Cursed: St. Croix Falls #2

by Melody Personette

  That surprised Mia so much she came to a stop. After it was too late, she realized she shouldn’t have done that. The smug look on Rhett’s face confirmed that she had just given away the truth without saying anything at all. She plastered a scowl on her lips. “No I don’t.”

  “You do. I know you’re mad at me but Mia, come on, you can’t keep hiding from your feelings. I still plan on earning your trust back, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do that when we’re together.”

  Mia turned on her heels and kept walking. “We aren’t going to be together. I don’t have feelings for you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  Rhett’s hand touched her shoulder and spun her around. Mia gasped and stumbled forward, falling into him. Her sword clattered to the ground. Her hands splayed against his chest for support. He peered down at her, grinning, mere inches from her face. “I don’t believe that for a second,” he whispered.

  Mia swallowed hard. “Well, it’s the truth,” she said, her voice coming out more as a squeak than anything else.

  “Mmmhmm,” he murmured, leaning forward.

  Mia knew she should push away and walk off to get some distance, but... her head told her one thing while her body did another. She leaned forward too, but just before their lips touched Mia blinked. Her good sense made her draw back. She turned her head, so their lips were no longer anywhere near each other. “I can’t do this,” she said at last.

  Rhett stepped back with a shrug and a rather sly grin. He didn’t look the least bit surprised or hurt by her words. “It was worth a shot.”

  Mia scowled and gave him a shove. Without a word – because really, what was there to say? – she stalked off. They had a job to do. They were hunting down a monster. There was no time to kiss. She shouldn’t even be thinking about kissing him. Mia was still mad at him for taking her memories and lying to her.

  Rhett caught up to her. “Come on... don’t give me the silent treatment. Nothing happened.”

  Mia remained silent. She really didn’t know what to say. How could she express the way her heart had pounded, and she had wanted to kiss him so badly just a second ago? How could she tell him that she did want to kiss him, that she got butterflies whenever she was near him and yet she couldn’t bring herself to act on anything she felt. To say anything she felt because she didn’t know if it was the right thing or not. He had hurt her and lied to her, and Mia just wasn’t sure if she was ready to move on from that yet. Which meant no kissing and no declarations of feelings.

  “Mia, come on...”

  When she still said nothing, Rhett let out a heavy sigh. “Alright fine... Let’s talk about something else then. Yesterday I saw you walking home soaked from head to toe. What was that about?”

  Mia’s eyebrows went up as she glanced at him. “Were you watching me?”

  Rhett swung his sword at a few blades of grass. “I happened to be glancing out the window at the time.”

  Mia couldn’t help but smirk at that. “Really?”

  “Yes. So, what happened? You trip and fall into the lake?”

  “Mmm, more like a Mer threw me into the lake after one of Kai’s cousins threatened me. Oh, and let’s not forget that Lilac put them up to it too.”

  Rhett did a double take. “Wait what?”

  Mia nodded, stopping as she swung her sword around lazily. “Yep. They told me to leave Kai alone and the Mer told me that this was a warning from Lilac and then he threw me into the lake.”

  Rhett gave her a once over as if it had just happened. “Did they hurt you? Are you OK?”

  “I got a little wet but I’m fine. Once they thought they’d intimidated me, they left,” Mia said.

  “Tell me their names and I’ll talk to them.” Rhett’s tone promised violence instead of words.

  Mia shook her head. “No, this is my fight. I’m going to deal with this myself. I refuse to let anyone else fight my battles for me.”

  “Mia, Lilac and her goons can’t get away with this. She needs to be put in her place.”

  “If that were true,” Mia said, raising her voice a little, “then you should have done that a long time ago. It’s been ten years, and you let her walk all over you. You let her completely take over. You’re the prince and you let her take your crown.”

  “I still have my crown,” Rhett pointed out.

  Mia rolled her eyes. “Metaphorically, and you knew what I meant.”

  “Yeah, yeah, well, I’ve changed my mind. Lilac can’t get away with this anymore. I’m putting my foot down.”

