Nevermor (25 page)

“You do like
your freedom, don’t you?  That’s why you live here.”

“It’s what I’ve
always strived for,” he agreed, “to keep that freedom – to never let anyone
take it away from me.”

She smiled as
she thought of what it must be like to be completely free, with no worries or
cares about tomorrow.

“I’d like it if
you’d teach me sometime.  Flying, I mean.  You said before that I couldn’t do
it without you.”

“Don’t ever
try,” he reminded her again.

Standing there
with him, talking about freedom, she nearly forgot all her troubles – until the
one thing that was still bothering her pressed on her mind.

“Rifter, about
my brothers…”

He smiled and
laughed incredulously, already knowing what she was going to say.

“You’re not
going to let that go, are you?”

“No, it’s very
important to me,” she said seriously.  She searched for a way to explain it,
and she supposed that the truth was the best option.  “They’re my family.  I’m
supposed to look after them.  I’ve pretty much promised them that.  If I don’t
go back, or if I can’t find a way to bring them here, then it’s like I
abandoned them.  I couldn’t live with myself if I did that.  I couldn’t be
happy here if I knew that I had left them.”

That seemed to
have an effect on him, though she wasn’t sure what.  He studied her carefully
as if to decide whether she was bluffing.

“You’ll forget
about it eventually,” he said, sounding so sure that he was right.  Perhaps
that was how it happened for him, but not for her.

“I won’t,” she
promised.  “That’s not something I would be able to forget.  And knowing that
they won’t ever forget it either would bother me.”

He was quiet
again as her words sunk in.

“It means that
much to you?” he asked, finally understanding.

“Yes,” she
assured him.  “It really does.  It’s the one thing I’ve been focused on since
we’ve been on our own.  I just want us to be together – to live on our own
terms without having to worry about tomorrow.”

He nodded
thoughtfully.  It took him a few moments to mull it over, and he looked somber
as he did.  Eventually, he met her eyes again.

“Alright, I’ll
do it.  I’ll go after them tomorrow.  For
you
.”

Wren was so
overcome with happiness that she couldn’t say anything for a few moments.  Her
face lit up as she looked at him, near tears for her joy.

“Thank you!” she
gushed, clasping her hands to her chest in relief.  “Thank you so much!”

Before she could
stop herself, she had thrown her arms around him in a hug, not even considering
that he might push her away.  After she had done it, however, she was quick to
catch herself.  She didn’t linger, retreating from it almost as quickly as she
had put it on him.

“I’m sorry,” she
said in embarrassment, pulling back.  “I’m just...”

She hadn’t quite
managed to get away before she felt his hands on her back, holding her in.  Her
body seized up, her muscles rigid.  She took in a sharp breath and forgot to
let it out again, and then she was looking into his eyes as he peered back into
hers.

He was close
enough that he could have kissed her, and she secretly wished that he would.  A
tingle of excitement ran through her at the thought.  She’d never kissed a boy
– not legitimately; not since she’d been old enough to understand what it
meant, and she couldn’t think of anyone she’d rather share that with other than
him.

He looked into
her eyes, examined the shape of her mouth.  Her heart was pulsing rapidly
inside her, anticipating, but instead of moving to claim what he could have
had, he only smiled.

“We should
probably be getting back,” he said, taking her away from that moment.  She
didn’t want to seem too anxious for something that wasn’t even on his mind, so
she broke free of her romantic haze and nodded in agreement.

He took her hand
and led her away from the fairy lights, back toward the home in the underground
cave.  Despite how he had denied her, Wren was pleased with how that had gone. 
It hadn’t been as hard as she’d thought to convince him about her brothers, and
there was another thing to be happy about: he was still holding her hand.

Silently – and
with pleasure – she wondered if that had anything to do with his cooperation.

1

When they came
back into the den, none of the others seemed to be there.  Wren guessed that
maybe they had gone to the beach even though Rifter wasn’t with them, but when
he turned to her with a sly expression, she sensed that something else was
afoot.

“One second,” he
said, holding up a finger, and then he had walked off down the tunnel that led
to the boys’ rooms.  She was suddenly aware of noises and whispers coming from
down there, and though she tried to peer forward from where she was, she could
not see.

Rifter was gone
for a few moments, during which the whispers grew with more energy, but Wren
couldn’t hear what they were saying.  She didn't have to be told that the
others were down there too.  She had figured out that much.  What were they up
to?  Shortly, Rifter reappeared.

“Come on.”  He
motioned to her with his head, indicating that she should follow him down the
tunnel.

She agreed, and
while she thought a surprise might be nice, she didn’t know how she should feel
about a surprise from
them
.  From what she had seen so far, she didn’t
know what to expect. 
They were as likely to present
her with a bloody sow's head as they were to give her a bouquet of roses –
perhaps more the prior.
  It was with caution that she followed, and it
wasn’t long before she was able to see all of them standing there – with the
exception of Nix – waiting for her.

She was even
more suspicious now.

“Every one of us
has his own space,” Rifter said, “and if you’re going to stay, I figured that
you should have your own room too.”

My own room?
  Her eyes were
glowing with pleasure, and she knew now that she had been accepted by them. 
They stood back out of the way and Rifter lifted the curtain that was behind
him to let her
look through
.  Wren was excited
to see it, and she went in eagerly as the others watched for her reaction.

