Breaking Out (6 page)

“
Now that you’re a righteous vegan, you
probably wouldn’t taste that great to a shark.
” He snatched
away the take-out bag, growling deep in his chest. “Just leave some
meat for Samson.” I added with a smirk.

My two companions ate their steaks while I
packed our stuff with shaky hands. I’d already paid for the room,
so we were good to go. I threw us into the lines, the feel of the
magic calming me in a way nothing else could. Even though I wasn’t
going home, it was becoming clearer I needed advice. But who should
I call?

CHAPTER SIX

A week after
the debacle in Napa, Jay and I were standing in a gas station
convenience store in San Louie Obispo, Samson waiting unhappily
outside. We’d spent the night in a motel 5, or maybe a 4. It was
crappy but the shower worked and the bed was softer than the
ground. The mysterious note from Ammon had been weighing on my
mind, hence my current frustration at the lack of success in
finding a working pay phone.

After our experience in the Napa area, things
had been pretty normal, but I couldn’t stop feeling like I was
being constantly watched and it gave me the creeps. Every night,
I’d put protective spells on the motel doors, knowing full well
that they’d be as effective against an ancient magic user as a
strip of scotch tape, but it made Jay feel safer. I hadn’t slept
too much the last few nights, but Jay’s snores were music to my
ears…kind of.

“C’mon, c’mon.” I was trying to call Faerie
using the in-case-of-emergency number I’d memorized a couple of
months ago, but I wasn’t hearing it ring. It seemed kind of weird,
calling Faerie like it was some take-out pizza joint, but Aedus had
set up an office, taking care of all the magical rigmarole that was
necessary for a phone to work.

I needed some advice so I could sleep again,
too.

I slammed down the receiver when I realized
the pay phone was broken. This was the third one I’d tried. Don’t
stores have working pay phones anymore? There must be someone in
the state who doesn’t have a cell. Using the motel phone wasn’t an
option because we might have to stay there again tonight. Last
thing I wanted was Sasha or Liam showing up at my door, telling me
in exact detail how they were going to beat the crap outta me.

“What’s up, bro?”

I grunted, pounding on the wall of the booth
in time with my words. “What do you think?”

“I think you’ve been in a messed up funk all
morning.” Jay took a few nacho chips out of the super-sized bag and
stuffed them in his mouth. The cheesy powder was all over his
fingers and around his lips. He saw me staring and offered me the
bag.

I shook my head, choosing to forgo the
artificial cheese and orange dye #322. “We’ve managed to find
another piece of crap phone and I still need to speak to Fin.” I’d
told him this was my plan first thing this morning, but Jay was
choosing to zone me out and listen only to the stuff that
interested him. He got that way when he was worried.

“That Fin dude? He’s spooky, right?”

“No spookier than Isaiah, and you say you two
became buddies.”

“Pfft. I talked to him once for about fifteen
minutes.”

“You found out a lot in that time.”

“I haf my vays.” He’d used a horrible German
accent. Why me?

Three more chips disappeared into his bright
orange mouth. The crunching was making my ears ache. I snatched
away the bag. “Hey, I would’ve shared,” he protested, frowning.

“We’re eating a good meal tonight. Something
with vegetables.” I stormed outside and threw the bag in the
trashcan.

“Corn chips are made from corn.”

“A green vegetable.”

“Yes, Mom.” He produced a bag of fried
onions, holding one up. “This is made with onions. They’re
vegetables.”

“They’re not green.”

“Maybe they’re green onions.”

“You’re an idiot.” I stormed off in the
direction of a small shopping center.

“Fine. But no brussel sprouts. Jeez. Who
would’ve thought you’d turn into Mrs. Simpson?”

“I don’t think Marge Simpson cares about what
her kids eat.”

“Sure she does. She’s a good Mom.”

I groaned. “C’mon. We need to find another
phone.”

Ten minutes later we walked into a coffee
shop that had an old fashioned phone booth in the back.
Fortunately, the phone was working. Unfortunately, Aedus answered
the call, speaking in Fae.

“Charles? Where are you?”

I continued speaking in English so the
customers didn’t hear me speaking a language developed before
humans took their first steps on the planet. My luck, they’d think
I was a terrorist. “I need to talk to Fin.”