  “So am I. Let me handle this.”

  Rhett gave her a doubtful look. “How? You can barely wield a sword let alone use magic. What can you do?”

  “I can practice. That’s why... I’ve decided I may not want anything to do with magic, but I do want to keep up my sword fighting. And if you do anything to retaliate, I won’t talk to you Rhett. You want to earn my trust back? That starts by trusting me first. By listening to me, respecting my choice.”

  There was a moment of silence so long, Mia glanced at him. He stared straight ahead, a thoughtful look on his face. And then, “OK Mia.”

  Her eyes widened. She had expected a fight. Not this. Not compliance. “Ok?” she asked.

  “Yeah. You’re right. I have to earn your trust and if that means letting you take care of things then fine. I made a lot of mistakes, and I plan to make up for every single one of them to you. But don’t do anything without telling me, alright?”

  Mia’s breath caught in her throat at his words. She couldn’t stop a smile from creeping onto her lips. That was exactly what she had wanted him to say. Exactly what she needed to hear. It was small moments like these that made it hard for her to stay mad at him. “Thank you,” she said at last. “I appreciate that. And yeah, I won’t do anything without telling you.”

  He nodded, giving her a small smile back. “Good.”

  “But that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for the lying and the memory wiping, got it?” Mia said, pointing a finger at him. “Just because I want your help sword training doesn’t mean I’m not still mad at you.”

  Rhett’s eyebrows shot up. “Not even a little bit?”

  “Nope. Not at all,” Mia said, both hands on the hilt of her sword as she kept walking.

  He fell into step beside her. “I feel a thaw...”

  Mia shot him a glare. “There is not a thaw. I’m still mad at you.”

  “OK... whatever you say.”

  Mia raised a finger and opened her mouth to combat him, when she spotted something from the corner of her eyes. She turned and her mouth fell open when she saw a little girl with caramel skin and white frizzy hair standing behind them with tears trailing down her cheeks.

  “Oh my gosh,” she whispered, pushing Rhett away.

  Rhett frowned. “What is it?” he asked, turning to see the girl too.

  His eyes widened and cleared when they spotted her. Mia was already moving toward her before Rhett could stop her. “Mia, don’t,” he warned, but Mia ignored him.

  “Hey there, what’s wrong?” she murmured, reaching for her.

  The little girl buried her face in her hands. “I can’t find my friends,” she sobbed, her little shoulders trembling.

  Mia’s heart melted. Before she knew it, she was on her knees and wrapping her in a hug. How could anyone not instantly want to comfort a crying little kid?

  “Where are your parents?” she asked, stroking her hair.

  The little girl cried harder.

  “She doesn’t have parents,” Rhett said, coming up behind Mia. “She’s a pooka.”

  Pooka... Mia vaguely remembered hearing about them. Mischievous shapeshifters who liked to lead people astray and pull pranks on them. Mia scrambled to remember everything she could about them. Cillian had told her a few things about shapeshifters. How most of them were of the mischief-maker sort. Pookas usually remained in animal form but sometimes took the form of children. And they could eithe
r be super helpful or very malicious.

  They were also super social creatures and liked to stay together. Cillian said they loved having playmates and since they often were childlike and had no parents, they relied on each other for love and support. But where would they all go? If pookas were so social, why would they just leave one of their friends behind? Goose bumps broke out across Mia’s skin, and she glanced around. What if the Farr Darrig had gotten to this pooka’s friends? If it did, Mia couldn’t just leave her out here all by herself.

  “Hey,” Mia murmured, gently forcing the little pooka to let go of her. She had soulful brown dog eyes that welled with tears. “Where did your friends go?”

  The pooka shook her head, glancing around nervously. “We were playing hide and seek. Aedlyn was counting, and we were all to hide. But then her counting stopped all of a sudden and I felt a danger around us, so I went to check on her. When I went looking for her though, she was gone and then I looked for my other friends and they were gone too... I saw a shadow of something tall and scary and felt I was in danger, so I ran away. I miss my friends,” she whispered, her lower lip trembling again.

