“Another dimension?” Nate smiles. “Have we moved from fantasy to sci-fi now?”
“Well, I don’t really know how else to explain it.” I twist a piece of grass around my finger. “It’s like they’re always there, but just out of reach. So as soon as I need one, my mind calls for it, and a moment later it’s in my hands. When I don’t need it anymore it disappears.”
“Incredible,” Nate says with a grin. He leans back on his hands. “This may sound weird, but I’m glad that reptiscilla attacked me. I’d never have known about your world otherwise. Or about you.”
You’re going to forget all this. You’re going to forget me.
But I don’t want him to forget. I want him to kiss me again.
He must have noticed something in my expression because he leans forward. “I won’t tell anyone what I know,” he says. “I swear. You can trust me.”
I nod. I believe him. But that’s not the way this works.
Nate looks down into his lap. “Vi,” he says, and I know it’s stupid but I like the way he says my name. “That crimson faerie was looking for a guardian who had some special ability to find people. And that other faerie who was just here said that you would know where to look if someone was missing.”
Ah. Not just an uncommonly good-looking face after all.
“Yeah,” I say slowly. “That would be me.”
He leans even closer. “So you could find my mother?”
I narrow my eyes. “I thought you didn’t want to have anything to do with her.”
“Oh come on. You knew I was talking rubbish when I said that. You just about rolled your eyes into the ceiling.”
“I don’t know, Nate . . .”
He grabs my hand. “Please. I mean, it’s not like I want her in my life or anything. I just want to know what this is all about. How did she get involved with a faerie? Why does he want to find her so badly?”
I have to admit I’d like to know the answers to those questions too. Perhaps once I’ve made Nate forget everything I can find out on my own. There’s just one little hitch . . .
“Do you have anything that belongs to her?”
“Um, I don’t think so. Why?”
“Well, I have to connect to her somehow. It would be easy if I knew her, but since I don’t I’ll need to use some item that belongs to her.”
“Oh.” Nate looks disappointed, but then his face lights up. “My dad must have kept some of her things. I’m sure we can find something.”
I’m sure I can find something.
“So you’ll help me?” Nate takes hold of my other hand now.
“Um, yes, okay.” I hate lying to him. I feel terrible. But I have to make him forget about me and my world. If I don’t, and the Guild finds out, I probably will end up expelled.
“Nate, why don’t you have a girlfriend?” Okay, what? I don’t remember thinking about that question before it came out. I try to pull my hands out of his, but he won’t let me. “I mean, I’m assuming you don’t, because, you know, you kissed me. But you seem like a nice guy, so I’m just wondering why you’re not . . . taken.” I’m floundering. I wish the earth would open up and swallow me whole. Come to think of it, if I could reach my stylus I could make that happen.
Nate looks down at his lap. “I was dating someone last year, but . . . well, it just didn’t work out.” He laces his fingers between mine, and a shiver zings down my back. “This year I thought I should focus more on school. I’m not failing chemistry, by the way. It’s actually my favorite subject.”
“And you don’t think chasing down your mother will interfere with school?”
“Not if we use those magic faerie path things. We can go anywhere in no time at all. We could have a date in Paris and be back the same night.”
A date.
This is not happening, Violet. Just give him the damn potion and leave.
He leans forward and closes the distance between us. His lips touch mine, hesitating just a moment in case I want to pull away—I don’t. His lips are cooler than mine—something I was too freaked out to notice the first time. My heart beats so fiercely it hurts. I open my mouth, and his tongue nudges against mine. He tastes like the cupcake I ate before I passed out.
I want to get closer to him. I want to put my arms around him and feel the rhythm of his heart, but it’s impossible the way we’re sitting, legs crossed, facing each other. Without detaching my lips from his, I uncross my legs and get onto my knees. I shuffle closer, my hands moving to—
And then a horrible gurgling sound causes us to jump apart in fright. I look up and see a light on in Nate’s house. Nate shakes his head and starts laughing. He pulls me closer and whispers into my ear, “I bet you never thought a toilet would scare you.”
