The Evensong (31 page)

GREETINGS

I don’t know how long I stayed awake with my thoughts, but it seemed like a long stretch of time. Nothing changed from my space in the trunk. I pulled my backpack under my head for more comfort and moved away from the wall of the backseat, getting a little more comfortable. Since there was nothing to see, I got tired fast and quickly gave in to sleep.

As usual, I dreamed. It seemed like I’d had the dream before. The swamps were the same, and again I walked naked through the moss. Someone was following me, and when I looked back, I could see Linden between the branches. I laughed and ran; keep-away.

When I paused to stand on a fallen tree he caught up with me, holding me from behind. I watched his tattooed hands moved up my body, stopping at my temples. This time, there was no sudden headache, but I could smell burning herbs very strongly. It was the same smell as the façade smoke.

“You made it,” the dream Linden said, turning me around. I couldn’t see much of him but his eyes, and I noticed that all around us, the swamp was burning. The flames traveled up the thin trees, consumed the moss in a simple whisper. I didn’t feel the heat and just felt Linden there, cool and strong. I was going to say something—something important, when my head hit something very hard.

I opened my eyes as the rest of my body followed, slamming against the backseat. My head had cracked against the metal spot of the car as the whole thing came to a violent stop. I was completely disoriented; it was pitch black, the sound of wind rushing by had stopped, and the music was off as well. I held my head tight, the spot that hit hardest throbbing painfully.

One of the car doors opened and slammed shut. I opened my eyes, suddenly afraid. Maybe he was checking something in the back . . .

But it just wasn’t my luck. I heard the keys in the lock over the trunk and it flung open as orange light spilled down on me. My eyes squinted shut, and after a moment I was brave enough to look up.

Linden looked confused. He stared at me, at my backpack, and finally spoke.

“How did you get here?”

I scrambled to sit up, still holding my head with one hand. “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

He held up a hand, which silenced my instantly. “I don’t want to know right now.” I climbed out and he shut the trunk. “Get in.”

He went to the driver’s side as I briefly looked around. He had slammed to a halt in the middle of a street in town. It was dark out, and I couldn’t even tell what time it was.

I slowly walked to the passenger side, which he had cleared for me. Sitting down, I buckled in and couldn’t even bring myself to look at him. He started driving again, pulling over a few streets down in front of a diner. He got out, and I took it as a cue to follow.

He still hadn’t said anything to me when we sat down at a small booth. I was still holding my head, which felt like it should have split open in one spot. Linden sat there with pursed lips, fiddling with a napkin.

“Okay. I can listen now,” he said, looking at me. He noticed my hand at once. “Are you okay?”

“I just hit my head, it’s nothing,” I insisted.

The hard look faded from his face. “When I braked?” I nodded. “How did you get in the trunk?”

He leaned forward in interest, and I wondered how much of his anger he was hiding.

“I found a . . . a spell. It hid my aura, but only for a little while, I guess.” That last herb we didn’t have must have made some kind of difference. The spell wore off too early.

“Right, only eight hours.”

So we were already in Rhode Island.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I had this—”

“You didn’t think I was coming back,” he stated.

“No,” I said quickly. “No, I just had this really bad feeling . . . it was hard to ignore. I couldn’t.”

He nodded, raking a hand through his hair. “Okay . . . okay. I can’t bring you back though. But I guess you planned on that.”

I blushed deeply.

He was thoughtful for a few minutes. “Rhys won’t mind at all. It’s just the others I’m worried about. Before we decide where we’re staying we have to go there.”

I had a feeling he wasn’t exactly talking to me, so I didn’t reply. When the waiter came by he only ordered coffee and stirred in cream slowly. I didn’t touch mine.

“Linden, I’m really sorry,” I said, trying to get the look off his face. “I’m—”

“Don’t apologize, you acted on a feeling. Instinct,” he said, looking straight at me. “Don’t say sorry.”

I shut my mouth and waited to see what would happen next.

He downed his coffee fast and paid with equal swiftness. When we walked back onto the street, he stopped me and made me take my hand away from my head.

“No blood. That’s good,” he said. “Do you need Advil or something?”

“Maybe later,” I replied, afraid to look at him.

As he sighed deeply he suddenly laughed. “This is what I love about you, Riley. I can never tell what’s next.”

I chanced a look at him and it was the familiar Linden again. He didn’t seem angry anymore. He took my hand and pulled me back to his car, opening the door for me before he got in.

I had never been outside of the state before, so even at night this new city was beautiful. The buildings looked old, but intriguing and I noticed a distinct smell on the wind that I couldn’t place. It was like the swamps, but very different.

And that’s when I saw it. Even in the dark it was an expanse of awe, stretching out all the way to the faintly gray horizon: the ocean. I audibly gasped when I saw it, and Linden looked for a second.

“Yeah, they’re impressive,” he said, thinking I was talking about the homes lining the white sand.

“I’ve never seen it,” I breathed, barely hearing him.

“What, the ocean?
Never?
” I shook my head, never taking my eyes off it. “You’ve been missing out. That’s the first place I’m taking you tomorrow.”

My head whipped around to look at him. “Really?”

“Hey, if you’ve never seen it, there’s no excuse,” he said.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the black water for the rest of the drive. It was a short ride down a small road to a part of the beach that jutted out into the spray. A white house hugged the sturdy ground behind it while there was nothing in front but the sand and the water.

“Rhys lives there?” I asked as we approached.

“Occasionally. This is the one that they decided on,” he replied, tires scratching across the small road, dusted with sand. I was so choked up about it, I’d almost forgotten what was waiting in that house.

