Broken: A Paranormal Romance @page { margin-bottom: 5.000000pt; margin-top: 5.000000pt; } Broken: A Paranormal Romance by David H. Burton Published by: Stonehenge Press Copyright © 2011 by David H. Burton Cover art and design by David H. Burton This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.License Notes This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment. If you would like to share this book with another person, feel free to do so, or purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then feel free to purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. Also by David H. Burton: Visit David at davidhburton.com Click here to view the Book Trailer for The Second Coming Click here to view the Book Trailer for Scourge AcknowledgementsThe biggest thank you in the world goes out to my beta readers:Maurice Alvarez, Caleb Blake, Nikki Beland, Roger Benslay, Kim Cornell, Milene Ferreira, Kiki Howell, Gina Marie Jenkins, Julie Kearns, Scott Nicholson, Julie Titus, Vickie Vonn, Jan Wells, Audrey Wilson, Avram Woroch And, as always, I cannot thank my partner, Humberto, enough for his undying support and love.This is a journey I would not be able to take without you. DedicationThis book is dedicated to my parents, for instilling in me the love of reading:one of the greatest gifts you ever gave me. Chapter 1 A letter came by registered mail. It was from my mother. Had she not been dead for three months, it might have seemed less odd. The return address was care of the lawyer she had chosen to settle her affairs, but there was no mistaking the handwriting. The circular perfection of the �śo” in Joan Gregory was unmistakable. I signed for the letter and thanked the courier, sending him on his way even though he lingered in the doorway. I don’t know if he was looking for a tip or waiting for me to play with his, but either way it wasn’t happening. I closed the door, perhaps a little too eagerly, and jiggled the envelope. Something slid around inside. It wasn’t like my mother to send something so late. The woman had conducted her affairs like she had everything else in life �" calculated, efficient. I wasn’t sure what she could be sending so long after her passing. More than likely it had gotten lost in the lawyer’s office, and they’d just remembered to send it now. I plunked myself on the futon. The frame moaned a little �" its time with me as a university student had not been kind. As I hacked open the envelope a key dropped to the parquet floor. A crisp letter awaited me, its message blunt. Dear Katherine, The key is to open a safety deposit box. The branch address and contact information is attached as well as the necessary legal papers granting you access. You will want to open it before your twenty-fourth birthday. Sincerely, Joan Gregory I tried not to roll my eyes at the fact she had formally signed the letter instead of the usual, �ŚYour Mother’. A sigh escaped my lips. My twenty-fourth birthday was three days away. So it seemed her timing was impeccable. I sat for a moment, looking over the letter. Dancing around the back of my mind was the thought that this might be karma. Not the good kind, either. The woman had left me nothing. Everything had been bequeathed to my brother, Geoffrey, with the exception of some shack in England. And that was only left to me because it was always handed down to the eldest child. I wish I could say that Geoff had shared some of his inheritance with me, but he’d kept it all. My mother had managed to successfully drive a wedge between my brother and me growing up �" to the point that we rarely spoke now. I didn’t mourn her passing. I suppose that’s where the karma was coming back to bite me. I lay back on the sofa, stuffing a ratty throw pillow under my head. What the hell would she leave me in a box? As I pondered what plan the woman could have concocted, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I whipped my head in its direction. All I saw was the plant �" a wilting ficus. The glance was instinctual �" like when you think something’s there; like when you feel something is watching you; or worse, like when you’re convinced you saw a figure in the shadows, but you turn and it’s not there. Most people can brush it off. I can’t. I waited. For what exactly, I wasn’t sure, but I suppose I was expecting to catch sight of something that wasn’t really there. The pause had to have been nothing more than half a second, but it’d felt like ten. At the end of that seemingly prolonged moment I made a beeline for the kitchen. I tore through the cupboards searching for where I’d left my meds. Beside the cans of ravioli, the empty bottle waited. Trifluoperazine �" it was the only thing that helped. The notion something was always looking over my shoulder had gotten worse lately. Hallucinations, the doctor had said. They’d become more frequent since my roommate’s brother had brought that blasted plant. It seemed odd I would blame a plant, but leafy greenness and I were not friends. Plants put me on edge. I was trying to let the thing die while Natalie was on vacation. I figured she’d be a little disappointed when she returned, but so be it. I couldn’t have a plant in here. I had another look at the ficus. Fortunately, there was nothing there. At its foot lay three dead leaves. I left them. At that point the phone rang. Although it startled me, I was relieved to be jerked back to reality. I shook my head, and tried to settle my nerves with a deep breath. Then I grabbed the cordless. Coincidentally, it was Chris �" the guy who’d brought the plant. I hate coincidences. I almost didn’t answer, but he was a friend. And I tend not to think as clearly as I should around cute men with broad shoulders. �śHello?” I managed to choke into the receiver. �śHi, Katherine?” said the voice on the other end of the line. His voice was like warm sugar. �śOh, hey Chris, Natalie’s not here. She’s on vacation.” �śYeah, I know.” �śOh, did she call you? Does she need something?” �śNo. I was calling for you.” �śDid I miss practice?” We played rugby together and I was pretty good about making practice regularly. But lately, my mind wasn’t where it should be. Again, I blamed the plant. �śNo,” he said. There was an awkward silence. �śUm, I was just wondering if you wanted to go for coffee or something. With Natalie gone, I thought you might want some company.” Now, there was a surprise. It wasn’t the first time Natalie had disappeared for a prolonged period. In fact, she was rarely ever around. When she’d answered the ad for a female roommate, I never thought I’d have it so good. She paid her half of the rent and was almost never here. I wasn’t sure what her brother's motives were, but something seemed a little odd. Chris was way out of my league. And I mean way. I play rugby and field hockey, so I’m not all that thin. My curly hair makes me look like Medusa on good days, and like I’d stuck my finger in a socket on the rest. I don’t generally wear makeup and I dress in what I like to call comfortable clothing. I don’t do demure and quiet. And I’m pretty sure I reek of man-repellent. That said, I did need some company. Besides, getting away from that plant in the corner wouldn’t hurt either. �śUh, sure,” I said. �śWhen?” �śHow about now?” he asked. There was a knock at the door. My breath got stuck in my throat. Please don’t let that be him. I walked to answer it, curious if it was him, but hoping it wasn’t. It was a bit stalker-ish for my liking, even if he was cute. As I approached the door the ficus was calling my attention again. Like a magnet, it drew my eyes towards it. I nearly choked at what was there. I blinked, hoping it was just a reflection or trick of the light. Unfortunately, it was no use. Standing by the tree was a hairy, little green man with enormously large hands. I cursed myself for not having refilled my meds. Not a good time for a mental breakdown, Katherine. Pull it together. Chris cleared his throat on the other end of the phone, waiting for me to answer his question. The knock on the door got heavier. And the little man was motioning me towards him. I’m usually pretty good about picking my priorities, even under pressure. The first thing I needed to do was deal with Chris. It was only seconds I’d left him hanging there, but it couldn’t have been making much of an impression. �śUh, now’s not good,” I managed to say. �śEight o’clock okay?” I figured I would accomplish two things by putting him off until later. First, it allowed me to deal with whoever was hammering on my door. Second, it bought me some needed time to address the little problem that was perched under the ficus. There was hesitation on the other end of the phone before Chris finally said, �śYeah, that sounds fine. Casey’s okay?” The pounding on the door got more insistent. �śNo, Woody’s has better pool tables.” �śSounds good,” he said. I hung up, a little too quickly. Next was the door. I looked through the peephole. It was my brother, Geoff. I was sort of glad it was him. Surprised, but glad. �śOne sec!” I called. �śI’m not decent!” I lied, but the knocking stopped which bought me a moment. The last problem was a conundrum. My psychiatrist said I shouldn’t entertain whatever fanciful creations my imagination could conjure. He advised me to take my meds and then imagine whatever I was seeing to disappear. I was operating sans meds here, and I couldn’t just scream at it to go away since Geoff was on the other side of the door. He’d heard enough of my raving lunacy as a kid. He didn’t need to relive that all over. I tried to make shooing motions with my hands, hoping that what I was seeing would take the hint that it wasn’t wanted. I even shook my head a couple of times as if rattling my brain around in my skull might help. That didn’t work either. The little man became more insistent and then pointed to something at the base of the plant with his meaty fingers. I had to step closer to see it. A lot closer. I was about two feet away when I noticed what was resting there �" an earring. An earring with an emerald. The little man said nothing, but motioned for me to take it. The earring was my own, one I’d had since I was a teenager. How it got there was a mystery, but I picked it up, avoiding the little man. If I touched him and found he actually had substance, I’d go mental. He’s just a figment of your imagination, Katherine. I backed away from the plant and slipped the earring in my pocket. Then I made for the door. A quick check in the mirror revealed I was a little paler than usual, but otherwise my appearance was acceptable. I took one last glance at the ficus and sighed. Little, naked green guy was gone. I yanked open the door. Geoff stood there with a laundry basket filled with some of my old clothes. �śI thought you weren’t going to let me in,” he said. He ducked to enter, his hair brushing the doorframe. He was a good head taller than me. �śThought maybe you had company.” I smiled as I closed the door behind him. �śUh, no.” He dropped the basket on the floor. �śI was downtown and thought I’d drop by with some of your things.” Geoff still lived in our old house on the outskirts of the city. �śAnd what’s the name of the man that has you downtown on a Saturday morning?” I asked. It was as close to playful banter as I was going to get with him. I chose to ignore the fact he had treated my things so callously. Geoff tossed his rugby jacket on the futon. �śYou’ll be surprised when I tell you.” �śOh god, tell me it’s not some name like Drake or Lance?” From what I understood, Geoff’s life was something of a soap opera. He made his way to the kitchen, chuckling. �śBetter,” he said. He paused at the doorway and turned. �śIt’s Layne.” He slipped out of sight with a flare that was as gay as his coif. It was interesting he was sharing this with me. Maybe with Mother gone, he felt like he needed family again. �śNot Layne, like Troy’s brother?” I asked, chasing after him. Troy was a previous fling of mine, if he could be called that. He was one of the pool hall regulars. I think he’d been through every woman in the bar before he finally decided to try me. He’s one of those men that wears shitkickers, has a sock stuffed in the front of his jeans, and boasts silver testicles on the back of his truck. It was what I call compensation for what’s lacking between his legs. That relationship lasted all of one date. Okay, maybe two if I count the time I had sex with him in the washroom while under the influence of way too many beers. When I got around the corner, Geoff was fingering the opened pill bottle on the counter. His eyes held a hint of concern. �śYou still taking these?” I offered an irritated smirk and then took the bottle from his hands, stuffing it back into the cupboard. I pondered telling him about the plant in the corner. That thought lasted all of a second. Geoff had heard me talk of little people as a child and watched as I went through countless doctors to rid myself of the hallucinations. It hadn’t been easy on any of us. In the end, to my mother’s credit, she’d finally found someone that had been able to find the right med. It had now been seven years since I’d seen the little green man and his friends. �śI got a letter from Mother today,” I said. The change in subject was deliberate, and it seemed to work. Geoff cocked his head just enough to indicate he was intrigued. I grabbed the note from the coffee table and handed it to him. His eyes saddened a little. He had wonderful memories of our mother. I wish I could say the same. My mother had never been cruel to me. On the contrary, she had been very civil and polite, but her love was never mine to receive. It was a bitter childhood and I’ve often wondered if the hallucinations had stemmed from that lack of affection growing up. My psychiatrist said I had mother issues. My psychiatrist also had a way with the obvious. Geoff read it quickly. �śThis is my branch.” �śI thought it might be,” I said. He worked as a manager there. �śWhat could she have left for you so long after her passing?” I shrugged. I really had no clue. �śLook at the postmark,” he said. �śThis was sent out yesterday from the lawyer’s office. And the letter is dated for today. She wanted you to get this now.” I hadn’t really paid attention to those details, but Geoff was right. �śGet your things,” he said. �śI’ll take you. It’s still open.” �śSure,” I said. It was a good reason to get some fresh air and clear my head. �śGive me a sec.” Geoff grabbed his jacket as I slipped into the bedroom. I nudged the door closed behind me. He didn’t need to see the single mattress on the floor I used as a bed or the milk crates I used as a nightstand. I had my pride. I threw on a ball cap and pulled a team sweater from the clean pile of laundry. I tried to slip my ID into my pocket and realized the earring was still in there. It was from Aunt Marigold. She had given it to me as a birthday gift long ago �" a single, emerald earring. It seemed odd at the time to only receive a single earring, but my aunt was quirky that way. I never really heard much from her after that, with the exception of the customary Yule card and a few letters imploring me to come visit. With no money to make such a trip, I just ignored the latter. I opened the little wooden box where I kept the trinkets which had some meaning to me and nearly gasped. Sitting next to a wooden figurine of a fox was the earring I’d had since I was sixteen. What I held in my hand was its match. Chapter 2 I didn’t want to react too strongly with Geoff around, but I was inclined to mutter a few obscenities. What the hell was going on? Between Mother’s quaint mystery and the reappearance of the little man I hadn’t seen since I was seventeen, I had enough to deal with. Seeing a match for a single earring I’d had for years was starting to push me towards a rather narrow ledge. And it’s not like it was a common earring that could have coincidentally shown up. It was an upside down silver leaf and stem with the emerald as the flower. I started to wonder if I’d always had two and just didn’t remember. That was the worst part of this, the feeling like I was losing my mind. I’d been questioning my own sanity for far too long, and it was getting old. Closing my eyes, I exhaled to try to get some kind of grip on myself. Then I put the earring with the first and left the room. Geoff was waiting for me at the door, reading the note over again. I felt for him. He really missed Mother. I’m sure it must have been difficult for him to have her leave something for me after all this time. I clapped him on the shoulder, smiling as I took the note and key. �śCome on,” I said. �śLet’s see what we have waiting for us.” He nodded, but said nothing. As we walked towards the elevator, I remained quiet with him. It wasn’t an awkward silence �" we were just both caught up in our own individual thoughts. Of the couple of things that were going on, the earring was the most troubling. I could understand the hallucinations returning. I hadn’t renewed my meds and I was due for a tune-up with Dr. White. But the earring was physical. I couldn’t argue its existence. When the elevator arrived, I decided I didn’t want to think about it anymore, so I broke the silence. �śSo how long has this been going on with Layne?” I asked. I pushed for the parking garage. Geoff’s face lit up. �śThree weeks,” he said. He didn’t expand on it like I thought he might, and I chose not to pry. I smiled inside, though, at the thought that hopefully Layne was better endowed than his brother. We took Geoff’s Jetta since my old Tempo was on its last legs. It was an amicable ride. Geoff filled me in on neighborhood gossip and things he’d done around the house since Mother’s passing. I didn’t push to see it, and he didn’t invite me. At the branch he took me past the line and the tellers, and brought me back to where the safety deposit boxes were kept. No one stopped him, but considering his position at the branch it wasn’t really a surprise. Trust my mother to pick the bank where Geoff worked, unless, of course, she wanted this moment to unfold like this. After retrieving the bank’s key for the box, he ensured we had a small room for us to review the contents privately. I took a deep breath before inserting the key and opening it. Despite the fact I valued my independence, there was a small hope that there might be some money. I hated myself for the thought. I really didn’t want her money, but the sensible part of me thought that it could come in handy. I did have student debts to pay after all. Geoff leaned over, but refrained from touching anything. His fingers twitched though, like he was as anxious as I was. I exhaled as we saw the contents. A manila envelope sat upon a leather-bound collection of old documents. I hacked open the seal. Geoff stood over my shoulder as I pulled out a sheaf of papers. On the top was a letter from Mother. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it, but my eyes seemed to make the decision for me. Dear Katherine, I am writing this knowing I have little time left. The cancer in my body has spread to the point I have only two months to live and I could not bring myself to tell you this in person. I have lived with a large burden upon my shoulders and have not had the courage to tell you this in person. I suspect Geoffrey will want to know this as well, but it is your choice if you wish to share it with him. I apologize that you’re receiving this information now, but at the very least I wanted you to have some knowledge of what is coming. There are things you need to know. First, I suppose you may have wondered why I left nothing for you in my will. To be blunt, you are not my child. I never gave birth to you. You were adopted at infancy in the second year of our marriage. I told James, the man you think of as your father, a lie. I told him I could not bear children, and we made arrangements to adopt a child. On the day James passed away, I learned I was pregnant with Geoffrey. If you are wondering why I deceived James deliberately, it was because of a problem in his family. Within the pages I have left in this box are the writings of various family members, detailing a history to which you are the heir. The death certificates, dates, and relevant information are all there. I will leave you to read them, but here is the essence of what you will find. The eldest child in James’s family will die in their twenty-fifth year. Before you decide that it is some absurd notion, know that this has come to pass for five generations now. You are the sixth. I know this may seem harsh that I chose to adopt a child before having one of my own, but there it is. If you have the strength of will, I implore you to not have a child in the coming months. First, you will be unlikely to see it to term since your twenty-fourth birthday is now three days away. It is unknown at what point your death will come, but it will surely happen in your twenty-fifth year. And second, this anomaly could die with you if you choose to end this. This may be a prudent time to settle whatever legal affairs you may need to. If you inform Geoffrey of this, please let him know all of this was done for his sake, so that my own child by James would live. Sincerely, Joan Gregory I handed the letter to Geoff as I grabbed the closest chair. My stomach felt like it was up around my throat. I sat down, bracing my head in my hands. Geoff plunked down beside me. He was just as speechless. The woman had never loved me, I had figured that. I suppose it made sense she wasn’t my birth mother �" we didn’t look anything alike. I just always assumed I had inherited more of my father’s traits. But I had lived a life unloved by a woman who had some bizarre notion I would die at the age of twenty-four? What sort of sick joke was this? Had she been mentally unstable? I could barely make my fingers flip through the remaining pages attached to her letter �" adoption papers, a British passport, citizenship papers. I couldn’t even look at the rest, never mind the leather-bound collection that still waited at the bottom of the metal box. Geoff said nothing. At this point, I didn’t want words. How was this possible? And my father, or the man I thought was my father, went along with this? It had to be some kind of joke. Who would do this to a child? I was trying to make some sense of it when I noticed a name on one of the documents �" a witness signature. There was scrawled a name I knew. It was on every Christmas card I had received since I was a teenager. Marigold Gregory. The harsh reality of this settled on me as I looked upon the scrawling signature. This was no joke. My aunt was going to be getting a phone call, if I could find her number. I had questions. A lot of them. Geoff rummaged through the papers as I got up to pace. I didn’t really know what to do with myself, but my legs itched to move. �śWhat are you going to do?” Geoff finally asked. Anger seeped out of my eyes in tears that slipped down my cheeks. �śI don’t know,” I said. My brother and I had never discussed my mother’s relationship with me. We both knew it wasn’t what it should be. He likely knew it was not my fault, but I think he never truly wanted to know because it would ruin his own image of her. At this point, I had had enough of dancing around the big, white elephant in the room. �śShe never loved me,” I muttered. �śI knew that. But this is stupid. They adopted me because�Ś because of some ridiculous idea that their first child was going to die? What the hell is that?” Geoff said nothing. Thankfully. Because I wasn’t finished. �śAnd I grew up unloved all these years, deliberately. I’m like a human shield. �ŚHere, take this one, it’s no good to us’!” I pulled at my hair. �śI don’t know what to do. I don’t know who to talk to. My psychiatrist will have a field day with this!” Geoff got up from the table and walked over to me. He looked like he might try to hug me. �śDon’t touch me. Please.” Geoff backed off, but his silent eyes never left me. �śHow did this happen? Who let something like this happen?” I grabbed the letter. �śLook, just like the other letter, she didn’t even sign it with �ŚYour Mother’! It’s like she was finally admitting to me what I knew all along �" I was never hers.” I threw it on the table. �śAll these years of meds and questioning my own sanity, all because of this. Do you have any idea what my life has been like? I’m exhausted, Geoff. I’m mentally and emotionally exhausted from a roller coaster ride that never ends. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t.” Eventually I gave in and sobbed. My legs buckled and I grabbed the table for support. I wept. There was nothing left to me but torrents of pain that flooded out in gasping sobs. I let it all out and Geoff stood there beside me. �śWhy?” I managed to say. �śWhy?” Finally he whispered to me. �śI don’t know,” he said. �śBut we’ll find out who did this.” I looked at him. �śWe’ll start with Aunt Marigold. And I’ll search through the house for anything Mom left behind. Something isn’t right here.” I said nothing. I lowered my head. I wasn’t sure I even cared to know. At this point, I just wanted to go home. �śI know she wasn’t a very good mother to you. I think I’ve always known she liked me more, but this seems too cruel. It’s crazy. I can’t believe she would have written this, or she would have done this. It’s not like her.” I blinked for a moment. What? It was exactly like her, actually. And the letter was in her handwriting. Those �śo”s were unmistakable. As I looked at Geoff I could see the denial in his eyes. He was refusing to believe that our mother, or rather his mother, had been capable of this. I didn’t know what to do with it. As he backed up, I felt like a giant knife came down, severing the last of any connection I had with him. He paper-clipped the papers and passed them to me. I suddenly felt very alone. I suppose I could have protested his disbelief, but what was the point. A few more tears slid down my cheeks before I took them from him and then followed him out the door. He’d have to come to his senses on his own. Geoff left me at my apartment, promising to get back to me with anything he found. I needed to sleep, and I think he needed some time to think. I tossed the papers from Mother on the coffee table. They skidded across, knocking the cordless to the floor. I didn’t bother to retrieve it since it was in line of sight of the ficus. I just collapsed on the bed. It usually takes me some time to fall asleep, but this time it was almost instant. I didn’t dream, or I didn’t remember if I did. I just turned off. Chapter 3 A knock at the door woke me. I grumbled, looking at the old digital clock on the floor. The bright red numbers read nine o’clock. I wondered who the hell would be knocking at the door and then I groaned as I remembered. Chris! Some friend I was. I scraped myself out of bed. I didn’t look in the mirror. I didn’t care how I looked. I just opened the door. Chris was standing there, hands in his jean pockets. The look on his face changed from a somewhat down-trodden to a wide-eyed �ŚWoah, you look like shit!’ look. He grabbed my arm. �śAre you okay?” A laugh somehow escaped my lips. �śI look that bad, do I?” He smiled. He had great teeth. Actually, he had great everything �" blonde hair, broad shoulders, rugby legs, and an ass you can’t help but want to squeeze. He was a bit on the shorter side, but somehow it didn’t matter. He had good sized feet too, and wide. I laughed on the inside. Despite how numb I was feeling, I couldn’t believe I was sizing him up. I did it every time I saw him. It was difficult to view him as platonic sometimes, even though our friendship started out that way. I think the corner of my lips must have shown what I was thinking because his grin got bigger. �śWhat are you smiling at?” he asked. One hand went up to press against the door frame, and he leaned in. It was like a sudden wave of charm just flooded off him, all warm and intense. �śNothing,” I said. I actually took a step back. �śI’m glad you’re here.” I pulled the door open further to let him in. �śI was worried when you didn’t show up,” he said. �śI tried calling, but you weren’t answering.” �śSorry about that,” I said. I wasn’t going to make up excuses or lie, I’m not that kind of girl. �śI’ve been sleeping for hours. It’s been a shitty day.” Chris took off his leather jacket and was about to sit on the couch when he grabbed the cordless off the floor. It was making that annoying sound when the phone has been off the hook too long. He turned it off. �śThat would explain why I couldn’t reach you,” he said, �śand I don’t have your cell number.” I had never really thought to offer it. �śI need to fix that,” he said. He pulled out his own. �śWhat is it?” There was a grin on his face. It lightened my mood, which I needed. I don’t have a dainty giggle or a modest chuckle. I don’t have a hideous cackle either, but my laughs tend to be loud. One of them burst out. �śFine, fine,” I said. I gave it to him and then offered him something to drink. He gladly accepted so I pulled a couple of beers out of the fridge. They weren’t the twist off kind, forcing me to rummage through the drawers to find the bottle opener. By the time I got the beers opened, I found Chris over by the ficus. He grabbed the watering can beside it and poured what was left through the withering leaves. �śI’m terrible with plants,” I said. He turned and smiled. �śYou haven’t killed it yet.” But I almost did, no thanks to you. He sat on the futon and picked up the leather-bound stack of papers. �śThese look old.” I sat next to him. �śI just got them today.” Then I picked up the ones from Joan. �śWith these.” I’m not exactly sure why I did that. Chris was a good friend, someone I knew I could confide in, but even this was a bit more than I would have shared with him. Our friendship had been growing steadily since I met him. I think he actually knew more about me than my roommate did. Tonight, I think I needed someone to read the crap printed there and to understand; to be on my side, as childish as that seemed. He scanned the letter. Every once in a while his eyebrows would furrow. I sucked on my beer while he read. �śWow,” he said. �śIs it true?” �śWhat, that I’m adopted?” �śNo, �Śwell, yeah, but I was thinking more about this curse thing.” I laughed. �śCurse? Seriously? You don’t believe in that stuff, do you?” �śWell it would suck if it’s true.” I took another swig. �śWhat sucks is that some crazy woman adopted me because she believed in that crap. I grew up as this thing that needed to be fed, rather than as a daughter.” He gave a slight nod, seeming to accept my logic. He took a long swig of his own beer. �śSo what’s the rest of this stuff?” I shrugged, and opened the leather-bound papers. It looked to be a diary entry from my grandfather. Today, the little green man appeared again. I haven’t seen him in months. I nearly spat out my beer at those words. I gulped hard to keep it from spewing out and put the papers back on the coffee table. I looked at Chris, lips pressed together. �śYou still up for some pool?” I asked. I needed to get out. He looked taken aback for a moment, but smiled and put his beer on the table. �śSure!” I got up and slipped into my room. I had a quick glance in the mirror. There was some color in my cheeks. With my hair pulled back in my cap, I figured I could pass for looking like the living. I grabbed my jacket. Chris grabbed his, and we were out the door. The pool hall was within stumbling distance of my apartment so it didn’t take long to get there. We didn’t talk about what I’d just read. I think he got the idea I needed to forget about what had ruined my day. A light drizzle moistened the air, and we laughed about our last rugby game. We had narrowly lost because of the rain. It had cost us a round of drinks at the bar with the other team, but it had been all in fun. A car sped along the road behind us. Chris nudged me over on the sidewalk so he walked between me and the road. It was a strange thing to notice, but if there was one thing about Chris I’d learned, it was that he had chivalry down to an art. He held the door open for me at the pool hall and then took our jackets. After hanging them on stools near the end of the bar, he ordered a couple of beers. One of the bartenders, nodded at me. �śUsual table?” �śThanks, Paul,” I said. He thumbed towards Chris’s back and muttered the word, �śReally?” I laughed. �śIt’s not like that,” I said. �śYou still with Tony?” he asked. One of those bellowing laughs escaped my mouth. I was glad Tony wasn’t there to hear it. �śYou’ve got to be kidding. That lasted one date.” Paul handed me the balls and rack. �śNot according to him. By the way he talks, you’re pining for him all the time.” I just smiled. �śThen let him think that.” Chris turned from the bar. Two beers in hand, he sauntered over, looking me straight in the eyes. For a brief moment, I couldn’t move. All I could focus on was his green eyes. It was sort of a captivating moment in which my feet were glued to the floor. I could swear for a brief second his eyes changed �" to something brighter. My breath caught in my throat as he walked towards me. I felt my face flush. I fumbled to rack the balls, trying to catch my breath once more and turn my attention away from his eyes. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t the time to be looking at him like this, if ever. He was way out of my league. I handed him one of the cues. His finger brushed mine as he took it. I looked away as fast as I could. The chalk dropped to the floor, and I stooped to retrieve it. He got it before I did. �śLet me,” he said. He put his hand over mine, warm and large, and dusted the end of the cue. His eyes refused to leave mine. The word, �śThanks,” was all I managed to choke out. Waves of charm flooded over me. I stepped back, trying to clear my head. I went to break and he stopped me, grin in full force �śYou plan on breaking with the rack still on?” I smiled, demurely. I nearly had to slap myself out of this. I was acting like such a girl. Then I shot the ball clean off the table. He went after it while I grabbed my beer. I took three hard gulps, hoping something would wake me out of this dream. This wasn’t happening. I didn’t need this. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. Yet, I couldn’t help but notice how good he looked in his jeans as well as how his button-up shirt hung from his shoulders and chest. I was usually pretty good about making sure my head ruled before anything else. But I was having a really hard time with that right now. The fact I couldn’t even play pool properly was not a good sign. Not good at all. �śYou seem a little flustered,” he said. That green eyed glow was there again. �śYou sure you want to play?” �śI don’t know,” I said. He smiled again, all charisma. That lump in my throat was there once more. �śNot really,” I managed to utter. �śYou want to go back to your place?” I closed my eyes. This was happening way too fast. It wasn’t like him, at least not with me. But as he grabbed our jackets, I knew where this was going. I feared it as much as some visceral part of me also wanted it. I was going to take him home. Chapter 4 Chris walked closer to me than usual, his arm pressing against mine. I had barely drunk anything, but my head felt like it was swimming. Thank goodness for the rain. It wasn’t a light drizzle any longer. I raised my face to the night sky and let its cool touch give me a cold reality check. Taking him back to my place was not a good idea. I’d just end up another broken heart in a long list of them. I was pretty sure there was even a Chris Silver recovery group in town. I let him walk me home. When we got to the door of my apartment, I took out the keys, paused and faced him. He didn’t press forward, and his face didn’t seem to show any sign of what he was thinking. But that glowing look was there. He took a step closer, taking my hands in his. They were so warm. He kissed me on the forehead. �śCall me tomorrow,” he whispered. My breath caught for a second, but I recovered my poise. �śSure.” He turned and walked down the hall towards the elevators. I actually stood there, watching him go. I rolled my eyes at my own foolishness. What was I doing? When I stopped being such a girl and picked my dignity off the floor, I closed the door. Fortunately, little green dude wasn’t there. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Since I’d slept most of the day, I wasn’t overly tired. I now had three choices because I couldn’t sit here pining for Chris �" comb through the papers that Joan had left me, examine the extra earring and see if I could dig up a number for Aunt Marigold, or take a shower. I opted for the shower �" piping hot. I stood in the water for a good ten minutes, just letting the heat soak in before I did anything. I tried not to think, but that wasn’t so easily accomplished. I had just learned I was adopted; my mother had revealed to me the purpose of my being in her family; my brother didn’t believe any of it was true; a hot friend of mine was giving me vibes I shouldn’t be getting; I’d found another earring to match something I’d received years ago; and the little green man may not have been a figment of my imagination after all. Thinking was all I did in there. When I finally managed to extract myself from the shower, I decided that the next order of business was to review those journal entries. It was a little odd I should have had the same hallucinations that my grandfather did. Or maybe it wasn’t hallucinations after all, which was the most confusing part of this. And if that was true, then what about this curse, as Chris called it? That part niggled at the back of my head, and sent a shiver wriggling down my spine. I threw myself on the futon. It moaned again. I grabbed the leather-bound package and started with that first page once more. Today, the little green man appeared again. I haven’t seen him in months. That was it. The next page was similar. The green man intrigues me. I try to talk to him. He doesn’t say anything. He just looks at me. If I try to touch him, he disappears. I wish I knew what he was. I flipped through a few more and stopped. Aunt Marigold was here today. She gave me a green cufflink for my birthday. I had to re-read that one again. Aunt Marigold? A green cufflink? Panic was starting to settle in. My hands shook. I took a moment to think. Aunt Marigold wasn’t my real aunt, I knew that. From what I could recall my father had been an only child. So, I had always assumed she was my father’s aunt, but it looked like she might have been my grandfather’s aunt? How old was Aunt Marigold? I put the pages down to fetch the earrings. Sure enough it wasn’t a figment of my imagination. There were two there. And they were identical. I wondered if Aunt Marigold had given me more than one, but I knew that couldn’t have been the case. The summer she gave it to me was one I’d never forget. There had only been one earring. I was sure of it. I walked back into the living room. Despite my better judgment, I cast a glance at the ficus. I almost cried out. The little man was standing there, waving. My first instinct was to run for the kitchen and grab the meds, along with thoughts of tossing that goddamned plant off the balcony. Since there were no meds, a calmer head was forced to prevail. I took a deep breath. Maybe I needed to take a different approach. Since the little, green man was now leaving me gifts, I thought perhaps I should engage him. I took the earrings with me and sat down on the floor next to the ficus. Chris’s scent was still here. I actually inhaled. The little man inched back, hiding behind the plant. His wave got more diminutive. I sat there, looking at him for a while before I finally gathered up enough insanity to try speaking to him. �śHello,” I said. He took a tiny step forward, but said nothing. This was crazy. I was talking to my hallucination. Dr. White was going to double my meds after this. I held out the earrings to him. �śDo you want them?” I asked. I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t believe I was talking to him. I had to be losing my mind. He shook his head. Well, at least he understood me. He motioned for me to put them up to my own ears. I did like he suggested and he clapped those huge mitts of his. Then he made a motion like I should hook them into the holes in my ears. I groaned as I got up and took them to the mirror. Was I really going to do this? I hooked one of them in and looked at my reflection. They really were pretty. The silver and emerald actually brought out the green in my hazel eyes. I remembered when my aunt had given the single earring to me. It had been my sixteenth birthday, while I was spending the summer with her in England. I had met a boy then, who was living with Aunt Marigold. A boy I had tried to forget. I was never into jewelry or girly things, but this earring I had loved. I think it had more to do with the fact it was truly the first valuable gift I had ever received. Aunt Marigold had given it to me in private. Joan never knew I had it Strangely, I don’t think I had ever put it on. Of course, with only one, what was I supposed to do with it? I hooked the second earring in. Then everything went black. Chapter 5 I woke in the back seat of a car, driving through the city. It was a new car, from the smell of it, but it wasn’t modern. It had a tape deck below the radio. The driver seemed young, but I couldn’t make out his face completely from where I was seated. He wore a dark suit that matched his hair. I sat quietly at first, wondering if I should speak. I wanted to get a closer look, but I wasn’t sure I wanted him to know I was awake. I leaned a little, hoping not to make a sound. I didn’t. Then I noticed my hands. I wasn’t solid. I was giving off a faint golden glow. Oh my god, am I dead? I leaned over to look in the rear view mirror. My face and hair also had that golden, translucent glow. The earrings were still hanging from my ears. What the hell was going on? The man pulled into a driveway and parked the car. It was the house I’d grown up in. It wasn’t the same as I remembered. The windows were old and needed replacing. There was also a small tree in the front where I remembered a much larger oak. The roof was in pretty bad need of repair. The man got out of the car. As he closed the door, I got a look at his face. I knew from the photos which had littered the mantle as a child that the man was my father. Or, Geoff’s father, anyway. I reached to open the car door, but my hand went through the metal. I gasped. I had to be a ghost. How the hell did I die? I decided to exit the car then. It seemed easy enough to pass through the door. Then I followed James to the house. He didn’t even have to grab his keys. The door swung open and a younger version of Joan flung herself on him. The joy on her face I’d not seen in a long time. �śI have wonderful news!” she exclaimed. James’s face lit up. �śDon’t tell me,” he said. �śKatherine said her first word! I knew she was a bright girl!” Joan frowned. �śThat’s ridiculous. She’s only nine months old. No, I have better news! I’m pregnant!” She was almost bouncing on the spot and clapping her hands. The eyes on James’s face widened. �śWhat? I thought it was impossible for you to get pregnant.” Joan looked a little white. �śI thought that too, but it’s true. The doctor confirmed it this morning! I’m pregnant!” James had that deer in the headlights look. He stuttered. �śT-t-t-that’s wonderful!” He then hugged his wife again and kissed her hard on the lips. He escorted her inside, closing the door, but not before I slipped in behind him. Ghost or not, I would rather use the door the old-fashioned way. James continued to kiss his wife, and I began to get a little worried I’d be watching them take it to the next step. I’d go back through the door if that happened. He pulled back and Joan caught her breath. �śWhere’s my little girl?” he asked. �śDoes she know yet?” �śShe’s a baby, James. She won’t know anything.” Joan pointed down the hall. �śShe’s in her crib.” James left his briefcase at the door and hurried through the house. I followed. The walls were a different color than what I remembered, and the furniture was much simpler. James darted through the hall and rounded the corner into my old room. �śWhere’s my little Katy girl?” he called. There was a cooing sound. That had to be me. I rushed after him, curious to see what nine-month-old me looked like. The man I knew to be my father scooped me up from the crib and twirled me around. �śHow’s my little Katy girl?” he said. The blob in his hands didn’t answer. She giggled and smiled and grabbed his face. �śGuess who’s going to have a little brother or sister?” he said, making sounds that only a baby can induce. Joan entered the room while James danced with the little version of me in his arms. He offered me to her, but the doorbell rang. She left the room to get it. James continued dancing around the room, kissing my nine-month-old head and cheeks. I remembered that of my mother, she never touched me unless she needed to. She had never fawned over me like she had Geoffrey. Tears slid down my cheeks as I realized someone had loved me after all. I didn’t think a ghost could cry. I wiped my tears. I watched and admired my father as he played with me before putting me back into my pen. Then he flipped the switch on the Winnie-the-Pooh mobile over my crib. The characters remained lifeless and still. �śThat’s funny,” he said. �śThat was working this morning.” He looked behind the crib. �śThere it is. It’s unplugged.” He pinched my little cheeks, then knelt down to plug it in. I waited for it to turn on, but nothing happened. I looked down at my father. His one hand was still holding the plug. It was inserted into the wall yet the mobile was lifeless. Then it occurred to me what was happening. There was only the slightest hint of a twitch to him and something smelled like it was burning. Oh my god! I wanted nothing more than to help him. At the same time, I couldn’t watch. Where was Joan? I ran through the house searching for her, hoping there was some way I could get her attention. I looked everywhere and found her, finally, at the front door. There was a rather pushy golden-haired saleswoman peddling beauty products at the door. I tried to find a way to let Joan know what was happening. I tried to grab her, but my hands slipped through her. I tried to knock things over, but the effect was the same. Then I noticed the golden-haired woman. She was looking right at me. There was a smile in her eyes, like she knew what was happening. I gasped. I sailed back to the room where my father was. The little version of me was now screaming. James had collapsed to the floor, his hand still on the plug. Joan had told me once that my father had died of a weak heart. She’d never mentioned he’d been electrocuted. I put my hands to my face, crying, not knowing what to do. I couldn’t bear to watch this any longer. My hand brushed an earring and a thought struck me. I immediately unhooked them. Everything went black once more. I was now facing the mirror in my apartment again, earrings in hand. I looked at my skin and clothes. I wasn’t glowing, and my skin was now its usual pale complexion. And I was solid. �śOh my god,” I said. �śI’m not dead.” What kind of screwball trip was that? I braced myself against the wall. I had just witnessed my father’s death, or what I’d imagined was my father’s death. �śI’m falling apart,” I muttered. My mind was suddenly laden with a heavy feeling. There was no way I could absorb any more, or process what the hell had just happened. That little trip, or whatever it was, had sucked everything out of me. I put the earrings on the coffee table and climbed into bed. Again, I turned off. When I woke the next morning, my head throbbed. I groaned and hauled my rear end out of bed. Another hot shower was in tall order. This time I forced myself not to think about all the shit that was going on. I just listened to the water run and any time thoughts came �" of Chris, or earrings, or my parents, or Chris, or the death of my father, or Geoff, or diaries, or little green men, or Chris, or needing to double my meds �" I bunched them up into a little ball and shoved them deep down into some dark abyss where I wouldn’t think about them. That was until I was dressed and stepped out into the living room where the little green man was waiting for me. He was motioning for me to put the earrings on again. �śI don’t think so,” I said. I grabbed my runners and keys, then I slipped out the door. It was time for rugby practice. I decided to jog to the park. If I walked, I might look at the trees and shrubs, where I would likely find other little people waving at me, or motioning for me to wear earrings. Sure enough, one quick glance to the old weeping willow across the street confirmed my suspicions. Three little winged things were trying to get my attention. I wondered if I should have called Dr. White first. I kept running, looking down at the pavement, the cars, the streetlamps, anything that wasn’t verdant and lush. Thank goodness I lived in the city. If I thought I was losing my mind here, out in the country it would have been a one way ticket to Looneyville. As a child, I’d almost gone there, permanently. A few thoughts crept into my mind as I ran. I tried to flick them away, but they were insistent on being pondered. The biggest one was the little trip I had taken. It had to have been a bad mix of something that triggered that, or maybe withdrawal from my meds. Putting on a pair of earrings doesn’t take one down memory lane, especially when a figment of my imagination told me to put them on. How could I possibly have known what had happened to my father? He had died of a heart attack, according to Joan. What scared me the most, I think, was the possibility I was losing my mind. But then I thought about those diary pages again and that my grandfather had seen the little green guy, and had received a cufflink from Aunt Marigold. This was seriously messed up. The other thing that kept inching its way into my mind was ... what if all of this was real? What if it wasn’t meds or hallucinations? What if, for a moment, all of this was actually real? Then my mother really did adopt me because she wanted to preserve the life of her own offspring; the little man and all his winged friends were actually real; the earring given to me by Aunt Marigold must be connected to him; the woman must know something about all of this because she’s mentioned in the diary pages; the little trip I took last night was not conjured up by bad alcohol or withdrawal; and my life was going to end sometime in the next year and two days. I stopped suddenly, having reached the park. I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Chris running to catch up. That charming grin was on his face. I wondered if what was happening with Chris was real as well. Could it be possible he was actually interested in me? I looked up to see if there were any flying pigs. Nope. Chris stopped in front of me. �śI’ve been calling you for the last two blocks. Didn’t you hear me?” �śHuh? No, sorry.” I was kind of surprised. I usually have pretty good hearing. Those thoughts of mine must have had me buried. �śYou okay?” he asked. His hand rubbed my arm. �śI know yesterday was pretty rough.” I smiled �" soft and demure. Why was I suddenly acting so mushy around him? �śI’ll be fine,” I said. Then I added, �śI think.” �śCome on, I’ll race you to the field.” He took off like a bolt, and I paused before my legs tore after him. It took me about ten strides before I caught him. Chris was fast, but I was faster. I breezed past him and reached the field about five strides in front of him. �śYou’re too fast for me,” he said, stumbling into me. He grabbed me by the waist and held on a little longer than he normally would have. I turned in his arms and looked at him. Those green eyes of his were staring right into mine. I didn’t know what to do with myself, and I couldn’t believe what I did next. I rubbed his head, like a little kid. As he let me go, my tongue got ahead of my brain. �śOne of these days, you might catch me,” I said. He jogged past and whispered, �śI can’t wait.” Chapter 6 I thought I would have had more trouble getting my head into practice considering everything that was going on, not to mention the fact Chris seemed to be hanging around me a little more than he usually would. I think the other girls on the team noticed as well, because those who had openly admitted their undying attraction to him were staring daggers at me. I didn’t know what to do with it, so I just threw myself into the game full on. I even tackled Chris at one point and I wasn’t gentle about it. It just seemed to make him smile all the more. When practice was over, he walked me back to my building and asked if he could cook me dinner. �śI’m not really in the mood for macaroni and cheese,” I said. He was apparently a good cook, or so I’d heard. He laughed. �śI could serve it with ketchup.” �śAh, ketchup �" for when someone serves you slop. I’ll take it.” I didn’t have any plans, so dinner with him was fine. Actually, it was more than fine. I was grinning like an idiot. �śI’ll bring dessert,” I said. I could swear his eyes looked at me like I was dessert. That knot was in my throat again. �śWhat time?” It was almost one o’clock. �śGive me an hour to shower and stuff,” he said. �śIt’s a bit early for dinner.” It was a bit of a prying comment. He bit. �śWe can just hang out for a while. I downloaded a new song I want you to hear.” My heart was fluttering. �śSee you in an hour,” I said, and walked into the building. I took three steps and turned to see if he was still there. My heart leapt out of my chest. He was. He had that charming smile that was all white teeth and bright eyes, and then turned and walked off. I was so excited I could have leapt up the stairs, three at a time, all the way to the twenty-first floor. Back in my apartment, I dodged into the shower, cleaning myself up as fast as I could. I pondered perfume. Too presumptuous? I had a bottle from a former boyfriend. I took one whiff, realized I’d probably never use it, and tossed it. I scanned through the pile of clean clothes. Why didn’t I have anything girly? Did everything I own involve sweat pants and oversized sweaters? I resorted to some jeans I was lucky still fit and a silk shirt my brother bought me for Christmas. It had come with a complementing scarf. �śThank you, Geoff,” I muttered. At the very least, my brother had good taste. Speaking of which, I was surprised I hadn’t heard from him yet. Would he come around, or did he still think Joan was incapable of that much manipulation? I left the shirt on the hanger until my hair dried. I wasn’t using a blow dryer, that was for sure. Scouring the kitchen and fridge for anything that resembled dessert proved fruitless. Chocolate didn’t survive long in this place. I’d have to pick something up along the way. Now I had time on my hands �" half an hour to kill. That wasn’t good. I wasn’t much of a television fan. I could have killed some time on the computer, but wasn’t in the mood. And those papers on the coffee table were calling my name. I probably should have shredded them right there and then, but I didn’t. Instead, I plopped onto the futon and grabbed the stack of diary entries. I was asking for trouble, but there was a curiosity that was niggling at me. Instead of reviewing the same set of entries, I flipped down to some slightly different pages. These were dated even earlier, in the name of John Gregory, my great-great-grandfather. I remembered he died in World War I. A thought struck me then. Rummaging through the other sheets that Joan had left, I discovered the death certificate for my grandfather and great-grandfather. I looked at the dates. They had both been twenty-four. I grabbed my father’s. Also twenty-four. There was nothing in my stomach, but it felt like there was lead in there. It wanted to come up. At that point, I’d decided I’d had enough. I put them down, donned the shirt, and I was out the door. I didn’t care if my hair was still a little damp, and screw it if I was a little early. I wasn’t staying at home any longer. I needed to forget about this stuff because it was going to drive me batshit. I marched across the street to the grocery store and grabbed an apple caramel cheesecake. If I remembered correctly, Chris was a huge cheesecake fan. So was I. I arrived at his condo and had to look him up in the directory. I’d been to the front of his building, but never up to his place. I found his number and buzzed. I faced the security camera and held up the cheesecake. �śDelivery!” His voice came over the speaker. �śIs this the pizza girl?” �śThat depends,” I said. �śWould you like me to be?” Did I just say that? The door unlocked with a buzz and I made my way up to his floor. In the elevator, I had to wipe my palms on my jeans. When I arrived at his door, I took deep, steadying breaths before I knocked. Was this really happening? Should I be here? Was I asking for trouble? I raised my hand to knock, but the door opened. Chris stood there in nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist, and I had a really hard time not showing what I was thinking. I’d suspected his body was well developed. Even with clothes it was obvious his muscles were impressive. Now I could see I’d underestimated him. I didn’t know where to put my eyes �" his shoulders, his chest, his arms, or those green shining eyes that were staring right through me. I turned three different shades of red and had to force my mouth closed. He looked coy. �śI was expecting the pizza girl. That doesn’t look like pizza.” I didn’t know what to say. My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. He opened the door fully. �śBut, I like you better.” I stepped in, still saying nothing. His eyes wouldn’t stop smiling. Oh my god. He was enjoying this. I pulled myself together. �śYou going to stand there in a towel or take this cheesecake?” His eyes hinted mischief. �śWell, I could let go of the towel.” �śHow about you just show me where the kitchen is,” I said. I was afraid he’d actually let go and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that yet. Although I couldn’t stop my eyes from looking at a certain part of his towel that seemed larger than it did when I’d arrived at the door. He laughed. �śIt’s around the corner,” he said pointing. �śI’ll join you in a sec.” I took one last look at the towel, then those green gems, and made for the kitchen. I took a couple of deep breaths as I walked. I had better not be reading those vibes wrong. I couldn’t be. There was no way. On the way to the kitchen, I took in the place. It certainly had a male feel, but it was impeccably neat. I figured he must have a maid. No man I knew was this neat, other than Geoff. And, well, he was gay. Unlike the pale blandness of my apartment, the walls here were painted in rich colors �" green, blue, and even crimson in the dining room. The furniture was modern, with a tendency towards an espresso theme. I knew he made a good living at a tech company. I placed the cheesecake on the granite counter and admired the stainless steel décor. A very good living. I pulled out one of the stools from the breakfast bar and waited. I didn’t have to wait long. Chris came around the corner in a white t-shirt and jeans. I think I drooled. �śI’m glad you’re here,” he said, and placed the cheesecake in the fridge. �śWant a tour?” I nodded. He took me by the hand, which I was surprised at. It was a little forward on his part, but I went along with it. He took me around the place, showing me his office. He had those floor-to-ceiling bookshelves where I caught authors like Saramago, Nicholson, and Weis, along with an abundance of books on Celtic mythology. I also noticed he had a lot of plants �" all well cared for. I tried not to look at them. Of course, the tour ended with the room I was the most nervous about. Then his grip on my hand tightened, as he led me into his bedroom. Chapter 7 A masculine-looking four-poster was the first thing that drew my attention. It was dark like the rest of the décor. The amount of pillows and white comforters made me think it would be like sleeping on a cloud. The rest of the room was sparsely decorated. I actually looked at the ceiling to see if there was a mirror. I don’t know what made me think there might be one there. I was a little disappointed there wasn’t. Where did that thought come from? Chris continued to take me by the hand. �śAnd this is where I sleep,” he said. I let go of his hand to go sit on the bed. There was no way I was going to pass up a chance to see what it felt like. I hopped on and closed my eyes. I wasn’t disappointed. I sank into it. I really needed to get a better paying job. Working for the video store was just not cutting it. As Chris walked towards me, I caught a scent �" apple and cinnamon. Its source was a lit candle on the dresser. He faced me, standing between my legs. I was drawn into those eyes. He put his hands on my thighs, pushing them apart just enough so he could get his body closer to mine. Strangely, I didn’t fight him. My heart was pounding in my chest. His face leaned towards mine and his stare left me frozen. I could smell him from here, a sweet and musky scent I couldn’t help but drink in. His face leaned in closer, and I couldn’t believe this was happening. My heart trembled. �śI’m so glad you’re here,” he whispered. His lips hovered over mine. My brain told me to wait, that this was a mistake, but every other part of my body made my face lunge forward. My lips pressed against his, soft and warm. Oh my god. I couldn’t believe this was happening. He pushed forward, harder, and his tongue slipped between my lips. There was a sweetness to his mouth. I hungered for it. His hands reached for my waist and he pressed his body against me while I squeezed my legs to pull him in. His tongue danced with mine, slow and intense. I moaned. My heart throbbed. I wanted this. I needed it. I let him explore my mouth and lips. I could taste his hunger. I gave him mine, full and hard. His hands slid up my back, strong and forceful. Mine did the same, inching up the muscles of his back. I wanted him closer. Slow and rhythmic, our tongues danced. I barely breathed. He pulled out slow and rested his lips against my forehead, breathing hard. �śMaybe we should wait,” he said. �śI don’t want to rush this.” He pulled me up, wrapping those arms of his around me. �śI want this to be right,” he whispered. Rush? Everything about this was rushed. I didn’t care. I pushed him on the bed. I straddled him and pressed my lips against his. He gave in immediately, allowing my tongue in. This time he moaned. His hands pulled me closer, harder than before. I could feel how much he wanted this. I rubbed against him while we kissed. His body pushed up against mine. Even through his jeans I could feel him between my legs, hard and throbbing. I wanted them off. I left his mouth, sliding my tongue down to his neck, tasting him, kissing him. He moaned again. I inched down, pulling the shirt up so I could run my tongue across his chest. I bit his nipples. He sucked in his breath. I worked my way down to his stomach, eager, but his hands grabbed my head. He sat up, pushing his tongue into my mouth. I kissed him, savoring his taste, then I forced him back on the bed. I wanted something else. I undid his pants and he lifted his hips. I yanked them down. He was thick, hard, and wanting. My tongue danced all around him, teasing. I kissed the insides of his legs. He gasped and moaned as I slid my tongue upwards. I was slow, deliberate. My tongue danced along the tip and slid back down. Then I took him into my mouth. He groaned, his hands running through my hair. His knees lifted, his thick legs pressing gently against my head. His hips rose and fell in motion with my mouth. My hands reached for his butt. I squeezed. He got harder, thicker. He moaned again and I went all the way down on him. I nearly choked as I satisfied my need to fill my mouth with his length. Then he sat up, tossing me onto the bed. He pulled off his shirt and pressed against me, his tongue entering my mouth. When he stopped, he smiled. �śMy turn,” he said. He untied the scarf around my neck, while he nibbled at my ears. Then he slowly undid my shirt, and with each button his lips inched down my body. When the last button was undone, he pulled me up to take my shirt off, kissing me again. With one hand he unclasped my bra and lowered me to the bed. Then his tongue explored my breasts, intentionally ignoring my nipples. They were hard, and yearning for his touch. He danced around them, every once in a while flicking them. His hands cupped my breasts, then he seized them and squeezed. He nibbled at my lips, careful bites and licks and then his fingers began to toy with my nipples. He pinched and flicked until I thought I would scream. Then his mouth went down, and his tongue was on one aroused nipple, then the other. He licked at first, and then pressed his mouth over it. I grabbed his head and pulled him down as he worked on each one. His hands moved to my pants, unbuttoning them. I lifted my hips and he kissed me just above my panties. He pulled those down with his teeth, slow and delicate. His tongue slid up my leg. I quivered, wishing for him to hurry; needing him to. When he finally reached me, I tipped my head back and voiced my pleasure. �śOh, god.” He took his time, licking, tasting, exploring, making me squirm. I wrapped his head in my legs and he brought his hands up to hold mine. Then he pushed his tongue inside me, slow and rhythmic, just like when he kissed me. I groaned. My hips moved in time with his tongue, pushing up against his face. One of his hands let go and those thick fingers of his were inside me while his tongue continued to work. I moaned. My eyes rolled back. He knew what he was doing. He kept at me, unrelenting. I knew what he wanted. My legs squeezed. I tried to resist. I tried to make it last, but couldn’t. He consumed my orgasm, reaching deeper with his tongue as I screamed out. He slowed a little, becoming gentle, before his tongue worked its way up once more. He paused at my breasts, biting at my nipples. Then, he kissed me again, and I tasted his passion and desire. I rolled him over, and held his hands down. His eyes flashed. Between my legs I felt him throb. �śMove,” I said, and shuffled him over. I grabbed my scarf and those shining emeralds of his told me everything I needed to know. I slid up along his body, perching myself just in front of his face while I tied his hands together. I let him have a little taste of me while I secured him to the bed. I slid back down letting him suck on my nipple. I rubbed against him. He was hard and ready. His eyes were intense, wanting. I let him in. We both moaned. His hips thrust upwards, hard. I pressed down, holding his chest while he continued to push into me. Every plunge inside me was ecstasy. I leaned back against his legs as he continued to drive into me. When he started to speed up, I slowed him down, wanting it to last. I leaned down, letting his tongue dance along my nipples while I continued to ride him. Then I kissed him, raw and hard. He drove harder. I wanted all of him inside me. For every thrust of his hips, his tongue danced with mine. He sped up again. He was bringing me close once more. I didn’t hold back this time. I screamed with pleasure as he pushed into me, over and over. He got thicker. His hips kept going, faster, more urgent. I kissed him again, pushing back on him. I sucked on his neck and ears. His thrusts continued, but I knew he was holding out on me. He was bringing me to ecstasy yet again. I sat up, riding him hard. His eyes were all over me as he continued to fill me with his girth. My heart quickened and every breath of mine grew louder. Then my head tipped back in sheer delight and he screamed with me as we climaxed in unison. His final thrusts were fierce and prolonged. I fell onto his chest. �śOh my god,” I uttered. I’d never known such pleasure. Not only did he have size but he knew what to do with it. �śOh my god,” I said again. He was smiling and breathing hard. We were both sweating. �śLittle help,” he said, waving his hands. I grinned back at him and slid up to release him. His tongue toyed with my nipples. When I freed his hands, he wrapped his arms around me. �śOh my god,” he said. �śThat was �Ś unbelievable.” That was a relief to hear. Not that I’d thought he hadn’t enjoyed it. But since this was our first time, I was glad I made an impression. I closed my eyes. �śWhy?” I asked. �śWhy now?” He squeezed me to him. �śI wasn’t sure,” he said. �śOf what?” I asked. I ran my hand along his chest. �śThat you were interested.” �śHuh?” �śI’ve always been just one of the guys to you.” �śWhat are you talking about?” I said. �śHow could anyone give you any indication otherwise when you’ve had one woman or another draped over your arm.” �śYou were with Tony,” he said. I laughed. �śFor one date!” �śYeah, that wasn’t the impression Tony was giving everyone. I heard you last night at the bar though. And when I heard that, I knew I had to try. I just couldn’t live with the regret of not knowing, of not trying.” I looked into those eyes. �śDon’t you dare break my heart Chris Silver. I don’t want to be like those other women.” He kissed my forehead. �śDon’t you break mine.” Chapter 8 Dinner was splendid �" penne and salmon in an alfredo sauce with oyster mushrooms. The man could cook. Dessert was me, with the cheesecake. We lay in bed the following morning, Chris’s arms around me. He was quiet for a while, and I wondered if perhaps he’d fallen back asleep. It had been a long night. I looked over to him. He was wide awake, just looking at me. �śWhat is it?” He shook his head. �śI’m not sure I should say.” �śI don’t play that game. I want honesty, Chris. Even if it’s not pleasant. I’m not one of those girls that wants you to tell me what I want to hear. I want openness. I can’t deal with things if I don’t know about them.” He nodded and studied me for a moment before speaking. �śI’m worried,” he said. �śAbout what?” �śYou. And those papers from your mother. What if it’s true?” I couldn’t deny there was something strange going on. The fact that my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had all died at the age of twenty-four was a bit odd. And that trip visiting my parents’ house was surreal. I wasn’t sure I wanted to believe that any of it was true, but the pieces were starting to point to something I didn’t want to face. And somehow Aunt Marigold was connected to this. Giving my grandfather an emerald cufflink could have been coincidence, but the fact he had also seen freaky little green men was pushing the coincidences beyond what I could blow off. Then something hit me and I couldn’t believe I said it out loud. �śMy mother knew I was seeing things that my grandfather had seen too.” Chris just looked at me. �śOh my god,” I said. I repeated it over and over in my head, like it was becoming clearer every time. �śShe knew I had been seeing the same things as my grandfather and she medicated me to shut me up. Holy crap!” I climbed out of bed. �śI have to get home.” �śWhat’s going on?” Chris asked, climbing out after me. Like me he was naked, and in fine form. There wasn’t time for that right now. �śI have to go,” I said, looking for my shirt. He took me by the hand and those green eyes held me still. �śYou told me you wanted honesty and openness. I want the same, Katherine.” I loved hearing him say my name like that. It was soft and affectionate. I nodded. He was right. He deserved the same if this was going to go any further. He needed to know what he was getting into. I felt ashamed of what I was going to tell him. I was a nut job. Yet, either I was going to be his nut job, or I was going to be facing this alone. I hoped it wasn’t going to be the latter. �śGet dressed,” I said. �śI’ll tell you on the way.” As we dressed and walked to my apartment, I told him everything, about what I had seen as a child, about the doctors, about the return of the little green man, about Aunt Marigold, about the earrings, about what I’d read in the pages so far, and about the little trip I’d taken. Chris said nothing. He just listened. When we got to the apartment, I expected him to make up an excuse, and that he needed to go. It was a long weekend. He didn’t have to work today, so I braced myself for what was coming. Instead, he stood there. �śAren’t you going to open the door?” he asked. I could feel my eyes watering. He wiped them away, his hands caressing my face. �śWhat’s wrong?” �śYou’re still here,” I said. �śI thought maybe I’d scare you off with all this.” He kissed me. Hard. �śI’ve known you for almost a year, Katherine. And now I’ve finally got you, I’m not going anywhere.” I kissed him again, and unlocked the door. Waiting for us were the papers where I’d left them. Chris sat on the futon and picked up the earrings. �śThese are pretty,” he said, holding them up to the light. �śSo these are what you wore when you had that vision?” I nodded and took them from him. �śAnd what about when you saw the homunculus?” �śHomuncu-what?” He paused for a moment. �śHomunculus. It’s Latin for little human.” Sounded fine to me. We both looked at the ficus. It was looking a little greener since Chris had watered it. I was actually sad there was no one there waving at me. I wanted Chris to see it. Although, as a child, Geoff had never seen the homunculus or any of the little winged people either. So I guess I shouldn’t have expected Chris to be able to see the little green man. Nope. Just crazy old me. Then I realized I hadn’t answered his question. �śNo, I wasn’t wearing these when I saw him. I’ve been seeing him for years off and on. And I ran out of my meds so I’ve started seeing him again.” Chris handed the earrings to me. �śYou going to put them on?” �śI don’t think so,” I said. �śNot yet. I want to read some more.” With that, I grabbed the sheets from my mother. Chris took the diary entries. The death certificates were on the top where I’d left them. I started looking through more, which were photocopies of various documents, but then I found one sheet with my mother’s impeccable handwriting. On it, she detailed dates and names: 1891�"Thomas Gregory�"drowned�"age 24 1916�"William Gregory�"WWI�"age 24 1939�"John Gregory�"WWII�"age 24 1963�"Charles Gregory�"car accident�" age 24 1987�"James Gregory�"electrocution�"age 24 I supposed my name would be next. My birthday was tomorrow. If what Joan had written here was correct, I could go any day after that. I handed the sheet to Chris without saying a word. It took seconds before I heard him say, �śHoly shit.” My hands were trembling, and Chris put his arms around me. �śWe’ll figure this out,” he said. I waited for him to say that this had to be a mistake. I waited for him to abandon me like Geoffrey had. And like someone else had when I was sixteen. I wondered what had caused that last thought to resurface. I shook my head. �śDo you know how to reach your Aunt Marigold?” Chris asked. �śYou said she seemed connected to this. Maybe she knows something.” Although they weren’t quite the reassuring words I might have hoped for, it sounded like he was still with me on this. I pulled back and looked into his eyes. They were determined and true. �śI don’t think I have her number,” I said, �śonly her address. I’ll call Geoffrey.” Geoff answered on the first ring. �śHey.” His voice was pretty cold. �śHey,” I said. I was going to have to lie to him. �śUm, any chance you found Aunt Marigold’s number? I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. You could be right. This couldn’t have been from Mother. There has to be a mistake here. I’m hoping Aunt Marigold can help me.” He exhaled on the other end of the phone. �śI was starting to think maybe you actually believed what was written there. Someone must have faked a bunch of documents and mailed them as a cruel joke.” It was too elaborate for a joke. I heard a woman’s voice in the background, one of his numerous fag hags. �śIt’s preposterous!” Preposterous? Who uses that word? �śBut who would do such a thing?” I asked. Again, the pause. �śI don’t know, Katherine. Someone who wants to besmirch Mom’s name, maybe?” Besmirch? What was going on over there? Then I thought about what he might be inferring. That’s when my blood started to boil. �śWhat are you implying, Geoff? That I did this? That I would go through all this trouble? For what?” He cleared his throat. �śNo one else has anything to gain from it. No one except you, Katherine. I think it’s a ploy to get her