Guardian of the Moon Pendant (19 page)

“No,” I answered, spying on Skullsplitter’s statue, slowly changing from stone to flesh as Izzy blinked her eyes or turned away, his form changing from his leg kicking out, into his body crouching down on all fours, his face contorted into a scream, dropping his trousers and mooning us, his tongue sticking out at Izzy, trying to flee from Izzy’s blinking eyes.

“No?” repeated Izzy miffed.

I concentrated the wind power on Skullsplitter, lifting him up high into the air, his body contorting into funny shapes as he began to realize he was elevating above the planked floor. “I rather like these new powers,” I muttered, zipping Skullsplitter, up and down around the ceiling beams.

“Granny!” hollered Izzy into the room.

Granny wafted through the fireplace in a white wispy cloud, noticing Skullsplitter bobbing in the wind. “Will you leave poor Skullsplitter alone!” she wailed. “Put him down this instance!”

“She’s not taking the oath,” Izzy said flatly.

“What?”

“I’m taking control of my birthright,” I declared. “I’m the first born, and this is my duty.”

The front door burst open and Blane’s commanding presence walked in, startling me, making me lose concentration. The dragonflies crashed to the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces, scattered on the hardwood floor. Skullsplitter’s stone form plummeted to the ground, too, his hard body rippling with tiny cracks.

“Baldtoe!” cried Granny. “Izzy close your eyes.”

Izzy closed her eyes, but Skullsplitter remained the same.

“Turn your back, Izzy!”

Blane knelt down on one knee, poking him. “He’s not changing back.”

“Izzy, look away!”
Granny screamed.

“I am!” answered Izzy.

Plumface rushed into the room, out of breath, white powder covering her greenish skin. “My baby what have you done?”

“I was just having a little fun,” I said, realizing the power I now possessed can do harm as well as good.

“You were being irresponsible!” Granny blurted out. “Izzy, there’s a jewelry box on my dresser with a necklace in it. Bring it down.”

Izzy darted up the stairs, two by two.

“Do you want me to get Leigheas?” asked Blane.

“No, this needs something more powerful than her,” Granny informed us.

Izzy returned, breathless. “Here,” she said, holding a carved wooden box in one hand and another Moon Pendant in the palm of her hand. “You have two? How can you have two?”

“Oh, that’s just a spare,” mentioned Granny. “It has no real power, but it may just do the trick. Place the pendant on Skullsplitter, Izzy.”

Izzy lowered the duplicate Moon Pendant’s onto Skullsplitter’s hardened body. Izzy splayed her fingers across his chest as the spare Moon Pendant discharged its energy into Skullsplitter’s statuesque form. A mystical blue light enshrouded him, cocooning his body in an electrical charge, jolting him back into his flesh form.

Skullsplitter’s caramel eyes popped open.

“He’s alive!” I gasped, clapping my hands together.

Skullsplitter bolted upright before Izzy, turning his head side to side, a complex look of skepticism on his face, his body not returning to stone when Izzy gazed at him.

“He’s not turning to stone?” questioned Izzy in disbelief. “What gives?”

“It’s the residual charge from the pendant,” stated Granny. “It’s affected you too. Rose and I had it made years ago. We made a copy of the original, in case one of us lost or destroyed the other one. We hoped we could charge it, too. No such luck. But it still has just a wee bit of power stirring in it.”

Blane squared his shoulders, a curious look in his eye. “I’ve come for the second task, Izzy,” he said dryly, “or do you wish to rescue Fergus first?”

“Better talk to the Guardian about that,” Izzy conveyed, “seems there’s been a change to our regularly scheduled programming.”

“I doona understand?”

“I’m going to rema
in as Guardian,” I said proudly, slowly feeling the Moon Pendant draining me after my theatrical glass insect air show.

Blane hung his head low, knowing the implications of me remaining as the Guardian. It would mean we could never marry.

