Rua (Rua, book 1) (10 page)

“Why do they all look sick?” she asked.

“Because they are. The longer the
Sidhe
stay in this world, the less power they have. They need to get back to their world to rejuvenate. The ones you see are sick and can’t go back on their own.”

“Why don’t they go back and forth all the time so this doesn’t happen?”

“It’s not that simple. Some are tied to elements, like water or air. If the water gets polluted, so do they. Some are tied to humans, by love or as guardians. Some forget or don’t realize how much their power has faded until they try to cross back themselves. Some are like me, living life as a human. They don’t want to go back and only do it when they must.”

“This is like the weirdest sci-fi plot I’ve ever heard.”

“Technically, that would be fantasy.” He gestured to the squat, low door. “Let’s go, let’s get you home.”

“Whoa, whoa. What am I going to do about my parents? They were trying to get into my room when I left. The police might be there by now.”

“We’ll figure it out. Trust me.”

Chapter 10

He parked a couple of blocks away, but familiar blue and red lights emanated from the direction of her house. They sat in his black sports car, engine running.

“See? I told you. They called the police. I can’t just walk back in there. Not dressed in your clothes. They’ll think we—” She shut her mouth as quickly as humanly possible.

He laughed. “You’re right, they’ll think we had relations. That would be horrible.”

Her tentative smile faded.
Right, great.

“Oh, hey. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s not like that would be bad or anything.” He dropped his hands from the steering wheel. “It’s, you know, your parents will probably ground you, or keep you from seeing, I mean, hanging out with me. We can’t have that right now.”

“Right, of course. It’s fine.” She nodded vigorously, too much so, she realized. She was overcompensating and it was obvious.

He slipped out of the car, silent as a cat.

She rolled her window down halfway. “What are you doing?”

“Wait here, I’m gonna get some clothes and shoes,” he said.

“How are you going to do that?” But he was already gone, melting into the shadows with an obnoxiously bright smile.

The digital clock on the dash declared it was 12:22 in bright red numbers. She rolled the window down all the way, letting the night wash over her skin. Its energy twisted and rolled around her. She leaned her head back on the seat. Is that why she’d liked the night all this time? Because of the
Sidhe
?

A light tap on her side of the car brought her to attention. Rylan was crouched near the window, holding a bundle of clothes and shoes. Her clothes and shoes from her room.

She looked at the clock: 12:24. “Jesus Christ, how did you do that?”

He smiled. “Very quickly. How did I do? ‘Cause I can go back.”

One at a time, she held up the slim black jeans, pale pink tunic, sneakers, and hot pink lacy bra. She looked at him with one raised eyebrow, dangling it from her finger.

He shrugged. “That one’s my favorite.”

She tried to look nonchalant as she rolled her eyes then gestured for him to turn around. He did, leaning his back against her door to prove he wasn’t looking.

She changed as quickly as she could, trying to ignore the fact she was near naked inches away from the hottest guy on the planet. The bra in question was never meant to see the light of day. If her mom had any idea she had underwear that sexy, she’d fly off the handle.

“Okay, I’m done.”

He opened the door.

She stepped out onto the curb next to him. “What now?”

“Good luck,” he said. “Tell them you snuck out, do whatever you need to do to get them to send you to bed. I’ll be back soon. Leave your window open so we can set the circle, then I’ll do what I do.”

“Which is?”

He shrugged. “I’ll help you with them.”

“Do I even want to know?” she said.

“You better go.”

She walked a few steps, paused, then turned around. “Um, thanks for helping me. You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do.” He got in his car, started the engine, and was halfway down the street before she formulated the thought floating around in her head.

Why?

***

The policeman stood in the doorway, talking to her very angry mom. Celeste heard snatches of conversation as she walked up.

“What do you mean I have to wait twelve hours? She’s a seventeen-year-old girl. I need to file a report
now.
”

The officer shifted his considerable weight. “Yes, ma’am. I understand, but teenagers sneak off. Legally speaking, their curfew isn’t even until 12:30. I can’t treat this as a missing person just yet.”

