Susan's Summer (18 page)

It might just have been my imagination, but I felt as if my very bones were shaking. The girl, Gaudet Black, was small, but strong. Her dark eyes glared into mine.

“What the HELL are you doing here?” I managed to demand before she started pressing even harder.

Gaudet Black was the daughter of a Supreme Council fairy. I couldn’t remember his name, but I knew Gaudet worked as an investigator for the Supreme Council, making sure the Fairy Courts stayed in line and treated each other with respect. Her father had gotten her the job and she did it with diligence. I had wondered where she was when all the stuff was going down between the Cheshires and the Holts, but at the time I thought I had more important things to worry about, like the next party I was going to. Now I cursed myself for my stupidity.

I had known Gaudet from when we were little, as much as you could know Gaudet, which wasn’t much. She had always wanted to be an enforcer, and once she had gotten her wish she totally cut off contact with other Fairies. She had basically gone in the exact opposite direction from the one I had.

I managed to work my left hand free from behind me and slam it into her chest. She clearly wasn’t expecting resistance; she gasped as her eyes widened, and her hold on my neck loosened the tiniest amount, just enough to let me break free.

We stumbled away from each other. I was hacking, trying to get air back into my abused lungs.

For someone who was trying not to use her Glamour I had been using it a lot lately. There’s no way I could have followed a fairy like Gaudet without it.

“What the hell, Gaudet?” I demanded, choking. She glared at me.

“Explain what you’re doing at the Arsenals’ place,” she barked, her small face blazing with fury.

I paused. This was Gaudet. We might have played together once, but she was totally wild now, not someone I wanted to cross or piss off. Luckily, there was nothing wrong with telling her the truth.

“Seth Arsenal invited us to stay for a few days after he ran into us at this bar and helped us out of a bit of trouble,” I explained. “That’s about it. Mae and I like it, so we stayed.”

Gaudet eyed me skeptically. She was a cousin of Samuel’s, I remembered, thus the familiarity of the dark hair. I would have to tell Samuel that I had met a girl who was even worse than Lydia or Leslie, and that was saying something.

“That’s ridiculous. Who does that?”

“People who are capable of normal social interaction.”

“What does he want with you? What has he asked you to do? Has he offered you his Rose?” Gaudet asked all these questions quickly, one on top of the other, so that I didn’t have time to answer before she moved on to the text.

“Wh-what? No? Are you crazy?” I asked. Her eyes narrowed to slits. Wrong question.

She slammed me back against the wall. I felt my shoulder blades strike unevenly against the wood panels of the building and my head snap back. I blinked several times, trying to get my wits back, and then glared at her.

“Did it ever occur to you that in the range of ways you could get information out of someone, ruining a favorite dress might not be the best way to do it?” I demanded. “Seriously, sometimes finesse is better.” I almost laughed at myself for saying it. I was telling a girl dressed in head
to
toe black with a lip ring and charcoal around her eyes about finesse.

Gaudet released me slowly, but she kept her arm in contact with my neck. I took what I could get. Even with my powers I would have struggled to beat her in a fight. It was what she lived for, after all.

“Are you saying that you really just accidentally happened to stay there, and that Seth doesn’t want anything with you?”

My mind filled with a steamy bedroom scene and I started to blush. I hoped he wanted something with me, but that wasn’t what Gaudet meant at all, and I knew it. So I said, “He’s just been the perfect host. His sister is very nice and I think he wanted some people around for her to spend time with.”

“Seth isn’t known for being nice,” said Gaudet. “He is known for being powerful, brilliant, and closed
off. The only person he has shown any real interest in for years has been Katelin. He could have a seat on the Supreme Council one day if he doesn’t screw it up.”

I tried to hide my surprise, but failed. I really hadn’t thought much past the summer, or even the next day. I had been too wrapped up in my grief, but what Gaudet had said suggested years of planning and work. She was thinking long term.

“Here’s what I know. You show up unannounced into a highly volatile situation, which is undesirable, because at the moment you yourself are highly volatile. You are then invited into the middle of said situation and there you sit, twiddling your thumbs and looking pretty.” She took this opportunity to look me up and down with disgust.

“Excuse me?” I said, “Miss ‘I don’t know what to do with my hair so I buzz and try to look tough’. Which, by the way, is almost impossible when you’re barely five feet tall.”

I thought she was going to hit me. If it had been a couple of years ago and she had had a little less self-control she probably would have. Instead she just gave me a look that would have killed lesser Fairies.

