Carrier of the Mark (12 page)

“Are you a peeping Tom now?” I said to the crow, who was peering in at me.
Oh, man
. I was definitely certifiable. As if talking to animals wasn’t bad enough, now I was expecting them to answer.

“Megan! The pancakes are ready. Come on down.”

“Coming!” I threw on a clean pair of jeans, a navy shirt, and the red Converse I had worn last night. I gave my hair a good rub with a towel, then ran my brush through it, praying to the hair gods for a good hair day.

“There you are,” Dad declared as I walked into the kitchen.

“What’s the big occasion?” I asked, taking in the kitchen table set with knives, forks, cups and plates, and—oh, my God, were those napkins? I sat down at my seat and helped myself to a warm pancake.

“I need to talk to you,” he said nervously, clearing his throat.

I looked up from my pancake into his red face.

“I noticed you have settled in very well here, Megan. I’ve settled in myself and, well, there might be some changes in the future…”

I looked up at him, panic-stricken. “Oh, Dad, no, please tell me we’re not leaving…”

“No, no,” he said, putting his hand up. “It’s nothing like that. You know Petra, from the Lobster Pot.” He sat down and poured us each a cup of tea. “She and I are sort of…” He cleared his throat. “Well, dating.”

I looked at him in mock surprise. “Wow, Dad, I never would have guessed.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Mad? Why on earth would I be mad?” I asked, putting a forkful of syrupy pancake into my mouth.

“Well, there hasn’t been anyone since your mom. I wasn’t sure how you would react,” he said, relaxing a bit.

“Dad, I think it’s great.” I put a spoonful of sugar into my tea and stirred it.

“Oh. I was ready for arguments. I even had a whole speech prepared.”

“Give me some credit, would you? I’m seventeen, not nine.” I paused. “And … while we’re on the subject, I have a date myself today.” I took another bite of my pancake, then slowly sipped my tea, giving him time to digest the news. There was a range of emotions running across his face.

“Well, I guess I should afford you the same level of maturity you gave me,” he said with a reluctant smile. “So who is he? Is he in your class?” I could tell he was making an effort to sound calm and cool.

I smiled into my tea. “Actually, yes. In fact, you know him.”

“I do?” He raised his eyebrows, his fork pausing on the way to his mouth.

“It’s Adam DeRís.” I tried to sound totally casual, but failed. Anytime I said his name, I couldn’t help a tone of reverence from sneaking in.

My dad looked at me thoughtfully. “Really? Is it serious? He seems very mature for his age.”

“He is mature, but isn’t that a good thing? He’s very responsible. Anyway, don’t worry; it’s early days.”

“So where are you going on your date?” he asked, clearly trying to go back into Casual Dad mode.

“I’m not sure. He mentioned bringing me to his house to meet his family. He’s picking me up in”—I looked at my watch—“ten minutes.” I stood up and shoved the last of my pancake into my mouth. “Thanks for breakfast, Dad. It was nice. And I am totally happy for you and Petra. I have to run upstairs and finish getting ready, though.”

“Okay. I’ll let him in when he gets here.”

I stopped walking. “Dad, please don’t give him the third degree.”

“Would I?” He raised his hands, the picture of innocence.

“I mean it,” I said, and ran up the stairs.

My hair, unfortunately, was not behaving itself. I was tying it back into a shiny ponytail when I heard the doorbell ring downstairs.

“Let’s do this,” I said to my reflection.

I walked down the stairs and there he was, in all his stunning glory. My memories of his face did not do him justice. He was even more gorgeous in reality. He was dressed in jeans and a black sweater, the sleeves of which were pushed slightly up, revealing his tanned, muscular forearms. Everything about him screamed effortlessly beautiful, even his clothes and his slightly messy dark hair. He was talking to my dad like they were old friends. He smiled and they shook hands.

“Thanks for that, Mr. Rosenberg.”

“Call me Caleb,” my dad replied warmly.

“Thanks, Caleb,” he repeated, then allowed his gaze to shift toward me. “Megan,” he breathed, looking delighted to see me.

“Bye, Dad! I’ll see you later. I won’t be late.” I turned to Adam. “Will I?”

“No, of course not, we’re staying local. I thought we might have dinner with my family at my house. I’ll get you home, safe and sound, straight after.” He looked toward me for approval, and I nodded enthusiastically. There was a small awkward moment as we stood there; then I directed Adam to the door and gave my dad a reassuring smile.

Adam stood by the passenger door, holding it open for me. I took another deep breath as I walked toward him. I sank into the car and he closed the door firmly behind me. Adam slid into the seat beside me and smiled. My stomach fluttered in response. He pulled away from the curb slowly.

“Sorry about my dad. He can be a little overprotective.”

“I can understand that,” he said, looking at me. “But I thought he was quite cool about us. He just told me to be extra careful with you, as you were precious to him. I told him you’re precious to me too. Anyway, you haven’t witnessed my family in action. Wait until you see
them
in all their protective glory.”

I looked over to see if he was joking, but there was no hint of a laugh on his face. “Now I’m worried.”

“Oh, you just haven’t met Fionn yet. He can be a bit … unsettling.”

“Your guardian?”

“Yeah. Now, he is the epitome of overprotective.” He put his hand down and took mine. “Look, don’t worry about it. They’re going to love you.”

