Faerie Path #6: The Charmed Return (4 page)

Chapter VI

“Get away from me!” Anita’s terrified shout cut the air like a blade.

The dark-haired girl stumbled to a halt, astonished.

“Tania? Do you not know me?”

Anita stood her ground, but she was trembling from head to foot.

This isn’t real. It’s all in your head. Refuse to buy into the hallucinations and they’ll go away. They will. They have to. . . .

The girl moved warily forward, her face concerned.

“Tania, sweet sister, why so distressed? There is nothing to fear here. All is good.”

Confront the nightmare. Break it down.

Anita looked into the girl’s anxious face.

“I’m Anita Palmer,” she said, slowly and deliberately. “And
you
don’t exist!”

“By all the spirits of love and devotion, I do!” said the girl. “I am your sister Rathina. Why do you not know me? What dread blight has the Divine Harper put upon you that you know me not?” She turned her head. “Master Chanticleer! I fear her wits are addled. Is there aught you can do to amend her sorry state?”

Anita turned to look at Jade; she needed to make sure the whole world hadn’t gone crazy. Jade was staring from Rathina to Evan with a look of absolute disbelief on her face.

If these are my hallucinations, how come Jade can see them?

Evan waded to the stone rim of the pool. His face was empty, his eyes still filmed with silver. He lifted a leg, awkward, unsteady. His foot slipped on the stones, and he pitched forward into the grass.

“Evan!” His heavy fall jolted Anita out of her unbelief. She pushed past the dark-haired girl and ran headlong toward where Evan lay as still as death in the clipped grass.

She crashed onto her knees, leaning over him, using both hands to turn him onto his back. His face was pale, wasted, the silvery eyes staring up at nothing.

Rathina stood over her. “The summoning of the spirits was hard,” she said. “It has taken much of his strength. His first charm failed, and it was not until the Great Salamander used his claws to tear asunder the fabric that divides the worlds that we were able to break through.” Anita felt Rathina’s hand on her shoulder. “But he would have spent his last breath to be by your side, Tania.” Her voice trembled. “He would have done this thing, even if the Dark Arts had devoured him.”

Anita peeled Evan’s hair off his face, stroking his damp skin, leaning in close.

“Evan?”

The eyes were frightening. Like balls of molten quicksilver.

She held his face between her hands, her forehead touching his. “Wake up! Please wake up! I need you.”

The silver slithered over his eyes.

“Tania?” His voice was faint and far away.

Jade’s voice came from somewhere close. “Is he okay? Should I call an ambulance? I’ll call an ambulance. Is that the thing to do?”

The silvery sheen faded away like dissolving mist, and Anita found herself looking into Evan’s chestnut brown eyes.

His hand came up to cradle her cheek. “Tania,” he breathed. “It worked. I found you.” He let out a gasp of exhaustion. “That was hard!” he said, smiling wearily. “That was really hard.”

As Evan sat up, Anita drew away from him, resting back on her heels, gazing into his face.

Rathina’s voice drifted through the white fog that filled Anita’s mind. “She knows not your true name. And she does not remember me. What bane came upon her in Tirnanog? And how did she come here?” She looked around, seeming to notice Jade for the first time. “You! Maiden! What place is this?”

“This is my house—my garden,” Jade replied, looking dazed. “How did you do that . . . that appearing-out-of-nowhere thing?”

“This is the Mortal World,” Rathina said, lifting her head and sniffing the air. “I smell it well enough. Unclean is the air, but I have endured it before, and I’ll endure it again till we can escape and return to Faerie.”

“Oh my god!” Jade gasped. “Oh! My! God!”

“And what are you, maiden?” asked Rathina, eyeing Jade up and down with disapproval in her eyes. “Are you human, or are you some feckless water nymph that you disport yourself with hardly a stitch on your body?”

“I’m a person!” Jade said. “What are
you
?”

“I am Rathina Aurealis, princess of Faerie.”

Jade let out a long, low breath. Lost for words.

Evan reached out and touched Anita’s cheek. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” said Anita breathlessly. “Am I?”

“You will be,” he murmured, “now we’re together.”

She sighed, not knowing what to say.

