The first order of business was to head into town and make sure no one had noticed the huge explosion. Cael went with me, since he was my Guardian. My car was looking a little rough around the edges, with the bullet holes in it and what not, so I took the old pick up. My destination, gossip central.
I parked in the store parking lot, checking out the cars parked in the employee section. It was a habit. I took the keys out of the ignition and leaned back.
“Is there something wrong?” Cael asked, sounding a little concerned.
“I haven’t been in here since I was fired via a phone call to my friend. It’s bound to be awkward.”
“I can handle awkward.”
“There will be probing questions, whispers, and possibly taunting and dirty looks, depending on the workers and the customers.”
“I can handle questions, whispers, taunts, and dirty looks. Why would your co-workers taunt you?”
“It’s entirely possible that I was a perfectionist and I knew that I did my job well. They all tended to hate me.”
“You? A perfectionist? No.”
I smacked him. “Don’t mock me.”
I reluctantly opened the door and looked at the grocery store. Sigh. This was not going to be fun. Cael walked around the truck and got my hand. I dug my feet in. Cael sighed and stepped in close, wrapping his arms around me. “I find it hard to believe that you can stare down tons of Otherworldlies and take on assassins and get blown up and shot at but you can’t step into that little grocery store.”
I hadn’t resisted, enjoying the feel of him holding onto me, breathing in his scent. “Don’t mock me,” I repeated quietly.
He rubbed my back. “I will be right there, with you, returning the dirty looks and whispering gibberish to you, because two can play that game.”
I looked up at him and smiled. Because there were no words that could describe the warm, happy feeling that was throughout me, I kissed him lightly on the lips. Cael cared. He cared about me. It meant a lot to me.
I threw my shoulders back and went to confront the dragon in its den. I walked in and a few of the customers, regulars that knew me by name, greeted me. “Where you been, girlie?” one called.
“I’ve been busy,” I called back with a smile. The two cashiers smirked. I remembered Cael’s pep talk and smirked back. I may have been fired but on the plus side, I was no longer standing for hours at a time dealing with rude people and bloody chicken dripping all over my check stand.
I grabbed a basket and headed for the action. In the amount of time it took me to get through seven aisles I managed to bump into four of the biggest know-it-alls of the town. I juggled questions about my parents, Cael, and the loud boom coming from my direction. “Yeah, I did hear that,” I said, truthfully. “I had no idea what it was.” And there was the lie.
Cael and I headed for the line when I groaned. “What?” Cael asked.
The what was Creepy Bob. He gets the nickname because his name is Bob and he’s, well, creepy. If you’re a female between the ages of sixteen and forty, odds are he’s checked you out or hit on you. If you’re a male between sixteen and forty, he’s given you advice on how to treat a lady. If by lady you mean two bit hooker with every STD under the sun. I didn’t want Cael to have to be scarred for life by a conversation with him so I lined up behind him. I immediately turned and started talking to Cael.
I was in mid-sentence when I saw Cael’s face turn to stone. Without turning I knew Creepy Bob was probably checking out my ass. I slightly shook my head at Cael, knowing that Creepy Bob would turn his attention to the checker girl who couldn’t get away. But with his talent, he managed to suck me into his lame-o conversation.
“How much is that lotto up to?” I heard him ask the unfortunate checker. I quickly checked over my shoulder. Yep, I’d had that blank, please-get-the-hell-outta-here look on my face a load of times. Even with no encouragement that man could drag on a conversation.
“I don’t know. I think it’s like twenty million.”
Creepy Bob whistled. “I could live off of that. A man would be mighty rich.”
“Yup.”
“A man with that much money could bag him any pretty little thing he wanted.”
I made a gag face and Cael snorted. If that checker kept a straight face I would be pretty impressed.
And his creepiness continued. “Hell, I bet Legs here would marry me.”
I closed my eyes. Please, let him not be talking about me. A grimy hand came down on my shoulder. “What say you, Curly?”
I turned, making it necessary for him to remove his hand. “You aren’t my type, no matter how much money you had.” Thank god I didn’t have to be polite anymore because I was an employee.
“What if I were the last man on earth?” he asked, grinning at me. I’m sure he thought he looked rakish. Epic fail.
“I’m afraid,” or gleeful, “to say that it’s still a no.” A hell no.
He looked me up and down one more time and then looked at Cael. “You say that now but just wait until hotshot here loses his looks.” Then he moseyed out of the store.
