The next time my eyes opened I was lying in a patch of dirt, flinching at the sun. I had a killer headache. I stirred a little. Great, I was tied up. This totally sucked. “Look who’s awake.” I cried out but it was stifled by the gag, as she yanked me to my feet. I hated her so much right now. “It looks like we can go on with the ceremony.”
She ripped the gag out of my mouth. “Glad to be here. Thanks for the warm reception,” I rasped. My mouth was a little dry.
“Don’t get used to it. Things are going to be a little less warm where you’re going.”
“Impossible,” I said dryly. I was turned around and saw that the whole Kill-Cortland-Gang was here. My trainer smirked and held up a dress. “That’s not really my style, so I hope that’s for you,” I said to Blondie.
“We all decided that presentation was everything. And with the way you dress, we knew you weren’t going to be fit for a sacrifice. This dress has just been sitting here, waiting.”
“First of all, I can’t get dressed with my hands tied behind my back. Secondly, in the future, when you’re going to be dressing your sacrifice maybe you should offer options.”
Blondie sliced the rope and kindly left me with both of my hands. She shoved me towards the dress. “There’s a curtain over there. Get changed and don’t try anything. You’ll regret it if you do.”
I shot her a look that screamed that I would love to dance on her grave and grabbed the dress. “Thank you, so much.”
I wriggled out of my jeans and tank and into the dress behind a curtain, surrounded by bushes. This was horrible. This dress was pure white and rustled with every movement. There was a second layer that was sheer, but in parts had sparkly lace. It made the dress look like it was shimmering and like I had random areas of skin that glittered.
I stepped back into view, and it finally hit me. I had no powers, no weapons, and I wasn’t even in my own clothes. I didn’t even know if my friends had been able to follow. What if these idiots had hurt them? Holy shit, how was I supposed to spill my own blood before being eaten by a big bad? Just the fact that Cael was right had me pissed off.
Everyone looked me over. “Well, she’s not gorgeous but she’ll have to do,” the old queen said. “As long as it’s not me going into that well, I don’t care how horrible she makes my best dress appear.”
“What well?” I asked.
Blondie looked over her shoulder at the very obvious stone structure that went about a well. “Oh. That one.” I wriggled my bare feet and scuffed them in the dirt, embarrassed.
“See that cage, that’s for you. The nasty dark water at the bottom of the wall, that’s yours too. We’re not sure how long you’ll have to sit down there before the darkness comes for you.”
“Lucky me.”
I was then shoved into a large wooden crate which was closed and locked once I stepped in. “Please lower me down with care,” I requested as it was hoisted over the well.
“Yeah, sure.” And then I was just dropped into the well, jerking to a stop when it hit the end of the rope.
The sudden stop had me sprawled out on the bottom of the crate, a little sore after hitting pretty much every side of the thing. I slowly got to my feet, wincing. No blood. It sure would be nice to get this over with right from the start. But that was a no-go.
I tried to look down to see this nasty water but I couldn’t see past that piece of tulle dress. After this whole experience I was never going to wear a dress involving tulle. I tried to move it out of the way but there was no way. The dress practically took up three fourths of this cage. I craned my neck and looked up. The sunshine was a distant speck way up there. Fat lot of good that did me. I’d need to get out of here first to even think about climbing up there.
I maneuvered around and managed to peer down. There was a lot of dark water under me. It looked super creepy, like there were skeletons or, I don’t know, a big bad lurking in it. Think, Cortland, think. You need to spill some blood and get out of here.
I decided that I might as well kill two birds with one stone and try to hurt myself while breaking myself out. I started out by pounding on the wooden slats with my hands but that really did nothing except scrape my hands. There wasn’t enough blood involved. Okay. Next plan.
I started slamming my shoulder against the slats but that pretty much did nothing. “Damnit,” I swore, looking up again. I listened. Did I hear fighting? No. Wait. Yep. Only Flynn could cause a scream that outraged and pissed off. I needed to hurry up and get the blood spilled before one of them got hurt.
I looked down again. Was the water getting higher? Maybe it was my imagination. Nope. It was definitely getting higher, inch by inch. Maybe it was just me, but I don’t think I wanted that water to touch me.
As the water continued to rise, I looked at my options. There was really nothing. I clenched my hands with frustration and sucked in a breath. Ouch. I looked down at the cut. It hadn’t even started to heal. It had been bleeding a ton when Blondie snatched me. I could get it to drip into that water. I flinched just thinking about what I was going to have to do. This was going to hurt.
I started hitting my hand against the wooden slats. I hit it as hard as I could, over and over. I glanced through the cracks in the crate again and gave myself permission to panic. The water, already murky and dark, appeared to be growing darker as it rose towards me. That was probably big bad forming, preparing to eat me and my ugly dress.
I decided that the most important thing at the moment was to get out of this crate. I had no chance if I was stuck in a little box. My pounding on the crate hadn’t done anything so I needed to try something else. I tried testing the weakness of the bottom, but that was a big zippo. I started ramming one of the slats with my shoulder, harder and harder. The only thing I accomplished was throwing my shoulder out of its socket. Now that hurt.