Celeste chose that moment to step into the light spilling out from the open door. “Mom, I’m here. I’m okay.”

“Thank God!” Her mom flew down the steps. “Where were you? Are you okay?” She pulled back. “Harold! She’s back!” she yelled into the house.

“I’m sorry. I just needed to get out of the house.” The excuse sounded lame, even to her ears.

Her mom’s face transformed from relief to anger. “What? We heard you scream, your door was locked. Your father had to break the doorknob. You weren’t in there.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I had a bad nightmare.”

“Young lady, where have you been?” Her father’s voice broke through the night like thunder. He came to the doorway. Oh man, he looked mad. “Come inside, now!” He turned to the officer. “Thank you very much. It appears you were right.”

The officer tipped his hat in response then made a quick exit.

Her parents led her into the living room. She sat on the chair. They sat on the couch across from her. She shifted under their not-so-happy stares.

“You better start at the beginning, and don’t stop until I hear everything,” her father said.

“I’m sorry, Dad, I…” – she twisted her hands together – “I had a horrible nightmare. I woke up and I thought something was in my room. So, I got up and left. I wanted to be on my own for a while.”

“Why? Why not tell us you were leaving? Why scream, then bolt?”

“It was wrong, I know.”

“That’s not good enough,” her mom snapped. “You screamed, we couldn’t get in your room, then you disappeared out your window. Who were you with?”

“I was alone.”

“Don’t lie to me,” her mom said.

“I’m not lying! I snuck out because I had a bad dream.” Her voice raised an octave. “Maybe you guys have forgotten, but you move me all over the damn country, so I don’t have any friends to sneak off with. And oh yeah, birds have been following me, and I get mysterious headaches.” She stood. “I want to go to bed.”

Her mother rolled her eyes. “Cut the drama. It’s late and I’m tired, so I’ll let you go to bed. We’ll discuss this tomorrow.”

Celeste went into her room without another word. Her “woe is me” routine had worked. Kinda sorta.

Her doorknob was gone, but the door still shut, so she stuffed some tissue paper in the open hole to give herself some privacy.

She leaned out her open window. “Rylan?” she said in the loudest whisper she dared.

No response. She ducked back in, then put her ear to her bedroom door. She heard water running in her parents’ bathroom. Good. They were getting ready for bed.

“We should set the circle before they come back,” said a voice behind her.

She was so startled she jumped back, meshing the back of her body with the front of his. Rylan used his arms to gently, but quickly, push her off. “Did I scare you?”

She whirled around to face him. “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t sneak into your bedroom, or don’t sneak up on you?” he said.

“Neither.”

“As you wish.” He jerked his head in the direction of the window. “I’d hop to it if I were you.”

She took off her sneakers and socks because it seemed like the right thing to do. He hopped out the window then held out his arms. She paused, seated on the windowsill with her legs hanging out.

He wrapped his hands around her waist and lowered her to the ground.

“Thanks.” She didn’t dare look at his face. She stared at her hands. No flames. “Um, let’s do this.” In an instant, the tiny, purple flames rolled around her palms. “Awesome.”

“Indeed.”

She walked heel-to-toe around her yard, willing her power to go into the ground, picturing protection and peace from the
Sidhe
.

Rylan leaned against her house, face hidden by the shadows. His eyes never left her.

In a few short minutes, soft, purple light ringed her house. By the time she crawled in her window, purple flames rolled around her palms, wrapping around her arms, dancing on her neckline, and glowing in her scalp.

Rylan came in behind her.

“Can people see the light out there?” she asked.

“I don’t think so, but I think they might be able to see it while it’s on you.”

“Right.” She touched one of the flames traveling up her arm. It gave her the slightest sensation, like static electricity when she pulled clothes out of the dryer.

“Maybe since you can turn it on, you can turn it off?” he said.

“Maybe.” She closed her eyes and willed for the flames to disappear.

“Nice job!”

She opened her eyes. Her arms were normal, with only pea-sized flames rolling around in her palms. When she squeezed her hands into a fist, they disappeared.

