Americana Fairy Tale (30 page)

Fuck, he was beautiful. The heat intensified, but Corentin concentrated on tamping it down.
Just another minute. Just one more minute like this
, he prayed to any God who would listen.

Corentin angled his arm so he could brush a stray lock of hair from Taylor’s face. Taylor continued to stare silently, and his blush deepened. Taylor raised his hands and rested them on Corentin’s upper arms. Corentin smiled kindly; that was as much of a signal as he needed. He tilted ever so slightly downward, ready to finally meet Taylor’s sweet mouth for the first time.

Taylor shrieked.

Corentin jerked back, terrified.

Taylor flailed and beat against Corentin’s chest. “Get off me!” Taylor screamed. “Get the fuck off me!”

Corentin knew he had overstepped his bounds and immediately let Taylor go. Taylor shot to his feet and stormed away down the beach. Corentin sighed as it became apparent Taylor wasn’t going to stop. “Wait,” he called after Taylor. “Come on. Wait. Let’s talk about this!”

Taylor kept stalking down the beach, and Corentin took one step forward, only to get Ringo in his face.

“Hold up,” Ringo said firmly and held up his hands.

Corentin obediently stopped. He looked over Ringo’s head as Taylor stalked away, growing smaller and smaller. Corentin helplessly turned to Ringo. “What’s the matter with him? I wasn’t going to take advantage,” Corentin said in a panic, embarrassed that he was panicked.

“I know,” Ringo said and turned to look over his shoulder as Taylor continued down the beach. He sighed and turned back to Corentin. “Look…. He’s just…,” Ringo said, and Corentin waited for Ringo to find his words. “He’s just never been intimate with anyone.
Ever
.”

Corentin nodded. “I gathered that.”

“Like…,” Ringo said, and Corentin met Ringo’s disproportionately huge eyes. “He’s never been kissed. Like… not by anyone. In any way. Like his
mom
never even kissed him to show affection.”

Corentin desperately wished the world would swallow him. “Shit…. Dammit. I’m sorry. I really didn’t think about it.”

Ringo nodded. “So, yeah… just… cool your jets, okay? I know you like him, or I wouldn’t have teased you about it.”

Corentin tried to wave him off and get himself out of that part of the conversation. “I get it. It’s not going to happen,” Corentin said as he stepped around Ringo. He started off down the beach. “Taylor’s a princess. He’s going to hook up with a prince and live happily ever after. Got it,” he called behind him.

Corentin heard Ringo holler behind him. “What the fuck is your problem?”

Something inside Corentin snapped. He spun on his heel to bellow back at Ringo, “Leave it alone. If you know what’s good for you, you will leave it alone.”

Ringo snorted and put his hands on his hips. “Or what? You’ll skin me? You know that is getting really old. Why don’t you threaten to put me in a blender or something?”

Corentin fell silent and looked over his shoulder at Taylor. He had stopped in his journey down the beach and stood at the shore. Corentin could make out Taylor was crying, as he frequently wiped his face. Corentin crumbled inside. He turned back to Ringo as Ringo flew closer to him.

Ringo frowned and wrung his hands. “Dude… I was just kidding about the blender…,” he muttered. “Um….” He tilted his head, and Corentin met his gaze. “Why are you doing this to yourself?” he asked like a wise father. “Why do you say horrible things to him to get him to hate you, and then why do you turn around and show him kindness? You’re the only one making yourself miserable.” He placed his tiny hands on Corentin’s cheeks, and Corentin blinked at the sight of Ringo too up-close for comfort. “Fuck, dude, you’re
dying
. Do you really want to go out being angry about everything all the time?”

Corentin narrowed his eyes and jerked away from Ringo. “Did you…?”

“No. I didn’t tell him. I’m not going to tell him. That’s your deal.” Ringo said. “And I’ll admit I’ve done a fine job of holding my shit together when I’m falling apart too.”

Corentin nodded. “You’re a good man.”

“And you are too,” Ringo said, and Corentin’s stomach clenched. Ringo jerked his chin in Taylor’s direction. “Go to him. Be a good man.”

Corentin turned and looked down the beach. Taylor stood at the shore, looking out at the sun. His arms crossed over his chest as he hugged himself. Corentin took a steadying breath. He would be a good man, not a good huntsman, not a good
hero
. It finally crystalized in his mind what was the right thing to do.

He had to let Taylor go.

