Loose Changeling: A Changeling Wars Novel (17 page)

I, in turn, handed her back to Owen. Owen made a beeline for the car door. “I'm not getting into the car,” I said to Kailen. I was tired of getting pushed around and chased.

“You're strong, but you've had very little practice. Get into the car.”

“There are ten hobgoblins and one Fae against you. I don't know what Dorian can do, but I know what hobgoblins can do. I'll take the hobgoblins. You take him.” I leaned down and plucked a twig from my parents' lawn.

Kailen nodded. “Fine.”

Owen, from inside Kailen's car, yelled, “Nicole, don't be stupid!”

And that was all I needed. The twig lengthened, widened, became metal. I didn't hold a stick anymore. I held a sword, the blade long and thin.

“Impressive,” Dorian said. “So the Changeling has some control over her powers.” He took another step forward. The smell of honeysuckle became overbearing, mingled with the scent of black pepper. Dorian took one last step, and the honeysuckle disappeared. The hobgoblins rushed forward.

I lifted my sword and prepared to meet them. For a few panicked seconds, I regretted my decision, felt my heart flutter in my chest as I wondered if I would die. And then some instinct kicked in, prompting me to move. I ducked to the side, avoiding the grab from the first hobgoblin, and sliced my sword upwards, through its innards. It dissolved into liquid. I took the head from the second before it had a chance to make a grab. Something tugged at my hair from my left. I whirled, and cut the arms from two more hobgoblins. Others rushed to fill the empty spaces.

I’d always thought myself a little clumsy, but now I moved with the grace of a gymnast. I tried not to think about it too much as I impaled another hobgoblin. If I tried to analyze this, I might lose hold of it, like an athlete that chokes on the last event. Only I would lose my life, not just a medal.

I lost myself in the dance. Dart to the side, thrust, slice, turn. My feet and arms seemed to move of their own accord, my thoughts in a haze. Despite the situation, my pulse coursed through my veins steady and unchanging. Ten hobgoblins became seven, became five.

And then there were only three. I took a moment to rest, my sword outstretched, my breathing quick. The three remaining hesitated, the remains of their brethren soaking into my parents' lawn. I didn't wait for them to attack again. I went after them, my sword raised.

I went for the one in the middle, slicing through its torso. The other two moved to the sides, trying to surround me. I cut two arms from the one on the right and felt the cold grip of a hobgoblin on my left arm. I gave that one my full attention, stabbing it where I assumed its heart was. It dissolved.

The last hobgoblin seized my hair. I yelped.

“Nicole!” A strangled sound.

The battle haze I'd been in seeped away. My signature, dark chocolate, was thick in my nostrils. Dorian's gloves and sleeves lay in tatters, exposing silver flesh beneath. His metallic hands closed around Kailen's throat. Kailen reached for his sword, now lying on the ground. He wouldn't make it.

I flipped my sword, grasped the hilt with both hands, and plunged it behind me, where I guessed the hobgoblin to stand. A shower of black, sticky hobgoblin juice rewarded me. So much for that bath and change of clothes.

I charged toward Dorian. I'd have to get him in the back, chest, or legs. I guessed from his tattered sleeves that his hands and arms wouldn't yield to the blade of a sword.

The legs. I ducked as I approached and aimed my sword low.

Without missing a beat, Dorian removed one of his hands from Kailen's neck and grabbed the blade of my sword. He wrenched it, bending the tip of the sword and sending me tumbling to the ground. Before I recovered, a silver hand had grabbed the front of my shirt.

“Not bad,” Dorian said, “especially for manifesting only a few days ago. You might have rivaled Merlin or Morgan if you'd lived long enough.”

I glanced at Kailen. His face had begun to turn purple.

I had to do something. I was a Changeling. Hadn’t Kailen told me that I was dangerous? I had abilities that no one else did,
like the ability to control doorways
. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I thought of the Void, of the way it had felt to pass from the mortal world and into the Fae world. I pushed these thoughts toward the air behind Dorian, fueling it with the indignity of the past few days. When I opened my eyes, the air behind Dorian looked different, shimmering like a mirage. I had to push him somehow, get him to step into it.

Dorian suddenly released us both. “Sun and stars!” he said. “You have a grushound on your tail?”

