BRIDGER (11 page)

I didn’t know what to say. It felt like he was being honest with me. There was no way I could swallow the story, but he seemed so fervent, it was hard not to. “And your dad?”

“He just up and left,” Liam said, anger burning away every other emotion. “Said he was going to the grocery store the day after. Never came home. Haven’t seen him since. He’s a coward. It’s Mum and I now.”

He took my hand once more and led me around to the back. There was a jagged hole kicked out of the wall in one area. He let go of my hand, stooped down and walked through. Smiling, he turned to look at me. “You coming?”

“Is it safe?”

“I wouldn’t bring you here if it wasn’t.”

Not wanting to be left alone, I opted to crawl into the hole. Liam was leaning against the doorframe of the room. It looked like it could give way and any second. “This was my room.”

“Do you come here often?”

He sighed. “Not really. Only when I need to be reminded of why I do what I’m doing.”

“What’s that?”

He didn’t respond. His blue eyes burned as he fought back the tears. “I vowed to my mum that I would kill the Changeling that tore our family apart. It’s his fault half my family is gone. We won’t find Aiden’s body, because there’s no body to be found. He’s gone to their realm.”

I walked across the room and wrapped my arms around him. “Liam, I’m so sorry.”

He rested his chin on the top of my head. After a moment of silence, he pulled me an arm’s length away and studied my face. “So you believe me?”

I laughed. “My head tells me you’re completely nuts.”

He put his hand on my chest, never looking away. “And your heart?”

“It tells me what you’re saying is true.”

He sighed and pulled me close to him again. “You’re the first person I’ve ever told outside of the guys.”

“Do they believe you?”

“They’ve all lost someone to the Changelings. They have no choice but to believe, even when they would rather not.”

“Are all Changelings bad?”

“Yes. Every Changeling is evil. They’re faeries that enjoy wreaking havoc on human lives. They reside in a realm called Neamar. That’s where Aiden is. The only good faeries left are the Glaistig.”

I pulled back. “The
what
?”

“
Glay
-stig. That’s how it’s pronounced. They’re the only faeries left that value human life. There’s others in between the two races who prefer to just stay out of human affairs. Wish they’d all do that.”

Liam dropped his arms and walked out of the house once more. I followed suit and watched him sit by the willow tree. Sitting beside him, he wrapped his arms around me tight. “There’s one thing I don’t understand,” I said.

“What’s that?”

“Why’d you tell me?”

His shrugging moved me as well, causing us to laugh. “I guess I figured you deserved to know that the folklore is true. Not that anyone you ever told would believe you.”

“No one would believe this. I still think you’re crazy.”

He laughed. “Well, at least I have someone to be crazy with.”

As I curled tighter into his embrace, I nodded in agreement. “We can be crazy together.”

I didn’t want to tell him I didn’t believe a word of it.

NINE

The rest of the day we sat around the fire in the living room, getting to know one another. The time passed quickly. Tess was an amazing cook, so I had been eating the entire time.
 
She seemed used to this behavior because she was totally prepared for it.
 
She seemed to eat just as much as I did.

A lumpy, blue armchair had become my residence for the day.
 
My laptop was whirring as I typed feverishly. Today there was time to catch up with Reese and my biology partner, Mary.
 
Chatting with Reese wasn’t as fun as it usually was.
 
It might have been the fact that Liam was sitting across from me.
 
I kept looking away from the computer screen to steal glances at him.
 
He was quiet and did nothing more than stare into the fire while the rest of us talked. He was so different than the rest of them. I wished I could hear what he was thinking.

Mary, on the other hand, was asking questions in rapid-fire style.
 
Are there any cute guys over there?

Maybe, yeah,
I typed.
 
I might be sitting across from one.

Oooh!
 
Send a picture!

I laughed out loud, causing everyone to look my way.

I can’t send you a picture.
 
My webcam faces me, you dork.

Mary was determined to see this guy.
 
Well, I expect a picture by the end of the trip.
 
Don’t hold out on me, woman.

I shook my head.
 
I would never dream of it.

Say, how’s Jamie doing?
 
Has she cheated on Mark?

No, but I won’t be surprised if she does.
 
She’s fine.
 
Being typical Jamie.

There was a pause in Mary’s response.
What do you mean?

Oh you know,
I typed, pausing to figure out how to word it in case Jamie walked by.
 
She’s just being a princess.

Gotcha,
Mary typed, winking at the end.
 
Let her know the royalty over there doesn’t need any help.

Will do.
 
I miss you, girl.
 