Corentin smiled, relieved with the decision and in the same measure saddened. He started down the beach and glanced again at Lucy the Elephant as he crossed in front of her mammoth face. “Okay, going to let Taylor down in front of the creepiest tourist attraction ever. Okay, this is normal…,” Corentin muttered to himself.

He kept his attention on Lucy, unable to look away and certain her blank gaze was tracking him as he walked past. He shook his head and kept on as he watched Taylor wipe his face again. Corentin tried to find the right words to say to Taylor. First, he was sorry. Second, he’d keep it platonic. No more flirting, no more heart-to-heart chats. Three, they were friends for now. Once they rescued Atticus, they probably wouldn’t be friends anymore. Taylor was who he was, Corentin was who he was, and it was the law. They couldn’t see each other ever again after it was over.

Corentin frowned and checked to see if his nose was still bleeding. He stood straighter and summoned his confidence. It was business. Just business.

As Corentin walked, he took note of the growing shadow stretching over the width and length of the beach. He looked toward Taylor and noted the clear skies and bright sun. He furrowed his brows. It didn’t look like it was going to rain….

His paranoia prickled as he felt the intense stare on the back of his head again.

He stopped in his tracks and chuckled at the complete absurdity. “I’m going to die,” he muttered to himself and smiled. Clarity was such a bitch. He spread his fingers at his sides and curled them into fists. He counted to three and spun on his heel.

And Lucy the Elephant stood on the beach, her head bowed, and one of her dead-stare window eyes watched him from a foot away.

Corentin breathed slowly, stilling his fear. The knife he had impaled in her tusk fell with a whisper into the sand. Corentin remained motionless. He concentrated on his breathing. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Lucy blinked her eye-window. Her iron-and-steel frame squealed with the rubbing of metal on metal as she took a breath fitting a six-story elephant. The warm exhalation ripped through Corentin’s hair and clothes.

Corentin’s calmness vanished, and he turned to sprint down the beach toward Taylor. “Taylor!” Corentin screeched.

Taylor looked up and apparently saw the gigantic elephant behind him too. Taylor likewise turned and dashed farther down the beach. “Are you kidding me?” Taylor screamed back at Corentin.

Corentin took a cautious look over his shoulder as Lucy stood to her full height. She started to trot after them and picked up speed into a gallop.

Corentin grimaced. Just like his dream. This was how it ended. He would die protecting Taylor.

Lucy raised her trunk and unleashed her ear-shattering roar.

I D
ON
’
T
L
OVE
L
UCY

Margate City, New Jersey

June 10

T
AYLOR
STRUGGLED
through the sand as he ran from Lucy the Elephant. Of course Charles would come up with some stupid part of the quest where they had to conquer a beast. Charles let them have bagels and then tried to kill them. The rage bubbled in him. Taylor would defeat Lucy, he would defeat the road, and he would punch Charles’s skull in. In that order.

Behind him, Taylor heard Corentin gasp, stumble, and fall. Taylor turned, and Corentin struggled to stand. “Corentin!” Taylor yelled over the thundering sound of Lucy’s charge. He ran back and staggered as his flip-flops tore from his feet. He tried to regain his footing and dropped into a crawl. Taylor shoved himself into a standing position and then bolted for Corentin. Bending into a crouch, he hooked an arm around Corentin’s waist and then hauled him to his feet. “Come on, I got you.”

As they limped through the sand, Taylor watched Corentin fight for air.

“T-the… day c-changed…,” Corentin said through his wheezing.

“Again?” Taylor said and concentrated on Corentin instead of the galloping steel elephant. Taylor kept calm as he urged Corentin on. “You really don’t look so good this time.”

“I’m… fine…,” Corentin said and coughed again. “The changes are coming faster now….” He coughed again. “And they get worse every time….”

Behind them, Lucy roared, and Taylor had to act fast.

He shoved Corentin toward a raised boardwalk, and both of them crashed to the sand. Taylor gripped Corentin’s jacket lapels and forced him to roll with his own body under the safety of the boardwalk. Taylor lay atop Corentin and listened as Lucy galloped past them down the beach.

Taylor laughed breathlessly—he had done something right—then looked down at Corentin with a grin. He brushed a lock behind his ear and purred, “I believe
this
is the proper position.”

He could tell Corentin was trying not to make a face but failed and cracked a grin.

