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  Chapter Six

  I stepped through the front doors of Walhalla High on Monday morning and felt different instantly. As if a teenage girl needed another reason to feel out of place. It took everything I had Friday night to be normal around Lia. How was I supposed to hide this ginormous elephant that now perched on my shoulders like a parrot? Lia could at least chalk it up to something that was already bugging me, but, if Cameron pulled his head out of his butt for more than five minutes to pay attention, he was going to know something was off.

  Speaking of the devil, I saw him huddled with Isla by our lockers in a private conversation, their faces so close they might as well be kissing. Like I needed one more thing to distance me from him.

  “You look so good today,” he murmured.

  “You don’t look too shabby yourself,” Isla giggled.

  “I really like this shirt. You should wear it more often.”

  I realized then that I was going to have to learn to tune out conversations. My hearing was getting too sensitive. The last thing I wanted was to hear every mushy gushy conversation those two had. They could keep those to themselves. Please, keep them to yourselves.

  As much as I didn’t want to tell Cam about me, I felt the same need to tell him. What was the point of a best friend if you couldn’t tell him everything? That’s what best friends were for. To share your burdens and listen to your dirty little secrets.

  Wait. I just had to wait. Maybe nothing would come of it and I would just have the special ability to see and talk to other faeries. Faeries. A disbelieving laugh echoed in my head.

  Just wait.

  Waiting sucks.

  “Hey, Calliope.” Isla smiled and lifted her hand in a gentle wave when she saw me approach.

  “Hey, you two.”

  “Cal, how was your weekend?” Cameron asked.

  Oh, you know. I ran into a couple of hot male faeries. Found out that my dad used to be a faery and that I’m half-faery. Nothing too big. Nothing noteworthy, really.

  I shrugged. “Not a whole lot. I hung out with Lia and saw a movie. What about you guys?”

  “We took the boat to the lake on Saturday. Drank in some rays. Soaked up some sun. Basked in the light,” Cam prattled on, closing his locker and tucking a couple of books under his arm.

  “You’re an idiot,” I chuckled. “But it sounds like you guys had fun. A lot more eventful than my weekend.” If only you knew.

  “We need to all hang out sometime,” Isla chimed. “We can go out to eat or something.” Her smile reached her eyes as they twinkled.

  “Good idea, Is.” If Cam could find a way to make any name even shorter he would. He might as well have just called her I. As if Isla wasn’t a short enough name to say. “It’d be good for you two to get to know each other better.”

  The three of us. For a whole night together. I could just see it now. Them on one side of the booth, while I sat on the other side. Alone. How will the checks be divided? The server will ask. And just to make the distinction even more apparent they’ll say, we’re together and I’ll say, I’m separate. I was just dripping with excitement at the thought.

  “What do you say, Callie? You think you’re free to go out Saturday night?”

  The me on one shoulder said, “No, just say no, Calliope. Why torment yourself?”

  The me perched on the other said, “Don’t let him see how much it bothers you. It’ll only push him father away. Just go, Calliope!”

  “Saturday. Dinner. You guys name the place,” I decided.

  “Oh, you should pick, Calliope. What’s your favorite?” Isla asked, batting her unfairly long lashes.

  “The Green House,” Cam said before I could say the same restaurant. “She loves their salad bar.”

  “Perfect! I love that place too.” Isla smiled at me.

  Perfect. I smiled as genuinely as I could muster.

  “Are you feeling better today, Cal?” I frowned, trying to place why Cam was concerned about my health. “Friday. You weren’t doing so hot,” he clarified.

  “Oh, yeah. Great.” I cleared my throat. “I’m feeling a lot better. Just needed a nap.” If only a nap could have cured me.

  “Oh, good,” Isla sighed. “Cameron was worried about you all weekend.” The first bell rang for school to start. Isla turned to Cam. “Shall we?”