The disgusted, stunned look stayed on my face. There was a similar look on the innocent checker’s face. “I suppose he thinks he still has his looks,” Cael said dryly.
The checker scanned the few items I had. I numbly handed her the cash. “I think I might throw up,” I said.
“I would if I were you,” the checker sympathized. “He touched you.”
I shuddered. “I need to burn this shirt immediately.”
I was handed my change and Cael followed me out of the store. “So what was that all about?”
“That, my friend, is Creepy Bob. He believes that he’s the greatest gift to womankind and his type is female. That was actually fairly mild in his creepiness. I’d rate it at maybe a four.”
“He checked out your ass. He stared at it for about thirty seconds.”
“So a five, maybe a five and a half. Trust me, he gets creepier.” We were in the truck. I was wearing a white V-neck over a pink tank top. The white shirt came off. Cael looked at me curiously. “He touched it,” I explained.
I stepped in the house and Flynn looked up from the kitchen table. “Where’s your shirt?” he narrowed his eyes at the two of us.
“Creepy Bob touched me.”
Flynn shook his head. “That means nothing to me.”
Shayla made a disgusted sound from beside him. “Sick. You should bleach where ever he touched you.”
“Creepy Bob…” Kendall mused. “I feel like I should know this. You two have talked about him before. Wait, is this the guy that watched you at the gas station?”
“That’s the one,” I settled at the kitchen table. “That’s a ten on the creepy scale.”
“I’m so confused,” Flynn said.
“There was this creepy guy at the store that checked out Cortland and hit on her. He insinuated that she would hook up with him once I got ugly.”
Campbell snorted. “The men in our family never lose their looks.”
“Really?” I smiled at Cael.
“Yeah, really.” Cael smiled back, leaning closer.
Flynn coughed. “Please do not show affection in my sight.”
“Prude,” Kendall coughed. He shot her a dirty look.
“Did we find anything?” I asked them, picking up one of the books that was flipped open on the table.
“We?” Monty repeated. “You were at the store.”
“I was molested at the store,” I corrected.
“Wait. I want to hear more about how this guy is a ten for watching you at the gas station,” Cam interjected.
“I was putting gas in my car and I turn and he’s kneeling on the ground, behind the gas thingy, staring at me. To this day I don’t know how he got there without me seeing him or how long he was there.”
“He’s unnatural,” Shayla said. “And disturbing.??
?
Flynn rolled his eyes. “Now that I’ve added another name to my must-hunt-down list, can I get to the important stuff?”
“Who else is on this list?” Cael asked.
Flynn just looked at him and smiled. I bit back my own smile. “Anyway, they’ve tried to totally screw her over. She doesn’t even have half of the power that she should have.”
“How do I get this power?” I asked. “If it involves being crowned by the Whisper equivalent of a pope, I don’t think they’ll agree to that.”
“Nope. Better.” He slid a book to me. Cael snatched it away before I even read three words.
He read it quickly, putting it back down on the table in front of him. I slid it over towards me, scanning it, waiting to get to the interesting part. “So all she has to do is get to the crown at the top of that tower and we’re good.”
“Why do I even bother reading?” I asked, putting the book down in front of me. “Tell me more.”
“If you get to the top of this tower in the far, lonely corner of Whisper, you grab the crown. Then you’re officially Queen and you will have even more power. Plus you can tap into anything anyone is doing. Hell, we could take over the castle,” Flynn said.
“I bet somewhere in that castle is the answer to this whole mystery,” I mused out loud. “Mack kind of left a lot blank.”
The eight of us stared at each other. There was a lot to consider. Things were about to get a whole lot more dangerous and once we went in, there was no coming back. “I won’t think any less of anyone who chooses not to go,” I said quietly.
“What the hell?” Kendall burst out. “Why would you even say that?”
“Because I’m still taking flak about not asking permission to give your powers back. I feel like I should give you a chance to step out of the line of fire.”
“We’re your best friends,” Monty said. “You’ve never stepped out of the line of fire and you stayed there for us.”
“I think I speak for everyone when I say that we stay, win or lose,” Cam said.
I had to fight to keep the tears from welling in my eyes. I had some of the greatest friends anyone could ask for. “Ok,” I said steadily. “So, Flynn, o mighty plan master, what’s on the agenda?”
“Get packed. We leave for Whisper in three hours.”
We all nodded and pushed back from the table. “And by packing I don’t mean cute little outfits and shoes. One pair of shoes!” he called after us.
“I feel like he’s directing that at you and me,” Shayla said. “I resent that.”