“Are you telling me that you’re not here to exacerbate the situation between the Marchells and the Arsenals?” she demanded.

I threw up my hands, knocking her arm away from my neck. I looked around, as if somehow finding meaning in my surroundings would explain what was going on.

“I didn’t even know there was a situation,” I told her honestly. “For all I knew I was just staying with friends for a few days. Then you show up and try to kill me, and trees almost take my head off, and people give me cryptic messages at parties. I thought I had enough complications in my life.”

Gaudet eyed me carefully. “You know, I never thought you were stupid.”

“Um, thanks?” I said sarcastically. “Coming from you that means a lot.”

“Look, the Marchells and the Arsenals, despite any pretense to the contrary, are not on good terms. The Supreme Council is keeping an eye on them in case things get out of hand. You would do well to tell your guy that.”

My eyes widened. “Guy? What guy? I have a guy? I hope he’s cute.”

Gaudet made a noise of disgust. “Seth Arsenal might love his sister more than anything. In fact, he might love her more than he loves himself. But you are blind and dumb if you think he’s letting you stay there for her good alone.” She grinned at me. “You should take advantage of it. Princes with a Rose to offer are the most fun.” She winked at me, but already she was backing up, melting into the darkness that was her bread and butter.

“Gaudet?” I called after her, once the flush in my face had gone down a bit.

“Yes?”

“Don’t threaten me again,” I told her.

Gaudet’s laugh rang out. “I came here thinking you would be a simple-minded pushover. I guess I was wrong. This might be more fun than I thought it was going to be.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good thing,” I muttered, as I turned to go back inside.

Just as I was pushing the door open from the outside, someone was pushing at it from the inside. I stepped back to reveal Teegan, with a worried frown creasing his brow. Seeing that worried look made me realize what a jumble my own feelings were, and I just wished I had time to figure them out in some quiet place. But that wasn’t here, or now.

“Are you okay?” he demanded, standing close. He was breathing hard and his eyes were darting back and forth. “You left, and then I was sure I felt another fairy around, but I didn’t think you were crazy enough to go after whoever it was on your own. Obviously, I was wrong yet again today.”

I didn’t ask him what else he had been wrong about, I just pointed my head in the direction in which Gaudet had disappeared.

“One of the Black kids was here,” I said, remembering that she had a few brothers. “She wanted to know what I was doing with Seth.”

“She isn’t the only one,” muttered Teegan, moving aside so I could reenter the bar. The smoke was thick and the noise was deafening after the quiet outside.

“Are you okay? Where were you? I thought those guys got you again,” said Mae, rushing up to me as soon as we came through the door. “Don’t do that,” she said, and slapped me on the arm.

“Ouch,” I muttered, rubbing the hurt spot. “I missed you, too.”

“Come on,” said Teegan, draping his arm around my shoulders. “Let’s get you home.”

His arm around me felt nice, and I wondered again if he was my betrothed. I wished I could talk to my parents, but I realized that if I were given one night to spend with them I probably wouldn’t spare a thought for my betrothed. I would just sit there endlessly with my arms wrapped around them, not saying much at all.

I left quietly. I had a lot to think about.

When I didn’t hear from Teegan for a few days I headed over to Marchell. It turned out that because the Hamiltons were so wealthy, they had their own “cottage” on the Marchell land, and Teegan had told me in a general way how to get there. It was a long walk, but I had been enjoying my walks that summer and this one was no exception. The overcast day with a broiling dark sky wasn’t going to stop me.

I ask to borrow a rain jacket from Katie, who was in the living room when I left. She and Mae were tucked under a massive blanket, watching “Sleepless in Seattle.” The three of us had decided to watch every romantic comedy in the house that summer, much to Seth’s dismay; he had muttered something about why it was a bad idea to live in a house full of girls. I would ordinarily have stayed to watch this one with Mae and Katie, even if I had already seen it five times, because I loved it. But I wanted to see Teegan; I had been missing his easy company and wondering what was up with him, not to mention the fact that I was still curious about whether he was the fairy to whom my parents had betrothed me.

“Don’t get into any trouble,” Mae called as I left.

I grinned at her over my shoulder, but I knew she was right. I sincerely hoped there were no more falling trees in my immediate future.

As I was rummaging around in the hall closet looking for the rain jacket Katie had said should be there, Seth came to see what I was up to.

“Rummaging for valuables?” he asked, his lilting voice sending warm shivers down my spine.