His voice grew colder than normal, which was
tough since he was usually an iceberg around me. “You wish to speak
to
Lord
Finvarra, the King of Faerie, the Supreme Ruler and
most powerful being in all the realms, the…”

I cut him off. “Lord Aedus,
cousin
,
forgive me.” I could play this game too. “I beg the honor of
speaking to Lord Finvarra,
our
grandfather.” Aedus’ dad,
Lord Caelen, was Kennet’s big brother.

“To what does this request pertain?”

“It’s personal.” I made the Lord Aedus
gesture with my free hand so Jay would see I’d gotten though to
someone. It involved looking in a pretend hand mirror and moving my
head so I could see every angle. Jay laughed, almost choking on a
disgusting fried onion. Man, his breath was gonna stink.

Aedus had heard Jay laugh, his tone growing
colder. Was that even possible? I was going to be shivering in a
minute. “I cannot disturb him unless I know what this is about.
Where are you?”

“I’m hanging up in two minutes. You can’t
trace me.”

He laughed. “You should hope that is true
because you are, as humans say, in deep shit. Liam is ready to
pound you into a pulp. Farrell has asked to help.”

“Why?” I already knew, but I played dumb.

“When did you last call Jacqueline?”

“I’ve only been gone three weeks.” I
grumbled.

“Think again.”

Checking the date on my phone, I did some
fast recalculations. “Four weeks?” Wow. Time flies when fae park
rangers are going through your shit and creepy lunatics are writing
you notes and glamouring girls to deliver them.

“Have there been any calls home in that
time?”

What the heck business was it of his? “We
were in the Sierras.” I didn’t want to sound like a whiner so I
kept the park ranger encounter to myself.

“Your excuse is poor. You have the ability to
take the lines to the nearest town and then return within
minutes.”

“Look, how many times I did or did not call
Mom is my business. I’m not your kid.”

“If you were mine I would have you digging
holes.” That was a punishment their father, Lord Caelen, handed out
to him and Aedus’ brother, Liam. They dug deep ditches without
using any magic, then they filled them in. It could go on for some
time. They hated it. “Your parents have been too lenient with
you.”

I couldn’t speak for a minute. When I did, it
was through gritted teeth. “My parents did great. Look, this is
serious. Something happened a few days ago and a name came up. I
need to know if Fin—if grandfather knows who this guy is. In the
note, he says he’s been watching me.”

“What is the name?” I heard soft mumbling in
the background.

“I want to talk to Fin.” There was no way I
was discussing anything with this arrogant toad.

Aedus chuckled. “So you say.” The sound of
the dial tone was almost as big a shock as Aedus’s laughter.

For the fourth time that day, I slammed down
a receiver, mumbling to myself. “Holy crap. That guy’s such an
asshole.”

Hot breath blanketed my neck. “He gets it
from his mother.” I yelped so loud every head in the diner turned
in my direction. My grandfather’s unmistakably rich voice had come
from directly behind me.

“Is there a problem young, man?” asked the
older human lady behind the counter.

“No. I’m sorry. I, um, I caught my finger in
the phone booth door.” The woman nodded and went back to clearing
the plates left behind by the group of werewolves who’d been
celebrating a bowling victory. I couldn’t picture my uncle Aaron’s
pack in a bowling alley, but I guess some of them might do normal
stuff like that. I mean they’d all been human once.

“Quick thinking, young fae.” I felt Fin’s
hand on my shoulder.

I turned. “Sh. Don’t call me that.”

He was dressed in a poufy white shirt, short
pants, and a wide leather belt with a dagger in a sheath. He wore a
gold chain around his neck with a carved amulet and to top it all
off, he was barefoot—definitely against the California health code
for restaurant attire. He looked like a freakin’ pirate, one who
couldn’t afford boots. I groaned. “Why didn’t you dress
normal?”

“This is my version of normal. Would you have
preferred my ritual tunic, crown, cape, scabbard and sword?”

“We’re in a coffee shop in the twenty first
century. Couldn’t you try to fit in just a little?”

