Autumn (19 page)

“...mean nothing to anyone,” he continued. “No one cares about you and certainly no one wants to have to deal with you. It’s the sad reality that you have stepped into something that is over your head, and the best thing for you now...is to disappear.”

I gasped. “You want me to run away? Leave Holt? That’s your solution to this? How could you possibly have gone away and gotten stupider?”

Logan’s green eyes, so like his brother’s, hardened. “No,” he said, “that’s not what I want at all. I want you to disappear.” He said it slowly, enunciating every word as if I was a child. There was something I wasn’t getting.

“Disappear...to where?” I asked. It took everything I had not to glance towards the door. Where was help? Logan was looking angrier and angrier, and even if I were willing to defy the Supreme Council and use my Fairy magic again to protect myself (which I was), I didn’t think I stood much of a chance against Logan. He was a lifelong Fairy and strong, whereas I was just a newbie.

“So, what are you suggesting?”

All trace of a smile was gone from his face as he used his index finger to trace lines on the table. I found his movements distracting.

“You should die,” he said. “It’s the only way to free Holt, if one of you dies. And  let’s be honest, it should be you. He is ten times, maybe a million times, better than you will ever be.”

I gasped at the sheer evil in his words. “You want me to kill myself?” I asked, barely breathing.

“I would rather that,” said Logan. “I mean, if Rog or I did it we would get in trouble, which I would rather avoid.”

His solution was so insane it broke me out of my wordless stupor.

“You’re worried about your own precious neck? As usual. How typical. You want something done, but you don’t even have the guts to do it yourself!”

“It’s just a suggestion,” said Logan. “There are less pleasant ways for us to get what we want, ways that won’t be traced back to us, but I would rather avoid those too.”

“Who is us?” I asked suspiciously.

“Everyone,” Logan exploded, throwing his hands into the air. “All the Fairies. All of us whose lives you have ruined!”

Before he could say anything else the door burst open again and Susan came storming in. “Logan Roth, if you aren’t out of my sight in five seconds I swear I’ll turn you into a crispy cream.”

Logan stared at her for a minute, then started to grin. “Sure thing, Susan,” he said. “I’m glad you’re so happy to see me.”

“You and your bile should have stayed hidden, Logan Roth. Honestly, I’m ashamed of you.”

All traces of amusement vanished from Logan’s face.

“Don’t talk to me like that,” he said.

“I’ll talk to you however I please,” she hissed. “You aren’t the boss of me.”

Logan stepped up to her and said, “But I could be. You never know how everything will shake out.”

Susan took another breath to respond, but Logan was gone before she had the chance.

“Are you alright?” she asked me.

I nodded. “I think so.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “I got here as fast as I could, but that wasn’t very fast. Sorry. I was shopping. What nonsense was he spewing now?”

I smiled, relief running through me.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “Nothing important.”

Susan glanced in the corner at the elderly couple. They were still sitting there, reading and sipping coffee.

“Did they hear any of that?’ she asked, frowning.

I grinned. “I don’t think they did, Susan, I really don’t.”

She looked at me and we both started laughing.

I was glad that Susan was there, that she at least still cared enough about me to come protect me.

It gave me confidence that everything might be alright. My only concern was that I had ever thought Logan was a decent Fairy. He wasn’t.

After Susan walked me home I tried to text Holt. When he hadn’t answered by the time I wanted to go to bed, I had to assume that he couldn’t risk talking to me any more, or worse, that he had gotten into trouble for texting me in the first place. A deep loathing, for Logan, for Mrs. Cheshire, for our situation, formed in the pit of my stomach and settled there.

Even without hearing back from Holt, I didn’t have much trouble falling asleep. I couldn’t wait for the next day, when I was going to see Carley.

“Can I drive you to the airport?” Nick asked as we left school. I had carefully avoided bringing this up, because Carley hadn’t said whether she wanted to see him and I didn’t want to get his hopes up.

“Sure,” I said on the spur of the moment. I had been planning on saying that my mom was going to drive me to pick Carley up, but that was silly. Nick and Carley would always be friends, even if something more wasn’t going to work out between them.

Nick didn’t say anything on the drive, and I could tell from how he kept shifting in his seat that he was nervous.

“Did you do something different with your hair?” I asked. I knew that asking a guy a question about his appearance was liking asking him the best mascara to use on blond lashes, but it was worth a shot.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “I got a haircut yesterday,” he said. “What do you think?”

“It looks great.”

We drove the rest of the way in silence. By the time we got out of the car I was so uncomfortable I nearly ran away from him, but at least his nerves had gotten my mind off the Fairy situation.

“Did she ever forgive you for telling everyone you were dating?” I asked as we headed into the airport. She had never said anything to me, but I had wondered.

“Did she forgive me for that horrible, awful rumor I spread?” Nick asked bitterly. “Not in so many words.”

“OHMYGOD MY TWO FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. YESSSSS.”

And Carley was there.

She gave me a massive hug, her arms squeezing so tightly I found it hard to breathe. She was wearing a green jacket, brown boots, and skinny jeans. Her blond hair was pulled away from her face, revealing a massive grin.

“I missed you,” I told her, hugging her again.

She laughed. “Of course you did, silly. Life must be so dull around here without me!”

“Hi Nick,” she said brightly, making no move to hug him. He had stood to one side, awkwardly watching our reunion with his hands shoved into his jean pockets and a frown on his face.

“Hey,” he said.

“Come on,” said Carley, grabbing my hand and pulling me along. “We have to get back to the house so we have time to get ready for the fair.”

“You want to go tonight?” I asked. On the way to the airport it had started to rain, and there was now a steady drizzle. Between the rain and the sea the world was a watery gray. The idea of confronting a bunch of Fairies in the wet was not appealing. I would have felt better about facing off against a bunch of people who hated me if I could look my best. And let’s face it, damp hair was not my best look.