  I peered over at Cameron and a hint of something in his eyes tweaked my stomach. He gave me a smile from the corner of his mouth before he turned to Isla and accepted her hand. They walked away, leaving me wondering what the crap I had just done. How was I going to pull that night off? I suppose I had a week to prepare.

  “What was that all about? Isla was extra bouncy as they walked away,” Lia said, her voice sounding over my shoulder.

  I breathed out deeply. “We’re all going out Saturday night.”

  “We as in. . .you, Isla and Cam?” I nodded, shoving my books in my bag. “One big happy family!” she taunted.

  “Shut up,” I mumbled, but put a smile on to let her know I wasn’t really mad at her.

  We began walking to class when she said, “You don’t seem better today.”

  I looked up at her. “What?”

  “Friday you seemed off. And today, maybe it’s the fact that you just agreed to a night of hell, but you don’t seem any better.”

  I straightened up and plastered on my best I’m completely normal face. “I’m feeling good. I’ll survive Saturday just fine.”

  “Sure you will. Because that’s the kind of person you are. You’ll pull it off without a hitch. And just think. . .maybe you’ll even get another friend out of it. If you spend actual time with Isla maybe you’ll decide you actually like her,” she said.

  “I do like her,” I said. “That’s the problem. She’s really a decent human being.”

  “Yeah. It’s a real shame when good friends catch a good one.”

  “Hey,” I shot out. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I’m serious.” She held up her hands in surrender. “It’s hard. You want so badly to be happy for them because they are happy, but them being happy means they need you less and it hurts. I get it.”

  She did get it. “Yeah.”

  • • •

  The idea of me being a mythical creature took quite a few days to find its way into my brain. It still hadn’t truly set in, but it existed in the it’s-possible section. I definitely wasn’t prepared to venture back out to the wild men before it did. But, now I wanted to know more and I knew my dad and I would just fight back and forth about it. Before when we talked about it, he seemed like he was holding back information. He answered my questions, but he didn’t offer anything up freely.

  After school I built up the courage. “Declan?” I called out as I stepped across the threshold. I thought about calling out to Kai, but he put me too much on edge. “Declan?”

  There wasn’t an answer. What if they were gone? A sinking feeling fell over me. What if I couldn’t ever find them again? I swept aside a few dangling vines and pushed on through the jungle of green. I had gone pretty far in before. Maybe they didn’t like loitering on the perimeter.

  “Declan?” I hollered this time, being far enough in that neighbors wouldn’t question my hollering.

  “Hey there, princess.” I spun to see Kai walking out from behind an enormous shrub. “I know you wanted Declan, but you’ll have to settle for yours truly instead.”

  “Oh. Kai.” Tingles crawled up my spine. “Where’s Declan?” I questioned, forcing myself not to get hypnotized by his brooding eyes.

  “Back in Faylinn.”

  “Faylinn,” I stated. “So it’s an actual place? It’s not just this forest?”

  He pounced around the ground, already distracted from our conversation. “You have much to learn, young one.”

  I begrudging crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m getting really tired of the nicknames. You obviously know my name. Please call me by it.”

  He let out a sound of amu
sement and smiled triumphantly at me before responding. “You’re such a faery. It comes out more and more every day.”

  “What’s that supposed to—?”

  “Did you get your wings yet?”

  “What? No.” I shook my head.

  “Your ears?” He moved closer to me and lifted his hand up to brush away my hair.

  I stepped back. “No,” I said, exasperated. Had faeries never heard of personal space?

  He winced at my reaction, but only for a moment, recovering quickly. “Why did you come? You were pretty shaken the last time we spoke. I figured you’d stay far away.”

  He never answered any of my questions. It was taking everything I had to keep the fight inside of me. I could be mature about this.

  “I wanted to know more. I talked to my dad,” I revealed.

  “And you’ve come to tell me I was right?” he gloated, smoothly circling me.

  “Yeah. Whatever. I’m a. . .faery, but we won’t know the extent of my features until they present themselves. If they present themselves.”

