Loose Changeling: A Changeling Wars Novel (16 page)

“Shouldn't we move him?” Owen said.

“No,” I said. The wounds began to knit. “He's going to be fine. Just don't touch him.”

“Nicole?” My mom stood in the doorway of the study, her silver hair outlined by the light behind her. “What happened?”

“It's Kailen,” I said. “He's hurt.” I turned back to Owen. “Who did this?”

“These tall people,” Owen said. “In armor. Kailen wanted to go after you when the police took you, but then those people showed up. They kept asking where you were. He fought them, but there were a lot of them. I don't know exactly what happened. I sort of walked out of the bathroom just as they were beating him up. I went to help him, and when they saw me, they disappeared.”

“Guardians,” I said. “Did they follow you?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t think to check.”

I glanced down at Kailen. His wounds were almost closed. “Let’s go to the living room. Let him rest. He’ll be up in just a few minutes, by my guess.”

The three of us moved into the living room, my mom and dad following behind. Owen set Jane onto the coffee table. “I’m going to go clean up,” he said. He went to the bathroom and closed the door.

“So this is Jane,” Lainey said, looking down at the mouse. My mom and dad stared too. Jane cowered, her belly flat against the cool glass of the table. She scampered for the magazines and crawled beneath the cover of
Cat Fancy
.

“Oh, leave her alone,” I said. I sank into one of the couches, suddenly tired. My dad handed me the mug of tea I’d left in the study. I took it. “This can’t be comfortable for her either.”

“I’ll say,” Lainey said. “Who wants to be a mouse for three days? Besides, it’s Owen who deserves the brunt of your anger.”

“It’s too bad,” my dad said, a thoughtful tone in his voice. “I liked Owen.”

Kailen walked into the room, his feet dragging and his face pale. “Food,” he rasped out. “Water.”

A little mystified, I handed him my tea. He downed it in one go. “I’m not a healer,” he said as he handed the mug back to me. He looked a little less pale. “Takes everything I’ve got.”

My dad headed for the kitchen. “I’ve got some leftovers, hold on.”

As Kailen sat on the couch next to me, Jane crawled out from beneath her place in the magazine. “No more delays,” he said. “You have to turn her back. When I spoke with the Guardians—before they started pulping my face—I found out that not everyone agrees that you should be killed. If you turned Jane back into a person, it would demonstrate some control and alleviate a lot of concerns about how dangerous you are. You’d have a better chance of the Arbiter granting your petition.”

“Kailen, this is my mom, and my sister, Lainey,” I said pointedly.

He looked at them, his expression startled, as if suddenly remembering we weren’t alone. Lainey stretched out a hand. “Nice to meet you.” He shook it.

My mom waved, not moving from her spot opposite the couch. “We’ve already met.”

“I’m aware of that,” I said. “Although, apparently, Kailen thinks I shouldn’t be.”

Kailen took my hand and looked me in the eye. “I can explain everything, and I promise you I will. But right now, we have the Guardians on our trail and only a limited amount of time. Let’s spend it saving your life.”

He was right. The longer Jane stayed a mouse, the worse things got for me. My questions about his involvement with the Aranhods could wait. “Fine. Lead me through it again.”

Owen chose that moment to walk out of the bathroom. He’d cleaned the blood off his front and had removed his sweater. He saw my hand in Kailen’s and froze. “I’m going to…uh, help your dad in the kitchen,” he said.

“And I’ll get that charm ready,” my mom said. Both of them left the living room.

Lainey stifled a laugh. “I feel like I should be making an excuse to leave you two alone.”

Kailen, all seriousness, said, “You can stay.” He didn’t let go of my hand. “Close your eyes and remember how it felt when you turned Jane into a mouse.”

“I thought I needed Owen in the room.”

“We need to break you of that block. I think it’s also what’s stopping you from turning Jane back into a person.” I closed my eyes and his other hand came to rest on my back. “I’m going to try to guide you. Breathe, and remember Jane as a person.”

I tried, ignoring the migraine this seemed to inspire. I really did. But all I could think about now was the feel of his palm on my back and my hand resting in his. God, he was old enough to be my great-great-great-great-I didn’t even know how many greats-grandfather. If I kissed him again, would it feel as good as it had the first time?

“Your heart rate is speeding up, as is your breathing. Keep it steady.”

