The Earl's Childe (15 page)

However, we took so long that Mum had to rush home, telling me to keep an eye out for the police because she was
definitely
not following the speed limit. It was about quarter past twelve when we pulled up the main road. A car and a horse trailer were already parked in front of the castle's main entrance.

“Crap,” my mum muttered, pulling up behind the cars. “Heather, just take your stuff to your room, ‘kay?” She pasted a smile on her face, which transformed into a more genuine smile as Dad jogged over.

Dad kissed her on the cheek. “Let me park the car for you, love. It's just Livy and Sara-Not-Beth and their mothers. They're in the dining room with Lily, Krissy, and David.”

I couldn't help but grin. Olive Lewis and Sarah Beth Christianson had been riding with Lily and me since forever, so long that their nicknames rolled off Dad's tongue as if they were their given names.

Before we got to the door, I touched my mum's arm. “Mum, so…what do you think about using Ermie to get to Joe's family?”

“I want to talk to your dad tonight. We'll talk before you go feed Ermie.”

“But…what if they're in trouble
now?”

Mum tightened her lips. “What if the Unseelie that
Ermie
finds cruel shows up, and we've got no one here to protect us and the kids?”

I thought about that.

“That's why I don't want to rush into it. I want to think and talk to your dad.”

I nodded.

She put an arm around me. “Let's go get something to eat before the rest of the mob gets here.”

As I came into the dining room, Livy and Sara-Not-Beth tackled me with hugs.

Our usual greetings were a “Hey, Heather, how are you?” and “Fine, you?” and “Cool” in-between their
actual
conversation with Lily. I was so shocked I couldn't even tell who was saying what.

“Omigod, we're so glad you're okay!”

“We were so worried when we didn't hear from you or Lily after they posted those pictures of dead kids on Sarah Beth's mom's page!”

“And they found the body over by the loch!”

“Holy crud, are you
really
taller than me?!”

I hugged each of them back, my face burning in embarrassment from the attention. My family and I had worked out a story to talk around the whole involvement of Faerie and stuff, so my mind was spinning to remember it all.

“Growth spurt, yeah,” I mumbled. “But I never saw anything, really… I just fell off Oppie and got hurt when he got spooked by another horse on the trails.”

“So, you all are okay, right?” Livy asked with a sweet smile, twirling her “it's not really ginger!” ginger-brown hair.

I couldn't help but smile back. “Yeah, we're all okay.”

“Cool.” Sara-Not-Beth gently punched me in the shoulder, tossing her shaggy blonde bangs, possibly the longest part of her hair. “So, we'll be seeing you on the Saint Bridget's polo team, yeah? We seriously need some help. We got perfectly slaughtered the last two years.”

“S-n-B has decided she's totally into sports now instead of drama.” Lily smirked, throwing an arm around Sara-Not-Beth as I processed her new nickname. “Corey from St. Tom's likes athletic girls.”

“It's
not
about Corey!”

The conversation immediately veered to Corey Whoever. As things returned more to normal, with Lily and her friends chatting to each other, I felt a mixture of relief and a familiar dejection as their conversation left me in the dust. But it was
familiar
, and I was okay with that.

I had started making a plate from the spread on the dining room table when Mum came in with Livy's and Sara-Not-Beth's mums. They each greeted me with light kisses on the cheek, telling me how happy they were that we were all okay, and blah, blah, blah—more refined versions of their daughters' earlier squeals.

And the afternoon continued onward. Jenna and little Sarah Beth Garrity, our friends from the village, arrived next, with their mum. Little Sarah Beth, who was six, came over to me and started talking to me about my pony, East.

I smiled, putting an arm around her. I'd snuck out of the castle and into Faerie to bring little Sarah Beth a token of the human world so she wouldn't forget about us while Lady Fana and Lord Cadmus kept her away from the kelpie. She didn't remember any of it, which I knew was for her own good, but it made me a little sad. But she was safe and alive, and it was because of what I'd done.

My youngest sister and brother, Ivy and Ash, skipped into the dining room and made a beeline to little Sarah Beth. The three exchanged adorable-little-kid hugs and started talking in a pitch and speed that sounds alien to anyone aged above single digits. With the possible exception of nannies. In the doorway, Anita was giving me a
look
.

I frowned. It wasn't a harsh look; it was a “you'll never make friends if you don't try” kind of look. Annoying. I took my frustration out by gnawing on a pear.

I looked over to where my sister was holding court. I'd heard Mum use that term before, and it was perfect. Lily smiled brilliantly at one end of a horseshoe of onlookers, emphasizing whatever gospel she was sharing with dramatic— but not so dramatic as to be inappropriate for the size of the show—gestures and postures.

Yeah, no.

Watching them all, even though I knew most of them, made my stomach twist. I'd
known
most of the girls in my school, too, and where did that get me? In a bunch of fights, nearly expelled, and my second-best friend taken out of school. Lily was my sister, and I knew she had my back and wouldn't
let
any of her friends hurt me, but still.

It wasn't that I was scared or anything. I just didn't have anything in common with Lily and her friends.

God, I missed Joe—Joe, who I wanted to know was safe right now, but couldn't.

“Oi, you! Who are you and what did you do to Lily's
little
sister?” came a familiar, sarcastic-but-not-mean voice.