“As you wish, Guardian
.
I will wait for you out front,
”
Blane said, and then exited out the front door.

I felt as though a sword pierced my heart.

“Gran?” whined Izzy, her mouth shifting to the side.

“There’s nothing I can do, Izzy,” Granny mentioned, “if she’s not willing to let the Moon Pendant go. She is the rightful owner.”

Izzy’s face scowled, her face thrust into mine, nose to nose. “You are just one little…”

“What?” I snapped back,
feeling my strength returning.
“One sweet little girl who faints all the time, getting outwitted by the Bloody Baron!”

“What about, Fergus?” she demanded, poking her finger into my shoulder. “Have you forgotten about him? Or is it just your own selfish reasons that have priority?”

“Fergus can wait!” I announced, stating my authority as the Guardian. “The most important thing now is to recharge the Moon Pendant fully. So I can close the Portal.”

Izzy sneered, “Good luck, your royal highness. Cause from now on, you’re on your own!”

“Where have I heard that before?” I countered.

I turned away from Izzy, racing toward the door, hoping to find Blane still waiting outside for me.

“Have fun getting sliced up,” yelled Izzy, her voice trailing off as I slammed the door behind me. 

The moon hung low in an orange misty color, framing Blane’s sculpted physique, his golden brown hair shimmering in the moonlight. I felt my heart leap inside of me as I ran to his side.

His arms crushed around me, firmly, holding me tenderly, h
is hands cupped my cheeks, gazing
into my eyes. “Anabel, do you know what yer doing?”

I choked on my tears, and then held my head high, returning his loving glare, “If I give the Moon Pendant to Izzy...” I glided my index finger along his tender lips, aching to kiss them. “…I’ll have to return to New York and break it off with, Edgar, but I know he won’t let me go.” I shook my head back and forth, trying desperately to explain my world to him. “I’m certain he won’t. My
mother, on the other hand, will
guilt me into staying there. I know somehow they’ll keep me there. Then I’ll never see you again.” My fingers trembled along his brow. “At least if I’m Guardian. I can see you and be with you.” I blew out a disappointed breath, “There has to be some way that we can be together as Guardian and Sentinel?”

He shook his head. “I doona know a way, lass.”

I needed to convince him and myself that being Guardian was a good thing and somehow there was a way to be together. “I will have so much power,” I asserted, hoping he would see my logic, “controlling the air, earth, water, and fire. There has to be a way.”

“Men have lost their way in the search of power and wealth,” he remarked, his eyes flickering with the silvery moonlight, his thumb sweeping over my swollen lips. “Do not let the power of the Moon Pendant corrupt you, lass.”

“I won’t let it control me,” I stated confidently. “Trust me, I will find a way for us to be together. I’m not going to marry Edgar.”

Blane’s arms clamped around my waist, pulling me in sweetly to his chest, his sensuous lips trembling to meet mine. I shivered inside as he drew me closer, his wet lips pressing against mine. I drank him in, melting to his touch. My heart pounded harder as I slid my fingers along his bristly chin. An intense wave of emotion crashed
over me as he kissed my neck, swirling up to meet my lips again. Lapses of kisses repeated as I was overcome by his passion.

My ears perked up, hearing a set of footsteps travelling up the driveway until they stopped abruptly behind me and Blane.

A quirky voice startled us from behind.
“Luvey?”
Edgar chirped.

Chapter 14

♦♦♦

Izzy

My heart was drumming faster than Larry Mullen, Jr. thrashing his drumsticks against his drum set. “Can you believe that one?” I said heatedly to Granny. “Always thinking about
herself
!”

“You mustn’t lose heart, Izzy,” Granny said encouragingly. “The Moon Pendant has its own agenda.”

“What am I going to do?” I asked, wringing my fingers together. “Fergus is turning into the Baobhan Sith’s dinner along with his dad! You know Anabel will never survive all those tasks.”

