Chapter Thirteen
Several weeks passed and the paranoia began to wear off every time someone looked at me. Either that or I stopped paying so much attention. I think I’d mastered the art of ear coverage with my creativity. It was even a little comical the way I was complimented by others at school when I came with a different style. If I were smart, I’d tone it down to keep the attention from me—period.
“Do I get to meet your faery friends or are you ashamed of your human friends?” Cameron asked, matching my pace as I strode down the crowded hallway to English.
“Meet Declan and Kai?” I stopped, stepping to the side of the hallway and out of the way.
“Yes. Meet them,” he said as if I was slow, as if it shouldn’t make me uncomfortable.
I shifted from one foot to the other. “I don’t know. I guess you could, but I’m not sure if it’s all that good of an idea. They might not even want to show themselves to you.”
“They make themselves invisible to humans?” I nodded. “But they appear to you,” he clarified.
“I’m not completely human,” I said, hushed. “They don’t have to show themselves to me. I just see them like I see you.”
“Cool. So when do I get to meet them?” he persisted.
It was one thing to reveal that I was a faery to Cameron, but it was a whole other story to combine the two worlds. They would crash and burn.
“Are you sure you want to? I mean, they aren’t exactly the friendliest and I’m not sure bringing an outsider into their territory would make them very comfortable.” I tried to deter the idea in his head. I could only imagine the remarks Kai would make and the look on Declan’s face.
“You spend all your free time with them,” Cameron said. “Of course I want to meet them. I want to know who you deem worthy of spending time with. I want to make sure I can trust them.”
I rolled my eyes and started to make my way toward English again. “It’s not that I deem them worthy. They’re just the only ones I know.”
Cameron and I walked side by side down the hall, hips bumping, as we squeezed through others’ conversations. It felt so good to be just him and me again. This was how it was supposed to be. Just the two of us.
“Fine, but to be on the safe side would you park your jeep down the road from my house? If my mom comes home while we’re out there and sees your car I won’t be able to explain that.”
He chuckled. “Why don’t you just tell your mom, Callie? She’s going to figure it out sooner or later. She did fall in love with a faery,” he said under his breath. “It’s not as if she won’t believe you.”
“I know, but my dad asked me not to. And even though he kept this from me, I want to do as he asked. She’s dealing with a huge case right now. And when she does find out, it’ll fall on his shoulders. I’m only obeying him.”
“Oh, so that makes it okay,” he teased.
That did make me sound a little shady. “No, it’s just—”
“Cameron!” Isla called out from down the joining hallway and smiled widely.
Cam looked at me apologetically. “Duty calls.” He smirked. “I’ll be at your house no later than 4:00.”
“All right,” I surrendered. “But I still don’t know if it’s the best idea,” I said uneasily. “And they might not even be around. I didn’t tell them I would come today.”
“Live a little, would ya?” He winked at me before turning back to Isla.
Why couldn’t I have told him no? I breathed heavily and turned to head off to class.
Earlier that morning Dad told me he had a job so he wouldn’t be home waiting for me after school. That was a relief now with Cameron on his way, though if Dad was home it could have been my escape for the afternoon. But knowing Cameron, he would have just pressed and pressed to meet the Keepers until I let him sooner or later.
“They’re not going to lash out and challenge me to a duel of sword fighting, are they?” Cameron asked as we stepped out onto the back deck.
“What world do you live in where faeries are like medieval knights?”
“Hey, like you said… who’s to say what faeries are like? The only faery I’ve ever heard of is Tinkerbell. I’m giving your Keepers the benefit of the doubt, all things considered.”
I chuckled. “They won’t challenge you to a duel. But they probably will keep themselves invisible. I don’t know why I let you talk me into this.”
Cameron took hold of my hand when we reached the trees. I wanted to make a snarky remark about him being scared, but instead I invited the handholding and kept the remark to myself. I led the way without a word. He stumbled a few times on fallen logs and inconveniently placed rocks, but I kept him upright.
“How are you not tripping all over the place? It’s like a freaking maze in here.”
I shrugged. “I come out here a lot. I know where to step?” I offered.
“Yeah. More like you’re a faery and Grace should be your new name.” I smiled to myself at what appeared to be a compliment.
When I found our small clearing in the woods, Kai was the only one in sight. He sat with his back toward us on the fuzzy green-cloaked boulder; the ripple of his muscles emphasized with the way the sunlight hit him. The wooden flute played a beautiful melody from his position. He’d only ever played pointless notes and sporadic tunes before, but this was like a hauntingly soothing lullaby.
I wanted to stay quiet, listening to his music making, but Cameron took a step and snapped a twig, causing the music to stop and Kai to turn. Realization set in that I’d let go of Cameron’s hand and left him several feet behind me, having been pulled toward the music.