  “So you may never get wings or ears?” His genuine concern laced the tone of his voice. He stopped his agile stride around me, fixing me with a stare that could buckle any female’s knees.

  “Do I really look that repulsive without wings?”

  He cleared his throat. “It simply looks unnatural. Humans are so plain and peculiar looking. But you’re not a human so it doesn’t mix. My mind isn’t comprehending what it’s seeing.”

  “My apologies for being such a riddle to figure out,” I said dryly. He ruffled my feathers so easily. Cameron was the only one allowed to do that.

  “Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault you’re a mutt,” he said matter-of-factly, no hint of teasing or lightness in his voice.

  I glared at him, holding my ground against his brazen stare then turned and walked away. I didn’t come here to be insulted. If Declan wasn’t here, I was gone.

  “Hey, wait.” He appeared in front of me. I still wasn’t used to his speed. “Where are you going?” Kai cocked his head to the side, completely unashamed or unaware of his insult.

  “Home.” I shifted to the side to walk around him.

  “Why?” He moved in front of me.

  “Why do you care? I’m obviously a burden to you or you wouldn’t insist on infuriating me.”

  “Infuriating,” he commented, tilting his head to the other side, studying me. “That’s such a big word for such a little girl.”

  I shouldered passed him. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mumbled, walking toward the trees boundary.

  “What did I say wrong?” His voice came from where I left him. He almost sounded sincere.

  “Really?” I spun around to burn holes in his pretty little face. “Are you dense or simply incapable of being polite?”

  He folded his arms over his bare chest and stared unblinkingly, waiting for me to keep talking. He had no manners whatsoever. Did he even have a heart? Did faeries have hearts?

  Before I lost my nerve I said, “First, you insult my appearance, then call me a mutt and now I’m apparently stupid. As if I shouldn’t know how to use the English language. Call me crazy, but I don’t particularly enjoy being insulted.”

  “I was simply stating facts. I only speak the truth,” he said, the corner of his mouth turning up.

  “Yeah, quite bluntly.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know any other way. Maybe faeries communicate differently than humans.” He knew what he was doing. He was trying to be a pain in the butt. This was all a game to him.

  “Declan seemed to do perfectly fine yesterday. A complete gentlemen, actually.” If I could call a faery that.

  Kai rolled his eyes. “Yes, perfect Declan. I do strive to be like the perfect Keeper. Only less obsessive.” I could hear irritation crawling into his voice.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Head on home, princess.” He motioned to the woods edge. “Behind the safety of your walls. Away from a forest filled with the unknown.” He turned his back to me and strode away.

  Did I miss something? I offended him now? What a girl.

  “Maybe you need some wings to go with that attitude, Kai,” I shouted out to him. He didn’t acknowledge me as he disappeared into the trees.

  Chapter Seven

  The wooden swing seat creaked as I sat down and swayed back and forth under the oak in our backyard. I stared out into my new territory, my curiosity like water, drowning me under its influence. My body was numb to everything else but the heartbeat of the trees. I clung a little tighter to the ropes attached to the swing, hoping I could teach myself to control the power, anchor myself and become immune to the pull.

  Hands pressed against my back, swinging me higher as my dad’s voice broke through the silence behind me. “Remember when we used to come out here and I’d swing you to your heart’s content? You’d giggle and smile and—”

  “And everything was simple,” I finished for him.

  He waited and then said quietly, “Yeah.”

  I let him push me for a little while longer, taking comfort in his silent presence. He’d built this swing when I was ten. I’d begged him almost every day for years to get me this tree swing. And finally on my tenth birthday he nearly had to drag me out of bed to swing me for the first time. Had I known why he was waking me at six in the morning I might have been a little more swayed by the idea. We spent nearly the whole day outside on the swing.

  “I don’t want you to be mad at me, Calliope,” he said after a few minutes.