Clenching my teeth together I took it to the next level. I threw my weight to one side of the crate, then to the other. The crate began swinging. I kept it up. Soon it was almost crashing into the rims of the well. I just needed a little more. I threw myself to one side as hard as I could and the crate finally made contact with the stone. The top corner started to crack. So close. I threw my weight against the other side but was a little off. It didn’t hit the other side. I caught myself and got my weight to the other side. This time there was major splintering.
I reached up and started pounding at it with my fists. Pieces of the wood were splitting off, falling into the water. I didn’t waste time looking down, knowing that the water was too close for comfort. There were numerous scrapes and cuts on my hands from the splinters but I wanted to get out before stopping to drip the blood in the water. There was finally a hole in the crate that I thought I could wriggle through. It took some maneuvering but I finally managed to grip the top of the crate and start hoisting myself out. I cried out because my shoulder hurt like a bitch and I felt a sharp splinter slice the back of my thigh. I ignored it and pulled myself up half on the crate, my legs hanging over the edge.
I got to my feet and stood carefully, not wanting to fall off and plummet into the water. The only thing left for me to do was start pulling myself up the rope.
From above me I could hear the sounds of an epic fight. That gave me heart. At least one of my friends was up there, giving them what-for. The gurgling, growling sounds from below me made me want to climb a little faster. Unfortunately with one good arm, and ironically that one was the one with the cut hand, I was climbing a little slow. I could feel the warm blood running down the back of my leg, down my arm. My hand was really opened now. In one corner of my mind I was keeping track of it, wanting to know when it was going to drip into that water.
I paused maybe halfway up the rope. I think I was going to give up. I knew I wasn’t going to beat that water. I was hurting and looking up, that bright light at the top just seemed too far away. It was
best to stay down here in the dark and defeat my demons.
I hung onto the rope and looked down. The water was rising so fast. The darkness seemed to all be writhing in the middle. It seemed alive. I couldn’t even see the crate anymore. I clenched my teeth together. “Okay, bastard,” I said. “Come and get me.”
I wasn’t going any farther, nor was I going to give ground. I just hung there, waiting to feel the water reach me. I glanced up one last time. Damn, Cael had been right. I was regretting this.
I looked down as the water reached my bare feet. It felt cold, but not as cold as the water in that fricking lake thing. I watched as it swirled up my legs. It was starting to hurt. Whatever. Give it your best shot, big bad.
The water rose up, past my waist, past my chest. As it reached my chin, I looked up and smiled. If there was anything worth dying for, it was the group up there.
The water closed in over my face, blurring out the light at the end of the tunnel. I blinked a few times and unknowingly let go of the rope, just drifting. I felt something grab me. Big bad, perhaps? I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and then I saw a flash of red. Then everything faded to black.
“Cortland? Oh jesus, Cortland, please open your eyes. Baby, just open your eyes for me.”
I don’t want to, I replied in my mind. It’s so much nicer in the dark. “Goddamnit, don’t you give up on me. Breathe.”
There was this pressure on my chest. It wouldn’t go away. Then air was rushing into my lungs. More pressure. Why were they doing this to me? Didn’t they know that I’d chosen this?
“Cortland… Don’t do this to me. I love you. Do you hear me? I love you.” Who the hell? Oh, Cael. My, my, he wasn’t gloating that he’d been right. There was something wrong with this picture.
The pressure just wasn’t going away. Damn, someone was persistent. I was mildly annoyed. I think it was that little emotion, that little connection that had me rolling to my side and coughing up water.
“Oh, finally,” Flynn sighed, falling back. “Giving you CPR was a little bit of a pain in the ass.”
I held up a finger, a signal that I’d get to him in a minute, as I dry retched, my lungs and stomach attempting to get the water out. “D-bag,” I managed.
“That’s no way to thank one of the duo who brought your ass back to life,” he retorted.
“The lucky one to give you mouth to mouth was Cael,” Ash said. “We figured that would leave you less scarred for life than if someone else did it.”
I settled back on the ground. “Warn a girl next time before you set the assassins on her.” I winced as my shoulder twinged.
“We didn’t,” they chorused.
Shayla knelt next to me, patting my arm. “It seems that someone wasn’t keeping track of the forks that we were feeding them with. Your favorite blonde assassin somehow managed to break their way out of their cell with one that she warped with her magic. They all ditched except for her and her Guardian. They snatched you.”
Flynn went still, reminding me of a hunting dog, sensing something. “Do you feel that?”
Cael and Kendall mirrored him. “Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s good.” Kendall took a step away from the group.
Cael looked up at Flynn, panic written all over his face. “I think the portals are closing.”
“Was that supposed to happen?” I asked from my position, helpless on the ground.
“Questions later,” Flynn said quickly. “Escape now.”
Seconds later I was alone on the ground, everyone else having forgotten that I was powerless. I sighed and rolled my eyes, mentally counting the seconds that I was abandoned. I tilted my head and looked over towards the well. And the bodies. They did not look pretty. Having evil leave your soul must be taxing.
I looked back up and Flynn was kneeling down, looking apologetic and sheepish. “You forgot me,” I said, grabbing his hand.
“I will never forget you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Starting now,” he added with a grin. “I promise.”
Then I found myself sprawled out on my living room floor. “You all suck,” I accused.
“We kind of forgot that you weren’t up to your normalness,” Monty said. “Which reminds me, knowing you you’re hurt. Who’s got the medical supplies?”
“I might as well just carry them around in my purse,” I said to the room. “Can someone tell me what happened?”
