Authors: Cesya Cuono
XOXO
Ady
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face, and she was right: I did have tears in my eyes. I could only imagine what Emery had written. The only time he was ever serious was when there was a sports game on; he wasn’t even serious with Ady. This should be interesting.
To my pretty-faced Kylie,
So glad we’re growing old together. Hah Hah! Just kidding. Okay, I’m not really kidding because we are getting pretty dang old here. But seriously, I’m glad you two kept me around for this long. Do you know how boring my life would be if I didn’t have you two lovely ladies to pick on every 5 seconds? Yeah, pretty boring. I just have to say that I’m glad you turned out the way you did all things considered. Personally, Callie, I would have never been able to manage and probably would have turned out to be more of a pain than I already am. You know I love ya like my sister from another mister, and I never want to change that!
Happy Birthday!
Emery
I stared at his note in shock. In all my years knowing Emery, I never knew he had a serious bone in his body—sports excluded. I flopped back on my bed and cried harder until the sound of footsteps had me frozen in place.
28
Changes
Panic. The emotion flooded me like tsunami. I was too afraid to move lest I gain the attention of an intruder. Was it Oli coming to look for me? Or was it a Demon—Keaton or Layla—seeking revenge on their fallen comrade? I tried to even my breathing so whoever it was wouldn’t catch onto my fear. I dove into the depths of my brain, trying to come up with something—anything—as the footsteps grew closer. I had nothing; my mind was blank. The footfalls were directly behind me, and my heart all but beat out of my chest.
“Cali-girl?” a soft voice sounded from behind me. My heart soared at the voice. I rolled over and jumped off the bed, relieved I wasn’t about to be attacked by a Demon.
“Ady,” I squealed. We ran into each other’s arms and hugged. I missed my best friend so much I cried. This was just what I needed to help calm my frayed nerves and irritated mood.
“What are you doing here? Are you okay?” asked Ady.
“I’m fine. I just needed to come home. Where’s Emery?”
She snorted. “We went grocery shopping and forgot one of the bags at the store. He dropped me off with the stuff that needed to be refrigerated, and he left. You didn’t hear me running up the stairs?”
“I did, but I wasn’t sure it was you.” I didn’t elaborate because scaring her seemed like a bad idea.
She grabbed my hand and dragged me down the stairs. “Tell me all about your home. What did you do? What did you learn?” She bombarded me with questions until we sat on the couch. “I want to know everything, Callie. Don’t leave out a single detail.”
I laughed at her eagerness. “All right, all right. But let’s wait until Emery gets home so I only have to say it once.”
“Okay, fine. Tell me more about Oli then.”
I rolled my eyes, frustration leaking out.
“That can’t be good,” she said, her smile fading.
“We had our first fight. That’s why I flew home. I’m actually not even supposed to be here.” It had dawned on me that I wasn’t technically allowed to leave Tehokas City without the Steroid Boys according to Mace. But what did I care? Mace could kiss me where the sun didn’t shine.
“You had a fight?” Her tone was worried, then it turned incredulous when she asked, “Why aren’t you supposed to be here?”
“Not now. I’ll tell you when Emery arrives.”
She huffed but didn’t stop the question brigade. “Tell me all the juicy details about Oli. Are you two together now? Did you kiss? What was it like? Where did it happen? How?”
I blushed, and the memory of that night pushed away my current irritation. “The first kiss was extraordinary.” I feigned fainting against Ady. She giggled. “I was stargazing when Oli joined me—their house is right next to ours—and we cuddled in the grass. We admitted we liked each other and might possibly be falling in love, and then—”
Ady covered my mouth with her hand. “Hold the phone. You guys said you loved each other already? Isn’t that kind of soon?”
I removed her hand from my mouth. “I said liked and might be falling in love, not that I was in love with him. But a part of me does love him, I suppose. If our relationship was normal I’d say yes, that is too soon, but considering we’re soul mates it actually isn’t too early to say those words. Right?”
When I truly thought about it I did love him, but it was on some primal level. It wasn’t the conscious part of me who felt it. My emotions and our relationship haven’t had time to develop enough for me to say those words. Hell, he didn’t even fully trust me. That much was obvious.
“You’re soul mates?” Ady smacked my arm, yanking me from my internal musings. “How could you not tell me this?”
I rubbed the spot where she hit me. “I’m sorry,” I said sincerely. “Everything happened so fast. Do you want me to continue?”