“Nick,” I asked, “would you mind dropping us off at home?”

“Nope.”

“Are you coming to the fair?”

“Whatever.”

Carley chatted the whole way home, seemingly oblivious to Nick’s frustration, which was very Carley. He dropped us off at her house, now my house, without so much as looking at either of us.

“What was his problem?” she asked. “He didn’t have to be such a downer.”

“You weren’t exactly friendly,” I pointed out.

“Well, he hasn’t apologized.”

“He’s apologized like a million times, and how many times has he sent you flowers?” I demanded.

Carley bit her lower lip and looked down, a sure sign she was lying.

“Three.”

“Yeah, so be nicer to him. And text him and tell him we need to be picked up for the fair. My mom doesn’t want to go. She has a tiny dose of sanity left and doesn’t think it will be any fun when it’s raining.”

“Fine,” Carley muttered, pulling out her phone. When I started to stand at her shoulder and watch her text she threw me out, which was fine. I had some getting ready to do.

Once Carley and I were dressed, with our rain jackets pulled over warm sweaters, jeans, and L.L.Bean rain boots, we waited in the living room for Nick. It wasn’t raining, but I was sure it was going to start again. The sky was filled with clouds even as dusk fell.

Nick wasn’t late, and to my chagrin he had Samuel with him. We were an odd foursome, and even though we had spent a lot of time together over the summer, sometimes with Susan along as well, now that I was with Holt I wasn’t comfortable spending so much casual time with Samuel.

“Samuel Cheshire HUG,” Carley cried, sprinting off the porch.

He smiled and gave her a light hug. Nick didn’t need any Fairy powers to change the air so that the rest of us realized he was getting furious. Well, maybe Carley wasn’t realizing.

“How’ve you been?” she asked Samuel. “You look breathtaking. Are you and Autumn dating yet? I keep trying to set you up.”

“Carley,” I growled, but she was off on one of her rants. Carley was fun and she had always been there for me when I needed her, but she was also oblivious sometimes.

“This is going to be fun,” said Nick. “Remind me again why I’m in love with her?”

“She’s sweet and kind and pleasant to be around? Loyal? Most of the time?”

“Right,” he said. “You should keep telling me that periodically throughout the evening.”

I grinned.

It turned out to be fun, at least in the beginning. Luckily most of the fairground was covered in tents, and even though we had to walk in the rain to get from one tent to another, we spent the majority of the evening dry. Our first goal was to get dinner, which we bought from a local food vendor, who, Samuel assured me when I gave him a meaningful glare, was not a harmful Fairy. I got a stuffed pretzel and a milkshake, while Carley and Nick each got a burger and fries. Samuel decided he didn’t want anything to eat, so he just got a Coke to sip.

After that it was mostly wandering around. Carley, who loved jewelry, pulled us towards one guy in the far back corner, and while she and Nick were examining his bracelets and rings I pulled Samuel aside and said, “Is every vendor here a Fairy?”

“Yup,” said Samuel. “Shockingly enough, that’s what happens when you go to a Fairy fair.”

I gave him an eye roll and he grinned.

“I didn’t want to come,” I said, keeping my voice as low as possible. “First of all it’s raining and second of all I don’t want to run into Rog. Carley wanted to come, though, so we did.”

“You could have told her no.”

“Ha, braver people have done that and never been heard from again,” I murmured.

Samuel laughed and I smiled back. I liked that he always laughed at my jokes. It  felt good that someone liked me and wanted to be around me, especially Samuel, after everything we had been through.

Unfortunately, the fun evening couldn’t last. When we were heading back to Nick’s car to go home, a couple of Fairies stumbled into our path. I recognized one of them immediately as Gaudet. My stomach did a little flip flop and I moved closer to Samuel.

She sidled up to Carley with a frothy drink in her hand. “Care to try?” she asked, holding out the blue bubbly confection.

“No,” I cried, stepping in front of Carley. “Leave my friend alone.” I wasn’t supposed to use magic and I knew I was no match for an experienced Fairy, but going after one of my friends crossed the line.

Gaudet levelly met my gaze. “It’s just some blueberry soda.”

“Sure it is,” I said, glaring at her.

“Samuel,” Gaudet pouted, “she bites.”

“Only when provoked,” said Samuel dryly.

Surprised, I glanced back at him. He was watching Gaudet with a hard look in his eyes.

“Excuse me,” said Carley, “I can totally decide for myself what I am, and am not, going to drink, and that looks tasty!”

“Okay,” I said, “well, as long as you decide not to drink it, it’s fine.”

“Autumn,” she complained, “you’re being really weird.”

“Oh, well,” I muttered. Nick was frowning at me, but all he said was, “Well, we should probably keep heading home....”

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay longer?” Gaudet asked. “We could have some fun.”

“I’m pretty sure we have very different ideas of fun,” I told her.

“And thank God for that. Just stay another minute,” she said. She was smiling.

A feeling of unease settled over my shoulders like a cloak, and I glanced at Samuel. I knew he would know what to do.

Samuel shrugged. “I don’t like it,” he said.

But it didn’t matter; it was already too late. From behind Gaudet I saw three shapes walking towards us. Another breath and they were there. A gasp escaped my lungs.

Holt was walking between Logan and Rog, and he looked as surprised to see me as I was to see him. Unfortunately, Rog and Logan didn’t look so surprised. Logan was dressed casually, in a white t-shirt and jeans. His brilliant greens eyes were hooded. Rog was dressed more flamboyantly in a bright red, orange, and yellow vest over a purple shirt and brown performer’s pants. He definitely stood out from the crowd.