been doing this for five weeks. Every. Single. Day. For five weeks! Maybe it’ll never happen. Maybe I lost my magic for good,” she shouted, throwing her arms out as she backed away. “Maybe you shouldn’t have jumped through a portal you can’t go back through and hinged all your hopes and dreams on a girl you didn’t even know.”
Ryker’s expression darkened. Mia didn’t know about most of his past, but she knew he had left behind his entire life to come get her. She also knew he had a personal thing against her father, and she was his only way to get revenge for whatever it was he had done to him. Which meant Ryker would never stop, never leave her alone until she had mastered her magic enough to open the stupid gate.
“You can’t just run away from this,” he said. “This is your legacy. This is who you are. You’re a coward if you give up so soon.”
Mia’s hands clenched into fists at her sides, but before she could snap at him, Rhett was already all up in his face. “She told you she needs a break, so back off,” he growled, shoving Ryker in the chest.
Over Ryker’s shoulder, Mia saw Joelin get to his feet, eyes narrowed. Joelin had had to break up a few fights between the two of them over the past few weeks. He’d told them that if they got into it again, he’d do more than just shove them away from each other. He was sick of having to get between their flying fists, magic and swords. Mia didn’t blame him.
“I told you it wouldn’t work. Channeling may come natural to a Seelie Sidhe, but Mia doesn’t remember how to do it. It would be easier to teach her how to reach for the magic she already has inside herself,” Rhett snapped. “This was a stupid idea.”
Ryker’s whole body tensed, and for a second, Mia thought he was going to go at it with Rhett again. But then he stepped back, his gaze traveling from Rhett to Mia. “You can’t run from this,” he said. “You can try, but it will always catch up to you. Until you face your past - your magic- they will haunt you forever.”
Mia clenched her teeth. She had nothing to say to that, so she just turned around and stormed off back toward her house. Ryker was right. She was a coward.
Chapter Two:
“Mia,” Rhett called after her as she got to the picket fence around her house.
Mia didn’t stop even as she heard him jog up behind her. She opened the gate and would have shut it if Rhett didn’t grab hold of it. “Don’t let Ryker get to you. He was just trying to rile you up. Push your buttons. Don’t let him.”
She stopped short, hands still clenched into fists at her sides as she fought back tears. Why was she even about to cry? This wasn’t new to her. Ryker had pushed her and pushed her for weeks. Mia had tried to keep up, to just... to just try. But she was tired, and she was sick of being pushed around. Sick of having to see Rhett every day, sick of her heart hurting so much and sick of not knowing anything about her past while Rhett remembered everything. He remembered every kiss they had shared, every sweet moment together with her while Mia was still in the dark. She hated it.
“Come on Mia, I know you’re tougher than this. Don’t let the guy get under your skin,” Rhett said behind her.
Mia pressed her lips together and turned around to face him. He wouldn’t leave her alone until she made him. Rhett was too persistent and couldn’t take a hint.
She shrugged. “Maybe I’m not. Maybe you don’t know me, Rhett.”
“I do,” he said it with such conviction. “I do know you.”
Mia’s jaw clenched and she shook her head. “No, you don’t. You did. You knew the me who grew up knowing about Fae and learning magic and being a halfling. But you don’t know this me,” she said, pressing her hand to her chest. “It’s been ten years, and I’m not the same me I was before.”
Rhett grimaced. To her surprise, he nodded. “You’re right,” he said at last. “You have changed, but you’re still the same person at your core, and I know you’re stronger than you think you are.”
“Sure, I am,” she said with a shrug. “But right now, I don’t want to be strong. I just want to be left alone.”
“Why? So you can run away from this? Ryker’s right about one thing, you’re running away from your training. Because you're scared,” Rhett said in a taunting voice.
Mia glared at him. “I’m not scared.”
“You are. If you weren’t you wouldn’t storm off like this. If you weren’t scared of your magic, you wouldn’t shut me down or change the subject whenever I try to talk to you about it.”
“Or maybe I just don’t want to be taught by you or to spend any time I don’t have to with you. Maybe I should ask someone else to train me,” she snapped.
Hurt flashed across his face but just as quickly as it had come, it disappeared behind a taunting smile. “Go ahead,” Rhett said with a shrug, raising his arms. “Have fun trying to find another person in this town who shares the same sort of magic as you and is willing to train you.”
Mia scowled. Yeah, well... no one said it would be easy. Angie’s nymph magic wasn’t the same as a Sidhe. And Cillian was a shifter whose magic was far different than any sort of Fae’s. So she was sort of stuck with Rhett or Ryker.
