Elemental Reality (12 page)

Oli wasn’t lying when he said he was ready to “bog in.” It was wise for Dad to make four pizzas—the boy could eat more than two Emerys. When everyone was finished with dinner, and there was no room left for dessert, we all helped clean the kitchen and headed into the living room to laze around. Lucy and Joey told stories about my parents when they were younger.

“I remember the first time your old man laid eyes on your mum,” Joey reminisced. “Lucy and I had recently started dating.” He grasped Lucy’s hand and gave her a shy smile. It reminded me of Oli. “Now, your mum and Lucy were best mates since they were little tykes but had been separated for their training. Your dad and I didn’t become mates until we were in our teens. I think we were fourteen right, Rore?”

Dad nodded, his expression downcast.

“So when Lucy found out that your mum would be joining our training classes, she was very excited and told us all about her.”

“Lucy wouldn’t shut up about it,” said Dad, a smile playing on his lips and tears pooling in his eyes. “I was thinking this girl would never live up to Lucy’s stories.”

“And boy was he wrong,” Joey continued. “When your old man saw your mum for the first time he was instantly bonded to her. He followed her around like a lost puppy.” He clapped Dad on the shoulder.

“Oh, stop it,” Lucy said as she gave him a playful smack on the arm. “Your parents were the cutest couple ever. And they still will be when we get her back.”

She sounded so sure, so positive that we would be able to rescue her. But if it were so easy, they would have done it by now. If it was as she suggested, then there would have been no danger to me. And if there was no danger to me, then my mom wouldn’t have given herself up. So why were they so sure now?

They continued on with more stories about their past in Tehokas City, but these were about their training classes. Even Dad joined in, becoming animated. I listened intently to everything they told me about their classes, and it made me more eager to get to Tehokas City so I could begin mine. I heard Ady yawn and, from the corner of my eye, I saw her check her phone.

“Whoa guys, it’s late. We should probably call it a night.”

Joey and Dad simultaneously checked their watches and agreed. We walked to the front door. Ady and Emery both gave me hugs, reassuring me their friendship was fully intact after my revelation. Everyone seemed to be taking this much better than myself, but I suspected that a small part of me felt guilty. My mother left to protect me. It was my fault she wasn’t here, enjoying this evening. The last twelve years I’d been upset with how she left, sometimes on the cusp of being angry. And Dad. He had to look at me everyday and see Mom in my face and know it was my fault. How had he not taken it out on me? Why didn’t he blame me?

“Thanks for sharing this new part of your life with us, Cali-girl,” Ady said, squeezing me into another hug.

“Yeah, ’cause you know secrets don’t make friends,” teased Emery, mock-punching me in the shoulder.

“I’m glad I was able to share this. It would have been too hard trying to hide it from you.” They’d never know how grateful I truly was for everything they had done for me—for accepting me.

We hugged again before they got into Ady’s car and drove away.

17

Flight of Fancy

Lola started toward her car when Lucy spoke up. “Before you leave, Lola, I just wanted you both to know that I’ll be back tomorrow so I can teach you how to fly.”

Lola grinned like the Cheshire cat. “I’m not leaving, just grabbing my overnight bag. And thanks, that’d be great.” She waved and ducked into her car to grab her stuff.

Though it was late, Lucy and Joey stayed a while longer. While Dad was deep in conversation with them, I pulled Oli to the side and out of earshot.

“What did you see when you looked at me earlier?” I asked. I needed the conformation.

“I saw your soul,” he whispered, moving closer. He moved so close heat radiated from him and warmed me. “And I saw our future. They were a real beauty, those two things combined. You saw the same for me, didn’t you?” It was less of a question.

“I did.” I was breathless. “Is it supposed to be like that?”—I held up my hands and chuckled—“Not that I’m complaining or anything.”

He smiled and stepped even closer. My breath hitched. “I know you’re not, Kitten. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be like that, but I’ll ask my mum about it if you want me to. But I have to admit I kind of want us to be the only ones to have seen something like that. One more special thing between us.”

My stomach fluttered. “Yeah,” I breathed. “It’ll be special no matter what. Something I’ll always treasure.”

“Me too, Kitten.”

He placed his hand on my cheek. His palm was warm and toasty, probably from the fire that dwelled inside, and it stirred the fire inside of me. I hadn’t realized it, but he’d backed me up against the wall. My breath hitched again when his lips started to move closer to mine. We were finally going to share our first kiss, and I was internally jumping for joy and shaking all at the same time. This would be different—he was different. I closed my eyes when he was mere inches from pressing his lips to mine, and I awaited their touch. The anticipation made my heart race something fierce. His breath trekked across my skin, but his kiss never came.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Kitten,” he whispered so close to my mouth I could almost taste him. Instead, my forehead was graced with their softness, a pleasant burn left in their wake. My lips loathed my forehead in that moment. Then he stepped away.

