Traitor (28 page)

“Anyway,” Aiden continued, “you need to let me explain. Changelings possess human bodies now because Glaistigs proved too strong-willed, too erratic to Shift into. They enjoy being with a race that accepts them; that is, when they’re in their new forms. That’s why they continue to do it. If the beautiful Fae would stop casting them out and just embrace them as their own, this would stop. Simple as that. As for the two outside the grill playing chess? Well, they’re informants.”

“Informants?”

Aiden laughed again, but this time it was followed by a sardonic grin. He pulled the hood off his head and allowed the light to dance across his chiseled features. “You don’t really think Ankou doesn’t have eyes out for you and your movements, do you? Well, not really even you, although you’ve now become a bright spot on his radar, as you’re unusually hard to get to. He wants Emily to suffer. You and your family are just unfortunate bystanders. Cattle in the middle of a very big war, picked off in the crossfire for simply being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.”

I puckered my lips into a frown. “I am
not
a cow.”

“To him, that’s what your family is. Just a byproduct to be dealt with. He wants Emily, and if it means taking out everyone around her to do it, he will. By you dragging Liam, Reese, and everyone you love into this, you’re just causing more casualties. And those men out there —” He threw a thumb viciously over his shoulder and toward the grill, “— are letting Ankou know they saw me with you today. You can count on it.”

“Does Ankou want you back?”

Aiden’s shoulders heaved with a sigh that might as well have been someone holding the weight of the world on his shoulders. “With everything I’ve just told you, don’t you think so?”

He was right. He was probably more desirable than me at the moment to Ankou. I bit my lip. “So there’s probably no traitor around, anyway,” I said to myself.

Aiden’s eyes narrowed. “There is a traitor. That damn Jamie of yours.”

I shook my head vehemently. “She’s not a traitor.”

“Call it what you want, but one way or the other, she’s betraying someone. It’s either you, or Ankou. You’re just dumb enough to keep her around long enough to find out which one is on the short end of the stick.”

Anger coursed through my body and licked at my face. I knew I was flushed. Aiden’s smile grew. “Your eyes are changing. You’re mad. Why don’t you just spit out what you have on your mind?”

I shoved past him and stomped out of the store. I felt a hand on my shoulder and whirled around, knocking it off in the process. “How
dare
you show up and just, just act like you know everything about everything! You don’t even know me or my family. You have no clue.”

“I just call them like I see them, Ashlyn.”

“Then stop seeing.”

He shrugged his shoulders and cast a glance over his shoulder to the restaurant. My eyes followed his. The men were gone.

I couldn’t help myself. “How can you see Changelings if they’re in human form?”

His voice was dull and emotionless. If I wasn’t mistaken, I almost detected a hint of something like sadness. “I didn’t think you wanted me to see anything.”

Did I hurt his feelings? As soon as the worry materialized in my mind, I waved it away. Who cared? He was hard and war-torn. He’d seen his share of things that left marks on the backs of his eyes and couldn’t be washed away. It didn’t mean he had to let them wear on everyone else, too. I sighed. I needed him on my side. “Look, I’m sorry, Aiden. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

His right eyebrow shot up in surprise, but then he locked his face in that ever-present indifferent mask of his. “Who said my feelings were hurt?”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “Whatever. Just tell me how you see them.”

He shrugged as he started to walk back toward the coffee shop. It seemed our little stroll – if you could call it that – was over. “It’s something that comes with time. I’d imagine if you’d let your inner Changeling loose a little, you could see them, too.”

I gasped. “Are you saying you’re a Changeling?”

His laugh sounded off the brick buildings and rebounded against me. He sounded truly amused. “Am I a Changeling? God, no! I just have been around them long enough to see them in their true form, even while they’re Shifted. Like I said, let your Changeling have a little breathing room and I bet you’d see them, too.”

“I’ve seen enough to last a lifetime without letting my inner Changeling loose, thanks,” I muttered beneath my breath.

Aiden must have heard, because the corners of his lips twitched upward. He managed to keep the smile at bay, though his eyes were warmer when we reached the coffee shop. He took my hands in his, and I saw Liam watching us through the glass windows. Aiden tugged at my hands for his attention. I obliged. “Listen, Ash. Can I call you that?” he asked nervously, as though he were infringing on some kind of rite that I only afforded certain people. He plowed on after I nodded my assent. “Ash, this is all new again for me. It’s all overwhelming. I’m sorry that I take it out on you – on everyone. I’m trying, I really am.” His face was the most genuine form of concern and remorse I’d seen in a long time. “It’s just there’s so much you don’t know about the Fae, and if you’re going to pick sides, it’s like picking between bad and worse. No Fae are good, despite what they may say. You’d do well to remember that.”

He let go of my hands and licked his lips nervously. Once again, his eyes flickered to the surrounding area, and he put his hood up once more. “I need to get my schedule,” he said without making eye contact, then set off. Without so much as a backward glance, he left me at the entrance of the coffee shop. Clearly Fairborn wasn’t ready for the folklore we’d brought upon it.