The space wasn’t
any bigger than the others, but the ceiling was rock, with a lovely striae of
color.  There was a light in the corner, made of three iron arches that each
held a candle.  A level tree stump there could be used as a chair or a small
table.  A square in the floor, surrounded by a pattern of stones, was set as a
place where she could build a fire.  The bed was a round disc that was
suspended from the ceiling by netting, stuffed with down and covered in soft
furs.  It looked so welcoming that she wanted to go to it straight away, but it
was not quite time for that yet.

Looking around
the space, she saw that they had all given her a gift – taking from their
possessions so that she would have some of her own.  There was a book on the
bed, no doubt given by Sly.  She suspected Toss for the lamp, but he had also
given her one of his twisted sculptures
that she had
been admiring before
.  There was a piece of a mirror that she was sure
had been given by Finn
judging by the way
it
was held to the wall by spare hooks and pieces of metal.  The twins had offered
up a pair of rugs that were vastly different – one was tiger and the other was
fox.  She was touched by this show of acceptance, but at the end of that, it
didn’t escape her that one was missing.

Nix had not
given her anything, but she had to shrug it off.  How could she have hoped to
win all of them over so quickly?

“Do you like
it?” Toss asked.

She turned to
see them all standing there, waiting for her reaction, yet she didn’t think she
could hide her elation if she’d wanted to.

“It’s…”  She was
at a loss for words.  She was sure they would have laughed at her if they’d
noticed that she was tearing up a bit, but if they caught onto it, they didn’t
say anything.  “It’s wonderful!  You all did this for me?”

They all looked
very happy that she was pleased, and were even more so when she hugged each of
them.  They must have been working the whole time she was gone with Rifter, and
Rifter seemed to know about it, which meant they must have planned it ahead of
time.  She was sure they didn’t know it, but this was more than anyone had done
for her in a long time.

“Alright,
alright,” Rifter said, ushering the rest of them away.  “Give the lady some
privacy.”

The others
scuttled off but Wren met Rifter in the doorway where he lingered, smiling
because he had managed to keep this secret from her.

“Did you tell
them to do this?” she asked.

He shrugged as
if it was nothing.  “It seemed only right that you have your own room.  I just
had them set it up.”

“I really
appreciate it,” she said earnestly, and she was surprised when she saw that he
averted his eyes a little.  Had she embarrassed him?  She felt more confident,
as if she had trumped him.  She put on a teasing smile.

“You know, I
think all the others gave me something, but you didn’t.”

“I’m giving you
your brothers.  Isn’t that enough?”

She nodded,
agreeing that it was the best thing he could have given her.  If she had to
pluck a thousand birds and skin a million rabbits, she wasn’t sure she could
ever pay him back for that.  She wanted to thank him again, but couldn’t seem
to get the words out.  She could only hope that her gratitude was shining out
through her eyes.

“Goodnight,
Wren,” he said as he backed out of the room, leaving her to herself.

Wren was left
with gladness in her heart and butterflies in her stomach.  Putting the day
aside, the night had been wonderful.  She was still seeing the glowing lights
of the wisps floating around before her eyes, imagining Rifter’s closeness…

She lay down on
the hanging bed and couldn’t keep the smile from her face.  Things were finally
starting to look up.  Her time in Nevermor so far had been questionable, but it
was getting better.  She had been accepted and given a place among them.  The
time she’d spent with Rifter had been a thrill, leaving her with all sorts of
good feelings, and on top of that, he had agreed to bring her brothers here.

Perhaps for the
first time in years, things were finally going well.

Everything is
going to work out now,
she thought with contentment as she closed her
eyes. 
Everything is going to be fine.

2

Rifter went back
to the den, smiling to himself.  He found that it was satisfying to make the
girl happy.  Her smile was a compliment that was nearly matched with the way he
loved to be praised for his feats.  This was a surprising – but not unwelcome –
revelation.

He was not quite
sure about what he had promised concerning her brothers.  When he had gone
after her in the beginning, he had looked at every one of those children at the
orphanage.  They were all too young, so thin and weak-looking.  She was the
only one who had found Nevermor, therefore she was the only one who was worthy
to be chosen.  He couldn't take in every stray that crossed
him, but he'd made an exception in her case
.

She had been so
pretty laying there.  She was even lovelier up close.

When he reached
the den, the Pack was already lounging about, but looked up when he came in.

“Aren’t you
impressed with us?” Finn asked.  “We put that together pretty fast.  Are we
amazing or what?”

“You’re an
amazing pain in the ass,” Rifter said jokingly.  “Don’t have such a big head.”

He smiled in his
own amusement and moved toward Whisper’s loft.  She hadn’t come out to see him
when he had gotten back, hiding in her bed and sulking over how he had sent her
away before.  He’d known she was weak,
even if she
wouldn't admit it
.  She needed to rest, whether she wanted to or not.

"I'm back,
you know," he told her.  “You could at least acknowledge me.”

She told him to
piss off.  He thought that was funny.  Behind him, the boys were still going on
about the room they'd assembled
.

“Well, Wren
seemed impressed, even if you aren’t,” Finn taunted, leaning back in a hammock
that he had strung up between two corners.

“I think Wren
was most pleased with
me
for it,” Mech said
confidently,
putting his feet up on the table
.

“She was not,”
his brother protested, shoving him.

“Of course she
was!  Did you see how she hugged me?”

 “She hugged all
of us, you dolt,” Sly rebuked, rolling his eyes.

“Yes, but she
hugged me
longest
,” Mech continued to insist with a mischievous smile. 
“Don’t deny.  You all saw it!”