Spells (16 page)

“Sorry,” Laurel said again. “I’ll make sure to kick him out next time.”

“Please do,” her mom said teasingly.

They both turned when they heard her dad whistling as he came down the stairs. He greeted them both and dropped a kiss on his wife’s cheek in exchange for a cup of coffee.

“Are you guys both working today?” Laurel asked.

“Is it Saturday?” her mom said wryly.

“No rest for the wicked,” her dad said with a grin. He looked at her mom. “And we are very, very wicked.” They laughed and for a moment Laurel felt like they had gone back in time to before she blossomed last year. Before anything was weird; back when they were normal.

Her smile melted away when she realized her dad was studying her with a strange look. “What?” she said as her dad walked over.

“What happened to your blossom?” her dad asked, concerned. “You’re missing petals!”

The
last
thing Laurel wanted this morning was a family discussion about her blossom. “They just fall out sometimes,” she said. “Tying them down every day isn’t super good for them. I was wondering—”

“Do you need to stay home from school when you bloom so this doesn’t happen?” her dad asked, interrupting her.

Laurel saw her mom’s eyes widen.

“No, of course not,” Laurel protested. “I’ve totally got this under control. It’s fine.”

“I guess you would know,” he said reluctantly. He went back to sipping his coffee, but he studied her over the rim of his mug.

“Since you guys will be at work,” Laurel said, pulling the conversation back on track, “do you mind if I go out to the land?”

Her mom gave her a sidelong look. “How come?” she asked.

“I need to do some cleaning,” Laurel said, trying to hold a neutral face. “When I came back from…when I was there in August the place looked pretty bad. I really should go fix it up so some hobo doesn’t decide to live there,” she said, laughing awkwardly.

“I thought
they
kept stuff like that from happening,” her mom said.

“Well, yeah, probably, but I’m not going to ask a bunch of sentries to be my maids.”

“I think that’s understandable,” her dad said, jumping in. “And the place probably could use a good cleaning.” He looked at her mom. “Does that sound okay with you?”

Her mom mustered up a tight smile. “Sure. Of course.”

“Thanks,” Laurel murmured, looking away. Part of her wished she hadn’t asked.

LAUREL SAT IN HER CAR FOR SEVERAL MINUTES,
just staring at the cabin.
Her
cabin, or very nearly. She’d been here often enough in the last year—on her way to and from Avalon, as well as the times she’d come to see Tamani last fall. But she hadn’t been inside since moving to Crescent City almost a year and a half ago. Where the lawn wasn’t blanketed in two seasons’ worth of leaves, it grew long and shaggy and the bushes had grown high enough to cover half of the front windows. Laurel sighed. She hadn’t thought about the yard when she packed her cleaning supplies. The most obvious solution was to bring David next time, along with a lawn mower and hedge trimmers, but that would be painfully awkward at best.

Another day; she certainly had enough to do for now. She popped the trunk, picked up a bucket full of sponges, rags, and other cleaning supplies she’d packed that morning, and lugged it toward the front door.

The door squeaked on its hinges as she walked into the cabin. It was weird to walk into a totally vacant house; houses were meant to be filled with stuff and people and music and smells. The wide front room that took up most of the bottom floor seemed gaping now. A room full of empty.

Laurel set the bucket down on the kitchen cabinet and walked around to the sink, turning the water on. After a short gurgle a stream of copper-stained water poured out of the spigot. Laurel let it run for a moment and soon the water slipping down the drain was clear. She smiled, strangely comforted as the sound of running water filled the room and echoed off the bare walls.

She circled the downstairs, unlocking and opening all the windows, letting the crisp autumn breeze flow through the house, cleansing it of the stale, stuffy air that had been trapped inside for months. The window to the right of the front door wouldn’t open, and Laurel struggled with it for a few seconds.

“Let me get that for you,” a quiet voice said from just behind her.

Even though she’d been expecting him, Laurel jumped. She moved aside and let Tamani spray something from a small bottle on each side of the window before lifting the sash easily. He turned to her with a grin. “There you go.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling back.

He said nothing, just shifted a little to lean up against the wall.

“I’m here to do some housecleaning,” Laurel said, gesturing to the bucket of supplies.

“I see that.” He looked around the empty room. “It’s been a while since anyone was in here. Ages since I was.”

They stood for long seconds in a cloud of silence that felt awkward to Laurel but didn’t seem to bother Tamani in the least.

Finally, Laurel stepped forward to hug him. His arms twined around her back, instantly finding the lump of her bound blossom and he jerked back as if shocked. “Sorry,” he said hastily, crossing his arms over his chest. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Laurel said, her hands hurrying to the knot at her waist. “I was going to undo it as soon as the windows were open.” Her petals sprang up as soon as they were released and Laurel didn’t bother to suppress her sigh of relief. “This is one of the best parts about being here,” she said lightly.

