Traitor (29 page)

Mom rolled her eyes. “You’re telling me. I can’t keep the pantry full.”

Emily laughed. “Well, we’ll be off your hands, as well as Aiden and Liam. I hope that’s some help. I’m sure if the guys like it in America, they’ll find a way to stay longer on their own.”

Issac and Desmond laughed and voiced their agreement. Desmond fist bumped his brother before speaking. “Something we’ve already been discussing, ma’am!”

I rolled my eyes. My world was so much simpler before Ashlyn turned it all upside down.

I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

***

Being a creeper had never been on my to-do list, but here I was, feeling like the stalker of the week. I leaned against
my
Jeep, which Ashlyn and Liam had felt the need to drive without
my
permission. Who did Liam think he was, just taking my stuff on a whim?

Who was I kidding? I could see Ash snagging my keys and hauling Liam’s puppy-dog butt into my Jeep. That guy turned in his man-card when he started dating her. There’s no way I’d ever do that.

It drove me nuts to see him with her, but it was something that I needed to get over. Nevertheless, I leaned against my Jeep and watched him deliver a steaming cup of something to her. Probably her favorite coffee. I turned and jiggled the handle of the Jeep, hoping it’d be unlocked. No dice. I had to hand it to her; at least Ash was a little responsible with my stuff when she stole it.

I made sure they didn’t see me. It was already embarrassing enough as it was, so I walked down to Newsreaders to check out a few comics and messed around on some drums in Absolute Music down the way. When I got back to the coffee shop, they were still sitting at their table, but Ash didn’t seem so thrilled. It made me want to go give her a hug and figure out what was bugging her. I could only hope it was the company she was with.

“Oh, stop pining. It’s unattractive.”

I looked up to find Roslin sitting on top of my Jeep in the lotus position. “How in the heck did you get up there?”

She waggled her eyebrows at me mischievously. “I can go where I want, when I want. You should know that.”

I shook my head. “Whatever. So how was the new house?”

She waved her hand nonchalantly. “Oh, you know, Sarah broke down and cried, told me thank you, and then promptly laid into Emily about how she wanted to know how Peter wasn’t dead. There wasn’t really a chance to do a formal walk-through or show off my decorating skills. That’ll be for another time.”

“So Sarah wasn’t distracted, huh?”

“Not at all. Emily has her hands full.”

I nodded. “Ash comes by her persistence naturally.”

Roslin laughed. “I always wondered if her father gave her that. The more I get to know her mother, the more I realize that she really is a force to be reckoned with.”

That made me laugh. “Yeah, Mrs. McVean hides it well. She only brings out her inner Ashlyn in times of need.”

“Well, I think the times of need are becoming more and more common.”

“I’m not arguing with that. Mrs. McVean, along with my family and everyone else for that matter, are going to have to put on their big boy and girl panties to get through the madness that Emily and Ashlyn seem to attract. Bringing an extra pair might even be wise.”

Roslin giggled. “You’re so strange, Reese Williams, but I like you.”

I just shook my head and turned back to watching Ash. Roslin clucked her tongue disapprovingly. “You know, you’re awfully intent on her.”

“I’m her Protector.”

“You know what I mean.”

There wasn’t anything to say to that, so I just ignored her. Ashlyn stood up and grabbed her coffee cup. It looked like they were getting ready to go.

Roslin surprised me by landing on my back and wrapping her arms around my neck. “You know what would really make things interesting?”

I rolled my eyes. “What would that be?”

She hopped down and landed lightly on the sidewalk, then came to face me. “If Ashlyn thought there was a little competition. It could be a science experiment.”

“You mean me finding someone else?”

Roslin shrugged. “Why not? It’s not like you’re unattractive.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Rozz.”

She laughed. “You don’t offend that easily. Get over it.”

She was such a goof. It was impossible not to smile at her. She just forced it out of me. “Yeah, well, I’m a one-girl kind of guy.”

All of a sudden, Roslin’s demeanor changed. Her body went rigid, and she looked like she was on a hunt. Her hand gripped my forearm tight, and I looked at her questioningly. She whispered through taut lips. “She’s being watched.”

“What? Who’s here?”

Roslin shook her head just enough to be noticeable. “I don’t know, I just
feel
them.”

