Like the Dawn (Lark #3) (9 page)

“He's probably just worried that he may not be the only elf you'll be kissing.”
             
Guilt crashes over me, followed by anger—Jacoby has obviously been spying on me much more frequently than I had thought.
              I can feel my whole body tense up with this new revelation. I just want to go to bed. He can't spy on me in my dreams.
              I watch the elves start to file out of the room until Klaus and I are the only ones left but he shows no indication of leaving anytime soon. 
              “I guess we should—” I don't want to be rude, but all I want to do is call it a night.
              “So are you aware that there has been some plotting amongst your council and mine?” Klaus whispers conspiratorially.
              I glance at him nervously.
              “What are you talking about?” I ask, even though I think I know exactly what he's referring to.               Of course, King Magnus was probably completely honest with him. It's hard not to feel frustrated that my own father hasn't told me the truth.
              “We'll talk soon.” Klaus winks before exiting the drawing room to catch up with Greyson and Magnus.
              I'm going to have to have a serious conversation with my father.
             

Chapter Eleven

             
I
t's way too early to wake up—I can tell by the darkness peeking through my window. I look at the clock and realize it's only four in the morning. I try to bury myself back underneath the covers of my bed but it's no use. I'm wide awake—my mind is much too busy to shut off. The castle is quiet—of course it is, it would be hours before anyone else in the castle would be waking up. Only crazy people wake up this early. Well, crazy people and maybe really old people. I remember my grandma used to wake up this early.
              I could use this early hour to my advantage.  I seriously need a change of scenery to clear my chaotic mind.  No one would suspect anything if I just transported directly from my bedroom to Manhattan—I'd have at least a couple of hours. I can check out the house that Jacoby and Grey pretended to live in while they were masquerading themselves as high school students so they could keep an eye on me. For some reason, I really think that is where I'll find Jacoby. Where else would he go? If he was here in Álfheimr, surely someone would have seen him already.
              I know that he witnessed that kiss between Grey and me. For some reason I feel like I owe him an explanation. Which is dumb—I’m the one who should be furious with him for invading my privacy. But my guilt outweighs my anger.
              We broke up and I told him to give up on us, but the last thing I want is to hurt him or to make him feel like I'm replacing him already. It's not like that.
              Before I can talk myself out of it, I throw the covers off, jump out of bed, and head straight for my closet. I pull on some jeans and a simple T-shirt I brought from home. I don't have time to shower if I want to maximize my time for investigating but brushing my teeth is a necessity—especially if there is a chance I might find him.
              I don't really know why I'm letting myself do this. I told myself over and over again that it's better to just let him go but I can't shake the feeling that something is going on with him and I want to figure it out.
              I transport quickly and end up just outside of the house. I didn't want to transport directly inside because I didn't want to be rude, or maybe I'm trying to be sneaky—honestly, I don't really know.  I didn’t exactly have a lot of time to work out the details.             
              It still looks the same.  The house is small with old and chipped white siding, broken blue shutters, and a wrap-around porch.  I notice that the splintered wooden porch swing has finally collapsed. Why would he just leave it there in a broken mess?
              I step up onto the creaky porch stairs and freeze. Well, if he didn't already know I was here, he knows someone is now. So much for being sneaky. I wait but he doesn't come barging out or open the door or acknowledge my arrival in any way. Maybe he isn't here after all.
              I continue up the porch steps and peek through the windows. The furniture is arranged the same as before, but there are empty soda bottles, bags of chips, and pizza boxes scattered everywhere—quite different from the first time I visited when there wasn't even a single dirty dish in the sink. Of course, back then Jacoby had told me that he was rarely here which explained why it was so clean. He obviously spent a lot of time here now.
              I wander around the messy house calling for him but he's nowhere to be found. Either he didn't stay here last night or—and it pained me to consider this option—he transported out as soon as he heard me arrive. Was he avoiding me?
I
broke up with
him.
He claimed he didn't want this. He said he would never give up on me. But if that's true, why doesn't he ever respond to me? What is going on? I'm confused and frustrated and I just want to throw something.
              I need some coffee. And chocolate-dipped chocolate chip granola bars.
              The sky is brightening to the pink and orange hue of dawn and I know that I need to head back to the castle soon. I think I have time for a Starbucks run, though I'm not sure how I'm going to get there. I can't exactly just transport into the middle of the cafe.
             