“Bye,” I managed to say, opening my eyes to watch him retreat. I wanted that kiss so bad I almost ran after him and demanded it. My fingers went up to my mouth, and I could still feel his warmth there. Taste his breath on my lips. I wondered why he stopped his initial descent to my lips. And then it dawned on me. I stopped him from kissing me this morning because I told him I wanted our kiss to be an official, uninterrupted first date kiss. Maybe since we never got to do it he wanted to wait—to make it just how I wanted it.

After they left, I glanced over at Dad who stared off into the distance and sighed. This must not have been an easy day for him either. So many memories of Mom and their life together had resurfaced. I went to him, wrapped my arms around his torso, and laid my head against his chest. He draped his arms around my shoulders and squeezed me.

“I’m proud of you,” he said. His voiced wavered as if he held back tears.

“For what?”

“For accepting this. I was afraid you wouldn’t understand it and not believe anything I had to say. I’m glad Oli is here and pleased he took it upon himself to help you into this new world. If it wasn’t for him I might not have been able to do any of it.”

“I’m sure he was happy to help, Dad. What do you say we turn in for the night?”

He nodded and let go. He locked the doors, and we headed into our separate rooms to sleep off the events of the day.

I got changed and crawled into bed. I wondered what my dreams would hold now that my wings were a reality. Once I was cozy under my comforter, I lay there and stared at the ceiling. I knew I should have been tired, exhausted, but I wasn’t. My skin buzzed with energy. I decided to relax in my library and hoped that reading would tire me out.

I quietly padded down the hall and entered the nook. I turned on the light, gently closed the door, and searched the shelves for a book. No fantasy tonight since I was now living in a fantasy of my own. No, tonight I would read fiction. I grabbed a book off the shelf and settled into my beanbag chair. I began reading and was slowly sucked into the main character’s world when I heard a soft knock on the door. I looked up as Lola walked in.

“Hey,” she said.

“What’s up?”

“Um, do you want to come fly with me? I have too much energy right now, and I want to try to fly.”

“I don’t know, Lola . . . Lucy didn’t teach us anything about flying. It might not be safe without her.” And Cayden might be out there, I tacked on silently.

“C’mon. It can’t be that hard,” she pleaded. “I bet our muscles are strong enough now. It’ll be a breeze.”

“I don’t know . . .”

“Please,” she begged. “You can’t tell me you aren’t dying to fly. Pretty, pretty please. With sprinkles on top.”

I sighed, resigned. “Okay, fine. Go put something warm on, and we’ll meet in the kitchen.” She gave me a smile and a thumbs up.

“If you get hurt I’m telling,” I grumbled, marking my page and shutting the book. Lola stuck out her tongue and disappeared into the hallway.

After grabbing a pair of sneakers, I made my way to the kitchen. Lola stood by the patio door, waiting for me. We stepped out into the frigid night air and unfurled our wings. It was surprisingly easy after all those hours of practice; I didn’t even need to concentrate. We both flapped our wings and stretched our muscles. I wasn’t sure if our wings’ muscles were the same as a human’s, but I wasn’t chancing a cramp mid-flight. Maybe I should have eaten a banana.

“On the count of three we’ll fly up together, okay?” I asked, my voice unsure.

“Sure thing,” Lola agreed a little too quickly.

“Okay. Ready? One.”

I barely even finished saying “one” before Lola shot into the air like a bottle rocket gone awry.

“Damnit, Lola,” I yelled. “Why are you such a brat all the time?”

I groaned and took off after her. My takeoff was shaky—I felt like a baby bird that was pushed out of its nest. I caught up to Lola who was also shaky and wobbling in the air.

“Lola, we probably shouldn’t stay airborne for too long since there is no supervision. I mean, what if we fall? Dad will kill us if the fall doesn’t kill us first.”

“Would you relax?” she said caustically. “Quit being such a worrywart and enjoy the scenery, would ya?”

She was right. It was such a beautiful view from this high up—we had a birds-eye-view of everything even if it was dark out. I loved how clear the night sky was and how bright the stars and moon appeared. The dots of light below from cars and street lamps were little balls of gold. Lola peered behind us and laughed.

“What is it?” I asked.

“How funny would it be if we left a trail of Faerie dust in our wake?”

“That would be hilarious.” I laughed. “It’s a shame we don’t produce any.” Do we? I idiotically shook my hand as I tried to brandish Faerie dust like Tinkerbell. It didn’t work.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Lola asked. Her eyebrows scrunched together, and she stared at me as if I were crazy.

“I wanted to see if we had Faerie dust.”

“Yeah. Uh. You just looked crazy so good job, pal.”

We flew around for a while, enjoying our newfound freedom. The cold air bit at our faces, making it a good thing we had the fire element to warm us up. I was as free as a bird as I flew high above the town. My skin tingled as my elements circulated through my veins and twirled around my body.