“We waited on the shore for you to come back,” said Evan. “The Great Salamander was with us. He told us what had happened. But . . . but you never returned. You never came back from the land in the sky.” He smiled reassuringly. “Didn’t I tell you that I’d find you wherever you went? Remember? You’re in my blood, Tania, and I’m in yours. Love never dies in Faerie. Nothing can keep us apart.”

“I’m not Tania.”

“Yes. You are.” His brow furrowed. “Something happened to you in Tirnanog.” His fingers touched cool against her forehead. “Your Faerie soul sleeps,” he whispered. “Deep within, behind locked doors, in a dark and silent place.”

Anita swallowed hard. “Who are you, really?”

“My name’s Edric, and I’m in love with you.”

Anita gasped. “You never told me you loved me before.”

“Yes. I did. Plenty of times. You don’t remember is all.”

“Truly?”

Edric nodded. “Truly.”

“I’m not crazy?”

“No, you’re not crazy. Your memory has been taken away from you.”

“We cannot tarry in this benighted place, Master Chanticleer,” Rathina declared. “We have found Tania—let us be on our way! The people of Faerie need us! The balm of Gildensleep cannot last forever. Even now the sickness may be spreading.”

“I don’t have the power to get through to Faerie,” said Edric.

Anita gazed into Evan’s face.

Edric’s face.

Am I Anita Palmer? Or am I Tania Aurealis?

“This is crazy weird.” Jade sounded almost as stunned as Anita felt. “Evan Thomas from our school is really a guy called Edric from another world?” She shook her head. “I
always
thought there was something freaky about you!”

The shimmering sound of bells brightened the air.

“Hist! What is that?” said Rathina, staring around herself.

“Something is coming,” murmured Edric, getting to his feet.

As Anita stood up she saw that Rathina’s hand moved to her waist, as though she expected to find a weapon there. But her fingers closed on empty air.

The chime and chink of the bells grew louder and deeper until it was no longer the shimmering sound of tiny bells, but now also a plangent ringing, and finally the toll of great booming bells that shook the ground under their feet. Sweet voices mingled with the bells, adding harmonies and descant to the rising music.

A wheel of blue fire blossomed in the air, warping everything around it. It was like and yet unlike Edric’s portal—deeply blue but without the white lightning.

“Something has followed in our wake!” shouted Edric. “It’s using the trail of my charm to get into the Mortal World!”

From the heart of the wheel stepped a female figure.

The hoop of blue fire vanished, and the pealing of the bells and the singing of the voices were blotted out.

Joy filled Anita’s heart as she stared at the girl, although she had no idea why.

The girl seemed dazed. She was small and slender, clad in a gown of vibrant sky blue that echoed the light in her eyes. Her long golden hair cascaded over her shoulders, her features fine and delicate. Her chest rose and fell as she gulped in breath.

There was something so deeply familiar about her that Anita was drawn toward her.
I know her. Who is she?

Rathina stumbled toward the swaying girl. She let out a cry, her voice filled with wonder and disbelief.

“Zara!”

The golden-haired girl smiled. She held her arms out. “Rathina! Sister! And Tania! I . . .”

But then her eyes glazed over and she fainted into the grass.

Chapter VII

Jade’s voice was the first to break the uncanny stillness.

“I can’t take much more of this!”

Anita had an ache in her heart that made it hard to breathe. Rathina was on the ground, cradling the girl in her arms and weeping silently. Edric was staring at the girl, dumbfounded.

Anita tore her gaze away from the two girls and glanced at Edric. “I think I know her,” she murmured.

“She’s your sister Zara,” Edric said blankly. “But she died in battle against the Sorcerer King.” He looked as if he was about to pass out himself. “She shouldn’t be here. We held the Ceremony of Leavetaking. . . . Her body was sent to Albion.” He took a gasping breath. “None that pass through the gates of the Blessèd Realm ever return,” he said. “Never.”

Rathina turned her tear-streaked face to them. “She is alive!” she cried. “Her body is warm. There is breath in her lungs. She is neither spirit nor phantom. But how can this be? How, by all the fragrant stars of heaven?”

“I don’t know,” began Edric. “I’ve never . . .” A bouncing, electronic melody cut him short.