  “I’m not mad at you,” I said immediately, and then realized it wasn’t completely the truth.

  “You haven’t spoken to me in days.” I hadn’t? “The silent treatment is getting a little old.”

  “I wasn’t trying to ignore you. I just needed space.” I needed time to put all the pieces of my life back together in a different puzzle, a jigsaw puzzle, without the guidance of a picture to go off of.

  “How’s school?” he asked, changing the subject.

  “Small talk? Really?” I chuckled lightly.

  He sighed. “Being a faery can’t be the only thing we ever talk about now. It’s what you are, but it’s not everything.”

  I nodded. Even though it felt like everything now, I knew someday this would be normal. Someday I would wake up and it would be a day just like every other to me. I’d come to terms with my new body.

  I let my feet down to stop the swing and then turned to my dad standing with his arms crossed over his chest. “What do you want for dinner?” he asked and I let out a breath of soft amusement. Someday this would be normal. I guess I could try to make someday today.

  “What about some chicken alfredo?” I suggested.

  “That sounds delicious. Why didn’t you think of that?” he joked with a small smile.

  “Daaad.” I nudged him playfully and walked by his side to the house.

  It had been a few days since I let the forest control me. As soon as the urge became too powerful to control, I got in my car and drove away. I never knew my destination. Sometimes I ended up at Cam’s house, but I never got the nerve to actually go to his front door. I simply looked at his house, wishing I could just talk to him. But most of the time Isla was there or his car was gone.

  He didn’t need to declare his love for me. He didn’t even need to get rid of Isla. I just wanted someone besides my dad to talk to. Someone that wasn’t a part of this new world. Someone who would understand why I was so dang freaked out.

  Other times I ended up at Lia’s house. She would typically be studying or reading, so I’d hop on her bed and click on the TV, if for nothing else but to simply have the noise to drown out my thoughts.

  “You all done with your homework tonight?” Lia asked.

  “Yup,” I lied. I still had a little bit, but I couldn’t do it at home and I couldn’t tell her that. I guess I could have brought it to her house, but when that pull is tugging at me, nothing logical really
crosses my mind.

  “Dang my ambition to go to an Ivy League. We have a never-ending pile of homework. I swear I’m never done.” She exhaled.

  “Oh, but think of the opportunities you’ll have because of your determination.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” She nudged me and nestled further into the pillows of her bed beside me. “Matt called home yesterday.”

  “Yeah? Did he just sit there and rub in how incredible Rome is?”

  “Basically.”

  “Has he gone to the Colosseum yet?”

  “I think he did that in the first week.”

  “Lucky punk.”

  She peered over at me from her books. “He wanted me to tell you hey and that he misses you.”

  I nodded. It had only been a matter of a couple weeks and my life had flipped to a life so unfamiliar. “I miss him too.”

  “Me too,” she said quietly and nuzzled closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder.

  • • •

  That night I lifted my window open to let in a breeze. It felt so stuffy in the confinement of my little room. I was about to pull the covers over my head to block out the world when I thought I heard my name. I sat up in bed and turned my head to my open window.

  “Calliope?” There it was again.

  When I got to my window, I lifted it higher and stuck my head out to scan our yard, but there wasn’t anyone in sight, only the swing wavering and the leaves rustling.

  “Calliope, back here,” the voice hissed. It came from the far trees. “There you go,” the voice applauded. “Come down.” The voice wasn’t a shout so I knew my hearing was getting even better.

  I wasn’t sure why I did it. It could have been anyone out there calling to me. I couldn’t really tell whose voice it was, but I had a feeling I knew and I wanted to see him again.

  The floor creaked beneath my feet as I tiptoed to the back door. I waited before going outside to see if one of my parents would wake up, but after a minute there was still nothing so I cracked the door and slipped outside.

  When I got out to the tree line I didn’t have to call out to him, his broad figure appeared and I nearly gasped. I was expecting him, but I wasn’t.