Cael had never really unpacked so he sat at my desk and advised me. “Why would you take that?” he asked as I folded up another tank top.
I shot him a dirty look and tossed the tank top at him. “Fine. Have it your way.”
“If you pack that bag full of clothes Flynn will draw and quarter you.”
I picked up the bag and dropped it in his lap. “As you will note, the bag was already half full of emergency weapons. You’re not the only one who plans for every contingency.”
Cael dropped the bag on the floor next to his. “I am impressed that it only took you forty minutes to pack.”
“What can I say?” I sat on the edge of my bed. “I’m that good.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I’m done packing and Flynn has actually given me approval,” Shayla burst in. “Then he sent me up here to chaperone.”
“Of course he did,” Cael said.
“So.” Shayla bounced up and down on the bed beside me. “What are we going to do?”
“I am going to nap,” I decided. “Since none of us are apt to be getting any sleep until this is all over.”
“Good plan.” Shayla just toppled backwards. I giggled.
“Cute, Shay.”
“I am packed and Flynn approves,” Monty announced from my doorway. “Are we napping?”
Shayla pulled me backwards as she pretended to snore. “Apparently,” I said.
She belly flopped on the bed next to Shay. “Awesome.”
“Flynn sent you up here to chaperone because he thought I would be easily rid of,” Shayla accused.
“And here comes Kendall, probably also bearing approval from Flynn and the orders to chaperone his baby sister,” Cael got to his feet. “Apparently he needs my help but doesn’t want to ask.”
“I can neither confirm nor deny,” Kendall said, stretching out next to me.
“Yeah, well,” he looked at the four of us awkwardly, our legs hanging over the edge of my bed. “You crazy kids behave yourself. Cortland, I….will see you later.”
“Bye, Cael, have fun,” the four of us chorused.
“He was so going to say the ‘L’ word,” Shayla hissed once he was out of the room. “How sweet.”
“I was serious about nap time,” I said, closing my eyes. That might have stopped the conversation but it didn’t stop the smile.
“I told you to wear something that wouldn’t stand out on a tower covered in vines,” Flynn said to Kendall, Shay, and I.
“Hence the camouflage,” Kendall gestured at her outfit.
“Smartasses,” Flynn said, turning away.
Kendall bit back her smile. We had totally just won a skirmish against Flynn.
I was wearing camo capri sweats and a camo V-neck. The patterns totally didn’t match and that was driving me nuts. So as not to push Flynn over the edge I’d settled for black sneakers instead of my favorite heels. But I’d snuck those into my bag. “What’s the plan?” Shayla asked. We got no answer.
Ten minutes later, the three of us were looking up the vine covered tower. “You want us to climb that?” I asked.
“That’s the plan.”
“Isn’t there a door? Stairs?” Shayla grabbed my arm. “Do you think fairies have discovered elevators?”
I gave her a look and then focused on Flynn. “I don’t think this is safe.”
“You three will blend in and no one is around here, anyway. You guys have your weapons and after all the training, I know the three of you can handle this.” Flynn just looked at me, sincerity all over his face. “I’m sending up you three because oddly you’re the most attuned to each other.”
Kendall wiped her hands on her camo cargo pants. “Let’s get to it.” She was already pulling herself up the tower.
I rolled my eyes and started up after her. Shayla sighed. “You know I hate physical exercise.” But she grudgingly started climbing.
“This is stupid,” I said, halfway up. “When does it end?”
“Let’s get to it,” Shayla mocked Kendall. “Woo hoo. My hands are scraping away.”
“I was in the zone until your negativity bitch slapped it out of this realm,” Kendall muttered, pulling herself up. “Blah blah, my arms hurt, blah.”
“Okay, guys,” I said breathlessly. “This will be a lot less painful if we are supportive.”
“Ouch.” Kendall sucked in a breath and pulled her hand back. “Do these vines have sharp things on them?”
“I haven’t run into any yet,” I said. Great, another thing to worry about. Sharp vines. “Are you okay?”
“Nothing a little super healing won’t fix,” she said, reaching for a different vine.
Kendall was in the lead for the climb since she was the most focused. She gets into her own little world and doesn’t feel the burn in her arms. She was to my left. To my right and only slightly above me was Shayla. I hated being last. But this long climb was starting to get to me. I hadn’t looked down too gauge how far we’d gone because I really didn’t want to know how high above ground I was.