“Let’s go back,” Lola said abruptly.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I’m just tired now. Flying eats up energy apparently.”

I nodded in agreement, and we turned around and headed back home. When it came into view, the knowledge of us not knowing how to land grasped my thoughts. This was most likely going to suck and hurt a lot.

“Lola, we don’t know how to land,” I shouted.

“Ah, shit.” She had the audacity to glare at me. “Why didn’t you think of this before?”

“Why didn’t
I
think of it? Why didn’t you?” I argued.

“That’s besides the point. What are we going to do?”

“Hell, I dunno. Try fluttering your wings to slow down your momentum.” Oh yeah. Major suckage.

She slowed her wing beats down but began falling. She immediately beat them harder to keep herself airborne.

“It’s not going to work. Think, Callie,” she demanded.

“Once we get closer to the ground, retract your wings.”

“Are you crazy?” she screeched. “Do you realize how much that’s going to hurt?”

“Not as much as falling from this high up.”

“If I break my ankle . . .”

“You’ll what? Chase me down?” I rolled my eyes.

We glided toward the ground. When I thought we were close enough to land without breaking our necks, I yelled out, “Retract your wings.”

“Tuck and roll, Callie,” Lola added with a laugh. “Tuck and roll.”

“Smartass,” I mumbled. I curled up and willed my wings away just in time to hit the ground and roll to a stop. When we sat up, we looked at each other and burst into a fit of laughter, falling back to the ground. She had dead grass in her hair, and I was surely no better. Lola was the first to stop, her smile fading as she grew serious—a surprise since she was rarely serious. We stared at the night sky in silence for a long time.

“Do you think we’ll be able to save Mom?” Lola asked, her voice grim. “I mean . . . if it was so easy then why . . . Crap.” She sighed. “I’m not saying this right, but I have a feeling they aren’t telling us everything.”

“I’m sure they aren’t keeping us in the dark on purpose,” I disagreed, then sighed. “I hope we can, but we’ll need to train our asses off.”

“Yeah, I agree.” She sat up and held out her hand to help me up. I took it and stood. “I’m heading in. You comin’?”

“Nah, I’m going to stay out a bit longer to think.”

“Okay.” Lola gave me an unexpected hug, causing my breath to leave me with a great huff. “I love you, sis. Night.”

I returned the embrace. “Love you too. Night.”

She released me, smiled, and advanced into the house. I sat in one of the lawn chairs and stared off into the darkness of our backyard. I heard footsteps behind me and, thinking it was Lola, I turned around. But it wasn’t her. Wow, did I deserve the Idiot of the Century award.

“Cayden,” I roared. My powers boiled with my hate.

He stopped mid-stride and held his hands up in surrender. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

Liar. “Then what are you doing here?” My hands heated.

“I came to warn you. You need to trust me.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Right. Like that’s going to happen. Why don’t you go find someone who’ll believe you?” I flitted my fingers to tell him to skedaddle, not moving from the lawn chair. I’d show him I wasn’t afraid, even though deep down I was scared out of my wits.

“I know you have no reason to trust me, but right now you should. I mean, I’m not even using my darkness against you. That should help my case a bit, right?” His eyes shifted nervously, as if he waited for someone.

Surprisingly my irritation lessened. He did have a point after all. I continued to glare at him, crossing my arms over my chest. “Spit it out. What’s your warning?”

“Listen, your parents are in grave danger, and you must get to Tehokas City A.S.A.P. so you can start your training.”

Warning flags popped up all around him. “Oh really? And I’m supposed to believe you care?” I gripped my heart dramatically. “Must be out of the evilness of your heart.”

His eyes narrowed. “Your parents are in trouble.”

I regarded my nails and acted like everything he said had no importance. “Yeah? And what’s going to happen to them?”

“I can’t tell you anymore because I’m already going to be in loads of trouble if they find out I’m even here with you. Please don’t say anything, and promise me you’ll leave for Tehokas City soon. Tomorrow morning if possible.”

“You realize,” I said, glancing over my nails and up into his tired eyes, “telling me to go to Tehokas City will make me do the exact opposite, right?” I went back to tending my nails.

He smacked my hands away. “It isn’t time to play coy, Callista. Your parents are in trouble. Your in danger, dammit.” His eyes rushed the backyard, and his expression turned from annoyed to frightened. It didn’t look right on his face. “They’ll know I’ve come.”

“They? You mean the Demons?”

He nodded.

I sighed and straightened on the lawn chair. I really shouldn’t believe a word that came out of his mouth, but the look in his eyes was real. “What’s going on, Cayden? Why are you acting like this now? What’s changed?”

“I’m sorry.” He sounded sincere. Startling me even further. “I can’t say anymore. They’ll know. Just promise me you’ll get to Tehokas City soon.” He was scared. Even his posture was rigid with fear.