“How in the world can you ’feel’ someone?”

She waved her hand at me spastically. “Just be still! Be still and focus. You’ll feel a difference. It gets easier when you’ve been a Glaistig longer, but you’ll know what I mean. Just focus.”

I gave her the benefit of the doubt and closed my eyes. It seemed like the right thing to do. I waited on some superhero sense to kick in, but nothing came. “Rozz, I don’t know what you’re feeling, but I don’t feel a —”

There it was.

It wasn’t like lasers or nuclear meltdown bell tones in my head. No, it was like a tingle across my skin. It was like a little cold chill or something. Nothing I’d ever felt before could adequately explain the sensation, but it was just a little buzz that rested at the base of my neck.
Someone is here.

It felt like the sensation was stronger on my right side, so I nudged Roslin to get her attention. “I’m going around back. I think they’re back there.”

Before she could argue, I took off. As I slunk around the side of the brick building and passed the little hibachi hole in the wall along the side, the sensation grew stronger. I was onto something. When I turned the corner, I saw him.

Dalbach.

With his ruddy toga cloth thing draped around him and his little chicken legs sunk to their knees in trash, it looked like he was trying to get into the window above the garbage dumpster behind the coffee house. He jumped in shock when I addressed him. “Couldn’t find anything more attractive to wear in the whole garbage container?”

His black eyes narrowed in disgust. “This doesn’t involve you, human.”

I chuckled darkly. “So you haven’t heard. I’m Ashlyn’s Protector now. Been promoted to Glaistig.”

Dalbach reared his head back in shock. “Really? Freed the boyfriend of his duty, have you? Interesting. That was awful nice of you.”

I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t understand why it was interesting, or why it was nice. I shrugged. “Yeah, well, I’m a nice guy.”

He smiled. His blackened teeth and gums were horrible. It was all I could do to not display my disgust. After a moment, he turned back to trying to crawl into the window.

I watched for a little bit as I leaned against someone’s particularly beautiful Camaro before Roslin came up behind me. She sucked in a shocked breath. “Dalbach, what are you doing here?”

He turned and gazed at Roslin. “Just checking on our little Bridger friend.”

Her face distorted in anger. “She is
not
your friend.”

Dalbach waved his arm artistically through the air and mocked a bow. “Au contraire, mademoiselle. Your Ashlyn and I are good friends now. She trusts me just as much as she trusts you.”

I started forward toward the little slimeball, but Roslin caught the collar of my shirt and pulled me back. I shouted at him as I was jerked backward. “She doesn’t trust you; she just keeps you around out of convenience!”

Dalbach’s grin grew wide. “Roslin, this one has spunk. Did you pick him for his dashing good looks, or because you thought he’d actually be an asset for the Glaistig?”

I fought against Roslin’s hold as she hissed her retort. “You sick little freak, you’re not even worth the time it’d take to kill you.”

He seemed to enjoy the fact that I was getting mad. His hateful grin was aimed toward me now. “Reese Williams – oh yes, don’t look so surprised that I know your name – you haven’t seen the last of me. You should probably watch your backside, little one.”

That was it. I broke Roslin’s grip and charged toward him. I used the empty crates in front of the dumpster to propel myself upward. His eyes grew wide with fear as I barreled toward him, using all the football techniques my coach had given me in the past three years.

That’s when he disappeared.

I flew right through where a solid Dalbach once had been and crashed headlong into the brick, then crumpled into the garbage bags filled with stale, moldy bread and god knows what else. My head hurt, but my pride hurt worse. “What? Where did he go?”

Roslin was doubled over in laughter. “If you thought catching a Changeling head-on was going to be easy, you thought wrong.”

I rubbed my head as I hauled myself out of the dumpster. “Yeah, well, what was he doing here? And what did you think I was going to do? Let him rag on us like that?”

She responded through gasps of uncontrollable laughter. “He was doing it on purpose. He knew he’d get a rise out of you since you’re new.” She waved a delicate hand and gestured to me. “Here, come over here and let me look at your head.”

Stupid Changeling. I hauled myself out of the pungent dumpster and walked over to Roslin. She took my head in her hands and gently turned it to the side to get a better look at the damage. “Just a little cut, nothing some of my magic can’t heal.”