“Let’s get you fixed up first.”
“Define fixed up.”
“We’re going to get you your powers back so you can heal your hand, the wound on your stomach where I’m guessing the darkness got you, and your shoulder. But first…”
I closed my eyes. “I don’t think I’m going to like this.”
“We need to get your shoulder back in place before you start healing or it won’t set properly.”
Unbeknownst to me, Cael had been moving into position. Everyone else was moving off of the couch. Cael pushed me over, making me lie on my stomach on the couch, my dislocated arm hanging off the couch. Flynn grabbed above my elbow and my wrist. “Relax your muscles.”
“What are you doing?”
“Relax!”
I did my best, but it’s kind of difficult when you can’t breathe and it feels like you’re being assaulted. Flynn started pulling down on my arm. I bit my lip to keep the cry of pain inward. There was a pop and it felt better. Cael released me and helped me sit up. I was cradling my arm to my chest, trying to ignore the dull ache.
“Kendall,” Flynn beckoned her forward.
Kendall stepped up and sliced her hand. “I don’t want to slice myself again,” I whined.
“Okay.” Kendall’s hand darted out and there was a stinging pain on my hand. She quickly grasped my hand tightly.
I felt the spark of power enter my blood again. It was an awesome head rush. The healing started almost instantaneously. The cuts on my hands disappeared. The pain in my side went away. And the ache of my shoulder was a dull memory. I sighed happily and leaned back. “Much better.”
Cael tried to put his arm around my shoulder. “I’m still mad at you,” I said, shoving him off the couch.
“Are you feeling a lot better?” Shayla asked.
“Yes.” I should not have answered that.
She jumped in my lap and gave me the tightest hug I’ve ever been a part of. “I was so, so, so, so, so worried about you. They escaped before we could even plan anything. Flynn had to See where they were taking you and it almost killed him. Then we got there and we were kicking butt and we couldn’t see you and then BAM, they’re all spontaneously combusting. Then Monty noticed the well…”
“Whoa, slow down tiger,” I laughed, trying to get her off of me. “I can’t breathe.”
“Let someone who breathes between sentences explain,” Flynn said, settling on the recliner. He looked exhausted. Seeing had taken a lot out of him, I could see it. “Kendall, you’re up.”
“I’m so flattered,” she said sarcastically. “After you gave me your powers and stormed from the room, Flynn and I went downstairs to check on our friendly prisoners and to put into action whatever brilliant plan he had. Somehow Blondie or her Guardian had made a key out of a bunch of melted forks. They were just waiting for their perfect moment. Then-“
“Kendall and I go racing up the steps and head for your room. You, of course, were nowhere to be found. Everyone else got drawn in by our yelling and none of them had seen you. Cael, between his panic attacks, and Cam spread out and tried to get some sign of them but there was nothing.”
“So Flynn goes into Seer mode. We’re all watching him and ignoring Cael’s panicking-“
“I was not panicking hard core like you keep insinuating,” Cael spoke up.
“I do believe I was given permission to tell the story,” Kendall spoke up. “Anybody else want to interrupt?”
“Please conti
nue,” Monty said, hiding her smile.
“Where was I? Right. Cael is panicking and Flynn is in this trance. Then all of a sudden his eyes roll back in his head and he keels over and this little trickle of blood starts coming out of his nose. I, always calm under pressure, smacked him back to consciousness. He sits up and starts describing this place. Shayla-“
“The queen of all things research related,” Shay interjected. She stared Kendall right in the eyes.
Kendall rolled her gorgeous brown eyes. “Shayla, the resident nerd, jumped up and grabbed the book she’d been reading about all the wondrous places in Whisper and flipped to this page. Something about white cliffs and a stream. I wasn’t paying attention to the details. It handily included a map.”
“So we all get there and all the bad guys are sitting there, already celebrating their victory. The butt kicking ensues and then they start like, melting before our very eyes. Then they’re dead on the ground and we’re standing there, looking confused but victorious. Cael, in insta-panic mode, starts calling your name. There is no flipping sign of you.”
“Then I, the heroine of this story, spotted the well with the ropes dangling down it,” Monty spoke up proudly.
Kendall sighed dramatically. “So Cael and Flynn fly to action and start pulling up the rope. The well is like three fourths full of this icky, black water and we’re all panicking because there’s no sign of you. Then the top of this box comes out of the water and you’re all sprawled out on it in that hideous dress…” Kendall stared at the dress in question.
I self-consciously smoothed it down. “It was the Queen’s best dress.”
“Sure. Cael hauls you out and you’re not breathing. Cael pulls it together for once and starts giving you CPR. He pauses to give you mouth to mouth and Flynn unfreezes and starts the CPR. It seemed like forever and then you were coughing up water and looking at us with those pretty eyes.” Kendall paused in her story telling to throw her arms around me. “I realized then that I would have really missed you.”
I hugged her back. “I see how it is,” Shayla huffed. “She gets hugged back but I get some lame excuse before getting shoved off.”
I held open one arm and motioned for Shayla to get over here. She slowly made her way over. I grabbed her and hugged her and Kendall tightly. Monty jumped in to get her piece of affection. “Group hugs are not my thing,” I heard Flynn say.
“I think it’s a girl thing,” I heard Cam reply.
The group hug broke apart and Flynn looked at me. “So what happened to you?”
