Not Your Average Happy Ending (9 page)

Kendall

“We’re going to be late,” Ellie said, shoving half a banana in her mouth.

“Ash said he’d be here.” I pulled my backpack on my shoulder and peeked out the window again. He was leaving today. He said he’d come by before school and that he had a surprise for me. I hoped nothing was wrong, since he was never late.

“Where’s Ash going anyway?”

I glanced at Ellie, who looked like she’d just rolled out of bed. Her hair was in a pony tail and there were dark circles under her eyes again. “He’s going on vacation.” I wasn’t about to tell her he was going to hunt down a djinn to destroy a knife whose curse was killing me. Talk about weird.

“Well, I’m leaving. See you later.” She picked up her backpack and left the house, slamming the door behind her.

I stared at the door. I still didn’t know what was wrong with her. She was acting so different. Like she didn’t care about anything anymore. I wondered if she was having some kind of meltdown or crisis like I had my junior year of high school. Thank goodness I’d met Ash. If he hadn’t shown up, I don’t know what would have happened. He saved me.

My mom ran into the room then. “Bye, honey. Have a good day at school.” She kissed the top of my head, grabbed her purse and can of Coke and left without another word.

Workaholic was an understatement when it came to her.

A twinge of magic filled the air then.  A strange feeling of warmth and electricity. I recognized it now, since Ash was always around. I turned, not surprised at all to see Ash standing in the living room with Misty. I was, however, surprised at the two guys I’d never seen before standing behind them.

“You’re late,” I said.

Ash grimaced. “Yes, yes, I know. Blame Misty. She and Sam were yelling at each other all morning. I had to drag her here.”

I raised an eyebrow at Misty, but she avoided my eyes.

“Now that that’s taken care of, I’d like to introduce you to your new bodyguards.”

My mouth dropped open as I stared at him. “Are you kidding me?”

“What?”

“I don’t need bodyguards, Ash. I’m perfectly capable of handling myself. Besides, I thought you said Misty was going to stay with me.”

“She is.” He shot the guy on the left an annoyed look before coming to stand next to me. “I’m just not taking any chances.” He motioned to the same guy, who was staring at me with a strange expression. “This is Cornelius.”

Cornelius stepped forward and shook my hand. “Nice to meet you,” his voice boomed. I shrank back against Ash. He was huge. Super tall and muscular with hair the color of straw. He had a strange smell as well. I didn’t want to say he smelled like some kind of animal, but he sort of did. More like a barn animal though. A cow maybe?

“Misty, will you bring him up to speed with what’s going on?” Ash said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

She nodded and they went in the other room to talk.

“Ash…what is he? I can tell he’s not a human. And why does it smell like I’m on a farm?”

Ash chuckled. “Cornelius is one of the toughest creatures I know. You’ll be safe with him.” He leaned in so he was almost whispering in my ear. “As for the animal smell, he’s a centaur, so please, do me a favor and don’t call him a ‘horse person’.”

Seriously? A centaur? “Right. And calling him Cornelius is so much better.”

He gave me a strange look.

“What? It’s a weird name for anyone. Especially a horse person. I mean…uh…

centaur.”

Ash shook his head as a smile crossed his face. “Just call him Cornelius. No nicknames. Especially not Corny. He hates that one. Trust me. I know.”

“Great. Now there are two ways I can offend him.” I glanced at Cornelius again who I could see through the kitchen door. “Why doesn’t he have…you know? A horse’s legs and stuff?”

“He can turn human when he’s in the human world. Just for a short amount of time though.”

“Oh. Weird.” I was glad Ash was a fairy and not some half animal that changed shape every night after I went to sleep.

Ash chuckled and gestured to the other guy who stood in the same spot as before. He was on the shorter side, with dark hair and wore faded jeans with a grey shirt. A strange symbol was tattooed on his left forearm and wrapped around it like a bracelet. His eyes were dark. Almost black. In all honesty, he sort of scared me.

“This is Glade,” said Ash.

“Hi,” I said. “Nice to meet you, Glade.”

He nodded and took a step forward, reaching for my hand. It was warm, almost hot. I tried to pull away, but he held tight. I was more than a little taken back when he kissed it. He didn’t say anything, just stared at me, and I couldn’t help but stare back. There was something strange about him.

I pulled away, my face heating. I didn’t dare look at Ash. I was afraid of what I might see.

“Glade is...uh…top of his class…and…well…you’ll be safe with him around,” he said.

“Really?” He didn’t look too threatening. I mean, he creeped me out, yes, but I was pretty sure a djinn wouldn’t be scared of him at all.

He glanced at Glade and I could have sworn he frowned a little before looking back at me. “Yes. I promise.”

Glade gave me a crooked smile before wandering into the kitchen with Misty and the horse man. I couldn’t help but notice how Glade carried himself. His footsteps were heavy on the floor, like he was being weighed down by something. He was cute, but he seemed dark somehow. I wondered what his power was. I was pretty sure he didn’t want me to know, since Ash never told me. I knew he wasn’t a djinn, since Dax carried a whole different feeling with him, but there
was
something different and unsettling about him.