I reached up into a particularly green clump and was a little shaken when the vines pulled from the tower wall. Great, now I needed to worry about a vine coming loose and plummeting to my death. I was even more shaken when I pulled myself up via another vine and came face to face with a skull.
I shrieked and lost grip with one hand, swinging away from the skull. I frantically grabbed at another vine and clung to it, breathing deeply.
“What is your problem?” Kendall looked down at me. And then we were all a little distracted.
Apparently in fairy land, vines can come to life. Especially when its defense is part of a rite of passage for anyone trying to reach the crown.
Vines started wrapping around Kendall and she pulled out the sword that was hanging down her back. Shayla sped up the climbing, mostly tearing the vines before they had a chance to get a grip on her. A vine wrapped around my ankle. I followed Kendall’s lead and pulled out my sword. Hacking really slows down climbing. And the longer I stayed in one spot, the more it seemed like the vines were condensing in this area.
“Quit fighting,” I yelled up at Kendall. “Keep climbing.”
She slung her sword over her shoulder again and kept climbing. I did the same. “Ow,” I cried out when my hand encountered something sharp. Damn vines. Shayla was pulling herself in through the window at the top. Kendall was almost there. Now that I had good incentive I was moving pretty fast myself.
Shayla helped pull Kendall in. “Come on, Cort,” she encouraged me, leaning out.
“Shut up,” I muttered, reaching up. A vine snaked out and wrapped around my wrist. I couldn’t pull loose. I couldn’t cut myself loose because then I wouldn’t be holding on to anything. “A little help,” I called out.
Kendall reached out and started hacking at the vines that could be the one gripping me. It let out a little shriek and let go, gone as fast as it had appeared. I double timed it to the top, grabbing the window sill. My arms chose that moment to go all weak on me. The vines attacked with a vengeance, wrapping around my legs and hips. Kendall and Shayla both got a grip on me and started pulling me in. The vines snapped free and the three of us tumbled in through the window.
“Great job, team,” I said once I could breathe.
The three of us untangled ourselves and got to our feet, warily glancing around. “If I were a crown, where would I hide?” Shayla asked.
“I don’t know. Stick close and be prepared for anything,” I warned.
It was sort of anti-climactic when we turned the corner and there sat a bunch of crowns. The three of us held our swords out at the ready, waiting for monkeys with poisonous dart guns to pop out. “So which crown is the one we’re supposed to take?” Shayla asked.
“I don’t know. It’s probably some sort of test. She who goes for the shiny one with the most jewels dies.”
“So the shiny one on the end is out,” Kendall said wryly.
Shayla had carefully moved in closer to the crowns. “I think this one is for the Queen,” she pointed at one nestled on a small pillar in the center. “And the rest of them,” she looked over a few others. “They’re for like your lords and dukes and so on.”
“So if I grab you guys a crown, you’d get more powers too,” I guessed. “Shay, grab three. I’ll grab three. And Kendall grabs two so she can defend us on the way down.”
“I am not climbing down,” Shayla informed me, as she prepared to pick up a small crown.
“Wait!” Kendall burst out.
“Yes?” I asked, hands over my crown.
“It’s been too easy getting here. I bet these things are going to go all Indiana Jones on us and once we lift the crown there’s a booby trap.”
“So…”
“We’re going to have to grab as many at one time as possible.”
“Okay. So you get those two. I’ll grab the three clustered in the center. Shay, you try to get those three at that end.”
“On the count of three,” Kendall said steadily. “One…two…three!”
The three of us snatched up our assignments and clutched them to our chest. I personally ducked while Kendall jumped to the side and Shayla jumped back. “Nothing happened,” Shayla giggled.
“Nada.” We were all laughing at our ridiculous reactions when there was this grating noise.
The three of us looked at each other. “What was…” Kendall’s last word was drowning in our screams as the floor became a freaking stone slide.
We were plummeting through the tower, not able to stop or slow ourselves down. The stone floor was uneven, making it a little painful on the butt and back. At least I was sliding down the center so I didn’t have to worry about the furniture like Kendall and Shayla. They were trying their best to avoid hitting little tables and stands but weren’t doing so hot. A crown slid out of Shayla’s grasp and I grabbed for it.
Then suddenly the hallway narrowed. And when I say narrow, I mean I don’t know how the three of us were going to fit through it.
Kendall jammed into the wall first, getting maneuvered into the center, right ahead of me. Shayla was shoved into me, so the two of us clutched each other. Kendall grabbed onto my legs. The three of us screamed again when we saw the line of spikes sticking out of the floor. These were going to hurt.