“They dressed me and put me down a well. The water got me and then the darkness got me.” I gestured at the tear in the white dress on the side of my stomach. “Blood of the innocent. The end.”
“Really? Because it looked like someone had broken out of the wooden cage, probably using their hands,” Cael said.
I glared at him. “I don’t want to talk about it, thank you.” We all knew that I didn’t really mean thank you. “I’m going to go up to my room and change out of this dress,” I said, getting to my feet. “Then I’m probably going to take a nap.”
“Why a nap?” Ash asked. “You’re still on Whisper time. It was light there, meaning its dark here.”
“That explains why I’m exhausted.”
I plodded through my house, relishing the fact that I was back in this familiar place. It was over. Everyone could come home. The white dress trailed behind me as I practically pulled myself up the steps. “Room sweet room,” I sighed, stepping into my bedroom. I closed the door behind me.
I grabbed my old cheerleading shorts and a sports bra, wanting to shower and get the evil water off of me. The stupid dress took up the entire bathroom. I wriggled out of it and stepped over it. I took a hot shower to rinse off the remains of the smelly death water and stepped out. I got dressed and grabbed my brush.
I didn’t consider it sneaking but that’s basically what I did as I crept to my bedroom and quietly closed the door after me. I didn’t want anyone probing over those brief panic-filled moments in the well, me struggling to get out. I calmly stood in front of my mirror and brushed my hair, over and over. When I was little I used to brush it, a hundred strokes every night. That had been back before that scar, and that one, oh, and that one too. I unknowingly stopped brushing my hair, looking at the new scar on my abdomen. Just another gash for my collection.
I was so lost in thought that I didn’t notice Cael slip in to the room. He stayed back in the shadows, studying me seriously. “What are you thinking about so seriously?” he asked, taking a step towards me.
“If this is the final scar that means I can no longer wear a bikini,” I lied easily. I briskly started brushing my hair once more.
“I think you still look beautiful.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere,” I said, turning to face him, brandishing my hairbrush like a sword. “I am still so angry at you.”
“I don’t understand why you’re so mad at me,” he said. “I just wanted to protect you.”
“I don’t need you to protect me,” I burst out, throwing the brush at him. He dodged it, probably expecting that to happen. “I just needed someone to care.”
“How else do you want me to show I care?” he demanded. “I saved you in a parking lot. I helped you train and kept you positive. I held you when you were so frozen after that lake incident, where it almost killed me to leave you behind. Oh yeah, I helped formulate the plan to save you that time. Then, when you almost get blown up, who was the first person out that door?”
“You,” I answered grudgingly.
“Damn right I was. Then I pulled you out of a goddamn well. So, if there’s one thing you cannot accuse me of, it would be not caring about you.” He picked up my brush and tossed it at me. I used my super-fast reflexes to catch it before it broke my mirror. I didn’t need seven years of bad luck when I’d just gotten rid of the last batch.
“He said as he chucked a brush at her head,” I narrated. “Way to show you care.”
“Sometimes I just want to strangle you.”
“Go for it. I missed out on the last fight so I’ve got a lot of pent up rage.”
“Why won’t you let this go?”
“Like I said before, when hell freezes over.” It was my turn to throw the brush at him. While he was distracted at that I dodged out the door, shutting it behind me. There was a loud crack. He’d thrown the brush after me. “Real mature,” I muttered, stomping down the stairs.
Since I was no longer worried about assassins I ignored Flynn’s asking what I was doing and went outside. Tonight was past a simple calm down session on the porch swing.
The cool grass tickled my bare feet as I headed for the picnic table. I stretched out on it, hands clasped on my stomach, staring up at the stars. Stupid Cael. Why didn’t he understand why I was mad? First he called me a girl, then he asked my brother where we were headed, then he proposed. If one could call that a proposal. I called it an insult to my intelligence.
I didn’t even turn my head when I heard the footsteps approaching. Flynn awkwardly settled next to me. It’s a good thing I don’t take up much room. “Want to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked.
“I would have figured that you would have gone after Shayla or Kendall,” I said, trying to avoid his question.
“I thought about it. But you’re not going to get away with not answering the question. What’s wrong?” He poked me in the side.
“Stop poking me,” I said peevishly, slapping his hand away.
“I would have figured that you would be dancing all over the place,” he said, clasping his hands over his stomach. “Not pouting on the picnic table.”
“I’m not pouting. I’m stargazing.”
“While pouting.”
“I am now recovered and am fully capable of kicking your ass. I am not pouting. I am thinking.”
“Abo
ut?”
“Lots of stuff.”
“He really loves you. I’ve never seen him like this. He asked because he cares. And I looked because I care. And I didn’t tell him much, because I care.”
“What did you See?” I was curious, so sue me.
“That this whole thing ended well. The two of you end up together. I saw a little girl, with dark red curly hair, running around. She had Cael wrapped around her finger. Your little girl came running to me.” I looked at him from the corner of my eye. He was smiling. “I picked her up and tossed her up in the air and she was laughing and calling me Uncle Flynn. But I only told him the ok part and that you had a little girl at the time I was Seeing.”
I caught his stress on the word you. “You never told him that he and I ended up together. You just told him that I was happy.”
“Duh. I wasn’t going to ruin all the in between moments.”
