Field of Innocence (The Euphoria Series) (11 page)

Calandra blushes with embarrassment. “So …” She decides to change the subject in hopes of not discussing it. “I take it you come here often?”

“What gave you that impression?”

“Well, she has a nickname for you, and you have multiple usuals.”

“So you can put things together for yourself!” Jarreth smiles. “You wanna try again for what we were talking about on the way here in that case?” He stares intently at her and the bartender returns with their drinks. Jarreth’s is a shot glass with a dark green liquid in it.

“Oh, right.” She thinks back to the conversation from the walk into town and takes a sip of her tea. It’s sweet but tart and it warms her throat as it slides down.

Jarreth continues to stare intently at her, to pressure her to figure it out and also to make it clear he isn’t going to help her in any way.

She takes another sip of her drink. “So you’re really gonna be no help at all?” She decides to try a pout again. After all, it did work to get her into town, maybe it’ll help her out again.

“I don’t think so, Cal!” Jarreth takes his shot and holds the glass in the air to signal the bartender to get him another one. “You only get to make me cave so many times, and you’ve reached your limit for the day!” A wicked smile crosses his face as Glyda returns with a new shot; this one is a baby blue liquid.

Love is the greatest power in the world, mortal or Fae, tie love and magic together and you create an unstoppable force
. The words come back to her mind and she tries to dissect them as she sips on her drink and begins to feel braver with every sip she takes.

“So, what? I have to be in love?” She finally starts to bring her thoughts to words.

“You’re getting there.”

“Getting to being in love?” Maybe it’s the pressure of her surroundings, but her thoughts are starting to cloud together and they aren’t making complete sense.

“You already are, aren’t you?” Tristan’s voice makes her and Jarreth both jump.

Jarreth’s eyes flash purple momentarily and a smile crosses his face.

“Well, yeah … I mean, not that … I …” She can’t make herself manage an actual sentence. Thoughts fly through her head and make her feel a little dizzy. She does love Tristan, doesn’t she? Nothing seems to make much sense anymore and her emotions have been on overdrive ever since she came to Faerie. She frowns slightly and strives to figure out something coherent to say. “Where did you come from?”

“Nice to see you, too!” Tristan is offended and looks skeptically between Calandra and Jarreth.

Jarreth places his hand on top of hers in the middle of the table and smiles reassuringly. “Just keep going with your thinking there.”

Calandra goes back to her train of thought, somewhat thankful Jarreth doesn’t want to continue that particular conversation further, especially now that Tristan has surprised them with his presence. Love. Love and magic. Unstoppable force. Think, Calandra, think.

“Who I love …” Calandra says, shocked as it falls into place, “it matters who I love?”

Jarreth nods.

“But how? Why?”

“Because—” An unfamiliar voice answers. Jarreth’s eyes flash red and his expression turns grim. Calandra turns to see Drake standing next to her. “Two and two equals four, right?” He grins as he sits down in the booth with her and Tristan, making everyone uncomfortable.

“Drake,” Jarreth says, his voice much colder than Calandra has heard from him.

“Jarreth.” Drake returns his tone and turns his attention back to Calandra.

Calandra takes a large gulp of her drink in hopes it will help to calm her nerves. For some reason, she feels like she’s in the middle of some sort of territory marking contest. It’s a rather uncomfortable place to be, and she wishes for the comforting electricity of Jarreth’s touch suddenly.

“Yes,” she says, finally ready to break the awkward silence.

“Yes what?” Drake says.

“Yes, two and two is four. Your point being?” Calandra’s sarcasm comes more willingly than she expects it to.

“My point being, wouldn’t it make sense then that power on top of power equals more power?” Drake snaps his fingers in the air to call the bartender over to the table.

Glyda looks more than happy to oblige Drake’s request. She glides over to the table with a flirtatious grin on her face, and her eyes burn straight into Drake.
Obvious much?
Calandra thinks and then instantly wonders why it matters to her.

Glyda’s hand goes straight to Drake’s shoulder when she reaches the table and he puts his on top of hers. Calandra’s entire body tenses in response. Calandra looks immediately to Tristan and hopes he doesn’t notice. Luckily for her, he is too busy giving Jarreth a death stare to be paying her any attention.

“The usual please.” Drake runs his hand slowly over Glyda’s hand as he says it.

“Another for me … something stronger,” Jarreth says, his eyes still not moving from Drake.

“And me too!” Calandra looks at Glyda and gives her the best evil look she can muster. She’s never really done the whole glare at someone and make them wish they were dead thing before, but she feels confident with what she manages to come up with. Glyda squirms in response and Calandra feels proud of herself, until she sees the smile on Drake’s face and realizes she may be giving him exactly what he wants. Calandra frowns at the realization and quickly gulps down the rest of her drink as Glyda walks away for their order.

“Anyways,” Drake continues as if nothing happened, “basically, you will be a powerful person on your own, Calandra. Because of what you are, and because of this …” his finger grazes slowly across Calandra’s shoulder where the dragonfly is covered by her clothing, and Tristan jolts as straight as a board. “If you were with another powerful Faerie, say … Jarreth,” Drake scoffs and rolls his eyes as he says it. “Or me ...” His eyes gleam and his smile turns wicked. “The combination of powers on top of the power and magic from love, well … it’d be quite an extraordinary thing to see.”

