New World Order (War of the Fae: Book 4) (26 page)

“Seriously?” I asked him, looking at him closer but still only seeing Tim, the pixieman, flying in front of me.

“Seriously.
 
Watch and learn, oh ye of little faith.”

He flew over to a girl working in the reception area.
 
The girl smiled when she noticed him, her eyes following Tim’s every move.
 

I walked over and got her attention by clearing my throat.
 

Her eyes jerked over to me, slightly unfocused.
 
“Hello.
 
Can I help you?”

“Watcha lookin’ at?” I asked.

“That dragonfly over there.
 
Isn’t it beautiful?
 
I’ve never seen one so close.
 
Look!” she said, suddenly animated.
 
“It’s doing tricks!”

I looked over at Tim doing barrel rolls and flips in the middle of the airport.
 
I said loud enough for him to hear, “Yeah.
 
It’s not acting like a normal dragonfly, is it?”

His flight path straightened up and he left the building, blowing a juicy raspberry at me all the way out.
 

I turned back to the girl at the desk who was now busy gathering some papers together.
 
“Can you call me a shuttle-sized taxi?
 
I need to get into West Palm.”

“How many passengers are traveling with you, and how many bags do you have?”

Ivar was going to stay with the pilots near the plane, ready to take off at a moment’s notice, so I quickly added up the remaining fae in my head.
 
Me, Tony, Finn, Céline, Felicia, and Theresa.
 
Tim can ride on the roof.
 
Or maybe he can pretend to be a squashed bug on the windshield.
 
“There are six of us.
 
One backpack each.”

“No problem.
 
You can have a seat in the waiting area if you like.
 
There are complimentary sodas and snacks in there.”

“Thanks,” I said as I walked away.
 
I joined the rest of the group inside a glassed off area of the airport, already helping themselves to the goodies.
 
I went over to the clear-fronted fridge and pulled out a root beer.
 
It went down like the sparkling, sweet, icy goodness that I remembered.
 
“Mmmm, that tastes awwwwesome,” I said in a singsong voice.
 
“I’ve missed you root beer.
 
Why can’t you come live in France with me?”

Céline walked over to join me at the cooler.
 
“What are you drinking that you love so much?”

“Root beer.
 
Nectar of the gods.
 
Try some.”
 
I held out the can to her.
 

She put it to her lips and took a small sip, squinching up her nose a little at the carbonation.
 
She paused for a second and then slowly nodded her head.
 
“That’s not bad, actually.
 
I’ve never had that before.”

“Well, help yourself.
 
There’s a cooler-full.
 
You won’t get this back home.
 
Root beer’s an endangered species.
 
I’m afraid one day it’ll be gone forever.”

Céline pulled out a can and I took it from her, opening it up with a
pop
and a
fizz
of escaping air.
 
She had pretty nails and I didn’t want her to ruin them – plus she had stared at the top for a few seconds, looking totally confused, so I was pretty sure she didn’t know how a pop-top worked.
  

She took a big gulp and a few seconds later a burp flew out of her mouth, obviously a big surprise to her by the look on her face.
 
Her hand flew up to her lips and she turned a delicate pink.
 
“Oh, my goodness.
 
Please pardon my lack of manners.”

I started laughing.
 
“Don’t worry about it.
 
It’s the carbonation.
 
Root beer is the best for burps.”

She looked at me uncomfortably, her hand still up at her mouth as if she was afraid another rebel burp would fly out at any second.
 
“You
like
that about this drink?”

“Sure,” I said cheerily, letting out a little burp of my own.
 
“What’s not to like?”

She giggled a little, which instantly allowed me to glimpse a much younger version of herself.
 
She was a really beautiful person behind all those layers of formality and coolness.
 
I’d bet in another life, we could have been friends.
 
If we had been born in the same century maybe.

A voice came over the waiting room speaker.
 
Party of six, your shuttle has arrived.

“That’s us,” I said out to the room.

Finn rushed over and threw open the door to the cooler, grabbing three more sodas and shoving them in his backpack.
 
“For the road,” he said, winking at us.
 
I noticed he took three of them.
 
I wondered if they were all for him, or if he was planning on using a couple to ingratiate himself with the twins.

I shook my head.
 
Pitiful.

We all got in the shuttle, and I looked around frantically for Tim.
 
“Where is he?” I whispered as loudly as I could without letting the driver hear me.

Céline nudged me and pointed to the windshield.
 
Clinging to one of the wipers was Tim, smiling his head off.

“Where to?” asked the driver.

I gave him my address and told everyone we’d be there in about fifteen minutes or so, depending on traffic.
 
I tried not to totally stress out as we drove along, but it was impossible.
 
First of all, Tim was hanging onto that damn wiper the entire way, screaming with excitement every time the driver turned them on trying to dislodge him.
 
It was like a pixie amusement park or something.
 
I couldn’t help but laugh my ass off when the guy turned on the washer fluid button, totally drenching the ‘dragonfly’ on his windshield.
 
But I nearly had a heart attack when we were stopped at a light and the driver got out with a rolled up newspaper and made as if he was going to smash Tim the dragonfly with it.

I screamed bloody murder,
“Noooo!!
 
Dooon’t!!!”