I punched him in the stomach. “Thanks Flynn.”
He punched my arm. “You are welcome, Corty.”
He slid off the picnic table and started back to the house. “Flynn,” I called after him.
He paused in midstep. “I’m glad you’re my brother. I love you.”
“Love you too,” he said. “Now go un-break my best friend’s heart. I don’t want to have to choose whose knees to break if this all goes south.”
I stayed on the table, trying to spot the Big Dipper. I knew where the Big Idiot was. Right here. I sighed. I needed to go apologize. I wouldn’t blame Cael if he refused to hear me out. If he threw another brush, I wouldn’t duck because I deserved it.
I sat up and mentally started preparing myself. What to say? What should I do? How did my hair look? I patted it and grimaced. It’s a good thing I always have a ponytail holder on my person.
I let myself back into the house and locked the door behind me. “Night sis,” Flynn whispered.
“Night,” I whispered back.
I dragged my feet going up the stairs. I briefly debated stopping by and getting Shayla’s opinion but decided not to. This was my mess.
My bedroom door was still shut. What were the odds that he’d laid some sort of trap as revenge? Well, he was more mature than I was. That didn’t stop me from flinching in anticipation as I pushed the door open.
I stepped in without getting hurt so that was a plus. Cael was lying on top of the covers, reading a book. As long as it wasn’t my diary again, I was okay with that. I stood there awkwardly for a second, twisting my hands nervously. “I was almost back to my room when Blondie popped up behind me and taunted me as per usual and before I could move, she knocked me out.” Cael said nothing, flipping another page.
I took a step closer. “I wake up, bound and gagged and Blondie makes sure to rub it in my face that I was going to lose. Then I got to change into the dress that they’d had waiting for me this entire time. I was changing behind the curtain when I realized that you were right about this maybe not working. I didn’t know if you were all okay or if you’d been able to follow. I got insulted some more and then loaded into a giant crate and then got dumped down a well.”
Cael turned another page. I took another step forward, then another. He nonchalantly flipped to another page. “After some minor whiplash, I find myself at the bottom of a well in an ugly dress. All I know is that some big bad is going to try to eat me. I can’t see past the dress to see the water below me but somehow I manage. The water is all dark and murky and I can see something even darker starting to form.”
I was next to the bed now and Cael still hadn’t looked up. It’s my bed so I sat down on the edge. “I try to break the wooden slats with my hands but it’s not really working. I tried to ram through it with my shoulder and we all know how that ended up. The water is rising, ever so slowly, but it’s getting closer to me and I know that I don’t want it touching me. So I start using my weight to swing it towards the well wall and it took me awhile but finally I had it cracked enough that I could break through with my hands.”
I paused to stare down at my hands. There was no sign of the splinters that had pierced them. I listened closely but there wasn’t the sound of a page turning. “I manage to pull myself out and up, but I got caught on a huge splinter and I cut the back of my thigh. But now I’m standing on top and for the first time I can hear fighting from up above. I knew that you guys were there, trying to save me. All I had to do was one simple thing.”
There it was, a page turn. “You do know that you’re holding the book upside down? So I start climbing up this rope, and in the back of my mind I’m keeping track of the blood trickling down my arm and my leg. I so desperately want a drop to fall in the water and end this all now.” I heard Cael put the book down. “I get halfway up the rope and I stop. I’ll deny this later, but I think I was going to give up. I looked up and the sun at the top just seems so far away. I realized that I’d been running from it and that I couldn’t do that. So I just hung there and waited.” I got goose bumps from remembering the feeling of the water as it rose. “Then the water is over me and I feel something sharp on my stomach and then it’s all just black. But I do remember thinking that you were right that I was going to regret it. I regretted it so much, hanging on a rope by myself, waiting for the water to go over me.”
Cael said nothing but I sensed him straighten and sit up. “Then I remember wishing you would just let me go. But you didn’t. All I could hear was you. Then I’m coughing up water, and then I’m here. That pretty much covers all of the high points. So here I sit, with a few more scars and a lot more experience and knowledge.” He said nothing. I bit back the sigh. This was exactly what I deserved. “So,” I willed the tears out of my voice. “I’ll just leave now.”
I straightened my spine and got to my feet. I was halfway across the room when Cael spoke up. “Cortland.”
I spun around, heart beating fast, trying to contain my joy. “You’ve had a rough time and it’s your room. You stay here, I’ll go crash in the living room.”
My feet were frozen to the floor as Cael went past me, not even looking at me. I had no idea what else I could do. I stretched out on my side on my bed and stared at the door, willing it to open. Somewhere along the line I drifted to sleep, in spite of the light still being on. That’s what happens when you fight off evil in a well.
When I woke up the next morning, the light had been turned off and someone had settled a light blanket over me. Someone sneaky, because I’m a light sleeper. It didn’t matter, I told myself. It doesn’t matter who took care of you, it’s the fact that someone did.
I pulled on a t-shirt, leaving the room without checking out my appearance in the mirror. I’m sure it was delightful. I just didn’t feel like taking the time to make myself look presentable.
Judging by the silence in the house, I was the only person awake. Goodie. That meant I had time on my hands. I didn’t want that time. I wanted to keep busy. It looked like I was going to fix chocolate chip pancakes.