I closed my eyes because I didn’t want to see myself impaled. However, we made it through relatively unscathed since the spikes were glass. We just crashed through them. The floor seemed to tilt more and we started sliding faster. By now I was ready for this ride to be over. The castle had other ideas.
We got a quick tour of the obstacles we would have had to face if we’d come up this way. Wooden spikes that jabbed out of the wall. Fire balls shooting out of the floor. A swinging pendulum shaped like an ax. Somehow we dodged them all.
Kendall somehow scooted so that she was even with us, clutching my other arm. All three of us tightened our hold when we saw the wooden doors that was dead ahead. I bet it was thick and sturdy and could break limbs. I turned my head and screamed.
Imagine my surprise when I realized that I wasn’t plummeting down a stone tower’s floor any longer. I opened my eyes and looked up and saw a rather amused looking Cael and Monty. A few more screams escaped before I composed myself. My next objective was to unhook my fingers from Shayla’s arm and untangle myself from my friends.
I sat up and the crowns slipped down my arms, hitting the ground. Flynn came loping out of the trees that surrounded the tower. Cam and Asher weren’t far behind. “Why was I hearing screaming?” Cam asked.
Kendall pushed herself up. “So it turns out, when you grab a crown, the floor drops.”
I poked Shayla. “Are you alive?”
“Ouch,” she groaned.
Cam nudged her with a foot. She smacked at him. “She’s okay,” he announced with a grin.
“Don’t screw with me,” she snarled. “I just slid down a very uneven stone floor, I got singed by fire balls, wooden stakes were jabbed at me, and I almost lost appendages in the pendulum room. Then I crashed through a freaking door, although I didn’t feel that last one. By then I was probably too numb. Maybe I died for a second.”
“You never hit the door,” Monty said. “Cael and I were circling the tower the entire time and we heard you screaming from the very top. We knew you were getting closer and that something had to be wrong so we threw open the door.”
“Then you three shoot out and skid to a stop, screaming the entire way,” Cael said, smirking. “Although they were hard to see with the camouflage.”
Flynn bent to pick over one of the crowns. It must have tumbled out after Shay or Kendall. “Why did you grab a bunch of them?”
“We weren’t sure which crown to pick,” I said, dusting off the one that Shay had said was mine. “Plus it was deduced that if my crown gave me more power, giving you all a crown would help you guys out.”
“Brilliant deduction, Watson,” Flynn said. “Well… gear up, everyone. We’ve got a castle to take over.”
“The guards around the house haven’t reported any movement.” That was Blondie speaking. Her hair was shorter and a little uneven. A little reminder of being singed on a ship, perhaps? I would feel bad
except, oh yeah, she was trying to kill me.
“Is that unusual?” The lady pacing back and forth and talking in a snobbish manner must be the queen.
“Very. Normally at least one of them comes outside to train or check on things. The boys say it’s hard not to take advantage of their stupidity.”
“I don’t like this.” That was my hideous trainer. “I know that worthless whelp. She’s never not up to something.”
The twelve or so people in the room nodded in thoughtful agreement. I took that as good a moment as ever to make my entrance. “Would you look at this? It looks like the worthless whelp got to the crown,” I stepped out from the servant’s entrance. “So I guess that means that this is my castle.”
Blondie angrily rushed at me but Flynn blocked her with some power from his spot up in the rafters. He threw her into my ex-trainer and some other fairy guy that was out to get me. Flynn jumped down, doing a flip and landing gracefully in an aggressive stance. My foes, which had been mostly faceless to me up to this point, stared at me angrily.
I paced slowly back and forth. “Now I hear that there’s this three day grace period where if the Queen of Whisper, that’s me,” I paused to smile and pat the crown that was situated on top of my head, “dies, Whisper can stretch out and end all the other realms. Now, not only do I like my realm, but I also like not dying. So…” I clapped my hands together. The rest of my friends stepped into view. “Kendall, would you like to tell them what they’ve won?”
“Congratulations. You’ve won an indefinite stay in the lovely dungeons in the cold, musty, leaky basement of the castle. Also included in the package are the finest meals I deign to bring you, cots that maybe aren’t carrying the bubonic plague, and rats that definitely are. And if you’re wondering how the hell we got in this castle, you might want to start treating the servants a little nicer.”