“Hello?” Tristan finally breaks into the conversation. “She’s not exactly up for grabs.” He places his arm possessively around Calandra’s arm and she shrinks down feeling more than a little embarrassed.

Glyda returns with the drinks. She places another strawberry tea in front of Calandra but doesn’t look at her. She puts a shot of the familiar pink swirling liquid in front of Jarreth. In front of Drake, she puts a strange silver contraption, a long silver lighter, and a brown bottle.

“Anything else?” She places her hand over Drake’s shoulder. Calandra fights against her instinct to react and distracts herself by looking at Jarreth.

“That’s all for now.” Drake brushes Glyda off; he suddenly seems completely uninterested. Calandra wonders if it has anything to do with the fact that she kept her reactions hidden or if she’s simply flattering herself with that train of thought. Once again, she wonders why she even cares.

“What someone isn’t telling you,” Jarreth finally takes his glare from Drake and turns to face Calandra. His face is still stiff, but his eyes seem softer, “is that not only will the person you’re with effect how powerful you become, but it will also directly effect the amount of good or evil in you.” Jarreth takes his shot quickly and holds the glass up in the air for another one. “But, you’re a smart girl, Cal. We can trust you to make the right decision.” Jarreth’s eyes narrow in Drake’s direction.

“There isn’t a decision to be made!” Tristan corrects.

Calandra takes a long gulp of her new drink and tries to drown out the situation going on around her. She decides she doesn’t want to respond to or even look at anyone at the moment. The amount of pressure that has just been laid on her makes her head spin. Calandra still feels Jarreth’s gaze on her. He is watching her, probably trying to gauge her reaction or feel her emotions. She tries to shut him out completely, but isn’t sure how to tell whether she’s successful or not.

In an effort to distract herself and resist the temptation to look at Jarreth, she decides to turn her attention to Drake. He has lit a small burner at the bottom of the silver contraption and is now opening the brown bottle. He places the lid next to him and pours a thick, dark crimson liquid into the triangular glass that sits on top. At once, the liquid begins to bubble and flames blue for a few seconds before going out. Using mostly his long, angled, brittle fingernails, Drake picks up the cup and gulps down the liquid quickly before he starts the routine again. Calandra watches in amazement and curiosity takes over any other thoughts or emotions she had.

“I take it you haven’t explained all of our ways to her.” Drake’s voice pulls her out of her daze and he nods his head toward her.

Calandra clears her throat, returns to her drink, and tries to hide her blush. She finally makes herself look up at Jarreth questioningly. Jarreth smiles at her reassuringly and somehow she figures it means he’ll explain later. She bats her eyelashes at him. He shakes his head slightly and tries to stifle a laugh.

“Well, well, well …” Drake breaks up the silent communication going on between them. “Looks like you two are already starting to bond, eh?” He takes the shot of the red liquid he’s just prepared and snaps his fingers for Glyda to return.

Tristan looks between Calandra and Jarreth again with hurt and confusion on his face.

Without saying anything further, Drake motions for Glyda to take his stuff from the table and gets up. He slowly brushes his arm across Glyda’s back and smiles at Calandra as he does. Her body stiffens, she returns to her drink, and finishes it in one big gulp. “I told you not to search her out just yet, Tristan. I knew you wouldn’t listen.” He winks at Tristan before turning and walking out of the bar.

“Another!” Calandra says before Glyda can walk away. “Well, he’s charming isn’t he?”

“No!” Jarreth replies rather harshly.

“Relax, it was a joke. You know, a bit of sarcasm.”

“I knew that.” Jarreth’s voice turns slightly defensive.

“Yeah, okay,” Calandra laughs.

Glyda returns with their drinks. “That’ll be all for today,” Jarreth tells her and gulps his shot down. “We’ll be leaving shortly, put it on my tab.”

“And Drake’s as well?” Glyda asks with a smile.

Jarreth rolls his eyes. “And Drake’s, too, I guess.”

Calandra sucks down her drink while Jarreth stares at her. “What?” she finally asks.

“Nothing, just thinking,” he says as he places his hand behind his head and leans back slightly in the booth.

“About?”

“Don’t fall for Drake’s tricks, Calandra. He’s not exactly … good.” His face is serious and the expression looks out of place with the rest of his body in such a relaxed position.

“According to someone that knows you pretty well, neither are you,” she points out.

Jarreth chuckles and nods. “This is true.”

“Does anyone want to fill me in on all of this?” Tristan chimes in.

Calandra finds herself surprised that she seems to have forgotten that he was there. “It’s … well, complicated!” Calandra finishes her drink.

“Come, let’s go.” Jarreth smiles as he stands up and holds his hand out for her.

“Where exactly are we going?” Tristan stands in front of Jarreth and holds his hand out for Calandra.

“I can handle myself thank you!” she says as she stands up quickly out of the booth in an attempt to make a point. But in the dramatic effort to make a point, her foot catches on the leg of the table beneath her. She loses her balance and falls toward the floor.

Jarreth reaches his arm out and steadies her. “You sure about that, Cal?” He chuckles.

Tristan’s glare burns into Jarreth.

Calandra’s entire face turns red and she shakes it no.

Tristan puts his arm around her waist to keep her steady and walks her out of the bar. “Lucky you have me for support, huh?”

“Too bad you have no idea where we’re going,” Jarreth mumbles under his breath.

They turn out of the bar and head back toward the tree house.

“What? The bar is the only thing in town?” she asks when she realizes her exploration day is over.