Tamani started to smile, but his eyes fixed on the blue and white petals. “What the hell happened?” he asked, stepping behind her.

“Um…that’s the other reason I’m here,” Laurel admitted. “The cleaning was what I told my parents to get them to let me come.”

But Tamani was hardly listening. He was staring, aghast, at her back, his hands clenched into fists. “How?” he whispered.

“Trolls,” Laurel said quietly.

His head jerked up. “Trolls? Where? At your house?”

Laurel shook her head. “I was dumb,” she said, trying to downplay just how bad the situation had been. “I went to this party last night. They found us and ran our car off the road. I’m fine, though.”

“Where were your sentries?” Tamani demanded. “They aren’t just there to guard your house, you know.”

“I think they might have been…occupied with other things,” Laurel said. “When we got home, Mom said something about dogs fighting in the back.”

“You could have been killed!” Tamani exclaimed. He glanced at her back again. “It looks like you almost were.”

“A…woman found us, just in time. She chased off the trolls.”

“A woman? Who?”

Laurel handed Klea’s card to Tamani.

“Klea Wilson. Who is she?”

Laurel relayed the story of the previous night, with several interruptions from Tamani asking for clarification here, more details there. By the time she was done, she felt like she’d relived the entire ordeal. “And then she made us take the guns and we left,” she finished. “It was so weird. I have no clue who she is.”

“Who—” Tamani paused and paced a few steps. “There’s no way—” More pacing. Finally he stood still, his arms crossed over his chest. “I’ve got to talk to Shar about this. This is…problematic.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Laurel asked.

“Stop going out at night?” Tamani suggested.

Laurel rolled her eyes. “Besides that. Should I trust her? If I’m in trouble and the sentries aren’t around—”

“They should
always
be around,” Tamani said darkly.

“But if they’re not, if I see this woman again…do I trust her?”

“She’s a human, right?”

Laurel nodded.

“Then no, we don’t trust her.”

Laurel gaped at him. “Because she’s human? What’s that supposed to say about David? Or my parents?”

“So you want to trust her?”

“No. I don’t. Maybe. I don’t know. Tell me not to trust her because she hunts nonhumans or because she gave us guns. But you can’t just decide that she’s not trustworthy because she’s a human. That’s not fair.”

Tamani held his hands out in frustration. “It’s all I’ve got, Laurel. I have nothing else to judge her on.”

“She did save my life.”

“Fine, I’ll take away one strike.” He walked over and leaned against the wall beside her.

Laurel sighed. “Why is this happening now?” she asked, frustration creeping into her voice. “I mean, it’s been almost a year since Barnes, and nothing. And then in one night, bam! Trolls, Klea, more trolls at my house. All at once. Why?” Laurel asked, turning her head to look at Tamani.

“Well,” Tamani said hesitantly, “there hasn’t exactly been nothing for the last year.” He looked apologetic. “We didn’t think you needed to know about every troll that passed through Crescent City and glanced your way.”

“There have been others?” Laurel asked.

“A few. But you’re right, this is the best organized, most carefully targeted attack I’ve had any report of.”

“I can’t believe there were others,” Laurel said in disbelief. “I really don’t have any control over my life.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not like that. Most of them never made it within a half mile of your house. The sentries took care of them. No big deal.”

Laurel scoffed. “‘No big deal.’ Easy for you to say.”

“It was under control,” Tamani insisted.

“How about last night? Was last night under control?”

“No,” Tamani admitted. “It wasn’t. But nothing like that has ever happened before.”

“Then why now?”

Tamani smiled wearily. “It’s a good question. If I knew, it might answer some of my questions as well. Like why the trolls have stopped sniffing around here lately, or how Jeremiah Barnes figured out the gate is on this land, or who’s really giving orders to who in this fiasco. It’s one of the many things we’re still trying to figure out.”

Laurel was silent for a moment. “So what do I do?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Take things slow, I guess. Be careful and try to avoid getting into a situation where this Klea person might come around again.”

“Oh, trust me, I will.”

“For the moment, though, I think that’s all you can do. I’ll talk to Shar. We’ll see if we can figure anything else out. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Thanks for coming to tell me,” he said. “I really appreciate it. And not just because I get to see you. Though it’s a nice bonus. Oh,” he said, reaching into his pack. “I have something for you. Jamison gave it to me.” He handed her a large cloth sack. Laurel took it and peered into it for a second before laughing.

“What is it?” Tamani asked, confused.

“Powdered sugarcane. I make potion vials out of it and I’m almost out.” She shook her head. “Now I can break a hundred more vials,” she said ruefully.

“Things still not working?” Tamani asked, trying to hide his concern.

“No,” Laurel said lightly, “but they will. Especially now that I have a ton more of this,” she added with a grin.

Tamani smiled before his eyes slipped to the side, focusing on something just over her shoulder.