Kailen rubbed his throat and coughed. “I thought you sent it after us.”

I grasped for my bent sword and looked out into the street. The grushound sat two steps from the sidewalk. It still had the eyes I'd given it, big and brown, like a puppy's. Somehow it didn't look so intimidating with puppy eyes.

“I don't have grushounds at my disposal,” Dorian said. “I leave them as free agents; I'm not crazy enough to try and tame those things. Doesn't matter if I kill you or it does,” he said. He stepped back—and fell through the doorway I’d created. He disappeared.

I leaned forward and touched the shimmering air. The intense scent of dark chocolate filled my nostrils, and then both smell and doorway were gone.

“Back up slowly,” Kailen said behind me. “The grushound is still looking at us. It must not be used to being able to see yet, so don’t make any sudden movements.”

I did as he said. I gripped my sword tightly in one hand and turned my head slowly toward the grushound. Despite everything that had just happened, it still sat in its spot on the street, staring at me. It must have tracked my signature. We made our way to the car. “Open the door,” I whispered to Kailen. “I’ll go around to the other side.”

The grushound got to its feet then and took three slow steps toward me.

“No,” Kailen said from between his teeth. “You drive. It’s after you. You get into the car first.”

I wasn’t going to argue with that logic. I reached behind me and fumbled for the latch of the door. As soon as it opened, the grushound broke into a run.

“Go!” I yelled at Kailen. I slid into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut just as the grushound reached it. It scrabbled at the metal, its claws raking into the car's side.

Kailen slipped inside a few seconds later. He dropped the keys into my hand. “Drive!” he said. I didn’t need to be told twice. I turned the key in the ignition, put the car in reverse, and gunned it. The grushound slid from the door, the tires screeched, the engine roared. Someone screamed. I’m pretty sure it was Owen.

I turned and shifted into drive. The grushound sat where I’d left it, head tilted to the side. But I didn’t stay to contemplate the grushound’s actions. I tore down the street, taking the three left turns that took me out of my parents’ subdivision.

“Well,” Kailen said slowly, “we’ve confirmed that you’re capable of both opening and closing doorways without moonstone.”

“Is that a good thing?” I said, my voice shaking.

“It means you can seal the opened doorways shut, which is the purpose the Aranhods had in mind when they created you.”

But what good would that do if I couldn't breathe for long enough to figure out who or what was opening them? I made a couple more turns before I realized I had no idea where I was going. “Where's your place?”

“Keep going; I'll tell you when and where to turn.”

I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel as I drove. I hadn't clawed my way to the top at Frank Gibbons, Inc. by being complacent and unquestioning. “Something doesn't feel right,” I said.

“The grushound? I noticed it was acting strange as well,” Kailen said.

“No. I mean, yes, it was, but that's not what I'm thinking about.” Truth was, I had so many things flying through my brain that I found it difficult to concentrate. But Dorian's appearance had set something off. “I don't know much about the Sidhe, so correct me if I go wrong anywhere. Grian wishes me dead because my creation broke your laws and she doesn't care to see the laws changed.”

Kailen nodded. “A Fae raised by human parents will inevitably become a Changeling.”

“The other Fae families see my creation as a grab for power, and they wish to kill me so the Aranhods will not be the only family with a Changeling.”

“True as well,” Kailen said.

“It is illegal for the Fae to venture into the mortal world,” I said.

“Technically, yes.”

We hit a red light. I turned to look at Kailen. “Then why were you exiled and yet Dorian is allowed to wander around as he pleases, in a bathrobe, no less?”

Kailen cleared his throat. If he'd worn a tie, I was sure he'd have loosened it. “You're assuming I was exiled for venturing into the mortal world. We're not supposed to meddle too much, but it's the sort of rule everyone breaks.”

“No? Then what did you do?”

Owen coughed from the backseat. “Nicole, it's green.”

I accelerated. “I'm still not sure how much I trust you, Kailen. So far I've done everything you've told me I should, and look how that's turned out.”

“The Aranhods trusted me to—”

“Maera and Faolan did!” I said. “Not me. You may have some illustrious history with them, but as far as I know, you're just the guy who dropped me off as a baby and then came back when I caught my husband cheating on me. Everyone else seems to know what you did; why not tell me?”