The livid looks on their faces almost made my day. But not quite. Seeing their livid faces behind the bars of the dungeon’s smallest cell, yeah, that did it. We all went down there to make sure everyone got locked up nice and tight and that there was no way out. I could hear the rats squeaking. I went up the rickety wooden stairs first, waiting to the side until Flynn closed and locked the heavy wooden door. “I feel bad leaving them down there in the pitch black,” I said guiltily.
“Corty, those jackasses would kill you and not break a sweat. They’ve done much worse to other people. Leaving them in the dark is pretty mild compared to what I want to do.”
“He’s right, Cort,” Cael agreed. “Plus we don’t want to give them anything that they can use to get out.”
“Unless we want to make it look like a fair fight when we take them out,” Shayla said.
“Have I ever told you that I like the way you think?” Flynn smacked her on the back.
She winced. “Nope. You tell me that I’m stupid a lot.”
“I apologize for that. And uh, Shay, since you are the best cook out of the lot and I don’t want to risk us all getting poisoned, do you want to check out the kitchen? Cam will go with you to be your back up.”
Shayla rolled her eyes. “You’re kidding me.”
“It’s either that or hit the books with us.”
Shay’s face lit up with a smile. “So guys, what do you want for dinner?”
“Why are you putting the best researcher in the kitchen?” Montgomery asked. “Not your smartest move.”
“Deal with it.”
Two days in the castle had me ready to end this mess. The whole no hot water thing was a downer as was their lack of indoor plumbing. Plus I’d spent two thirds of my days scanning through stinky Whisper books. I’d learned a lot about nothing. The only thing we’d accomplished was the adding of guests to our dungeon resort. As the guards came to the castle to check in, the servants would give us a heads up and we’d surprise them. It was almost boring how easy everything was all of a sudden.
There was a knock on my door. I looked up and waved at Flynn. “Making your daily rounds?” I asked snippily.
“Just trying to keep you in line and keep the knowledge coming,” he said briskly. “Got anything interesting?”
I pursed my lips and looked down at my notebook filled with doodles. I had written something down somewhere. “Ummm…” I flipped back a few pages. Flynn was standing, arms crossed, looking mildly annoyed or amused. “In Whisper, you are married once you each tie a knot on the other’s person.”
“How is that useful?” Flynn asked dryly.
“You didn’t say useful, you said interesting.”
“I don’t even see how that’s interesting.”
“Well, according to Whisper traditions, I am now married to Shayla, Kendall, Monty, Cam, and Cael. If I go tie Asher’s shoes, it will be official.”
“I’m done with you. I’m going to check everyone’s progress. We’ll meet and discuss in about an hour.”
I dismissively waved my hand. “I can hardly wait.”
I moseyed down the stairs about ten minutes later, not wanting to sit upstairs by myself anymore. Monty had her gear spread across the main table that we usually discussed at. Everything that had been discovered would be hashed out. Shayla would complain about having to cook. I’d complain about wanting a shower. Flynn would complain that we weren’t finding anything useful. We’d all argue and he’d banish us all to separate rooms of the castle so that we would have to work. I looked down at my notebook. Daisies and butterflies. Yep, his method was working.
“Hey, Cort,” Monty greeted me. “Does Flynn know you’re down here?”
“He just came and checked my work,” I rolled my eyes. “I needed human interaction so I came down here.”
She tossed her pencil down and slammed her book shut. “I am so sick of reading. Have you noticed that everyone in Whisper has horrible handwriting?”
“I have noticed that. My books have mold growing in them.”
“Maybe that’s what this is.” Monty flipped open a page and peered at the odd brown stain. I had a look of disgust on my face. She mirrored it. “Or maybe not.”
“Psst…” Monty and I looked up. Shayla was peering down from a few levels above us. “Is it clear down there?”
“Yes,” we called back.
“Oh, thank god.”
A few minutes later Shayla’s stuff was on the table. “If I have to read one more book or cook one more meal, I’m going to go nutso and kill us all.”
Monty spread her palms on the table and stared Shay down. “Do it. Put me out of this misery.”
“Look at this,” Shay slid her book across the table. “Look at that handwriting.”
“Look at this mysterious stain.” Monty held her book up.
“I just have mold.”
Shayla put her head down on the table. “I thought this was going to be action packed and interesting. This is torture. Boring torture.”
“Why does Flynn separate us?” Monty asked, tapping her pencil on her notebook. “This would be more bearable if I could talk to someone without it having to be of mass importance.”
“Maybe it’s because when we’re all together no work gets done because of the chitchat,” Kendall breezed into the room.