That sucks
, I think to myself as I walk back out onto the creaky old porch really wishing I still had the brand new yellow VW Bug my parents got me for my birthday.
              I wonder if it's still at my house. I don't even know what happened to it when the Ljósálfar  erased everyone's memories of me. I know that I could easily transport into the wooded area behind my house to see if it's still there, but I know deep down that I wouldn't be doing it to check on the car—I'd be doing it for the chance of catching a small glimpse of my family. But I can't do that. I can't risk the Dökkálfar finding me there.
I can't risk what it might do to my resolve…seeing them again. I just know it's not a good idea.
              I'm about to just give up and head back to the castle when I spot Greyson's truck—the one he used to travel like a human while he was guarding me. I run over to it not believing my luck could really be this good, but sure enough, the keys are still in the ignition. Who leaves the keys in their vehicles anymore? This isn't exactly the 1950s. But then again, it's not like Grey really needed the truck so maybe he didn't care if someone stole it.
              I climb up into the driver’s seat and the truck starts right up without any problems. I was practically bouncing in my seat as I drove down the familiar Tuttle Creek Blvd and made my way to Aggieville.
              I consider just going through the drive-thru to save some time but the temptation of being around people of the human variety even for a few minutes is too great to ignore.              
              It's just after six in the morning which is when the store opens, but it's only a matter of time before there will be a sleep-deprived line of people waiting to get their caffeine before heading to work. I arrive just in time to grab one of the limited parking spaces before the crowd swarms. I lock the truck as I get out because, even though I too have the luxury of transportation without a vehicle, I don't want to risk losing Grey's truck. Just in case.
              As I'm waiting in line I can't help but overhear the discussion between a couple of college-aged girls standing in front of me.
              “It wasn't much of a mall anyway,” says the one wearing Kansas State sweats with her hair piled high in a messy bun on top of her head. “Maybe now they'll build a real one.”
              Her friend laughs. “At least we wouldn’t have to drive to Topeka or Kansas City to get decent clothes then.”
              “What happened to the mall?” I ask. They seem annoyed that I interrupted their conversation.
              “Nobody knows for sure, the rumor is some kind of explosion,” the girl wearing glasses answered.
              “Yeah, last I heard it was something about a gas line I think.”
              “Oh,” I say lamely. “Was anybody hurt?”
              “Only a few—I guess it happened before it opened.”
              It seems all of this is only happening in Manhattan—like Dugan is trying to provoke me into a fight by targeting my home town. People are dying and we're not doing anything about it.
              I find myself getting nervous. Suddenly my little adventure to the mortal world seems like a real idiotic move. As much as I desperately want my Frappuccino, I realize that it's probably smarter for me to just return to the castle before my luck runs out.
              As I turn around to head out to the parking lot, I see her. Hannah is here with Kinsley and Beth. The latter two don't even acknowledge me, which at first I think is rude until I remember that they
shouldn’t
know me. Hannah, however, is staring at me in wide-eyed recognition and total disbelief.
              My breath catches because,
theoretically,
she shouldn't know me either. But she obviously does which confirms what Grey suspected when we were down in the Underworld. Hannah is one of
them
now.
              “What are you doing here?” I demand. She flinches back in shock but doesn't say anything. Beth steps in front of her defensively.
              “Hannah, do you know this girl?” Beth asks with narrowed eyes, but I don't answer her.  I am only focused on Hannah.
              “Answer me!”
              Hannah actually looks frightened, but if she's really working for the Dökkálfar she has no reason to be intimidated by me.
              “I—uh—I don't know who you are or what you are talking about,” she says in a trembling voice, but somehow I know that she knows exactly who I am.
              “Hannah, I know what's going on. I saw you with
them
. I just want to know why—how could you betray me like this?”
              Hannah remains frozen, dumbfounded, until Beth and Kinsley finally put their arms around her protectively and lead her out of the store. Before the door closes behind them, Hannah looks over her shoulder at me, confusion plain on her face.
              Why was she acting like she was terrified of me? I mean, yeah, I just confronted her in a public place but I wasn't violent. Maybe I sounded a little crazy to the people around us but she certainly knew what I was talking about. She recognized me, I know she did.
              Maybe Grey was wrong. He doesn't know her like I do. There was definitely something off about her, but she didn't seem like she was completely under a trance—she obviously recognized me.  Maybe she's fighting it? Or the spell she was under is slowly wearing off? There's something going on here and I'm going to figure it out. I'll just add it to my ever-growing to-do list, right underneath ‘Save the world from evil spawn otherwise known as Uncle Dugan’.
              I leave Starbucks in a daze and without my much coveted mocha Frappuccino. I drive back to Jacoby's house, park Grey's truck, and transport to the castle even more discouraged than ever.
              When I return to my room, I find a box of my favorite granola bars and a store-bought Frappuccino waiting for me on my bedside table. It's not quite as good as the real version from Starbucks but in desperate times it'll work just fine.               There's no doubt in my mind who they are from and I can't decide how I feel about it. I would say it's a tie between pretty pissed off that he knew I was there and heartbroken because he obviously didn't want to see me.
             