Doubtful
. I believed Áine liked me and that we could be friends, but I wasn’t sure about Rían. My only interactions with him thus far had been the tense stare-downs across the school. And this Fionn character sounded weird.

Adam drove along the Bandon estuary, over the low bridge, and around the bend, following the road up the river. We turned right over a tiny humpback bridge and then up through a wooded area where the road got very narrow. I vaguely remembered it from last night. He turned in through an entrance with big, heavy iron gates that looked like they had frozen in their current position years ago, and we traveled slowly up a long gravel lane that had grass growing up the middle of it. Farmland stretched out toward the horizon on either side. We finally drove under a huge stone arch in a wall and pulled into a farm yard that was walled on all four sides. “Are you ready?” He looked a little nervous, and that scared me.

I squeezed his hand. “If you are.” I smiled up into his face.

“With you here, I’m ready for anything,” he said quietly, and kissed me softly on my mouth.

I reeled from the sensuous touch. Closing my eyes, I leaned into him.

He pulled away, looking a little flushed. “Best to keep a clear head. Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

I felt a new confidence building. I could take on the world with him by my side. Taking care on the cobblestones, we made our way to the back of the house, which had a stable door with the top half open. Adam reached inside and unlatched the bottom section.

“Ladies first,” he said, swinging the door out and stepping to the side.

I stepped into the gloom of a back porch with low beamed ceilings and a dark flagstone floor.

“This is just the scullery,” Adam said, following me in. He pushed another door, which opened into a huge kitchen. All the stone walls had been painted white, and the kitchen was filled with various freestanding counters and tables. In the middle of the room was the biggest kitchen table I’d ever seen. It had massive carved legs that looked like they’d remained on the same patch of flagstone for centuries. There, sitting on one of the benches that ran along each side of the table, was Áine.

“You came!” she exclaimed, and pushed her cereal bowl to the side.

At that moment something flew over my shoulder. Startled, I ducked and watched incredulously as a crow—
my
crow—landed on the table by Áine. He tottered over to the discarded cereal bowl and started helping himself.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I blurted out, addressing the bird. Then I caught the mood in the room. Adam had turned a little pink, and Áine didn’t quite meet my eyes. “Hang on a second,” I said, catching on. “Is he your bird?”

“Well, technically he’s Fionn’s, but he loves me the best. Don’t you, baby?” Áine replied, turning to the big black bird. She started making cooing noises at him as she rubbed his head and neck. I swear he smiled as he leaned into her.

I looked at Adam suspiciously. “That bird has been following me around since I got here. He’s always peering in at me.”

“I didn’t think you’d notice,” Adam said, his voice heavy with guilt.

“What do you mean, ‘notice’? What’s going on?”

Adam looked at Áine, but she stood up and edged backward. “Don’t you dare pin this one on me!” She turned to me with a smile. “I’ll see you later, Megan,” she said, and the crow flew after her and perched on her shoulder as she stepped out into the yard.

“What’s up with the bird?” I asked, turning back to Adam.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to tell that story yet,” he said, not meeting my eye.

“Well, I’m ready for you to,” I continued, a little bit irritated. “That bird has been spying on me in the shower!”

“The dirty dog! He never told us that.”

“What do you mean the bird never
told
you that?”

“Look, can I give you the details about the bird later? I promise I will tell you everything. Let me show you around first. Please?” He looked at me with pleading eyes.

“Okay, fine. But don’t think for one second I’m letting this go. You have a lot of explaining to do,” I said, thinking suddenly of last night’s mini-tornado.

“I know.” His face turned serious. “More than you can possibly imagine.”

The floorboards creaked underfoot as we made our way into the beautiful front hall.

“This house is amazing,” I said, looking up at the high ceilings and dusty chandelier. There was a withered decadence to the faded wallpaper and chipped moldings.

“It once was, but it’s fairly moth-eaten now,” Adam said, picking up a bit of the heavy drapes that hung over a window and pointing out a big hole. “It’s such a shame.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“Someday I’ll fix this place up and return it to its former glory,” he said, smiling at the wall and giving it a gentle pat. “Come on; I’ll show you my room.”

He took my hand and led me up a creaky staircase. Halfway up, on a landing where the stairs changed direction, there was an arched blue stained-glass window. The beautiful leaded pattern cast shimmering reflections on the walls and across Adam’s face as he turned to smile at me.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” he said, taking in my enraptured expression.

I watched the magical reflections flicker on Adam’s face. “Yes, very pretty,” I murmured, feeling my heart flutter.

At the top of the stairs, Adam led me into his room. After the elegant hall downstairs, his room was a bit of a shock.

Adam laughed, stretching his arms out to the gaudy orange floral wallpaper. “I know what you’re thinking. It’s horrible. Back in the sixties some bright spark ‘updated’ the bedrooms. So now we have dilapidated retro land up here.”

“It’s not too bad. It’s just … not what I was expecting,” I hedged, looking around. “I never put you down as the floral type.”

“Hey, if you think this is bad, you should see Rían’s room.”

I sat down on the edge of the sleigh bed in the middle of the room, my heart pounding.
I’m sitting on Adam’s bed!
Not knowing where to look, I picked a knot in the floorboards and stared at it.

He walked over to me. “If you’re uncomfortable, we can go back downstairs.”

Drawing in a deep breath, I allowed my eyes to move up from the floor to his legs, pausing at his chest before glancing at his face.