I stuck my tongue out at her. “Maybe if I wasn’t forced to store up all my chitchat I wouldn’t be so talkative.”
“Look, I just came down here because one of you has the second part to the book I started reading. This one seemed to know something.”
“Which book?” I asked.
Kendall didn’t reply, she just grabbed a book and flipped it open. She intently started reading, scribbling down some notes. The rest of us just stared at her. “She’s making us look bad,” Shayla muttered, grabbing her book. I rolled my eyes and pulled my book towards me. Monty did the same.
“My, my, this is the most I’ve seen three of you work this entire time,” came Flynn’s voice from behind us.
/> Monty and I simply flipped him off and continued reading. Shayla put her book down and narrowed her eyes at him. “Excuse me?”
“I forgot. You cook. This is the most I’ve seen two of you work.” Monty and I flipped him off again.
Cam, Asher, and Cael filed in next, taking their usual spots at the table. I closed my book, not that there was anything in there that would distract me, and patiently waited for Flynn to start talking. “Ok, team, so far we have nothing to report.”
I cleared my throat indignantly. Flynn sighed. “Cortland would like to report that she is married to Shay, Kendall, Monty, Cael, and Cam by Whisper standards.”
“Hey, Ash, your shoe is untied let me fix that.” Ash propped his foot on the table.
“It’s not…” I untied it with one pull of a lace.
I tied it with a flourish. “I have now added another to my list.”
“Congratulations, Polygamous Polly. If you could come up with something useful for a change, that’d be peachy.”
“You said interesting,” I muttered, pushing my notebook back.
Flynn turned his attention, or wrath, towards Kendall. “Kendall, it would be great if you would pay attention.”
I snickered when she didn’t even look up. “What is so interesting?” Monty asked, peeking over her shoulder.
Kendall scribbled one last sentence. Then she crossed her arms and leaned back, looking like the cat that ate the canary. “I just cracked the mystery.”
“Well, spill,” Flynn said, taking a seat. This was the first time I’d seen him sit since we’d gotten here. Flynn needed to learn to relax.
“It has something to do with a meteor shower that only comes around every thousand years or whatever. That I don’t really care about. There’s this portal that opens with some giant evil. If the giant evil gets the Queen before the whatever is done, Whisper will expand and destroy all the other realms. The big bad is in control.”
“How do we beat the big bad?” Cael asked. “Say nothing,” he silenced Ash and Cam with a look.
“That’s what she said,” Shay and I whispered. Then we faced the stony faced Cael and Flynn with completely serious looks on our faces.
“If the blood of a complete innocent, meaning someone who is not the Queen, someone who doesn’t even have Whisper powers, the bad guy gets destroyed. The kicker is anyone who’s been fraternizing with him gets taken out too.”
“So where do we need to go to spill some innocent blood?” I asked.
“Only the people in on the plan get the location revealed to them. Otherwise in another thousand years or whatever, it’ll happen again.”
“Where did you find this all out?” Flynn asked. “Is this source reliable?”
“From the Queen a thousand years ago. Someone tried to get her. Her Guardian locked her in a room for the remainder of the three days.”
“Good plan,” Cael got to his feet.
“Sit down,” I ordered. “I am not getting locked up into some room and let this pass me by. I want to stop it. What if the Queen in a thousand years isn’t strong enough to overcome it? The destruction of the world would be on us.”
“You just have to have a conscience,” Kendall sighed. “Who do we know that will be keen to come to another realm and get their hand sliced for the good of mankind?”
“No one,” Shayla answered.
“I have a better idea,” Flynn spoke up. “We don’t know where this portal containing the big bad is, correct?” We all nodded. “So we need to have one of the attempted assassins lead us there.”
“Get to the point,” Cael said. “Because I don’t think I’m going to like it.”
“They’re going to be after Cortland. If we let them out, they will take her to the big bad.”
“Which is a bad thing,” Shay said slowly.
“No. If Cortland has turned over her powers and we follow, Cortland slices herself, spilling the blood of an innocent. In case it’s not instantaneous, we will have followed, ready to kick butt and take names. Problem solved.”
“Problem not solved,” Cael said, voice starting to rise. “If she doesn’t have powers she can’t defend or heal herself.”
“They’re not going to hurt me because I have to be alive. And a little slice on my hand is better than being eaten by the big bad.”
“You’re not considering this, are you?” he asked incredulously.
“Of course I’m considering it,” I said, sitting up straight in my chair. “It’s the only way we have to end this.”
“Or we let it go. In a thousand years, we’re not going to be here. What do we care?”
