Kaleidoscope (Faylinn Series) (18 page)

She and Dad danced around the kitchen, opening and closing drawers, working around one another to get dinner ready as I raced by, trying to slip by without them noticing.

Success!
They didn’t even as much as twitch, too consumed by each other and the meal. I reached my bedroom door, closing it behind me. I tugged off my shirt and struggled with the leotard, moving as cautiously as I could around my wings. When they finally unfurled I let out the breath of air I held. Never had anything felt so good.

There was a knock at my door. “Calliope?” Mom called.

Crap
! “Just a second!” I looked to the door handle and realized I hadn’t locked it.
Crap! Crap!

I reached for my shopping bag, tearing the tags from the bustier. What was I thinking? There was
no
time for the bustier!

“Honey?” She rattled the door and I heard the click as she turned the knob.

“Hold on, Mom! I’m naked!” I hollered in a panic. I might as well have been naked. I was completely indisposed. Under the pressure I concentrated as much as I could, but they didn’t want to lie down. Who could blame them? They’d been trapped for enough hours as it was.

“What’s taking so long, Callie?” she questioned through the crack in the door.

“Just give me a second,” I pleaded, hoping she couldn’t hear the distress in my voice. I sighed and closed my eyes, reaching for the nerve endings in my back. Thoughts of the trees and the cool breeze running through my hair fanned across my mind. Leisurely my wings glided around me, wrapping snuggly around my torso. And stayed. I threw on my shirt.

“Come in.”

“You snuck right by us.” She smiled, but I saw the suspicion in her eyes as she scanned my body. “You hungry?”

I nodded. “Starving.” Not really, but it was something to say.

She looked to the shopping bag on my bed. “Did you go shopping?”

Dad saved me when he appeared behind her. “What’s taking you girls so long? Dinner is ready,” he said, kissing Mom on the neck, distracting her on purpose. She giggled and spun on him, smacking him in the arm. “Finn.” She grinned.

He looked to me. I thanked him with my eyes and he winked, but I could see the unrest in his eyes. He thought we were going to be discovered.

I asked them to give me a minute and then I would be there. Dad closed my door with a relieved look on his face. He couldn’t have closed it fast enough though. I tore of my shirt and released the wings and stretched them wide. These things were not meant to be confined.

This was going to be way more difficult than I had planned.

• • •

School dragged on and on the next day. Keeping my wings pinned down wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d hoped. They stayed confined, but they were suffocating. It felt like I was trapped in a straightjacket. The more I thought about it, the more I was aware of their need to be free. But I had to get used to this. They had to get used to this. I couldn’t let them roam free. It just wasn’t going to happen. Not possible.

I found Kai and Declan huddled together in the clearing, speaking angrily in hushed tones. When I looked at them side-by-side Declan was a few inches taller than Kai. Though they were both well built, Declan’s figure was more intimidating, bulkier. Declan looked down at Kai or I suppose it was more of a glare, but Kai didn’t shrink in the least from his stare. If anything, he looked fiercer glaring right back as they spoke vehemently.

“Hey fellas, am I interrupting something?”

Their eyes jerked toward me as if surprised by my presence. It wasn’t as if I had been
that
quiet.

“No, of course not.” Declan tried a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. In his eyes I saw traces of fear.

“Is there something I should be worried about? Is everything okay?”

“There’s nothing you need to worry about, Calliope.”

Kai scowled at Declan, clenching his jaw tightly, an obvious stance of disagreement on his part.

My forehead scrunched. “It doesn’t look like nothing to me.”

“It’s nothing,” he reassured.

Kai crossed his arms. “Declan and I have very different views of what exactly ‘nothing’ is.”

“We’re not going to quarrel about it in front of her, Kai,” Declan hissed. “Why are you pushing it?”

“Why do you think she can’t handle it?” Kai shot back.

I liked Kai’s confidence in me, but Declan’s uncertainty made me worry that maybe it really was something I didn’t want to know. They faced each other, nearly chest to chest. I really didn’t want to have to break up a faery brawl, so I decided to intervene before it got that far.

“Okay, boys. . .knock it off, and how about you let me decide what I can and cannot handle.”