“Don’t think I won’t,” Mia shouted.
Rhett’s smile turned infuriating as he folded his arms. “You are so full of it. We both know there’s no one else in town to teach you. So, you go ahead and run away from your problems. Let me know when you’re ready to face them.”
“I’m not running.”
“No?” Rhett cocked his head. “Seems to be your favorite thing to do the past few weeks.”
“I’ve
always liked to run. See you don’t know me at all.”
Rhett smirked. “I do. You used to run all the time. Were even a part of the track team and beat everyone in every competition. But I’ve never seen you go out for runs as much as you have lately. You may be Fae, but even we have our limits and you’re only half Fae. You’ll crash if you keep this up.”
“Whatever,” Mia said. Lame comeback, she knew but she didn’t have anything else to say to him. “I have to go.”
“Sit in your house and sulk? Your mom is at the shop, so you’re just going to sit inside all by yourself?” he asked, gesturing at her house.
“No,” Mia said. She had planned to sulk in her room for a while but now it sounded sort of lame and lonely. So instead, she decided to get some excess energy out. “I’m going for a run.”
“Cool,” Rhett said, grinning. “I’ll join you.”
Mia scowled. “No, you aren’t. Just leave me alone OK? I need some time to think.”
“Mia come on,” he called after her.
She ignored him and stormed up to her house. Mia slammed the front door behind her. Yeah right. He was so not going on a run with her. She changed into a tank top and running shorts. As she laced up her sneakers, Mia couldn’t help but replay her conversation with Rhett in her head. What he’d said about her going out for a lot of runs lately. He was right... but he didn’t understand. Ever since Ryker had awakened her Fae side, Mia had felt this constant buzz of energy. She couldn’t sit still for very long. She always had to be doing something, or she might explode. Plus, running centered her and allowed her to forget all the messed-up parts of her life.
With her hair still tied in a ponytail, she left the house and took off to the left, away from Rhett’s house. The instant she ran around the cul-de-sac and then left the neighborhood her feet fell into a rhythm. It wasn’t until she turned onto a path into the woods that everything fell away. This, this was what Ryker had been trying to tell her in the backyard. To connect. Here in the woods alone and running, the heat of Summer hitting her skin and making her sweat, Mia finally felt the connection. With each pound of her feet against the ground, she could feel the plants and nature all around her feeding her energy, keeping her going. Her skin prickled and the blood running through her veins fizzed with a tingly power she didn’t quite understand. Every time she ran since the dance, this was what it felt like. It made her feel alive, connected, more awake than she ever felt before. Like she’d been asleep for the past ten years and finally she was awake.
A true smile spread across her lips as she picked up the pace and closed her eyes, letting her intuitive body keep her from running off the path. The whole world fell away. She forgot about Rhett and her training and the expectations suddenly placed on her shoulders. Mia forgot about Ryker and her foggy past. Nothing else mattered. Just keeping one foot in front of the other, her breathing steady and the forest all around her. Birds chirped in the trees and squirrels scurried about.
In no time she heard the rushing sound of the falls coming up to her right. Mia opened her eyes and turned off the path, sprinting through the woods. She jumped over fallen branches and rocks until she came to a stumbling stop at the bottom of the lake where water tumbled over a wall of rocks above her. She let herself catch her breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead as she stared at the waterfall. Mia could do at least one thing with her magic now. Without having to even focus too hard she could peel away the layers of glamour surrounding the falls and see past them into Faerie. The door was still sealed tight, but she could see within. A hazy forest sat on the other side full of ancient, moss covered trees and tall light green grass. Little lights danced across the surface of the lake on the other side in Faerie.
The sight both scared and thrilled Mia. A part of her wanted to reach in and go through it. She knew she’d been in Faerie before, but all she could recall from her sessions with Cillian was the feeling of rightness, of home. Like she felt in St. Croix Falls now. When she and her mom had first moved there, Mia had wanted to move back to the city. She would have done anything to leave this place but now... despite all the craziness the town felt like home. Mia felt like she’d found the place she’d been searching for for the past ten years. And she had a feeling Faerie would feel the same way. If she could just reach in and step through. But the only way she could do that was if she unlocked her magic and opened the portal.
Mia glanced around, taking in the beauty of the falls and the forest all around them. The memory she’d gotten of her and Rhett on the bank of the lake came back to her. Mia stepped back, pursing her lip. What if...?
She closed her eyes and held her hands out like she had in her memory. Alone and after a good run, Mia felt more focused and connected than she ever had in Rhett’s backyard. All that stuff Ryker liked to spew about how they could channel the energy of everything around them into magic made sense to her now. Mia focused on the fizzy power rushing through her and the hum of the trees, the grass, the rocks, the flowers all around her, drawing from them. Like in her memory she felt the tug in her gut and a pull like she could actually feel her magic inside her.