“Please.”
“We admitted we liked each other and I, um, kind of just kissed him,” I admitted timidly. “Our fire elements bonded, and it turned the kiss into something extremely intimate and, um, hot. It was unlike anything I’ve ever felt, and I can’t even begin to describe it.”
“Wow. It sounds so breathtaking. I’m so happy for you.” She sighed, wrapped her arms around my neck, and we sunk against the couch mid-hug.
“Thanks, Ady,” I said, some of the tension leaving my shoulders.
The front door opened and closed and footsteps padded our way. I pulled away from Ady and motioned for her to be quiet.
“Baby, I’m home,” Emery called out. “Can you believe the cashier gave me a hard time? She was refusing to give me—” He stopped in his tracks when he saw me. “Callie?” He blinked a few times as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Hey, Emery.” I waved, smiling.
He dropped the bag, ran over to the couch, and lifted me up into a big bear hug. “I can’t believe it’s you. What are you doing here?” he asked excitedly.
“Put me down, and I’ll tell you both everything.”
He put me down and we sat at the island. Ady joined us after picking the bag off the floor.
“It’s a good thing we didn’t forget eggs at the store,” she scolded playfully. “Otherwise, you’d be making another trip.”
Emery stuck out his tongue.
“Anything to drink?” she asked as she shoved food inside the refrigerator.
“Sure,” I said. “I’ll take whatever you have in my fridge.”
“You got it. Now stop stalling and tell us what happened.”
I began from the minute we left Ardmore. I described everything for them, trying my best not to leave anything out. They were riveted with the whole story, especially my training. They were impressed with all the amazing things I could do. Emery demanded I show him my skills, and they were so impressed with me they could only “ooh” and “ahh” when appropriate. Okay, maybe they also had a couple inappropriate words when I told them more about the Elders and Demons.
“And that’s why I came back home,” I said at the end of my story.
Their expressions went through a range of emotions during my retelling, but the ending left them wide-eyed and shocked.
“I can understand why everyone was mad at you and Lola for going off on your own to find Palon, but I can’t believe no one stuck up for you,” Ady said in disbelief.
“Yeah, what buttwipes. So why do you think Mace wants you to stay in T. City?” Emery asked.
“If the Elders are possessed by the Demons, they probably want us to stay in the city so they know where we are,” I said. “Mace will give them easy access to me and Lola.”
“That’s what I was thinking. I don’t like these Elders too much,” Ady said. “At least not these Demon-possessed Elders.”
“Neither do I.” I loved that my friends were so immersed and supportive of my Faerieness.
“So what’s going to happen?” Ady pressed. “And what about you and Oli?”
My heart ached at the thought of how I left him. I was so furious, and I hoped he would forgive me. But I also wanted him to apologize and believe me. I frowned, not liking how screwed up everything had become.
“I’m sure things will work out for you,” Emery said consolingly and patted my hand. “Seems this accusation is a gigantic volcano, and you made it blow its top off.”
I nodded.
“I doubt Oli wants you to get hurt,” he continued. “Maybe he has a reasonable explanation for his reactions.”
“I hope you’re right.” I sighed, leaning on my elbows.
“Have you guys come up with a game plan to ditch those two beefed up goons?” Ady asked, redirecting the conversation.
“Not yet, but I’m sure Lola and I will be able to take them out on our own. Though I’m not exactly sure if this new power works on Conjurers.” And if I was being honest with myself, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to watch someone else turn into ashes let alone doing it myself.
“That power sounds so wicked,” Ady said enthusiastically. “What does it look like?”
I refused to go into specifics. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen, and I will be haunted by that image for a long time.”
Ady pouted at my lack of details.
“I think we can handle the goriness,” Emery said. “You do realize we have probably seen every horror movie ever made, right?”
“I know, but I still don’t want to talk about it,” I said seriously. “This isn’t a movie. This is real life.” I groaned.
“But Mom, we wanna know,” Ady whined.
“No,” I said firmly. “Can we please drop it?” I frowned at them.
Ady sensed my discomfort and changed the subject. “How long will you be staying?”
“I should probably be going now,” I conveyed. “I don’t need Mace finding out I left and punishing my family because of it.”
“Awe, not yet. Let’s go to The Pita Pocket and get something quick to eat. Please?” Ady begged. She was pouting again and giving me puppy dog eyes. I hated when she did that because it was almost impossible to say no.