Taylor nodded eagerly. “You ready to do this?” He pushed off Corentin and crouched under the protective edge of the boardwalk. He listened for any signs of Lucy.

Corentin couched next to him and pushed his fingers into the sand. “Oh yeah. Nothing to it. Just going toe to toe with a six-story metal elephant with no way of winning.”

Taylor smiled at him. “We’re going down like a gay Thelma and Louise.” He couldn’t help the odd sense of excitement surging though him. Corentin frowned, and Taylor caught that he didn’t understand. Taylor waved a dismissive hand. “They go out in a blaze of glory.”

Corentin pursed his lips. “Oookay,” he muttered.

Taylor shushed him as he picked up the sound of Lucy coming closer. Her footfalls were slower but no less thundering. The steel sheeting of her skin rattled like chimes in the wind. She sounded beautiful and deadly. Taylor reached out for Corentin’s arm and gave a firm squeeze as the titanic shadow swallowed the boardwalk. Corentin pressed a finger to his lips, and Taylor understood.

They waited in silence.

Lucy’s plating squealed as her head bent down and peeked under the boardwalk, directly at them. Lucy blinked her eye-window, and she once again breathed a monstrous sigh.

Taylor dug his fingers into Corentin’s arm. “
Go, go, go!
” he said, and Corentin was already ahead of him. Corentin reached back and gripped Taylor by the wrist. Taylor stumbled forward and then caught himself as they darted out of their hiding place.

Lucy roared and brought her foot down on the boardwalk. Sturdy planks exploded into splinters. Taylor and Corentin ran to Lucy’s right, out of the immediate danger. Taylor threw an arm over his head to protect himself from the showering shards. He squealed when they scraped his bare legs and arms.

“You all right?” Corentin yelled as they ran.

“Y-yeah,” Taylor said. “We have to get Lucy away from the buildings. If we can affect the space around us, maybe she is too.”

“And maybe humans are going insane at this second from seeing Lucy move,” Corentin said, and they kept running together.

“Fuck,” Taylor said. “I didn’t think about that.”

“Probably a part of the Witchking’s plan,” Corentin said and skidded to a halt.

Lucy was fifty yards away, and it seemed she was slow on changing directions. Taylor watched Corentin, and he searched his face for what he meant.

Corentin panted and nodded. “You know. This is probably Charles’s warning shot that Enchants exist.”

Lucy raised her trunk and roared. She trotted toward them, and they turned and raced down the beach again, trying to gain distance.

“There is no way this is going to be pretty,” Taylor yelled. “We’ve exposed too many humans already. And we need to do something about Lucy before she hurts anyone.”

“I’m a bit short on ideas,” Corentin said. “Running for our lives can only do so much.”

Taylor fumbled forward, and Corentin jerked him to his feet. Together they sprinted over the hot sand.

Ringo zipped into view, and his wings beat in a hummingbird blur to keep the pace. “Well, this is definitely danger,” Ringo called over the clank of Lucy’s steel plates.

“Thanks for noticing,” Corentin said.

Taylor hurried with him, both of them struggling through the loose sand. Taylor’s knees ached from the exertion, and Lucy wasn’t far behind. Lucy trumpeted an angry roar. Taylor slapped his hands over his ears from the head-splitting sound.

Corentin latched on to Taylor’s hand and tugged him onward. “Any way you can help, little man?” Corentin asked Ringo.

“I’m trying,” Ringo snapped and clapped his hands. Twenty yards ahead, a newborn sapling with a pair of perky green leaves sprouted through the sand.

Taylor was less than thrilled at the tiny plant. “And that’s going to help us how?” Taylor asked as they kept running. Taylor forced the soreness in his legs out of his mind and kept the pace with Corentin.

“Just trust me,” Ringo said, and Taylor noticed him struggling to keep up.

Lucy let loose her warbling cry, and each step kicked up a cloud of sand and a splash of surf. Her iron construction creaked with bolts snapping under pressure, and her steel plating buckled and rippled with the sound of psychotic chimes. Lucy’s shadow consumed Taylor and Corentin.

Taylor watched Corentin make the mistake of looking over his shoulder at the charging creature. Corentin’s foot seemed to catch in the loose sand, and he crashed onto his shoulder. Taylor screeched, as Lucy was on a collision course to squash them.

“C’mon,” Taylor said and gripped Corentin underneath the arms. “We need to run.”