At first I couldn’t read Kai’s expression. He almost looked relieved, but then his expression changed back to unnerving Kai. “What an unsuspected surprise.” He hopped off the rock and sauntered over to us. “Who do we have here?”
I motioned between the two of them “Kai, this is Cameron. Cam, Kai.”
“You’re Cameron?” Kai laughed instantly. “I don’t understand what Declan was so worried about.”
“Shut up, Kai.” What did he mean by that?
“He’s here?” Cameron asked. “You see him?” His eyes drifted over the greenery, probing it from side to side, blinded because Kai obviously had kept himself hidden.
I sighed. “Kai, will you please show yourself so I don’t look like a crazy person staring off into space, talking to myself?”
“Only because you said ‘please.’ That’s all you had to do.”
Cameron didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure if he could see Kai until I turned back and saw the look on his face. Cameron’s eyes were wide, his mouth slightly hanging open. “You’re a faery?” he said disbelieving.
“In the flesh,” Kai remarked. “Declan will be sad he missed you,” he said, peering back at me with those arresting eyes.
“Where is he?” I asked, trying not to seem disappointed that he was missing.
“In Faylinn,” he said, matter-a-fact. “You should know the answer to that by now, Princess.”
“Princess?” Cameron chimed over my shoulder. He stood awkwardly hesitant. He pretended like he was all cool and comfortable with this world, but I knew him better. If he felt completely at ease I would have been worried.
“He likes to provoke me, and calling me princess does it pretty well.”
Cameron laughed. “My kind of guy.” He took a step forward and lifted his hand to high-five Kai, but Kai merely stood there, which in turn made me laugh. Kai looked to me for guidance. That was a first.
“He’s a faery, Cameron. They aren’t really familiar with human hand gestures.”
“Well, don’t leave me hanging,” Cam said, turning to me, so I smacked his hand to show Kai what Cameron had wanted.
“And what exactly was that?” Kai asked irritably, feeling left in the dark.
“A high-five. It basically means that you agree with what the other person is saying, or it’s a way of cheering and cong
ratulating someone. We, humans, use it for acceptance, camaraderie.”
“Oh, like a Root.”
Cameron and I raised our eyebrows and shared a look.
Kai walked over to me and took my hand in his without hesitation. My heart sputtered. His hands were strong and, although a little rough from living outdoors, they were gentle. He glided his hand up and laced his fingers around my wrist. I mirrored him, wrapping my hand around his wrist. When I lifted my eyes from our intertwined hands, Kai’s deep eyes stared back at me. They were an ever-changing form of purplish blue. Today purple won over the blue. His eyes never left mine as he spoke.
“It signifies unity, support. The Keepers use a Root whenever we relieve another Keeper of duty at the end of the day. Sometimes it’s used when a deal is made or when meeting before or after a long journey.” A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as his thumb lightly brushed the inside of my wrist, sending shivers down my body. “It was also used during the ceremony of bonding. One faery to another.” A twinkle danced across his eyes, jolting the beat of my heart. “I believe humans call them weddings.”
“That’s cool,” Cameron said, unaffected.
I, however, was trying to recover.
Kai didn’t let go, but I didn’t feel like we could stay that way without it getting awkward, so I reluctantly released myself from his soft grip, feeling a little piece of me slip away as I did it.
“It’s kind of like that, but a little more casual,” I said and shook off my initial reaction. Stupid Kai. He’d done that enchantment thing or whatever on me. I scowled at him, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Why is it called a Root?” Cameron asked.
“Do you know how redwood trees grow?”
Cameron and I shook our heads.
“Roots are the lifelines of a tree, their heart. While most tree roots grow downward deep into the soil, the roots of the redwood grow outward, intertwining with their neighboring roots as if holding hands. As they entangle around one another they strengthen, anchoring themselves, giving such solid support to each other there’s no way they could fall.”
“Why the holding of the wrists. Why not just a simple handshake?” I asked.
“You have major arties in your wrists. Lifelines. We’re holding one another’s lifelines in our hands. Don’t humans have a term ‘my life is in your hands’?” I nodded once. “Well, we use it in the literal sense.”
My heart sped up as I watched Kai. His gaze never wavered, steadfast and confident as he watched me. I felt so small and insecure in that moment.
Cameron rested his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to his side, almost possessively. “So, when Callie gets her wings, will she be able to fly?”
Subtle, Cam.
“Callie?” Kai seemed perplexed and agitated by Cameron’s nickname for me. As if everyone should call me princess to infuriate me. “Fly? Faeries don’t fly. We’re agile. We can climb great heights, leap far distances, and balance on a thread. Because of the wings it sometimes gets mistaken for flying, but the wings have no special abilities. They are merely one more way to define a female from a male.”
“So you spring from tree to tree like that one movie.” Cameron pointed with his free arm to the branches weaving above us. “Crouching tiger something or other.”