The driver looked at me like I was nuts, grabbing his chest, as if I’d nearly given him a heart attack.

I smiled at him weakly and said, “Sorry.
 
I’m a pacifist.
 
Please don’t kill the disgusting little bug.”

He rolled his eyes at me but got back in then van.
 
“Pesky little critter,” the guy grumbled, sending me into relieved and hysterical gales of silent laughter.
 
I had to hide my face in my hands because every time I looked at Tim, he was making faces at the driver or flipping him off.
 
The guy probably thought I was crying.
 

But even with Tim’s antics and righteous indignation at being nearly smashed with the newspaper and covered in wiper fluid that did nothing for his hairdo, I was ready for a full-scale meltdown by the time we got to my house.
 
I was seriously freaking out.
 
And all the laughing during the shuttle ride had exhausted me.

Céline paid the driver while we all got out and retrieved our bags from the back.
 
Before she let him go, she asked me, “Are you sure you want all of us here?
 
Some of us could wait in the car.
 
I’m sure the driver wouldn’t mind waiting, would you, sir?” She turned her head back to him, waiting for an answer.

“So long as you’re payin’, I’ll wait all day.”

“Why don’t you ask him to just wait for a while?
 
We can come out later and tell him to go if we don’t need him.”

“Good enough,” said Céline, putting her head back into the van to explain her directions to the driver.
 

I watched him turn the key off, leaving the battery running.
 
One of the digital numbers on the fare counter changed, showing we were still being charged by the minute.
 
Hopefully we wouldn’t be here very long.

I stood out on the front lawn with my group of friends, the humidity of the day already seeping up through the crab grass that grew like weeds here.
 
I never felt sicker in my life.
 
Maybe my mom was inside, hurt, waiting for me to come see her.
 
Maybe she was in the hospital, dying.
 
Or maybe she was at work, completely oblivious to any emails that were sent, and some creature was waiting in my house to eat me.

Céline came up behind me and stopped to put her arm across my shoulders.
 
“Worried?”

“Freaking out is more like it,” I said, nervously.

The twins sized me up and then looked towards the house.
 

Theresa spoke first.
 
“I’d like to know what I’m getting into here, if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah, me too.
 
We’re more effective if we know what to expect,” said Felicia, swinging her dark locks over her shoulder, looking like a supermodel with that one simple movement.

“Well, I’m really not sure, to be honest.
 
I received several freaky emails from my mom and then His Evilness, Rick the Dick, saying I had to come home right away.
 
But Tony got some too, and they were all really fishy, so I just needed to come check it out.
 
You guys are here in case it’s a trap.”

Finn looked really out of place standing on my lawn with a bow and arrows over his shoulder.
 
He was completely unselfconscious about it, though, so I decided not to worry.
 
My only concern was that he was used to fighting in open spaces.
 
My mom’s small, modest house wasn’t exactly his usual turf.

Finn caught me looking at him and nodded his head.
 
“I got yer back, Jayne.”

I smiled tremulously.
 
“I was just wondering if your bow and arrows would be worth taking inside the house.
 
It’s kind of small.”

“I got a knife too.
 
I’ve stuck plenty-a-gators in my time, so don’t you worry ‘bout me.”
 
He looked over at the twins.
 
“I’m whatcha call ‘adaptable’.”
 
He gave them his most charming smile, and I had to admit, it was cute.

Felicia smiled back at him, but Theresa rolled her eyes.

I cleared my throat in an effort to remind the girls of our earlier talk and about Becky.
 
I was worried because Felicia looked like she was considering having a taste of my friend.

I looked at Tony.
 
“You ready?”

He squared his shoulders.
 
“Ready as I’m going to be, I guess.”
 
He took his axe out of his belt as surreptitiously as he could, glancing back at the driver.
 
Luckily the guy was busy reading a magazine and paying no attention to us arming up as we approached the front door.
 
The guy hadn’t even questioned our tunics and moccasins, come to think of it.
 
Maybe he thought we were actors in a local play.
 
Maybe he was used to wingnuts in Southern Florida.

I walked up to the door, a twin on either side of me, Finn, Tony, and Céline at my back.
 
Tim buzzed somewhere behind my head.
 
I rang the doorbell and tried not to sweat too much while I waited for an answer.
 
We didn’t have to wait long.
 

The door jerked open and Rick was standing in the darkness of the foyer, scowling.
 
“Well you sure took your sweet time getting here.”
 
He pulled the door open more and then started looking at the fae standing around me.
 
“Who’re all these people?
 
Bunch a hippies, looks like.”
 
Then his eyes lit on first one twin and then the other.
 
“But ya’ll are welcome, sure ya are.
 
Come on in.”

All of a sudden he was our gracious host.
 
He couldn’t keep his eyes off the girls, and I for one was glad for that.
 
Lure him in, ladies, lure him in.
 
Then eat his face off, please.
 
I smiled at the thought.
 
Rick caught me by the arm, squeezing it uncomfortably hard, and said, “Your mom’s up in the room.
 
She wanted to see ya.
 
Go on up, while I take care of these ... friends of yours.”
 
He practically licked his lips, all of his attention now on them again.

I signaled to Finn and Tony to come with me, Céline too.