Just like the last time, she muttered words under her breath and blue light erupted from her fingertips. Instead of completely engulfing me, though, it stayed right were my cut was. A minute later, the light disappeared and she stepped back like an artist examining their final product. She smiled. “You’ll do.”

I shrugged and smiled sarcastically. “Ah, thanks. That just helps so much. I guess you’ll do as a teacher.”

She stuck out her tongue. To my surprise, it was pierced. A little pink stud that matched the color of her hair was positioned in the middle of her tongue, and she laughed at my visible shock. “Let’s get back to Ash. Speaking of teachers, I picked up your class schedule before I got here. You’re good to go tomorrow.”

“Thanks. I can’t believe we still have to go to school with all this going on.”

“Why wouldn’t you? It’s not like the threat of death and destruction of your realm is enough to keep institutionalized learning at bay.”

Roslin was so goofy. I laughed and took the piece of crumpled paper from her extended hand. I saw her smiling out of the corner of my eye while I examined my schedule. “You’re in all of Ash’s classes, but don’t mention it too loud around Liam,” she said lightly, “I looked at his schedule and he’s only got one class with her.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s just great, now he’ll have something else to gripe about.”

“Maybe he’ll surprise you and complain out of earshot. Plus, Desmond, Issac, and Aiden will be there too.”

“Faeries are just taking over the school, aren’t they?”

“Well, to be honest, Irish people are taking over the school more than faeries. Just you count as a faery.”

The smiles that Roslin caused were ridiculous. “Well, that’s the problem, then. Those fekkin’ Irishmen.” I said, using one of the words I’d picked up from talking with Desmond. “There goes the town. St. Patrick’s day will be the holiday of choice now, not Halloween.”

She giggled. “Indeed, those fekkin’ Irishmen.”

We walked back around the coffee shop to see Liam and Ashlyn hopping in my Jeep once again. God that bugged me. I was calling Ash out on that later. Irishmen were taking over Fairborn. It was like a plague, and I could think of one that I wouldn’t mind going back to where he came from if it were up to me.

Roslin nudged me as we walked down the street. “Hey, isn’t your first football game tonight?”

Excitement flooded my veins, but the feeling crashed down just as quickly as it came. “Yeah, I guess it is, but I’ve missed four day’s worth of practice. Coach probably wondered where I went and there’s no way he’s letting me play. I’m probably kicked off the team.”

Roslin’s eyes glittered with excitement. “Don’t worry. I took care of it for you. You’re good to go. I even went and bought a Fairborn shirt to wear tonight. I hear it’s kind of a ’thing’ to write people’s names on the back of the shirts. Would you mind if I used the obnoxious puff paint that the lady at the store told me to buy and put your name on the shirt?”

I laughed. “You really have no clue about being in high school, do you?”

She smiled. “None at all. You wouldn’t let me miss out on this, would you?”

I rolled my eyes. “How’d you get coach to let me play?”

She waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t you worry about that. Let me handle the heavy lifting, grasshopper.”

“You’re a punk.”

“It’s possible, but a punk that got you your starting position after you went MIA, so you owe me.”

I laughed. “Fair enough. And I would be honored to have you make an obnoxious shirt to wear tonight in my honor.”

She jumped up and down like a kid on Christmas day. “Excellent! Then you’d better get moving. It’s 4:30. You’re supposed to be at the school at five. I grabbed all your things and they’re in the locker room already. I’ll see you in a bit!”

I gave her a quick hug before turning to go. “Thanks, Rozz. You’re awesome.”

She smiled, and as I started down the sidewalk, she called out. “Hey, help me out, am I cheering for homeruns or touchdowns? I get your human sports mixed up.”

I rolled my eyes and called back without turning. “Whatever you wanna cheer for is fine with me, Rozz!”

“Then I’m cheering for the other team!”

She was such a punk. I liked it.

E
VEN THOUGH ROZZ
told me to go to the school, I decided to stop back at my place anyway. There was a chance that Ash would be there, and I needed to talk to her before the game.

I dipped down an alleyway downtown and popped back to the house. It would take a good two hours to walk to our place otherwise, and seriously, why have the ability to just disappear and reappear on a whim and not use it?