“All right,” I relented. “You win; let’s go.”
“Yay,” she squealed and clapped with zeal.
The Pita Pocket was a newly refurbished restaurant. I enjoyed watching them behind the scenes as they prepared pitas for us. Every inch of the walls had a beautifully painted scene of a balcony looking out onto the sea with gorgeous houses running along its coast. We sat at one of the little tables. They looked just like ones you’d see if they had been painted into the mural. After finishing our meals, we headed back to the house. My mood had improved every second I was with my two best friends.
Back home, we walked in the front door laughing at a joke Emery had told us, acting as if everything was still completely normal. I was the first one to freeze when I stepped into the kitchen. Oli sat at the island with his arms crossed. His eyes were tired, and his mouth was drawn into a severe line. He didn’t look too happy with me.
“I told you not to look for me,” I accused.
“I had to,” he said defensively. “Can we please talk about what happened back there?” His features softened.
Ady and Emery didn’t make a move. They stood like sentinels at my side.
“What’s there to talk about?” I snapped, my mood plummeting.
“Please, Kitten. I’m at the end of my rope.”
“You made it perfectly clear you didn’t believe me.” I crossed my arms, hoping it would hide my uneven breaths.
He hesitated before he said, “I do believe you.”
“Is that so?” My voice had become a sneer. “Is that why you stood up for me earlier? Wait. You didn’t.
Why didn’t you?”
“Because it was hard to swallow those accusations.” He threw his hands in the air, frustrated. “Because I was a being a bloody tosser and not thinking straight after you spilled the truth about going out on your own. There is no excuse.”
I sighed and thought about what he was saying. I probably would have been the same way if the roles had been reversed. I released a heavy breath. “I’m sorry I blew up at you.”
“No Kitten, you had every right to be furious with me. I should have stood up for you and trusted what you were saying. I’m the one who’s sorry.”
I couldn’t take the distance between us anymore, so I moved closer until the space between us was gone. I threw my arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips. He returned it quite graciously, his hands bowing me into his body. The heat between us intensified, as did our kiss. The way his tongue licked my bottom lip had me melting in his arms. Emery cleared his throat, and Ady giggled. Oli smiled against my lips.
“Forgot we had an audience,” said Oli as he pulled away.
29
The Game Plan
It took me several moments to catch my breath. When I finally did, I asked, “Is everyone angry with me?”
“No,” he confessed. “They’re worried more than anything.”
“Has anyone decided what you’re going to do about the guards?” Emery asked.
Oli glanced at me with a raised eyebrow.
“What? I had to tell them,” I defended. “They’re my best friends. We don’t have secrets.”
“It’s true,” Ady chimed in. “She even knows about Emery’s fixation with Lord of the Dance.”
“Ady,” Emery chided playfully. “Don’t make me tell him about your back hair fetish.”
Ady feigned horror. “If you do that I’ll tell him about your Backstreet Boys CD collection
and
about the Nick Carter poster.”
“Then I’ll tell him about your secret love of Edward Cullen.” Emery’s voice lowered. “I’ll even tell him about your obsession with the adult vampire website.”
“Guys,” I interrupted, amused. “Keep on topic.”
Oli grinned at them. “We haven’t decided what to do with dipstick one or two, but we’ll have to ditch them somehow, mate.”
“What if Lola and I used our new power on them? We might be able to knock them out long enough for us to desert them.”
“That might work, but what if you accidentally kill them?” Oli asked, smile fading. “It would only cause more trouble. It’s one thing to kill a Demon, it’s another to kill a Conjurer.”
“Smash them in the head with a rock,” Ady threw in.
We all looked at her.
“What?” she asked.
“You watch too many movies, babe.” Emery chuckled. “Next thing you’re going to tell us is to tie up a baby grand piano and—”
“I’m serious,” Ady said, cutting him off. “If you’re so worried about them killing the guards with their new power then just hit them with a rock.”
“No,” I disagreed. “Really Ady, you have seen too many movies. Hitting these guys with a rock would kill them faster than if I used my powers on them.”
“Not if you do it right,” said Oli. “I know the guards you were talking about; I saw them a few minutes after you left. They were going into the Elders’ house. They’re huge, like steroid-huge. A rock might not even faze them.”
“And you think Timber and Thane are just going to hold still while we knock them silly?” I asked, injecting a note of common sense.
“They’re just bloody mongrels; we can handle them.” Oli glanced at the clock over the stove. “We’ll discuss this once we get back to Tehokas City. We should probably go.”