They continued their stare down with gritted teeth. “It should be her decision. You can’t take that away from her,” Kai pressed.

“Fine.” Declan broke. He exhaled and moved away. “But
I
will tell her.”

Kai was satisfied enough that he grew a snarky grin. “Fine.”

Declan straightened his shoulders. “Some fae came too close for my comfort today, so we had to steer them away.”

“Declan hasn’t had anyone get that close to you before and—”

“And it riled me up a little bit,” Declan inserted.

Relief settled inside of me. At least it wasn’t any more information about me that they knew and I didn’t, or that Favner had finally located me. “Now, that wasn’t so bad was it? I think I can handle knowing about a couple of faeries adventuring out my way.” They stayed silent, which always seemed to speak volumes with them. “But I’m guessing these faeries weren’t as harmless as you two?”

Kai narrowed his eyes at Declan, urging him to give it up.

“They were Keepers of Favner. His top two in command.”

“Which means Favner knows one of two things.” Kai looked pointedly at me. “Or both. That Declan and I are leaving Faylinn and hiding something from him or that you are alive.”

“And Favner can’t know I’m alive because then I’ll be deemed as a rogue faery and forced to go back?” I questioned. I still wasn’t completely clear with what Favner’s beef was with me.

“Exactly,” Declan stated, eager to end the conversation. “What did you come here to talk about today, Calliope?”

With all the testosterone drama I’d almost forgotten about my wings. “They came in.” I shrugged.

“Your wings?” Declan asked.

“Well, let’s see them.” Kai relaxed first, letting the corner of his mouth quirk up.

“No.” I took a step back.

“Oh, don’t be such a troll. Let’s see those big beautiful wings.” Kai came closer, but I held my ground this time, meeting his confidence head on.

I suppose he was trying to insult me. Trolls must be cowards. “I don’t want to take them out. I finally figured out how to strap them down comfortably.” Or as comfortably as it was going to get. “It’ll take me another hour to strap them back in if I show you now.”

It was only partially true. The main reason I didn’t want to show them was because I knew they would gawk and talk about them for the entire afternoon and I couldn’t bear to hear them examine every little inch of me. Not today. Not ever. But really not today.

Kai rolled his eyes and folded his arms defiantly across his chest, pinning the vines under his hand. “Fine.”

“Don’t listen to him, Calliope. You don’t have to show us anything you don’t want to.”

“Thank you, Declan,” I acknowledged. “I only came to give you the news. It’s just one more step to faerydom that I figured I would share with you two.”

“So you just use us for faery information and then leave,” Kai said. “I see how it is. I feel so violated.”

I gave Kai an annoyed glare, one that I’m sure he was getting used to and I was becoming a pro at.

“Calliope,” Declan prompted, ignoring Kai. “How do you feel about your wings?”

I hadn’t been able give myself five minutes to think much past what an inconvenience they were. When I thought about it though, they really were pretty. A little cumbersome to hide underneath my clothes, but they were truly magical. The wings finally made me feel magical. “I like them. Definitely better than my ears. My ears make me feel like a
troll
.” I eyed Kai.

Declan chortled and shook his head. “You don’t look the like a troll, trust me.”

“Trolls are hideous,” Kai agreed.

“Obviously trolls exist,” I muttered dryly.

Declan gave me a rueful shrug. Why wasn’t I surprised? For all I knew every other creature from my bedtime storybooks existed in my backyard without my knowledge. All the monsters hiding under beds and in closets really did haunt every child’s night.

“How about Vampires?”

Declan and Kai laughed. I took that as a no.

“Werewolves?”

They shook their heads, smirking at my game.

“Mermaids?”

Declan scrunched his eyes, thinking.

“Maybe?” Kai said. “I think I saw one once, but I normally stay away from large bodies of water.”

“Fallen angels? Demons?”

Kai and Declan shared a look as if they were asking one another through their eyes. They turned back to me and shrugged.

“So, it’s just trolls and faeries, huh? Oh and Pixies.”

“Other creatures are out there. Sprites, gremlins, dwarfs, brownies. . .but we don’t really converse with them,” Kai said. “They have their own territories in Faylinn and keep to themselves.”

