Traitor (15 page)

She ran to him and shoved Memaw out of the way in her frantic sprint to reach us, but Memaw didn’t seem to mind. Aiden looked like he was in shock. Tess had her hands all over his face and shoulders, as she took in the reality that it was really her son that stood before her. “Aiden, my Aiden. Oh my Aiden,” she choked out through sobs that wracked her entire body.

These tears were different than the ones I’d left her with, though. These were tears of joy. The emotion was so strong, the love so intense, that I had to look away. It felt as though I was intruding on a personal moment that should only be visible to family.

When she pulled him in for a hug, he finally responded. “Mom,” was all he could manage before getting the wing knocked out of him from her massive embrace.

Liam walked toward the two of them, shocked to see his little brother. Tess grabbed both of them into a hug, unable to truly put words to what she was feeling. She didn’t have to articulate anything, though. Her smile and tears and embrace said more than she could ever had voiced.

No one wanted to break up the reunion. I looked at Reese and motioned toward the house. He nodded and came to my side. As we walked toward the house, I gave him my best stink eye and jabbed a finger into his shoulder. “You. What are you doing here?”

Memaw walked over, smiling, except that it wasn’t a happy smile. It was the Memaw death smile that meant she wished she could wring someone’s neck. “That’s what I’ve been asking him for the past four hours.”

Reese pulled me into a bear hug, grinning from ear to ear. “What, no ’I’ve missed you’ or anything? Because I’ve missed you more than I could ever say.” He released me from the hug but left one arm around my shoulder as we continued to walk. He practically bounced with excitement with each step we took. “Personally, I’m a little miffed you haven’t even sent a postcard.”

I pushed him away, angry for the lack of explanations. “Seriously, Reese. Why are you here? Why is Liam acting like he has to save the day? And when did you learn how to use a bow?”

Memaw sighed. She looked exhausted, and acted like the very presence of Reese sucked the life out her. He
was
a handful when he got going, and this was definitely one of those times. She put a firm hand on Reese’s shoulder and squeezed. I saw him bite back a wince. “Reese is here because he can be. Liam is trying to prove a point by trying to protect you from anything that moves. I taught Reese how to use a bow this afternoon, right after I learned he was now a Glastig. Any other questions?”

“I have one,” Reese piped up, pointing at me. “Why haven’t you called me lately?”

That’s when I punched him in his nose.

R
OSLIN MOVED FROM
person to person in the living room, making different levels of sounds depending on the severity of their wounds. When she got to Liam, she let out an exasperated sigh and threw her arms in the air. “What in the world happened to you? Did you get into a fight with a meat grinder?”

Liam chose to remain silent, just as he had for the entire afternoon. It was as though a switch had been hit while I was away. This was not the Liam I had left. This Liam was darker, angrier. There was no mischievous light in eyes, no crinkles at the corners from smiling too wide. He was strained. It was as though he was strung too tightly and any little thing would cause him to snap. It hurt me to see him like this.

Roslin procured her own blue brand of magic and pressed it to each of Liam’s temples. Reese shuddered beside me as the light snake around Liam’s neck and jaw, then up over his eyes. Liam remained completely still as the light slid from his face and down to his chest. It weaved between the tears in his shirt and I saw it wrap around his chiseled stomach. He sucked in a breath and I thought I heard a bone snap back into place. Great. A broken rib.

The light continued its even pace down his legs, and circled back to Roslin’s fingertips. The way her magic returned to her fingers and disappeared looked like a water faucet on rewind. It was entrancing to see her at work.

When she pulled away, Liam’s body was as good as new, except for one tight line across the outside of his left eye.

“Why didn’t that one go away?” I asked.

Roslin sighed. “Changelings have malicious magic. One of them got deep enough in to cause a scar. Not even Glaistig magic can cure it. It won’t be bad, though,” she added encouragingly. Like I was worried about a scar.

I leaned over to kiss Liam, but he pulled away. Hurt, I returned to huddling into the couch as far back as possible. Maybe it would just swallow me whole. I’d be okay with that. Before it could happen, Reese put his arm around me. How did I end up sitting between these two? Really, the couch could swallow me whenever it wanted, and I’d be perfectly fine with it. I shrugged out of Reese’s embrace and hoped he wouldn’t be too hurt as I positioned myself closer to Liam. If my rejection bothered Reese, he hid it well.