Jane let out a series of squeaks from her spot on the table. If a mouse could sound snarky, she’d just nailed it. Lainey laughed.

Kailen's hand left my back. “Well, fine,” he said to Jane. “You can just stay a mouse then, if that's what you'd like.” He sighed. “Try again, on your own. I'm going to head outside, cover our tracks.”

Lainey took his seat as soon as Kailen left the room. “Oh my God, Nicole, he's so good-looking. And totally into you.”

I stared at her. “Lainey. I'm facing almost certain death, haven't even filed paperwork for the dissolution of my marriage, found out I'm adopted, and you want to talk about a centuries-old man like we're at a high school dance?”

“Well, what
should
we talk about, sweetie? Can't really help you with the Fae stuff.”

An ache started in my chest. “What am I doing, Lainey? I can't say I don't love Owen anymore. And I didn't always treat him well.”

“Honey.” Lainey took my hand. “That's no excuse for him to go bed-hopping. I like Owen—he's like a brother to me. Yeah, you aren't the easiest to get along with, and you've got a bit of a temper, but I adore you in spite of these things. I want you to be with someone who feels the same way. Maybe you could have done things differently, but who knows if you wouldn't have just ended up in the same place.”

I brushed the hair out of my face. “And Kailen. Okay, yes, I find him attractive.”

“Who wouldn't?”

“But he's so much older than I am. Pursuing him would just complicate things.”

“Well, I won't tell you what to do, but the days before almost certain death sort of seem like a time you might want to go ahead and complicate things,” Lainey said.

I pulled my hand from hers. Jane had started to groom herself, licking her paws and brushing them over her ears. “What about you and Mark? How the hell did that happen?”

Lainey cocked her head to the side, her gaze trained on the ceiling. “You know, it was pretty weird, when I think about it. You remember I met him at work? He'd come in and order the same thing, every day—four ounces of beer kaese cheese. It took me a couple weeks before I realized no one could possibly want that much beer kaese. I would have noticed earlier if I hadn't been half in love with him already. He was so charming and kind. I stopped smoking, started making better choices. I think I knew if I was going to deserve someone like Mark, I'd have to change.

“The first time he invited me back to his house, I watched him open the refrigerator and saw all those four-ounce packages of beer kaese—he'd never bothered to eat even one of them. That's when I knew I was going to marry him.”

I huffed out a sigh. “That sounds pretty simple.”

“When it's right, it sort of is,” Lainey said.

Kailen stepped back into the living room, a bowl of spaghetti in hand. My father and Owen followed him. Owen carried a tray of sandwiches. He set it down on the coffee table, making sure to break off a small piece for Jane. “Thought you might be hungry,” he mumbled. He wouldn't meet my gaze.

Kailen wolfed down the pasta. The color returned to his face in increments. I reached for a sandwich.

“No,” Kailen said between bites. “You turn that thing into egg salad, or you don't eat it. You have to practice, Nicole.”

“I thought I had to overcome my block,” I said.

“You do, but I'm not going to send you into the Arena only having performed a few bits of magic. The Guardians' champion will crush you.”

I closed my eyes, concentrated. With Owen in the room and my prior experience, it took only a few seconds to change the sandwich.

“Transformation is definitely a strength of yours,” Kailen said. “It makes sense. It's what Maera is best at as well. It'll serve you well in the Arena.”

I took a bite from the sandwich. “Can you stop saying ‘Arena’? It's making me antsy. What about Faolan? What is he good at?”

Kailen scraped the bottom of his bowl, ate the last bit of spaghetti, and rose to his feet. He unclipped the sword tube from his belt and held it out to me. Mystified, I took it, the metal cool against my palm. “Why are you giving me this?”

“You should open it, give it a few swings,” Kailen said. “One of my Talents is my ability with the blade. But I learned everything I know from Faolan. He's the most talented swordsman among all the Sidhe.”

Me? With a sword? The sandwich felt like cardboard in my mouth.

Just then, Kailen's watch began to beep.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The beeping echoed off the walls of the living room.

I tossed the sandwich onto the table. “For fuck's sake, can't you just turn that thing off or something?”

Kailen ignored me, lifting his wrist to check the face of his watch. “We have to move. I set up wards, but they won't last forever.”