money.” Those last words stung. I hung up on him. Bastard. Chris was next to me in a heartbeat. �śHe still doesn’t believe you, does he?” I shook my head. There were tears sliding down my face. He wiped them away and kissed my cheek. �śI do,” he whispered. �śThank you.” I was really glad for his support right now. I kissed him once more and rose. �śSo if Geoff doesn’t have it,” Chris said, �śgrab her address and let’s check the web.” I pulled her address up on the computer. For every tool I could think of to search for her, Chris knew five more. We turned up nothing. I put my head in my hands. I needed to think. I needed answers. I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed at the moment. If this was all true, I could die any day after tomorrow, doing anything. I was scared shitless. �śCall in sick,” Chris said. �śDon’t go to work tomorrow. I’ll do the same.” I pulled my head up. �śHuh?” �śWe’re going to England.” He grabbed the phone. �śWhat? Wait a minute. I can’t just go flying off to England. I’ll probably drop into the ocean if this is all true.” I paused. �śAnd what do you mean �Śwe’?” �śI’m coming with you.” I stood up. I couldn’t afford a ticket to England. My credit card was maxed out. �śChris�"” He looked stern and I could swear his shoulders got bigger. �śGo pack. I’m calling to get us tickets now.” I was a little taken aback at the authority in his voice. �śWait just a second,” I said. My hands were on my hips. �śYou can’t come in here and start telling me what to do!” He softened his stance. �śI’ve waited a long time to get you, Katherine. I’m not going to lose you now. I told you, I’m not going to live with that kind of regret. I’m coming with you, and that’s that.” Somehow I dropped my hands from my hips, flung them around his neck, and kissed him. I was turning girly again. �śGo pack,” he said. �śBut this isn’t safe. What if I go down on the plane? You’ll go with me. I couldn’t live with that.” �śYour birthday isn’t until tomorrow,” he said. Those emeralds of his were shining. I hadn’t told him it was my birthday. �śHow did you know?” He winked. �śWell, it’s in the letter from your mother, but Natalie mentioned it last year.” �śAnd you remembered?” �śWell, yeah,” he said. I was grinning stupidly. �śI’ll go pack.” This boy could end up being a keeper. Maybe he couldn’t smell the man repellant. I ripped the room apart, grabbing whatever I could stuff into a carry-on. There wasn’t a lot of time so I figured packing light was best. I grabbed my papers, ID, and some clothes and stuffed them into a backpack. While I packed, Chris made arrangements for the flight. It was leaving in five hours. I looked at the clock. It read twenty minutes after eleven. It didn’t give us a lot of time. Officially, my time of birth was noon. Since, according to my birth records from Joan, I was born in England, I would turn twenty-four in just over nineteen hours from now. After that, I didn’t know how long I had to live. Chapter 9 We rushed to Chris’s place where he grabbed a few items, shoving them into a backpack of his own. We didn’t want to waste time with baggage. He’d already called to arrange an air taxi to pick us up so we didn’t have to wait once he was ready. When we got to the airport, I stopped Chris at the door. �śAre you sure you want to do this?” He squeezed my hands, confidence set in his eyes. �śCouldn’t be more sure. And you can’t do this alone.” I returned his squeeze, and then we swept into the airport. I hadn’t flown since my trip to England at the age of sixteen. Chris, who flew frequently for work, seemed to know his way around well enough. He got us through the terminal and checked in without a hitch. I was a tad nervous. My stomach was feeling it while we waited. I’m not a big fan of heights, hence the reason the balcony of my apartment rarely saw any use. I was also a little anxious about going to England, in general. It had been years since I’d seen him, but this unexpected trip was also resurfacing memories of my first love. Memories I’d rather leave buried. The flight departed on time, thankfully. Had it been delayed, I somehow imagined us being over the ocean when my birthday struck. All I could picture was a goose getting sucked into the engines mid-flight and us screaming to our deaths as we plunged into the water. I was quiet during the ascent, trying to avoid looking out the window. It was like going up a rollercoaster ride that just kept climbing. When we reached cruising altitude, Chris leaned over. �śWhy don’t you try the earrings again?” I gave him one of those sidelong glances that asked him if he was mildly insane. �śNothing will happen,” he said. �śI’m right here with you. And if anything seems strange, I’ll take the earrings off and wake you up.” I pondered the thought for a moment. It would give me something else to think about. Maybe if I was lucky the flight would be close to over by the time I woke up. There was something inside me that suggested I should do this; I was meant to learn something from this. I wasn’t sure what. There’s nothing like watching your predecessors die horribly. But then again, my birthday was coming fast, and unless I figured out what was going on, the next death would be mine. I nodded, but I was scared. �śPromise me you’ll wake me.” �śI’ll be right here the whole time.” I took the earrings out and hooked the first one in. I looked at Chris. He squeezed my leg. Then I put the second one in, and everything went black once more. Knowing I wasn’t a ghost this time, that this was sort of like a dream, I didn’t seem to mind the fact I was glowing and in the back seat of another car. This one was even older than the last one. I was sitting on a long white bench at the back. Forget seatbelts. There were none. The inside was red and the steering wheel was huge �" like on a bus. The driver, who was male, had to turn it with one hand crossing over the other. The radio was playing what sounded like The Beach Boys masked in static. There was a passenger in the seat next to him �" a woman. She was nibbling on his ear while he drove with her hand on his thigh. I hate to make judgments without knowing more about the circumstances, but something about their behavior didn’t seem quite right. We were driving past fields of corn that were dotted with weeping willows. The groping and heavy kissing was causing the car to swerve. I didn’t like where this was going. Plus, I wasn’t sure how much longer I wanted to be in the car, especially without a seatbelt. The woman in the front was giggling incessantly and the man was moaning. I wasn’t sure I really wanted to see exactly what they were up to, but I think his pants were undone. I slid over in the back seat to get a glance at the man. Between more heavy petting and kissing, I realized that this was my grandfather. I’d seen photos of him as a child. The prominent chin was unmistakable. There were no cars coming towards us, nor behind us. So, I was relieved to know that their reckless behavior wouldn’t necessarily cost them their lives. At the same time, I wasn’t entirely sure what might happen to me if I was caught in an accident. Maybe I’d just slide right through whatever came at them. The woman in the front started to get a little more aggressive, licking my grandfather’s neck and almost sitting on his lap. There was a hunger to her. The car swerved again. My grandfather was struggling to see as he drove, but he wasn’t exactly asking her to stop either. He hoisted her onto him so she was straddling him. I noticed something. My grandfather’s wedding ring. He was married, and I knew my grandmother to have had black hair. This woman’s hair was golden. I nearly gasped. I hadn’t really paid attention to it, until I got a glimpse of her face. This was the same woman who’d been at the door on my last trip like this. The one who had been trying to sell beauty products to my mother just as my father was being electrocuted. The woman looked right at me as the car swerved again, this time towards one of those weeping willows. She was smiling. I screamed as the car drove into the tree. Chapter 10 I woke to find Chris nudging me. The earrings were in his hand. �śHey, you okay?” Like the last time, I felt really groggy. I blinked at him. �śWhat happened?” �śNothing,” he said. �śBut you were mumbling a little, so I took the earrings off.” �śHow long was I out?” �śNot even five minutes,” he said. It seemed longer than that, but I have to admit this trip was brief compared to the last one. I took the earrings. I was going back. Twice in my family’s life that woman had shown up, and she looked the same age. The fact she had looked straight at me both times didn’t sit well. Something was going on. �śI’m trying again,” I said. I hooked one of them in. �śWhat did you see?” �śI’ll tell you after. Something’s not right.” I hooked the second one and the blackness took me again. I was beginning to get a little used to these trips, but I have to say the death part was never pleasant. Not only was watching my family members die upsetting, but actually being a part of the car accident in that last one was unnerving. I hoped that wasn’t how I was going to go. Then there was that woman. That part bothered me the most. Who the hell was she? This time my ghostly form stood inside the bowels of some kind of ship. Or so I thought. There was a seesaw motion and a hollow, metallic creaking. It was dark here, and cold, with only a faint metal-encased bulb at the end of the corridor to let me see where I was going. I walked the corridor to a metal door. There was no point in opening it �" I just slipped through. The next room was darker, and from what I could tell, this appeared to be some kind of crew’s quarters. Bunks with men in them filled the tiny room. I knew this couldn’t have been the standard crew �" there were too few of them. I tried to make out the time as it must have been the middle of the night. I had no luck. No clocks. There were two other things on my mind as I scanned the room. Which one of these men was I supposed to be following? And where was that woman? I searched through the snoring, flatulent bodies and found nothing that indicated who I should be concentrating on. I had been hoping for some kind of glow, or something. Nothing. Fortunately, the woman wasn’t around. A part of me hoped she might not be here this time. I was suddenly jolted as a thundering sound echoed through the hull. The ship heaved, knocking the men from their beds. They were so young, some not even eighteen. As they yelled out, I caught their accent. Brits. They paused for a moment, as if waiting for something. Somewhere in the mumbling I could hear an announcement come over the speaker system. I didn’t catch it all, but there was something about checking the magazine temperature. I had no idea what that meant. There didn’t seem to be anything further, and the men climbed back into bed with the exception of one. He made his way to the door. �śGregory!” called one of the men. �śWhere are you going?” The man called Gregory was dark-haired and had the prominent chin of my grandfather. I had never seen a photo of my great-grandfather, but I was pretty sure this had to be him. In the dim light he looked pretty dirty, but he was built like a brick shithouse. �śBack in a minute,” Gregory said, and slipped through the door. I whisked after him, through the cold, metallic corridors. He moved as if driven by some purpose. I followed him through dark hallways until he arrived at a room that smelled acrid. He poked his head in, as if checking something, and then moved on. I continued to trail him up ladders and along further tight corridors until we reached the deck. It was a narrow ship with a huge tower and massive turrets. It was difficult to see in the dead of night, even with the Northern Lights in the distance. That green and red weaving meant we had to be pretty far north. I continued to shadow Gregory as he walked through the chill of the night to each side of the ship, leaning over to examine the sides and the water in the distance. He finally stopped at one part of the ship. His hands gripped the railing. He was staring into the distance, and as I got closer I knew what was coming. I didn’t even reach him before the explosion hit. It was followed by another right after. The ship lurched and I fell to the deck screaming, Gregory with me. Why was I feeling this? Now I was worried. The few lights that shone went out. Explosions boomed within the ship, and flames flared from the ladder we had climbed up. The ship tilted, spilling Gregory and I along the deck towards the other side. We both clung to the railing. I tried to pull out the earrings. They weren’t there. �śChris!” I called out. �śWake me up!” I wanted out of this. Now! Screams bellowed from below us as the ship started to tilt further. The open portholes at the side of the ship were now going under the surface of the water. We were sinking fast. The ship lurched further. Gregory and I tumbled overboard. I screamed until I hit the water. It was cold, and my breath was taken from me. I struggled to get it back. �śChris!” I called again. The ship groaned as it began to sink. I saw Gregory swimming away, towards shore. I went after him. I used to be a varsity swimmer, so it didn’t take long to catch him. I wasn’t sure we’d make it to shore before the cold took us. I didn’t know what season this was. It wasn’t quite winter, but it was far from summer. I heard men yelling, others attempting to swim like us. The ship was now mostly under water. I caught its name on the side. H.M.S. Royal Oak Gregory was now struggling to swim and his head kept going under, like he was being pulled. I tried to grab him, but my hands went through him. Again, his head came up for a moment, and then he went under again. I saw his problem. The golden-haired woman was there, under the water. She was pulling him down. She looked up at me through the dark waters, and gave me her wicked smile. After one last gasp, Gregory was pulled to the depths of the sea. I continued to tread water. Why wasn’t I waking up? �śChris!” I called again. �śWake me up!” I started to swim for shore. There was no way I was staying here, not when I could feel the cold like this. I got about one hundred yards when I felt a tug at my leg. No! I looked down. The golden-haired woman was there. She was holding the earrings out with that malevolent glint in her eye. Then, she snatched my leg and pulled me under. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I was supposed to be on an airplane. This was supposed to be a dream. It wasn’t real. This bitch was not supposed to be tugging at my leg trying to drown me. I kicked at her head. �śChris!” I gurgled as I resurfaced. The waters were so cold, and I didn’t have the energy to fight this woman. Then, I jerked awake. The familiar hum of the cabin was like music to my ears. Chris was nudging me. I coughed up water on him. �śWhat happened?” he asked. He didn’t seem to mind the water. �śAre you all right? I’ve been trying to wake you.” �śHow long was I out?” �śA few hours.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. �śI came back a couple minutes ago and the earrings were gone. I thought maybe you took them out and were sleeping, but when I heard you mumbling I tried to wake you. You took a long time to come back.” I clung to him. He was a source of sanity in all this, mostly because he believed me. �śShe has the earrings.” �śWho?” I told him about the golden-haired woman, how I’d seen her in every trip and how she seemed to be responsible for the deaths of my family. �śWow,” he said. �śSo who is she? And why is she doing this?” �śI don’t know,” I said. I coughed up more water. This time I swallowed it down. It was salty. �śYou sure you’re okay?” I shook my head. �śThis is salt water. She tried to drown me in the sea. The dreams, or whatever they are, are becoming almost real.” A shudder ran through me. Maybe it was good she took the earrings. Another one of these trips and she might actually kill me. The salt water churned in my stomach. I unbuckled. �śI think I need to use the washroom.” He took me by the arm and escorted me down the aisle. What the hell was going on? Who was this woman? For that matter, what was she? No woman stayed that young over a period of three generations. It wasn’t possible. And why was she killing my ancestors? And if she was going to come after me, how was I going to stop her? Chris opened the door to the washroom. �śCan I grab some paper towels?” he asked. I grabbed a few and patted his shirt. �śSorry about that,” I said. He smiled. �śDon’t sweat it.” His pants were damp as well. I looked down at them, contemplating whether I should pat those dry as well. He didn’t need to encourage me with words; his eyes were doing that for him. Quite frankly, this was a welcome distraction. I felt that rush of warm charm envelop me. It was all I could do to resist. I didn’t. Instead, I pulled him into the washroom and locked the door. Chapter 11 We did our best to sneak out of the washroom, but one of the male flight attendants noticed us. He gave Chris a look that screamed of �śI wish I had been in there”, and then winked at me. We returned to our seats, and I did a quick search for the earrings. They were nowhere to be found. We buckled in, and the descent began. Chris held my hand as the plane touched down smoothly into Heathrow, but I didn’t relax until we came to a halt. Although my birthday hadn’t come yet, I was getting a little antsy about what might happen at any moment. At the very least, if what I was seeing in those visions was true, then I knew who to look out for. That golden-haired bitch wasn’t taking me without a fight. We passed through customs without too much hassle. I contemplated taking a cab to a nearby hotel, but I was running out of time. Instead we rented a car and drove to the address I had for Aunt Marigold’s house in the Cotswolds. Fortunately, Chris had driven in England numerous times, so he took the wheel while I watched the countryside, in the dark. The sun hadn’t come up yet. I stared out the window, wondering what we would find. There was one thing at the back of my mind as well. When I was last here, I had left with a shattered heart. The boy I’d spent that summer with, the first person who’d ever actually loved me, had swept me off my feet and then dropped me cold. For years, I had hopped from bed to bed in the hopes of finding that same feeling again. It had never happened. Instead, I walked around feeling like ten pounds of shit stuffed into a five-pound bag. I shoved the memories of him deep down into the recesses of my mind, where he needed to remain �" forgotten. Through rolling hills and valleys we drove with the moon illuminating the way. I actually watched the trees and greenery. I hoped to see the little green man. Perhaps he would be here. At the same time I wasn’t sure if he had a connection to the golden-haired woman. I hoped not. �śTell me,” Chris said, pulling me away from my search. �śThe last dream you had. Where were you again?” �śOn a battleship. If I had to guess, WWII.” �śHow do you know?” �śIf I go back three generations, that’s around 1939.” Chris nodded. �śAnd you watched that woman drag your grandfather under water?” �śGreat-grandfather,” I said. �śMy grandfather died in a car crash, having sex with her while driving.” Chris grimaced, but then grinned. I felt a twitch between my legs at the thought. It lasted less than a second. �śNice thought, but with my luck, she’ll be driving a truck in the opposite direction while we’re at it. Then I’ll be taking you with me.” I looked in those emeralds of his. �śInteresting way to go, but I don’t think so.” He jokingly pouted. �śBut I’ll make you a promise,” I said. �śWe figure out how to get out of this and I’ll take you up on that offer.” That devilish grin was back. We passed a forested area. I peered through the trees, but found nothing. �śYou keep looking into the trees. It’s not light enough to see much.” I hated admitting it. It was going to sound ridiculous. �śI’m looking for the little green man. I’m starting to thing he’s been trying to warn me.” �śOr show you how to fight this?” �śMaybe,” I said. �śI don’t know. Hopefully Aunt Marigold will have some answers.” �śAnd what if she doesn’t?” �śGo dancing naked in the forest and hope to find the queen of the faeries to help me?” I really had no idea what the next step was going to be. I was also getting hungry. I asked Chris to stop at the next village or town so we could find a place to eat. His grumbling stomach didn’t argue with me. We found a quaint pub that was open. The local ale was meatier than what I was used to, but likeable. Chris enjoyed it immensely. We shared some battered fish with chips. It was early morning here, but for us it was a long overdue dinner. I’m not sure if it was my hunger or not, but the food was delicious. As we nursed our beer, the villagers talked quietly among themselves. I was surprised. I’d always heard that in these small towns the locals were quite friendly and open. I can’t say they were staring at us, but there were a few glances that didn’t make me feel particularly comfortable. Most of them, though, seemed to avoid my gaze. I thought about asking Chris if he noticed, but he pushed his chair back before I could speak. �śExcuse me,” he said. �śBack in a moment.” He made his way to the washrooms while I continued to sip and listen. The talk wasn’t really much of anything important, chat of the weather, recent problems with someone’s sheep, and a few tasteless jokes. Under it all, I did catch one thing. Two women in the corner. �śShe’s not natural,” said the fatter one. �śI’m telling you, Natty, I’ve seen her kind before and no good will come of this.” My first instinct was to find a mirror. Did I look that bad? �śWhen she comes back from the washroom, don’t look at her.” Washroom? So it wasn’t me they were talking about. �śGolden hair like that is unnatural.” My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Golden hair? I tried not to make a scene, but I rose from the table as quickly as I could. It was the longest walk to a washroom I think I’ve ever experienced. My breath was stuck somewhere in my chest. I fisted my hands. What was I going to do if I found her? I rounded the corner and found the washrooms. The men’s room door was just closing as I caught a glimpse of golden hair slipping through. I hurried my steps, worried for Chris now. If she touched him, I’d rip her to shreds. I pushed the door open and found Chris standing there. He took a step back as the door swung just past his nose. �śWoah,” he said. That grin was suddenly on his face. He whispered. �śEither all that talk in the car got you riled up or you got the wrong door.” I didn’t say anything. I just pushed past him and examined the washroom. There was one stall and one urinal. It stunk. I pushed open the stall door. Nothing. �śWhat’s going on?” Chris asked. �śThat golden-haired woman is in the pub. I think I saw her come in here a second ago.” �śNo one’s in here but us,” he said. I slipped out and went into the women’s washroom. Two stalls. Both empty. I looked in the mirror. �śI’m not going crazy,” I said to myself. I washed my face and found Chris waiting for me in the corridor. �śYou all right?” he asked. �śI don’t know,” I whispered. �śI heard some of the women talking about her and I saw someone with golden hair enter the men’s washroom. I was afraid she was coming after you.” We sat back at the table. �śDon’t worry about me,” he said. �śI do worry. I saw what she did. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if she did something to you.” �śWho were the women?” he asked, looking around. I went to point to the corner, but there was no one to motion towards. I looked about, but all there was at the table were two empty tea cups. I took a deep breath. �śLet’s get out of here,” I said. I’d had enough. I just wanted to get to my aunt’s house. Chris paid for the meal and beer, and then we got back in the car. �śAm I going crazy?” I asked. He took my hand. �śNo, but you’ve been through a lot. And you were drinking a pretty hearty beer.” I took my hand away. �śYou don’t believe me.” He took my hand again, squeezing it. �śI didn’t say that. It’s possible your mind is playing tricks on you. It’s also possible you saw what you did. Either way, I still think you’re perfectly sane.” He kissed my fingers. �śThere’s nothing wrong with you, Katherine.” The tension in my body eased, although I didn’t think it was the beer. I hadn’t had that much. I was tired, though. Actually, exhausted was more like it. But I refused to sleep. My actual birthday was now hours away and I just wanted to get to my aunt’s house. I don’t know why it seemed so urgent now. It was like I was racing to find safety there. I didn’t know I would be any safer at Aunt Marigold’s than anywhere else. Her roof could cave in, or a jet engine could drop out of the sky the moment I turned twenty-four. I sat quietly, looking out into the dawn as we drove. By the time we reached Aunt Marigold’s house, the sun had just finished cresting the horizon. It was one of those old thatched roof homes nestled in the trees. It was set amongst the typical English cottage garden filled with delphiniums and hollyhocks. There was a faint hint of mint to the air. We approached the iron gates. Chris lingered behind. �śYou sure this is the place?” he asked, looking around. I nodded. I remembered it well. It was like nothing had changed in the last seven years. I pushed open the gates. They creaked, but not horribly. There was a slight breeze that made the wind chimes ring close to the house. The flowers here were beautiful and I stopped to watch as a couple of finches swept down from one of the cherry trees. This place was simply right. It held the magic that my heart remembered well. I closed my eyes and inhaled it. I almost felt like I was sixteen once more. I ambled through the garden, following a path that wound around the house. It was still fairly early, and I didn’t want to wake my aunt. It wasn’t like she was expecting me. A few statues of faery-like creatures were scattered about and there was a small pond off to one end. The garden was still well-tended. As I wrapped back towards the front of the house, the door opened. The woman that stepped out was exactly as I remembered her �" curly hair that was white as cotton. Her face still looked youthful and a few smile lines wrinkled the corners of her eyes as she saw me. She raised her jewel-bedecked hands towards me. �śOh, you made it, luv! You made it!” Her voice still had that musical ring to it. Her words made me think that perhaps she’d been expecting me. Regardless, I smiled. It was nice to be welcomed somewhere. �śHello, Aunt Marigold,” I said and hugged her. She was hardly a frail woman, and her embrace was like that of a bear. She smelled of lilac. �śOh, child, I’m so glad you came. Just in time, I’d say.” This was the point where I knew I needed to ask. �śYou were expecting me?” �śOh, yes. I’ve been sending Brokk to you for years, but it’s gotten more urgent lately.” �śBrokk?” I asked. �śWell, yes,” she said. �śYou remember Brokk, don’t you?” With her crooked index finger she pointed towards a statue in the garden. Next to it stood the little green man. I wasn’t sure what to do with that. My Aunt had been sending little mysterious creatures to get my attention? Couldn’t she have phoned? Maybe sent a letter? But then, she had been sending them. And I had ignored them. �śYou sent him?” I asked. I heard Chris approach from behind and I realized I hadn’t introduced him. �śI’m sorry, Aunt Marigold, this is�"” �śChris. Yes, I know, dear. I sent him as well.” My eyes popped out of my head. What? Chapter 12 At this point, my mind almost started to spin. I reached out to grab the house to stop myself from falling. Aunt Marigold had sent Chris? What the hell was going on? �śI think I need to sit down,” I said. I stooped to sit on the ground, but my aunt’s firm hand grabbed me and gently escorted me into the house. I wasn’t paying attention to what had changed here. I just needed to sit. She sat me down in a wooden chair at the old kitchen table. I put my head in my hands. What I needed right now was a good strong dose of Dr. White’s Crazy Pills and a big long sleep. Maybe I’d wake up and find this was all a dream. I thought about clicking my heels together because this sure as hell wasn’t Kansas anymore. I looked at Chris. His eyes refused to meet mine. �śChris, dear,” my aunt said, �śyou should wait outside. Let me speak with Katherine alone.” Chris slipped out. He gave one last look in my direction, but now I couldn’t look at him. �śWhat is going on?” I asked, my head feeling like a lead weight. Through what frail grasp I had on reality, I could feel my sanity slipping. Tears welled up in my eyes. �śI need to lie down,” I said. I couldn’t take any more. I was exhausted, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Aunt Marigold escorted me to the sofa with a knitted afghan on it. It still smelled like old lady. I flopped onto it. My Aunt draped the afghan over me, stroked my hair, and left me there. I closed my eyes, wishing all this would go away. I was asleep in seconds. I don’t remember a lot of my dreams, but this one was particularly vivid. It was one of those dreams within a dream. Two levels down from the real world, I walked through a forest, except the trees weren’t like ordinary trees �" the bark seemed velvety. Also, the forest smelled different. It didn’t have that musty smell. Instead it was more like apples and berries. Flowers grew among the trees, and the sunlight that penetrated the canopy was soft and golden. I looked down. I was wearing a formal silk gown. It cinched at the waist and was obscenely puffy �" something I would only be seen in if it was a costume party, if then. Most of it was a deep emerald that matched the earrings I’d been given. I reached to my ears. The earrings weren’t there. A stream wound through the forest and I caught a glimpse of movement. I hitched up the dress and stepped forward in my bare feet. The ground was soft and supple. Along the shore, delicate creatures winged about, frolicking with each other. They looked at me, giggled and waved. I waved back. It seemed the polite thing to do. Then they flew downstream. I considered following them, but decided to take the opposite direction. The trek upstream was an easy one. It wasn’t like in other dreams where I would have to run to get somewhere and barely gain any ground. This was a smooth walk, almost effortless. I came to a part of the stream where the water flowed down a small rocky ledge in a little waterfall. A large boulder split the stream, just down from where the water frothed and bubbled. Upon it stood the little green man �" Brokk, as my aunt had called him. He wasn’t waving to me, nor was he motioning me to put on earrings. He had his hands up, gesturing for me to stop. There was a look of worry on his usually serene face. I kneeled at the side of the stream. Brokk found little rocks to jump across and made his way to me. �śHello, Brokk,” I said. I think I was starting to accept he was real. A million questions still ran through my mind, but I knew that what I had been experiencing had been real all this time. Brokk said nothing. I don’t know if he was capable of speaking, but as he pointed up at the waterfall and shook his head, I understood what he was saying. After everything I’d seen, I pondered taking his advice. All this time it seemed he’d been somehow trying to help me. Perhaps it would be prudent to listen and just let whatever waited up that waterfall be. On the other hand, telling me not to do something was just an open invitation. So, with my curiosity piqued, I rose and tiptoed further, taking care to not to let my head emerge too quickly above the rise. I inched up. At first I didn’t see anything that warranted concern, but then I saw, just a little ways off in the distance, a clearing in the trees. In it were two people �" the man was dark-haired and clean-cut with that prominent chin I had come to expect from the Gregory family. With him was the golden-haired woman. I wasn’t sure if they were dancing or wrestling, but I ducked the moment I saw her. Oh, god. The last time I’d come across her, she’d tried to kill me. I would have thought it just a dream if I hadn’t coughed up salt water all over Chris. Perhaps I should have taken Brokk’s advice. Coming up here was a bad idea. The part of my head that was most interested in self-preservation finally took over. I slipped carefully back down to where I’d found Brokk. He was gone. I didn’t plan on sticking around either. I didn’t want to know how this Gregory died. I didn’t want to witness it, and I didn’t want that woman to find me. I decided to travel downstream this time and I hustled. In fact, I hitched up my dress and ran. Pounding in my chest was a terrible fear. Sobs of fright escaped my lips with tears that slid down my cheeks. The stream ran with me, fast and choppy over rocky terrain. I didn’t stop. My feet swept forward at a pace that in the real world I could never match. Through the trees I fled, until I found the little winged creatures I’d seen earlier. They gathered at a pool that the stream fed into. Breathless, I paused at its edge. A cluster of men and women, most pale of skin, frolicked naked in the water. Among them was Chris. I didn’t know what to do, but being frightened for my life and seeing a familiar face, his name escaped my lips before I had a chance to think if that was a good idea or not. �śChris,” I whispered. He didn’t seem to hear me. He kept frolicking with the others, and eventually it took a bit of a different turn. The light playing started to turn into heavy petting. I stood agape for a moment. He cavorted with all of them, kissing them each, in turn. My heart ached. I closed my eyes. This wasn’t real. It was just a dream. I tried to rationalize it. We’d only just hooked up. It’s not like we’d been together long. Yet, there was an ache in my chest. We’d been friends for a year. During that time, I’d grown to like him and maybe something more. Yet now that I finally had him, here he was doing this. I shook my head. It’s a dream, Katherine. Not real. Then something happened in the pool. They all started to sprout tattoo-like markings, except they were golden and glowing. Their ears changed to pointed tips. When it happened to Chris as well, I shook my head. I thought it couldn’t be him, but those emerald eyes looked in my direction. He smiled that grin at me, and then I woke up. The smell of berries and apples was the first thing I noticed. Then it was the smell of old lady sofa. I opened my eyes and found Aunt Marigold sitting on a matching puffy chair. There was a warmth to her eyes. It made me think of how I’d watched my father look at my nine-month-old self. �śHello, luv,” she said. �śFeeling better?” Chris stood in the background, leaning against the wall. I knew what I’d just dreamt wasn’t real, but something was off. His stance, his look �" none of them were Chris. At least, not the Chris I knew. His eyes refused to look at mine. �śPerhaps a cup of tea will help,” Aunt Marigold said. There was a pot, complete with tea cozy, sitting on the coffee table. Delicate cups with milk and sugar waited. I sat up and Aunt Marigold poured. Chris shifted over by the wall, arms folded across his chest. He was obviously unhappy about something. The main thing about him that kept droning in my head was how my aunt could have sent him. Natalie had been my roommate for a year. She was supposed to be his sister. I rarely saw her as she was always traveling, but I’d been associating with Chris to one degree or another since she’d moved in. What kind of setup was this? Yet, Chris was the one who brought the ficus. And, it was after the plant showed up I started seeing more of the little green dude. It seemed almost ridiculous to make the assumption, but then again, if my aunt had sent Brokk, or whatever his name was, then it was very possible she could have sent Chris. So what the hell was he? I shuddered. I’d slept with him.More than once. I took a deep breath. It was time to take back some control. I was going to get some answers. Now. I stood up and marched over to him. He unfolded his arms, but fidgeted where he stood. �śWhat are you?” I asked him. He almost fell over. This time, his eyes looked into mine, and I made sure he knew I wasn’t playing around. Those green eyes weren’t going to charm their way out of this. Chris cast a questioning look at my aunt. �śNo,” I said. �śYou look at me. And you tell me the truth. You owe me at least that much.” His eyes still had trouble meeting mine. �śYou’re not human, are you?” I asked. I really wished he would tell me otherwise, but my heart sank when he looked at me. His eyes weren’t shining. �śNo,” he said. Chris didn’t budge or blink. �śThen what are you?” I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation.Oh, god, I slept with him. �śI’m a Changeling,” he finally said. The word repeated itself in my head. Changeling. Changeling. I can’t say I was all that up on folklore, but somehow the word made me think of stolen babies. I looked over at my aunt. �śA Changeling?” I asked. She nodded her head, acknowledging that what he’d said was truth. �śAll right, either both of you are horribly insane or someone better fill me in on what’s going on because I really feel like someone just took a chainsaw to the little bubble I used to call my world.” My aunt sat on the sofa and patted the seat next to her. �śSit,” she said. �śHave some tea and we’ll tell you what you need to know.” My mind spun for a moment. Was I really having this conversation? I looked back at Chris. I didn’t have to tell him in words he’d lied to me and betrayed me. I made sure my eyes told him. He had trouble holding my gaze before he gestured to the sofa. �śPlease, Katherine.” I wanted to slap him. I turned my back to him and marched to the sofa. My aunt poured us both a cup of tea, two lumps in mine, five in hers. Chris sat down in the puffy chair, arms resting on his knees, hands folded in front of him. �śAll right,” I said, trying to keep my mind open. I looked right at him. �śStart at the beginning. And don’t leave anything out.” Chapter 13 Aunt Marigold drained her tea cup before she spoke. She seemed to need to think as to where to