Gossamer (20 page)

Despite being almost used to the buzz of electricity that pulsed through me every time I was near Grant, drifting into relaxation seemed to intensify it. I tried to just concentrate on my music, but the buzz was still there, nagging at me.

I shifted uncomfortably, hating the reminder of his presence, then hating myself for blaming him for my emotional roller coaster. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t feel the same way about me. Although, sometimes I believed maybe there was more. I wondered if I read too much into his actions.
Ugh, of course he is nice to you. It’s his job to protect you.
This of course also explained why I often found him staring at me.

I raised the volume, attempting to drown out my thoughts. Who was I kidding? I would lose my hearing before I could quit thinking about him. A gentle hand tapped my knee and I opened my eyes to see him leaning over the seat staring at me with an intense look.

Chapter 14

Grant had apparently been trying to get my attention for a while. Ignoring the stare, I tugged out my left earbud.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to wake you.”

I didn’t bother telling him I hadn’t been sleeping.

“I just wanted to let you know what our plan is,” he continued.

He looked uncomfortable talking to me, and I regretted last night now more than ever. It was bad enough I was heartbroken, but screwing up my friendship with Grant was an unfortunate side effect. I wanted to get back to where we had been, but just didn’t know how. I yanked out the other earbud letting him know he had my full attention and giving him the go-ahead to talk.

He shifted his body and when we made eye contact a jolt of electricity torpedoed through me. What the heck is that about? I thought it was chemistry between us, but now I wondered if it was just some weird faery magic.

“You probably won’t like this.” I groaned internally. “But we are going to have to go on foot here pretty soon. We can’t get a car where we are going.”

Awesome, nothing like hiking around some strange place, getting all gross and sweaty, with the boy who just broke your heart, and his friend who at any moment could change into a wild animal. I shrugged. “Okay.”

Grant stared at me a moment and Conor glanced at me through the mirror. I think they could sense the awkward tension in the car. Maybe getting out and walking didn’t sound so bad. If I thought the hotel stifling, this was worse.

“Where are we walking to?” I was sure the answer was a portal, but I decided to help the guy out and continue the conversation.

“It’s a portal, hidden in a wooded area. That’s why we have to walk.” Conor pulled into a small convenience store.

“I’m going to run in and get us some water, maybe some snacks. Won’t be long now until we’re back in Tír na nÓg.” He smiled at me.

My stomach dropped. I had been so consumed with my Grant dilemma, I hadn’t even thought about the fact I would be in a whole other dimension soon. That was so weird, I couldn’t even process it.

Conor hopped out of the car, and no sooner had the door shut then Grant turned to me. “Please tell me what I can say or do to fix this.”

“There’s nothing to fix, Grant.” I offered him a weak smile.
Tell me you love me, last night was not a mistake, maybe even you want to spend the rest of your life with me...
Hmm, where to start?

“Kylie, I’m sorry.” He’d never called me Kylie before, though everyone else did, even Conor. I think Lexie had rubbed off on him, but not Grant. He’d always been more formal. So, hearing it now pulled at me. He said it in such a sweet, tender way it made my heart ache even more. “I screwed up.”

Screwed up how? Screwed up last night or screwed up by telling me it was a mistake? What did it matter? Either way it came full circle, he didn’t have the same feelings I did.

“Don’t apologize, Grant. There is nothing to apologize for. You did nothing wrong.” I chewed nervously on my lower lip. I didn’t know what the right words were. I wanted to get rid of this awkwardness, but how?

“I can’t figure you out, Kylie.”

I scoffed.
Like I can figure you out?

“You said yourself things just got carried away, and you seemed fine with it then. But now it seems like you are mad at me. I just don’t know what more to say. I shouldn’t have kissed you last night.” Lines formed between his brows.

This conversation did the complete opposite of ridding us of the awkwardness. I squirmed uncomfortably in the back seat, really not wanting to have this talk.

“I work for someone very important and they have an extraordinary interest in you. Sending me here is a favor to your mother. I can’t screw this up. They sent me because they knew I wouldn’t let them down. Conor and I make an unbeatable team, but if they know about any of this, it could mess things up, for both of us. It’s not professional, and I shouldn’t have let myself get involved with you like that, worse I just ended up hurting you more. Please tell me how I can fix this.”

I sat there stunned into silence. I couldn’t decide what bothered me more, hearing, once again, how
wrong
it was to kiss me, or the fact he worked for some stranger to bring me home for my mother.

“Who do you work for and why is it important?”

“I told you already, Kylie, you are important to a lot of people. The person I work for is a member of the court.”

“Like a duke or something?”

“Something like that.”

“Why am I important to him?”

“I can’t say. I just have my orders to bring you back, unharmed.”

“You don’t know, or you can’t tell me?”

“I can’t answer that.” I arched an eyebrow at him. “I do what I am asked to do. I don’t ask questions, but even if I did know I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”

“Does Conor know?”

“Please don’t ask him a bunch of questions. I’ve already told you more than I should.” He had concern all over his face.

“I won’t ask him.” I sighed. “And you should probably stop talking about it yourself because here he comes.”

Grant looked over his shoulder and saw Conor approaching the car. He quickly glanced back to say one last thing, “I think I need to clear something up before we cross the portal, and this might be the last chance I get. I’m sorry about the problems kissing you has caused or could cause, but I’m not sorry I kissed you. I will never be sorry about that.”

My jaw went slack. Grant faced forward as Conor opened the driver door and slid in. He handed Grant a plastic bag. “This should last us until we get home. Home. Sounds good doesn’t it. I can’t wait to be back in Tír na nÓg.”