Kai, of course, had no idea what he was talking about and I’d never really seen a faery in action so I didn’t know, but to break the tension I said, “Yeah. Just like that.”
“Cool.” Cameron bobbed his head. “So, do you sleep in these trees or do you have houses?”
Kai made a face, a cross between amusement and annoyance. “I don’t mind sleeping in the trees, but I do have a bed that I go home to.”
“So, why are you here?” Cam asked bluntly. I nearly cut in because Kai’s face immediately closed off, obviously uncomfortable with Cam’s questioning, but I was curious too. I knew that he and Declan wanted space from Favner, but why always come to my backyard? I’d never asked why I needed protection.
“Why not?” he finally retorted.
Cameron didn’t have an answer. He shrugged, his arm never leaving my shoulder.
“It seemed a place better than any,” Kai said.
There was a silence between the three of us, only the soft breeze and rustling of leaves to break the silence.
I cleared my throat. “What are the houses like, Kai?”
“Well, it has four walls and a roof.”
“Wow,” I said. “How insightful of you? Do they have doors and windows too?”
He smirked out of the side of his mouth. “They even have walls inside to divide the rooms apart.”
I rolled my eyes. This was exactly why I never came to talk to Kai. He was so forthcoming with heaps of information. It was time for me to take Cameron home. “Well, Kai, thanks for the riveting faery lesson today. Tell Declan I was sad we missed him.”
“You can bet I will,” he said all too enthusiastically. I knew he wouldn’t.
Cameron didn’t want to leave, so I had to wrap my arm around his waist and lead him away as he watched Kai.
“Later, dude,” Cameron hollered.
Kai didn’t say anything and when I looked back he was gone. As always.
When we were close to the border Cameron said, “He wasn’t at all what I had expected. He was like a mix between that elf from Lord of the Rings and Tarzan.”
“Tarzan?” I said, laughing.
“Well, the whole bare chest thing. Do faeries wear shirts? Or are all the faeries topless because if that is the case you’re taking me to Faylinn right now.”
I shoved him. “I’ve seen them in shirts before. I think it just comes with the territory. It’s not as if they have air conditioning. They’re outside all the time.”
“You’ve never seen any female faeries before?” he inquired.
With a shake of my head I said, “They aren’t actually supposed to leave Faylinn, I don’t think. Declan and Kai get special permission or something.” I shrugged. I’d never really thought beyond that.
“Don’t you want to go to Faylinn?”
The mere thought of it terrified me. “Yes, in theory it’s intriguing, and, sure, I’m curious, but with the way Declan described Favner… what if he never let me leave once I set foot on their soil? I can’t take my chances with that. And I don’t want to be what Favner would make me.”
We reached the perimeter of my yard and he stopped. “He’s that bad, huh? You couldn’t just say, hey I’m visiting.”
I chuckled. “I don’t think it works like that.”
“That’s too bad.” He smirked.
I looked through the branches and vines toward the back of my house. “We need to do this very carefully and nonchalantly like we didn’t just walk out of these trees. I’ll go first.” I checked my phone. The light flashed on that it was 4:48. “My mom and dad shouldn’t be home yet, but if one of them is, I don’t want to get you tangled up in this, too. Once I reach the house I’ll signal to you, okay?”
Cameron agreed.
I walked up the back steps of our deck and peered into the window of my house. Mom was at the kitchen table with her back to the window. Crap. She was home early. She hadn’t seen me, but if she looked outside at all and hadn’t already seen me in the back she would wonder where I was coming from. As if sensing my presence she started to twist in the chair toward me. I dropped to the ground, out of sight and crawled away as fast as I could, which turned out to be pretty swift.
When I looked out to the trees Cameron wasn’t in view, but I knew he could see me, so I pointed to the side of the house and motioned for him to stay put. If I could get in through the front door and distract her to keep her from looking outside, he could get away.
I steadied my breathing before opening the front door. “Hello?” I called out into the house.
“In here,” she called back from the same place she had been, thankfully.
I strolled through the hallway to the
kitchen. Be cool. “Hey, Mom,” I said. “You’re home early.”
“Hi, Calliope. Yeah, I finished all I needed to get done today and there was no point in starting on another project, so I came home. Are you just getting home from school?”
“No, I was running some errands with Cameron,” I lied as I made my way to the window. If I could motion for him to book it to the side of the house we would be home free. “Where’s Dad?” I asked to distract her from my nervous behavior. I knew I wasn’t doing a very good job at being discreet.
“He had a job. He’ll be home later this evening, so it’s just you and me. Want to go see a movie or something?”
That actually sounded like a really good idea. My mom and I hadn’t hung out for a long time. I couldn’t even remember the last time it was only the two of us.
“I’d really like that.”
She smiled. “Let me get my laptop. I’ll check the movie times.”
“Okay.”