I put my fingers to my temples and rubbed. It was going to be a few days before that information set in.

“Okay,” Declan said, assertive and moved toward me. “I think you need a little break. Yes?”

Was it that obvious?
“Always, but it depends on what you call a break.”

“Let’s get out of here today,” Declan offered, leaping swiftly from the ground to the top of the boulder.

“Get out of here? The clearing?” Kai asked, excitement rising in his voice.

“Yeah. What do you say, Kai, think we could show Calliope the wonders of the woodlands?”

A grin that was way too mischievous for my taste sprouted on Kai’s face. “Oh, yes. I think it’s about time the little princess learns what it’s really like to be a faery.”

I eyed them as Declan and Kai shared a glance. Were my ears and wings not enough of an indication? What else was there to know?

“Would you like to do the honors or shall I?” Declan asked Kai conspiratorially.

“For her first time maybe you should.” Kai measured me with his eyes, making me feel self-conscious in a whole new way. “Although I could use a good laugh.”

“What are you two talking about?” I probed. I don’t know why I bothered asking when they started talking all cryptically like this. My opinion all of a sudden didn’t matter and they took pleasure in making me squirm.

“It’s better if we don’t warn her,” Kai said.

“Don’t warn me about wha—” but before I could finish asking my question, Declan snatched me up in his arms and soared up into the canopy of leaves, landing agilely on the highest branch within a matter of seconds. I looked down and immediately regretted the decision.

“Holy crap!” I cringed, gaining back my stomach. “Yeah, a little warning would have been nice.”

The forest floor came in and out of focus as it struck me how high up we were, the branches crisscrossing below us like a woven basket. Declan’s chest shook from laughter. It suddenly dawned on me that I was pressed against his bare chest, clinging to his neck.

“You should see the look on your face,” Kai said from a branch on the tree next to us. “It’s priceless.”

“Can you put me down please?” I asked.

“You think you’ll be able to balance well enough?” Declan asked, uncertain of my equilibrium. If he was so concerned about that why soar into the trees unannounced?

“I’m a faery shouldn’t that come naturally?” I peered down at the limb he had us suspended on and watched as it lightly bounced under our weight. It did not look strong enough to be holding the both of us.

“Were you able to walk your first try as a toddler?” Kai asked.

I scowled over at him briefly and then asked Declan, “So I’m just supposed to let you carry me from limb to limb as you leap through the air, fifty feet off the ground?
That
sounds harmless.”

“I won’t drop you,” he assured.

“Will you at least let me try?”

The way Declan and Kai underestimated me was frustrating. I realized I was new to this, but how hard could it be? I couldn’t be
that
incompetent. My faery instincts should come naturally, right?

“I think we better start lower to the ground for that.”

He stepped off without warning, sending my stomach into a whirlwind as we dropped to a branch below, about twenty feet from the ground. I caught my breath. Declan’s arms steadily released me, standing me upright. I straightened my shirt over my stomach. This limb was a lot thicker than the one up higher, which gave me a little more confidence. Kai landed on the opposite side of me on the same branch.

“You got this?” Kai asked, doubtfully.

“I can balance just fine,” I contended. I kept my hands straight at my sides, extending my hands to keep steady. It wasn’t as difficult as they were making it seem.

“It’s not the balance I’m worried about. It’s the leaping or. . .falling. You may not quite recognize your proximity to the next branch. It’ll come with practice, but if I were to tell you to jump to that tree across from us, would you be able to make it?”

“I don’t see why not. You guys make it look easy enough.” I stood straighter, squaring my shoulders, poised.

Kai swept his hand in front him to let me pass and get closer to my target. “Be my guest.”

“Kai, don’t encourage her,” Declan stepped in. “Calliope, don’t get overconfident. You’ll have to learn one way or another, but be careful as you make that first leap. Try to estimate the distance in your head and measure the power you think you’ll need behind the jump.”

I steadied myself on the edge of the limb, curling my toes, gripping for balance and focused on the closest branch with the least amount of foliage blocking my landing.

“Focus on your target,” Declan advised. “Then leap.”

“But don’t overestimate,” Kai interjected.