I hunted down the ingredients, trying to be as quiet as possible because I didn’t want to wake Flynn or Cael. Definitely not Cael. Eventually the smell of coffee brewing and pancakes on the stove would waft through the house and someone’s appetite would wake them up. And voile, instant distraction.
I glanced out the window. “Lovely,” I muttered, taking in the pouring rain and the gloomy, grey sky. I continued to stir, absentmindedly humming a song.
I poured a perfect circle in the center of the pan, using the ladle to spread out a clump of chocolate chips. I was a little startled when someone planted a kiss on my cheek. “Good morning, Asher,” I laughed.
“Have I told you lately that I love you?” he said, breathing in deeply. “Chocolate chip pancakes… you are my favorite.”
“Hey,” Shayla said defensively as she breezed in, looking bright eyed and gorgeous. “I thought I was your favorite.”
/> “You’re both my favorite,” he said, taking out some plates. “Help set the table.”
I glanced at Shayla over my shoulder, stirring up the mix some more. “Your hair is straightened. What’s the occasion?”
“I just felt like it,” she said. “How did you sleep?”
“I was out like a light,” I said. “Did you come in and check on me? Or Monty or Kendall came in maybe?”
“Nope,” Shayla shook her head. “None of us did. Why?”
“No reason,” I said easily, adding another pancake to the stack. “Just curious, I guess.”
Kendall stumbled in next, obviously fresh from slumber. Her straight hair was mussed, her eyes still looking sleepy. “Bless whoever made this coffee,” she said, grabbing a cup from the cupboard and pouring herself a cup. “Marry me and have my children.”
I laughed. “I’ll settle for you naming your firstborn after me.”
“Deal.”
“What’s a deal?” Cam asked. “I knew I smelled pancakes.”
“Good morning,” Flynn entered the kitchen, dodging me and my plate of pancakes. “How did we luck out and get breakfast made for us?”
“I just had time on my hands,” I shrugged. “Where’s Monty?”
“She was showering when I came down,” Shayla said. “She should be down in a minute.”
“Damn her and her ability to look gorgeous in under five minutes,” Kendall said, grabbing a pancake. “Syrup?”
“I’ll get it,” Monty said, making her grand entrance. She opened my pantry and paused. “Uh, Cort?”
“Bottom shelf, to the left,” I said, grabbing a pancake of my own. I wanted to look like I was enjoying myself when Cael came in.
Monty settled herself in a chair and handed Kendall the syrup. “Isn’t it awesome being able to eat breakfast and not having to worry about being attacked by assassins?”
“Very,” Ash agreed, grabbing the syrup from Kendall. “I don’t know what to do with my time, now that this project is off my plate.”
I stirred my coffee, having added the creamer and sugar. What was I going to do? Whisper was done for. I’d been fired from my job. I had no hobbies because there’d never been time. I was looking at a blank slate and I wasn’t liking it.
I realized that everyone was staring at me. Shayla had asked me a question and I’d been so involved in stirring that I hadn’t heard. “Sorry?” I looked at her, putting the spoon down.
“I asked when you wanted us to get out of your house. Cael left last night apparently.”
“What?” I said. Cael was gone? There was no way. This couldn’t be happening. “When did this happen?”
Flynn looked at me, probably sensing the panic in my tone. “You didn’t know? He came down to talk to me around midnight and then around one went back to your room to get his stuff.”
I closed my eyes. He’d turned off the light and covered me up, before taking the things he’d never unpacked. How could he do this to me? “I…um… you guys can stay as long as you want.”
“Cort, are you okay?” Shayla asked. “You’re looking a little pale.”
“Not all of us had the chance to get all prettied up this morning,” Kendall said to her, jumping in to cover for me.
“I’m going to go...” I pushed away from the table. Anywhere. I had to go somewhere.
I ran for the front door, forgetting that there was a downpour outside. I sprinted across the yard to the barn, slamming the door shut behind me, gasping. I wasn’t going to cry. I was not going to cry. I closed my eyes, which burned from the tears and walked to the center of the room before my knees gave out on me.
He left you, I told myself, wrapping my arms around me. He left you and he’s not coming back. Get over it. Get over it now. So you pretty much bared your heart to him, although his reading your diary had not been your idea, and he ran for it. You survived the break up with Burke. You can survive this one too. Except you never felt like you were beautiful with Burke. You never felt strong. You never felt like you could take anything the world threw at you, as long as he was right there with you.
I heard the door open. I looked up at Flynn, tears streaming down my face. “He didn’t say goodbye.”
I saw my pain reflected on Flynn’s face. “Aw, sis.” Within seconds his arms were wrapped around me and he was rocking me as I cried onto his shoulder.
I was distracted when my cell phone rang. I answered it without looking, hoping it was Cael. “Hello?”
“Honey?”
“Mom?” The tears welled up in my eyes again. “Can you come home now?”
“Yes, we can. Your father and I are on our way back. We got ahold of the rest of the parents and they’re headed back too. Oh, sweetie your dad and I have missed you so much.”
“I missed you too,” I said, sniffling.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. Her mom senses were probably tingling. She always knew when I was upset.
“Mostly. I’m just still tired from being in Whisper for so long.”
“When I get back we’re going to the pool every day that you don’t work,” she promised. “And we’ll go shopping to get you all outfitted for college.”