I spun around, holding a maroon umbrella in my hand. There had been no sign of a rain jacket. “Maybe,” I smiled.

“Where are you headed in weather like this?” he asked, tilting his head in the direction of the windows. “It’s going to rain.”

“It’s not raining yet at Teegan’s place. He said he’d introduce me to his mom, but we haven’t had a chance, so I thought I’d see if they’re around today. Mrs. Hamilton is supposed to be awesome.”

Seth’s mouth quirked. He didn’t like what he was hearing. “How cool of him.”

“I think so,” I said mulishly. “You don’t have to dislike him just because he’s a Winter Fairy. They have feelings too, you know.”

Seth shrugged. “Yeah, but they’re encased in ice, except maybe for your Samuel. It’s not that he’s a Winter Fairy. It’s that he’s Marchell.”

“They haven’t done anything to you,” I said, twisting the umbrella in my hands. “And he’s not
my
Samuel. He’s Autumn’s.”

“They haven’t done anything that I can prove, anyhow,” said Seth, rocking back in his heels slightly as he examined me. “But do what you want. I know you’re going to anyway.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, following him as he turned to walk away.

“Nothing,” he said. “I’m going to hang out with Katie and Mae.”

“You’re going to watch ‘Sleepless in Seattle’? You believe in true love after all?”

“Of course I do,” he said. “It’s the best defense against a hard life.”

And with that he was gone. I stood staring at the closed door to the living room for several heartbeats. Then, realizing I’d probably get drenched if I didn’t get going, I pushed myself back into motion. As usual, my interaction with Seth had been anything but straightforward.

I hadn’t seen Teegan’s house before, but I wasn’t surprised when to find out how beautiful it was. White picket fences, yes, really, with light blue trim on a cute old farmhouse—that’s what greeted me when I reached the clearing in the trees that Teegan’s instructions had directed me toward. Of course, there was Teegan himself, playing in the yard with one of the Marchell dogs.

When he saw me he waved and came striding over. The rain was still holding off and he was wearing khaki shorts and a t-shirt. The wind blew his t-shirt around and every time I caught a glimpse of his tight stomach I had to force myself to look away.

“Hey,” he said, grinning. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” I said. I knew a slight blush stained my cheeks, but I hoped Teegan would attribute it to my walk. “I’m missing ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ to come see you. I hope you’re grateful.”

“Oh, well, in that case you need some compensation. Can I get you anything to eat? Drink? Soda? Cookies?”

I laughed. “No, I’m good.”

“My mom was really excited when I told her a girl might come over one of these days. She remembers me as perpetually single and wants me married.”

That isn’t how I remember you, I thought; I remember girls falling all over themselves to be in your presence.

“Come on,” he said. “She’s inside. We could hang out with the dog outdoors for a while, but this weather sucks.”

He threw a stick so far it disappeared into the woods, and as the dog ran off after the stick he ushered me inside. When I pointed to the dog he shrugged.

“He’s fine, he knows his way around here better than any fairy ever will, and that’s saying something. Besides, he’s so adorable that if he rolls over he gets treats. None of us can claim that.”

I swatted playfully at his shoulder and he grinned.

“Teegan, that you?” a woman’s voice floated toward us from the kitchen. “Did your lady friend come by? Does she want any tea?”

Teegan gave me a look that said, “You asked for this,” then raised his eyebrows at me. When I nodded he called back, “Three cups.”

“You drink tea?” I asked, surprised. He seemed too macho for tea.

“Green tea is very good for you,” he said. “Besides, my mom gathers all the essential ingredients and infuses them with her own unique powers. You haven’t had real tea until you’ve had my mom’s.”

“Mrs. Roth makes a mean cup of tea too,” I said. It was actually a pretty impressive and rare power to work with tea leaves as a fairy, but I just enjoyed teasing Teegan.

He led me through the living room and into the kitchen, which, like the rest of the house, was bright and cheery despite the dreary day. Pots and pans hung on one wall in an array of warm colors, and the wood floors and white countertops were spotless. It was like the summer houses in Maine. An ache started to fill my chest, but it was only momentary.

“Hi dear,” said Mrs. Hamilton. “You must be Susan?”

“Yes,” I said, smiling at the short woman who stood in front of me. She had gray hair and looked frail. Teegan’s mother shouldn’t look so old, I thought. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Teegan’s mother smiled brightly with the same stunning gray eyes that Teegan looked out at the world with.