“What are you going to do about my parents?” she asked.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of that. I’m very sorry, but in a moment you will be extremely sleepy.”

“What? What are you—” She didn’t finish her sentence because her brain was shutting down. Waves of fatigue washed over her, and she swayed on her feet.

Her caught her by the elbow, then led her to the bed. “Why don’t you get into bed?”

She nodded, too tired to speak.

He sat on the edge of the bed, helping her pull the covers up to her chin. She fought sleep, jerking her head side to side.

“Don’t fight it.” His hand brushed against her cheek, or did it? Was she asleep already? She couldn’t tell anymore, didn’t care anymore. His voice was inches away. “If anything ever happened to you …”

She tried to listen, tried to focus. What was he saying? Deep, black sleep washed over her.

She woke up to the sound of birds outside her window. She was still wearing her clothes from the night before. Crap! What had happened? She remembered getting sleepy, collapsing into bed, Rylan…

She surveyed her room. Yep, definitely alone. She leaned out her still-open window. It was morning, late morning by the looks of it. About twenty or thirty black birds populated the trees in her back yard.

“Hi,” she said to them.

They preened and flitted from branch to branch.

Then she had an idea.

She reached one hand out the window. “Come.”

One beautiful crow, so black he was almost blue, alighted from the tree and flew down, landing gently on her outstretched hand.

“Hi there!” She pulled it inside her room.

He was beautiful, with perfectly shaped wings, smooth black feathers, and little black eyes. He perched on her hand, quiet while she ran her finger from the top of his head down the length of his body.

“Celeste, are you up?” Her mom knocked on the door.

“Um, yeah! Be out in a minute.” She put her hand out the window. “Go,” she whispered. The bird flew off, returning to the nearby tree.

Celeste yanked off her clothes, put on an old pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and wrapped her favorite robe around her.

She paused as she put her hand on the doorknob because she had one again. When did her dad fix that? She heard her parents in the kitchen. They would most likely want to finish their talk, and it was probably going to suck. She wasn’t very good a lying to her parents because she usually didn’t have to do it.

When she walked into the kitchen, her dad was reading a business journal, coffee in hand. Her mom cooked eggs over the stove.

Her dad glanced up at her as she walked in. “Morning, babe.” He had an easy smile on his face and went straight back to his paper.

“I made you some eggs and toast.” Her mom slid the plate in front of her.

“Oh, thanks.”

She sat and stared at her dad while he read his journal. He folded his paper and put it away when his wife brought him a steaming plate of five eggs and three pieces of toast. “Thanks, doll.”

Her mom sat with her plate in hand. She beamed at Celeste and her husband. “This is so nice for us to just sit and eat together.”

Her father nodded in agreement. “Nothing makes me happier than my two beautiful girls.”

Celeste pasted a smile on her face then dug into her eggs. What the heck was going on? Were they playing some sort of game?

“So that Tink is something else!” her dad said. “I like him.”

Her mom laughed. “Of course you like him, he’s gay. He’s safe.” She pointed her yolk-covered fork at him. “I know you, mister.”

Celeste smiled. “Yeah, he’s been a good friend.”

“Good, honey,” her mom said. “Did you have a nice birthday?”

“Yes, it was great. Thank you,” she said.

This was getting weird.

She finished her eggs and toast, left her plate in the sink, announced she needed a shower, and retreated to her room.

Holy crap. What had he done?

She needed her cell phone. Where had she left it? She plowed through her room. Of course, it was on her desk, a sticky note attached to it.

RYLAN 455-9284

Well, that was something. She dialed the number and listened to it ring, one, two three times before it clicked into voicemail. Even through voicemail, his voice caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. “You’ve reached Rylan, leave a message.”

“Hey, um, call me. Whatever.” She slammed her phone down on the table.

It rang as soon as she put it down. She answered without looking caller the I.D. “Hello?”

“Oh, my God. Thank you for answering your damn phone! I’ve been calling forever. Are you okay? Did anything happen?”

“Tink,” she said. “Oh.”