A toilet. Of course. I don’t know whether to hate it or thank it.
“Do you want something to drink?” Nate asks, running his fingers up and down the inside of my arm. “I’m really thirsty.”
Trying to ignore the goose bumps rising all over my skin, I say, “Uh, yes, thank you.” I let him lead me around to the back door. What a perfect opportunity; I can just empty the potion into his glass when he’s not looking.
The thought makes my chest ache.
We tiptoe across his kitchen, and Nate pours us something to drink. I slip my hand into my pocket and pull out the vial, enclosing it in my fist. Nate places the two glasses on the counter in the center of the kitchen and puts the jug back in the fridge.
Just pour it in, just pour it in.
I hesitate, miss my opportunity. No problem. I’ll just wait until he’s distracted.
Nate leans on the counter and reaches across to hold my hand again, as though the physical contact is a lifeline for him. I’m afraid to look up, but my eyes are drawn to his as though by a spell. I can’t look away. His eyes are dark pools that I imagine myself falling into.
And there’s that warmth inside my chest again that just won’t seem to go away. That heat that quickens my heart and steals my breath. But at the core of it is an ache. A deep and desperate longing to no longer be alone.
With Nate, I wouldn’t have to feel that ache anymore.
I slip the vial back into my pocket.
“So,” I say. “When do we go find your mother?”
PART
II
CHAPTER SIX
I reach the end of the empty Guild corridor for the millionth time. I turn automatically and continue pacing. If anyone asks, I’m attempting to wear a path into the wooden floor using only the power of a pair of high-heeled shoes. The truth, however, is far less glamorous. I’m a disgraced faerie about to be chewed apart by the Guild Council for breaking the Law.
My left ankle twists to the side as I take another wonky step forward. Stupid shoes. I’d like to meet the idiots who decided to camouflage a torture device as a human fashion item. I’d show them there are far better things one can do with a pointy heel.
I sit down on the bench opposite the only door on this corridor and twist my hands together in my lap. The Council should have called me in at least ten minutes ago; I think the six of them are making sure I’m well and truly terrified before they interrogate me about my supposed crimes. How am I supposed to convince them it wasn’t my fault Nate followed me into Creepy Hollow when I can’t even stop my own fingers from shaking?
I hear footsteps coming down the corridor. I put my head in my hands, making sure my fingers cover my face. Keep walking, keep walking, I urge the footsteps. But they stop. I spread my fingers apart and see a pair of black boots with a twisting pattern of thorns engraved into the chunky metal buckles.
My heart sinks.
Fantastic. Just make my day even worse, why don’t you?
I raise my head and meet Ryn’s bright blue gaze. He sits on the bench opposite me. This isn’t a coincidence. He has no reason to be here other than to torment me. “I hear you had fun on the way back to the human’s house,” he says. His eyes travel to the scar that bracelets m
y wrist. “And you had a make-out session with him on his front lawn.”
“Back lawn, actually.” I try to keep my voice even, but I have a sudden urge to punch the wall. I’m going to kill Flint. I didn’t know he’d seen that kiss.
“Too bad your human doesn’t remember anything now. I bet that kiss was incredible.” Ryn sticks his tongue out and pretends to slobber all over himself. Delightful.
“How old are you again?” I ask. I’d like to shove his tongue down his throat, though I’m relieved he thinks Nate doesn’t remember anything. I’ve spent the past few days living in fear that someone will find out what I did. Or, more accurately, what I didn’t do.
Ryn opens his mouth to answer, then freezes. His eyes slide from mine and settle on . . . my ear? I clutch my earlobe and feel the slender arrow-shaped earring. I took Nate’s advice and decided to just wear the darn things instead of carrying them around in the sole of my boot. Now I remember why I stopped wearing them in the first place: I’ve never liked it when Ryn looks at me like he wants to kill me.
The door beside Ryn opens and the youngest member of the Council pokes her blue and blonde head out. “We’ll see you now, Miss Fairdale.”