“Yes, I know,” she said calmly, wrinkling her wispy nose. “Her mind is being corrupted by the power of the Moon Pendant.”

I cocked my head to the side. “That could’ve been me,” I mentioned, “corrupted by the power of the Moon Pendant.”

“No, Izzy. Your heart is true. You want what’s best for others. Though,” she tapped her ghoulish finger to her pursed lips, “you have a strange way of doing it.”

“You’re the first person,” I sighed, twirling my coarse black hair around a finger, “besides Fergus to believe in me, Granny. I always felt like I didn’t matter growing up in that house. The only one who mattered to my mother was Anabel. I was just another mouth to feed, the spare.”

Granny’s translucent energy swept across the room, hovering beside the window, shafts of moonlight poking holes in her wispy cloud form. “Look up into the night’s sky,” she said, waving her hand to the window pane. “What do you see?”

I stared into the pale-grey night, the silvery moon blinding me. Hidden behind the milky orb were pulsing white stars.

“Darkness,” I said shortly.

“And?”

“The moon.”

“And?”

I blew out a frustrated breath. “The stars”

“Each one of us is a star burning in the night’s sky. Some burn brighter than others, but there is room for all of us,” she turned to me, gently gazing at me with her silvery eyes. “Make sure your star burns brightly, Izzy.”

“I will,” I said, not knowing how I was going to outshine her royal highness. I didn’t even know if I needed to.

“Just make sure you don’t turn into one of those meteorites,” Granny chuckled, “hurdling toward the earth bent on destruction.”

“I won’t,” I said, half rolling my eyes, half smirking.

“Do you know the saying? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer,” she asked, shifting her pearly gaze to the wooden jewelry box. “I have an idea.”

I wasted no time, yanking the front door open, waving goodbye to Granny, and shoving my secret deep into my pocket. I had just stepped out of the front door when I caught Blane and Anabel’s
makeout
session galore.

Eww
… Get a room!

Blane and Anabel’s lips were locked, fondling each other in ways that would make a stripper blush. To my surprise, and in a way to my delight, I saw the nerd strolling up the driveway.

Oh yeah, this is getting good.

I grinned from ear to ear.

Edgar looked as though he was watching a horror show or perhaps, Steve Jobs making out with Bill Gates. I’m not sure how that nerd thinks, but it’s sure fun to watch his jaw drop open with disgust.

Edgar stood behind Anabel and Blane while they
smooched
their brains out. “Luvey?” he said in a wimpy voice.

Anabel spun around on her heels, her face white as a ghost. The look of surprise on her face was priceless.

“Edgar?”

“I thought you may have needed me,” mumbled Edgar, sizing up Blane, his eyes barely clearing his broad shoulders, his greasy hair shining in the moonlight. “So I rushed to Scotland to be with you.”

I had to think fast on my feet. I couldn’t let her royal highness destroy everything with some stupid remark. I stepped in front of Blane, brushing against his chiseled chest. “Man, these Scots really know how to say ‘hello,’ don’t they?” I said excitedly, concealing a giggle under my breath. I turned to Blane. “Hello, Braveheart!” My hands cradled his bristly face, pulling him in to meet my plump lips, kissing him as passionately as I could. What? I had to make it look real.

I shoved Blane away, a surprised look crawling on his face. I wiped the saliva off my mouth with the back of my hand, and then slapped him hard on his bum.

Braveheart perked right up.

“Ok! No more time for small talk,” I hooked my arm around Edgar’s lanky arm, leading him toward the grove. “Come on, Edgar. We’ve got important business to take care of.”

Edgar had a mindless look on his face, not k
nowing what to believe, his gaze
shifting from me to Blane and then to Anabel.

“You did come here to help, right?” I said to Edgar, trying to change the subject. “So, Edgar, what do you know about tree faeries?”

“Well…”

Anabel raced up beside me, tugging at my black
leather coat
, whispering fiercely into my ear, “What are you doing?”