  Rhett’s hand touched Mia’s shoulder. “We shouldn’t interfere with pookas,” he murmured.

  Mia scowled, glancing over her shoulder to give him a hard look. “She’s a child.”

  His dark eyes turned stormy. “She’s a creature, probably much older than she looks.”

  “I’m not leaving her here alone. That thing could get her too.” Turning back around, Mia gave the pooka a gentle smile. “Can you show us the last place you saw your friends?”

  She perked up and nodded, sniffling. “Yes.”

  Mia got to her feet and then stumbled back a step when the little girl shifted into a big white dog right in front of her. She glanced at Rhett and he raised his eyebrows. “I told you, pooka. For all we know, this could be a prank. She could be leading us into a trap.”

  “I don’t think so. She looked really sad and upset,” Mia said as the dog barked and wagged her tail. She rubbed against Mia’s leg.

  Mia grinned, rubbing behind one of her ears which made her tail wag even more. Then, with one more bark, she took off into the woods.

  Mia glanced at Rhett. “Either I go by myself or you come with me, but I am following her.”

  He sighed and grabbed hold of her hand. “Fine. Let’s go.”

  Mia grinned and together they took off after the white dog.

  Chapter Eight

  The pooka led them further into the woods and stopped at a clearing full of knolls, and knotted, old looking trees. She stopped on the edge of the clearing, pointing at it. “There. That was where my friends were,” she whispered.

  Mia surveyed the area. It looked pretty abandoned to her... No pooka in sight. She started to step forward, but Rhett gripped her arm, stopping her as he stepped in front of her. “Do you hear that?” he whispered. With his one hand on her arm, he pulled his sword out with his free one.

  Mia cocked her head, listening. “No,” she said, scanning their surroundings. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “Exactly. It’s too quiet. Stay here.”

  “I can help,” Mia said, drawing her sword as well.

  Rhett didn’t protest, but he also didn’t urge her to follow him either. Mia let go of the little pooka and trailed behind him, scrutinizing the tree line. She didn’t see how silence could be a bad thing, but it wasn’t the quiet that got to her. It was the chilling feeling of being watched. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and goosebumps broke out across her arms.

  “What is it?” she whispered.

  “The Farr Darrig,” Rhett murmured back just as a crack of a twig made them both jump to attention to their left. But when they spun around, nothing was there.

  “I don’t like this...” Mia decided. It felt way too much like she was in a horror movie and the killer was going to jump out at any moment. Angie and Kai were out there too. What if this thing was prowling the woods and got to them before coming to take out Rhett and Mia?

  Rhett shot her a side-eyed look. “Then go stay with the pooka. I’ll take care of this.”

  Mia scowled, the grip on her sword tightening. “No. I’m not useless.”

  “No one ever said you were. But you can’t take on a Farr Darrig. They’re dangerous and powerful.”

  Another sound of a branch snapping came from behind them. They both whipped around, blades out and ready to strike when a pre-teen boy with shaggy black hair and ragged clothes jogged out of the woods. Mia dropped her sword to her side faster than Rhett did, as the pooka behind them squealed and ran past them to wrap her arms around the boy. He hugged her back just as tightly, murmuring in a musical language Mia didn’t understand.

  “Wyn, where did you go?” he asked in English this time as he held her at arm’s length.

  The pooka – Wyn – sniffled and ducked her head. “I got lost. Aelyn said there was danger and that I should stay hidden and when I came out, they were all gone. I couldn’t find them anywhere. They helped me,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder at Rhett and Mia.

  The older pooka glanced up at them and his lips sharpened into a scowl, his eyes narrowing with distrust. He pulled Wyn in closer to him like Rhett and Mia were the ones who had taken his friends. “What are the Sidhe doing out here so far into the woods? This is our home,” he said, growling and showing off sharp canine teeth.