“I got fired,” I started crying. “Burke cheated on me and got his baby mama pregnant and I broke up with him and he lied and said I was being unprofessional so I got fired over the phone.” I was talking so fast she probably didn’t understand a word I was saying.
“I never liked Burke,” she said. “And no store means more pool. You were going to quit at the end of the summer anyway.”
“Yeah,” I sniffled. “I just didn’t want you and dad to be disappointed in me.”
“We could never be disappointed in you. We’ll talk more when I’m home okay? Go tell everyone that their parents are incoming so they should clean up the houses.”
“Will do,” I said.
“Love you.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
I hung up the phone and Flynn patted my back. “Your parents are coming home?”
“Our parents are coming home,” I corrected him. “And not a moment too soon.”
Flynn pulled me to my feet. “You should go do something relaxing,” he suggested. “Something about you just screams that you’re stressed.”
“I wonder what,” I said dryly. “But you bring up a valid point. I think I’m going to take a bubble bath.”
“You should do that.”
Flynn and I dashed to the house. Flynn went into his domain and I retreated into mine. Once I got upstairs a bubble bath didn’t sound appealing so I just took a quick shower. I was so out of sorts that I didn’t even put on my makeup. Or style my hair. I just pulled it back into a pony tail. “My, my, don’t you just look like a heartbreaker,” I said to my reflection. More like an eye breaker.
Since I was officially on vacation I put on my favorite cut off shorts and one of the tank tops that I have an unending supply of. I pulled on a zip up sweater and stepped out into the hallway. From there I had a perfect view of Flynn tossing his bags into the back of his car. He’d gone on one of his mystery trips one day and come back with it. And now he was using it to escape. “What the hell does he think he’s doing?” I asked no one specifically.
I practically flew down the stairs, stopping only to step into my favorite black flats at the door. Then I was running across the porch, down the steps, and across the yard. I blocked the end of the driveway just in time. Luckily Flynn had fast reflexes so he stomped on the brakes before running into me. Even so the bumper was almost brushing my knees.
“What were you thinking?” he threw open his door, all the better to yell at me.
“I don’t know,” I yelled back, blinking as the wind drove the rain straight into my eyes. “Maybe that my brother was ditching me.”
“I’m not ditching you,” he replied defensively. “I’m…I just… I
can’t do it, okay?”
“Do what?” I was so confused.
“I can’t meet Mom and Dad. I’ve been gone for ten years. I don’t…” he broke off. Then he shook his head. “I’m leaving and you can’t stop me.”
“Then what am I doing?” I asked sarcastically.
“Move.”
“Nope.”
“Move.”
“Never.” I defiantly crossed my arms. Shayla and Kendall were standing on the front porch, observing even though it was raining. I’m sure this was quite a show.
“Cortland, don’t make me hurt you.” He was gripping the door of the car so hard his knuckles were white.
“Flynn, don’t make me hurt you,” I countered.
“Cortland!”
“I’m not moving. Some of us aren’t cowards.” Yep, I went there. I called him out. He had two options, prove me wrong or prove me right. Or slam the door shut and get in my face.
“You have no idea what I’m going through.”
“Cry me a river,” I said harshly. “You bitch at me because we never bothered to find you and now that your family is coming back you’re abandoning us.”
“It’s complicated.”
“It’s not you, it’s me,” I said. “That’s what you were going to say next. This is like a tacky break up scene in a movie except you can’t break up with family.”
“Corty, I’m asking you to let me go.” He looked like he was in pain. Something inside me broke. I couldn’t make him stay here and be unhappy.
“Don’t call me Corty,” I snapped at him. “Just go. Find Cael and compare your leaving techniques.”
I started for the house, so ticked that I could barely see. Oh wait, that was the tears in my eyes. I heard the slam of a car door and knew that he was really going to do it. I couldn’t believe it. Flynn was going to leave me too. Then I heard the engine stop.
What? I didn’t turn, just continued my stormy exit. I was so… ugh, he frustrated me. You didn’t look for me, I don’t want to be here anymore. Bite me, I’m done.
“Cortland! Cortland!” He was coming after me. Ha. I don’t think so, bro.
“Bite me,” I swung around. Maybe with a little too much enthusiasm because I socked him in the gut. He doubled over. “I’m done.”
I turned to walk away and he tackled me at the knees. “Let me go,” I said furiously, trying to keep my face out of the wet grass. “I’m drowning.”
“Good,” he said, holding me down. “You deserve it. Now, listen to me-“
I channeled my rage and got loose of him. Then it was my turn to tackle him. I started throwing punches, most of which he dodged, but that was only because I wasn’t trying to do any damage. “No, you listen to me, you jerk. You promised. You promised. You told me that you were going to be there. You told me. You’re a liar. You’re a liar and I hate you.”
Flynn flipped me over his head and the two of us sprang to our feet, braced to block a hit. “I didn’t lie to you. I wouldn’t. I just can’t do this.”
“Coward.”
He jumped forward and got me in a headlock. “Stop saying that.”
“Coward.”
“Stop it.”
“Coward,” I said slowly, drawing it out.
“I’m the coward? You’re the one that bailed on a relationship just when it started getting serious. You hid behind the situation the entire time and used it to justify how you were getting closer to Cael and once it was over you had nothing to hide behind. It was all on you. And apparently you weren’t enough.” He didn’t mean it, I know that. No matter how angry he was with me, he would never deliberately hurt me. But that didn’t make it stop hurting.