Roslin came to Reese and examined him with more care. She poked and prodded him like a mother hen, but I got the distinct impression she wasn’t being motherly. Instead, she seemed very interested in him. “You seem to have come out unscathed, save for Ashlyn breaking your nose.” She grinned at the assessment.

Reese nodded with a smug look on his face. He winked at me and extended a closed fist to Roslin. “Damn Bridgers.”

She giggled and bumped his fist with her own. “They’re wily ones, I’ll give you that. I must say you did well. Don’t let that go to your head, though.”

“Must have come from good stock.”

That made me pause. “Wait, what do you mean?”

Roslin and Reese glanced at each other, then looked away from me. I looked toward Memaw. “What do they mean?”

Memaw cleared her throat, and looked around the room at all the patched up Protectors, finally coming to rest on Reese. He sat as innocently as he could, and his smiled never waivered, even under Memaw’s scrutiny. “Well, it seems that Roslin gave Reese immortality.”

I’m pretty sure my mouth hit the floor. As I struggled to formulate words, Roslin gave me this look that seemed to me like she was saying she’d done me a favor. “You did what? Why would you do that? That makes no sense at all.”

Liam pushed off the couch and caused me to lose my balance as the cushions sunk under his pressure. He stood there for a moment, looked at me, and then walked toward his room. “Yeah, that’s what I said, too,” he called over his shoulder as the shadows of the setting sun covered him in the hallway. He flung the door to his room open, stalked through the doorway and slammed it shut behind him. A poster of his favorite band fluttered to the ground, Liam’s strength besting the cheap tape he’d used to pin the poster in place. There was silence, then muffled, angry music sounded from behind the door.

“What a sourpuss. Just ’cuz a couple Changelings got a hold of him doesn’t mean anything,” Reese said, sidling closer to me.

For the second time today, I shrugged out of his embrace. My mind focused solely on Roslin, I stood quickly and went toe to toe with her. Her calm eyes looked at me with a patronizing smile, which frustrated me even more. “Why would you give him immortality? Why not Liam? Why not anyone
but
him?”

“Hey now,” Reese started. He looked hurt. “This wasn’t my idea per say —”

“Because it gets better,” Memaw continued as she cut Reese off. A hint of irritation laced her words, but that wasn’t anything terribly new. “Reese is your new Protector.”

I reeled from the new information and grasped the arm of the couch for support. “What? I thought you said no one could take Liam’s spot once he vowed to protect me.”

Tess tried to keep a straight face, but I could tell she was relieved with the situation. If Reese was my Protector, Liam was relieved of his duties. He wouldn’t be connected to my injuries any longer, thus keeping him from running on borrowed time. Tess’s low whistle as a deep exhale left her lungs made me aware of how much stress she’d been under because of Liam and I being connected as we had been. Plus, with Aiden sitting beside her, there wasn’t much that could pull her off of cloud nine right now.

She explained as best she could without jumping up and doing a dance. “Well, Reese and Roslin found the one loophole in the system. If an immortal vows to protect you, the mortal is given their freedom again. Think of it as trading up, in a sense.”

I’d heard that not too long ago from a certain Changeling. Odd, really. Reese, however, was grinning like the Cheshire cat. He seemed to like that idea, especially coming from Tess. “Yeah, Ash. Think of it as trading up!”

“Trading up.” I mumbled. “You make it sound like I’m buying a new car. This isn’t that simple.”

“Honey, I didn’t mean it like that,” Tess said as she tried to fix her wording. “I just meant that this would be better for everyone involved.”

Tears stung my eyes. I wanted Liam safe, but this seemed unfair. He hadn’t been given an option at all; he had no input in the situation. Instead, Reese had simply shown up and dropped the bomb on him, it seemed. I wasn’t okay with that. “Liam should have had a choice,” I argued.

Tess pointed out the obvious. “Liam is safe now! Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Of course it’s what I wanted,” I said, exasperated, “but he also needs to have a say in things. No wonder he’s upset. I would be, too.”

Memaw chimed in after remaining silent for the past few minutes. “This is for the best, Ashlyn. Trust me.”