Chapter Twelve

            
 
A
fter my impromptu trip to Manhattan I spent the rest of the day hiding in my room, refusing to see anyone.
              When I wake up this morning, my eyes are all red and I look like crap. I am embarrassed and could probably spend yet another day in my room pouting, but I know I shouldn’t.
              I need to find Klaus this morning so I can apologize for blowing him off yesterday. I check the guest wing first but he isn't there. I don't even know where to start looking for him—it's an awfully big castle after all.
              I search through each wing with no luck but then I remember what Lord Odin said at the meeting before King Magnus and Klaus arrived—they might be interested in our gardens since the climate in Gautelfr isn't as pleasant as it is in Álfheimr. I decide it’s worth a shot and check there next.
              Of course, that's exactly where he is. 
              “Lord Klaus, I'm so glad to find you—I've been looking everywhere.”
              “My apologies, Princess. I've just been admiring your gardens.”
              “They are lovely, aren't they?”
              “Indeed, much lovelier than the ones we have in our kingdom.”
              “That's what I've been told.” And then I realize I might have offended him. “I'm sorry, that came out rude. I just heard the climate was different. Sorry if I offended you,” I stammer awkwardly.
              “Not at all—no offense taken. Our climate is quite a bit different. It's generally much colder. We are often nicknamed the Ice Elves because of all the snow. But it's beautiful in its own way.” He smiles.
              “I'm sure it is. I'd like to see it someday.”
              “We shall make that happen then,” he says with a wink. “Did you need something, Princess?”
              “Please, call me Mia,” I tell him. I didn't really want to admit that I had shut myself in my room, ate almost an entire box of chocolate-dipped granola bars, and cried over a boy yesterday but I know I owe him an apology for my rude behavior so instead I say, “I just wanted to apologize for not being around much yesterday, I wasn't feeling very well.”
              “You were sick?” he asks skeptically, and I grimace as I realize my mistake—thanks to my recent transformation, I can't get sick anymore and he is obviously fully aware of this fact.
              “I was just tired actually. I stayed up too late reading.” I try to sound as convincing as possible.
              “What were you reading?” he asks.
              “Oh, just one of my favorites,” I answer vaguely.
              “I love to read. I have a special fondness for mortal books. The stories are so much more fantastical than anything we have here. I especially enjoyed that series about the wizards going to school—”
              “Harry Potter?!”
              “Yes, do you know it?”
              “Do I know it?! Harry Potter is only my absolute all-time favorite!” I exclaim excitedly.
              “Though, I have to say, I am not too fond of the way elves are depicted,” he laughs.
              “Yeah, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered the Light Elves—not at all what I was expecting.”
              “I bet not,” he says with a chuckle. “Which book do you like best?”
              “The third one by far.”
              “That's my favorite too!” he replies with an excited glint in his eyes.
              “Really? That's amazing!”
              “There's just something about that Sirius Black.” He raises his eyebrows suggestively which makes me giggle. I'm starting to like Klaus more and more.
              “Well, Lord Klaus—”
              “Please—just Klaus.”
              “Okay, Klaus. I thought I'd give you a tour of the kingdom today—you know, to make up for my absence yesterday.”
              “That sounds nice.”
              “Great! I should probably change since we're going to be doing a lot of walking.”
              “Me too.”
              “Do you want to meet me in the corridor in about fifteen minutes?”
              “Sure. See you in a few minutes.”
              I search for Adele and Grey before I head back to my room. Maybe someday I would be knowledgeable enough to lead a tour myself that would do the kingdom justice, but I’m just not there yet.
              In fact, it seems absolutely ridiculous how little I actually do know about this world of mine. I probably should have paid more attention during that dreadful geography lesson with Grey.
              But maybe it worked out okay. After all, I'm thinking that if the ultimate goal is to charm Klaus and King Magnus into becoming our allies, Grey might be the best person for the task—as far as Klaus is concerned anyway...