“I care because hopefully my great-great-however many more great-grandkids will be roaming the earth. This is bigger than me, than you, than all of us. I have to do it.”
“No, you don’t. I could take you far away from here and we pretend that we’ve never heard of Whisper. We could get married, buy a house, and have ten kids if that’s what you want.”
Our friends were just staring at us, eyes wide. “You would do all that, just to keep me safe?”
“Yes!”
“Ooh, wrong answer,” Shay said from beside me. She leaned back in her chair and started twirling her hair, staring at Cael and me intently.
“How is that the wrong answer?” Cam asked her. Cael and I were rolling our eyes and glaring at each other.
“Because I know my best friend. And the answer to that question was no, I want to do all of that because I love you.” She put emphasis on love, adding some gestures to really get the point across.
I agreed. Shayla really can read my mind. Flynn cleared his throat. “This will work.”
“How do you know? The last time you looked into it, the Whisper goons never touched her and she and I were perfectly happy.”
My jaw dropped. “You had him See for you?”
“That’s what he does.”
“For good causes. Not probing into the future of his sister and his best friend. You cheated.”
“How is that cheating?”
“We’re not supposed to know what happens. We’re supposed to just live it. You just had him See because you were unsure how this was going to work out and you wanted to save yourself time and trouble so you had him see how we would work out.”
“I wanted to save you some heartbreak if I could.”
“By taking away the moments?”
“Moments?” Cael looked and sounded totally confused.
“If you watched TV you would know this. Charmed. Season six?” Shayla looked at me. I ignored her. I didn’t need her backup at the moment. Plus I had no idea what season it was from. Twelve? How many seasons was that show anyway?
“Yeah, moments. The moments where you look at everything and you think gee, I am really lucky. Gee, this sunset is so beautiful. Gee, I love this girl more than anything.”
“Gee, I do love this girl more than anything,” Cael pushed back his chair and got to his feet. “That’s why I’m stopping you from doing something that hasn’t been thought through.”
“There could be a better way,” Asher said quietly from his side.
“But nothing that we could find in this short window of time. They’ve been trying to get me forever. This three day time period has got to be soon.”
“Please don’t do this,” Cael said. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You’re not going to lose me. I trust all of you to not let me get hurt. So trust me to be able to do my job.”
“I do trust you-“
“Then stop arguing.”
“I’m not arguing-“
“Good. Kendall, how do I transfer my powers?”
“Well, you are the Queen. The formal way involves signing something and making it official but that won’t give away your powers.”
“You need to slice your hand and hold hands with someone else who has a slice and your blood will carry
it over.” Shayla proved once again that her book knowledge was a lifesaver.
“Cort, don’t do it. You’re going to regret this.”
“Don’t tell me what I’m going to regret,” I snapped at Cael, finally losing my patience. “I won’t regret any of this. At the moment I do regret ever falling in love with you.”
Cael sat back down, stunned. “Yeah, I said it. And I meant it. I’m not just blowing smoke to get you to do what I want.”
“I wasn’t blowing smoke. Holy shit, Cortland, I want to marry you.”
As touching as that proposal was, I coldly sliced my hand. Kendall was already slicing hers. Good. I knew if something did happen to me that Kendall could take care of herself and everyone else. She was strong, she could handle this. Probably better than me. “When hell freezes over,” I said to Cael as Kendall and I clasped hands over the table.
There was this spark that ran down my arm and went into Kendall’s hand. I didn’t feel any different. Wait. Pain. In my hand. And it wasn’t going away. “What’s next?” I asked Flynn, not betraying that my hand was on fire.
“I’ll set it up.”
“Thank you,” I said primly. “Now if we’re done here, I’m going to my room.”
I pushed away from the table and calmly walked out the door. Everyone else was too shocked to follow. Thank god. “Ow,” I hissed, looking at my hand. It hurt, so bad. “Goddamnit.” Never in my life have I wanted that hideous blue butterfly wing tattoo on my wrist so badly.
“Aw. Princess got an ouchy?” I stiffened. Now when Flynn said he would set it up I didn’t think he’d set it up this fast.
“Yeah, the Queen,” I stressed that word, “has a giant, blonde pain in her ass. Do you know a way I could get rid of that?”
“Let me give it a try.” I couldn’t get a fix on her location. But it wasn’t part of the plan for me to get away anyway so… there was this pain in the back of my head and it all went black. The last thing I heard was Blondie laughing.
-Chapter 9-