Call to Arms (War of the Fae: Book 2) (20 page)

I was happy to hear from him, but a little sad he’d accepted my absence so easily.
 
And he already had a replacement friend.
 
I’d never had reason to be possessive of Tony before since I was the only one who really wanted to be his friend.
 
This was the first time I felt like I had competition.
 
Man, I needed to get a life.

“Did you hear from Tony?” asked Spike, scooting his chair closer to mine.

“Yep.”

“How’s he doing?”

“Good.
 
He has a new friend already.”

Spike rubbed my back.
 
“That sucks.”

“No, it’s alright.
 
We’re best friends.
 
Nothing will change that.”

Spike’s backrub got a little slower.
 
He was using more and more of his fingers to put pressure in little spots along my muscles and send chills up my spine.

“Mmmm, that feels good,” I said, closing my eyes, smiling.

“Spiiiike,” warned Chase.

Spike pulled his hand away and rounded on Chase.
 
“
Shit
, man, give it a rest!
 
She’s single and available.
 
I’m not breaking any rules here!”

His tone of voice surprised me.
 
I turned and saw that Spike was standing up now, his legs apart and his hands in fists.
 
He turned and looked at me.
 
“Tell him, Jayne.
 
Tell him you don’t mind.”

The red glow in his eyes was entirely mesmerizing.
 
The red swirled around with some black mixed in, like black smoke twisting and turning itself through the red, smoldering, seething,
burning
me up from the inside out.

“I don’t mind, Chase.
 
You can leave us alone now.”

I had no idea what I was saying, just that I wanted to get Spike alone so I could feel his body all over mine and drown in that smile of his.

The trance was broken when Chase grabbed Spike from behind and wrestled him out the door.
 
I could hear a bunch of banging around and grunting on the other side.

“Idiots,” I said to the air, snapping out of my sexy trance.
 

“I couldn’t agree more,” said Becky, suddenly appearing in the seat beside me.

“
Fuck balls
, Becky, you’ve
got
to stop doing that!”

“Oh, yeah, sorry.
 
Did you get an email from Tony?”

I looked at her, shaking my head.
 
Damned water sprites and their stupid teleporting.
 
“Yes, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to write him back now.”

“Sure, no problem.
 
Tell him I said hi.”
 
She turned to log onto the computer next to me.

I opened up a new message and began typing.

‘Tony, Hey.
 
Thanks for your email.
 
I was starting to think you forgot about me.
 
I should be home in a few weeks or so.
 
I’m not sure exactly.
 
So, tell me about Ben.
 
Oh, Becky says hi.
 
I’ll write you more
later
.
 
Miss you.
 
Love, Jayne.’

I sat there for a minute, bothered by my email.
 
I couldn’t really say much to him.
 
I couldn’t say anything about being fae, which was pretty much my whole existence now.
 
I couldn’t tell him what I was doing.
 
I’m pretty sure ‘
I put thirty elves into a temporary coma’
wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to him right now, considering he had all knowledge of the fae erased from his memory.
 
He’d think I went loony on him.

Ah, well, maybe his email about Ben would spark a more meaningful conversation.

“I’m outta here,” I said to Becky, logging off and standing up.
 
It was finally quiet out in the hallway.
 
“You coming?”

“Yeah, let me log off.”
 
She clicked the mouse a few times and then joined me.
 
Together we walked back to my room.
 
There was no sign of Chase or Spike anywhere.
 

“See you later,” she said, giving me a quick hug.

“See ya,” I said, going into my room.
 
I went to my dresser and gathered stuff for my shower.
 

Thirty minutes later I was clean and snuggled up beneath my covers, wearing a clean, white pajama tunic.
 
I fell asleep wondering what tomorrow would hold.
 
If I were lucky, it wouldn’t include any backfiring tests of my abilities or fae-wide assemblies convened to determine my fate.

I got up extra early and hurried to the computer room to check my emails.
 
There was one from Tony waiting for me.
 
I clicked it open.

‘Jayne, Hey.
 
Ben just left.
 
He’s really cool.
 
I think you’d like him. He reminds me of you.
 
We’re going to hang out tomorrow after school, at his house.
 
He wants to show me some stuff.
 
Do you think I should get contacts?
 
And who is Becky?
 
Talk to you later.
 
Tony’

That was strange.
 
Did I think he should get contacts?
 
Where did that come from?
 
And he didn’t remember Becky.
 
I think they erased more than they said they would.
 
I wrote him back really quick before going to breakfast.

‘Hey Baloney Head.
 
Contacts are cool.
 
But I like your glasses too.
 
Do what you think is best.
 
Did Ben tell you to get contacts?
 
What’s he going to show you?
 
Email me back with details, please.
 
You know I’m a girl, and we need those.
 
BTW, Becky is a new friend of
mine
.
 
You’ll like her.
 
Love, Jayne.’

I logged off, feeling weird.
 