I stand up and walk to the door. Ryn’s eyes never leave me. “Break a leg,” he says, his voice like thin ice. I don’t think he means it the way humans do.
*
The first thing I do when I get home is remove the shoes. I’d like to snap the damn heels right off, but since they belong to Tora, that probably wouldn’t go down well. I toss the shoes onto the couch, waking Filigree, who shifts into porcupine form in fright. When he sees it’s only me, he shifts back to the white mink version of himself, sits upright, and cocks his head to one side.
“You don’t want to know,” I tell him as I head for the stairs. “Let’s just say I’m glad it’s over.” I run up to my bedroom, peeling off Raven’s dress as I go—Tora refused to let me face the Council in my everyday creature-butt-kicking clothes. The dress lands on my bed. I yank open a drawer and pull out the first pants and top I see. There’s no point in searching through the pile. Everything I own is pretty much the same: dark, close-fitting, and easy to move in. This particular top has strips of leather crisscrossing over it, in case I feel the need to secure a few weapons to my body. Fortunately, right now, I don’t.
I jump down the stairs two at a time and skid into the kitchen. I grab an apple from the bowl of fruit and munch it down while Filigree helps himself to a few roasted nixles from a jar on the counter. “I’ll be back later,” I say, patting him on the head with one hand and reaching for my stylus with the other. He narrows his black eyes at me. “I know, I know, I’m breaking more rules. You don’t have to remind me.”
Ignoring the now familiar stab of guilt, I open a doorway on my curved kitchen wall, step through, and bring up an image of Nate’s bedroom in my mind. Perhaps if I concentrate hard enough I can land exactly . . . on . . .
I drop out of the blackness of the faerie paths, hit the edge of the bed, and fall onto the floor. Oops. So much for a perfect landing. I’m up in an instant, my face flaming, but there seems to be no one here. Well, I don’t mind waiting for Nate to get back from wherever he went. It’s not as though I have anything else to do now that I’m banned from entering the Guild for a week.
I wander around Nate’s bedroom. His shelves are a mess of old children’s books, DVDs, tiny cars gathering dust, and several different chess sets. Papers and notebooks cover his desk, and the computer emits a low hum. A chemistry textbook lies in the middle of the bed, a ruler sticking out between the pages. I stretch across the bed and open to the page the ruler marks. Letters, numbers and arrows are scrawled within the margins. I twist a strand of purple hair around my finger as I try to interpret the notations.
“Vi, hey!” I snap the book shut and look up to see Nate standing in the doorway. He pulls the door closed behind him and walks to the bed. “You know, normal people would use the front door,” he says.
“Normal people wouldn’t even be able to see that I’m here,” I tell him as I sit up.
He moves the textbook aside and sits on the edge of the bed beside me. “I guess neither of us is normal then.”
I angle my head down and peer up at him through my lashes in what I hope is an alluring manner. I have zero experience in this area though, so it’s possible I look like a total moron. But I must be doing something right, because Nate leans closer and raises his hand to brush his knuckles against my cheek. His gaze slips down to my mouth, and he tilts his head forward. Finally, I think. Finally, finally. He hasn’t kissed me since that night on the grass. I’ve only been able to visit him once since then. His parents were having a loud discussion in the room next door—a definite mood-killer—then his friend phoned to ask about homework, and then Tora sent a message wanting to know why I hadn’t heard her knocking at my house.
I’m about to close my eyes when Nate stops. “Oh, the hearing.” He pulls away from me. “How was it?”
I let out a long sigh and drag myself across the bed to lean against the footboard. “After a lengthy debate, the Council decided perhaps it wasn’t my fault I brought you back to Creepy Hollow—”
“That’s great!”
“—but since it’s such an important rule and I need to be made an example of, blah blah blah, I failed the assignment.” Nate’s face falls. “And,” I add with a grimace, “the Council decided to suspend me for a week, meaning I don’t get to go in and train, and I’ll miss whatever assignments are given out.”