Mia peeked her eyes open and sucked in a sharp breath when she saw bubbles of water floating up through the air, defying gravity. Fear warred with excitement inside her as she moved her hand and one of the bubbles followed the movement. She was doing this... She was using magic... And it terrified her. Mia jerked her hands against her chest and the water bubbles splashed back into the waterfall like in her memory. Her fear snapped the connection she had with her magic in half, cutting her off.
Unlike in her memory though, Rhett didn’t come up from behind her and kiss her or tell her she was impressive. Loneliness pulled at her. Mia blinked back unshed tears as she bit her lip and stared at the water she had just raised from the lake.
So she did have magic... But it was harder to control than she’d thought, and Mia still didn’t want to use it. She wasn’t even sure why. Just the thought of using it, especially in front of others, made her stomach lurch.
This would stay her little secret.
Mia turned around to run back home but stopped short when her gaze collided with a pair of inky black eyes staring at her.
Chapter Three:
Dread curled in the pit of Mia’s stomach. She stumbled back a step, her sneakers squishing into the shallow water of the lake. What in the world was that thing? It towered above her, as tall as one of the nearby trees and looked like it was made out of shadows. The creature was both translucent and solid, obsidian black with eye holes that swirled with darkness. Glittering black horns curled from the top of its bald head and when it opened its mouth white teeth shone at her.
It took a stomping step forward and then another and another, lumbering toward her with clawed, gnarled hands outstretched for her. Pure fear pumped through Mia making adrenaline rage through her veins and spark energy through her limbs. She let out a scream as it racked its claws at her, reaching for flesh to rip apart. Mia’s eyes squeezed shut, and she threw her hands up in front of her instinctively. A rushing sound like the waterfall coming toward them filled her ears. She felt that lurch in her gut and the fizzy feeling in her veins. When Mia opened her eyes, she gasped, her hand going to her mouth when she saw a pale boy drenched in water in front of her. Vines curled up his ankles and tightened around his thighs, keeping him in place.
Had... had she done that?
The boy glowered at her, baring sharp pointed teeth. “Dude, what the heck?” he said, throwing his hands up.
Mia frowned, still shaking all over. Her head was fuzzy from using that little bit of magic. “What... what happened? Where’s the monster?” she asked.
He threw his arms out. “I’m the monster! Sheesh, it was a joke. We were just trying to scare you.”
Snickers came from the trees and a green-skinned bulky goblin in a football jersey, and a dude with gills on his neck and long braided hair stepped out of the woods. The goblin had a phone in his hand, th
e camera pointed at Mia as he guffawed. “That was better than I thought it would be,” he snorted. “Seemed you’re scarier than you thought Aeron.”
Mia glanced between them. Her eyes widened in realization. This was a prank. A practical joke. She let her hands fall to her sides. With the movement, the vines tethering Aeron to the ground unraveled and sank back into the dirt. Aeron scowled and shook his black hair showing off pointed Fae ears, water droplets spraying all over the place. He took a step back toward his friends who were still grinning from ear to ear.
“You jerks! I thought you were going to kill me,” Mia shouted, glaring at Aeron.
He shrugged. Aeron averted his gaze, rubbing the back of his neck. At least he had the decency to look guilty. The other three could care less. The goblin flashed her a nasty smirk and waved his phone’s screen at her. “I can’t wait to show everyone just how far the great Amelia Avery has fallen. From fierce warrior and girlfriend to the Unseelie prince to scared little girl.”
“Give me that!” Mia lunged forward, grabbing at the phone.
The goblin snickered and jumped away, holding the phone way over her head. Goblins were all tall and ridiculously muscle-y. Even Kai, who was lankier than most, towered a good couple feet over her. The mer-boy grinned and gave her a shove on the shoulder hard enough for Mia to stumble back into the water. His lips twisted into an ugly smile as he prowled forward and wiggled his fingers. “You’re not the only one who has power over the water.”
With a flick of his wrist, tendrils of water curled around Mia’s ankles and slithered up her legs taking the form of snakes. Mia gasped and tried to pull them off her, but her fingers went straight through them. They were only water after all, and yet they held her in place like they were as solid as ice. Out of desperation, she reached for the power she knew she had, but even when she closed her eyes to concentrate nothing happened. She let out a growl of frustration and opened her eyes, hands fisting at her sides. “Why are you doing this?” The watery snakes were up to her waist now, slithering toward her face.
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