Who the hell was this Ben guy, telling my Tony he should wear contacts?
 
I knew that’s where it had come from.
 
No one else really even talked to Tony,
except for me and his geek friends who also wore glasses
.
 
No way any of them would have suggested it.

I went to breakfast.
 
Becky noticed I was quieter than usual and commented on it, but I blew her off.
 
I didn’t want to get into it.
 
Tony hadn’t done anything wrong, but his emails were still bothering me.
 

After breakfast, Chase went with me for my training with Céline.
 
I practiced linking her to The Green and managing the strength of its power.
 
When it started to get too overpowering, she signaled me so that I could start to recognize her energy in the whole mix and be able to sense when she was near overload status.
 
It was odd; I could now feel Céline individually within The Green.
 
I’d never been able to do that before.

We took a break for lunch.
 
I felt a lot better than I had earlier.
 
It was nice having Chase around as a kind of companion.
 
He didn’t talk much but he made me feel safe, which after the last few days meant a lot.
 
A piece of me hated being this weak girl who longed for Chase’s protection; but the reality of my situation and what I had already confronted – with mixed results – made me want that crutch.
 
At least for now.

I went to the computer room, leaving Chase to go back to the buffet for his third trip.
 
I logged on and saw a message from Tony waiting.
 
I clicked and opened it up.

‘Jayne, Hi.
 
Me again.
 
I’m going to bed soon.
 
Ben dropped by a little while ago.
 
He brought me some stuff he said he didn’t want anymore.
 
He was wondering if I wanted it.
 
You wouldn’t believe all of it.
 
Clothes mostly.
 
Some shoes.
 
All brand new.
 
He said his mom is a shopping nut and buys him way too much stuff.
 
It’s not my usual style, but I think you would like it. I have an appointment in the mall at the eye doctor tomorrow. Ben is going with me.
 
Talk to you later, Tony.

“What the
hell
?!
”
I yelled out to the room.
 
Who the hell was this Ben guy anyway?
 
And that bullshit story about the clothes – I can’t believe Tony actually believed that.
 
I had to admit, Tony had the world’s worst wardrobe; but that didn’t mean this guy Ben had any business going around changing it.
 
He’d just met Tony for fuck’s sake.

Chase opened the door and stepped in hurriedly, looking around.
 

“What’s up, Chase?”

“You okay?”

“Yes.
 
Just a little pissed.”

He raised his eyebrows.
 
“All alone?”

I rolled my eyes.
 
“Shut up, Chase.
 
Come on, let’s go.”
 
I logged off my email account and stood up.

He shrugged his shoulders but stepped out into the hallway, waiting for me.
 
We left for our afternoon training, this time with Naida and the water sprites.
 

After three hours I finally figured out how to get into and out of the water without being soaked.
 
It took a ton of concentration.
 
I was pissed how they made it look so easy when it really wasn’t at all.
 
Hopefully, I wouldn’t give myself an aneurysm trying to get the hang of it.
 
I was already nursing a pretty big headache.

“Chase, I’m beat.
 
Can you take me back to my room?
 
I think I need a nap.”

He took me by the elbow and led me away from the lake to the door that would take us back to the compound.
 
I started to step through and tripped, falling into the doorway.
 
As I went down I heard a strange whistling sound.
 

Chase had leaned over just as I fell, sensing my loss of balance, intending to help steady me.
 
He stayed in that position, even after I got back on my feet.
 

I grabbed his shoulder and pulled on it.
 
“I’m okay, you can get up now.”

He collapsed in a heap on the floor.

“Come on, Chase ... stop messing around.
 
Let’s go.
 
I’m fucking tired, okay?”

He didn’t move.
 
This was getting stranger and stranger by the second.

“Chase?”
 
I nudged him with my toe, but there was no response.
 
I bent down to look in his face.
 

I started wailing immediately.
 
“No!
 
 
Nonononono!
 
This is
not
happening!
 
Chase!
 
Chase!! Wake
up!”
 
I slapped his face really hard, but he still didn’t move.

I ran my hand across his back to see if I could help him stand up, and I felt something sticking out of it.
 
An arrow shaft.
 
A small one, about one-third the size of Finns’.

I looked back at Chase’s face, frozen in an expression I’ve seen there a hundred times.
 
Patient, helpful – he had been leaning over to catch me and he’d taken an arrow that was meant for me in his back.
 
And for some reason his face was frozen like a stone statue, but he was still breathing.

I needed help, fast.
 
What to do ... what to do ...
 
Then inspiration struck.

“Spike!” I yelled out.
 
“I need you!
 
I really,
really
need you right now!”
 
I tried to think sexy thoughts.
 
I focused hard on images of Spike’s body without his shirt ... his tattoos covering him from belly to neck ... his sparkling white, pointy-toothed smile ... his black spikey hair that looked like it never got combed but somehow totally worked for him.