“What?” Laurel asked, craning her neck to look self-consciously at her petals.

“Sorry,” he said, apologizing again. “It’s so beautiful and I hardly got to see it last year.”

Laurel laughed and spun, showing off her bloom. By the time she got back around, Tamani was conscientiously studying Laurel’s bucket of cleaning stuff. Laurel thought about the conversation she and David had about how sexy he thought her blossom was. If it was sexy to David…

No more spinning
.

“So what is all this?” Tamani asked, covering the awkward moment.

“Just cleaning stuff. Glass cleaner, floor cleaner, multipurpose cleaner.” She pulled out a pair of rubber gloves. “And these, so none of it gets on me.”

“So…can I help?”

“I only brought one pair of gloves, but”—she pulled out a feather duster—“you can dust.”

“How about I clean and you dust.”

“It’s just dusting,” Laurel said with a laugh. “You don’t have to wear a ruffly apron or anything.”

Tamani shrugged. “Fine. It’s just weird.”

“Why’s it weird?” Laurel asked as she filled her bucket with warm, sudsy water and donned her gloves.

“This is Ticer work. It’s weird to see you doing it. That’s all.”

Laurel laughed as she ran her sponge over the dusty countertops. “I thought you were getting uncomfortable because it’s ‘women’s work.’”

“Humans,” Tamani muttered derisively, shaking his head. Then, cheerily, “I’ve scrubbed many a room in my day.”

They worked in silence for a time, Tamani clearing cobwebs from several of the corners, Laurel scrubbing at the counters and cabinets in the kitchen.

“You really should let me bring you some cleaning supplies from Avalon if you’re going to do this very often,” Tamani said. “My mom knows a M—ah, Fall who makes the very best stuff. You wouldn’t need the gloves.”

“You were going to say
Mixer
,” Laurel teased.

“I’m a soldier,” Tamani said, his voice taking on an exaggerated formality. “I am surrounded by uncouth sentries from dawn to dusk. I apologize for my vulgar behavior.”

Laurel looked up at him, watching her with a playful, almost taunting, smile. She stuck out her tongue, which made him laugh. “Well, if it’s not an inconvenience, faerie cleaning supplies would be nice,” she said. “How is your mom?”

“Good. She would like to see you again.”

“And Rowen?” Laurel asked, evading the question his statement implied.

Tamani smiled broadly now. “Had her first performance at the equinox festival; she was adorable. She held the train for the faerie playing Guinevere in the
Camelot
retelling.”

“I bet she was beautiful.”

“She was. You should come to a festival one of these days.”

The possibilities loomed large in Laurel’s mind. “Maybe someday,” she said with a smile. “When things aren’t so…you know.”

“There’s no place in the world safer for you than Avalon,” Tamani said.

“I know,” Laurel said with a quick glance out the window.

“What are you looking for?” Tamani asked.

“The other sentries.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you get tired of knowing there’s always someone listening to you?”

“Nah. They’re polite. They’ll give us our privacy.”

Laurel snorted in disbelief. “Admit it, if it was Shar and some strange girl,
you’d
spy.”

Tamani’s face froze for a second before his eyes darted to the window too. “Fine,” he admitted. “You win.”

“It’s one reason I don’t know that I could ever live in this cabin again. Never really being alone.”

“There are other advantages,” Tamani said not-so-teasingly.

“Oh, I’m sure,” Laurel said, not taking the bait. “But privacy isn’t one of them.”

They cleaned silently for a while longer. At first, Laurel wished she had thought to bring a radio or something. But Tamani didn’t seem to mind the silence, and soon Laurel realized that it wasn’t really silent at all. The breeze winding through the trees and wafting through the windows was a sound track all its own.

“Is it hard?” Tamani asked suddenly.

“What?” Laurel said, looking up from the window she was polishing.

“Living a human life? Now that you know what you are?”

Laurel was still for a long time before she nodded. “Sometimes. What about you? Isn’t it hard living in the forest so close to Avalon, but on the wrong side of the gate?”

“It was when I started, but I’m used to it now. And I really am close. I go back a lot. Plus, I have friends—faerie friends—who are with me all the time.” He paused for a few seconds. “Are you happy?” he whispered.

“Now?” she replied, her voice equally low as her hands clenched the paper towels.

Smiling sadly, Tamani shook his head. “I know you’re happy now. I can see it in your eyes. But are you happy when we’re—when you’re not here?”

“Of course,” Laurel said quickly. “I’m very happy.” She turned and rubbed hard at the windows.

Tamani’s expression didn’t change.

“I have every reason to be happy,” Laurel continued, forcing her voice to stay calm. “I have a great life.”

“I never said you didn’t.”

“You’re not the only person who makes me happy.”

A tiny nod and a grimace. “I’m quite aware of that.”

“The human world isn’t as dreary and bleak as you like to believe. It’s fun and exciting and”—she searched for another word—“and…”