Faery Worlds - Six Complete Novels (141 page)

Finally I looked up, only to find Cade looking at me in the most bizarre way, as if he were dumbfounded that I would actually enter an unknown world full of monsters in order to help him. Oh yeah, that did sound unbelievable.

He reached out then and took my hand in his own. I was shocked at how cold it was and I almost jerked my own hand away.

“Thank you. I cannot tell you how sorry I am Meghan. You should never have gone with her, but it means a great deal that you would make that sacrifice for me. I don’t expect your forgiveness, or your friendship after all this, but I do hope that you know I never meant to harm you.”

I nodded, trying to fight the lump in my throat; trying to remember to breathe. Cade had always tried to help me. Despite my current anguish, I was warmed by that thought.

I laughed after a while, though I felt little humor. “I bet your girlfriend is livid with you at the moment. That was you I saw the night she lured me into the Otherworld, right? It was you who fought off the Cumorrig . . . ?”

But my question trailed off when I felt the bones in my hand begin to constrict.

“Cade, you’re hurting me,” I said, feeling fear once again. Had I said the wrong thing?

I glanced up at him and the look on his face was something between pure disbelief and . . . disgust?

“Girlfriend?” he said harshly.

“Yes, the Morrigan.”

I felt foolish all over again but I managed to get my hand back. Why did I have to go and open my big mouth? Could it be that my brain had stopped working since I found out that I had some semi-important Faelorehn parents who had placed a strong geis on me? All after surviving a bizarre, near-death experience? I really needed a vacation away from being me.

Cade was quiet for a long time. “The Morrigan is not my girlfriend. Did she tell you that?”

I bit my cheek. No, she hadn’t. But she had implied it.

“I just thought-”

Cade sat up abruptly and looked at me, his gaze hard. I turned away, feeling sheepish. If I blushed any more today my face just might start bleeding. That would be fabulous. Would go well with my stitches and black eye.

Eventually Cade snorted and I was glad to see he had lost that intensity about him. “She
would
want you to think that,” he said almost nonchalantly.

“Oh,” was all I could say. “But, I saw you in the woods, and I just thought . . .”

“You saw us in the woods?”

Oops times infinity.

While I tried to melt away into oblivion, Cade became still, and then a look of realization spread over his face. “So that is why you never showed up for our meeting,” he said quietly. “Meghan,” he continued gently, “I can’t explain what you saw, like the information about your parents, it’s something I must keep to myself. But believe me, the Morrigan is most definitely
not
my girlfriend.”

The silence grew between us once again and as I twisted the sheets in my hands, Cade stared down at his interlaced fingers. I could tell he wanted to tell me something more, like lightning charging the air before it struck. I knew it wouldn’t be pleasant, but . . .
the Morrigan isn’t his girlfriend!
I tried not to let the glee show on my face.

Cade took a breath and released it slowly. “I must go soon Meghan. I violated my geis, and that is no easily forgivable thing.”

It had been said so matter-of-factly that I wondered if he had practiced that exact line before he came to see me.

I bit my lip to keep it from trembling. “Will I ever see you again?”

“Perhaps. When I’ve done my penance.”

Two days ago I would have bitterly wished him gone from my life for good, but after learning he had made such a sacrifice for me, I didn’t want to let him go.

“I brought something for you.”

Cade reached around and seemed to pull something out of his back pocket. It looked like a metal cord bent to form a C. The two ends were capped with what appeared to be two hounds’ heads in the ancient Celtic style. It looked familiar, like the strange metal choker I’d seen him wear before. I glanced up at him. Yes, almost exactly the same, though the intertwined cord on his was thicker than the one he was holding out to me. For a long time, all I could do was stare at the smaller choker, both transfixed and uncertain. The braided cord was a beautiful silver color and the snarling muzzles of the dogs featured finely etched teeth.

Picking up my hand, Cade drew it towards him and placed the Celtic object in my palm, gently curling my fingers over it. The metal was cold, and so were Cade’s hands, but when he let his fingers linger on mine for several seconds, the place where his skin touched mine warmed.