              I come across Adele first—I figured she would be the easiest to find because normally if she wasn’t in her room she could almost certainly be found in the library.
              “Whatcha doin?” I ask as I eyeball the thick, dust-covered leather bound book she's hauling off one of the high shelves. “Looking for some light reading?”
              “Always.” She smiles. “I'm still trying to find anything that might be a possible clue regarding the whereabouts of the relics.”
              “I'm guessing not much luck?”
              Her face falls. “Unfortunately, not yet. It seems in more recent times we've been a rather peaceful bunch and when we do find ourselves in conflict we resort to defensive mode until someone else swoops in and saves us, so no one has ever been concerned with where the elders hid the weaponry. I guess we didn't think we'd ever need them.”
              “You said ‘in recent times’ we've been peaceful—you mean that wasn’t always the case?”
              “From what I've read it seems we weren't always so unassertive. Look here,” she says as she opens up one of the thick books. “See? We used to have great skill in areas such as archery and fencing. Somewhere along the line, we gave up those skills in favor of a more passive philosophy.”
              “Why can't we be like that again? Re-learn those skills?”
              “I suspect the council will be reluctant to change our ways.”
              “But something has to change.”
              “I agree. It's just going to be rather difficult persuading the others to feel the same way.”
              I nod in agreement. She closes the book and a symbol on the spine catches my attention. It's just an open circle with swirly lines branching away from it like a sun. I'm not sure why, but I feel like it might tell me something.  “Can I borrow that one when you're done?”
              “Sure, but you realize it's in elfish, right?”
              “I just—I just want to look at it. I think you were right, I really need to crack down and start studying the language more seriously.” I try to play it off like it's not a big deal because, let’s face it, it is kind of weird that I would want this book when I can't even read it.
              “Here,” she says as she hands it to me. I touch the cover gingerly.
              “Hey, are you finished here?” I ask her.
              “I can be if you need me for something.”
              “I told Klaus that I would give him a tour of the kingdom but, honestly, if I attempt to do it myself I'm more likely to get us lost than anything. Do you think you could come along?”
              “Sure. But I think we should ask Grey to join us as well,” she suggests.
              “Yeah, I was going to grab him too. Do you know where he is?”
              “I think he's in his room. I'll go fetch him. When do you want to head out?”
              “I told Klaus fifteen minutes about ten minutes ago and I still need to change my shoes.”
              “Okay, we'll meet you downstairs.”
              I run upstairs to grab my flats and bound down the stairs as quickly as I can so I don't keep Klaus waiting since I spent a little longer talking to Adele than I had planned. But, of course, he's already there looking elegant and poised with his perfectly styled hair and here I am, all out of breath from running and probably a little sweaty. Awesome.             
              “Sorry! I feel like all I do since you got here is apologize,” I tell him, embarrassed by the fact that I'm still slightly out of breath. “Are you ready?”
              “Yes.  Will—uh—anyone else be joining us today?” His eyes flicker toward something behind me and a quick look over my shoulder reveals that something, or rather someone, to be Greyson who is entering the corridor with Adele at this very moment. 
              I smile, my suspicions about Klaus playing for the other team are becoming more solidified by the minute.
              “Actually, I asked if Greyson and Lady Adele could join us today since my knowledge of the village is embarrassingly limited.”
              “But, of course, that is understandable considering how very new to this life you are,” Klaus acknowledges.
              “Very true, but that's really no excuse. I intend to remedy that oversight on my part today.” I wave to Adele and Grey. “Thank you for joining us, you two.”
              “Of course. Where shall we begin?” Grey asks. He looks slightly uneasy but it's obvious that he's trying his best to remain amiable. 
              “Lead the way, I plan on following you anywhere,” Klaus says with a wink. Grey clears his throat uncomfortably then turns to head out the front entrance while Klaus totally checks out his butt.
              Adele and I exchange a look and a giggle. It looks as though I won't have to worry about Klaus seeking my hand in marriage after all.