begin. I sipped as I waited for her, but was getting close to choking the words out of her. It was starting to eat at me that the two of them had been plotting something behind my back. �śFirst,” Aunt Marigold said, �śto answer your question, yes, Chris is a Changeling �" his father was one of the fey folk, his mother was human.” I nodded.Fine. My first love left me without any explanation and ripped my heart to shreds, and now I’d just slept with, and was falling for, something that wasn’t human. Just fucking grand. �śSecond, I sent him to you. You didn’t respond to my past letters, asking you to visit. And the medication that your mother had you on for years was blocking your ability to communicate with Brokk and the others.” I looked at Chris. �śIs that why you brought the ficus?” He nodded. �śSo how were you planning on getting me here?” I asked. �śWe got here just in time for my birthday. And it was because of those papers I got from Mother that all of this started to happen.” He shrugged. �śI had trouble with you. Those meds, or something, was stopping me from charming you. The papers were just the excuse I needed to get you on a plane.” A few things were running through my mind. The most emotional one burst forward. �śWhat do you mean by charming me? What the hell is that?” He looked at Aunt Marigold for help. I put up my finger. �śNo, I want to hear it from you.” He took a breath and his hands fidgeted. �śI can charm almost anyone into doing what I want. It’s sort of a gift of mine. In the beginning I tried using it on you, but it didn’t work.” �śWhat? Oh my god, is that why I slept with you, because you charmed me into it?” He raised his hands. His eyes had a pleading look. �śNo, it’s not like that!” I got up. I felt dirty and used. I marched out the door, even though I heard the two of them calling after me. �śKatherine!” I trudged for the gates. I wasn’t sure I could take any more of this. I needed to clear my head, or go for a drive, or go home and hide under the covers, or dope myself into Chris-less oblivion with Dr. White’s Make-It-All-Go-Away pills. �śKatherine!” called Aunt Marigold. �śYou can’t leave!” Chris’s feet padded the ground behind me, but I wasn’t stopping. My feet stormed forward. He grabbed me by the shoulder. I almost swung around and hit him. �śYou can’t leave,” he said. �śYour birthday has now passed and the only place you’re safe is within this garden.” I fisted my hands. �śWhat are you talking about?” �śThe woman who’s after you, she can’t get past the iron gates. You’re safe in here.” I looked to the gates. She certainly wasn’t standing there waiting for me. I continued to march towards them. �śKatherine, please,” he said. He kept pace beside me. �śThe moment you step out those gates, she has you.” �śI don’t believe you,” I said. The problem was, I did. And I was scared shitless. I was losing control of everything around me and I needed to have something that was mine, some piece of my life I had control over. Even if it was the ability to step outside those gates and prove to myself I still owned my destiny. I continued on, bent on proving him wrong. He grabbed me again. �śPlease Katherine, don’t do this,” he pleaded. �śWell, then why don’t you use one of your little charms on me?” I pretty much spat the words at him. He pressed his lips together. �śI won’t. Not on you.” �śWhy not?” I said. �śYou got me into bed, didn’t you? And likely all those other women?” �śThey were different.” �śHow? Because my aunt didn’t tell you to sleep with them?” Those emeralds were looking deep into mine. �śBecause I care about you.” �śWhat a load of shit!” I said. I turned on him and continued to the gates, and that’s when I stopped. A fox trotted past the gate. Its fur was the golden color I had learned to recognize in the woman that had killed my family members. It looked at me with the same smile she had given me in the dreams. I sucked in my breath. �śNow do you see?” he asked. He pointed. �śShe’s waiting for you. And she will take you like the others.” Tears of fear and anger welled up. I clenched my eyes. I had no control. Nothing. Every piece of freedom was being taken from me. This bitch was chipping away at me, and I was trapped. I dropped to my knees. I wept. Chris knelt down beside me. I felt his arms slide around me and I buried my face in his chest. I just needed someone to clutch while I let the pain come out in ugly sobs. He whispered to me, words I couldn’t make out over my own cries. But the sound of his voice was soothing. I clung to him, as if trying to save myself from drowning �" a rock in a stormy sea of despair. What was I going to do? I couldn’t remain here for the rest of my life. Would I live to be some decrepit old woman wrapped in a shawl of fear and regrets? And, if the golden-haired woman figured out how to get past the gates, then what? Would I beg her to end it quickly? Why was she doing this? At that thought I stopped crying. Why was she doing this? I let go of Chris and stood on my own. He rose with me. �śWhy is she doing this?” I asked. Chris reached to wipe the tears from my face, but I backed up and did it myself. He lowered his hand. �śWe don’t know.” �śWho is she?” My Aunt waddled over. �śWe think she’s one of the older fey folk.” She looked to where the fox had swept past the gate. �śLet’s go inside, where I have some protection from her overhearing us.” I looked to the gates. The fox was gone, but I couldn’t help but feel the golden-haired woman was watching me. We walked back into the house in silence and I took my position on the sofa, Chris across from me. This time he looked a little more relaxed. �śAll right,” I said, taking a calming breath. Apparently there was no getting off this roller coaster ride, so I figured I might as well hold on tight, even if I couldn’t enjoy it. �śLet’s try this again. Tell me everything you know. And start at the beginning.” Aunt Marigold poured herself another cup of tea. I figured this was going to be a strange tale, so I sat back, trying to keep an open mind. �śWell,” Aunt Marigold said, �śwe know that this seems to have started in 1891, when a man called Thomas Gregory died from drowning. He was twenty-four years old. After that, every eldest child has died somewhere in their twenty-fifth year.” I nodded. I’d seen the dates Mother had written out. �śAnd my mother knew about this, didn’t she?” Aunt Marigold nodded. Her look was solemn. �śI’m afraid I told her that adopting you might end this.” What? I took a breath. Having emotional outbursts was getting me nowhere and wouldn’t get me what I needed to know. I gritted my teeth. �śAll right,” I said. �śDo you know how she treated me growing up?” She nodded. �śI’m sorry, child. I had no idea she would do what she did. I had only meant to end this. Your father thought the whole thing was nonsense. I tried to warn him, even from a young age, but he wouldn’t listen.” She paused. �śNeither would his father, nor his father, nor my twin brother �" your great-great-grandfather.” Great-great-grandfather? �śHow old are you?” I asked. Aunt Marigold smiled. �śOne hundred and twenty,” she said, �śand long ready to move on, but not until I’ve seen the blight on our family removed.” �śOne hundred and twenty?” She didn’t look a day over seventy. �śWhy aren’t you in some kind of record book? You should be all over the news!” Aunt Marigold fiddled with some of the rings on her fingers. �śI have no telephone, nor television service; nothing that might ask for my age. I live as if I don’t exist.” �śHow is that even possible?” She smiled. �śThere are beings and powers in this world that can do many things, even extend a human life for a time, but they always have their price.” There was sorrow in her eyes. A thought struck me then. �śWait a minute, you said twin brother. Why aren’t you dead too?” �śIt’s either one of a few explanations,” she said. �śOne, I’m a woman. All of the family that has died at the age of twenty-four have been men. Of course, each generation had born only one child.” �śIs that why my mother adopted a girl?” My Aunt shook her head. �śShe didn’t care what the sex of the child was. She only wanted to adopt before she got pregnant herself. I had hoped that perhaps you wouldn’t be harmed if I had found them a girl to adopt. But now I see it was a poor assumption.” She took a sip of her tea. �śIt leaves me with only one other explanation. Although I was a twin, I was the youngest of the two. My brother was born first.” She looked around her. �śBut to be prudent, I’ve been in hiding all my life.” �śWho is she?” I asked. �śAnd what does she want?” Aunt Marigold rose, looking flush. She ambled to the window and put her fingers to her neck. Then she turned and there was a look of horror on her face. She started to gasp and clutched her chest. �śOh my god!” I ran over to her, trying to help her to the ground before she fell. Chris grabbed her other arm and eased her down. �śCall the ambulance!” I yelled. �śThere’s no phone!” �śCell!” �śAunt Marigold,” I said. �śWhat’s wrong?” My Aunt tried to speak, but breath barely escaped her lips. �śNo bars!” Chris said, and ran outside. �śT-t-t�Ś,” my aunt whispered, and then her eyes closed and went still. No! This wasn’t happening. Then I realized Chris had run outside. Oh my god! I bolted after him. �śChris!” I ran out and didn’t see him in the immediate vicinity. Please, no! I stumbled through the winding path of the garden, the towering hollyhocks impeding my view. �śChris!” I reached the front gates. They were open. No! He was nowhere to be seen. �śChris!” I yelled. My feet froze. I was petrified to step outside the gates. Searching for signs of the fox, or any other creature, failed to reveal anything. I put a toe out. Nothing happened. �śChris!” Then, I thought I heard him speaking. It was down at the roadside where we’d left the car. Chris! I bolted. I didn’t care what was going to happen. I needed to know he was safe. I needed to know I wasn’t going to be left alone and stuck in some old cottage for the rest of my years. I rounded the bend and found him, leaning against the car. He had his cell phone to one ear and his finger stuck in the other. He was yelling into the phone the location of the house. �śChris!” I yelled. He saw me and nodded acknowledgement. He put his finger to his lips to shush me while he talked. He lowered his head, as if straining to hear. I didn’t slow my run. Something felt wrong. Seconds later, I noticed it. A car was barreling down the highway, from behind Chris. �śChris!” I yelled. He motioned for me to keep it down, and turned away. My legs picked up speed. I watched the car. Surely it was just a figment of my imagination that it, too, was increasing speed. Please, no! My heart raced. I didn’t care about anything right now. I only wanted to get to Chris. The car showed no sign of slowing, and I looked at the driver. It was a woman. She had golden hair. Shit! �śChris!” He wasn’t hearing me. My legs ached, but I pushed them harder. The car sped up. It was aiming for Chris. I raced. The car’s engine made little noise as it closed in. The golden-haired woman was smiling at me, that same sickening grin she’d given me before. Not this time, bitch! Throwing myself at Chris hard, just like I’d done countless times before in rugby practice, I prayed I could get us both clear as I heard the engine of the car roar in my ears. Chapter 14 The first thing that ran through my mind was the pain in my shoulder as I launched myself into Chris. It was like throwing myself at a slab of beef. The resulting sensation ripped down my back. I heard no screeching brakes, only the crunching of metal that clattered in my ears. I winced as the two of us flew towards the pavement. I waited for the car to strike me in the legs, but was relieved when all I felt was the two of us slamming into the ground. We both rolled. The phone flew and smashed into pieces as it struck the road. We rolled into the ditch on the other side as both cars exploded. I was glad I wasn’t roadside for the blast. I would have been pierced by the metal and glass shards that flew. Chris moaned. His face was scraped where he’d hit the pavement. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I saw the blood trickling down his face. It wasn’t sparkling, nor was it green. It was the same color as my own, which was flowing from my nose. My face had done a nice job of smacking into his legs as we’d rolled. �śAre you all right?” he asked. �śYou’re bleeding.” He looked around for something to hand me, but I waved him off, pinching my nose. �śSo are you,” I said and pointed to his head. Another explosion thundered. We both winced and ducked. A tire rolled past us and into the woods. We both looked to the flaming cars. �śWe better get back to the house fast,” he said, and yanked me up by the arm. Before another car came along, or any other disaster struck, we ran for the protection of Aunt Marigold’s house. The golden-haired woman was nowhere to be seen. There were mixed feelings running through me as we sprinted for safety. My Aunt was dead in the house, we’d almost been killed, I was trapped within the confines of the iron gates, and I was in pain. I started to limp towards the house. I was sure the police would show up soon, and they’d likely have a lot of questions. I wasn’t sure I wanted to stick around for them. Chris grabbed my arm and pulled me close. �śYou saved my life.” He held me to him. It had been an instinctual thing. I wasn’t going to let him die. Despite whatever he was, my feelings about him weren’t going to just disappear that easily. I still needed to sort him out, but there were other more pressing matters. I hugged him quickly and then left him to make my way back into the house. Aunt Marigold’s body hadn’t moved. I was sort of relieved since I wasn’t sure what to expect any longer. I wasn’t sure if she’d rise from the dead, become a zombie, or go vampire. The whole world had turned upside down as far as I was concerned. I was also greatly saddened. She’d obviously meant for me to get here to be safe, had been trying for generations to sort out this family curse, and now was gone. Brokk was sitting next to her, stroking her face with his meaty hand. Little tears were running down his cheeks. I did the only thing that made sense. I picked him up and held him to me. His body shook with quiet sobs. Chris entered the house. �śSo, what are we going to do?” he asked. �śI’m not sure,” I said. �śI don’t know if I can stay here. If the police come and see my dead Aunt and the cars out there, they’ll be asking a lot of questions. They may even want to take me in for questioning. On the other hand, I can’t leave this place. How am I supposed to tell the police that if I leave here, I’ll be killed.” I felt Brokk poking me. I looked down and he was shaking his head. �śNo? I won’t be killed?” I asked him. He shook his head. He tried motioning something with his hands, but it was totally lost on me. I looked at Chris. �śDo you speak troll?” �śHe’s not a troll,” Chris said. �śAnd, yes, I can talk to him.” �śThere’s no need,” said a voice. Chris whipped around to see who was there, but I already knew. There was no mistaking the deep silkiness of that voice. In that moment, a rush of pain and longing was resurrected. I forced myself to turn, despite the stinging in my heart. A man with sandy hair stood in the doorway. He was about a head taller than Chris with coals for eyes and dimpled cheeks. His elfin face was still cloaked in beautiful. My heart jumped out of my chest. I’d hoped not to see him, but now that I laid eyes on him, it was like I was sixteen all over again. �śJonathan,” I whispered. Chris said it with me in unison, but his tone was a lot less favorable. I wasn’t sure how Chris knew his name, but somehow it didn’t matter. A mix of bitter and sweet was pulsing through my veins. �śKatherine,” Jonathan said. His gaze remained on me alone. He opened his arms. I considered leaving him standing there, but my legs decided to walk over to him of their own accord. His hug was like a warm duvet. Chris stepped forward. �śKatherine, he’s�"” �ś�"glad you’re here,” Jonathan said. He looked over to Aunt Marigold’s body and then approached, kneeling beside her. He touched her face, sadness in his own. �śBrokk told me she’d been taken. That’s why I came. We knew this day would come,” he muttered. �śShe’d been telling me this for months.” �śChris,” I said, �śmaybe we should give him a moment alone.” A single tear slid down Jonathan’s cheek. �śThank you.” We slipped through the door, leaving Jonathan to his mourning. Unsure of what to do, we walked towards the gates, listening for the sounds of sirens and searching for signs of the golden-haired woman. �śWe don’t have a lot of time,” Chris said. I nodded. He was right. I felt guilty for wanting to leave. It felt dishonest. Yet that self-preservation gene was giving me a kick in the backside that I knew I needed to listen to. I couldn’t stay here. �śA couple of minutes won’t hurt,” I said. We stood there watching the trees, listening. �śWhere will I go?” I finally asked. It was starting to eat at me. �śBrokk says there’s another safe house. It used to be your family’s old home.” �śWhere?” I asked. �śSoutheast. It’s going to take us a few days to get there. We’ll have to walk.” �śUnless Jonathan has a car,” I said. �śEven if he did, we can’t take it. The roads are unsafe. And it won’t take long for the police to figure out who we are and start looking for us. We’re better off taking the less common routes for now. And it’s easy enough to pretend we’re tourists hiking across the country.” �śBut won’t she find me once I step outside those gates?” �śNo,” said that silken voice behind us. With Brokk on his shoulder, Jonathan approached. His eyes were red. �śMarigold had a broach that kept her safe for a few days at a time. That should protect you long enough for us to get you to your family home.” �śProtect me?” �śWell, more like hide you. Those with fey sight won’t be able to see you.” �śWhat about you?” I asked Chris. �śOh, I’m half human. I’ll be able to see you.” He looked at Jonathan. �śAnd what’s this about us?” �śI’m coming with you,” Jonathan said. The dimpled grin I had once loved was lighting up his face. Chapter 15 Chris didn’t look pleased about Jonathan coming with us. �śHow can we trust you?” he said. �śYou show up just after Marigold dies, and we’re almost killed? How convenient.” Jonathan didn’t look fazed. �śThink what you want, but Marigold knew this day would come. It wasn’t really a surprise.” Sirens sounded in the distance. It killed any argument that might have happened between the two, and we darted into the house. �śWhere’s this broach?” I asked. Jonathan ran over to a little wooden box, the same kind as the one I had. He reached inside and grabbed an ugly old-lady broach with a dark red stone. I recognized it instantly. My Aunt had worn it on a trip into town that summer. He pinned it to my shirt with care, winking at me. We were starting to flee out the door when I stopped. �śWhat about Brokk?” I said. Jonathan waved me off, and headed to the back of the garden, towards the trees. I followed with Chris taking up the rear. �śHe’ll be fine,” Chris said. We reached another gate at the back, hidden amongst the foxglove. Jonathan opened it, and I hesitated to step out, my foot wavering. �śCome on!” Jonathan said. Chris put his hand on my shoulder. �śIt’s all right, Katherine. We’ll protect you.” I looked at him. I wasn’t so sure he’d be able to. And as for Jonathan, he had the same mischievous look I remembered as a teenager. I wasn’t sure I could trust what he said about this red bauble that was dangling from my shirt. The sirens were getting louder. Jonathan offered his hand. �śTrust me,” he said, as if reading my mind. �śMarigold used this and she was fine.” �śYeah, but now she’s dead.” He shook his head. �śMarigold was old and her time had come. Trust me, the charm will get you where you need to go, but we’ll need to hurry.” I nodded my head and took his hand. It was hot. He pulled me forward, and we ran. We sprinted between trees and down a gently sloping hill. We dodged overgrown shrubs and roots that threatened to trip us. Finally Jonathan slowed us down as we reached the stone wall of an old sheep farm. He retrieved a walking stick for each of us from the woods. �śTake these,” he said. �śWe need to look like tourists.” It seemed to make sense. I took the shortest of the three while I caught my breath. When Chris took his I noticed he carried both of our packs over his shoulders. I took mine from him. �śThanks,” I said. We then began the trek, avoiding human activity as much as possible. A part of me was feeling like a fugitive. The other part of me was somewhat relieved to be moving. Although I hadn’t been in the house for long, the notion I could have been trapped there had bothered me – safe or not. I glanced at Chris. He caught me looking at him and winked. I had to turn away. I wasn’t sure if I was still angry with him or not. He claimed he hadn’t charmed me into bed, but something wasn’t right there. At the time it had felt like I had chosen to do it. I had hungered for it, but as I let it brew in my mind I suppose I’d acted a little rash. It had all happened so fast. Too fast. I shook my head. I needed to think about something else for now, so I caught up to Jonathan. I had other questions that were burning a hole through my mind. I took stride next to him, which was challenging since his legs, although large like Chris’s were long. I could keep his pace if pressed, but I wasn’t sure for how long. As if knowing, he slowed. �śAm I going too fast?” he asked. I nodded. �śA little.” �śSorry,” he said. �śI’m not used to traveling with others.” �śYou do this a lot? Walking the countryside?” Chris caught up, but remained behind us. Jonathan smiled. �śMarigold asked me to fetch things all the time. Although she could leave for a few days, she never liked leaving for more than a few hours at a time.” I never really thought about what his relationship with her was, but now that I thought of it, I had better ask, just to be sure. �śYou’re not her son, are you?” He laughed. �śNo. But she pretty much raised me. She said a woman had begged her to raise me from almost an infant. She was in danger, and she’d wanted her child to be safe. The woman said she would come back for me one day, but she never did. I was always welcome in Marigold’s home, and over the years I grew to be able to help her.” I stopped to reach into my pack and pulled out a carved figurine, handing it to him. �śI still have the little fox you gave me.” I wasn’t sure what had made me bring it. Maybe, somehow, I had actually hoped to see him again. The dimples in his cheeks were huge as he smiled. �śWow, I remember this,” he said, running his fingers over it. He handed it back. �śYou kept it after all these years? And you brought it?” Chris took stride next to me. �śI hate to break up this little trip down memory lane, but we need to keep moving.” He looked at Jonathan. �śWe don’t need you. We have the broach. You can go now.” Jonathan’s mischievous eyes lit up. �śBut the charm doesn’t work without me.” Chris didn’t look like he was buying it. �śWhat are you talking about?” �śIt’s a blood charm. It’s my blood in the stone.” He looked at me. �śThat’s how your Aunt was able to make visits into town. She took me with her.” I knew something was a little odd about Jonathan traveling with Aunt Marigold every time she left the cottage. Then it hit me. I side-stepped a protruding root along the path in front of us and stopped. �śYour blood? What the heck is that about?” Jonathan had that look like he’d been caught saying something he hadn’t meant to �" his face got all contorted, like he wanted to take back his words. Chris jumped in immediately. �śHe’s a Nymph.” �śA what?” I said. �śA Nymph,” Chris repeated. �śThat woman that left him with Marigold wasn’t human.” You’ve got to be shitting me. I couldn’t believe this. The two men I had fallen the hardest for in my life weren’t human? This was getting way too weird. What was next? Jonathan wasn’t really seventeen when I met him, but over a hundred years old instead? Jonathan shrugged. �śWell, the cat’s out of that bag, isn’t it?” �śWhat the hell is a Nymph?” I asked. Then I turned on Chris. �śAnd for that matter, what are you?” �śI told you,” he said. �śI’m a Changeling.” �śHalf-breed,” Jonathan muttered with disdain. �śBut half what?” I asked. I was starting to lose it. �śCan someone please fill me in on what’s going on around here? My life is going all Twilight on me and I have no idea what I’m getting into. And when you’ve finished initiating me into this little fantasy world, I need to know who the hell this woman is that wants me dead.” �śMorgana?” Jonathan asked. �śOh, she has a name?” I said. �śWell that’s progress. Now who is she? And what does she want?” �śShe’s one of the Winter Court �" Dark Faeries. She was once one of the Summer Court, but I heard she was cast out.” �śAnd why does she want me dead?” �śI don’t know,” Jonathan said. �śNo one knows. Marigold tried for years to learn.” He started walking, like he decided he was finished with the conversation. �śLet’s keep moving. We have a house to get to, right?” It seemed a bit flippant. Chris stood his ground. �śHow do we know we can trust you?” I could feel control slipping from me again. There was too much happening here. Too many questions, and I took it out on Chris. �śAnd how do I know I can trust you?” I snapped. He looked wounded at the words. His mouth opened, but nothing came out. �śYou were supposed to be my friend, but you’ve been worming your way into my life for a year, trying to literally charm my pants off. Well, you finally succeeded. You got what you wanted, and you got me here like you were told to. So tell me why I need you here and why I should trust you?” Again, his mouth twitched, but not much came out. Then, he finally gathered his composure. �śI never meant to hurt you, Katherine. And I never charmed you into bed. I swear it.” Jonathan snorted. Somehow I wanted to believe him, but I wasn’t sure if I could. It was too plausible he had done it. The implications of that were starting to make my blood boil. Sadly, I felt like I needed him. I couldn’t be alone with Jonathan. I barely knew him, at least, this Jonathan. I’d felt like I had known him inside and out that summer. But for all I knew, he could do the very same thing as Chris did, and I’d be some plaything of his. And what the hell was a Nymph anyway? That made me realize I didn’t want to be alone with either of them. I didn’t say anything further. I turned on my heel and marched along the trail. The walk through the rolling hills was invigorating, something I needed. I just focused on the walk, trying to put distance between me and Aunt Marigold’s house while attempting to temporarily put the two men �" or whatever they were �" who trailed me out of my head. We passed more sheep farms and old cemeteries. Unnerving to me, Jonathan seemed jittery around the latter. He finally calmed when we reached a quaint town with cobbled sidewalks. I didn’t quite catch the name. It was �śsomething on the something”. In the distance dark clouds trailed us. Jonathan scrunched his face when he noticed them. I could swear he was sniffing the air. �śBetter find a place to get out of that,” he said. �śIt doesn’t look natural.” We found a place to stay above a pub. Since we had to pay cash and not use credit cards, we had to share a room with two beds. The two of them looked at me, wondering who would be sharing my bed. �śYou two can sleep together on that bed,” I said. Jonathan shrugged. Chris had a blank look that didn’t say much either way. I was surprised one of them didn’t offer to take the floor. The pub was friendly in comparison to the last one we’d been to. The mood inside remained light, even with the storm churning outside. The revelry inside seemed to be due to a local soccer win. None of the patrons were sober, and considering the amount of noise they were making, we knew none of us would be getting sleep for a while. We decided to join in. The merriment was contagious. The locals seemed to accept us as one of their own �" at least Chris and I. They sensed Jonathan’s reticence to interact and seemed to leave him to his own devices. I wasn’t sure what was going on with him. He smiled and drank only water. Other than that, he would make his way to the window from time to time. What he was looking for I wasn’t sure. Chris and I both drank beer �" the locals plying us with free rounds. We managed to get cornered by an older gentleman with a few missing teeth. With his Lundberg stetson perched upon his head and pipe in his hand, he looked all the part of old English charm. He shared with us a tale. Chris and I hung off his every word. �śNow, the men of Shropshire in the west were well acquainted with the fey folk, or so it is said. And hundreds of years ago, such encounters were commonplace. One such man was Edric the Wild. �śOne day when Edric was returning from a great hunt in the forest, he lost his way, and wandered about �Śtil nightfall. But upon hearing faint music in the breeze, his heart was lifted and he found a house in the distance. He peered through the window and beheld six noble ladies dancing. They were of beauty beyond compare and garbed in fine, shimmering linens. These six women, they danced round, singing a song to which he could not understand the words. And in the midst of the six was a young maiden who surpassed the others in grace and beauty. One look upon her and Edric’s heart was stolen. �śForgetting all that he had heard about the fey folk and faery curses, Edric decided he would take this woman for his wife. So he circled the house, searching for the entrance. He was a Lord of sorts, and thought he had the right to take her. So, he stormed in once he found the entrance and plucked the fair maiden from among her sisters, even though they had changed to beasts and attacked him. Throwing her across his horse like a sack of potatoes, he rode into the night with her sisters on his heels. �śHe returned to his manor with the maiden. Upon arriving, she slid off the horse and strode ahead of him into the house. She sat in the corner and despite his best persuasions, she refused to utter a single word. There she sat through the rest of the day and through the night as well. When he arose in the morning there she sat still, watching all that he did. Through the next day and night, she still sat, speaking not a word, but watching. Then, on the eve of the third day, she broke her silence. �ś�ŚI know you, Edric of the Wild,’ she said. �ŚAnd I know what you would have of me. I will marry you, as you seem to be a good man, straight and true. But these things you must know,’ said she. �ŚLuck and great health shall be yours as I am a Queen among the Faeries. But if you reproach me with who I am, the place from which you first laid eyes upon me, or my sisters from whom you stole me, then on that day, you will lose both your bride and your good fortune. I will return to the land of my birth and you will pine away to a quick death. Now do you swear by all that is good, that you shall do as I ask?’ �śEdric pledged by all that was most sacred to be ever faithful to her, and they were wed. And a not a finer wedding had been seen among all the nobles from far and near whom Edric invited to their bridal feast. And all who knew of Edric and his Faery wife were glad for them. �śNow, at that time William the Norman, whom Edric had once fought but now had made peace with, was newly made the King of England. When the King heard of such a wonder, he invited the couple to his court, for he much desired to lay eyes upon this fair maiden and see the truth of it with his own eyes. �śUpon seeing them and the marvelous beauty of the lady, he declared them the fairest couple in all the kingdom, asking them to stay in his Court. And for a time they did, enjoying all the King had to offer them, until one day the hills of Shropshire called them to return. �śAfter many happy years, they had a child – a son of the Faery wife. But one day Edric could not find his wife upon returning from a late hunt. He called for her and searched. When at last she appeared he took angry with her. �ś�ŚWhere have you been, wife?’ he said with an angry look. �ŚHave your sisters been keeping you from me?’ And at the moment those words of reproach slipped from his tongue, Edric realized his mistake. For in that brief instant that he mentioned her sisters, she vanished from sight. �śEdric’s grief was overwhelming. He searched high and low, even to the place where he had found her at first. But no tears, nor laments of his could summon her back. He cried for days without end, and he pined away as had been foretold to him. He then died of sorrow. �śAnd it is said, that even to this day, his ghost still searches for his beloved wife �" the Faery woman who would accept no reproach.” The man finished with a humble smile and I clapped and I thanked him for the story. I think he might have told another had I not yawned. The days had started to take their toll on me. I was exhausted. �śWell,” he said. �śIt’s time I be headin’ home. Now you two take care.” He looked over to where Jonathan watched at the window. �śAnd mind the company you keep.” He nodded his head and shuffled out the door as we both thanked him again and bid him goodnight. I rose from the table, Chris following my lead. Jonathan looked over from the window, so I motioned towards the stairs. He followed us up, leaving something by the sill �" a piece of wood from what I could tell. Back in the room, I had no qualms about stripping down to my underwear in front of them, although Jonathan’s stare lingered a little longer than Chris’s. A small part of me wanted Chris to see what he wouldn’t be sleeping with. I took my time getting under the covers. I was curious to see what Jonathan looked like undressed. If his forearms and the v-shape that his shirt formed from his shoulders were any indication of how he was built, he was likely ripped. Sadly, he took off only his shoes and lay down on the bed beside Chris, fully dressed. He didn’t smile, but there was something in his eyes that told me he knew I had been watching him. Chapter 16 I wish I could say it had been a night of restful slumber. The bed was lumpy and the storm outside brought with it winds that rattled the windows. I woke with a feeling that someone was watching me. I found Jonathan by the sill, fingering another piece of wood. He didn’t bother to turn away when I saw him. �śWhat is it?” I whispered. Chris seemed to be out cold. �śNothing,” he said. �śYou should go back to sleep.” I sat up. The rain pounded against the windows in waves. It was still dark, but the moon offered enough light to see that it was a pretty heavy downpour. I stood beside him, looking out. There was no one about, but I could swear I caught some kind of movement in the shadows. I waited, and then caught it again; a skirting from one alley to another by a small creature with spikes on its back. It looked lean and lanky, but muscled. It skittered on all fours. It was no animal I was familiar with. Two more skirted through the shadows. �śWhat are those?” I asked. �śHowlers,” Jonathan said, pausing to study me. �śShe knows we’ve hidden you. She’s tracking us.” He looked over at Chris’s slumbering body. �śThose things can’t smell me, but they can smell him. He could lead them away from us.” I hadn’t sorted out what to do about Chris, but he was still a source of familiarity. I shook my head. �śChris stays.” Jonathan shrugged. �śDon’t say I didn’t warn you. At some point you’re going to have to trust me, Katherine.” Trust him? He’d broke my heart. It wasn’t going to be that simple. He was my first love �" one who’d taken years to overcome. Loving him had been more powerful than anything I had ever known. But it wasn’t the time to be discussing that now. �śNo offense, Jonathan, but I’ve known Chris longer.” And he didn’t desert me without a word of goodbye. Jonathan didn’t say anything, but with that one eyebrow raised, I knew what he was thinking. For all that knowing, how much did I really know Chris? He hadn’t been honest with me. What was to say he wouldn’t do the same thing to me that Jonathan once did. �śWithout Chris I’d already be dead,” I said. I had to justify it to myself, if not to him. Again he shrugged. His fingers flipped a piece of wood between them as he peered once more out the window. The howlers still slunk through the rain. �śWhat is that?” I asked and reached for the wood. I got a small shock when our fingers made contact. He made a point of touching my hands with his for a little longer than necessary to pass it to me. His hands were warm, and a part of me wanted to feel those hands upon me once more. I remembered the heat he had filled my body with once upon a time. I took the piece of wood, deciding that his fingers had been touching mine for too long. It was light, airy, with a carved rune on it. It felt like the fox he had once carved for me. �śIt’s yew,” he said. �śIt wards off evil, but in this case, I’d need a whole forest to stop them.” I just stared at him blankly. I had no idea what he was talking about and wasn’t going to fake it. He caught on without me having to ask. �śShe really wants you. It takes a lot to control a pack of howlers �" she had to have made a pretty hefty bargain with them. Why does she want you so badly?” I shook my head. �śI was hoping you could tell me. You at least knew her name.” �śI have to admit it took some digging to find out who she is. You have no idea how big the unseen world is. She could have been anyone. But what I did learn was she was once part of the Summer Court. Just over a hundred years ago, she was banished.” �śWhy?” �śDon’t know, but there’s not a lot of tolerance when it comes to negative interaction with humans. And they don’t take kindly to mating with them either. That’s why the Summer Court is pure. No half-breeds, like your boyfriend there,” he said, and nodded to Chris’s still sleeping form. �śHe’s not my boyfriend,” I said. I thought there was a little light in his eyes at the mention. �śWell, you smell of him. His scent is all over you.” I was inclined to smell myself to see, but that would look ridiculous. �śAnyhow,” he said. �śShe’s now part of the Winter Court. I hear