  Rhett sheathed his sword and held his hands up as if in surrender. “We don’t mean to intrude, but we believe your friends could have been taken... or, ah, worse by a Farr Darrig.”

  The pooka’s eyes widened, and his grip on Wyn tightened. “There hasn’t been a creature like that in these woods for ten years. What makes you think one of them is back?”

  “There was a killing a few weeks ago and then another yesterday. They looked like something a Farr Darrig would do.”

  The boy’s face drained of color and he gave a slight nod. “I’ll make sure my brothers and sisters are safe.”

  “If you need refuge, I’m sure I can find somewhere for you and your siblings in town,” Rhett offered.

  Mia’s eyebrows rose as she glanced at Rhett. She’d never heard him sound so diplomatic and kind. In that moment he sounded like a true prince. A peacemaker. A ruler who cared for all his people, big or small, fearsome or innocent. Mia would be lying if she said that didn’t make him a hundred times more attractive.

  The boy shook his head. “We can take care of ourselves but... I appreciate the offer Prince. If things grow bad enough, then I might take you up on it.”

  Rhett nodded. “And if you see anything suspicious, please let someone know. This isn’t something to trifle with.”

  “I’m aware. I’ve lost many siblings to Farr Darrigs and other umber creatures back in Faerie. These last ten years have been... nice without them.”

  “I promise I will make it another ten years of peace,” Rhett said, resolution and unbreakable truth in his voice.

  The pooka nodded and slid his hand into Wyn’s. “Thank you for bringing Wyn back.”

  Wyn turned into a dog right before their eyes again and the boy looked about to do the same, but then he seemed to think better of it and turned back around to them. “A piece of advice... I may not have sensed a Farr Darrig in these woods but... there is something amiss. A wrongness to the land that I haven’t felt in the past ten years. Be careful.”

  Rhett merely nodded. He and Mia watched the two pookas shift into dogs and run off into the woods together. Only once they were gone, did Mia relax and sheath her sword. “Do you think they’ll be OK?” she asked, glancing at Rhett.

  He met her gaze, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Yeah. Pookas know how to take care of themselves and each other. They’ve been living out here by themselves for years. They’ll be fine.”

  “They just seem so young...”

  A small smile appeared on his lips and he reached over, wrapping an arm around her shoulde
rs. Mia didn’t resist even though she knew she shouldn’t let this happen. And she certainly shouldn’t lean into him.

  “There are older ones out there. Teens who have been alive longer than both of us combined. They’ll be fine. But I love that you care so much,” he murmured, planting a kiss on her forehead.

  As much as Mia would like to melt against him and forget about the past ten years... she couldn’t. Sighing, she peeled away from him. His arm fell to his side, but he didn’t seem upset about it. “This can’t happen,” she said, kicking at the grass. “I’m still mad at you.”

  “You keep telling yourself that.”

  “I am.”

  “And I believe you. But I also know that you feel something for me. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t let me stick around as long as I have."

  Mia didn't deign to give that a response. Instead she said, “We should go. Meet up with the others and tell them what we found out about the pookas.”

  “Lead the way,” Rhett said with a nod and a grin.

  Mia scowled but turned on her heels and headed back toward the house, her heart fluttering in her chest.

  Chapter Nine

  “I hate the thought of the Farr Darrig still being out there,” Angie said, both hands gripping one of Kai’s arms.

  Mia grimaced. She couldn’t say she was a fan of the thought either... Mia was sure they had all been hoping it would be as easy as finding the thing, killing it and being done with the whole messy situation. Turned out a Farr Darrig was sneakier than they had all thought.

  They all met back up in the parking lot of the forest park. She was sure they made quite the scene. Three Sidhe, a nymph and a goblin all standing in a circle looking perplexed and mildly upset over their lack of finding a monster this morning. When had Mia’s life become so strange?

  Ryker scowled, arms folded. “We don’t have time to go out hunting for it day and night. We have to get back to training.”

  “So what?” Mia asked, “We just sit here and wait for it to kill another person?”