“Good,” Linden muttered when he parked beside a few cars. “Nerio isn’t here.”

The name brought on anger and a little bit of fear, but I tried to cover it up as I stepped out of the car. The sound of the waves against the sand was so calming, I instantly felt better. Linden came around to shut the door, since I’d forgotten, and stood beside me for a minute, following my gaze.

“I should have just brought you here without you being in the trunk,” he commented. “Especially if you haven’t seen this.”

I didn’t reply, still watching the white tips of the water as it tumbled onto shore.

“Come on,” Linden said gently, his arm around my waist. “They already know we’re here.”

“They?” I repeated, tearing my eyes away as I walked.

“They. Rhys, Calder, and Tally, if that is her car.”

At least I recognized these two names. The third I couldn’t place.

We walked up the steps above the garage, which led to the front door. Diamond cut glass ricocheted light from inside, exposing the small hallway. I couldn’t see anyone inside, but I still half hid behind Linden as he rang the doorbell.

“It’s okay,” he said quietly, squeezing my hand. I almost couldn’t breathe when I heard footsteps and saw a face I had only seen in pictures. Rhys was walking towards the door.

Linden stepped back, and I went with him. Rhys opened the door and smiled, though there was an obvious hesitation there. He probably felt my aura since we came near the beach.

“You made it,” Rhys said to Linden, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, finally,” he said, immediately stepping aside to expose me. “Rhys, this is Riley.”

He didn’t give another explanation yet, but Rhys still smiled warmly and stuck out his hand. I shook it lightly despite his firm grasp. “It’s nice to meet you, Riley.”

“I’ll explain inside,” Linden mumbled, a hand at my back as he steered me in. Rhys just nodded, still watching me curiously. He shared the eyes, those impish cat-like eyes, except his were a warm shade of brown, like his hair. When he closed the door behind me, I felt a little trapped even though the house in front of me was incredibly spacious. Beyond the small hallway was an expansive living room with huge glass windows overlooking the ocean view. To the right, the door to the kitchen was open and besides hearing voices in there, I could see there were large windows, too.

“You’d better see the others before they die of curiosity,” Rhys suggested to Linden, gesturing to the kitchen.

“Right,” Linden muttered, again being the one to steer me to the kitchen. I didn’t want to go—I didn’t know what to expect from these people.

There were only two people sitting around the polished table, the assumed Calder and Tally. Neither one of them looked at Linden; both shocked eyes were on me, and the girl scooted her chair back a good foot when I entered.

“Hi,” Linden said easily.

The girl was having no trouble hiding her feelings. She stared at me, mouth agape and frowning. “Linden,” she said, her voice clear and loud. “
What
is that?”

“Hey,” he replied sharply, his arm going up in front of me as if for protection. “Tally, can you try manners?”

“Manners?” she repeated. “Am I the one that brought that?”

“Come on, Tallulah,” Rhys said easily as he walked in. Tally—or Tallulah—went quiet, but was still sour.

“Okay—well, that’s
Tallulah,
and that’s Calder,” Linden said, pointing to the silent one sitting across from her. Calder looked more similar to Linden, though maybe younger. His hair was dark and long, falling past his jaw, but it was his eyes that were different. Bright, bright blue stared back at me from a pale, cautious face.

I didn’t bother to say hi. I doubted it would matter if I did.

“And this is Riley,” Linden added, pointing to me. For some reason, Tally scoffed and stood, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder.

“Tally, sit,” Rhys said firmly. She paused, glaring at him, but sat down again before he turned back to Linden. “Come this way, she can wait in your room.”

Wait?
Alone?

Rhys led us through a hallway that ran behind the living room. At the end of the hall, he took a staircase to the right, which led to another hall. He finally stopped at the last room, opening the door and sweeping his arm towards the bedroom.

“Make yourself at home, Riley,” he said, smiling.

“Thank you,” I muttered, almost inaudibly. But he seemed to have heard and told Linden he would be waiting downstairs.

Once his footsteps faded, I was able to take a breath. “They’re going to kill me. Tallulah’s going to kill me,” I whispered.

“Don’t worry about her,” Linden said, going towards the bed. “She’s just always bitter. We’ll have to work on the others later.”

Just the thought of more—including Nerio—made my stomach weak.

“I’m going to go downstairs and talk to them,” he said as he turned on the bedside lamp. “Are you going to be okay in here?”

“Sure, as long as
she
doesn’t come this way,” I replied.

“I’ll make sure she won’t,” he said. “If this takes too long just go to sleep. I’ll be back up here as soon as they understand.”

I nodded, feeling sick to my stomach. Linden reached out and put a hand to my cheek. “It’ll be okay.”

“Yeah—I hope so.”

He grinned before he left the room, closing the door behind him. Alone, my knees felt weak and I collapsed on the bed. I couldn’t believe I was in a house full of them—Elementals, undines. There was some obvious clashing going on, and I wondered how much worse it could get.

Biting my lip, I carefully tried to feel the auras in the house. At first there was the usual nothing out of the ordinary, but when I broke through the feeling was beyond overwhelming. It was a crushing feeling of strange power, varying degrees and most coming off of one person. Hopefully it was Rhys since he seemed to be the most accepting so far. If it was Tally, I was doomed.

I tried to call Alysana, but there were no bars in my phone. Typical. The best I could do was walk around and pace, waiting and fearing what could come. I didn’t doubt that Linden would try to protect me, but Nerio . . . he was huge. Maybe even Rhys would help; he seemed to want to keep the peace.

After an hour I heard the door downstairs open and shut, and a very deep and distinctive voice called out for Linden, then a roar of, “
You brought her here?”