they took her in gladly.” �śSo what does she want with me or my ancestors?” He shook his head. �śNo clue. And if we knew that maybe we could appease her, or ask for help.” �śAppease that monster?” I went on to tell him what I’d seen happen with my family members, detailing how each had died and how she had been involved. When I revealed she’d seen me in each vision and that in the last one she’d tried to kill me, Jonathan showed the most amount of emotion I think I’d seen yet. �śWow,” he said. �śImpressive.” �śImpressive?” I asked. What was so impressive? �śShe’s stronger than we thought. She can actually reach through those kinds of visions? It’s an impressive skill. We’ll have to ward your dreams �" she can likely Dreamwalk.” This was getting to be a bit much again. I felt my head swimming. �śDreamwalk? What does that mean �" she can get in my head?” He nodded. I sat on the bed. �śWhat am I going to do? Is nowhere safe?” Jonathan sat next to me, enveloping my hand in the warmth of his own. �śWe’ll figure it out, Katherine. But we need to take this one step at a time. I think you’re going to have to go back into those visions to find out why she’s doing this.” �śHow?” I asked. �śShe took the earrings Aunt Marigold gave me.” �śYou let me worry about that. Faery charms are easy enough to come by.” I looked into those dark eyes of his. They were set with a concern I hadn’t seen in ages. �śHow do you know all of this?” I asked. �śWhy didn’t Chris tell me?” He lifted his eyes to glance at the other bed. Chris seemed to still be sleeping quietly. �śHe’s a puppy, like you �" still new to this world. He knows almost nothing. He’s been immersed in the human world. That’s why Marigold gave us separate tasks. Chris is a half-breed and knew your world well enough to bring you here. I know the fey world, and was to help you find a way to survive this.” I nodded. It seemed to make sense. �śWho are you?” I asked. I really knew nothing about him now. �śSome of you seems the same after all these years, but some of you has changed. What happened to you? And why did you leave me?” He patted my hand, and rose. �śThat’s a long story, and you really need to get more sleep,” he said. �śIt was a long time ago, and I was a foolish boy that didn’t know a good thing when he had it. It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life, and one I will probably regret forever. But I can’t change what I did, Katherine. I can’t go back and undo it.” I felt a wave of fatigue flood over me, sudden and unexpected. I fought it and looked at him. �śDon’t you dare try putting me to sleep,” I said. He had a curious look in his eye. �śStronger than I thought,” he muttered. The fatigue wavered. �śFine, but you really do need to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us and you’ll need your rest. Morgana wants you, and it would seem she’s willing to make deals with just about anything to get you. You need to have your wits about you.” I couldn’t argue with his logic. I hadn’t slept properly in days. �śAll right,” I said. �śBut what about warding my dreams.” �śIf you sleep next to him,” he said, motioning to Chris, �śyou should be safe. Close enough to him, he can protect your dreams, half-breed or not.” �śAre you sure?” He hesitated, then nodded. I wasn’t sure if I should do it, but after the one dream I had on Aunt Marigold’s sofa I figured it was advice I had better heed. I did what he suggested. I crawled into bed beside Chris, feeling the warmth of his body next to mine. He rolled, putting his arm around me. There was something safe about his presence. I closed my eyes, and drifted off to the sound of his breathing. Then I slept. When I woke, Jonathan was still by the window. I got out of bed before Chris’s morning arousal turned into something embarrassing. We dressed and headed downstairs to find that breakfast was going to be a lead weight in our guts: eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, and mushrooms. I ate it anyway. I would have filled Chris in on what Jonathan and I had discussed, but the place was crammed with locals and other guests. We just ate our food in silence, listening to stories of how the winds had ripped the roof from one barn and how some sheep had gone missing. All seemed in agreement that something unnatural was afoot. When we stepped out into the wet cobblestone roads, I looked around for signs of the howlers that we’d seen in the night. There were no prints. �śYou won’t find anything,” Jonathan said. �śThey don’t leave tracks.” �śWhat?” Chris asked, as he approached. �śHowlers,” Jonathan said. Chris nodded, yet grimaced. �śThen we better get moving. Her scent will be obvious.” �śNo more than yours,” Jonathan said. Chris glanced at him with that non-impressed look and moved on. �śWhich way, tour guide?” �śWe’ll cross the Cotswolds Way and then southeast to the Kingley Vale. Her ancestors’ home is near there.” Chris nodded. �śYew trees. Good.” �śGlad you approve,” Jonathan said, and turned to begin the trek. I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on between Jonathan and Chris. It was obvious they knew each other, or of each other at least, but they didn’t seem to like each other much. I hoped it wasn’t a jealousy thing, but it was shaping up that way. I let it go. At the very least, they were being somewhat civil and I really didn’t feel like having an all-out dispute at this point. I needed them working together to help me get where I needed to go. As we trekked across rolling hills, along centuries-old roads and trails, and through a smattering of trees, I couldn’t help but wonder about this world in which Chris and Jonathan were immersed. Changelings, Nymphs, Howlers, Faeries �" what else was I bound to find? I yanked on my hair. I felt so lost, so out of control. I knew my world, and what to expect from it. Twenty-fours years of knowing. This other world in which I was being thrown was a mystery. Sure, I’d seen Brokk and some little winged people through the course of my teenage years, but I’d been taught that none of that had been real. Now I realized I could have been learning about this other realm, and that knowledge might have prepared me for what was coming. I blamed Joan for that. That made me wonder. What would Geoff do with all this if he could witness what I was seeing? Would he believe it, or would he check himself into an asylum? Jonathan paused at a small stream that weaved under a bent, old willow. Brokk was there. He waved at me, and I couldn’t help but smile. �śBrokk,” I said. I picked him up. �śI’m sorry I didn’t pay more attention to you. All this time we could have been friends.” The little man stroked my face with his hand. He looked into my eyes with his shiny black ones and smiled back at me. I was really glad to see him. I rose and let him climb onto my shoulder. Jonathan gave Brokk a playful poke. �śIt seems he’s forgiven you. He had a hard time reaching out to you when you were on those meds. And when you moved into the city and refused to have any plants near you, you made it almost impossible.” �śYou know about the meds?” He nodded. �śMarigold told me that your parents had medicated you and that it killed the Faery Sight. It’s good you’ve got it back. You’re going to need it.” We continued on the walk. Chris took stride next to me. �śI have the Faery Sight?” I asked. A part of me wished I could get rid of it. Jonathan nodded. �śBut if a Faery doesn’t want to be seen, even with the Faery Sight, you’d have a hard time finding it. Faeries can hide even from themselves when they want to.” I looked at Chris. He nodded. �śWhat about the howlers last night?” I asked. �śWhy would they want me to see them?” Jonathan’s eyebrows furrowed. �śI’m still trying to sort that out. If they wanted to be seen, they must be very confident in what they’re tracking.” Chapter 17 The day was bright and sun-filled. It made for a warm walk, but it wasn’t the heat that bothered me. It was the shoes I was wearing. They were old runners. I hadn’t really planned on hiking across England while trying to save my own skin. The breaks were few. So each time I took a moment to remove my shoes long enough to massage my aching feet. Jonathan advised that we take the roads and trails to continue to look like tourists. It would draw less suspicion now that we were far from Aunt Marigold’s house. Besides, it was unlikely anyone would be looking for a group of three. Now whether this Morgana woman knew there were three of us was another matter. Although if I had to guess, those howlers had probably figured it out. If they were like dogs in their ability to smell, they’d probably know my last meal as well. The day was fairly non-eventful, Chris and I focusing pretty much on just trying to keep pace with Jonathan. The boy could move. Along deserted, single lane roads and trails he led us. We passed some little towns and villages, smiling and offering polite hellos to those we passed. If we hadn’t been in such a rush, it would have made for a scenic vacation. Chris took stride next to me, mostly quiet, until Jonathan was quite some distance ahead. �śI don’t trust him,” Chris whispered. I kept walking, not looking at him. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I wasn’t sure I trusted either of them. Other than his past transgression, Jonathan had not given me any reason not to trust him, and Brokk, who rode upon his shoulder now, seemed to gravitate towards him. �śWhat makes you say that?” I asked. �śBecause he’s a Nymph. He’ll try to send me away so he can have his way with you. Right now, with me around, he won’t try anything. He’s having to restrain himself. I can tell.” �śAre you having to restrain yourself?” I asked. I really shouldn’t have said that. It was petty. But honestly, I was still a little pissed and confused as to what had actually happened between us. �śI’ve already told you what happened. I didn’t charm you into bed,” he said. There was exasperation in his voice. �śMarigold told me to find a way to get you here, by any means possible. So I did try when I first met you because I figured it would be the easiest way to bind you to me, but it didn’t work. Your meds or something blocked it. And as time went on, I was getting worried I wouldn’t be able to do it. Your birthday kept getting closer, and all I could do was be your friend. Then when you said you were never really with Tony and those papers showed up, I figured it was the only chance I had. I tried using my human charms. What I offered you was me. It was real, Katherine. What I feel for you is real. And what happened between us was real.” I nearly tripped over a rock on the path. Chris caught me before I fell. He took my hands in his. I took a step back. �śChris,” I said. �śI don’t know what to believe or who to trust anymore. I can’t make any of my own judgments because I know nothing of your little world. I don’t know who’s what, I don’t know what’s who �" I don’t know shit. I practically need an encyclopedia to keep up. Do you have any idea how powerless I feel? I can’t make any kind of rational decision about my own survival. I have to leave everything to the two of you. You’re asking me not to trust him and to trust you, but you seem just as lost as I am. Not to mention you weren’t honest with me. So what am I supposed to do?” Tears welled up in my eyes. I hated feeling vulnerable. He pulled me towards him. He whispered in my ear. �śI hated not telling you who I was. I wanted to, but I needed to get you to safety first. I’m sorry.” I closed my eyes and leaned in closer to his chest. The tears flowed faster. Although it was just two little words, they helped. I don’t know exactly how I knew it, but the sincerity in his voice was true. I put my arms around him. �śYou’re not off the hook yet, Chris Silver. You’ll need to prove it.” �śI will,” was all he said. I let him hold me until I heard some foot shuffling down the path. I backed away from Chris. I was pretty sure I had a grasp on him now. Jonathan was another matter entirely, and I didn’t like being torn between the two. Jonathan walked up beside me. He looked at each one of us, assessing the situation. �śIf this little love fest is finished we need to get moving,” he said. He nodded towards the setting sun. �śWe don’t have a lot of time. When night strikes, we need to be indoors. Out here in the open, we don’t stand a chance.” He didn’t look hopeful. And as I looked out from the hill upon which we stood, sunset would happen in about half an hour, and there was nothing but open green space. There wasn’t even a barn to hide in. Jonathan started walking. My aching feet followed with Chris at my side. The pace was fast, and I felt like one of those women I see power walking their way to a slimmer body. Then Jonathan changed to a light jog. I looked at Chris, but his attention was all about the land around us. I kept up, my feet screaming at me. Five minutes into the jog, I felt a sickening fear settle in my gut. Jonathan called out. �śRun!” I ran. But, to where I had no idea. I could see nothing to run from, nor had I heard anything behind us. All I knew was to follow Jonathan and that was becoming more difficult to do as the night sky overtook us. The bumps in the ground were harder to see, causing me to stumble repeatedly. Chris caught me, lifting me up and running with me for a few strides like I weighed nothing to him, before he placed me back on the ground with ease. Up ahead a copse of trees loomed and I knew for what Jonathan was making. He said something to Brokk. Then the little man nodded and disappeared. I picked up the pace. There was nothing behind me I could hear, but I knew what was there. The howlers. I had the same feeling now I had back at the inn when I first saw them. Except, this feeling was much more intense. There had to be dozens of them. I sprinted and caught up to Jonathan as we closed in on the forest. �śTrees!” he yelled. �śBrokk will tell you which one to climb!” He looked at Chris. �śYou know what to do!” As we entered the forest, I scoured the trees, searching for Brokk. I found him on some low lying branches of a gnarled old tree. He was glowing and waving furiously. I bolted for the tree and climbed as fast as I could with Brokk lighting the way upwards. When his presence dimmed, he climbed on my shoulder. He patted my face, and I knew this was where he wanted me to wait. I got myself comfortable while looking down through the gloom to where Chris and Jonathan stood, backs to the tree. Chris’s body lit up with a glow like I had seen in my dream. Jonathan’s didn’t, but he tossed out some small glowing spheres in the clearing to help light the space. The howlers became visible, one by one as they stepped into the light. I stopped counting at thirteen. The beasts stalked about the tree, encircling it. Jonathan stood at one side, Chris at the other. Somehow Chris seemed bigger. His shirt was stretching, to the point he removed it. The tattoos I had seen in my dream were there, glowing. His body got thicker. Not hulkish, but larger than his usual size. He looked at me. His eyes were glowing. I sucked in my breath. I heard growling at the opposite side of the tree, so I searched for Jonathan. He was barely visible, a dark aura enveloping him. A curved blade waited in his hand. His eyes were black sockets as the shadows enveloped him. He disappeared from sight after one last glance in my direction. Then, the howlers attacked. Chapter 18 I felt helpless sitting in the tree. Chris dodged the first howler, his thick form much more agile than he looked. He smashed the beast with his fist as it flew over him, striking it in the ribs. The dark form yelped and hit the ground rolling. Then it limped into the darkness. Two more jumped at him, and I wrung my hands as one of them latched onto his arm with its teeth. Chris barely reacted other than to pull it off and fling it at the tree. I felt it shake when the howler struck. On the other side, I caught only glimpses of Jonathan and the flash of his blade as he stabbed at the howlers before disappearing into the darkness once more. Puddles of darkness began to pool near the foot of the tree as, one by one, the howlers dropped at his feet. Yet with each one that Chris or Jonathan took down, three more took their places, emerging from the shadows, teeth gleaming. The two men moved closer together until their backs were to the tree and each other. �śThis isn’t going well,” Jonathan said. Chris dodged another bite and tossed the howler into the others. �śThere’s too many of them.” �śAnd if I die,” Jonathan said, �śKatherine will be visible.” I felt like I should say something to that. I wasn’t worth dying for. Before I could utter a word, the howlers halted their advance. They inched back, still snarling, heads lowered. Brokk clambered down the tree and ran to Jonathan’s leg where he climbed upon his shoulder. Both Jonathan and Chris took the respite to catch their breath and waited. Moments later a pale woman draped in black gossamer slipped from the shadows. Her hair was golden. Her lips were like ripe berries, and her feet were bare upon the earth. She glided across the ground. I sat for a moment in the tree, wondering if she could see me, but she searched the tree and the shadows and never appeared to look in my direction. I breathed a sigh of relief, and then inched down the tree, careful not to make noise. �śWhere is she?” the golden-haired woman asked. �śI know she’s here.” Jonathan and Chris said nothing. They stood ready. I crept down the tree until I reached one of the lowest branches. Her gaze continued to dart about, searching. She sniffed the air. She inched closer to Chris, smelling the space around him. �śYou reek of her fornication,” she said and took another whiff. �śDoes she know you, Changeling? Does she know the other half? Has she seen the Troll that is your other side?” She swiped at him with her nails. He backed up before she struck. �śDoes she know the temper that pulses in your veins?” She looked at Jonathan, sizing him up. �śNymph. And one of my own Court,” she said, tsking. She waved a finger at him. �śDo you think helping her will win you favor among the Summer Court? That they will take you in as one of their own?” She laughed. �śI was once one of them. It will never happen.” Jonathan’s grip tightened on the blade. �śI can smell your desire for her,” she said. She ran her finger along his chest. He remained still. �śBut I could get you in good standing among our own Court. The Queen overlooks you, as if you don’t exist. I could change that.” She looked at him with a cocked head. �śGet rid of the half-blood and you can have the girl. I will let her live, and she will be yours until you’ve had your fill of her. It’s in your nature to make her succumb to your charms.” I saw Chris glance at Jonathan. His muscles bulged a little larger. �śShe’s not here,” Jonathan said. The woman laughed. �śOh, come now. No lies to Morgana. We’re like family, you and I. Don’t think I don’t know that you’ve been helping that human woman, Marigold, all these years. She died, you know?” She shook her head. �śShame it took so long, but the tea finally did it.” Jonathan’s face betrayed his surprise. �śFoxglove,” she said. �śIt’s a lovely tea, perfect for such uses.” She slid her finger across her neck. �śBeing cooped up in that house left the old woman at the mercy of the delivery boy when the little Nymph wasn’t around. He would leave her groceries outside the iron gates.” She cackled. �śI wish I had thought of it earlier, but, alas, it is finally done. And when I have this little minx my work will be complete.” �śLeave her alone,” Chris muttered. �śSo, the half-blood knows how to speak?” she said, turning her attention to Chris. �śI’ve had your kind before �" Troll. Strong, virile, rough in bed, but dumb as a stump. Can’t see what’s right in front of their noses until it’s too late.” Chris said nothing, but his fisted hands betrayed his thoughts. �śOh,” she said, and almost laughed, �śyou seem to care for her. Oh, that’s quaint.” She stalked around him, circling. �śYou know,” she said. �śI think I might be willing to make a trade.” �śA trade?” Chris asked. I leaned closer, listening. What could he possibly trade that she’d want? She looked at Jonathan. �śYou will make the trade. In two days �" at her ancestors’ home.” Jonathan’s iron gaze turned to one of confusion. �śWhat trade?” She snatched Chris’s arm. �śThe Troll’s life for hers!” Then Chris and Morgana were gone. I almost screamed, but then clamped my mouth shut. The howlers were still there. As soon as Morgana disappeared they started in again. I clambered back up the tree, with Brokk skittering past me. When I reached the branch I was on before, Jonathan slipped from the shadows beside me. �śWhere did she take him?” I asked. �śWhat will she do to him?” I hoped he would tell me something I wanted to hear. �śNot sure,” he said. �śImprison him, torture him, have her way with him, who knows.” He pulled out his blade, then disappeared. I heard a yelp from one of the howlers. He reappeared. �śEither way, we need to find him without her knowing, or we need to appease her. Handing you over to her in place of him isn’t really an option.” He seemed so cavalier about it I wanted to scream at him. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to Chris. I would sooner hand myself over to her. Whether I met an early end or not, if she hurt Chris I’d take the regret with me to my grave. I felt Jonathan’s hand on my arm. He looked sullen. �śI’m sorry, Katherine. Although I’m not big on Chris, he doesn’t deserve this.” His thumb rubbed my arm. �śWe’ll get him back. Don’t worry.” He looked pretty sure of himself. I nodded. �śSo now what?” I asked. The howlers circled the tree. There were still dozens of them. Jonathan flicked his thumbnail on his blade, thinking. Brokk crawled into his lap. I looked to where Chris had been standing. Morgana had sensed his feelings for me. So she had taken him in my place. I closed my eyes. This was exactly what I had wanted to avoid. My heart ached. My stomach wrenched. Jonathan stirred beside me, putting his curved blade away. She had sensed his feelings for me as well. �śWhen daylight comes,” he said, �śthey’ll leave. Then we’ll make for your ancestors’ home.” �śSo we sleep in the tree?” He shrugged. �śNot a lot of choice.” I wasn’t sure I could sleep in a tree, but at the very least, I decided to settle into a large crook that would be somewhat secure. Falling asleep here would at least reduce the chances of plummeting to my death. Brokk crawled onto my stomach where he curled up in a ball. I put my hands around him and looked up at the night sky. �śWhy my ancestors’ home? What’s so special about it?” I asked. He followed my gaze skywards. �śThat’s what’s really odd. It’s surrounded by yew trees. She shouldn’t want to go anywhere near it.” He gave me one of those matter-of-fact looks. �śUnless there’s something there she wants.” �śHuh?” �śShe can’t get into it unless the owner of that home invites her.” �śBut that doesn’t make any sense,” I said. �śWhy was she killing off my relatives if all she wanted was for them to let her in to some house?” �śYou must have something they didn’t.” I thought about the earrings, but my grandfather had been given a cufflink as a child. That couldn’t be it. I was the only girl, but surely that couldn’t be it. Jonathan waited for me to answer. I didn’t know what to tell him. �śYou haven’t born a child yet, have you?” he asked. I shook my head. Not the last time I checked. �śAll of your ancestors died after they got someone with child. But you haven’t had a child yet. I wonder if you were to get pregnant, would she spare your life long enough for you to give birth.” I had no intentions of getting with child anytime soon. �śAnd that would help me how? Then I run the risk of an abandoned child after she kills me. And that doesn’t really answer the question of what’s different about me or what she could want.” He stared down below. The howlers continued to pace about the tree. �śI wonder if she tried to get each of your ancestors to let her into that house. Maybe when each one refused, she killed them after there was another one to fill their shoes �" the next in line to inherit it.” I wasn’t sure I agreed with his logic. It wasn’t like I’d been given the chance to let her in up to now. If this was her way of asking, it needed some refining. He disappeared then, but I didn’t hear a yelping. I settled further into the crook and closed my eyes with Brokk nestled on my belly. Then came the dreams. Chapter 19 I found myself back in the little forest. I was draped in puffy green hideousness again. Along the stream the Faeries were frolicking once more. I wasn’t sure which way to go. Looking for Chris down by the water was an option, or I could go on a blind search for Morgana. I decided to go after Morgana. Seeing Chris making out with everyone and their brother wasn’t going to help me, nor did it have anything to do with what was going on in the real world. Or, at least, that’s what I tried to convince myself of. I plodded towards the waterfall. Once again, the ground was soft beneath my feet, the tree bark covered in green velvet. I paused at the spot I’d seen Brokk before. He was nowhere to be found. That saddened me a little. I could’ve used with the company. I wasn’t sure he could do much to help me, but his presence would’ve been comforting. Time to put on my big girl pants. I inched up the rocky wall, pausing after each move to listen. My insides were like jelly. I didn’t want to get caught by this woman alone. Who knew what she would do to me. I clambered over the top with as much stealth as the dress would allow. If I was in more control of this dream, I’d be wearing something a whole lot more sensible. I tiptoed over to where I’d last seen the golden-haired woman and sure enough she was there in the clearing once more. She was with the man from the last time. I paused as I approached, feeling a gob of spit stuck in my throat. Her dress was pulled down, her breasts bared. She was straddling the man and moving with a slow, rhythmic movement. He was cupping her breasts in his hands. It was obvious what was happening. I wasn’t sure what to do. I felt awful just hiding there and peeping at the two of them. I decided to circle about and see what I could find. Any kind of clue, perhaps something lying on the ground, anything that would be of help. I wasn’t sure what I should be looking for �" a magical stone, a wand with a big, tacky star on the end of it, or maybe a wooden stake to drive through her heart. I didn’t know if Faery people died like vampires, but I’d try anything right now. The two of them went at it, grunting like animals, while I circled about them. His trousers were down around his knees and his shirt was unbuttoned. So there were no clothes lying about the clearing. I weaved through the trees, pausing every now and then to make sure I wasn’t being seen. The two of them were so far into each other, almost literally, I probably could’ve been dancing around them and they wouldn’t have noticed me. I continued stalking through the clearing. They rolled over, the man now on top. He slowly thrust into her, and I decided to keep moving. I couldn’t help but observe, though, that he had a really nice butt. That made me think of Chris. Then I wondered if she was charming this man into having sex. Did all Faery creatures do that? I stalked further, inching my way in closer. I searched, but found nothing. Damn. There had to be something, anything I could use against her. I walked in from behind them. They had rolled back over again, the man now being ridden once more. Except this time, their movements were more urgent. I figured I’d better act quick before they finished. �śOh, lord, I love you,” moaned the man. �śAnd, I, you,” Morgana groaned back. I noticed a green scarf lying on the ground. I grabbed it and then inched back. I don’t know why I took it, but something of hers, anything of hers, might be of some help. Since there was nothing else obvious to take, I went with it. I slipped back into the trees as their moaning got louder. I lowered myself back down the ledge as the sound of the waterfall drowned out their climax. When I reached the little area where I’d once found Brokk, I paused. I looked at the scarf. It was silk and embroidered with an intricate golden weave along its edges. There was no writing, or anything that looked legible. Yet, I felt as if I had something, a small victory perhaps. I had taken something from her for once. Maybe next time I’d find a big rock and hit her with it. I wasn’t sure that would help, since this was dreaming rather than the type of trip I took before with the earrings. And even then, I wasn’t sure how much of what happened on those trips affected the real world. I gripped the scarf. Since I didn’t seem to be waking, I decided it was time to see if I could find Chris. I followed the stream to where I’d seen the little Faeries travel before. I kept my ears open for any sign of Morgana or her lover, but I heard nothing. I arrived at the pond �" it was filled once more with fey folk of various kinds. Some were hairy, most had different tattooed symbols, and they were all naked. Chris was there, as was Jonathan. I was taken a little aback when I saw the two of them kissing each other. Based on what I was seeing, you wouldn’t know they didn’t seem to get along very well in the real world. I took a close note of Jonathan’s body. His stomach was ripped and his chest was better built than what his shirt revealed. So were his arms, which were now wrapped around Chris. My feet gravitated towards the water, and it took every ounce of control I had not to get in and join them. There was a carnality to the air, a primal urge permeating everything. I inhaled it and stepped closer. The others went about their business. A few interrupted Chris and Jonathan, but then let them embrace each other once more. A part of me was strangely aroused. I stepped to the waters’ edge, letting the dress slip from my body like it was nothing more than a mere robe. The scarf drifted to the forest floor. The fey creatures let me pass without so much as a word or glance. They seemed to slip out of the way merely because their own pursuit of pleasure required it. I approached Chris and Jonathan. They continued to kiss, but as I got closer they stopped. Then they took me between them, pressing their bodies against mine. They were both hard and wanting. That was when I woke up. I could have cursed my wretched luck. Instead of Jonathan’s hardened body pressing against my back, there was the tree trunk. I inhaled the early morning air �" crisp and light. The birds were doing their thing, fortunately not too close to my ears. Jonathan was back, staring at me with those dark eyes of his. I gulped, not only because of the intense look he was giving me, but because he was holding the green scarf in his hand. Chapter 20 I sat up, looking at the scarf. Brokk was jumping up and down trying to take it from Jonathan’s hand. �śWhere did you get that?” I asked. �śI might ask you the same question. This is embroidered with the thread of the Summer Court. You dropped it a few moments ago. One moment, there was nothing in your hand, the next it was there.” He crept towards me. �śHave any strange dreams?” I couldn’t really back away. And as much as what had happened in the dream had been really intriguing, I didn’t really want Jonathan in my space right now. I had to think. I had pulled the scarf into the real world from out of my dream? What did that mean? Could I bring something into the dream then? Of course, I couldn’t help but wonder what I would bring and what I would do with it. A knife? A sword? A big frickin’ laser-guided bazooka? The latter seemed so crass, but if it came to it, would I need to kill her?Could I? While Jonathan waited on my answer, Brokk snatched the scarf and brought it to me. �śI took it from her in my dream,” I said. I didn’t tell him how I was still pining for his hardened body pressing against my back. I took a deep breath. �śDid you know you could do that?” he asked. �śNo,” I said, studying the intricate weave. It was odd feeling it between my fingers. It was real. �śI don’t know why I took it, but I had no idea I could drag it back here.” �śCome on,” he said, offering his hand. �śWe need to get to the Goblin Market if we’re going to get you another set of earrings.” �śThe what?” I asked, taking it. He pulled me towards him. I thought he was going to kiss me. Instead he wiped a couple of leaves from my hair, and then started to climb down. �śThe Goblin Market,” he said as he descended. �śIt’s like a flea market, but for the fey creatures.” I climbed down after him and then paused to scour the forest. The howlers were gone, and there was no sign of their prints. Brokk climbed onto my shoulder and sat. As we walked at Jonathan’s brisk pace, I wondered about the earrings. �śWhen I wear the earrings she can see me in the visions, and she’s attacked me. In my dreams, she didn’t see me.” He slowed enough to allow me to catch up. �śIt’s because I’m here and you’re wearing the broach. I think she can’t see you in the visions just like in the real world. And the dreams are a side-effect of using the earrings. Looks like you can make similar trips in your dreams.” That made sense, actually. If Chris was able to protect my dreams, that would explain why she had tried to drown me when he’d gone to the bathroom on the plane. It wasn’t until he returned that I woke. I nodded my head, still a little nervous about this. I didn’t savor being drowned or meeting any other untimely end, but I supposed if I was going to figure this out, the dreams were the best chance I had. We continued through the woods until we hit open farmland once more. The sun had only just risen, so it was still quite early. There was little human movement about. Jonathan seemed in a lighter mood as we marched in the sun. We talked about my life after my visit to England. I filled him in on the meds, the doctors, and my mother. �śWhy didn’t you fight them?” he asked. �śBecause I was told I was crazy,” I said. �śFirst, humans aren’t aware of your world. Or, most of them aren’t I assume. When people talk about faeries, everyone thinks they’re nuts. So I was led to believe I was seeing things that weren’t really there, and I needed help. What’s worse, though, is that my mother knew it was real, and she still led me to believe I was crazy. Then, when I returned from England, she finally found a doctor that could help. I’d been on the meds since.” I thought about that visit to England. I wanted to mention how much I’d hurt when he had disappeared, about how I’d left England scarred, but he veered off the path. He took a sudden turn at an old oak tree, down a less trodden route, putting his finger to his lips to indicate quiet. We then crept towards a stream lined with old willows. I could hear what sounded like wind chimes as we got closer, and voices �" a lot of them. There was laughter and merriment. As we rounded one of the willows, I stopped in my tracks. Jonathan paused, looking down the stream to where tables and tents were set up. It was a market, alright �" complete with candied fruits, clothing, small animals in cages, and pastries, along with the ever-present scent of berries and apples. The place was crowded. The more human looking ones could’ve been anything, Nymphs or Trolls like Jonathan and Chris. There were others I had no idea how to identify. Some were half the size of humans, some were the size of the little winged Faeries, and some were combinations thereof. Jonathan noticed my hesitation. �śStay here,” he said. �śSit down, and don’t look at anyone. The fey don’t like having their business prodded into, so pretend like you don’t see them and look down at the water.” He unpinned the broach. �śWhat are you taking that for?” I asked. �śI thought it’s supposed to protect me.” �śIt hides you, and it’s weakening already. I need to recharge it. I won’t be long.” He must have seen the worry in my face. �śBrokk knows how to find me should anything go wrong. Don’t worry.” He kissed my forehead and I was a little taken aback. He smiled his dimpled grin and took off into the market. I stayed where I was, but found it hard to just stare at the water. If there was anything I could use to save Chris or myself, I needed to know. That said, I wasn’t so foolish as to completely ignore Jonathan’s advice. I just watched from the corner of my eye. Brokk sat beside me, patted my hand, and watched the market from where we sat. I pulled my knees to my chest, resting my head on my folded arms. It was a casual enough pose, I hoped, and allowed me full view of what was happening. I have to say, feigning oblivion to their presence was a little challenging. Everyone here was dressed from eras gone by, no one form of apparel standing out any more than another. Jonathan was one of the few dressed in more modern attire, yet no one seemed to pay any attention to it. A lot of the women were in those puffy dresses from my dream. Fortunately none of them were Morgana. Brokk pulled at my ankle. He motioned for me to stand up. I contemplated telling him that Jonathan had said to remain here. But then, Brokk had never really given me bad advice so far, so I decided to go with it. I picked him up and rose. He grabbed the scarf and held it up, indicating I should wear it around my neck. Then he pointed towards the market. I did as he suggested. I wasn’t sure if I should walk with my head high and appear as if I belonged there, or try to remain obscure and skulk. After Brokk picked up my chin I went with the former. I came to the first table, examining the necklaces and jewelry �" it was some of the finest gold work I’d ever seen. The merchant was an old woman. She nodded to me with a smile, but said nothing. There was a mirror on the table, but I couldn’t see my reflection �" only that of a strange old man. He winked at me. I continued on, a number of the folk nodding their heads to me, some almost bowing. I realized the scarf must be symbolic of something important, so I nodded back and smiled. I felt like such a fraud, but it was getting me through the crowd unmolested. One table was selling fresh fruit �" apples and berries. The young woman offered me an apple. I wasn’t sure about taking it. It was red. The first thing that ran through my head was