You’re so easy to talk to.

I try.
 
Keep Jamie in your sights.
 
Have a good night.
 
Don’t let the cute guy across from you get away.

I sighed and signed off, returning to the conversation around the fireplace.
 
They were discussing soccer match tactics.
 
I leaned back in my chair, getting comfortable to catch up with the chatting.

Jamie remained aloof for the majority of the day. She was probably mad I had gone off with Liam this morning. Not wanting her sullen demeanor to diminish the mood, I did my best to cover it up.
 
No one seemed to care, so that was nice.
 
She sat on her computer, typing away.
 
She was probably talking to Mark.

Looking up from her computer screen for once, she glanced around the room.
 
Her eyes fell on me.
 
“I’m going to go down to the convenience store.
 
I just searched on Google and it looks like it’s only about a fifteen minute walk down the road, is that right, Tess?”

Tess looked uneasy about letting Jamie wander around Cork by herself.
 
The sun had set already, the wintertime chasing it away early.
 
“I don’t know, Jamie.
 
What do you need?
 
Maybe we have it here.
 
I don’t want you to get lost.
 
Your parents wouldn’t appreciate that.”

“I’ll be fine, Mrs. Walsh.
 
I run around by myself all the time at home.”

That wasn’t far from the truth.
 
Jamie never had a problem darting off without warning.
 
Of course, half of the time I ended up bailing her out of whatever harebrained situation she had found herself in a few hours later.

Tess tried to keep her in the house.
 
“If you can wait until nine, the boys can take you on their way to work.
 
They work as security guards at the university.”

Jamie stood up, undeterred.
 
“It won’t take long.
 
I’ll be back by the time they leave. Ashlyn, do you want to come with?”
 

I couldn’t believe she was putting me in this situation. Glancing at Tess, then to Liam, I saw him minutely shake his head. “No, James, I’m gonna stay here. You know, try to learn what the heck being offside means in soccer.”

Desmond chuckled. “Americans. You just don’t get it. It’s called football.”

I threw the pillow from the chair I was sitting in at him. “And you don’t get that it’s actually called soccer. Football is our sport.”

Everyone laughed but Jamie, who seemed even more irritated. “Fine. I’ll be back in a bit.”
 
Not asking for permission but taking the liberty on her own, she left.

Tess sat in shock at the quick departure of my friend.
 
Not being able to make heads or tails of it myself, I tried to cover for her.
 
“Don’t worry, Jamie runs around all the time and always finds her way back home.”

“I know, but it’s just not smart…” Tess trailed off as Jesse stood up.
 
I had almost forgotten he and Liam were still here.
 
Those two had been nearly silent all night long.

“Let her go, Tess.
 
Ash is right,” Jesse said as he left the room.
 
Liam sat silently, his eyes straying between his mother and I.

Tess looked at me, confused.
 
I shook my head, just as confounded by Jamie’s actions.
 
Yesterday she had been completely fine.
 
She had been on cloud nine to be with new guys, in a new land, with an adventure at hand.
 
Today she didn’t care. Her mood swings were going to give me whiplash.

Desmond smacked Liam on the back of the head as he and Issac walked past him.
 
“Are you gonna get ready for work? You know, that thing you have to do to pay the bills?”

Liam looked at me as he answered his friends. “No, I think I’m going to call in tonight.
 
You guys can hold down the fort, can’t you?”

My stomach fluttered.
 
It had nothing to do with being hungry, though I still was.
 
Liam was ridiculously good looking and totally out of my league. When everyone left for work, we would basically be alone.
 
That meant I needed to be interesting to him.
 
God, let me be interesting to him.

Desmond turned his eyes to me.
 
Smiling, he nodded and turned to head into the hallway.
 
“Brush your hair since you’ll have some free time.”

Liam called back to an empty hall. “Only when you shower.”

I laughed, then realized he was watching me once more.
 
Now I was flat out nervous.

Tess coughed loudly, causing both of us to jump.
 
Oh, this was going from bad to ugly.
 
She stood up, dismissing herself.
 
“I’m going to get a start on the bread for in the morning. Please lock the front door when Jamie gets home.” She walked out of the room, leaving Liam and me sitting across the room from each other.
 
We were completely at a loss for words.
 
He shifted awkwardly at the unplanned intimacy that came from being alone.

Rubbing his hands against the sides of the couch, he tried to make small talk.
 
It looked like he was trying to start a fire.
 
“Talking to your friends?”

I laughed.
 
“Yeah, Mary is asking if I’ve found any cute guys over here.”