Faery Worlds - Six Complete Novels (158 page)

Dad… isn’t my real dad,
she thought sadly. It was difficult to accept. She wasn’t glad he was dead, but she was relieved he would never have to know this. How would she deal with it? To make matters worse, she was bound to Dylan, sharing some kind of mutant blood bind connecting her to him, and to Darren in some weird sadistic way, too.
Dylan’s blood is Darren’s blood….
She cringed at the thought.

Her life was not turning out quite as she had planned. She was supposed to be in high school, cramming for finals and graduating in three weeks. This was not supposed to happen, and she missed Brisa so much. Who else could tell so many jokes, especially around a warm campfire on a freezing night? She wished Brisa had somehow been pulled into this mess, so at least Shade would not be alone right now. Even with her new friends surrounding her and their happy chatter floating about the fire, she felt the loneliness creep in again.

Sary walked over and sat next to her on the log. She winked at Shade and then settled her gaze on the fire. The silence between them was thick; Shade could sense she was aching to ask her something. She wondered what it could possibly be. Sary was quiet for the most part, unless she was with Stephen. Shade had seen how she stared dreamily into his eyes whenever they were talking. His face was a mirror of hers; their devotion radiated around them like some protective, blissful bubble. Shade couldn’t help but feel a little envious of their bond.

Shaking the thoughts away, she scolded herself. She wasn’t the type to get jealous. She was actually quite happy being the responsible older sister in a single parent home of four kids. It gave her tons of freedom to do whatever she wanted to, and she felt like she was the other adult in the house. She had no time for boys; they just mucked things up, anyway.

Her thoughts wandered to her mother, Jade. She had shoulder length hair a nice shade of brown, with caramel highlights streaked throughout it. It was wavy and never wanted to stay where she'd like it. She was happy just running her hands through and did not fuss much with it. Her big, brown eyes were interesting, too. They had a glint of grey and honey running through both of her irises. The hazel coloring in her eyes definitely stood out with only a touch of makeup on her olive skin. Shade was glad she took after her mother; she’d always seen her mother as a beautiful woman.

“Shade?” Sary’s voice gently broke into her thoughts.

“Yes, Sary?”

Sary paused for a moment, studying Shade’s face before speaking. “When this is over, will you return to Faerie at all? Or will you want to forget this all happened? I wonder because, you see… I can feel your reluctance even now about completing this task. I know it’s a hard thing to ask of you, being that our world is so alien.” She sighed nervously before continuing. “But we need you more than you could possibly perceive or understand. I can’t even imagine what you think of all this, especially after everything that’s happened so far.”

Shade felt anxious and slightly guilty because she’d been so caught up in herself and hadn’t thought about the rest of the group. She hoped she hadn’t seemed too antisocial tonight; maybe it had an adverse effect on them. She let her eyes linger on the fire, thinking hard on how to answer Sary. It was so difficult to predict the future; she never thought this would be happening to her. She searched for the right thing to say.

“Sary, I hope you don’t feel like I could just say goodbye and be done with everyone so easily. You’ve helped me so much already. I have to admit that this new world is confusing to me. It scares me to death, and I don’t feel like I belong here. I don’t have the strength or the right training for this. Everyone has said I have magic in me, but I don’t know how to use it. How could I ever survive in your world? I just feel terribly vulnerable. I would love to visit you guys when this is all done, but I don’t think I could live here.

Sary was staring at Shade, an amused look dancing on her face. She started laughing so hard she almost fell off the log.

“What’s so funny?” Shade asked, annoyed at her reaction. She was definitely confused. What the hell could be so funny about what she had said?

Sary stopped and shook her head as she cleared her throat. “I’m so sorry, Shade. I don’t mean to insult you. I just never thought of our world as that different. It’s nice to get an outsider’s view. You’re right; how inconsiderate of me. Of course you don’t feel safe. Ilarial did tell us that it was our job to show you how to use your magic. You have more in you than you think you do. I am still baffled on how you managed to trap Darren in the mirror shards; he was bloody mad about it. I can’t say he didn’t deserve it though. He deserved that glass prison and more for what he did to you.” She paused, looking a bit more serious. “So how would you like your first official magic lesson?” She grinned, her eyes twinkling in the firelight.