My breath caught. That was a low blow. I stopped struggling, going limp. Then Flynn realized what he’d done. “Cortland… I didn’t mean it… Cort…” His grip loosened and I pulled away, running for the front door.
I pushed through Shayla and Kendall, not even bothering to shut the door after me. I dashed up the stairs and made it to my room. I turned and got the satisfaction of slamming my bedroom door in Flynn’s face. He knocked on the door. “Cortland, please open the door. I’m sorry.”
I measured my options. Would it carry more weight if I yelled to go away or if I stayed silent? I went with the silent approach. He continued to knock. “Please just let me in. I didn’t mean it. Cortland?” Silence.
Two hours later I was on my bed, flipping through the latest issue of Seventeen magazine, and he was still at my door. From what it sounded like, he was sitting and leaning his back against my door. “Cortland, you can’t ignore me forever. You have to come out sometime. And I give you five more minutes before I break down this door.”
He couldn’t see me but I rolled my eyes and mocked him. “Imma break down the door,” I muttered to myself in what passes as my manly impersonation. “Go for it.” I flipped to the next page. Ooh, I loved that outfit.
The house was super silent. Maybe everyone else had gone home. No. They would be waiting in case I needed help hiding the body. Not the point. The quiet allowed me to hear the garage door open. In seconds my magazine was tossed to the floor and I was leaping from my bed. I threw open the door, stepping around Flynn as he fell to the floor, not expecting that. I made it down the steps and got to the front door in time to wrap my mom in a bone-crushing hug. “Mom!” I said, happily. “I’m so glad you’re home.”
“I am too. Why is everyone here? And what happened to my lamp?” she asked, hugging me back and then looking around.
“We figured it was safer in one place. And the lamp…well…”
“Those damn assassins came in here and broke it,” Monty said quickly. “It was a major fight.”
“They broke a plate too,” Shayla added quickly. I hid the smile.
“Well, as long as that’s all that got broken. I’m so happy to see all of you,” my mom wrapped Shayla and Kendall in a hug, and then turned to Asher and Monty. “Cam, I didn’t know you were involved.”
“Yeah, my brother and I are Guardians. We decided to help.”
“And I thank you for it,” she gave him a hug too. He was a little surprised but recovered in time to hug her back.
My dad burst in through the door, lugging a bunch of bags. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it.”
“Daddy,” I chirped happily, leaping at him. He dropped the bags and gave me a hug. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” he said. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I had help, believe me,” I said. “But you would not believe what happened.”
“Knowing all of- most of you,” he corrected when he saw Cam. “I’m sure you’ve got some good ones.”
I saw Flynn start down the stairs. He looked extremely nervous. Pale. Maybe he would throw up. That brightened my mood. “You have no idea,” I said. My dad looked up from me, still smiling, and froze when he saw Flynn. My mom turned and her breath caught. “Mom, Dad, I’d like for you to meet-“
“Ethan,” my mom managed, at his side in a split second. She wrapped him in a hug and I swear I could hear ribs breaking. “It’s really you.”
“Yeah, it’s me…Mom.”
I was smiling as tears, happy this time, sprang into my eyes. My dad shook his hand and did the man hug, you know, one arm involved in the handshake, the other pounding the back in a manly fashion. What the heck? I was still mad as hell at Flynn but I wanted in on the family moment. The family moment that lasted until Shayla and Monty sighed. “Aww.”
“You know what,” my mom began. “Why don’t we invite everyone over for dinner tomorrow night? Then we can all hear the good stories narrated by the team.”
“Sounds good,” everyone chorused.
Since everyone else went to their own house, Flynn got upgraded to a guest bedroom. Cam got his own room. That left me, sitting in my lonely room, looking out the window.
The next day was like a breath of fresh air. Dad had to go to work but when I woke up I got to have a cup of coffee with my mom. Flynn, Cam, and I went after the horses in the afternoon. Flynn turned out to be quite the horse whisperer, getting even the worst of them to load without a problem. As dinner rolled around I was in the kitchen, helping Mom get things rolling. Shay and her parents showed up first. I got demoted to table setter, with assistance from Shay, while her mom took my spot in the kitchen. Soon all the moms were in the kitchen and the rest of us were sitting in the living room, watching a baseball game. I don’t even like baseball but it is America’s favorite pastime.
“Dinner’s ready,” Mom announced from the dining room table.
“Look at this table,” I said out loud. “Wonderful.”
“Whoever did this, it is amazing,” Shayla chimed in.
“The silverware is in the wrong order,” Asher observed as he took a seat.
The two of us made faces at him as we sat next to each other. The dining room table had been taken from Whisper when my parents left it, so it magically stretched as you added plates and food and everything else associated with dinner. Watching it stretch to accommodate the chairs and plates used to be interesting but now it was just normal. Once we were all seated I looked around. “Mom, why is there an extra plate?”
“Sorry I’m late,” came an apologetic voice.
My hand clenched around a fork. Shay snorted the water she’d just taken a sip of. On my other side, Kendall stiffened and slowly turned her head to look. He wouldn’t dare.
“Cort,” he acknowledged me, planting a kiss in my hair as he circled the table. Then Cael took a seat next to my mom and dad. He smiled at me. Oh yes, he would.
-Chapter 10-