Grant’s head moved in agreement, but he said nothing. My mind reeled. He didn’t regret kissing me? But I’d willed him, hadn’t I? Did my compelling him to kiss me skew his perspective and make him think he wanted to kiss me, or did he really want to kiss me? This was too complicated, but a tiny spark ignited in my chest as it occurred to me that maybe there still was a chance Grant had feelings for me. A smile crept over my face. The trek through the woods wasn’t looking too bad anymore.

* * * *

After we were sure the car was tucked out of sight on the side of the road, we began our journey into the woods. Although things were still mildly awkward with Grant, we were able to speak to one another again, which I think was a relief.

He carried my bag with his and stayed near me as we walked. Conor stayed a few feet in front of us, scouting out our path as we went.

We had been walking for about half an hour when my foot got caught on a tree causing me to stumble. Grant steadied me at the same moment I braced myself by placing my hand against a large tree. Instantly, I had the creepiest sense of déjà vu. The roughness of the bark under my fingertips along with the tingling caused by his touch reminded me of my most recent forest dream. Empty white eyes set in an old haggard face and pale blonde hair flashed before my eyes. I shivered. He studied me with his always present concern.

“Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine. Touching that tree and being in this place reminded me of the creepy dream I had last night.”

“Do you still not want to talk about it?”

“I don’t mind telling you now, it was just hard to talk about it right then.” I bit my lower lip as I replayed it in my mind. Grant watched me as I recalled the dream.

“I was in some sort of forest similar to this one. There were lots of tall trees and it was foggy. There wasn’t much light.”

His brows were furrowed while I spoke. He stopped me. “Do you mind if Conor hears this?”

“No, that’s fine.” I figured if he didn’t hear it now, I would probably be forced to retell it later.

“Hey, Conor, listen to this dream Kylie had.”

Conor turned his attention to us. He slowed his pace and matched ours.

“Sorry to interrupt. Go on. You were in a foggy, heavily treed forest.” Grant urged me to continue

“Well, I walked through this forest, and strangely enough, I’ve been dreaming about this forest for as long as I can remember.” The boys exchanged a look. “Usually I am being pulled by some outside force to a large oak tree. But this time I had no idea where to go. I felt like I could get lost in there. Finally, something beckoned me but it was different than the normal urging. This one seemed dark. It’s hard to explain but it gave me an uneasy feeling. Still, part of me was compelled to go toward the call.”

The boys listened to me very intently. I took a breath and went on, “There was this large ash tree and I knew that was where I was headed, instead of my normal oak. When I got there, I peeked around it and saw a small clearing. I recognized I was on the opposite side of where I usually came from. I saw a lady standing across from me next to my oak tree.”

“A lady,” Grant repeated. “Go on.”

“Well, she stood with her back to me and I thought she was young. She looked petite and sort of delicate. She wore a black dress that looked like it was from another time. She had very long, pale blonde hair.”

Grant shook his head and looked concerned. When he noticed I watched him, he stopped and relaxed his face. His reactions were starting to worry me.

I continued, “Then she spoke.”

“She spoke or she screamed?” Grant cut me off and came to a halt on the trail. We followed suit.

Confused, I answered, “Spoke, actually in a very soft, seemingly sweet voice.”

“What did she say?” asked Conor who leaned in toward me.

“She said ‘They found you. They found you, Kyla.’ Her voice drew me in and I felt like she had more to say so I took a few more steps toward her. Then, out of nowhere another woman’s voice told me to not go any further, so I didn’t. The lady by the tree looked around for the other voice, but her head moved in a weird bird-like way. It scared me so I began to back up but a twig snapped beneath me and the woman spun around.” I shuddered at the memory. “She had an old, haggard face that looked nothing like I thought it would. Her eyes, they were white. Just empty, white eyes.”

Conor backed away from me. “Shit. Dammit, Kylie, why didn’t you tell us this before?” He ran his hands through his hair over and over in a nervous manner.

“I didn’t know,” my voice wavered. “I didn’t know it was important.” Conor let out a humorless laugh.

Grant spoke up in my defense. “It’s not her fault. She doesn’t know about these things, she had no idea what this dream could have meant.”

I stood there shocked and scared.

Conor, nervously pacing, asked, “When? How long ago did you have this dream?”

“Last night, in the hotel.” I answered.

He paused. “Wait, you actually did have a bad dream last night?” A clearly surprised tone in his voice.

“I told you she did,” Grant answered with more force than necessary, probably to protect me from the implications of this question.

“Yeah, but I thought…” He paused again and looked at Grant’s expression. Wisely, he dropped it. “Never mind.” Conor seemed to be putting the pieces together in his mind. “That’s when I decided we should change directions. I knew I was on the trail of something.”

Grant focused on me. “You said there was an ash tree and an oak tree in your dream. Were there any others?”

I thought back. “I’m not sure.”

“Were there any hawthorns?” He asked, his voice cool and level.

“Maybe.” I shrugged.

“The Faery Triad,” Conor mumbled.

Grant’s head slowly bobbed in agreement.

“What’s that?” My stomach twisted with fear and anxiety.

“When those three trees are found together, it is considered a Faery Triad, which is a portal into our world. In fact, we are headed to one today.” I must have looked panicked because Grant seemed to be choosing his words with care. “This lady you saw–you said she spoke to you?” I nodded. “Did she ever scream?”

The question seemed odd but the intensity in which Conor awaited my answer told me it was very important. I replayed the dream. There was a scream–it was my scream though.
Right
? I woke up at that moment and the dream was cut off, but I did remember screaming.

“No, she didn’t scream. Only I did when she turned around. Then I woke up.”