Jared and Chris, who, like Livy and Sara-Not-Beth, had been in the original riding group we'd belonged to in London, bounded over to me like oversized not-quite-puppies. If the two of them hadn't been crushing on Lily for forever, I might actually enjoy hanging out with them.

“Same wall-flower posture.” Chris gave me a once-over in response to Jared's comment. He played goalkeeper for his school's football team, and looked it. While not quite freakishly tall, like I was obviously going to be, his deep brown skin showed off some pretty well-defined muscles under his polo shirt. “Same scowl at the world.” He smacked Jared's arm. “Seriously, you need to start using some of Criss Angel here's eyeliner or something.”

“Probably the same ability to kick your butt if you cheese her off.” Jared punched him back with a vampire-pale hand and then shoved aside his angled bangs of ultra-flat-black, revealing his perfectly black-lined hazel eyes. You wouldn't guess he did anything athletic, but he was seriously the best dressage rider of the lot of us. And he took karate.

I smirked at the two of them. “Same ability to kick both your butts if you cheese me off. But don't let me hold you up. Her Highness is talking about her most-awesome, very-first-ever-line in a Hollywood feature film.”

“Lily was in a movie?” Chris perked up even more. “Wicked!”

Jared also brightened up, but he grabbed my arm. “Miss Star of Stage and Screen also sent us a text that if we saw you in one of your funks to drag you, kicking and screaming, into something social. Come on!”

“Hey, what about that part about me being able to kick your butt?” I was surprised at my own lack of kicking and screaming as he dragged me into the group.

“I said you could kick Chris's butt.
I
just got my black belt last spring, and according to your Facebook post in April, that's still two ahead of you, so don't make me have to show off or anything.”

“You remember my Facebook posts?”

“Um, yeah. Didn't you see I liked it?”

“I was kind of busy at school… I wasn't checking Facebook much.”

“I noticed.” He put an arm around me, which I kind of liked more than I expected. “I left
them
some nasty comments of my own, but I'm guessing you didn't see those either.”

I bit my lip. I hadn't. “I just deleted them and didn't look at any comments.”

“Hey, you'll be at Saint Bridget's in the fall, right? I bet none of those jerks got in. You'll be with your people.”

“Yeah, that'll be better.”

Jared gave me another half-hug, then tweaked me on the nose. “Remember, you're the better person. And, seriously, you need anyone to go Older-Kick-Butt-Brother on anyone, you can call me and Chris, all right?”

I gave him a smile, ignoring the bit of sour in my stomach at being relegated to “little sister.” But I replied as the better person and said, “And if you need me to kick any dumb-jock-butt for picking on you for wearing make-up, you can call me.”

Jared laughed and slapped me on the back, making me feel a little bit better about being around people. People who, if not
my
friends, at least weren't actively making my life miserable.

CHAPTER

8

Sometimes even the best choices have horrible consequences
.

Dad blew a long breath through half-puckered lips and looked between Mum and me as he leaned on his elbows at his desk. He was considering what I'd just proposed about sending Ermie to rescue Joe and his family. I could see he was bouncing his heel below him while he thought.

As if she were some counterbalance, Mum, who usually had a finger or something tapping, sat perfectly calm and still in her chair while staring at Dad.

Finally, he focused on Mum. “Hunter said that she'd heard there was a rescue team coming in for them, aye?”

Mum nodded slowly, eyes avoiding mine. I didn't like where this conversation was going.

Dad closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. After a sigh, he spoke, “I think…I think that Prince Christopher and Princess Maryan have actually fought in a war before. Both of them were on front lines. That's how they met. And now, now they have guards, people coming in for them. Likely more than we even know.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but a sour burning in my throat ate my words.

Dad held up a finger. “Let me finish, please.” He looked at me until I nodded. “I know they've got Joseph, Anne, and Richard with them, wherever they are, and I know that's hell.” The weight of the oath on his lips and his stare on me were so heavy I shifted in my chair. “But…there are twenty kids here, in addition to all our family. And the coaches. And the McInnis family. And—and the whole village, perhaps, with even more children and parents and families who love each other. Most of whom are already battered from the storm, few of whom have seen any action or battles. Christ,” he breathed, nailing my squirming to a halt. Two oaths, one a major one—taking the Lord's name in vain. “I hate to…I hate to…to calculate, but…” He clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.

“More people could get hurt, or are likely to get hurt, if we send Ermie away?” My voice sounded like a squeak that I couldn't fix.

Dad kept his eyes closed, but nodded. “And as much as I don't trust the kelpie, he's
all
we've got.”

Since Mum had brought up leaving us unprotected, I'd been thinking the same thing. From his face, I could tell it made Dad every bit as sick as it made me. We couldn't help Joe and his family.

“I agree,” Mum murmured. I tore my gaze from my dad to her, but her eyes were glued to the cell-phone charm she was fiddling with. “It's a sh-crappy decision, but it's the best one we've got.”

Tears itched at my eyes, and I tried to blink them away. My stomach churned, and I felt like it was filled with lead, and I just wanted to puke it out.
But…Joe?

A knock at the closed door made all of three of us jump so hard we had to catch our balances to keep from falling out of our chairs.