“Here, let’s have tea,” she said. She picked up a tray, on which there sat an adorable white and blue tea pot and three matching cups, and carried it over to a wooden table painted a dazzling white. I followed her and Teegan over to the table and sat down.

“Tell me about yourself,” said Teegan’s mother as she poured the tea. Instantly the smell of jasmine filled the air and I inhaled deeply. It had been a while since I had had well-made tea—since I had last seen Mrs. Roth.

“Sugar?”

“Yes please. Um, there isn’t much to tell. I’m a member of the Roth Court in Maine. I finished high school and would love to be an interior decorator, so I might go to school for that.”

“Ah, yes, the Roths. Do they still have that Solstice Party? They always had wonderful parties, and that one is particular was lovely.”

“Yes, every year,” I said. “Until this year.”

Teegan shook his head slightly and I knew I wasn’t supposed to tell her what had happened to Holt, because her memory wouldn’t be able to take it in anyway. The spell that had hit her and ruined her memory had been a strong one.

“Why aren’t they having it this year?” Mrs. Hamilton’s large eyes blinked out at me from behind her glasses. “Such a shame.”

“They decided to take a year off,” I said, trying to act casual. “You know, party planning takes a lot of time and Mrs. Roth has other matters to attend to.” Technically it was true.

“Big parties can be tiring, isn’t that right? Especially if you’re in search of a young lady to attend them with,” Mrs. Hamilton said to Teegan, nudging him.

Teegan cleared his throat. “Yeah, that’s right, Mom.”

Mrs. Hamilton was giving both of us the strangest look. “If you two are dating, why aren’t you holding hands?”

Teegan choked on his tea and I grinned into my cup. “We aren’t dating, Mom. Come on,” he said once he stopped coughing.

“Ah, sure you aren’t. Fine, don’t tell me.” She winked at her son, who was now red in the face.

“I was actually wondering if you knew my parents,” I said. “My mom’s name was Susan and my dad’s was Kasell.”

“Ah, you’re that Susan? How wonderful.”

I did my best to avoid the glare Teegan was giving me. I knew I wasn’t supposed to bring up my parents, but I just had to! From Mrs. Hamilton’s reaction I couldn’t tell if she really remembered them or was just playing along.”

“They were part of a circus performance, weren’t they?” Mrs. Hamilton asked, smiling at me.

I guess that answers that question.

“Actually, they were part of the Roth Court,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment.

“Ah, as performers?”

“No,” I said, smiling. “As family.”

“Lovely.”

“So, Mom, what have you been doing all day?” Teegan cut in, closing that topic. It didn’t matter. She obviously had no idea who my mom and dad were.

We spent the afternoon chatting. The whole encounter was strange, but I knew Teegan wouldn’t want me to press her any further about the past, so I didn’t. It was hard in a way, but I didn’t mind too much. What if she remembered and said Teegan was the person my parents had wanted me to marry? How awkward would that be? I couldn’t imagine anything worse. Teegan was kind, and I liked him, but the idea of suddenly being told he indeed WAS my betrothed made me blush.

“It was so lovely to meet you, please come again. I do hope you date my son. He is such a lovely boy.” She offered her frail hand and I shook it gently. Then, feeling as if the handshake wasn’t enough, I gave her a hug. She gave me a big smile.

“Teegan, dear, you’ve found a keeper,” she said. She had a habit of prodding him in the ribs or the arm to make her point clearer, which made her seem more like a grandmother than a mother, but I kept reminding myself that she hadn’t been a real mother to him in a long time.

“Yeah, Mom,” said Teegan, rubbing his ribs. “She’s a great girl. I think she likes someone else, though.” His voice caught as he said it and I had to look away, uncomfortable that he had been paying such close attention to me.

“I’ll walk you home,” he said, once we were safely outside. The brown dog had retrieved the stick and was now noshing on it as if it was the finest steak dinner. Dogs were so easy to please.

“No,” I said. “That’s probably not a good idea.”

Teegan scoffed. “I won’t go onto the Arsenal property. Don’t worry, I won’t upset his highness.”

I gave him my best glare to emphasize that I was serious in not wanting him to come onto Arsenal because of me. He shrugged, and we set off.

“Thanks for having me over,” I said as we hurried along. It was almost dark and I was glad for the company. It had started to rain a little, the wind was picking up, and I wanted to get back inside as soon as possible. “It was nice to meet your mom.”

“Yeah, sorry about the whole dating thing. She loves it when I have people over.” Teegan shrugged. He hadn’t put a jacket on, but he didn’t look cold at all.