I’d had enough. Standing up, I grabbed Memaw by the arm and pulled her out of her chair. She towered over me, and I shrunk back slightly after I realized what an idiotic move I’d just made. No matter the circumstance though, I refused to be intimidated. “We need to talk.”

Memaw chuckled. “I figured you’d say that.”

We left the rest of the group in the living room and walked outside. The sky was blanketed in a quilt of purple and blue clouds as the sun began to set. The setting sun cast long shadows on the house, but hadn’t completely disappeared over the edge of our side of the world. The green grass tickled between my toes as we walked. The contrast of here and Neamar was overpowering. It was like my eyes were in overdrive, taking in all the life that our realm held. Suddenly I appreciated everything green a little bit more, but not enough to deter me from what I needed to say.

When we reached the tree line, we stopped. I glared at her, but she only made me more frustrated with the simple, half grin she wore. Her arms were crossed; not in anger, but in amusement. It was insanely frustrating. “Stop smiling.”

She shrugged and walked into the woods. Her fingers traced the delicate branch of a fern as she passed by. It was as if she was floating; her feet never seemed to strike the ground, never once did a twig snap or grass crinkle under her weight. She was stealth incarnate.

Her voice seemed somewhat disappointed when she addressed me. “I didn’t think you’d be upset about the change. You and Reese have been friends since you were old enough to talk. You didn’t want Liam to be your Protector from the beginning.”

“Well, he wasn’t a bad Protector.”

“Ash, did you see what the Changelings did to him today?”

“Did you see how many he took down in the process?” I countered. “Do you think that he might not have been in the greatest frame of mind after being demoted? By another guy who has made it clear he’s interested in me, I might add?”

Memaw shrugged once more. This was getting annoying. “Liam needs to learn to adjust.”

“You were the one who pushed it! Why are you not telling me the truth about everything?”

Memaw stopped, turning to look at me properly. “Why would you think I’m not telling you everything?”

“You didn’t tell me Liam could be freed from protecting me. You didn’t tell me anything about how to fix that. You just said it was impossible. You didn’t tell me that Dad wasn’t dead. How could you let me think —”

Her hand was in the air. It shook, and I don’t think it was on purpose. Her lips parted, and her eyes suddenly took on a look of shock. I was instantly reminded of Tess’s pain she wore as a mask before she had Aiden back. The resemblance was uncanny. “Wait, wait, wait. You said Peter isn’t dead?”

“No. I saw him. That’s another thing Dalbach told me. Did you know that we could barter to get Dad back?” I pulled it out from under the black t-shirt I was wearing. The necklace glinted in the daylight that struggled to be overtaken by the night. The necklace was always cold to the touch, no matter how long it laid against the hollow of my neck. Holding the charm between my thumb and forefinger, I felt its usual chill. “Is this what he meant?”

Silence. Memaw began to tear up. I’d never seen her emotional, other than when Chris was taken away. No, I wouldn’t – couldn’t – think about that right now. I focused back on Memaw. She was biting her lip, her eyes trained to the violet sky. She battled back the tears that threatened to overflow. “You didn’t know, did you?”

Her reply was quiet, almost frail. Her usually stoic frame was small and fragile. She genuinely looked old, even in her young form. It was the first time I thought Memaw looked weakened by the wars she’d weathered in her countless decades here. Her grief was tangible. “No, I didn’t. Did you think I’d have been able to rest if I thought Peter was being held hostage? What happened?”

After I explained what had transpired in the dingy, miserable cells located beneath Neamar, she broke down. I was on the ground with my arms wrapped around her before she ever hit the forest floor. We had become so close over the past six months. Her blonde hair mixed with my brown as we put our heads together and cried.

Everything that had transpired between us – before all this madness, this winter, and even now – all overflowed in our huddled embrace out here. It was almost as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders to be able to cry about it. If Memaw could cry, I definitely could, too. It would be our secret. I patted her back and felt her take a deep breath. “It’s okay, Memaw. It’s okay to be upset.”

She pulled away from me, a single tear winding its way down her face. She sniffed and chastised herself for the emotional display. “An assassin doesn’t cry, and an assassin’s granddaughter shouldn’t either. It’s weak.”