“What is it?” I queried silently.

“It’s called a torque.” He gestured towards his own. “The ancient Celts wore these into battle. It will protect you while I’m gone.”

That’s when it hit me. Again. I had broken my own geis, a geis that had acted like some sort of invisible monster repellent. Because of my little side trip into the Otherworld, that repellent was now as useful as hand lotion against the sun’s radiation. I didn’t even try to stop the tears this time.

“Meghan,” Cade breathed quietly, moving his hand to rest against my cheek.

I wanted to move in closer to him, but some deep, primal fear of rejection stopped me.
He’s only comforting you Meghan because you are doomed.

“Meghan, listen to me,” Cade continued, wiping my tears away with his thumb. “You are far more powerful than you know and you cannot forget what I have taught you.”

I thought back to the archery lessons he had given me down in the swamp. A fresh wave of tears hit when I remembered that that was when I first realized I was falling for him.

“And I’ll leave Fergus with you. He’ll let me know if you need me.”

“Can’t I come with you?”

Cade shook his head with a sad smile. “When you crossed over into the Otherworld, the fae power inside of you woke up, like a dormant seed that tastes the first rain of spring and the first warmth of the sun. It shines brightly Meghan, but remember what I told you? Your own power is like a battery run down.”

I blinked in surprise. I felt no different than before, but then again I was still pretty sore from the attack.

I furrowed my brow. “But wouldn’t it make sense for me to go with you then? So that I can ‘recharge’?”

I sounded desperate and I hated that. But to be left here like a sitting duck for the demonic beasts of Eile to come find me? Surely I was better off with Cade, even if it meant enduring whatever it was he had to do to redeem himself.

“No,” he said firmly. “I know it seems like the better option, but even if your fae power were to gain strength, you don’t yet know how to use it. I will come back and teach you how to use your gift Meghan, but until then you must stay here. The Cumorrig and their ilk may seem almost invincible to you here, but they are far more powerful in their natural world. Just remain vigilant and remember what I taught you.”

I forced a smile. I was truly touched that he was worried for me, but I still didn’t want to think about how long he would be gone and how long I would have to fight off the Morrigan’s minions on my own. I took a deep breath and forced my tears to stop. It sucked. This whole situation sucked, but it was high time I stop feeling sorry for myself and take Cade’s words to heart. True, I hadn’t discovered the depths of my Faelorehn power yet, but if he said it was there then I would believe him.

Smiling, I looked up at Cade. He dropped his hand and smiled back.

“Thank you. For the torque.”

I wasn’t sure how exactly to wear it, but that was soon resolved when Cade stood and placed it around my neck. The cool metal felt comfortingly familiar, the two hounds’ heads growling at each other across my throat.

“It suits you,” Cade said with a smirk and a glint in his eyes.

My stomach fluttered again.

He tilted his head and glanced over his shoulder. Fergus stood at my door, panting and wagging his tail slightly.

Cade’s shoulders slumped again and he looked back at me. “I must go.”

I nodded, dropping my eyes again.
I will not cry . . .

He turned to leave and I reached out, grabbing his hand. “Cade?”

His eyes were no longer so pale, but they held some emotion I couldn’t decipher, yet I knew his attention was fully on me. I should have told him then how I felt about him, that he meant a great deal to me. But I was afraid. Afraid of making myself even more vulnerable.

I cleared my throat. “Be careful, please. And come back soon.”

He seemed to pause, as if waiting for me to say more. I’m pretty sure that the slight disappointment I read on his face was just in my mind. Eventually he smiled and nodded ever so slightly.

He took back his hand, made it into a fist and held it over his heart. Giving a half bow he said, “I promise.”

And then he turned and silently slid open the door, disappearing into the pale mist with a great white hound trailing behind him.