Nate’s hand brushes against my foot. “But you’ll have plenty of time to hang out with me.” He smiles, and something flutters in the region of my stomach. Tora’s imaginary voice reminds me how much trouble I’d be in if anyone knew I was here. I tell the voice to get lost.
“So have you found anything of your mother’s yet?” I ask Nate as I push myself up and cross my legs. Without any Guild assignments to occupy my time, I’m probably going to go into some kind of withdrawal. I need a ‘project’ to keep me occupied, and trying to get Nate to kiss me again doesn’t count.
“No. I finished going through my dad’s study when I got home this afternoon, but I can’t find anything that seems even remotely connected to my real mother.” He hesitates, and a lopsided grin forms on his face. “Have I mentioned how unreal it is when you just appear in my bedroom?”
Tora’s imaginary voice: GET OUT OF HIS BEDROOM.
“Unreal in a good way, of course,” Nate hurries on when I don’t answer. He pushes a lock of golden brown hair out of his eyes. “I wish you’d do it more often.”
I smile shyly. “I was kind of hoping you’d come and visit my bed—house, I mean house—sometime.” CRAP! I’m not sure who’s blushing more right now.
A moment of awkward silence passes before Nate says, “So you have a house then? It’s not a magical tree like your fancy Guild?”
I throw a few purple sparks in his direction, aware he’s making fun of me. “What’s wrong with a magical tree?”
The sparks turn into beetles that buzz around Nate’s head. He swats them away, laughing. “So you do live in a tree then?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. We all do. It looks like a regular tree from the outside, but once you step inside—”
“—it’s actually a faerie castle with a mermaid-filled fountain in the atrium and unicorns standing guard at the door?”
I cross my arms. “No, Nate. It’s like a normal home. It’s just round instead of square.”
“Oh. That’s boring.”
I suppose it would be for someone who lives in this neighborhood. “Look, Nate, we can’t all be as wealthy as—”
“I’m joking, Vi!” He leans forward and grabs my hand. “It sounds, well, impossible to fit a normal home inside a tree. But that’s magic, right?”
“Well, it’s not like the house is inside a tree,” I explain. “It’s powerful glamour magic that conceals the house so that when you look at it you only
see a tree.”
“Whatever it is, I’d love to visit you there and meet your friends and learn more about your world.”
Right. I haven’t actually mentioned to Nate that he’s never allowed to meet anyone I know. And it’s not like I have any friends to introduce him to anyway. Training overtime and taking on extra assignments haven’t left much time for friendship. I also have a suspicion Ryn spreads rumors about me behind my back.
“That’s pretty,” says Nate. I realize he’s looking at the ring on my finger.
“Oh, thanks. Since I’m not allowed to fight anyone for the next few days, I thought I’d get some wear out of the few items of jewelry I own.”
“Who’s it from?” Nate lifts my hand and examines the purple stone with its unusual gold flecks.
“It’s my tokehari from my father.”
“Toke-ah-what-ee?” Nate lowers my hand but doesn’t let go. His thumb moves in random patterns across my hand. It’s ticklish, but in the best possible way.
“It’s an old tradition,” I explain, trying hard to control the goose bumps rising on my arms. “Guardians are always aware that each assignment may be their last, so every guardian parent puts away a special item for each of their children. Of course, children may end up inheriting many things if their parents die, but the tokehari is special.”
“Special as in . . . magic special?”
“Possibly, but they don’t have to be magical items. This is just a ring that my grandfather gave my grandmother. My father inherited it, and when I was born he obviously decided to leave it to me.”
“Cool,” says Nate. “Did your mother leave you something?”
“Uh, yes. A necklace. Anyway, have you searched your father’s bedroom yet?”
“Hmm?” Nate looks confused at the sudden change of subject. “Oh. No, but we could do it now.” He jumps off the bed. “It’s Lucinda’s day off so there’s no one here but us.” I meet his gaze as I climb off the bed, and something tells me there’s another meaning behind his words.