Susan's Summer (14 page)

I ran my hand over the tree one last time, apologizing. I could feel its pain in having been cut and exposed, but there was nothing I could do for it at this point. Even if I ran for Seth and asked for his help we probably couldn’t save it, because cutting a tree in two caused catastrophic damage.

I walked back to the house slowly and warily, looking around in every direction and trying to be alert to every slightest sound. No more trees almost fell on me; the danger seemed to be over for the time being. I would have to tell Seth something about what had happened or he would wonder the next time he went to his garden why a massive tree was lying in his way. But given the condition I was in and the fact that we were invited out tonight, I thought I’d get cleaned up before I went looking for him.

Obviously, I was wrong about the warning note being a joke. I could try to reassure myself by dreaming up all kinds of explanations for what had just happened, but the most likely one was the most obvious one: Someone had just tried to kill me.

~ ~ ~

By the time I got back to the room Mae had already showered and was blow drying her dark hair. When she saw me she shut the dryer off and gasped.

“What happened to you?” she demanded, her eyes wide. “You know, brown was never your color. I don’t recommend it.” She was referring to the dirt I was now caked in.

I grinned despite myself and told her about the tree.

“Do NOT sit on any of the chairs,” said Mae. “You’re too dirty.”

“I love you too,” I groaned. My legs felt like Jell-O.

Mae shook her head. “I’m sure it was an accident. No one’s around except the Arsenals, and I’m pretty sure that if Seth really wanted us gone he could accomplish it quickly.”

“Not without upsetting his sister,” I pointed out.

Mae rolled her eyes. “Yeah, he loves her more than anything, but if he didn’t want us here he would still make us leave.”

I wasn’t so sure about that; his behavior so far had me confused. But I didn’t argue with her. Instead I went to take a shower.

By the time I had finished, Mae was all ready for the party in a short red dress that perfectly complemented her warm skin tone. I grinned. “You look stunning.”

She twirled for me. “Thanks. Think I’ll find a hookup for tonight?”

“A hookup? You’ll find six husbands. You look amazing.” I said, smiling at her.

She blushed and looked down. “Are you nervous about tonight?” Mae asked.

The whole time I had been outside with Seth, Mae and Katie had hung out. Mae now told me that Terry had left quickly and that her behavior wasn’t anything new. Katie didn’t have a very high opinion of her but had come to rely on her as one of the few people she saw on any kind of a regular basis. It was a sad commentary on how Katie spent her summers: away from friends, and really, away from anyone but Seth.

“I am kind of nervous,” I admitted, and I knew I should be. I had meant to message Samuel and ask him about Teegan, but I’d been distracted with the Arsenals and hadn’t had a chance. Besides, I didn’t handle people mentioning Holt very well and tonight I was sure to get a lot of questions about the Roths, the Cheshires, and now Samuel and Autumn’s relationship. I had told my friends I wouldn’t talk about them until they were ready, and I could usually shrug off questions about them, but questions about Holt were harder.

“You shouldn’t be,” said Mae, patting my shoulder. “You’re going to look gorgeous.”

I decided to forgo my usual white. I knew I looked good in it and it was always a way to look fun and classy, but I tonight I wanted to make an impression. With all the rumors flying around about the Roths, the Cheshires, me, Holt, Logan, and now the Arsenals, anything less than stunning just wasn’t going to cut it.

When I was ready, Mae gasped and clapped her hands together. With my blond hair I had gone for a light, pastel blue dress. It came to just above my knee but was tight, with no sleeves, perfectly accenting my curves. I had decided to wear my hair in ringlets, which involved curling, but the finished product was so worth it.

On my feet were white heels. As long as no trees fell on me I should be able to keep them clean for a night. I finished the look with natural makeup and a sparkling white clutch.

“This is how you’re supposed to look,” Mae told me, beaming.

I knew she meant to be kind, but the comment made me a little sad because it reminded me of how far I had let myself go. The heels I wore covered my toenails, because it had been months since I’d gotten anything like a pedicure, and gnarly feet would certainly have spoiled the effect.

I sighed and gave my friend a small smile. “Thanks. This feels good.” And it did. I just hoped a certain someone with ocean blue eyes was going to think so too.

“Teegan’s going to die,” said Mae. “He couldn’t stop looking at you yesterday.”

“Teegan always ignored me before,” I said, remembering when we were kids and the Winter Fairy boys would go off to play and leave me at home. They had often invited Holt and his brothers, but never me.

“Yeah, because he was trying to be cool,” she said. “I think he’s changed now. He seems kinder, more thoughtful.”

“He doesn’t like Seth very much, though,” I said, and took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”

A few minutes later Katie bounded into the room. The night had started.

“You guys ready?” she asked. She looked amazing. Her dress was a dark pink with purple stripes and a halter neckline. It stretched almost to her knees and gave the definite impression that she was pushing the boundaries of what Seth would consider acceptable attire for his little sister.

After the three of us completed a few finishing touches to our outfits, we went downstairs. I felt a flutter in my stomach at the sight of Seth.