what happened to Snow White. Brokk indicated I should take the apple, so I did as I was told. I pocketed the fruit after nodding my thanks and moving on. I didn’t eat it, although it was tempting. I was getting hungry. Further along, the little Faeries were playing, flitting about the tables. I could swear a couple of them looked familiar, like from my dream, or perhaps I’d seen them growing up. They giggled, waved, and flew off. I noticed some whispering behind me. I listened, but the words were in a language I did not understand. I didn’t do an about-face to catch them, but I did pause long enough at a tent with no wares outside. Covered in a fine, purple cloth, it had nothing to indicate what I would find inside. I gave up on trying to overhear whatever gossip was happening at my expense and poked my head in the tent. The inside was dark, with a few candles struggling to light the space. It was much larger than it seemed from the outside with a table in the middle. Behind it sat an old woman. She motioned for me to sit in front of her and grinned. Somehow I was expecting her not to have teeth. She did, but not that many. I parked myself with Brokk sliding off my arm. He stood on the table beside me as the woman took my hands. Turning my palm upwards she ran her thin, bent finger along my skin. She leaned over to look at my hand, rubbing it with her thumb, as if trying to erase the lines. I wasn’t sure what made me stay. A part of me wanted her to tell me about my future. Was I going to live? Was my end coming soon? The woman looked into my eyes, and in hers I saw the emerald ones I’d come to know. Then she creeped me out when she spoke with Chris’s voice. �śKatherine, what are you doing here? This is dangerous.” My heart leapt. �śChris, oh my god! Are you all right? Where are you?” �śI’m okay,” he replied. �śShe has me in the Winter Court. Don’t make the trade Katherine. She’ll kill you once she has what she wants from you.” �śWe’ll get you back,” I said. �śJust hang in there.” �śKatherine,” he said. The old woman smiled. �śIf I don’t make it through this, I want you to know�"oh my god! Katherine, it’s a trap! Get out of there! She’s there with you!” I blinked.What? I was too slow to move. The old woman changed in front of me, her hair turning golden and curly. She seized my arm. �śNow I’ve got you!” Chapter 21 I pulled my arm, trying to get out of Morgana’s iron grasp. My heart was pounding in my chest. I looked to Brokk for help. He was gone. I decided there was no way she was taking me without a fight. I couldn’t punch for shit with my left, but that didn’t stop me from trying. She ducked my first shot, but I hit her with the second. It didn’t faze her. She was trying to reach my other arm, but I used her grasp to pull myself up on the table. I was about to kick her when Jonathan stormed into the tent, with Brokk on his shoulder. I put my foot against her chest and shoved. As she toppled backwards, her nails dug into my skin, ripping my wrist. The pain surged up my arm. I moaned and leapt off the table. Jonathan grabbed me, his blade out. He pushed me back through the tent flap, and we scurried through the market. �śHow did she know I’d go in there?” I asked. I nearly bumped into an old man in breeches. Jonathan escorted me around the man in a whirl, like it was a dance, and we were off again. When we reached the willow under which I’d sat, he paused and looked back. �śYou shouldn’t have gone into the market,” he said. He wasn’t angry, but his voice had a hint of irritation. He pinned the broach back onto my shirt. I looked at the gouges in my wrist. They were red and angry. Jonathan grabbed my arm, having a look for himself. The bleeding wasn’t heavy, just a mild trickle. It stung though. I wrapped it in the scarf. �śLet’s go,” he said, but veered from the path we had taken when we came in. Instead he tread across the open field in a crisscross pattern. It took me a moment to realize he was searching for something. We kept this up for a good ten minutes before he yanked at a couple of white-flowered plants. He chewed the stems and spit them into his hand. �śGive me your wrist,” he said. I lifted my hand and he removed the scarf. He took the chewed up plant bits and smeared them onto the gouges. I braced myself for a sting, but it actually soothed the pain that was there. Then he wrapped the scarf back around it. Brokk leapt from his shoulder to mine. �śI needed to treat that first,” he said. �śIt needs to heal fast. She can use the scent of your blood to track you.” He looked about, pausing to watch a couple of ravens alight in a nearby pine. �śShe’s watching me. She can’t see you now that I’m near you, but she knows we’re together.” He looked back. The market was nowhere to be seen. �śWe need to find shelter. Maybe a human place to hide. I know it’s still morning, but I think we’re going to need to lay low for the day and night. It will give us a chance to plan.” I nodded, and so began the trek once more. I still wanted some answers though. �śYou didn’t tell me how she knew I’d go into that tent?” I asked. �śShe knew we would try the market. This was the closest one. I should’ve been smarter, I should’ve known she’d have spies.” He brought us back to the main trail, and we made our way towards a town on the horizon. �śWhen you entered the tent, the medium could see you. She’s human �" or used to be, anyway, and must work for Morgana. Once you made contact with Chris, Morgana knew it was you. She took control of the medium and seized you through her body. The medium was meant to hold you until Morgana arrived.” That seemed to make enough sense. I felt a little foolish for not having listened to Jonathan’s advice about staying put. I glanced at Brokk from the corner of my eye with something of a scolding look. He shrugged and had that sheepish look of apology. His cheeks even reddened a little. I tickled him to let him know things were just fine. The pain in my wrist had subsided substantially. It was nearly gone. �śWhat’s with this scarf?” I asked. �śPeople were looking at me like I was royalty.” He glanced at it. �śEither they recognize it as hers, or they recognized the embroidery as the Summer Court. Either way, they would do well to treat you carefully. Morgana commands fear and respect in the fey world, more so the fear. They either think you’re one of the Court, or high in Morgana’s favor �" high enough to wear her scarf openly.” A man walking a mule passed us by on the other side of the road. He looked familiar. We both nodded and greeted him. �śSo, now what?” I asked after he’d passed. We closed in on the village ahead of us. �śWe find a place to stay,” he said. �śI still have enough money to get us some food and a night here.” That sounded fine to me even though it was a little early in the day. I wished we could’ve driven the distance that was left, but if she saw Jonathan in a car it was a sure guarantee I would be in it. We’d be easy pickings. One large, well-aimed bus would do the job nicely. �śWhat do you think she’ll do to Chris now?” I asked. The question had to be asked, whether Jonathan wanted to hear it or not. I still hadn’t sorted out my feelings for him, but that didn’t stop me from caring about Chris. Jonathan didn’t seem to mind. He shrugged. �śI’m surprised he’s still alive frankly. I never expected her to make the trade fairly. She’s probably using him for her own devices.” I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but I didn’t cherish the notion of Chris being used in any way by her. �śHe said she has him somewhere in the Winter Court. Where is that?” We approached a white-washed inn with a slate roof. Jonathan stopped outside, waiting for the couple that exited through the creaking wooden door to move beyond earshot. �śIn the Faery Realm. Once we get you to your family home, I’ll go after him.” I wasn’t sure he’d be going alone, but I left it at that. We slipped into the inn. It was quaint, with a stone hearth at the far end of a tightly packed space. I wondered if we would find a room at all, but then as I heard the accents of the patrons that were lined along the bar, I realized that this was the local watering hole with a smattering of guests. We had a choice of a couple of rooms including, when the old woman took a look at the two of us, the honeymoon suite. �śThat won’t be necessary,” I said. �śA room with two beds please.” I watched Jonathan for a reaction. He just smiled. The woman handed me the key and we made our way up to find a room with two single beds. It was a cramped space, with barely any room to get past the beds to the washroom at the side. There was a small window looking out to the street below to which Jonathan made a beeline. He seemed pleased with the view, nodding his head in satisfaction. I supposed he wanted to know what might be coming for us in the night. I left him there. My priority was a shower �" piping hot. I was desperate to get out of the foot-killers and my clothes felt like I was going to have to peel them off my body. I checked my backpack. I had clean undergarments, but nothing else. I was going to have to buy something if possible. I desperately needed a better pair of shoes. �śI need a shower,” I said. The dimples in Jonathan’s cheeks were huge as he grinned. �śSo do I.” I waited for something more, unsure if I would actually want him to say the words or not. Instead he winked at me and said, �śLadies first.” I smiled and made for the shower. I took my time in there. I felt like I’d needed one for an eternity. The events of the last few days, as well as trying to sleep with a tree trunk for a mattress, had turned my body into a bag of knotted muscle. Everything ached. To top it all off, I felt I hadn’t had a moment to think �" to try and make sense of everything. It was like the fight-or-flight response had kicked in and all I could do was keep moving. I needed to pause, to take the time to gather my thoughts. After a shower to scrub out what felt like days’ worth of grit and sweat, I filled the tub. There were no rose petals or salts to add to the water. I had never been into that sort of thing until my roommate had left hers in the bathroom once. I’d tried them, just to see if I’d had been missing something. Oh, had I ever. After that, I had started searching for others and found ones to my own liking. Sadly, today was going to be a plain bath water day. Still, it soothed my aching muscles. I examined the gash in my wrist. It was healing nicely for such a short period of time. I wasn’t sure if Jonathan had done something to the paste he had rubbed on it, but it looked better than it probably would have with conventional means. I tipped my head back, watching the steam rise. I let my mind drift �" thinking about Morgana. I had taken something from her. That had to mean something. If given the chance, I would do it again. But what would be useful to take was another question. Whether I could take something with me into the dream was still another. Maybe I could take Jonathan’s blade. If I could hurt her, just scratch her or something, perhaps it might frighten her enough that she’d leave me alone. Maybe I needed to find a way to scare her like she was doing to me. My thoughts then drifted to Aunt Marigold. How much of this had she known? I still had so many questions �" ones I would likely never have answered now. I felt a little ashamed of thinking that �" it was selfish. The woman was dead, after trying for so many years to help others, to avenge her brother’s death. Dead in a place she’d thought she was safe. She’d lived like a hermit only to be taken anyway. Was that going to be my fate in this house we were making for? I thought of Chris, captured because of me. That bothered me the most, I think. I had no idea what Morgana might do to him. I knew it wasn’t my fault she’d taken him, but the guilt was still there, like a weight around my neck trying to drown me in a pool of remorse. To top it all off, I missed his company. I was lucky I had Jonathan, I supposed. There was no way I could have done this alone. It was intriguing to be with him again. After so many years of pining for his company, it did feel good to be near him once more. It was a different type of comfort, and one I needed right now. The water in the tub turned tepid so I decided it was time to let Jonathan take his turn. I felt a little guilt for having taken so long, but I really needed the time to myself �" a moment to take stock and think. I didn’t have any more answers than before, but I felt like I was catching up with my own life. I cloaked myself in a luxurious terrycloth robe and opened the door to find Jonathan sitting on the bed. �śFeel better?” he asked. In his hands he was fingering a new set of emerald earrings. They had a different setting, a Celtic pattern instead of a flower, but the stone was the same color. �śAll but my aching feet,” I said. �śI need to find some different shoes.” I sat across from him, still in my robe, and took the earrings. �śDon’t put them on yet. I want to think of some way to help you. She may not be able to see you in the dream, but there’s no guarantee.” �śDon’t worry,” I said. �śI won’t do anything foolish.” He kissed me on the forehead and left to shower. I lay down on the bed, examining the earrings. What would I see this time? Another ancestor dying? I thought back to who I’d been through already. My father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. I figured I had at least two more generations to go back if I followed the pattern that Mother had written out. And either one of those trips could be my last if I wasn’t careful. Jonathan didn’t shower as long as I did. The door opened, and he stood there in a towel. I sat up when I saw the steam rising off his body. He looked like he did in my dream �" huge shoulders, broad chest, and those ridges along each side of his abs that funneled my eyes downwards. A few stray beads of water rolled over the ripples on his stomach. I had a lot of trouble keeping my mouth closed. Turning away wasn’t an option either. He was like some kind of demigod standing there �" all smooth and flawless. �śWhat?” he said. His eyes were playful. �śYou took the only robe.” I got up. I needed to get dressed. He stood in front of me, blocking the tight path to the bathroom and my modesty. �śI guess I should move.” He paused. �śIf you want me to.” I swallowed. My eyes were even with his shoulders. I couldn’t look anywhere but at his chest. I couldn’t bring myself to look into his eyes, afraid of what I would find there. I had lost myself in them long ago, and I wasn’t sure I could recover a second time. Besides, what about Chris? He didn’t wait for me to answer. Instead, he escorted me to the bed. �śLet me see your feet,” he said. He knelt in front of me and took one of my feet in his hands. I refused to look in his eyes. I just looked down at my toes. Don’t look at him Katherine. Don’t look. He started with the heel, pressing on the bottom of it, rolling his thumb over it in slow, rhythmic pulses. I closed my eyes. A moan escaped my lips. I thought he’d move quickly onward, but he didn’t. He took his time, continuing to push against my heel, kneading it. I never knew how badly I needed this. I gripped the bed sheets. He moved upwards, sliding his thumb into the arch of my foot. Both of his hands had a solid grasp, bracing my foot while his thumbs twisted their way upwards, pushing deep into the muscle. Oh my god. I resisted the urge to lie back, but with every stroke it was hard to remain upright. A warmth started to run up my legs. I kept my eyes closed. He moved towards the ball of my foot, massaging the pads. He worked the pain out with slow, deliberate strokes. Then he lowered my foot and moved to the next. The moment he touched the heel I slid back on the bed. I couldn’t sit any longer, and everything inside of me shuddered. The heat started to move its way up further. I envisioned him sliding up towards me. In my mind, the warmth working its way up my legs was from the heat of his hardened body against me. Again, he drove his thumb against the muscles in my foot. My toes curled. My eyes rolled back. I groaned. Heat now enveloped my whole body like a warm fire. He kept working at my foot until I almost cried out from the mix of relief and pleasure. Yet the thought that flashed through my head was how much I wished Chris was there. I missed his arms around me. I missed his delicate whispers in my ear. The heat subsided and Jonathan lowered my foot. I felt him rise. I opened my eyes. And in his eyes I found ... nothing. �śYou should get dressed,” he said. �śAnd I think it’s time to use the earrings. We’re running out of time.” I looked at him like an idiotic deer about to be plowed down by a Mack truck. What the hell had just happened? Or not happened? �śYour feet should be fine now,” he said and slipped back into the washroom. I looked up at the ceiling, trying to sort out what was going on. Was that some Nymph trick he’d just used on me? Was he testing me? Or was I really pining for him that badly? Had he sensed my guilt over this? I had to admit, after that experience, I could just imagine what sex with Jonathan would be like. The heat that had enveloped me had been consuming. My body was yearning for more. It was bringing back everything I’d felt at sixteen in torrents of cravings. Yet the thinking part of me was sort of relieved it hadn’t actually happened. I had enough complications right now in trying to simply survive. I didn’t need a screwed up love life. I sat up and went to the window. Rain fell in heavy sheets that made seeing the other side of the road almost impossible. When Jonathan finished dressing I rushed into the washroom. I washed my face with cold water in the sink. It gave me some perspective and some relief from my body’s withdrawal. I rolled my ankles and wiggled my toes. He had certainly done a number on my feet. I felt like I was walking on air. I slipped back into my previous clothes and stepped out. Jonathan was holding the earrings, and both of us knew I needed to get down to business. Nothing further was said about what might have happened. I took them and hooked one in. �śTake these out if anything looks strange,” I stated abruptly as I lay down on the bed. He handed me his blade. �śTake this with you. Take the scarf too,” he said, fetching it from the washroom. �śWear it.” Strangely, it wasn’t stained with my blood. With one hand I clutched the blade, and with the other I hooked in the earring. I was ready. This bitch needed to know who was boss. Chapter 22 I found myself on a ship again, different from the last. And that was mostly because of the way the men were dressed. They were dashing through the corridors. Alarms were echoing through the passageway. The sense of urgency was infectious, the fear palpable. The next thing I knew I was running with them, unsure of where I was going or whom I was looking for. I just ran. Of course, I was in the stupid, puffy dress again. I stopped to look about, watching the men. One of them had to be who I was looking for. I was also watching for Morgana. The blade was still in my hand, cold and hard. I had no idea what to do with it, but it was here. Pressed against the wall, I let the men run past. I knew they’d just go through me, but I still felt the need to get out of the way. They were all young. And Brits again. The wall across from me had painted on it the name of the ship. H.M.S. Queen Mary I felt for them. If this was going to end like the last ship, most of them would likely not survive. I knew I had better act quickly because things were likely going to take a bad turn soon. About to try another corridor further down the hall, a man grabbed my arm and pulled me with him. I gasped. How could he touch me? �śCome with me,” he said. �śIt’s not safe here.” I looked at his face from the side. He was likely a Gregory from what I could see. �śHow can you see me?” I asked, keeping pace with him. He waited for some men to pass before speaking. �śI’ve always been able to see your kind. I joined the Navy to be rid of you. This much metal should be keeping you away.” My mind reeled. I still had a hard time grasping how he could see me. I decided to go with it though. I wasn’t sure I should tell him what was going to happen to him, or that it was him I was looking for. �śThen why are you helping me?” �śWe’re in a battle. This is no place for someone like you.” He paused to let three men pass, then he took me down another corridor. �śBesides, you remind me of my sister.” I wondered if it was because of the scarf or the blade he could see me. Perhaps this set of earrings worked differently. And if he could see me�Ś. Oh god. Morgana. He pulled me round another corner into a tight space where he was pretty much pressed up against me. I got a better look at his face. He was definitely one of my own. I wasn’t sure what he wanted. The blade was ready if I needed it. He must have seen the fear in my face. His expression softened. �śI need to take you somewhere safe.” His lips pressed together. �śWell, as safe as it’s going to be when the torpedoes hit.” Huh? �śWhat are you talking about?” I was still trying to get my head around the fact I was actually talking to him. �śAt 4:25, this ship is going to be blown in half. There will only be eight survivors. Your best chances are at the aft end of the ship.” I blinked. �śHow do you know that?” He pulled out a pair of emerald cufflinks. �śMy sister gave these to me.” �śMarigold,” I whispered. He nodded and smiled. �śYou know her?” I checked the earrings. They were still there. �śShe’s my grandfather’s aunt. She gave me something similar once.” �śThey let me see the future,” he said. �śSee the future? But I see the past, not the future.” He nodded. �śI did, too, at first. And I watched how my father died. This woman killed him. She drowned him.” �śGolden hair?” I asked. He nodded. �śI reversed the stones, just to see what would happen. My sister thinks we’re cursed. But I’m going to die on this ship. I’m not going to let her take me. I’ll die on my terms, not hers.” I said nothing. He was either insane, or incredibly brave. For all either of us knew, Morgana could be aiming the torpedoes as we spoke. �śMarigold promised to look after my son,” he said. �śAnd to find a way to end this.” More men were scurrying past the corridor. He pulled me out and we started walking once more. �śIf you’re here, that means my son was probably taken.” He pressed his lips together. �śShe’s your grandfather’s aunt? That would make me...” �śYou’re my great-great-grandfather.” �śAnd Marigold is alive in your time?” I nodded. �śShe just passed away.” He had a twinkle in his eye, seemingly realizing she had found a way to live well beyond the number of years he expected. He didn’t comment on it as he escorted me through another metal corridor and then finally stopped outside a door. �śYou have a better chance of survival in here.” He handed me the cufflinks. �śI don’t need these any longer. I couldn’t bring myself to use them beyond my own death. I couldn’t bear to watch my son die at her hands.” He turned to leave, but then paused. �śMarigold told me something once. She said she used them herself. She made a deal with some Faery woman and took something to the future. Something she thought might end this once and for all. Did she give it to you?” I didn’t know what to say. �śShe gave me earrings. I lost them on the last trip back. Morgana took them.” �śMorgana,” he muttered. �śMy mother told me my father used to cry that name out in his sleep. I think he loved her once, but she broke his heart.” He began to walk away. �śGood luck to you,” he said and then stopped. �śI don’t even know your name.” �śKatherine,” I said. �śGood luck, Katherine. End this �" for all our sakes.” He then ran off to embrace his fate. I stepped through the door where a number of men were arming torpedoes. I wondered what to do next. Should I wait around to see if Morgana showed up or run after him? I didn’t have a moment to reconsider. An explosion rocked the ship and all of us fell to the ground. I decided I didn’t want to wait for more. I was still wearing the earrings, and hoped if I removed them I’d be transported back. I yanked them out. I woke up with Jonathan’s arms around me. He was asleep. It was dark in the room and a quick glance to the window told me it was well into the night. I lay there unsure of what to do. There was a comfort to his body lying against mine. As teenagers, he’d been all I could think of for so many years. And that summer, we had slept like this many times, huddled together on cool summer evenings. After that unbelievable two months in his company, him being the only true friend I’d ever had, I’d left my heart behind in England, bruised and shattered. In all of my sixteen years, no one had ever cared for me like he had. Geoffrey had loved me in his own way I suppose, but what I had yearned for all my life Jonathan had given me �" unconditional love, physical touch, and whispered words of affection. He had given it freely, asking for nothing in return. It had just been love, pure and simple. And here it was, as if love had been waiting for me after all these years. My heart skipped. What was I going to do? I didn’t think I could take letting him love me only to lose him again. My heart couldn’t take it. He had disappeared on me the night before I was supposed to leave. He had never said goodbye. I had left that summer, broken beyond repair. I lay there, with his arm around me, warm and comforting, yet tears slid down my face. I was torn. Chapter 23 When I woke I didn’t remember dreaming, which was probably good. I was a little tired of interpreting hidden meanings, seeing faeries, and bouncing around the past. It was good to just sleep. Jonathan was already up. He was perched at the window. There was a softer look to his face. �śThe sun is out,” he said. He turned back to let it shine on his face. �śAnd I have an idea.” I sat up. �śOh?” He came over to the bed. There was an almost child-like glee in his eyes. �śWe should get to the house late today. And after, I want to see if we can recruit some help.” I waited for him to continue. What kind of help had he planned on asking for? A unicorn? A magic flute? Maybe Merlin? I had no idea what to expect any more. Quite frankly, in a lot of ways, I couldn’t wait to get back to the concrete jungle. �śWe can go direct to the Winter Court. The Queen may be willing to help.” �śWhy?” I asked. �śWhoever this Queen is, she doesn’t owe me anything. And if Morgana is holding Chris somewhere in the Court, wouldn’t that make her Morgana’s ally?” Jonathan shook his head. �śAre you kidding me? There’s constant infighting. Morgana wants to dethrone Queen Maeve just as badly as everyone else. And the Queen seeds chaos among the lot of them to secure her own position.” �śWait a minute,” I said. �śMorgana said you were one of her own. You’re a part of this Court, aren’t you?” He nodded, but it was a hesitant one. �śI was born into it �" it’s not my choice. I want to enter the Summer Court, but it’s hard.” He paused then. �śAnd I can’t mate with a human if I ever want to enter.” That sort of hit me like a brick. �śOh,” was all I could manage to utter. There was silence then. He looked at me with an awkward smile. �śSo,” he said, �śwhat do you think of my plan?” I kind of blinked for a moment. He couldn’t mate with a human if he wanted to enter the Summer Court? Not that I had immediate plans to jump into the sack with him. But in that moment, I suppose it doused any chance of rediscovering any connection we once had. The problem was, with his look of innocence and regret, I almost seemed to want him more. I could see in his eyes that he wasn’t all that secure in his conviction either. He had trouble holding my gaze. I got up from the bed and looked out the window. The sun was warm against my face. I had to clear my head. Too much complication. Way too much. �śLet’s go,” I said. �śYou can tell me about this Queen and her little Court along the way. I want to get to this house of mine. I want to know what we’re looking for.” Jonathan leapt over the bed, hugged me, and we readied ourselves in a hurry. We did not speak further about what had just been implied. Rather, we hit the road once more. As it turned out, I didn’t need to buy new shoes. My feet were light. I felt like I could walk for days. Whatever Jonathan had done to me had worked like a charm. It made me wonder what else he could do to me if that was just a foot massage. I kept stride with his quick pace while he told me of what to expect. �śMorgana, despite the power she wields, isn’t trusted by the Queen; or anyone else for that matter. There’s no trust at all among the Winter Court. And Maeve rules with fear.” That didn’t make me feel any better. �śAnd we’re going to ask for her help?” He smiled. �śStrange as it seems, the Queen was kicked out of the Summer Court by her own son because of his disdain for humans. It’s a long story, but it’s her weakness for humans that might help you. She’s taken many human lovers, even some women.” He almost choked on the words. I wasn’t sure what he was implying, but I had no immediate plans to visit the Isle of Lesbos. I simply nodded. �śShe feigns friendship with Morgana, but everyone knows she can’t stand her. So we need to seek a private audience with her. Asking her to turn against Morgana in front of the whole Court won’t work. She might just hand you over to her instead.” We walked along a dirt path that cut through more rolling hills. �śOkay,” I said. �śAnd how are we going to get past Morgana?” �śThat’s just it. Morgana will be watching over Chris. He’ll be hidden in the dungeons somewhere. She won’t expect us to be heading to the Throne.” �śHow do we get there?” �śI can go any time. You need a ring of toadstools, but they’re easy to grow. I can make one when we get to your home.” �śIt’s not my home,” I said. �śIt’s an old house. Who knows if it’s even standing.” �śIt will be your home,” he said. �śIf we can’t figure this out.” �śMore like my prison,” I said. �śI’ll end up like Aunt Marigold.” �śYou know,” he said, �śshe had a good life. I don’t think she had any regrets. She told me that, you know. That no matter what happened, she had no regrets. But she worried for you.” That made me wonder about his own motives which sort of blurted out of my mouth. �śWhy are you helping me, by the way? Did Aunt Marigold put you up to this?” Jonathan looked taken aback. �śDon’t you know?” he asked. I said nothing. I looked into his eyes and found confusion there. I was afraid to speculate where he was coming from. I had a suspicion, but couldn’t voice it. He couldn’t mate with humans. It couldn’t be anything more than a promise made to a dead woman. Nothing more. I couldn’t let it be anything more. �śDid that summer mean nothing to you?” he asked. I closed my eyes and shook my head. My heart couldn’t take this. It was broken. I was broken. I had never healed from that summer. It had been the first time I’d ever truly loved. I had strived for some form of tenderness throughout my childhood, and finally found it in the arms of a seventeen year old boy. I had tried to recover from it. The men I had been with after �" the endless charade of unrequited affection �" all of it had been a result of trying to find something I’d never had as a child, something I’d found only once in my life �" with Jonathan. I had even tried to believe in the years after that summer that it had been only my imagination, that perhaps Jonathan had been like all the others, I hadn’t meant anything to him. I lowered my head. �śIt meant everything to me,” I whispered. �śI never loved like that again.” Jonathan took my face in his hands and pulled me towards him. �śNeither have I,” he said and then pressed his lips against mine. My head spun. My heart fluttered. I soared like I had when I was sixteen, to a place where there was no pain or hurt, where there was only summer bliss. Then he pulled back, leaving his lips to hover over mine. �śI would give up the Summer Court for you, Katherine.” I sucked in my breath. Everything was so confusing. I didn’t know what to do. Here we were trying to save Chris and I was faced with this. I couldn’t answer him. I couldn’t say anything. I kissed him again. In the middle of those fields, with my lips pressed against his, time almost seemed to stop. I forgot about everything. The birds went silent, the wind stilled, and the earth itself almost seemed to stop spinning. He gripped my arms and pulled me closer, his body to mine. Heat radiated off him and seeped into me like warmth from a hearth, enveloping me. My heart melted. His tongue found mine, and I felt like I had so many summers ago �" like nothing could ever hurt me again. All I needed was here, in this moment. Then he pulled back again, sending a wave of cold reality to spill over me. I grabbed him to stop from falling over. I looked into his eyes, but instead of the warmth I expected to find, his eyebrows were furrowed. He looked around. �śWe’re being followed,” he said. I wasn’t sure I cared, but the sensible part of me knew that standing here in the middle of the hills pining for his lips was ridiculous. �śDo you know who it is?” I asked, still trying to catch my breath. �śI know how to find out,” he said. He started walking. I kept pace until he paused at a small bush with delicate flowers. He whispered to it. A moment later Brokk appeared. I smiled as he waved at me with his demure little grin. �śHello, Brokk.” Jonathan asked the little man to find out who was following us and let us know. We continued on. I was tempted to look back, but resisted the urge. That would be too obvious. �śHowlers?” I asked. Jonathan shook his head. He took my hand as we walked. I closed my eyes briefly as his fingers entwined with my own. His hands were strong, yet soft. �śNo,” he said. �śIt’s not an animal. It’s something else. Something sentient.” �śHow did you know it was there?” I asked. I hadn’t sensed a thing. Of course, all my senses had been a little preoccupied a few moments ago. He smirked. �śWhat you call your sixth sense.” I nodded. If I had one, I was sure it had been dulled years ago by Dr. White. �śJust pretend like we don’t know it’s there. We’ll let Brokk do the work.” I hoped the little guy would be safe. We sped up, but everything inside me needed to know where we were going, and not in the literal sense. Would he really give up pursuing the Summer Court for me? Or would I be left in pieces again? For that matter, what was I going to do about Chris? My feelings for him were different, yet just as strong. �śSo what was that about not mating with a human?” I asked. I held up our intertwined hands. �śShould we be doing this?” He lowered his voice to a whisper. �śI mean what I said. I will give it all up for you, Katherine. No one has made me feel like you do. And I doubt anyone ever will. If we get through this, I will bond myself to you and no other. Nymphs almost never do that.” �śYou left without saying goodbye.” I could feel the tears well up. �śWhy?” My heart was flip flopping between the pain I had once known and the joy of reliving that summer. His fingers caught my tears. �śI couldn’t bring myself to watch you go. It was too hard. I was a fool, Katherine. And I’ve had to live with the regret since.” He held me to him. �śI will give you my heart if you will have it.” �śWhat about Chris?” I asked. He squeezed my hands. �śI can’t make that decision for you.” He left it there, and we continued on, walking in silence. Chapter 24 The remainder of the day was quiet. We didn’t speak again about our past, about what we felt for each other or about whether we would pursue this. That didn’t really stop me from thinking about it, but I thought it best left quiet for now. To top it all off, this thing with Chris was wrenching at my heart. He had been captured because of me, and here I was walking hand-in-hand with someone else. Given, it wasn’t just anyone. Still, the guilt was there. As if reading my thoughts, Jonathan let go of my hand. There was a cool afternoon breeze, and I let my hair loose. The wind caressed my face and brought with it the scent of wildflowers. It was refreshing, if not almost magical. At one point Brokk returned to us. He’d found nothing. I decided to keep him with me rather than send him off again. He rode upon my shoulder, and I was glad for his company. As the day drew to a close, we descended into a valley where we came upon a forest with trees of huge trunks. With their drooping branches, like thick cumbersome pythons, I wasn’t sure how to feel about them. Creepy was the only word that came to mind. Jonathan’s footsteps got lighter. He had a spring in his step. �śWe’re almost there. This is the Kingley Vale.” The yew trees were eerie yet graceful. Among the branches I caught a few faces �" Faeries from what I could tell. They didn’t have the carefree attitude I’d been accustomed to seeing though. They looked downtrodden and afraid. A part of me could relate. Was this how I was going to have to spend the remainder of my days, hiding among yew trees and stuck in some house? I wasn’t sure my life was worth living without my freedom. I might just as well let Morgana take me, or die trying to take her out. That last thought resonated with me for a moment. Could I accept dying in return for revenge? Was my life no longer worth enough that I could sacrifice it in order to avenge my family? It’s not like I would be saving anyone else. I had no child to protect. Jonathan took my hand. That elfish grin was on his face, with those dimples I adored. He pointed to Brokk who was hopping along the branches of the yew trees. The two of them seemed content here, safe. Of course, they had the option to leave if they wanted. I wasn’t feeling any safer �" the notion hadn’t sunk in yet. If anything, I was starting to feel a little trapped. The valley was quiet. We passed a couple of human tourists and said hello. I strolled as if simply admiring the view. After another couple of hours, we came across a little dirt road that didn’t look very well used. I looked about to see if anyone was following before we turned. We were alone. At the end of that road we found a derelict old cottage, surrounded by an iron fence. I sucked in my breath. It wasn’t even livable. I questioned if it was even safe enough to enter. I stopped in my tracks. �śIs this