“I didn't want you to know,” Kailen said, his voice small. “I thought it might make you think differently of me.”

“Well, this is a little uncomfortable, isn't it?” Owen said, to no one in particular.

“Think of you? I don't know what to think of you,” I said.

“What I did was terrible. I tried to use my magic to save a mortal's life.”

I blinked. “Okay, clearly I don't understand as much about the Fae world as I thought I did. That was terrible?”

Kailen leaned back against the headrest, his head turned away from me. “No. You don't understand.”

“How about if you tell me?”

“There are few entities with more power than Grian. It was not by her decree that I was exiled. What I did was try to circumvent the natural order. Everyone has to live by certain rules, Nicole, and I tried to break the most hallowed ones. For my arrogance, the Arbiter banished me. Every time I go back to the Fae world, I grow older, like a mortal, and my powers grow weaker. The longer I stay, the more I age. The more like a mortal I become.”

“When we went to see Maera and Faolan…?”

“Yes. Turn left up here.”

I had to slam on the brakes to make the turn. “How much?”

“About a year every four hours. As for my powers, I have no means to measure their waning.”

He said it so matter-of-factly. I supposed he had lived with it for a while. Now I knew why he’d stalled before taking me back to the Aranhods. I didn't have any more to say, any more questions to ask. He really couldn't go back to the Fae lands, not unless he wanted to die.

Numbly, I followed his directions, until I reached a four-story building. Kailen directed me into the parking garage below and I pulled into the spot he indicated.

“Wait here,” he said. “I'm just going to go up, make sure no one's broken through.” He reached into the back seat and scooped up Jane. “We'll have a little chat on the way up. She's been through more than most mortals. I owe her some explanations and reassurance.”

He left. Owen and I were alone.

For a while neither of us said anything. But, as I mentioned before, I'm not exactly comfortable with silence. “What you did,” I said, “saving Kailen's life. It was very brave.”

I checked the rearview mirror. Owen had his arms crossed, his gaze out the window. He shifted in his seat. “Thanks.”

Silence again.

“So, are you going to sign over the house to me?” I asked.

“Nicole, that is so like you. We're about to get a divorce, and you're worried about the house. What about our marriage? What about the vows we took?”

I turned around to face him. “Yes, what about them? Were you thinking about them when you were with Jane?”

Owen sighed. “You know what? That was a huge mistake. I've never pretended to be a genius. What I did was dumb. Really, really dumb. I met her at a coffee shop. She said a lot of nice things to me, things I hadn't heard from you in a while. I let myself get sucked in. I knew it was wrong. I made a mistake and I'm sorry.”

He actually sounded sorry. It stopped me short. “Okay,” I said.

“And that's all?” Owen said. “If we're going to talk about our marriage, I want to hear what you have to say too.”

“What do you mean?”

“So I'm not a supermodel, or a doctor, or an engineer. I'll admit that I could have tried harder to find a job. I'm irresponsible. What about you, Nicole? Are you just perfect—perfect worker, perfect daughter, perfect wife?”

I could say yes to the first one, maybe to the second, but the last... I remembered all the times I'd snapped at him, how I hadn't apologized, how I'd justified my sharp tone and harsh words. Yes, Owen made me angry, a lot. Did that mean I could treat him however I wanted to? The things I'd loved him for when we met had become irritating, childish. I'd used work as an escape, made it the most important thing in my life. “No, I was never a perfect wife. There are a lot of things I should have done differently.”

Owen let out a breath, the lines in his face evening out. “You're an amazing woman,” he said. “I admire you. But I never felt like you really let me in, never made yourself vulnerable to me. You put up this front for your work and you put up a front for me. I don't give a shit about all this Fae stuff. Honestly, this is the closest I've ever felt to Nicole, the human being.”

Tears gathered in my throat. “We had big plans, didn't we? Forever.”

He gave me a rueful smile. “Big plans.”

The passenger side door opened. Kailen ducked his head inside. “It's clear. You can come up.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Whatever I'd expected of Kailen's condo, it hadn't been this. It had a modern look to it, with polished wooden floors in a honey color, black granite counters, and stainless steel. But that wasn't what caught me off guard. It was the photographs.