“Oh, I don’t know, Sary. I’m kinda tired and was about to go to bed. Maybe tomorrow?”

“No, no, right now. I promise it’ll be a short one.” She watched Shade squirm uncomfortably. “How ‘bout it?” she pushed.

Shade pressed her lips tight in frustration.
There’s no sense in fighting it
, she admitted. “Ok.”

Sary jumped up and clapped her hands; and her vibrant enthusiasm cheered Shade up. “Okay then, pick up any stone–really it can be any one that you find. Come on Shade, just pick the first one that catches your eye,” Sary repeated when Shade hesitated.

Shade groaned but bent down from the log to study the ground. Searching the particles around her, she looked at each possible stone, but none seemed to stand out. Sitting up, she shook her head slightly, about to complain that she couldn’t find one, when a glint of rock flashed in the corner of her eye. She reached out toward the edge of the log and retrieved it. The grey and white stone looked slightly out place among the other white ones imbedded in the sand. Dusting it on her jeans, she placed it in the middle of her palm. “Like this one?”

“Yes, perfect! Now, take your stone and place your other hand over it. You have enough power within you; I can feel it radiating off of you like a fire.” Sary waved her hand at her to make her go faster.

Shade protested but did what she was told. Her hands felt cold in the night air, and the stone was cool in the center of her warm palms. About to give up, she stopped, feeling it get warmer on her skin. She opened her hands, her eyes widening with amazement.

The rock was glowing with a dim yellow hue. The heat was radiating to her fingers from it, feeling as if it should have burned her, but it didn’t. Shocked, she dropped it and cradled her hands on her chest. The sand puffed up around it like a meteorite landing. The stone lost its glow until it sat still and dusty once more. She peered up at Sary, who appeared pleasantly surprised.

“Wow, that was faster than I thought it would be. You just made your first light stone! You can make your own light with it and keep your hands warm too. It won’t burn you, if that’s what you are thinking. This comes in handy on a dark and cold winter’s night,” she said with smile. Bending down, she plucked the rock out of the gravel, holding it out to Shade.

“It’s ok, Shade, take it; it will only glow when you want it to. Remember, to activate it again, put it between your hands once more. It belongs to you and only you now, so keep it near.” She gave her a quick hug as Shade took it and stuffed it into her jeans. It was small and did not bulge out too much. “Good job! I’ll let you get to your sweet dreams now.” Sary jumped up and joined Stephen, who was calling out to her. They walked away from the fire and over to their tents, chatting quietly.

Shade let out a nervous breath. She’d been taken by surprise with the light stone, but she liked the idea of it. She fished through her pocket and brought the stone out once more. Reactivating it, it burned brighter this time in her palms and warmed her chilly fingers.

Staring at it for a moment before stuffing it back in its place, she rose and walked back to her tent.

Maybe, just maybe… I can do this after all.

Chapter Twelve

THE MURMUR OF
voices amplified in the growing light of the morning. Shade moaned and wished she’d thought of bringing earplugs. Rolling over, she stuffed her pillow over her head, hoping to muffle the noise.
It can’t be morning already
! It felt like she had just laid her head against her pillow and closed her eyes. Hiking was definitely not on her cool list right now. Her muscles ached and burned.

“Shade, get up, we have to pack and get going. I brought you breakfast, you’re going to need it.” Shade felt her pillow fly off her face. Dylan stood crouched at the entrance of her tent, his lips tight with disapproval. He looked wide-awake, making her wonder how long he’d been up. Was it possible he didn’t need to sleep? He motioned to a plate of food and drink lying by her. In an instant, he was gone.

Shade blinked and rubbed her eyes. Stuffing the pillow under her neck, groaning and wanting more sleep, disappointment ran through her mind. Sleep was a pleasure of the past now, something she couldn’t quite remember having enough of. She glanced at the food he had brought; bacon and fresh scrambled eggs with a bread roll were still steaming. It looked amazing and smelled even better.

This coaxed her out of her warm bed as she pulled the food and drink toward her. Inhaling the savory aromas, she was amazed at how hungry she was. Slurping down the sweet, warm tea that Dylan had provided made her instantly feel more alert. She wondered what was in that drink; it was always so revitalizing. She’d have to ask someone. Besides, it was curious how they had managed to have bacon and eggs so fresh out here in the wild. Munching on the rich, thick slices of bacon, she enjoyed every bit.