* * *

The school year came to a close with little fanfare, the most exciting event being my deadly encounter with the dogs. By the end of my first week back, the most popular version of the story included some crude remark about starving coyotes and the only reason for my survival being that they weren’t that desperate to eat someone like me.

But I didn’t let it bother me. I was too fixated on missing Cade. As he had promised, Fergus stood watch at my back door every evening and even followed me to school. During lunch and the times in between classes, I would spot him on the edge of the woods, patiently watching me, making sure no nasty faelah were lurking about. It comforted me because even though Cade couldn’t be there, I knew he still thought of me.

I still had trouble sleeping, though that was no big surprise. What with the emptiness I felt without Cade nearby combined with the memories of my ordeal. I never said anything to anyone about what I had learned about myself in the last several months, especially not my family. They had enough to worry about and I’m sure they would insist on taking me to another therapist if I started going into detail about the Faelorehn and my trip to the Otherworld. Nope, I’d had enough of therapists.

I would find a way to manage this on my own, even if it meant remaining vigilant around the clock because some horrifying fae beast could come jumping out at me at any moment. In my current state, I couldn’t even outrun a snail, what with my cumbersome crutches. But nothing so much as a demented field mouse eyed me from the bushes in those final weeks before summer, and I was starting to think, no
dread
, that the Morrigan was gathering her troops to make one grand attack at some point in the future. Let’s just say it didn’t help with my insomnia.

“So Stitch, what are your plans for summer?” Robyn said, breaking into my wandering thoughts.

I blanched at her new nickname for me. I knew she was trying to make light of the whole situation, and even though the stitches had come out a week ago, she still insisted on the moniker. I resorted to doing what I did best. I ignored the name.

“Hanging around the house probably. Maybe getting a job at one of the cafes in town, if they’ll hire me.”

It was truthful enough. I would be hanging around the house, hiding from Otherworldly monsters and waiting for Cade to come back. But I would also be preparing. I would take Fergus and go down into the swamp and practice my aim with the bow and special arrows Cade had given me, maybe even give my research into the world of the Celts a renewed visit. But for now, I’d enjoy the final days of being a junior in high school.

I sighed and looked around at my friends. We were all sprawled out on a patch of lawn by the track, taking advantage of the shade cast by a group of sycamores and eating our lunches. Thomas was trying to teach Will how to properly pronounce Spanish, Tully was finishing up some homework she had forgotten to do the night before, and Robyn was picking the black glitter nail polish off of her right index finger.

I smiled. How normal we all looked. But I knew the truth. I was far from being normal, I knew that for certain now, and although I was terrified of what the future might hold for a young Faelorehn in the mortal world, I would not be such a coward any more. I was no longer the timid Meghan Elam of Marshwood Lane in Arroyo Grande, but Meghan, Faelorehn of Eile, and I would be ready for whatever that world had to throw at me.

Acknowledgments

A special thanks to all my professors in the Celtic Studies program at the University of California at Berkeley; for educating me in the mythos that has become the backbone of this series: may I not disappoint you with my creative twist of those sacred legends.

To my friends and family, who never stop supporting me in my crusade to create more worlds. Thank you for understanding that much of my free time belongs to this passion of mine.

Many thanks to P.A. Vannucci for designing the beautiful Faelorehn font for the Otherworld Trilogy.

Finally, a special thanks to Sr. Mary Keavey, for always believing in the things I could accomplish. Also, to Sr. Margaret Malone, who doesn’t mind talking about the ancient Celtic tradition of her homeland with me.

About the Author

Jenna Elizabeth Johnson grew up and still resides on the Central Coast of California, the very location that has become the set of her novel, Faelorehn, and the inspiration for her other series, The Legend of Oescienne.

Miss Johnson has a degree in Art Practice with an emphasis in Celtic Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. She now draws much of her insight from the myths and legends of ancient Ireland to help set the theme for her books.

Besides writing and drawing, Miss Johnson enjoys reading, gardening, camping and hiking. In her free time (the time not dedicated to writing), she also practices the art of long sword combat and traditional archery.