“Phone!” breathed Jade, walking unsteadily over to the lounger and stooping to pick up her trilling mobile. “Excuse me—it’s my mum—I need to answer.”

Anita looked at her friend. A phone call! In the middle of all this insanity—an honest-to-goodness everyday phone call! She didn’t know whether to be comforted by the normality of it or annoyed by the intrusion.

She snatched hold of Edric’s hand. “This is all real, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It is. The thing is—”

“No!” She stopped him. “Don’t tell me any more right now. I can’t handle any more. I feel like my head’s going to explode as it is.”

Edric smiled faintly. “That’s understandable.” He leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

She stared at him, emotions tangling like barbed wire in her head.

“Yeah. Hi, Mum.” Jade’s voice wavered a little. “No. I’m fine. Why? Do I? No, everything’s cool here.” She was staring at Rathina and Zara as if her eyes were about to bug out of her head. “Oh, just sitting in the sun. Yeah. I’ll get the parasol out. Yes, I know you told me to be careful. Yes. SPF twenty and the parasol. I’ll do it right now. Quit fussing, Mum.”

Anita smiled. This was so wonderfully ordinary that she could have run and hugged Jade till her ribs creaked.

“You want I should do what? Yeah, fine. I’ll do it right now.” Her eyes widened. “You’ll be home in half an hour? Okay. Yes. Okay. Will do. Bye, Mum.”

She dropped her arm to her side. “My folks are on their way back here,” she said, speaking to no one in particular. “They want me to take the meat out of the freezer and defrost it in the microwave.” She gave a huge, vacant smile. “Apparently we’re having a barbecue this evening!” An edge of bleak sarcasm came into her voice. “Won’t that be fun?” She looked from Edric to Rathina. “Do you guys like barbecues at all? My dad does an amazing Chimichurri marinade and I can rustle up a great chili sauce. . . .” Her voice faded and she closed her eyes. “Would one of you do me a big favor and beat me over the head with a rock till I’m unconscious, please?”

“Master Chanticleer!” Rathina’s voice cut the air. “We must return to Faerie! Use your Arts. Remove us from this place!”

“I can’t take us through to Faerie,” said Edric. “I don’t have that kind of power. I wouldn’t be able to do it even if the earls of Faerie hadn’t closed the ways between the worlds.” He looked urgently at Anita. “Have you tried to step into Faerie?” His face clouded. “No! Of course you haven’t—you don’t remember anything about that, do you?”

Anita looked at him. “I want to remember,” she said forlornly. “Help me to remember.”

He put his hands to her face. “I don’t know how.”

“We cannot stay here!” declared Rathina. “We must seek some place where Zara can come to herself in safety—away from the prying eyes of ignorant Mortals.” She got to her feet, Zara’s limp form cradled in her strong arms. “We have little time, Master Chanticleer. Find us sanctuary, and find it swift.”

“I know where you can go!” Jade exclaimed. “Anita’s mum knows all about you guys! She knows about the place you come from and everything. You should go to her.”

“Is this wisdom?” asked Rathina. “To seek the dwelling of Master Clive and Mistress Mary?”

“I think it might be,” said Edric. He looked at Anita. “Is it true that your parents still remember everything about Faerie?”

Anita nodded. “Mum does, for sure. I don’t know about Dad. Jade’s right, we should go there.”

“Is it far?” asked Rathina.

“Not by cab it isn’t,” said Jade, pressing buttons on her mobile. “I’ll call a cab right now. You’ll be there in ten minutes.” She put the phone to her ear. “Yes? Oh, hi there. I need a cab. As soon as you can, please. In fact, right now would be totally excellent!”

She gave pick-up instructions then ended the call. She looked Rathina and Edric up and down. “There’s no way the driver will let you in the cab in those wet clothes. Those wet,
weird
clothes.” She gestured toward Edric. “Evan—whatever your real name is—you’re pretty much the same size as my brother. I’ll find something of his for you to wear.” She turned to Rathina. “And I can probably find some loose stuff of mine that you’ll be able to squeeze into.”

She strode down the lawn toward the house. “Anita? Come on, help me out here. Do I have to do
everything
?”

Anita quickly caught up with her friend. “Thank you,” she said softly.