it?” Jonathan nodded. �śOh my god, what am I going to do?” I said. �śI can’t live here.” The roof sagged, the windows were long broken, the porch looked like it was about to collapse, and a small tree was now growing out of part of the wall. My stomach churned. I closed my eyes trying to think. What was I going to do? Jonathan put his arms around my waist and whispered in my ear. �śIt’s all right, Katherine. We’ll figure this out.” I put my hands over his and leaned back against him. I was really tired of having to put on my big girl pants. How much more of this was I going to have to take? I took a deep, steadying breath. You’ve made it this far, Katherine. I patted his hands and walked towards the cottage. �śLet’s do this,” I said. �śWe’ve got to rescue Chris, and there’s no point in waiting around here.” I waded past overgrown weeds trying to find some kind of path to the door. I tried not to step on the wildflowers if I could help it, but there were so many of them I gave up pretty quickly and started trampling over anything in my way. I stepped on the porch with care, cautious of the roof. The door seemed to open without much effort and I turned back towards Jonathan. He remained back at the iron gates. �śAre you coming?” I asked. �śYou have to invite me in. I can’t get in otherwise. There’s a protection on the house. Its owner must invite me in.” Brokk was standing on his shoulder. It would explain why Morgana couldn’t let herself in. �śCome on guys,” I said. �śJust be careful.” They followed me in, eager to see what this place was about. The cottage was small, unkempt, and filthy. I don’t know what I’d been expecting �" perhaps something magical, something awe inspiring, but all we found was a dump. There was an old sofa with a couple of legs broken, a rickety kitchen table and chairs, along with some wall hangings that were about to fall. I took a look in the kitchen. The counter was littered with some silverware and glasses. The only other rooms were a washroom with a clawfoot tub, and a bedroom with an old four poster. I was afraid to sit on anything. In fact, as I had a glance at the ceiling, I wasn’t sure even standing in here was safe. I said nothing as I opened a few cupboards. They were empty, as were the drawers. What was I supposed to find in here? An old Brown Betty sat on top of a faded towel on the table. I removed the lid to have a look. There were dried leaves in the bottom. I don’t know what I was expecting to find, but then a thought struck me. I looked at Jonathan. �śOh my god!” Jonathan blinked. �śHuh?” �śThe tea,” I said. �śI drank the tea!” His eyebrows furrowed. �śWhat are you talking about?” Then I remembered he hadn’t been in Aunt Marigold’s cottage prior to her death. Chris had been with me. �śShe died from drinking foxglove.” �śWho?” �śAunt Marigold!” I could see he was as perplexed as I was. �śMorgana said that foxglove wasn’t meant for humans. She switched it with Aunt Marigold’s tea.” Jonathan walked towards me, comprehension starting to settle in his eyes. �śAnd you drank it?” I nodded. A whirlwind of thoughts tore through my head. If I was able to drink the tea that meant�" I gripped the chair. It managed to hold. �śHoly shit,” I muttered. �śWho the hell am I?” I took a risk in sitting. I put my head in my hands. I needed to think. What the hell was I? Learning I was adopted was one thing, and that was enough of a blow, but now what? I wasn’t even human? Had Aunt Marigold known? I fingered the towel. It was soft, delicate. Then some pieces started to come together �" various thoughts that wouldn’t have otherwise congealed like this. I pulled out the earrings. I’m not sure why, but my instincts told me there was more. I hooked one in. �śWhat are you doing?” Jonathan asked. �śI’m going back. There’s something I need to find out.” He didn’t have anything to say. There was nothing for him to say. He knew I had to do this, and it seemed by the look in his eyes he agreed. He knelt beside me and kissed me. �śFor luck,” he said. I removed the broach and pushed him back. �śYou need to wait outside,” I said. �śI want her to see me.” �śThen take this,” he said, offering me his blade. I shook my head. �śI’m not going to need it. I think I know how to stop her. Or at least how to get some answers. What will it take to get to the Queen of the Winter Court. We may need to move fast once I get back. Chris could be in trouble.” �śA toadstool ring,” he said. �śI’ll grow one now.” �śThen get started,” I said. �śAnd be ready. I think she’s insane and who knows what she might resort to.” Jonathan studied me for a moment. �śBe careful,” he said, and slipped out the door. I closed my eyes, getting myself mentally prepared. I still feared this woman, but I think I knew what was going on. I needed to go back to find out. �śI’m coming for you,” I said. Then everything went black. Chapter 25 The first thing I noticed was I was outdoors. A summer breeze caressed the back of my neck. I was barefoot, but the grass was soft beneath my feet. I could smell the flowers as well as some kind of baked goods. There was a sweetness to the air and I quickly discovered it was because of a feast. A wedding feast, if what I was seeing was correct. A little ways from where I stood was a small group of formally dressed folk. I had no idea what time period this was, but the green puffy thing I was draped in fit right in with what the ladies were wearing. If I had to guess based on my previous trips back, this had to be the late eighteen hundreds �" twenty-four years before the last death I witnessed. I wondered if I was going to be perceived by any of the people here. I continued forward, but no one seemed to take notice of me. I figured I was safe. That was until I bumped into one of the men. He wasn’t stumbling drunk, but it was obvious he was inebriated. The grin on his face was definitely due to the wine that was in his glass. The moment I saw him, I knew what family he was with. There was no doubt about his Gregory heritage with a chin like that. If I remembered from what Mother had written down, this one’s name would be Thomas. In fact, in looking at him, I realized I recognized him from somewhere. I actually sucked in my breath. I had seen him with Morgana in the woods. He paused before speaking, a flirtatious smile on his face. �śHave we met?” �śNo, Thomas,” I said, �śnot formally.” I fingered a red broach on his lapel. Although this setting was different, the stone was identical to Aunt Marigold’s. I looked for Jonathan, wondering if he, or one of his kind, might be here. The broach couldn’t work without them close by. He almost burst out laughing. �śI seem to be at a disadvantage in not knowing your name.” He looked at my feet. Something about my lack of shoes seemed to shut him up quick. �śPerhaps a little stroll in the woods?” he muttered. None of the others seemed to notice him leave the company and make for the forest. Perhaps they were assuming he was going to relieve himself. We walked past a quaint house, and I realized this was the shack from which I’d just come. Its slate roof was in pristine condition. The ivy on its walls was lush and flowering. A part of me wanted to have a look inside and see what it was like in its prime, but there wasn’t time. I walked beside him through the forest until we came to another place I recognized, the clearing where I’d seen him making love to Morgana. He finally stopped close to the stream, just before the waterfall’s edge. �śWho are you?” he asked. �śYou shouldn’t be able to see me.” His fingers played with the broach. �śIs Jonathan trying to protect you?” �śWho?” �śThe Nymph who gave you the broach.” He looked perplexed. �śNo Nymph gave this to me.” �śThen who did?” I asked. He fidgeted. �śA woman named Marigold.” He touched my hair and then smelled it. �śYou’re beautiful like her.” He leaned in, and I coyly played with the broach. Then I removed it and pushed him back before he tried to advance any further. No way, buddy. If this was who I thought he was, there was no way I was going to let him near me. He laughed. It seemed fairly pompous. He looked a little nervous about the broach being removed though. He put his hand out for it. �śNow, now, let’s not take things that don’t belong to us,” he said. �śYou’re hiding from her, aren’t you?” I asked. �śFrom whom?” he said, taking another step forward. �śMorgana.” He neither denied it, nor admitted it, but the look on his face was clear. Guilty. �śI saw you with her,” I said. �śHere in this clearing.” He swallowed and took another step forward. �śAnd what do you think you saw? It was nothing. I’m a married man, a good Protestant man. I don’t consort with fey folk. It’s unnatural.” His face still held an air of superiority, but there was something in his eyes that said he was lying. �śToday was your wedding day, wasn’t it?” I said. He looked a little surprised and tried to keep that chin of his up. He inched closer. I inched back. �śAnd is she with child? Your wife?” I waited for the response I thought I would get, and not a breath of a moment later it came. An awful wail pierced the air. We both turned and Morgana stepped out from behind a tree, a look of horror on her face. Yet, she didn’t look like she had before. She looked softer, and her belly was a little rounder than I would have expected. �śMarried?” she asked. Her voice was screeching. �śAnd the woman is with child?Your child?” Thomas’s eyes were immediately drawn to her stomach. �śYes,” Morgana said, trying to recover some poise. She walked towards him. �śIt seems your wife isn’t the only one with child.” Thomas didn’t move or speak. I’m not sure he knew what to do. He kept looking at her stomach. �śYou told me you loved me, Thomas Gregory. You said there would be no other. I was your one true love.” He stammered. I tossed the broach to the ground. Morgana spat on him. �śYou will pay, Thomas Gregory. I have searched for you for months, but never again will you or your family escape me. Every child in your family will pay. You will know pain like I have known pain. From this moment forward your life is forfeit, and your line is cursed to die in their twenty-fifth year.” I was surprised. So it wasn’t just the eldest after all. Every child was affected by this curse. Somehow Aunt Marigold had found a way to escape, and that’s when I realized who I actually was. She’d found a way to go back and whisk her infant self forward in time, a little girl that had been adopted. A little girl that looked like Marigold. I just wasn’t sure how she had done it. Thomas didn’t move. He swallowed a lump in his throat. Morgana gave me the same smoldering anger. It was the first time she acknowledged I was there. �śAnd who is this?” she asked. �śAnother one of my kind to whom you’ve been making false promises?” She looked at my earrings, her eyes squinting for a moment. �śDo I know you?” I wasn’t sure what to say. I found it interesting she didn’t seem to recognize me. Then I started to really put it all together. This was before my time. She couldn’t see me for who I truly was. I looked straight into her eyes and smiled. �śYou will.” Then I removed the earrings. When I opened my eyes, Jonathan was waiting at the door. �śSo?” �śLet’s go,” I said, grabbing the little towel. �śIt’s time.” He pulled out his blade. �śDid you learn what Morgana wants?” �śI think so,” I said, slipping out the door. I didn’t have time to explain things to him right now. I saw the ring of toadstools, and then Morgana on the other side of the iron fence. I tossed the red stone into the ring of toadstools and watched it disappear. �śYou tried to warn Thomas,” Morgana said. I walked over to face her. �śYou can believe that if you wish.” �śI remember you now. You didn’t save him. I drowned him after you left. He begged for his life like a fool.” Although I knew he had been a condemned man from the start, it still stabbed at my heart. �śThat was my father you killed, Morgana. But you will not take me,” I said. Jonathan was now beside me. He was looking at the toadstool ring and frowning. We were both one step away from it. I tied the scarf around my neck. Morgana’s eyes were filled with hatred and recognition. �śMarigold!” she said. �śI don’t know how you’re still alive, but you cannot hide from me forever!” I said nothing to her. I just smiled and stepped into the ring. And Morgana disappeared from sight. Chapter 26 My arrival in the Winter Court was not quite what I expected. I stepped into a space that was half ancient ruins, half dark forest. Not exactly what I’d expect for Faery royalty, but what did I know. I marched forward as soon as it registered that there was a throne here. Jonathan retrieved the red stone and held it for me. He mumbled something about this not being where he’d meant to take us, but I didn’t care. This was exactly where I wanted to be. I kept my head held high. Strangely, I was dressed in the green dress in this place and I decided to own it this time. I streamed forward with purpose in every stride. I took in what I could as I walked. Everything here was exquisite and dark, terrible yet beautiful �" from the dark shine of the tree bark and the eerily twisting trunks of the trees, to the shadowy grace of the beings that mingled here. It was filled with both naked and scantily clad folk of the fey realm, but it was to the throne that my eyes were truly drawn. A number of female creatures approached me, caressing my hands and even fondling my breasts. I ignored them and continued forward. I heard Jonathan walking behind me. I’m not sure if he knew to let me go about my business, but I was glad he wasn’t interfering. He remained in my shadow. Most of this Court was filled with women. There were a few of what appeared to be human males here too, but they were scantily clad, acting as servants. That was when I saw Chris. He was bound in leather and kneeling beside the throne with almost nothing to cover him. My heart leapt at the sight of him, but I kept my composure. I continued forward, owning the dress and the scarf. I think my skin started to glow. The air was chilled here, but my body was radiating heat. Queen Maeve didn’t rise, but I looked her in the eye as I approached. I stopped before the throne and gave her a slight bow. As much as I wanted her to know I meant business, she deserved a certain amount of respect. She was the Queen after all. I waited for her to speak. With a quiet reserve she eyed me. I studied her as well. Flawless was the only word I could use to describe her �" fine eyebrows, high cheekbones, full lips. She was stunning, but a little on the thin side. There was something about the sinewy muscles on her arms, though, that said if she tackled me in a rugby match, I’d feel it. She sat back in the throne. �śWelcome,” she said. �śI get so few visitors at this time of year.” She looked at the scarf. �śEspecially from someone outside of my own Court.” I nodded. �śThank you.” I wasn’t sure exactly how to play this. I could’ve been coy, but I had never been very good at that sort of thing. I just came right out with it. �śYou have something that doesn’t belong to you,” I said, nodding towards Chris. He was shaking his head at me. The Queen didn’t notice. �śI think you are mistaken. It was a gift from one of my ladies-in-waiting.” I didn’t like that she was referring to Chris as it. �śHe was not hers to give.” �śOn the contrary,” called a voice from behind me. It was Morgana. I didn’t turn. I waited for her to arrive and step in front of me. �śYour life is mine, and what is yours is mine. I had every right to give him.” Maeve looked at Jonathan. �śDoes this one belong to you?” she asked me. �śDid you come to offer him as a gift?” �śNo,” I said. �śNeither of these men belong to me. They’re not property.” Morgana smiled. �śOh, but they are. In this Court, males are yours when you take them as lovers.” The Queen leaned towards Jonathan, somewhat intrigued. She sniffed the air. �śYet this one does not smell of you at all. But he does smell of you, Morgana.” There was a look in her like she knew something more than what she was letting on. �śPerhaps he is yours to give.” I stood my ground, but I could see the shock on Jonathan’s face. There hadn’t been time to tell him once I had figured it out and I had wanted to get to the Court before Morgana did. We beat her, but she had anticipated our move. What she wasn’t anticipating was I now knew what she had been searching for �" a child. A son that Marigold had raised like her own; not one that she had been asked to raise, but one she’d stolen from Morgana. That was why he smelled of her. I handed the towel I had taken from the derelict cottage to her. Upon closer inspection there was faint embroidery, similar to the scarf, and faded images of faery children. �śThis is yours I believe.” Morgana snatched it from my hand. She held it to her face and immersed herself in the scent of it. Although there was anger in her eyes, there was love there, and sorrow. �śWhat did you do with my child, Marigold?” I was surprised she didn’t see it right before her own eyes. Although Jonathan didn’t have the chin of the Gregory family, he could very well have been one. He was the son of Thomas Gregory and Morgana, the boy Aunt Marigold had raised. As for myself, Morgana had figured it out. I was Marigold. And Aunt Marigold, or the older version of myself, must have done something to the younger version of me in order to keep me safe from the tea that had killed her. Like her brother, she had taken a trip forward and seen her own death. Then she’d left the blanket with the tea pot as a clue. What she’d taken to the future was both me and Jonathan. I just hadn’t sorted out yet how she’d done it. Jonathan’s face reddened. �śWhat? I don’t understand.” I winked at him. �śHe’s right here. Standing before you.” The Queen rose before anyone could speak. �śOh, this is entertaining Morgana. You never told me you had been with child. This is why you were banished from the Summer Court?” Morgana opened her mouth to speak, but she was silenced by an upheld hand from the Queen. She ran her finger along my cheek. It was like ice. �śI could make you choose,” Maeve said. �śI can smell your lust for this one. It’s strong, equally as strong as for the half-breed.” She fingered the scarf at my neck. �śBut, perhaps, if you knew that Morgana had soiled this one already, you would choose the Troll.” My jaw dropped open. Jonathan and Morgana? What? �śOh, that’s charming!” the Queen said with a laugh. �śYou didn’t know.” I looked at Jonathan. He looked at me without flinching. His back stiffened, and that elfish innocence on his face melted into a look of cold steel. I said nothing, but I felt the crack in my heart rip open. It was just as painful as when I lost him years ago �" and then more for the betrayal. Maeve raised my chin with her ice cold hand to look into her eyes. �śIf you really are Marigold, I owe her a favor. She hid something for me once. I could let you go now and you could be on your way. Morgana will trouble you no more.” Morgana stepped forward. �śI didn’t have a son,” she growled. The whole Court gasped, myself included. All except the Queen. �śOf course you didn’t,” she said. �śI did.” What was going on? �śI don’t understand.” Maeve shook her head. �śYou know Morgana, you really should learn to keep your mouth closed until I tell you to speak.” The anger in Morgana’s face was palpable. She remained silent. The Queen turned back to me. �śI was trying to make this easy for you and let you go in ignorant bliss. Although I may be the Winter Queen, I’m not bereft of compassion.” She walked back to her throne and perched herself. �śMarigold was a friend, as much as any human can be called such, and she took my child to raise him. He was a half-breed himself �" Faery and Nymph.” She scrutinized Morgana with a prolonged stare. �śAnd I gave Marigold permission to steal your child, Morgana, to end this senseless curse you placed upon their family.” I thought I was going to be sick. �śShe took your daughter, Morgana, and left her to be raised in the very line of humans upon whom you placed your curse.” Oh my god. I had no idea what to say. I looked at Morgana. She shook her head as if in disbelief. �śYou were not born to James and Joan?” �śNo,” I said. �śI’m adopted.” Tears filled Morgana’s eyes. �śI searched for you everywhere. I knew Marigold had stolen you from me. I just never knew what she did with you.” I turned from her. I didn’t want to see her pain. Mother, or not, she’d caused me enough suffering. It was Jonathan’s turn to look shocked. �śYou never told me you were adopted,” he said to me. He looked at Morgana. �śAnd you used me to get to her. I suppose you never cared about me.” Morgana didn’t answer. Karma was such a bitch. �śThe curse ends here,” Maeve said. �śIt’s broken, unable to disseminate further because I will not allow you to curse your own. I was banished by my own son from the Summer Court generations ago and I had to hide my other children from him for their own safety, Jonathan among them. I will not have my Court treat their blood in this manner.” Morgana’s hands fisted. Tears of anger and pain slid down her cheeks. �śYou will now submit yourself for discipline, Morgana.” She looked at Jonathan. �śAnd as for you, my son, I had hoped to have a child that would have learned something of the human world and taken an interest in it. But you shun it, hoping to enter the Summer Court where they want nothing to do with them. I hate to tell you this, but being my offspring will be automatic refusal to their Court, no matter how much you refrain from intercourse with humans. And, I’m sure that must have been difficult for you, if you’re anything like your father. Nymphs are rarely satiated. I hope Morgana was fulfilling your needs well because it will be a long time before I let you out of my sight.” Jonathan looked like he had something to say, but then silenced himself. The nature of his heritage must have come as a shock to him. I was next on the Queen’s list. �śAs for you,” she said. �śHalf-breed that you are, you are welcome in my Court or you may return to your �" how is it you humans put it �" concrete jungle. You will always have access to the Faery realm, but I suspect after this, you’ll want to go back to the life you had.” She motioned for Chris to be released. When he got up I ran over to him. I looked him over to make sure he was unharmed. Then I kissed him, hard. He put his arms around me, and it felt right. Safe. Tears slipped from my eyes. �śIt really is too bad I lost my Troll,” Maeve said. �śIf you tire of her, you can come back and see me. I will have a special place for you.” Chris lowered his head. He blushed. �śThank you,” I said. The Queen nodded. �śYou may leave. You’ve given me quite the entertainment and much to gossip about for many months. I’m sure the Summer Court will be interested in this. Morgana was high in their Court when she gave birth to you. She came to us in great shame. We take all of the vagrants they dispose of. If it wasn’t for your human half, you’d be one of theirs. Don’t be surprised if they pay you a visit.” I planned on getting back to my concrete jungle as fast as I could. I took the red broach from Jonathan. �śAh, yes,” the Queen said. �śI gave that to Marigold. She needed to remain out of sight of the Faery realm, not only to save her skin from Morgana, but to help her with raising my son.” I looked at Jonathan. It was the one thing that had bothered me about Thomas wearing it. How he had remained hidden without Jonathan there. It had been Marigold that had loaned it to him. �śI’m guessing I didn’t need you near me all that time?” His eyebrows furrowed. �śMarigold told me I had to be near her when she wore it.” Maeve’s smile was cunning. �śIt was meant to hide both of you, my son. In your youth you were vulnerable, and I needed to have you hidden from those that might do you harm. Now that you know your true heritage, I’m going to have to ensure you remain hidden once more. You will remain here, in the Winter Court, until I think you’re ready, and I can safely let you out into the world. The King of the Summer Court will likely come searching for you now that your identity is known. He’s fond of eliminating anyone he thinks is a threat to his throne.” �śWill this still hide me?” I asked, fingering the broach. �śSince you are not really human, it will not hide you. It never did. You had the ability to hide yourself. But if you wish to keep it, it is yours.” I nodded and turned, marching back to the ring from which I’d come. Chris followed on my heels. Jonathan ran after me, but before he could grab my arm, Chris stepped between us. His size increased considerably. �śBack off, half-breed,” he growled. �śYou’ve caused enough hurt.” I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear anything Jonathan had to say. All of this had been too much. Jonathan leaned around Chris. There was sorrow in his eyes. �śI meant what I said, Katherine.” I nodded, turned and walked away, taking my dignity with me as I made for the portal. I didn’t look back, nor did I pause. I reached into my dress and removed the carved fox. I let it fall to the floor and reached back for Chris’s hand. He took it with all the warmth and strength I needed. Then we slipped through the ring to the sound of Jonathan calling my name. Chapter 27 I didn’t rush to fly home after all. I discovered that fear was quite the deterrent �" almost crippling at times. The aftermath of leaving Maeve’s Court manifested in me in not being quite ready to fly. I needed to know that Morgana wasn’t going to come after me, whether she was my birth mother or not. So Chris took me on a tour of England until I felt my nerves had settled enough to go home. It turned out the police weren’t looking for us after all, with the exception of wondering if we were alive after they had found the car wreck. They had assumed that we’d come to the house, and my aunt had had a heart attack. They knew we’d tried to phone them due to the records of our call and assumed we must’ve gotten lost after going on foot. The interview was brief. Then we were free to go about our business. Strangely, they’d never asked who had been driving the car that hit ours. I suspect Maeve had found a way to intervene. What Chris managed to glean from the Winter Court, both during his time there and after, was that Jonathan and Morgana were an item, and had been for some time. Eventually, Jonathan had betrayed Aunt Marigold, but led her to believe he was still helping her. I suspect Aunt Marigold knew. Chris also learned, as I had assumed, that Jonathan had been leading me along. Everything he had done was to get me to the house, hoping I would invite Morgana in. Jonathan was meant to trick me into trusting him. He had been duped by Morgana. She had led him to believe she could help him gain entry into the Summer Court. He had also mistakenly sent me to the Winter Court. The toadstool ring had been meant to take me somewhere else. It also turned out that Geoffrey wasn’t as much to blame as I thought. One of his fag hags was actually Morgana, and she’d been worming her way into his life. When the time came, she had planned to take care of him as well. The days that followed were quiet and peaceful. I spent a lot of it sleeping �" with Chris. I quickly learned that Chris actually was incapable of charming me. Being a Faery creature of sorts, myself, proved he couldn’t do it. The intense connection we had made was because of our Faery halves connecting with each other. Needless to say, he was forgiven. We took a trip back into the Kingley Vale, and this time I was able to enjoy it. Brokk appeared to me then. He looked frightened and alone, but his face lit up when he saw me. He ran over from one of the yew trees in which he was hiding. I bent down to pick him up. �śHello, Brokk,” I said. He clapped his meaty hands. I tickled him to let him know things were fine. He hugged my face. Brokk looked over to Chris and offered a sheepish grin. Chris also tickled him and smiled. �śIs he okay?” I asked Chris. Chris nodded. �śHe’s scared. He thought Morgana or Jonathan might come after him. He’s been hiding here. He also thought we might be upset with him because he was helping Jonathan.” �śWillingly?” I asked. I couldn’t believe that. Brokk didn’t seem the type. �śNo,” Chris said. �śThe homunculus is a pure creature. He cannot lie. He had no idea what Jonathan was doing.” I held him out on my palms so he could look me right in the eyes. �śIt’s okay, Brokk. I’ll protect you,” I said. �śYou can come live with me.” Brokk clapped those mitts of his again. I don’t know why I agreed to it, but after what I’d been through, there was no way I was going to let the little guy live hiding in fear. �śYou’ll need to help me with the plants,” I said to Chris. He took my hand as Brokk climbed onto my shoulder. �śThat’s not a problem,” he said. Those green gems were smiling at me. We took our time strolling through the Vale, Chris pointing out a number of different creatures that were in hiding here. There were more than a handful because of Morgana, but as I walked along the trail, their bodies and faces lit up. Their demeanor changed from one of despair to that of euphoria. �śThey realize that Morgana can’t harm them now,” Chris said. �śNow that they see you’re alive, they know the rumors are true, that Morgana is being held by Maeve.” �śAnd now they’re free to go?” Chris nodded and Brokk clapped his hands again. We quieted when a small group of humans approached. I offered a warm greeting and was about to speak further when an older gentleman started to come up the path. He was wearing breeches and he was pulling a mule. I knew the man instantly. Now that I wasn’t fleeing for my life and I’d had enough rest, the memories of what had transpired in the days leading up to my confrontation with Morgana had become much clearer. I had seen this man in the Goblin Market, as well as along the road with Jonathan. He had a wide face, but it was kind and gentle. He smiled a set of teeth that reminded me of Chris. They were flawless. �śKatherine,” Chris said. �śI want you to meet someone.” I knew exactly who he was. �śThis is your father.” Chris nodded. I took the man’s hand. �śI’m so pleased to meet you,” I said. The man nodded and grinned, but said nothing. �śHe doesn’t speak human,” Chris said. �śBut I sent him to watch over you after I was captured. Since I couldn’t do it myself, I needed someone to protect you. He followed you from the Goblin Market. He also changed the ring of toadstools so you’d be sent straight to the Winter Court.” He paused. �śI hope you don’t mind.” I decided to hug the old man. He returned it. He was powerful and smelled of the earth. Then I flung my arms around Chris and kissed him. There was that girly thing again. �śI think I’m ready to go home now,” I said. He held me there, in the shelter of the yew trees. It felt right. I wasn’t whole yet, and I wasn’t sure I would ever be. But, I was sure of one thing. This was a good start. About the Author David H. Burton was born in Windsor, Ontario to parents that instilled in him the love of the written word at a very young age. Throughout his childhood, David read relentlessly, often into the wee hours of the morning. Fantasy and Science Fiction novels have always been David’s greatest vice and he has indulged in the likes of Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan, Margaret Weis, Mark Anthony, J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, Robert J. Sawyer, Isaac Asimov, Melanie Rawn, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Sarah Prineas, and J.K. Rowling. David graduated from the University of Toronto with a major in Biology and a minor in Classical Civilization. He also dabbled in Computer Science, to which he owes his current occupation in the Telecommunications world at one of the large banks in Canada. When David isn’t writing he enjoys spending time with his partner and three boys: hiking, swimming, kayaking, biking, and reading. David has a great fondness for Portuguese cuisine, good wine, and all things left of centre. *** A personalized version of this ebook is also available for purchase that includes an autographed dedication page. Visit David's web site (davidhburton.com) for further information. Excerpt from Scourge: A Grim Doyle Adventure There were three things that were a little different about Grimwald Doyle. To begin, Grimwald had two dads. He was fine with that. Two dads were better than none. Second, there were six children running around his house. Yes, six. But out of the five others, only one was Grimwald’s real sister. Lastly, was the house. It was filled with oddities �" clock-like gadgets, metal objects that spat out steam when least expected, and geared-up devices that crept across the floor all by themselves. No, things in his house were not exactly�Ś normal. Grimwald, or Grim as he preferred to be called, had very few friends and no longer invited them over. It was complicated enough explaining that you had siblings that were unrelated to you. Never mind that you had two dads. But having to apologize for your Pop running around the house chasing after an artificial brass mouse that accidentally activated a suit of armor to spring to life and take a swing at the head of your best friend �Ś well, that was something else entirely. Nope. Not normal. Not for any ten year old that he knew. He approached that very suit of armor now as he descended the staircase. After the incident with his best friend, or rather, his former best friend, the cumbersome mace and sword were removed from the suit of armor, until Poppa could tweak it to recognize an intruder rather than just swinging at anything in its path. It stood facing the front door, and it even seemed to slump a little, as if it had been punished. As he took the last step down, a loud thump caught his attention and Grim threw himself against the wall. The twins pounded down the staircase behind him. Benny wielded a plastic sword. �śCome back here, you fiendish lout!” Barny said nothing in response, but the smile of mischief on his eight-year-old face was matched by that of his brother. �śHi, Grim!” they both shouted as they whizzed towards the kitchen. Grim peeled himself from the wall. �śWhat’s wrong with you two!” They both laughed and disappeared into the yard. He hadn’t taken two more steps before something twittered at his feet. It was a brass mouse, the same one that had cost him his best friend. It stopped to look up at him as if trying to apologize for its previous misdemeanor. Grim kicked at it and it scurried into the front room. He followed it and found Sam calling the mouse over to him. Sam wasn’t his real brother either. He had different birth parents. Grim smiled at him and noticed who sat next to him with metal cogs and parts laid out on the floor before her. Rudy. She was ten months older than Grim. That meant she was the oldest, although they were born in the same year. As far as Grim was concerned, they were the same age. Rudy didn’t see it that way. And she often reminded him of it. She sat and studied the parts in front of her. It looked like she was attempting to make a mechanical mouse just like Poppa had made. Except bigger. After the incident that had cost Grim his friend, Rudy was bent on making another one. Copycat. He offered her as nice a smile as he could muster. She offered one back he knew was as fake as his. Grim moved along, leaving Sam to play with his sister. When he got to the kitchen, there was yet another room occupied. This time it was Ellen. In a black dress with frilly lace and delicate shoes that were far too princess-like for Grim’s liking, she sat at the table with one of her dolls. She was Grim’s real sister. �śHi, Ellen.” Ellen smiled a toothy grin. At the age of six, she still had all her baby teeth. She held up the doll. Its head had been ripped off; and not cleanly at that. Grim rolled his eyes. Ellen was the other female sibling in the house, and the closest thing to a serial killer among the lot. �śWhatcha doin’?” he asked with hesitation. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to know. �śSissy doesn’t have any blood,” Ellen said. There was a pout on her little mouth, as if she were disappointed to find that her doll had been lifeless all along. �śDolls don’t have blood. They’re not alive.” Ellen’s lips twisted. �śDuh, I know that!” She then walked out of the kitchen, leaving the head behind. Grim sighed, picked it up and idled back up the stairs. This was going to be a very long summer. � No friends, nowhere to go, nothing to do. He was going to have himself a big box of boredom this year. He walked past Rudy and Ellen’s room, with the mound of doll heads in the corner. He chucked Sissy’s head onto the growing pile and moved on. He passed the twins’ door. It had a sign that read �śNo girls allowed.” Grim looked out their window. The two were still outside trying to lop each other’s heads off with sticks. Big ones. In the room next door, Grim plopped onto his own bed and when he thought he was about to have a moment of peace, Sam came in. As usual, Sam’s hair was a mess and he was covered in dog hair. He was three years younger and looked almost identical to Rudy, except for the ridiculous pigtails. He also wore the same gigantic glasses as the rest of them. They obscured his freckled face, and he was constantly pushing them up because they would slide off his little nose. He was followed by Toby, their dog �" although the Basset Hound seemed to be more Sam’s dog than anyone else’s. The thing followed him everywhere. Grim heard the twins stream back inside. The door slammed behind them. He braced himself, waiting for what would follow. �śGrimwald!” shrieked a voice from downstairs. There was one last complication to Grim Doyle’s life: Aunt Patrice. And that’s not ANT, like you’d pronounce the insect, but more like you are at the doctor’s office and he tells you to say AAAHHH while he jabs a popsicle stick down your throat. So that would be AAAHHHNT Patrice ― hold the gagging, please. The woman was older than the hills and watched Grim like a hawk. She would often say things like: Don’t run up and down the stairs; You can go outside, but stay where I can see you; or worse: Why don’t you put on this handsome blue suit and top hat? Aunt Patrice was tall and spindly, and she smelled of mothballs. Her hair was tied back in a bun so tight Grim was sure the pressure must have been the cause for her frequent migraines. She also squinted a lot and Grim thought his Aunt might save her eyes the strain if she actually wore the glasses that hung around her long and slender, turkey-wattled neck. �śGrimwald, young gentlemen don’t slam doors!” Grimwald. He hated his name. And she was the only one who called him that. Even Rudy refrained from calling him by his full name, but then again, her full name was Rudolpha, so there was little room for mockery. The others had strange names as well. Ellenova, Barnsworth, Bensworth, and Samsonite. Grim rolled his eyes at his Aunt. He thought about calling out to say that it wasn’t him. He was upstairs and it was the back door that had slammed, but he knew what that would get him. She’d think he was being smart. And the result would be three days of washing clothes. By hand. �śYes, Aunt Patrice!” he yelled. �śAnd a proper young gentleman doesn’t yell down the stairs!” Grim groaned, wondering if he would ever please the crotchety old woman. She he’d been Poppa’s nanny once upon an ancient time. Was she this obnoxious then, or did she get worse with age? Toby barked at Sam, jarring Grim from his thoughts. Sam was busy with the cogs and gears in front of him and the dog just kept emptying his lungs in loud, echoing woofs. Grim sighed and walked out of the room. Just some peace. A little quiet. He looked at the trap door on the ceiling at the end of the hall. It led to the attic. A rope hung down. Odd. Usually it wasn’t in reach. But there it was, almost swaying back and forth, beckoning him. Grim considered his options. The dog was still barking, the twins were still dueling, Ellen was calling out for Rudy �" something about a missing head, Aunt Patrice was snoring downstairs now �" she could fall asleep at the drop of a coin, three of the house clocks were whistling that it was now eleven o’clock, four more were chiming, and Sam was now pounding on something with a little hammer. It took almost no thought at all. Grim marched forward and yanked on the rope. The door popped open and the stairs glided down without a sound. He practically ran up and then pulled a lever that drew the steps back up again. The door sealed. It didn’t shut out the sounds completely, but muffled them enough that he closed his eyes and relished the moment. Quiet. Sunlight penetrated through a small round window at the far end, warming his face. Grim removed his glasses. More like goggles. They were beastly things, akin to cutting the bottom of a pop bottle and gluing them to rubber bands. He could practically swim in them. And they were dirty. He wiped them on his shirt as he scanned the space around him. It was pretty much empty, with the exception of a large chest in one corner, over which sat the window. It was the perfect spot to perch and Grim did just that, leaning back against the wall. There was a lamp in one corner, but no plug to power it. A couple of small boxes sat in another corner, covered in dust. Grim paused to wonder if he might get in trouble for being up here. Technically, their parents had never forbidden them to enter the attic. The few times Grim had gone up with his dads he had been instructed to make sure his glasses were on so the dust wouldn’t get in his eyes. Grim could see why, the place was coated with it. Which made the footprints in front of him all the more obvious. They led only to the chest upon which he sat. They seemed to be fresh, high-heeled prints too. Aunt Patrice. Next to the door was the proof she’d been there. Her umbrella rested against the wall. She carried it everywhere. �śNever come unprepared, child,” Aunt Patrice would say. �śYou cannot get caught in the rain if you carry an umbrella.” The woman was certifiably insane. Grim crept off the chest and pulled it open. It made no sound and he sucked in his breath. It was filled with trinkets, ornaments and simple jewelry, among which were some stones covered in a metal encasing that looked like dead fingers clutching them. He blinked his eyes. They itched from the dust. He put his glasses back on and everything in the chest suddenly disappeared. �śWhat the –” He took his glasses off and then everything was there once more. He went back and forth, with and without his goggles, and the items disappeared and reappeared. He wondered why he had never noticed the items in the chest before, but realized that the few times he’d seen it open he’d been wearing his glasses. It was a funny thing about the lot of them. They all wore them. Most people thought the children looked �śinteresting” in their goggles. He hated that word.Interesting. Grim paused, listening for the sounds downstairs. The madness in the house continued. The twins barged through the house yelling at each other, Toby was still barking at Sam, and Ellen was yanking on the cords of her dolls to make them cry. It was like a symphony of wailing babies. It was all overpowered by Aunt Patrice. �śGrimwald!” she called with her mouse-like shriek. �śCome down. Pringles’s kitty litter needs changing and I can’t bend down very well. My migraine is acting up.” Grim grumbled about how his Aunt used that excuse far too often and always seemed to select him for kitty duty. See if she ever asks Rudy to do it. Grim slipped from the attic and marched downstairs to change the litter. He held his breath as he scooped it out. Aunt Patrice had a bad habit of feeding Pringles milk. The end result was not only extremely gooey, but far from fragrant. Rudy came inside, saw what he was doing, and smiled. Mockingly. Grim stuck his tongue out at her and then his fingers slipped into what he was picking up. Ugh. Rudy’s smile got bigger. Then she left to go upstairs. Grim marched up after her. But first. Washroom. Soap. Lots of it. Not wanting to seem too eager to run back to the attic, but feeling so impatient he wanted to explode, Grim waited while his Aunt was busy in the kitchen. Aunt Patrice would soon return to her nap and Grim had no choice but to wait. Benny and Barny were in their room playing with some of Poppa’s gadgets, among which was a mechanical one-eyed robot. Rudy was sitting on her bed with Ellen, whispering to her while Ellen brushed the hair of the missing head from one of her dolls. Its eyes were open. Grim shook his head. He went back to his own room where Sam sat on the floor. Sam said nothing, but looked up briefly. �śWhatcha doin’?” Grim asked. � �śMachines,” he muttered. It was always the same with Sam ― machines. Like Grim and Poppa, Sam was fascinated with mechanical devices. The biggest difference was that Sam was one most likely to take something apart to see how it worked where Grim was more likely to build things from out of his head. Pulleys, cogs, gears and metal pieces were strewn about the room. �śYou going to stay inside all day?” he asked. Naturally, he didn’t want his plans interrupted. �śMaybe,” Sam said. Grim almost always told Sam everything, but he wasn’t quite ready to share his discovery in the attic. And he was Rudy’s brother after all. He might tell her. Sam then returned to his silent mangling of some device that Rudy had recently tried to build. It wasn’t bad, actually. �śSam!” Rudy yelled at the door. Ellen was standing behind her. �śI just built that!” The pieces fell out of Sam’s little fingers and he hung his head. Rudy pointed her finger at Grim. �śYou told him to do it!” Grim shook his head. �śNo!” �śYes, you did!” �śGet out of my room!” he yelled at her. �śIt’s Sam’s room, too. I don’t have to get out, do I, Sam?” Sam continued to look at his hands. Grim smirked at her.Score one for Grim. Rudy marched out of the room, her pigtails bouncing in fury. Ellen marched after her and the two headed downstairs and straight out the back door. He looked at Sam. �śIt’s okay, Sam. I’ll fix it for you.” Sam smiled, and then called Toby over. He, too, went outside. That just left the twins. Grim peered around the corner of their room. They were still busy with the robot. They were trying to teach it some kind of trick. And Aunt Patrice was snoring in the front room. Excellent. Grim decided to take the risk. He yanked on the rope and the stairs glided down once more. He leapt up the steps and ran over to the chest and whipped off his goggles. The colors of the stones were brilliant, but Grim was stumped as to what sort of stones they might be, especially with those creepy fingers clutching them. He had studied different types of minerals for a science project once, and these were nothing like what he had read about. He lost track of time as he examined them, trying to sort out if they had any value. Eventually, determining that they likely didn’t, he arranged them in a circle; green, yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, and black. Grim leaned in to have a closer look when there was a heavy thud at the front door. Aunt Patrice’s blood-curdling voice shrieked from downstairs. �śGrimwald! Get the door!” she called in a loud clear voice. It wasn’t muffled. Which meant �" He turned to look at the stairs. Gah! Rudy was standing there watching him. The twins, Sam, and Ellen were all with her. As Grim tried to stand, he put his hand into the circle of stones. There was a swirl of color and some strange symbols that circled about him. And he now stood in a forest of crooked, gnarled trees with black bark that stretched to the sky. The attic was gone. The chest was gone. And Grimwald was alone. More information at davidhburton.com Excerpt from The Second Coming �śBeautifully written, dark and eerie vision of an apocalyptic future.” - Margaret Weis, New York Times Bestselling Author �śDavid H. Burton is a dark new talent in the genre. This one will make you leave the lights on for a week!” - Cathy Clamp, USA Today Bestseller Prologue Catherine looked at her watch. The battery had passed on to more alkaline pastures, so it read the same as it always did �" quarter to eleven. Its delicate, cartoon hands were frozen in a timeless Charleston pose. It was a reminder of simpler times, of safer times. Groaning, she pried her backside from a faded canvas lawnchair and leaned it against the wall. She fisted her hands on her ample hips. �śWhere is my Ben?” The question was aimed at no one in particular. It might have been the cat she spoke to, but the cat was dead �" three days gone. Sadie. Poor Sadie. She stared into the distance, beyond the edge of scotch pines and white cedars. Dark clouds hovered on the horizon. �śHe’s not usually gone this long.” Catherine grunted her displeasure and opened the screen door. She strode into the kitchen where she grabbed a plastic cup and dipped it into a cast-iron pot. Her lips quivered over the piss-warm liquid. Water. She hated it. She tired of boiling it every day. What she wanted was a tall glass of lemonade �" pink, with three ice cubes. Yet Catherine knew there would never be lemonade again. She forced herself to swallow and took her cup with her to the orange sofa bed. Her reflection stared back at her from a dust covered relic on the floor. Its black plastic casing had barely a scratch. Catherine missed television, if only for its connection to the remainder of the world. It stopped working after the Shift, two years prior. Two years since the world fell apart. Two years since everything went to shit. For months she had wept, longing for everything lost to her; her parents, her friends, her brother �" all gone. Yet Ben had helped her through it. Ben was her life now. There was only her Ben. Her gaze wandered to a tattered blue afghan crumpled in the corner. And poor Sadie. The cat had been snatched up by vile beasts, things she had never heard of. They crouched low to the ground, yet could stand on two feet. At first she thought wolf, but they were weightier and crooked. And they possessed a cunning no animal should. Catherine had no idea of their origins. She knew only that they were unnatural �" not something of this world. At least, not the world Catherine knew. Her Ben assured her they were gone, but Catherine wasn’t convinced. Even that morning she thought she heard their hideous cackling in the distance. She pleaded with Ben to avoid hunting in the forest, yet he refused to listen. They needed more food, he said; she ate for two now. So, dressed in his khaki pants and green plaid shirt, her Benjamin Green stepped out the door with makeshift bow in hand. Catherine bit her lip and placed her hands over her swollen belly, a reaction she was prone to of late. He had been gone for the entire day. In the distance, the storm churned and a harsh rumbling shook the walls. Soon the winds will come. She wondered how their cottage still stood, battered as it was; as if their insignificant lives weren’t worthy of the storms that swept the lands. She looked back to the television, and it sat as a sedentary reminder of what once was. The man on the newscast said the Earth had shifted on its axis, aligning itself with the magnetic poles. She continued to stare at the lifeless screen, remembering what it had shown, as if the little black box was a window to the past. She could still see the darkened skies torched with volcanic fire, the ground splitting open to swallow cities, and land masses arising from the depths of the sea. The Shift had released some kind of darkness upon the land, and brought with it creatures that had no business walking the Earth. Dead relatives could be seen in spirit form, shadowy creatures swept past windows in the night, and spirits rose even in the light of day. Then the newscasts stopped. Everything stopped. For months the storms persisted, the earthquakes continued, and life in some twisted form endured. The east and west coasts were lost, a cloud of death drifted through the land, and ordinary people manifested strange abilities. Catherine knew all about the latter. She said nothing to Ben for fear of rejection. It happened to her, sometime after she got pregnant; she was able to do things she never could before, like when she called forth a power that scared off the wolf-like beasts. She had no idea what it was or how to summon it again, but it terrified her. Her Ben called these things sorcery, witchcraft, an abomination to God. She rose from the sofa, passing the antique grandfather clock with its mechanical sparrow dangling over its perch. Twenty minutes before nine, it read. It still worked. A chill sat on the air, or perhaps it was just a cold notion coursing through her veins. Either way, the result was the same, and Catherine waddled over to the wood-burning stove. Her toes were cold. She ripped pages from an old science textbook, grabbed a small log, and shoved them in. Ben always tended the fire. Never let it go out, he said. The flames ravaged the paper, and the fire flared to life once more. She remained for a moment, warming her feet and hands, before shuffling back out the door. The storm no longer ambled in the distance, but loomed on the edge of the trees. The wind tousled her scarlet hair, and Catherine watched as destiny floated towards her with dark clouds clenched in its fists. At the edge of the woods, the great pines bowed to the wind’s might. �śWhere is my Ben?” she asked. There was no reply. She held on to her ragged yellow dress as she peered over the railing, and pellets of frigid rain pricked her skin. On the borders of the forest, mounds of creeping phlox littered the ground with their trails of blue flowers. They spread out endlessly, never dying off. Winter was no more in this part of the world; a place where snow once offered a light dusting at Christmas �" rare, but beautiful nonetheless. Yet never again. The Shift had seen to that. The wind sighed through the leaning trees, and her nostrils caught the scent of musk. Movement skirted the shadows, and hope surged within her. �śBen?” she called. Silence. Then wicked laughter. Catherine stared into the woods, and as lightning speared the sky something caught her attention. She wobbled down the wooden staircase. Her pale hands gripped the railing. The steps groaned under her weight. Lightning pulsed again across the heavens, illuminating the copse of swaying trees once more. �śNo,” she breathed. Her heart pounded in her chest, and one of her tattered shoes fell off as she raced to the edge of the woods. �śNo,” she muttered, her worst fears being realized, �śno, no, no.” She stooped to the ground. Lying among the delicate blue flowers was an arm, severed at the shoulder. The hand still clutched a makeshift arrow. She might have fooled herself were it not for the green plaid sleeve. �śMy Ben,” she sobbed, caressing the hand. Twigs snapped and Catherine turned. A wolf-like muzzle inched toward her face, viscous tongue licking jagged teeth. The child inside her stirred and thunder pounded in her chest. The dripping maw opened. Catherine clutched Ben’s arm. His blood stained her fingers. She called upon anything that would help her. At any cost. �śPlease.” Chapter 1 The masses received the Lord’s blessing and confessed for transgressions against their fellow man. With strained voices, they praised the Lord with song, and begged forgiveness for the inborn sins of their self-righteous souls. And as the church bells pealed, dismissing the congregation from the stiff wooden pews that reeked of pine oil, Paine Robertson slipped out the door like the serpent out of Eden. He walked across the dirt road, with the late June sun scorching his tawny locks, to the freshly-swept porch of Fillmore’s Leathers. He plopped upon the wooden planks and waited for his parents to finish mingling with the rest of the Lord’s flock. Off to the side the wind dusted their horse and cart with a light layer of dry earth. The few provisions they procured, as well as the goods they failed to sell, sat as a reminder of their misfortune. It was getting worse every week, fewer and fewer of the townsfolk willing to barter with them. Paine knew why. How dare they judge him. Even his parents’ frustration was surfacing at the rumors, evident in their recent shortness of temper and talks of parting ways. A few weeks prior they spoke of Paine and his sister moving on �" of starting their life elsewhere; preferably in another town. It made him feel like a dirty rag no one wanted to touch unless there was nothing left to use. He suppressed those feelings, refusing to even mention it to his sister. He did that a lot of late, keeping things to himself. It started when the visions in the mirrors began, two years prior. The voices taunted him, tempted him with knowledge of things unknown, and tantalized his innermost wants. He had followed their instructions, sacrificing small birds and squirrels to the blood spells they had urged him cast, but their promises were false, and amounted to nothing. As a result, he scorned them, ignored their whisperings. And then one evening he had made the singular mistake of revealing their presence to his parents. His mother immediately set about destroying all the mirrors in the house and then turned on her son and beat the evil out of him. After that, and threats to send him off as a laborer, Paine censored what he revealed. He held his tongue and took his beatings with a quiet resolve because despite their firmness of discipline, he needed the elderly couple that had raised him. At least for now. Things had even been calm for awhile; pleasant, in fact. Yet over the last few weeks matters worsened. The change in his mother’s attitude was noticeable. Slow was the indoctrination, but evident enough. The beatings were becoming more frequent. Something was changing her, and that something was connected to the arrival of the Reverend Chapman. It sat like a bad apple within him. Paine winced as he leaned against the post; the strap marks had not yet completely healed. He watched his parents as they waited, like bleating lambs lining up in front of the slaughterhouse. Many of the parishioners waited to speak with the good Reverend, thanking him for his eloquent sermon about the evils of witchcraft. It was a message Paine thought typical of the new Church of the Ascension and the man who came all the way from the Confederation to lead it. Schooled at Ascension College he was; a son of aristocrats; learned. Arrogant was more like it. The Church was in service four weeks now, replacing the battered chapel that had been used for centuries. The relic sat like a forgotten silhouette to the white, stone splendor that rose above the willows with a single, shining pinnacle. Although he never enjoyed Sunday sermons, Paine possessed a fondness for the old chapel, with its ancient smell and creaking floors. Its stone foundation was from the old world, from the time before the Shift ripped the Earth apart. That made it over five hundred years old. Paine’s parents passed through the line at a lagging pace as they spoke to all and sundry before finally reaching the good Reverend. The three spoke at length. Gwen would raise her aged hands to the air as she spoke, her words slow and precise. Due to her stutter Paine’s mother spoke little, but when she did her arguments were deliberate and sure. Charles, with his gray wisps of hair combed over the bald spot on his head, paused to look at Paine. He gave a slight nod and a smirk before Gwen pulled his face towards her and thrust the open pages of her newly-minted Confederation bible in the Reverend’s face. The Reverend nodded to her line of reasoning, yet his gaunt face remained puckered. Paine pricked his ears to catch what words might flit across the road but two young men stepped in front of him; Billy Chapman, son of the good Reverend �" seventeen and built like the blacksmith’s outhouse, and Jake Notman, same age, same size, but more eager for trouble. Billy sucked on a stick of Confederation tobacco and exhaled through the corner of his lips �" something Paine once thought sexy. Now it was just plain ridiculous. Jake squeezed his own between his thick fingers and then flicked it away. �śGood sermon, huh Robertson?” �śI wasn’t impressed.” Paine looked Billy in the eyes. The boy averted his gaze. Jake scowled. �śWhy do ya think that is?” Paine said nothing. The fool could think what he wanted. Jake leaned over. The smell of his breath was like ash. �śI saw your sister light a fire with her bare hands. I know she’s a witch.” �śProve it,” Paine replied. He let his gaze slide over to Billy once more. The boy stared at his dust-covered boots. Paine couldn’t help but wonder how much Billy had revealed of their encounter. There were too many rumors lately, ones that would not have cropped up unless Billy had been squawking like an old hen. Jake’s lips curved into an unctuous grin. �śI won’t have to. The Confederation is planning to annex Fairfax and the surrounding farms. The Witch Hunters are coming with them. And they’re ridding the land of filth like you.” �śI don’t know what you’re talking ab-” �śHello, boys.” The two boys jumped and turned to the voice. Paine did not. He knew she was there, lurking. Like some hidden shadow upon his heart, he could sense her presence. She was always there, and when she wasn’t, he could barely stand her absence. From the corner of his eye he watched his twin, Lya, saunter towards them in her black gown. She always wore that outfit on Sundays, despite protests from Gwen to wear something less suited for a funeral. She adjusted the folds of her dress, like one of the high class ladies at tea time, and nestled her head on Paine’s shoulder. He wanted to shift over but was cornered against the post. Besides, it wouldn’t look good if he seemed repulsed by his own sister. Lya coiled her black locks around her finger and then plucked one of the strands. She examined it and then licked her teeth. Billy backed up and lowered his head further. Any lower and he’ll be licking his own boots. Jake ignored her. He focused on Paine. �śWatch yourself, Robertson. Your time is short.” The two then departed, giving a wide berth around his sister. �śThey give you trouble?” Lya asked. She backed away from Paine, as if just as revolted. �śNot much.” He glanced over to his parents. They were gathered with the other members of the Village Council. �śLooks like we’re going to be here awhile. Let’s go wander.” The two rose and strode past a few shops and houses. Those on the porches did not offer the customary greeting or even a nod of the head. One woman hissed at them and some clutched the silver crosses that hung about their necks. They continued on and strode past the Apothecary where Old Lady Burns sat in front of her shop. She knitted a wool blanket for her newly-born grandson. The child was born a month prior, with knotted stumps for legs. It was the second such birth for that family. There were tears in the old woman’s eyes. Paine stepped on to the wooden porch and the faint smell of mothballs tickled his nose. �śGood morning, Mrs. Burns.” He liked the old woman. She had always been kindly to him. She sucked in her breath at the sight of Lya, an occurrence not uncommon among the townsfolk. She covered it with a feigned yawn. �śInteresting sermon this morning,” she said. Lya grunted. �śI thought it was a pile of horse shit,” Paine said as he looked over to the Church. The Reverend spoke with a broad-shouldered stranger. Whether he was with the Confederation, or if he was just another traveler heading south to the ruins of ancient Dallas, it was hard to tell. The pepper-haired stranger glanced in Paine’s direction for a fraction of a moment. Old Lady Burns continued knitting. �śThe Reverend is not here to make friends. He is here to convert others to his way of thinking.” �śHe spews garbage from that cesspit of a mouth,” Paine muttered. �śNot everyone follows him gladly.” She offered him a timid smile, but one with enough reassurance to ease his anger. Old Lady Burns had been accused of witchcraft countless times, especially after the birth of her grandson. It was common knowledge she did not get along with her son’s wife. Yet few believed she was capable of such an atrocity. Paine had seen true witchcraft, and its power was beyond anything an innocent mind like Old Lady Burns could conjure. He nodded. �śWe better get moving. Have a pleasant afternoon, Mrs. Burns.” �śThank you, dear.” The two then wandered towards the cemetery, almost directly across from the Apothecary. It sat behind the old chapel. They strolled through the maze of haphazard tombstones to the oldest part of the cemetery. Upon one of the newer monuments sat a mourning dove. It cooed and barely masked the croak of an unseen raven. Lya always kept Paine silent company on the trips to the cemetery, although she had her own notions about this place. She had mentioned several times she wanted to come into town at night to call forth the souls that resided there. It was an intriguing notion, but some things were better left undisturbed. At least for now. Usually when Paine called upon the dead, more than one emerged. And commanding one to do your bidding was challenge enough; commanding an entire cemetery was begging for a permanent possession. Paine shuddered at the thought. Two towns over, a man invited a legion of souls unto himself. The man went insane and threw himself off a cliff, squealing like a pig. Paine’s feet led him, as if by rote, to stand before a statue of an angel whose wings had long crumbled to dust. He could barely make out the words etched into the base. In remembrance of Catherine and her beloved Ben. The dates were no longer legible. He then moved on to the others. The mourning dove cooed again and they ambled towards the old chapel. Paine gazed through a crack in the boarded window. Three shafts of light pierced the battered cedar roof and lit the pews. Fresh prints disturbed the neat carpet of dust that covered the floor; prints that appeared as if someone had let a cow loose in the derelict structure. �śOdd,” he commented, and walked up to the double wooden doors. Lya was at his side. �śWhat’s going on?” �śThere’s footprints inside.” She shrugged. �śSo?” �śHoof prints.” She shoved past him to peer through the cracks in the doorframe. �śWhat are you talking about?” Paine examined the doors and found no sign of forced entry. He pulled on the iron handles. They were locked. He was about to go back to the boarded window, but noticed the stranger watching them from the Apothecary. Paine swallowed the lump in his throat, but stared the man down. �śWhat was that about?” Lya asked, poking him with a thin, iron finger. �śDo you know him, or has someone else in this little spit of a village caught your eye?” He shook his head and turned. �śNo, I do not know him.” As they walked back towards the Church, the dove cooed a third time. *** Within his cell, Friar John hummed; there was little else to do. His imprisonment was now at four days �" four days of praying and meditation. Oddly, he found little to complain of. The feather bed was comfortable, if a little musty, and not quite long enough for his lanky frame, and his captors were as good to him as their conscience allowed them to be. His punishment for heresy was a little severe, but his musings were not well tolerated. He wondered when they might release him. The Iberian monastery was a prison, placed at the southern tip of God’s wilderness, where few would hear his truth. Not my truth, he corrected himself,� the truth. He continued to hum, a refrain from a hymn that always brought him comfort. Crow’s-feet lined his face, every one earned over the last forty-three years, as were the gray flecks in his mud-colored mane. He cinched the belt about his brown robes to suit his narrowing midsection. His appetite had waned of late. The smile on his face was wry. He wondered when the cardinal would realize that shutting him away like a criminal would do little good. It was him the Pope wished to see. He laughed when they told him he was to remain in this dark pit of a cell, in the deepest reaches of the monastery. The ears of God’s representative were not to be tainted by his words. They were in for a surprise. He sat in silence, watching as a cockroach scurried across the dirt floor, looking for the scraps of his morning gruel. He tossed some crumbs in its path, knowing even the lowliest of creatures needed to eat. It was difficult to tell the passing of time in this place. A moist chill permeated the stone walls, unwavering �" day or night. Yet the faded glint of torchlight seeping under the door gave him some indication that the noon hour had recently passed. His humming continued, but for only a few bars of Ave Maria before he was interrupted by a clamor outside the door �" the sound of heavy panting and fingers fumbling with keys. Miguel. The breathing was unmistakable. John waited with the patience of Job as the man made attempts with numerous keys, but exasperation sighed from someone else in the hall. �śHurry, man. The Pope doesn’t have all day.” The clanking of keys increased and after countless attempts, the door finally opened. Flickering torchlight danced its way into the cell and the cockroach scampered towards a crack in the stone wall. �śGood day to you, sirs,” John said. �śYou’re a little late for our morning walk. The noon hour must have passed by now.” Miguel, large as life, had a dejected look upon his round face. The morning walk had been cancelled, yet John knew fault did not lie at the feet of the good brother. Miguel had always been kindly to him and the only one to request that they not confine him to the dungeons. Yet his frail voice of support was of little help. The cardinal always got his way. Except this time, John thought, taking in the striped, billowing uniform and plumed helmet of the other man who stood in the entrance �" a member of the Vatican Guard. �śCome with me, heretic. You are summoned to the Pope.” The guard pointed his spear at him. �śMind your tongue.” John said nothing, knowing his words would be wasted on one such as this, and followed quietly, winking at Miguel as he stepped into the passageway. Soft torchlight lit the moss-covered corridors, the sound of the guard’s polished black shoes clacking on the stone floor. Bells chimed in the distance, but their music was muted by the stone depths in which they walked. Numerous cells lay open, all with decaying wooden doors and empty since long before the Shift. Only his was occupied. They wound through the stone maze, John and the guard stooping often to avoid the sheer tapestries of spider web. Finally, after climbing an aged stairwell, they reached ground level, and John covered his eyes from the bright glare of daylight. He stopped to let the sun’s rays warm his soul. Something sharp poked him from behind. �śKeep moving.” They continued, and when they reached the abbey Miguel and the guard knelt to gesture the sign of the cross before they turned and left him. The iron doors closed with a heavy clank. John made no such signs of piety and strode amidst the rows of wooden pews towards the pulpit, the floorboards creaking with every step. The Pope waited for him, alone. �śYour Holiness,” John said, standing to face one of the most powerful leaders in the new world. He could imagine what she must have looked like in her youth. Even with white hair and the fine lines that adorned her face, she was stunning. She stood tall for a woman, almost rivaling him in stature. The Pope was garbed in a white robe, her hair spilling over it. She held out her hand to which he feigned a kiss, his lips not quite touching the emerald ring. �śI want to hear your heresy,” she said as he faced her. Her voice echoed off the vaulted ceiling. It was painted with vivid images of the Archangel Gabriel. John gazed upon the wings that adorned the angel’s frame, pristine and white, and wondered how much more in this world he would discover was a lie. �śThe cardinal seems to think it is not for your ears.” Her round eyes hinted annoyance. �śCardinal Aloysius is an overambitious fool who cares for nothing but his own advancement.” He reserved his opinion, yet his lips formed a smug curve. �śI am a politician, and have attained this position by learning how to read people and their motives. I am sure you have heard otherwise, but give me more credit than that. I am the second woman to sit in this position since the Shift ripped the world apart. It has not been an easy road. Now,” she said, sizing him up. �śI want your truth.” �śWhy have you come all this way? Cardinal Aloysius, in all his wisdom, saw fit to have me removed to this place where only some patient brethren would ignore my words. Then, when he knew you were coming to the very place he banished me, he had me placed in the furthest depths of the monastery.” She held her hand aloft and mouthed an incantation he did not hear. The doors and shutters swung closed. Scars were made visible as her sleeve slithered down her pale arm. They were old wounds. Bloodcraft. The Pope lowered her arm and adjusted her sleeve with a curt tug. For the briefest hint of a moment, he caught fear flitting across her eyes. She leaned in to whisper. �śHe is coming.” John swallowed. �śWho?” �śDo not play coy with me. I did not come this far to bandy words with an idiot. The Second Coming is upon us.” �śI suppose you know who I am.” He shifted where he stood, and the cherry floor groaned under his weight. She smiled. There was no mirth there. �śI know what lies within that darkened heart of yours. I also know what will happen to the person that orders your death. Your soul is cursed. That’s why I’ve let you live.” He stared, offering her nothing, yet he smiled inwardly. Cursed indeed. Anyone who had anything to do with his death would suffer for all eternity. �śI knew of your blasphemy and did not contest the cardinal’s decision to put you away. There is too much at risk to let you run around spouting your so-called truth. I come here now to ask what you know. And when you are finished, I have an errand for you.” He masked his intrigue. �śAn errand?” �śHoofed and horned, we believe he is loose upon the world once more, maybe even in physical form.” She paused. �śYou’re going to find him.” �śHow?” �śBeings of great power are being summoned, but to where we do not yet know. My sources have been unable to penetrate this secret calling. They’ve all gone mad in the attempt. We know only that it is being called by someone high in the echelons of the Fallen.” �śAnd what am I supposed to do when I learn of this summoning?” �śYou will attend.” She paused, and lowered her voice to a near whisper, �śAnd you will kill him.” He refrained from commenting on the futility of the request. John’s command of the dead was limited at best, although there were other powers in this world, and ways to negotiate with the unliving. �śYou must know by now that my gifts are inadequate.” She nodded. �śBut your blackened soul is the only one that may be able to get close enough without suspicion.” �śAnd how will this deed be done?” From the pulpit she pulled out a shroud-wrapped object. It was about the length of his forearm. She peeled back the layers of delicate cloth to reveal a sharp metal object. John knew it the moment he saw it. �śThe Spear of Destiny,” he muttered. �śIt will be the only thing that can draw his soul from his body. Once it is done we can imprison his spirit and keep the world safe for a thousand years. You will have only one chance.” She studied him as he ran his fingers along the length of the spearhead. He nodded as her logic revealed itself to him. �śAnd if I cannot kill him, then my own death will be a blight upon his soul.” There was cunning acknowledgement in her eye. �śNow, what will it be, assassin? I want to know what you know.” John pondered his options. Go on a treacherous hunt that would likely result in his own death or remain under the cardinal’s watchful eye. His decision was quick and concise, so he motioned her closer, opened his mouth, and spouted truth from the sacrilegious fountain of his soul. More information at davidhburton.com Table of Contents Title Page Broken Published by Also by David H Acknowledgements The biggest thank you in the world goes out to my beta readers Dedication This book is dedicated to my parents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 About the Author Excerpt from Scourge: A Grim Doyle Adventure Excerpt from The Second Coming Prologue � Catherine looked at her watch Chapter 1 � The masses received the Lord’s blessing and confessed for transgressions against their fellow man