Ash turned to me and grabbed my hand. “Now that you’ve met everyone, I need to steal you for a few minutes.” He pulled me into the other room. “Cornelius will watch your house and keep an eye on things both here and at the Academy. Glade will be joining you and Misty at school.”

I put a hand up. “Wait. What?” I don’t know why it bothered me that Glade would be following me around at school. Oh, wait. He was creepy. That’s why. “Ash, you really don’t have to do this. I’ll be fine—”

He placed a finger against my lips. “Please. Let me do this. I’ll be worried enough about you as it is.”

The emotion in his voice took me by surprise. I don’t think I ever realized how much he loved me until that moment. I sighed, wrapping my arms around his waist and leaned against his chest. It was pointless to argue with him about my safety.

He slid his hand under my chin and made me look at him. “I swear everything will be okay.” The intensity of his gaze made my heart quicken. Swirls of silver and gold danced in his usually blue eyes. He leaned in and kissed my jaw. I shivered as he followed my scar all the way up to the edge of my eye. His hands slid up my arms, sending goose bumps all over me. His touch always made my head fuzzy. I’m surprised I remembered my own name.

I closed my eyes as he kissed me, breathing in his scent of rain and freshly cut grass. My fingers clung to his shirt, knowing I wouldn’t see him for who knows how long. My heart ached. I didn’t want to say goodbye. Not yet.

“I have to go,” he said between kisses. He pulled away way too soon and wrapped me in a tight hug. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“I’ll be back soon. I promise.”

“I know.” Tears pricked my eyes and for once I didn’t care. I let them fall.

He kissed my cheek and before I knew it, he was gone.

Ash

Sam waited for me at his house. He sat in the same place I’d left him with a scowl on his face.

“Anything exciting happen while I was gone?” I asked, trying to lighten his mood. I don’t know why he and Misty couldn’t work things out. I was sick of them being all weird around each other. It was annoying.

“If you count a pixie almost flying in my ear exciting, then yes.” He rolled his shoulders and stood, still scowling.

“Oh, lighten up. It’s not like you’ve never been in a fight with a girlfriend before.”

“Misty’s not my girlfriend.”

“You can do something about that you know.” I swear he had more girl problems than anyone I’d ever met. And he dated the weirdest people ever. Misty was different though. I actually liked her.

He muttered something under his breath, but I didn’t catch it. I decided to change the subject. “You ready to head out?”

“Where’re we going this time?”

“I got some information from Glade about Dax living in the Black Forest. We should probably start there.”

“Oh, that’s great. Why don’t we just paint big red X’s on us so we can die as fast as possible?”

I glared at him. I knew the risks. I’d even thought of a million excuses not to go in there, but I had no choice. And Glade knew almost everything about the Black Forest, since he lived there. Dax had to be in there.

“What? I just don’t want to be stalked by some crazy beast for days on end. I’d rather have a quick death. Going up against a banshee again sounds pretty fun, actually.”

“Thanks for lightening the mood, Sam. I appreciate it.”

“Anytime.”

“Grab your stuff. Let’s get moving.” I paused. “Unless you have better things to do like tell Misty how you feel about her.”

“Not likely.” He dragged his feet, but eventually found his oversized traveling bag. He snapped his fingers and it shrunk down, small enough to fit in his pocket. A necklace with a bottle of white powder hung around his neck. He noticed me staring at it and smiled. “I’m prepared this time.”

I was glad he had it. Just in case he needed to stop time again. “You ready?”

He nodded. “Super excited too.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “Let’s get this over with.”

We both closed our eyes and a few seconds later we were standing in front of the entrance to the Black Forest.

“Wow,” I said. “You were right. It pretty much looks like death right now. And we haven’t even gone inside yet.”

“I told you. Big red X’s would have been much easier.”

I rolled my eyes and started walking. I only made it a few feet when I heard a nasty high-pitched scream. I looked back at Sam. “Please don’t tell me there’s another banshee.”

“If there is, I’m out,” he said.

“I thought you said you’d rather fight a banshee rather than something else.”

He shrugged. “I lied.”

I shook my head and grabbed his arm. “Come on.”

It wasn’t as dark as I thought it would be. There were plenty of trees blocking most of the sun, but there were enough rays peeking through the treetops that we could see just fine. I had to wonder how such a beautiful place could hold such evil.

“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” Sam asked.

“Not really. Glade didn’t really give me a map.”

“Wow. That makes me feel better.”

“Would
you
like to lead?”

“Nope.” He grabbed a big stick and stuck it into the ground as he walked.

“Okay then.” I trudged through the foliage, keeping my eyes and ears open. My mind was all over the place and my magic felt strange too. On edge. As if something was pulling at it.

“Well that was easy,” Sam said, pointing through the trees at a figure in black.

