Moon Spun (13 page)

“You probably don’t know how much I love you, though.”

My anger returned, just in the nick of time. “You’ve got a funny way of showing it.”

“I met this girl,” he began. “She’s like me, a half-blood. She’s confused and hurting, like you were last year.”

I took a deep breath and fought to control my emotions. First and foremost, Beck was a healer. He was born with a gift and had been mentored by a shaman named Jed Nightwalker. Last year, I’d been a walking disaster because I’d caused a man’s death. Beck had chased away the nightmares and helped me regain my powers. I knew he wanted to go into medicine. It was his calling. But, dammit, I was the only teenage girl he was supposed to heal.

I found my voice. “So, how’s it going? The healing? Have you checked her for demon marks?”

Last year, Beck and shared a long, scorching hot kiss. Make that several long, hot kisses. As a result, I’d developed a demon mark on my palm. Since then, we’d figured out how to prevent that from happening by using the moonstone.

“Aw, come on, Allie. It’s not like that. I’m just trying to help her, that’s all.”

Unfortunately, Beck’s “helping” involved a lot of touching, and let’s not forget, his father was a lust demon.

When I didn’t answer, Beck said, “I’m not trying to make excuses, but when I saw you with Junior that day—the way the two of you looked at each other—man, I can’t compete with that.”

“So, this about Junior?” Geez, my voice had risen an entire octave. I made a concerted effort to lower it before saying, “You’re unbelievable! Junior and I aren’t even in the same country. I thought we were a couple, Beck. You and me. At least that’s what I thought until your sister told me you have a new girlfriend.”

Beck sighed. “Nicole’s full of shit, as usual. She was probably ticked off about something.”

Actually, she was ticked off at me, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of being right.

“Okay, then.” Back to crisp and business like. “Anything else?”

315

“I’ll call you again soon.”

“Oh, really? You probably won’t have time, what with all your classes and that new project of yours, you know, the girl you’re healing.”

That sounded so petty and jealous, I actually wanted to slap myself. Time to step up and be a big girl. I took a deep breath. “Sorry, Beck, that was nasty. Sure, you can call me. I miss talking to you.”

“I miss you too.”

I grabbed a paper towel and blew my nose, then cleared my throat. Even though I wanted nothing more than to end this conversation, I had to know. “So, this girl you’re trying to heal, she’s not your girlfriend?”

After a long pause—too long really—he said, “No, she’s not my girlfriend. I just want to help her.”

“You’re a good guy, Beck. If anyone can help her, you can.”

“Thanks, I was hoping you’d understand.”

I waited a beat before saying, “About Junior . . . ”

“What about him?” His voice held a tinge of belligerence.

“We do have a strong bond. He was my first boyfriend, the only person I could trust when I was in an impossible situation. We’ll always be friends. You get that . . .

right?”

“Yeah, I get it.” But I don’t have to like it hung in the air between us. Unspoken. When the silence became unbearable, I said, “I should get going. Talk to you soon.”

“See ya.”

I set the phone back in its cradle and swiped at my eyes

“You okay, Allie?” Faye called from her bedroom.

My throat was clogged with tears again. “I’m fine,” I croaked.

I had to get away before Faye could pop out of her room and start offering advice. “I’ll just be outside reading a book.”

I grabbed a book from the pile my English teacher, Mrs. Burke, had insisted I read this summer and headed outside. Dragging our ratty old lawn chair behind me, I headed for the apple tree, where I would sit and read and try to get my mind off Beck Bradford. The hawk that had been circling earlier, fluttered up from the cistern and perched on a fence post, its head cocked to one side. I waited a beat to see if it would morph into Ryker. When nothing happened, I opened my book and stared at the words until they blurred and danced across the page in a meaningless jumble. Concentrate, Allie, I told myself. Stop thinking about Beck and what’s-her-name. In my twisted logic, if I didn’t give her a name, maybe she didn’t exist. Yeah, right.

“Allie! What’s wrong?”

I looked up to see Ryker sitting on the cistern, twirling a russet feather between his fingers.

“Okay, I get it. You are the hawk. Or, the hawk is you. Which is it?”

He flashed his charming smile. “Which would you like it to be?”

I shrugged. “Don’t much care.”