As she walked away, I swiftly turned to face the woods and waved my arms to have him head to the side of the house, but there was no movement from the trees. How could he not see me? I probably looked like a giant monkey jumping up and down and flailing my arms.
Great. I hadn’t thought this one through. There must have been a glare on the window. Cameron couldn’t see me. Just as I was about to open the sliding glass door, Mom walked back in.
“You have any preferences on movies?”
I spun around to her. “Umm… anything funny.” Cameron was probably wondering what the hold up was.
She sat back at the table and scrolled through the movies. “Jackpot—that new romantic comedy came out today. 6:15, 7:45 and 9:30,” she read off. “If we go now we can grab a quick dinner and do the 6:15 showing.”
“Great!” I said, too enthusiastically. She looked at me and laughed.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “I’ll go grab my purse.”
As soon as she was out of the room, I threw the sliding glass door open and pointed for him to make a run for it. Thankfully, he listened and booked it out of the trees. He smiled goofily as he held up his hand to his ear in an I’ll-call-you gesture before he disappeared around my house. I closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Phew. I raced to the garage door so I looked like I’d done something while she was gone.
“You ready?” She smiled as she turned the corner.
“I was born ready.”
She chuckled and we headed out for our first girls’ night in months.
“Why don’t you wear your hair down anymore, Calliope?” she asked as we drove down our street.
I shrugged, figuring indifference would work in my favor. She lifted her hand from the steering wheel, her hands outstretched to touch my hair and I pulled back, barely dodging her touch.
“Oh, come on. It’s my favorite when you wear your hair down,” she whined.
“I like changing it up, trying out different hair styles. I’ve never really done that before. I needed a change.”
She reached out again.
“Mom,” I said more firmly, shifting out of her reach. “You’ll mess it up and I’ll have to do it all over again.”
“Oh, who do you have to impress? It’s just me tonight.”
“Well, it would just be a pain.” My arms curled in front of me, seeking comfort close against me.
Mom chuckled. “Okay, Miss Defensive. I’ll leave the hair alone. It does look cute today,” she amended.
“Thanks,” I said, biting my bottom lip. I was going to eventually mentally beat my brains to a pulp if I didn’t get a better hold on not getting defensive.
My life depended on it.
That night I lay in bed unable to find the peaceful serenity of sleep, tossing and turning as the floodgates opened in my mind, pouring out the countless issues I couldn’t find solutions to. It wouldn’t shut off. I jerked when my phone began to ring and Cameron’s face glowed on my screen. He’d actually called.
“Hey,” I answered warmly.
“Hey, you in the clear?”
I chuckled quietly. “Yeah. My mom was home, but I played it off and we went to the movies.”
“Oh man. Good. I’ve been stressing about it all day. I thought we were toast when you didn’t come out. It felt like an eternity.”
“My acting skills have improved since all this started,” I yawned.
“You in bed?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t wake you, did I?” he questioned with a weird hint of concern in his voice.
“No, I was just laying here. Got a lot running through my mind.” I twirled one of my curls through my fingers and played with the point on my ear. There were times when the tips would still catch me off guard and other times when it felt like they had been there all along. They’d become a part of who I was.
“You want to talk about it?” Cameron’s voice interrupted my wandering thoughts.
“Talk about what?”
“I don’t know. Whatever’s running around in that head of yours.” His familiar voice was soothingly soft. It reminded me of the Cam I used to know, who never missed a goodnight call before this last summer.
I sighed, relieved I was slowly getting my Cameron back. “It was just something my dad said the other day. He questioned what happened to the fae from other colonies that got pregnant and weren’t supposed to.”
“Did you find out the answer from your fan club?”
I chuckled lightly, not in the mood to contradict him. “Not yet.” I exhaled. “What kind of a kingdom do I belong to? Where no one gets a choice. Where fae disappear and die for no good reason. The Keepers are there to protect them from invaders and keep the peace within, but who’s there to protect them from the inside, from the one they really need protecting from?”
Cameron remained quiet for a moment. I could hear him considering his answer. It wasn’t as if I really expected an answer. People searched for the answers to world peace and the end of hunger, but they couldn’t solve problems bigger than themselves. Was this just one of those problems that could never be resolved?
“It’s not your burden to carry, Callie. I think what’s important is that you are safe here, away from the tyrant who will never lay a hand on you.”
I nodded without answering. If only it were that easy. If I felt comfortable with that answer I wouldn’t have been lying in bed, searching for solutions in my head all night long.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to one another’s breathing. There was a time when we would stay on the phone all night long until one of us fell asleep. I remembered several occasions waking up with my phone either drained of battery or Cameron’s shallow breathing on the other side.
His breath was becoming shallower now.
“Are you falling asleep?” I quietly questioned.
“Maybe.” He yawned.
“Go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Sure thing,” he said softly. “Good night, Cal. Sweet dreams.”
“You too.”