Dax stood on an outcropping of rock, looking straight at us. He had his arms folded and looked totally relaxed. As if he didn’t have a care in the world.

I stared at him, the magic in my fingertips burning. I couldn’t lose control. Not yet. Maybe I could reason with him and get the knife first. If I could keep reminding myself of that one thing, maybe I could keep from killing him. I needed the knife to save Kendall. I had to destroy it before I destroyed him.

“I’ve heard you’ve been tracking me,” he said, leaning against a tree. “How’s it going so far?”

I frowned. “We found you didn’t we?” Wind tousled my hair and I looked at Sam, who shook his head slightly.

“Did you? Or did I want to be found?” He gave me a wicked grin and it took all of my self control not to lose it.

“Don’t,” I said. “Don’t push me. You’re lucky I haven’t ripped you apart already.”

“Pretty sure you’re not capable of doing something like that. You’re not that dark are you? You’re not a true djinn.”

“You’re right. I’m not like you.” My temper flared and the wind started blowing. “I’ll never be like you.”

Dax looked down at his robe whipping around his feet. “You still can’t control it,” he said. “Interesting. And Linkin said you were stronger than me. Obviously he was wrong.”

The wind blew harder and I heard Sam move behind me. “Uh…Ash?” I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, surprised to see his arms wrapped around a tree to keep himself on his feet. “Take a deep breath and calm down. I know you can control it if you just concentrate.”

Dax laughed. “You should listen to Ellwater. He seems to know what he’s talking about.”

I wanted to punch him in the face, but I took a deep breath. The wind slowed and as much as it surprised me that it actually worked, I didn’t let it show. I could do this. I could control it. I just had to focus. “All I want is the knife, Dax. Give it to me.”

“The knife for the necklace.”

“Tell me why the necklace is so important and maybe I’ll cooperate.”

“Ha! Right.” He studied me. “You know, it’s not that hard of a choice. I thought you loved her. I bet if you were the one dying, Kendall would do the right thing.”

That’s all it took for my temper to get the best of me. “Don’t you dare say her name.” Blue light shot out of my fingertips and headed straight for Dax. His lips moved and a bunch of dirt and rocks rose out of the ground in front of him, blocking the spell.

I thrust my hands in front of me and sent a whirlwind of dirt rushing toward him. He cursed as it whipped around and around, trapping him in the middle. I smiled. I finally had him. Magic flowed out of my body and the wind blew through the trees so hard,
I
even had a hard time staying on my feet. “Give me the knife!”

“How can I give it to you if I don’t have it?” he yelled. His expression was different than I expected. He looked scared.

“Give it to me!” The wind blew harder, pushing him to the ground.

“I don’t have it!” He covered his face with his hands, shielding his face.

He was lying. He had to be.

“Ash, stop,” Sam cried. “Calm down!”

But I wouldn’t calm down. I was in perfect control on the situation. More powerful than I’d ever felt actually. The wind died down and I sent another spell at Dax, knowing he couldn’t stop it. Before it could hit him though, a burst of pink light came out of nowhere and hit my spell, evaporating it into nothing. I whirled around to find the source and another light shot out of the woods and struck me in the chest. The force of it knocked me off of my feet.

I landed hard on my back and gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of me.

“Ash,” Sam yelled. He shouted something at Dax, but before his spell could work, another light shot through the trees and hit him as well.

My lungs were on fire. I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to calm down and breathe. After a few minutes, I was able move. My body felt like jelly though, so all I could do was make sure my limbs were working. After a second, the strange feeling faded and I opened my eyes.

Trees.

And silence.

I sat up and ignored the sick feeling in my stomach. Confused at what just happened, I looked at Dax, who stood in the same spot. He stared at me with wide eyes. I knew that light hadn’t come from him, and to my surprise, Shenelle stepped out from behind a tree, fury evident on her face.

“You hurt my son and it will be the last thing you do. I don’t care what Linkin says.”

What? I looked from her to Dax. How did I not see it before? She was his mother? She wasn’t my mother too…was she?

I gulped as she pointed her wand at my face. I knew what she was capable of, so I stayed still. “The necklace. That’s all I need.”

“I told you before. I don’t have it.” If I was her son, why was she threatening me? It didn’t make any sense. Mother’s didn’t do that. Did they? I studied her face. She and Dax had the same shaped eyes. And round face. Not to mention the same nasty temper. I was such an idiot.

She frowned. “Still with the girl. Your Kendall I suppose.”

My temper flared again. “No. You leave Kendall out of this.”

She ignored me and turned back to Dax. “Tell Linkin we have Ash and his little friend. And they don’t have the necklace with them.” She moved away, her wand still pointing at me. “Then go back to your assignment. You have work to do.”

“Yes, mother. I’ll let you know what I find out.” Dax shot me a strange look before he disappeared into the trees.

“Now. What shall I do with you two?” She grinned. “I know. Let’s play a game.”

I dreaded what kind of game she had in mind.