Jay had come over, a napkin tucked into the
neck of his shirt. “
Char, you’re acting nuts. Maybe we should go
outside.”
He’d gotten pretty good at speaking mind-to-mind,
although we tended to switch back and forth because Jay said we
looked stupid just staring into each others eyes and not
talking.

My chin dropped a couple inches. “Are you
eating again?”

“They have blueberry pancakes.” I remained
silent. “You were busy and we were in a coffee shop…”

“Never mind. What do you mean by nuts?”

“
You’re talking to yourself.”

“
No I’m not. My grandfa
…” Oh. Shit. I
peeked at Fin from the corner of my eye, just to make sure he was
still there. His grin was even more annoying than all that corn
chip crunching I’d had to endure for the last hour. I smiled at
Jay, trying not to show my irritation. “You go ahead and eat. I’ll
go out and get some air. Order something for Samson.”

“You sure you’re okay?”

I gritted my teeth, still smiling. “Sure. I’m
fine.” I grumbled under my breath as I wove through the tables, all
eyes still on me. “
Typical, just typical. Would it be too much
to have one normal relative? No. Every freakin’ one of them is some
kind of crazy-assed supe.”

I pushed my way through the door with a
little too much force, making it bang against the wall. I winced,
hoping no one would call the medics to send me to the looney bin,
or the cops to drag me off to the city lock-up.

I untied Samson, then stomped as far from
civilization as I could get without leaving Jay and the restaurant
too far behind. I ended up half a block away in a small playground
that bordered a park. Looking at the sky, I was shocked to find it
was almost dark. The playground was empty so I sat on a swing and
glowered at my pirate-wannabe fae grandfather. If he said
arrrr
I was going to punch him, fae king or no fae king.

He looked at the swing set with a curious
frown, deciding finally to sit on the swing next to mine. “What is
the purpose of this machine?”

It’s for kids. They swing back and forth.” I
tried to show him, but I wasn’t in the mood to go all out. “It’s
fun, at least for kids.”

He shifted his feet against the ground,
moving his body forward and back a few inches. “Ah, I see.”

“You can go higher, but since no one else can
see you sitting there, I don’t recommend it. People will think the
park’s haunted.”

“Of course.” He stopped.

“I called you ‘cause I got this.” I showed
him the note, which he sniffed first, then read. He wasn’t grinning
now.

He held it beneath my nose. “Tell me what you
smell, cheetah.”

“Paper. You. Me. Jay. Samson.” I paused.
“Blood. Human blood. I didn’t notice that before.”

The blood is combined with…?

“I can’t tell.”

“Elderberry, a binding herb, and lemon
verbena, a plant which encourages travel and communication. This
creature wishes for you to visit. The herbs and blood he’s mixed
with the spell encourage you to take that action.”

“Creature?”

“So many questions.” Fin stood, walking
slowly between each piece of playground equipment, marveling at
their design. He climbed on the jungle gym and slid down the slide,
laughing when he reached the bottom.

One normal relative would have been
awesome.

“These structures are all for children? For
play?”

“Yes,” I snapped, angry that he was wasting
time and hadn’t told me what to do about the creep who was watching
me.

His body whipped around faster than any
vamp’s, his hands on my shoulders pulling me off the swing, his
furious gaze on mine. This fae male had fought in battles waged
long before humans existed. He could stop my heart with a thought
or shred the skin from my body with a gesture. I’d never be his
equal in power. Pissing him off was not a good idea. I forced
myself to breathe.

“You are young.” I hated conversations that
started with those words, but I didn’t let it show. “The young are
careless and cruel, impatient, concerned only with themselves. Yet
here is a monument erected to ensure their happiness, built by
humans for their human offspring. Parents are forgiving of their
children’s sins.”

He tilted his head, indicating that I should
follow him onto the grass and through the trees at the far end of
the small park. He struck out at a leisurely pace. Obviously Fin
was going to be taking his time and I was just going to have to put
up with it.

I rubbed my shoulders where he’d grabbed me.
I’d have a couple of bruises.

There was a lake in the center of the small
park that I hadn’t noticed before. In fact this whole section
shouldn’t be here. It made the park seem much larger than it
actually was, but anything was possible for the King of Faerie.