“You look sad. What happened?”

“Don’t want to talk about it.”

“Whatever you wish. Let’s talk about going to Boundless.”

At this point, I’d probably have agreed to a trip to deep outer space. I just wanted to stop hurting.

“Okay, how do we get there? And, I need you to promise I’ll be able to come back.”

Ryker nodded once. “Absolutely. I’ll not only promise it, I’ll guarantee it.”

“How?”

316

“An iron nail pounded in at the portal. Guarantees safe entry back into your world.”

“I have three questions. Why should I trust you? Where is the portal? And, since you’re a faery, how can you be around iron here on the ranch?”

Ryker held up one finger. “You can trust me because I am indebted to your grandmother and want to repay her.” He flipped his hand over and pointed at the cistern.

“Question two: I’m sitting on it.” He pulled the human hair braided chain out of his shirt. “As for your third question, your grandmother imbued this chain with her magic.

It protects me from the effects of iron. Unfortunately, her powers have weakened, and it doesn’t last longer than twenty four hours. So, I have to re-visit Boundless every night.”

“How are you indebted to my grandmother?”

“My mother was in her court until Melia left Boundless to be with your grandfather. I was still a child at the time. When she left, she told me, one day, I would be a prince in the Seelie Court. She said a female of her lineage was meant to be my mate.”

“Um, and that would be . . . ?”

“You, Ava. She was talking about you.”

“No way! I’m just a regular human girl . . . ”

“Who can do magic,” he said.

“Well, yeah, but that’s because of the moonstone, not because my grandmother is a faery.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Pretty sure. What’s the Seelie court?”

“It’s complicated,” Ryker said. “But, to put it into simple terms, there are good faeries, those whose blood is pure, and dark faeries, the Unseelie, who accept all kinds into their court and mate with them.”

“What do you mean by those whose blood is pure?”

Ryker said, “The Seelie, like your grandmother and me, are true blood faeries. We haven’t a drop of mortal blood in our bodies.”

“Well, there you go. No way would I qualify for the Seelie Court, or whatever you call it. I’m mostly human.”

Ryker studied me gravely. “Is that what you think, Ava? What about your father?”

“Okay, the jury’s still out on my father, but my grandfather is most definitely mortal which, according to you, means I could not possibly be part of the Seelie Court.”

“Melia and I have had many discussions about this very thing. Your grandmother seems to think because of your, shall we say, special qualities, Luminata, queen of the Seelie Court, will make an exception in your case.”

“But, you don’t know that for sure, so I wouldn’t count on it if I were you.” I needed to nip this whole princess thing in the bud before Ryker got carried away. “And, please, stop calling me Ava. My name is Allie.”

The corner of his mouth curled up in a brief smile. He swept a hand across his body and bowed.

“As you wish, my princess.”

“Stop that! I’m not your princess. If I decide to go to Boundless, and that’s a huge if, it’s because I want to meet my grandmother. You are not a factor in my decision.”

“Spoken like a true princess.”

“Isn’t your twenty-four hours almost up? Maybe you should be leaving.”

“I’ll be going soon, but I dare not show up without you. Your grandmother will likely turn me into a bogle or a grig.”

In spite of myself, I snickered, “Is that bad?”

317

“Ah, yes, it would be very bad. That’s why you must accompany me.”

“Allie!” Faye called from the trailer. “Dennis McCarty.”

I looked back and forth, between Ryker and my mother.

“Go on, now. Take your call. I’ll be right here. However long it takes.”

I glared at him as I headed to the trailer.

After a few minutes of polite chit chat, Dennis said, “I heard from your dad. He’s been in Ireland, poking around, trying to get information about his father. And, uh . . . ”

His voice trailed off like he needed to tell me something but didn’t know how to say it. I tried to help him out. “Hey, Dennis, remember Chris Revelle? Jeanette Yeager?

Benny? They all tried to kill me, but I’m still here. I’m tough. Just say what you need to say.”

“Well, first of all, we’ve got people watching you. Fellow Star Seekers.”

“You do? Who are they?”

“Doesn’t matter. Their goal is to keep you safe. Because of what your dad found out.”

“And, what did he find out?”