Well, this is my one pleasure out here in this hellhole.
Shade sighed, frowning at her empty plate, the food was gone much too fast.
Good things just do not last around here
. She stretched and fumbled through her bag, and pulled her brush, washcloth and towel out, hoping there was somewhere to wash up. She yanked on her shoes then wrapped the blanket around her like a cape.

Stepping out into the cold morning air was like being electrocuted. It stung her cheeks and sent a thrill down her body.
Yaay,
winter weather.
She wondered how it seemed to be a different season every place they went in the faery lands. It didn’t seem possible it was spring back home.

Walking up toward the main fire, she looked around. She wanted to find and ask Braelynn or Sary where she could wash up, but Soap popped up in front of her instead. He grinned at her, showing off his pearly white teeth. “Where do you think you’re sneaking off to, young lady?”

Shade froze in her tracks, her face flushing and feeling guilty without reason to. Tilting her head, she gazed back upon his still smiling but suspicious face.

“I’m not sneaking off anywhere; I just want to get cleaned up. You wouldn’t happen to know where I could, um, go to uh, freshen up?” Her face flushed up scarlet once more under the cold air. Soap wasn’t the one she’d wanted to ask.

“It’s down that side of the hill a bit. It’s a large red tent. Girls on the right, boys to the left.” He winked, spun and trotted back to the camp. Shade gaped at him as he walked—no, skipped—away cheerfully. She shook her head. She couldn’t get over how strange he was. They hadn’t spoken much since they had arrived at the Teleen caverns, making her wonder if he was just being cautious with her, since it had been a Teleen who had attacked her. It was something she’d have to talk to him about later.

She turned back in the direction he had pointed her, gripping her supplies. Approaching the bathroom tent made her stop in confusion. It didn’t look like anything special; the flaps were wind-worn and faded. She wondered how it was even big enough to hold two dressing rooms, let alone anything close to a washroom. She shrugged, too tired to contemplate it for long, and willed herself to get moving.

Inside, she was shocked at how warm and humid it was. The scent of flowers blooming in the springtime permeated the air, and the tent was definitely much bigger than it appeared on the outside. It even had a foyer with a table and hanging mirror. To the right of the wooden table hung a red curtain, and beside it a blue curtain. She supposed the colors were to separate the women and men.

Heading through the red drapery, assuming it was for women, she followed the hallway as it turned toward the left. At the end it turned again to the right and opened onto a large room filled with mirrors on one side. On the other side were stalls with toilets and two showers next to them.

This reminds me of camp, only better.
Shade was impressed but not curious enough to wonder for long how it was all possible; she was just grateful it was here. She laid her stuff on one of the chairs and pulled it near one of the shower stalls. She was definitely surprised to find actual flushing toilets in the stalls.
Really, I can’t believe the faeries have all this.
She just shook her head in disbelief and undressed, stepping into a shower stall. Soap, shampoo and conditioner were provided, and she was thankful the water was hot. The steaming spray felt exhilarating on her skin and eased her aches. All too soon, she stepped out of the stall, dried her body and hair, and pulled on her fresh clothes. Running the brush through her tangled hair, she gritted her teeth then pulled it back into a tight ponytail.

Her reflection stared back at her from the mirror. For the first time since the attack, she saw her face. It made her suck in her breath. Her face was covered with small, healing pink lines, like spider webs, all across her right cheek. She looked down at her arms where she saw more of the same thin scars.
They’re all over me…
. Tracing them with her fingers, she found them smooth and a soft pink, nearly invisible to anyone who wasn’t really looking.

She studied the mirror for a bit longer to make sure it didn’t ripple or look magical in any way. A shudder ran through her as she did her best not to be reminded of Darren. Turning away when she was satisfied it was just a normal mirror, she gathered her things and grabbed the blanket Dylan had given to her the night before. She wrapped it around herself, realizing she was in dire need of a coat.
The weather here is so annoying.
She didn’t want to think about the scars, at least not yet. In a way, the blanket served like armor, covering them up and hiding her skin away. For that, she was grateful. Bundling up her old clothes in the towel, she turned to leave and ran right into Sylphi. Shade gasped, stumbling back with her eyes wide, regaining her balance.