He was waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs.
Breathtaking.
As always, he looked perfect. He wore a white button down shirt, open at the collar, and khaki shorts. He did dressy-casual very well.

Katie skipped the last steps and tumbled into her brother’s arms. “You look grand,” she said, grinning up into his tanned face.

“You look beautiful,” he said, beaming down at her. When he set her down and she straightened, he handed her three flowers. I wondered if he had picked them while he had been with me and I hadn’t even noticed.

“Wow, are these flowers from YOUR garden?” Katie asked in amazement. She stuck her nose in the flowers and inhaled.

“Yes,” said Seth, as if it was nothing, but I could tell from her expression that it was definitely something. “They’re coming along well.”

His eyes moved over Mae but lingered on me. I felt my face flushing as I remembered our almost kiss this afternoon.

“You look wonderful,” he murmured. When Mae started to make a noise, he grinned. “Both of you.”

We headed down a side hallway that I hadn’t been in since we arrived, but I knew we were going back to the garage.

“So, how’s my car?” I asked.

“Oh, you know, still don’t know what’s wrong,” Seth said over his shoulder. I was beginning not to believe him.

We passed a couple of super nice cars and headed for the ones that weren’t so fancy. One was a Honda Accord, another was a truck—I assumed for hauling stuff for the garden—and the last was some type of old BMW. The type of car reminded me of the Roths’ vehicles, but only marginally. This one was black.

That was the one Seth headed for.

“Seth is going to teach me how to drive soon,” said Katie over her shoulder. Before I realized what she was doing she had hopped in the back. Mae followed her, which left me to sit in front with Seth.

“You haven’t driven at all?” Mae asked as Seth started the engine.

Katie lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I’ve driven around the property, but I feel like it will be different, with, you know, real cars on the road.”

I could see Seth’s hands clench tighter on the wheel. For someone who was practically a father figure to her, the thought of her driving was probably terrifying.

~ ~ ~

I don’t know what I was expecting from the Marchells’ house, but a palace was not it.

“That’s it,” said Katie from the back seat, pointing past me. I looked, and sure enough, over the tree line was the top of a massive house.

“Marchells are winter to your summer, right?” Mae said.

“Yeah,” said Katie. “I know what you’re thinking. Why is their house bigger in our season? Well, it’s because Dad never wanted to show off. He said we didn’t need space, we needed comfort. That was his and Mom’s model when he built the place. Besides, I think they wanted more room for the garden.”

“Is there anything else we should know about the Marchell Court before we go inside?” I asked. I was thinking of the obvious hostility between Teegan and Seth. Also, whoever had threatened me was a fairy and must be a Marchell. Why had they done it? What was going on between the two Courts? Surely the Marchells wouldn’t feud with a couple of young Fairies, would they?

Both Arsenals paused for a beat too long.

“They have . . .” Seth started. “Well, they have some strange ideas.” But he wouldn’t say any more beyond that. “I’m sure Teegan will explain it all to you,” he added with just a hint of bitterness.

“Teegan is so nice,” said Katie from the back. She was still bouncing on her seat. I couldn’t believe how excited she was to be making a simple visit to the neighbors’ place for dinner.

“Teegan’s fine,” said Seth icily. “For a Winter Fairy.”

I couldn’t see her, but I felt sure Katie was rolling her eyes. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Teegan now. I had thought he was cute when we were younger, and he still was. He had also been funny and kind. I had been glad to see him, especially if he was my betrothed, and I wondered if he had had a chance to talk to his mom yet. I hadn’t really thought about it, but if he had my life could be changing really quickly.

Soon we reached the two massive, closed wrought iron gates. I had never seen closed Fairy Gates before, but Seth didn’t look surprised as he rolled his window down. A dark vine, another one I didn’t recognize, snaked its way into the car ands Seth took a tight hold onto it. I was surprised to see that the longer he held it, the more it started to glow. It was a thick glow, like a light shining underneath the sea. When the vine snaked out, Seth glanced at me. “That’s their safety mechanism,” he said. “You can’t just walk onto the grounds of Marchell.”

I had the uncomfortable thought that they might not let you just walk off the grounds either, but I didn’t ask. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt safe with Seth. I was sure that if he had been around for the tree falling he would have stopped it, which reminded me that I still had to tell him about it.

Once I had he was shocked.

“You must be joking,” he sputtered. “There’s no way one of those trees fell. Did you knock it over in your haste to get back to your friend?” I was relieved he could still tease at a time like this.

I grinned at Mae, who grinned back. It was nice he had noticed how close we were. It was nice that I had such a good friend.

“Of course not,” I muttered, blushing. “It just fell. I promise.”

Seth shook his head. “I’ll have to go look. I can’t believe it was cut.”

“Look,” I said, as we continued up the driveway, which felt like it was lasting forever, “I know what I saw.”