“He tracked down an old friend of his father’s who gave him an earful. Apparently your real grandfather, Kyle Cassidy, traveled around Ireland putting on magic shows.”

I squealed in delight. “He was a magician? No way! Did he pull like a hundred scarves out of his sleeve . . . stuff like that?”

“No, he was the real deal, a powerful mage who could move things with his mind.”

I felt the hair lift on the back of my neck. “Like me?”

“Yes, exactly like you. He also had a star on his palm. Again, like you.”

“What about my dad’s mother? How did they get together?”

“Your grandmother was barely twenty when she went to Ireland. She met Kyle and they fell crazy in love. She got pregnant, but Cassidy was murdered before they could get married.”

“Oh,” I breathed as a wave of sadness swept over me for my paternal grandmother, even though I’d never met her. Now, of course, I never would. “What does this have to do with me?”

“The man who gave that information to your father was murdered the next day. Mike went back to visit him and found him dead. Someone had cut his throat and carved an inverted triangle on his chest.”

“Oh, no.” The breath whooshed out of my lungs. Unbidden, the image Dennis described appeared in my mind. In living color. I whispered, “Trimarks.”

“Yeah. Your dad thinks he’s opened a can of worms. The letter he found indicates Kyle Cassidy was the last of his kind. It raises all kinds of questions.”

“Such as?”

“Do you know about the Tuatha de Danaan?”

“Yes, Kizzy told me.”

“Did the Trimarks think they’d wiped out the last remaining Tuatha when they killed Cassidy? Do they know he has two living descendants . . . you and your dad?”

My stomach did a couple of back flips. I was starting to get the picture. “Why would they care?”

“Look, Allie, we haven’t connected all the dots, but somehow the Tuatha bloodline has to be a huge threat to the Trimarks. Your dad is sick with worry, thinking he’s tipped them off.”

“Before he went to Ireland, the Trimarks only wanted the moonstone. If they killed me in the process, no big deal. But, now, they want to kill my dad and me because we’re descendants of Kyle Cassidy?”

Dennis said, “Like I said, we’re still trying to piece it together.”

When I didn’t answer, he said, “Allie? Are you okay?”

318

I drew a big breath and let it out. “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just this thing with the Tuatha is only half the problem.”

“Okay, what’s going on?”

What to say? That I was thinking about going to Boundless to meet my faery grandmother and make a plan to free her people? I didn’t know how or where to start, so I said, “Just found out my mother’s a bit of a faery herself. Not sure if it has anything to do with what you told me, but thought you should know.”

Dennis went “Hmmm and ummm,” while he gathered his thoughts. Finally, he said, “I don’t have an answer for you. I’ll run it by some people. In the meantime, keep your eyes open and be extra careful. Call my cell if you spot anything suspicious. Stay safe. I’ll be in touch.”

Before he clicked off, he made me promise to tell Faye everything.

“You don’t have to worry about Faye. She has a permit to carry concealed weapons, and she practices shooting tin cans off the fence post every week.”

“Scary thought. Hope she doesn’t shoot any of my people. See ya, kiddo.”

As I hung up the phone, I thought, Boundless is looking better

319

Chapter Seventeen

While I was giving Faye a condensed version of Dennis’ warning, the phone rang. She pounced on it and purred, “Hi, Leon. How are you?” I shrugged and headed outside again. I’d never get used to Faye calling Principal Hostetler by his first name.

The sun had set and the moon was rising. If I decided to go to Boundless with Ryker, it would have to be fully dark, a clear evening with moonlight. And, I would have to stop time. If was not the right word. I had every intention of going. I had too many questions without answers. Ryker had moved to the lawn chair, the russet feather tucked behind his ear. It looked perfectly natural against his shiny black hair. He stood as I approached. “Everything all right?”

I shrugged. “Same old story. Bad people want the moonstone. Oh yeah, they want to kill my dad and me.”

Ryker’s expression turned fierce. His silvery eyes narrowed, and his hands curled into fists. “I won’t let them hurt you.”

I smiled. “That’s nice of you, Ryker, but I can take care of myself.”

He glowered at me. “Remember what I told you earlier? We are meant to be together.”

I folded my arms and glared right back at him. “You’d better get that notion out of your head. I’m not looking for a boyfriend. Been there. Done that. Never works out.”