“For what?”

“For not freaking out.”

Jade gave her an incredulous look. “Don’t kid yourself, Anita. I am so freaking out here; it’s not true.” She linked her arm with Anita’s as they walked in through the open patio doors. “Thing is,” she said, “crazy as all this is—it totally explains the way you’ve been acting for the past couple of months. It’s insane, you know? But it also makes perfect sense.” She laughed breathlessly. “You’re a fairy princess. A total and utter fairy princess! That is
so
cool!”

“You didn’t need to come with us, Jade,” said Anita. “You should’ve stayed home.”

“What? And get chewed out for letting the lily pond get mashed? I don’t think so.” Jade retorted. She looked at Anita, lowering her voice so that the taxi driver couldn’t hear her over the piped pop music that filled the cab. “Besides, if you think you can just turn up and dump all this crazy stuff in my lap, then stroll off without any explanation, you can think again.”

They were in a taxi, heading for Anita’s home. Edric was sitting in the front passenger seat wearing a borrowed T-shirt and jeans. The four girls were crammed in the back. Rathina was in a halter top and a light cotton skirt, holding Zara’s hand, nestling the drowsy girl’s head against her shoulder. Zara’s Faerie gown was hidden under a tan suede coat. She was awake and she was able to sit up on her own, but she had a faraway look in her blue-diamond eyes and she didn’t respond when she was spoken to.

“So, what do you think about this eclipse we’re due to get on Friday?” said the driver, who had been talking nonstop since they’d gotten into the cab. “Odds are it’ll be a cloudy day and we won’t see a thing.”

“I don’t know anything about it.” Edric just managed to wedge the words in.

“You’re kidding?” replied the cabbie. “It’s been all over the news for days, mate. Longest eclipse this century, it said on the radio.”

“Really?” said Edric. “I must have missed it.”

“Where have you been? Mars?” The cabbie chuckled. “My kids can’t wait. They’ve already got their bits of cardboard with pinholes in them. That’s the safest way to look at it, apparently. What you do is . . .”

Anita tuned the cabbie out. Zara was gazing out of the window, her eyes glassy, as if she was far, far away inside her head. Anita had noticed that Zara’s lips were moving. She leaned in close to try to catch what this girl—this dead sister of hers—was saying.

But she wasn’t speaking; she was softly singing.

“I shall weave you gentle dreams between dusk and morning

I shall nestle in your heart and whisper in your ear

I shall tell you sweet tales, to soothe you till dawning

I shall tarry close, my love, you need have no fear . . .”

Rathina was also listening, her forehead wrinkled.

“What is that?” asked Anita.

“An old nursery rhyme,” said Rathina. “A lullaby our mother used to sing to us.”

I shall weave you gentle dreams . . .
Why did that fragment of the lyric stick in her mind?

“’Tis a pretty tune,” said Rathina. “I have not heard it sung for many’s the long year, but Zara used to play it upon the flute.” She rested her fingers under Zara’s chin and lifted her head to look into her face. “And shall again, if the wish of my heart comes true.” She gazed into the blank eyes, then kissed the pale forehead. “I know not how this has come to be, Zara, but your return has lifted such a burden off my soul! Such a heavy burden!”

Anita looked at Rathina. There were tears in her eyes.

Why can’t I remember? I want to remember!

The cab slowed down. “Here we are: Nineteen Eddison Terrace,” said the driver. Jade fished the fare out of her jeans and they all piled out of the cab. Rathina and Anita stood on either side of Zara. She didn’t need holding up, but she seemed to have no idea where she was.

Realizing she’d left the house without any keys, Anita walked up the front steps and rang the bell.

Hi, Mum. I’m home, and I’ve brought some friends with me. You’ll never believe where they come from! Oh! Yes—you will. I’m the one who can’t believe it. . . .

The door opened. The first expression that passed across her mother’s face was relief, then she looked beyond Anita and saw the other people gathered on her porch.

She opened the door wider. “You’d better come in,” she said quickly.

Anita passed into the hallway, followed by Rathina and Zara, then Edric, and finally Jade. Mrs. Palmer closed the door. She gave Jade a resigned smile. “Hello, Jade,” she said. “Welcome to my world.”