Seth was quiet, and I gave up and looked out the window. There wasn’t much of a view; just thick, dark trees, and the closer we got to the house the more nervous I felt. I had avoided Fairy Courts like it was my job since Holt’s death, but tonight I knew I’d have to talk about it—him, the Roths, Logan being missing, Autumn and Samuel holed up wherever while they solidified their relationship—and I had been jumpy about it all day. The only time I had forgotten was when I was in Seth’s garden, and even then my nerves had been starting to hum.

We rounded the last bend and I was met with the grandest house I had ever seen. It was like three, four, even five large houses spliced together to make one massive home. The weirdest thing about it was that the stones were painted black. It turned out that the house I had seen through the trees earlier wasn’t the main castle of Marchell, it must have been a guest house or an outhouse of some sort. I couldn’t believe the real thing.

“Even the Roths don’t have a house that big,” I breathed, staring. “Their house is also way less creepy.”

“Don’t you mean the Cheshires?” Seth asked dryly, since the Cheshires and the Marchells were both Winter Courts.

“Yeah, them too, and I’ve never met anyone who thinks as well of herself as Mrs. Cheshire.”

Unlike at Seth’s house the previous night, there weren’t loads of lights on, and the ones that were on were dim. At least there were a lot of cars parked along the driveway.

“This is for a party?” I asked. “This many people?”

“They do this all the time,” said Katie. “We just never go.” Another bitter comment directed at her brother.

“After tonight you might not want to go ever again,” said Seth mysteriously.

“What’s so worrisome about this?” I asked.

Seth shrugged. “I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.”

Terry and Teegan stepped out of the house. Well, Terry swept out like she was a grand Princess fairy, which she wasn’t, but according to Katie wanted to be. She was ablaze in black, and I couldn’t help but think that the floor-length, sparkling gown wasn’t very summery. Her blond hair was pulled back in a severe bun and she wore blood red lipstick.

Teegan looked really good in a light blue shirt and dark jeans. Even from here I could see his stormy gray eyes. He nodded to Seth as he got out of the car, but when he turned to me he had a massive grin on his face.

“Hey,” he said, stepping forward to open my door. “Wow, you look amazing.”

I blushed and looked down. “Thank you,” I said. I used to love the attention I got from my looks, but recently not so much.

He offered me his hand, and after the barest hesitation I took it. Seth escorted Katie, which left Terry and Mae to walk together.

Teegan gave my hand a light squeeze. I felt better from his gentle pressure. “Don’t be nervous,” he murmured.

“You look fine,” said Terry from behind me. Her eyes brushed over me like she barely saw me. “Not really the Marchell Court’s style, but how could you know?” I thought she was implying that she would have imparted her wisdom to us if we hadn’t kicked her out earlier, but seeing Seth kick her out had gone down as the highlight of my summer so far, so I wasn’t going to say anything.

But I knew what she meant the second we walked into the hall. Everything was covered in ice.

I began to shiver immediately, and I also understood why Terry was in a floor-length gown and Teegan was in long sleeves.

“You didn’t mention that this was a winter party,” said Seth, looking at Teegan. “I would have thought it wasn’t the best party to invite a member of the Arsenal court to.” His eyes were flashing angrily and I could feel Teegan getting maybe just a little bit uncomfortable at my side.

“The party was already planned when we found out Susan and Mae were here,” he said defensively, shrugging. “And I was told not to share that particular detail.” By the way he said it, I got the idea that the order had come from someone higher up and that he would have liked to tell us.

“It’s really cold,” said Katie to her brother. Her cheeks had gone pale and I could see her lips tremble slightly. Another minute and her teeth would start to chatter.

“Not for long,” said Seth, rubbing his hands together.

“I can probably find you some coats or something,” said Teegan, letting go of my hand and moving away from me.

“No,” said Seth. “I think you’ve done enough.”

He paused, staring off, but I could feel the hum of power around him, wrapping him up like vines and roots and heat under the sun. It blazed around the room and I watched in astonishment as sheets of water started to appear on the ice. His summer powers were so warm it was starting to melt.

“You can’t . . .” Terry started to say, but whatever it was died on her lips when she saw what Seth was doing. She figured it out before I did, because when I felt the softest touch on my shoulders I jumped.

Seth had created a wrap of the most delicate silk, white and far warmer than it looked, to cover my arms and shoulders. Katie had a purple and pink wrap that matched her dress. Mae’s was a little different; it was the length of her dress and black, thicker looking than either of ours.

I grinned, no longer cold. Point for the Summer Fairies.

“Thank you,” I murmured. My shawl stopped blazing, but I could still feel the touch of Seth’s Glamour, warm on my shoulders. It was almost as if he had draped a comforting arm around them. I couldn’t even bring myself to feel jealous that Katie and Mae must have the same feeling. Katie was his sister, after all, and if anyone deserved his love and attention she was the one. I was sure that everything Seth did was to keep her safe; I could see he felt a strong responsibility to take care of her. It didn’t explain the reclusiveness, but I had enough of my own problems and should probably let Seth deal with his own. Still, it felt funny that I had had all sorts of grand plans for the summer and was now putting them on hold to hang out in the middle of nowhere with Fairy Courts, which was exactly what I had been trying to avoid.