Ady immediately went into pout mode. “Can you take us with you this time?”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” I said, turning to Oli. I tried to convey to him that I didn’t want them to come. It was too dangerous.
“Please?” Ady begged, turning those puppy eyes on Oli.
“I’d love nothing more than to let Callie bring her best mates, but it’s literally not possible,” informed Oli.
I gave a silent sigh of relief.
“Why?” Emery asked, curious.
“You’ll die,” he said simply. “Your bodies aren’t capable of breaking down like ours are. You’re just not made for Faerie or Conjurer transport. Sorry, mate.”
“Oh, well in that case we don’t want to go. Thanks for the invite though,” Ady teased.
I gave her a small smile. “I’ll be back soon, and then we’ll all go out to celebrate our victory. With my mom, of course.”
“Sure thing.” Ady wrapped her arms around me. “I’m going to miss you again, Cali-girl.”
“Me too, Kylie.” Emery hugged me too.
I wished it wasn’t so hard saying goodbye to them. I tried to keep telling myself it wouldn’t be forever and I’d see them again, but the truth was it might be forever. It would continue to plague my thoughts. I shook it out of my mind.
“Stay safe,” I said. “I’ll see you soon.”
“You stay safe. All of you, for that matter,” Ady said with tears in her eyes.
Oli took my hand and led me out the patio door. I looked back one last time and gave them a tiny wave. They smiled sadly in acknowledgment and watched as Oli bent down, ripped up a clump of dirt and grass, and held it in his hand.
“Don’t land until you see me, okay Kitten?”
I nodded.
“Good. Now on the count of three we’ll go. Ready?”
“Yes.” I unfurled my wings and waited for the countdown.
“Okay. One . . . Two . . . Three.”
I shot into the air, thinking about Tehokas City. My elements immediately pulled me into a warped tunnel and spit me out above the expanse of greenery. I was nearly above the gates of Tehokas City, and there was no sign of Oli. Where was he? I hovered just above the entrance and waited. At last I saw him materialize—yeah, materialize!—right below me. I landed next to him with a million times more grace than I had the first time.
“I was getting worried,” I admitted. “What took you so long?”
“You were just really fast, Kitten,” he explained. “We’re going to make a run for your house and not stop until we’re inside, okay?”
“This sounds vaguely familiar.” I tapped my chin thoughtfully. “When we reach the house am I going to find out I’m something more than an Alkuaine Faerie?”
“No, I don’t think so. Why do you ask?” He was confused.
I giggled. “Because that’s exactly what happened when you found me outside of Cayden’s house. You told me to run home and not stop until I got inside. Remember?”
He laughed. “Well bugger me. I forgot all about that. This time we’re going to tell you that you’re actually a human and not a Faerie.” He laughed louder.
I smiled. “Ready?”
“Yeah.” He positioned himself like he was about to run for the Olympics.
“Okay. And . . .” I took off running. “Go,” I shouted behind me.
“Cheater,” Oli called from behind, but quickly caught up. His long legs gave him an advantage over my shorter ones. Plus he was in better shape, but I wasn’t going to complain about the view I had from behind him. He reached the front door, jumped up and down in victory with arms raised in the air, and made a hissing noise like a crowd cheering.
“Quit bragging,” I said playfully. “You only won because I let you.”
He gave me a look that made my knees feel like jelly.
“And you have longer legs than me.” And a nice butt, but I kept that part to myself.
“Are you jealous?” he teased.
“Nah. If my legs were as long as yours I’d look weird. I enjoy being perfectly proportioned in every way possible.” I stuck out my tongue.
He checked me out. “Eh, not bad.”
“Shut it, you.” We walked inside and went directly into the living room. Dad, Joey, Lucy, and Lola were still sitting there like I’d never left.
“Welcome back,” Lola said. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m fine now.” Though I was still upset with her.
“Listen, I’m sorry I didn’t back you up before. I was scared,” she admitted sheepishly.
“It’s okay.” It wasn’t, but I needed to forgive and forget. “Can we just forget about that and talk about how we’re going to save Mom?”
“We were discussing it when Oli went searching for you. Let’s talk in the kitchen,” Dad said. The six of us sat around the kitchen table discussing our game plan.
“Ady suggested we go all Neanderthal and hit the guards in the head with rocks,” I started. “But I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Callie was thinking about using her new power to weaken them enough and knock them out,” Oli jumped in.