“What is it?” Lainey asked.

He shook the watch, looked at it again. “Not sure. Not Guardians. They don't trigger the alarm at all. Something else.” He scooped up Jane and reached for his sword. “No time for lessons, I'm afraid.”

“Well, where else are we supposed to go?” I asked.

Kailen stopped and huffed out a sigh. “We can go to my condo. It's a safe house—invisible to those who wish me harm.”

“That would have been useful in the beginning,” Owen said, his face red. “Instead, you run us all around town. Great idea, great.”

“Invisible to those who wish
me
harm. I’m not sure how well it will work for Nicole. Besides, she wasn’t exactly friendly to me when I first showed up,” Kailen said. I handed him the sword. He clipped it to his belt and then took my hand. “She might not have been able to enter. Let's go.”

I gently extricated my fingers from his. He looked at me but didn't say anything. Owen was right here, in the room. Yes, we'd shared a kiss—a confusing one, but it wasn't enough reason to start holding hands. “I'll follow you,” I said.

“Wait!” My mom hurried back into the room, a necklace in her hands. She placed it over my head. I looked down. The chain was silver. The charm itself looked like a bundle of sticks, woven with white fibers. A blue crystal lay in the middle. “You won't win any fashion awards,” she said, “but it's a protection charm. It might help.” Her lip began to tremble, but she bit it. “Stay safe. Be careful.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I embraced her, inhaling her scent. I hadn't always gotten along with her, but she was my mom.

“Owen, you're with us,” Kailen said. His watch beeped again. “Whatever it is, it's at the wards. Stay close behind me; don't step outside the boundaries. Nicole, you'll feel them. Owen, just step where we do.”

My dad and Lainey each hugged me in turn. My dad cleared his throat. “You just yell for me if you need me. Fae or not, no one hurts my little girl without going through me.”

“Stay inside, please. I'll come back,” I promised them. “I just have to take care of this whole Changeling thing.”

Kailen hovered next to me and I sensed his impatience. Before I changed my mind, I followed him out the door.

He needn’t have told Owen to follow in our footsteps. Hobgoblins, ten of them, hovered around the house. They stood a little ways back, held back by an invisible barrier. “Kailen?” I said, my voice an octave higher than I would have liked.

“It's okay,” he said. “Just stay within the bounds.”

As Kailen had said, I sensed the boundary. It smelled of honeysuckle and brushed against my skin—a light pressure. Kailen had parked his car in the driveway. We headed toward it.

From the midst of the hobgoblins, a man stepped forward. Though the weather was cold, he wore a black satin bathrobe over a pair of jeans, and black gloves. His blonde hair was slicked back. He crossed his arms and regarded us. “Kailen, it's been a long time,” he said.

“Dorian,” Kailen said. Though he said the name casually, his hand crept toward his sword. “I can't say well met. So you're the one sending the hobgoblins? And venturing into the mortal world? You’re a prince. Your father will have your hide.”

“Everyone with a bit of moonstone does it. Besides, I don't think he'll mind if I destroy the Changeling. It pays to be in Grian’s favor these days,” Dorian said. He leaned over, careful not to cross Kailen's ward, and looked at Owen. “Still hanging out with mortals, I see.”

“It prevents me from dressing like a complete idiot,” Kailen said.

Dorian raised an eyebrow, but then waved a dismissive hand. “What do I care what mortals think of the way I look?” He breathed in. “After all these years, all this flitting between our world and theirs, and you still make a strong ward. But you know me, Kailen, and you know I can break it.”

I jabbed a finger at Kailen's back. “Who is this guy?”

Dorian met my gaze. “I can answer for myself. I'm one of the Caervohns. If you'd been raised in the Fae lands, we'd have crossed paths. Our families used to be friendly, before this unpleasantness with creating a Changeling started up.” He readjusted the tie of his bathrobe. “It's too bad, really. None of this is your fault, Nicole.”

“That's sweet,” I said, “or it would be, if you hadn't tried to kill me.”

He gave me a lazy smile. “Just making sure you know this isn't personal. Grian can be a fickle woman, and if things change, I wouldn't want us to be at odds.” He took a half step forward.

Something in the air shifted. The honeysuckle scent increased in its intensity.

“Get into the car,” Kailen said. He plucked Jane from his pocket and handed her back to me.