“But we don’t even know if we can control the output of that power,” Lola said, panicking. “I mean, we can try, but we might just end up killing them. Remember?”
“Of course I remember,” I said. “But you were freaked. This time it’ll be more controlled.”
“How about neither of you go all king of pain on them. We’ll take out the guards.” Joey gestured to himself and Lucy. “They will be less likely to suspect us than you.”
“I trust you have a plan?” Dad asked. Joey and Lucy exchanged a knowing look, and then they nodded.
“Perfect,” I said. “Now let’s discuss Palon.” No reason to beat around the bush.
“Yeah, are we gonna be like the leaders on this little adventure?” Lola asked. “Oh. We’ll be like those two adventurers who hooked up with that Indian lady, Saskatchewan.”
Dad coughed out a laugh. “You mean Sacagawea?”
“Sure, yeah, her. And the guys’ names were, uh . . .” She snapped her fingers while she thought. “Ah got it. Lois and Clark.”
I tried to contain my laughter but failed and laughed loudly, making fun of her. “It’s Lewis and Clark,” I said.
“Yeah, same thing.” She rolled her eyes, clearly not understanding her mistake.
“No, it’s not really the same . . . It doesn’t matter. Focus.” I glanced at Dad. “What’s the plan?”
“We’re staying together no matter what. You two will have to pay attention to any heat changes. You can feel it better than we can. The minute there is a slight change you warn us because it means we’re close.”
“Got it,” I said, nodding. “We’ll be heat compasses.”
“And everyone must stick together,” Lucy reiterated. “No matter what. There’s no telling what wicked games the Demons will play.” She shuddered.
“Do we even know where Palon is?” Oli asked.
“Yes. Apryll told us when we exit Tehokas City we have to venture right at a thirty degree angle,” Joey responded.
Lola smacked me softly. “We were going the wrong way.”
“I didn’t know that,” I said, glaring. Man did I feel like an imbecile. “We didn’t exactly ask Apryll which way to go. We were just on a mission to find it.”
“Is there anything else we need to discuss before we wrap this up?” Dad asked, eyeing Lola and me.
“When are we leaving?” I asked.
“Tomorrow morning,” he informed. “I called Mace and he said the guards would be waiting.”
“Wait,” I said. “You called Mace? If we just left the city without telling him we wouldn’t have to get rid of the guards.” I made sure to inject a tone of “duh” in my voice.
“Yes,” said Dad patiently. “If what you’ve told us is true, getting Mace to trust us is the best way to go. As long as he doesn’t think we suspect him, the better. Plus the guards have been keeping watch over the house since you left.”
“Oh,” I replied stupidly.
“Let’s try to get some sleep tonight so we’re well rested for our journey tomorrow. None of us need to be tired when it comes time for us to kick some Demon ass and get your mom back,” Dad said fervently.
“Yeah,” we all cheered.
“Let’s get some shuteye.” Dad turned to Joey. “Do you three want to stay here tonight?”
“Yeah, that works, mate. We can run home and get our trackies to sleep in and a change of clothes for tomorrow. We’ll be back in a jiffy.”
Lola and I went upstairs to change while Dad rummaged around looking for extra blankets. I had just pulled on my shirt when there was a knock on my door.
“Come in,” I said.
“Hey.” It was Oli. In my bedroom for the second time. Cue the internal happy dance.
“Hey.” I smiled. “What’s up?”
“I came up to say goodnight. Hope that’s okay.” He was nervous, God bless him.
“Of course it is.”
He ate up the space between us and caressed my cheek before placing his lips on mine. I loved the way he felt against my body. The elemental current that flowed between us was out of this world. It surged between us as the colors of our elements danced around us like tiny fireflies in the night sky. I never wanted his lips to leave mine, but sadly they did.
“Goodnight, Kitten.”
I wanted to grab him by the collar and demand he sleep in my bed, but I knew Dad would disapprove. So all I said was “’Night, Oli.” Though my voice was a mere whisper.
He shut the door behind him, and I climbed into bed. I lay there for the longest time trying to sleep, but my nerves got the better of me. Tomorrow morning we’d start on our journey toward Palon and finally be one step closer to saving Mom. I knew we came up with a somewhat solid plan, but I was still on edge. What if we walked straight into an ambush once we reached the outer limits of Palon? I just hoped we’d all be prepared for the inevitable fight.