Somehow I managed to get back to the booth where Liam sat, ever patient; the smile he always wore when we were together was firmly in place. When I got to the booth, I played on my phone to avoid glancing in Liam’s direction. I had four texts from Reese and one from Mary. Poor Mary, I’d completely abandoned her this summer. She probably thought I’d fallen off the face of the earth.

I started to type a response back to Mary when Liam put his hand on mine and spoke gently. While his brother’s smile was harsh and weathered, Liam’s was innocent and infectious. The differences that I noticed now were staggering. “There’s more you’re not telling me. Sharing is caring, Miss McVean.”

How did he know that? I locked my phone and shoved it back in the front pocket of my hoodie. His smile caused me to form one of my own, but I pushed it down within me. I replaced it with a look of confusion and hoped it looked convincing. “What do you mean?”

He looked at me sternly. “You know what I mean. I’m okay with you not sharing everything with Aiden. That’s understandable, especially after the scene he just made – which, by the way, I figured would happen at some point. Anyway, I know there’s more, so you should just tell me.”

His stern glance melted away to a boyish grin. So did my resolve to keep any secrets. I bit my bottom lip and sighed heavily. I couldn’t keep this from him. I hadn’t told Aiden, and probably never would. As much as I knew he could help, I was still worried about him. I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, there’s more.”

“So?”

I probably looked like I’d just lost my best friend. My shoulders slumped, and I knew I wasn’t sitting up straight – something Memaw always got on me about. I looked up at him. “Well, Aiden just gave me some fun information, but it was all about how bad Changelings are – nothing new for you or me,” I smiled sarcastically, but didn’t include the Glaistig remarks that Aiden had made. Memaw, Roslin, and Reese were not bad. I’d never agree with that. I plowed on with the rest of the information before I could choke it back down. “But MaKenna isn’t…she isn’t on our side.”

Liam rocked back in his seat. “What do you mean, she’s not on our side?”

Liam reached across the table and took my hands in his. His gaze was intense and full of concern. “You’re telling me that Memaw’s daughter is on Ankou’s side?”

I caught his eyes, and I knew tears were beginning to well in mine. “She’s not on his side; she’s
with
him, Liam.”

“Do you mean to say —”

“Yeah, that kind of ’with’.”

Liam recoiled and shuddered. “That’s disgusting.”

I couldn’t argue with him, but I also couldn’t argue with the fact that MaKenna’s Ankou was way better looking than the old man I’d met in Ireland. Not to say that looks were everything, but I could understand why his silver tongue could woo MaKenna when it was coupled with the appearance I’d seen him in recently. I didn’t tell Liam this, of course. Liam leaned forward, whispering now. “Have you told Emily?”

I shook my head. “I can’t. It’d kill her.”

“So you’d just let her stay in the dark?”

“Would you want to know if Aiden had turned? What about your mom?”

Liam sat back in his seat once more, thinking hard. “Yes, I would.”

“And what would you do with that information, if you had it? Would you even believe it? Would you fight them if it came down to it?”

Liam’s lips were pursed in a hard line. His expression admitted defeat in this conversation. “Well, it’s a moot point anyway. Aiden is back and he’s on our side. He’s even willing to share trade secrets with you, so it seems.” His smile reappeared reluctantly, then carried on. “Mom is a Bridger like you, and she kind of shanghaied you into going to Neamar in the first place. It’s MaKenna we have to worry about.”

I nodded. “But you understand why I can’t tell Memaw.”

After he took a long pull from his coffee mug, Liam sat it back down and looked at me once more. “Hope is a dangerous thing if it’s a lie.”

“Hope is the only thing that keeps people going.”

“And it’s going to get Memaw killed if you’re not careful.”

I could only hope it never came to that.

I
WAS PISSED
. My fist found the granite countertop as I directed my comments to the entire house. “Why did no one think it was a good idea to tell me that Ash was leaving with Liam?”

No one said a word, and I looked at all of them in turn. Emily, Mom, the Ireland guys who I couldn’t get straight, Mrs. McVean. No one said a frigging thing. I shook my head in frustration. “Am I supposed to protect her or not? I thought I was the one who took care of her now.”

Mom walked forward and put her hand on my shoulder. “Hon, she needed some time with Liam. He’s her boyfriend. You can’t tag along with them all the time.”

A jealous fire licked my insides at her gentle words. I shook her hand off my shoulder. “I don’t care if he’s the Pope or the President. He can’t take care of her like I can.”

Emily coughed and grinned slyly. “Be that as it may, you’re still just her friend. You need to learn to protect her from a distance.”

I growled. “So I’m supposed to be some creeper, sneaking behind cars and crap?”

Emily laughed. It only made me more frustrated. “No, you just need to learn your place.”

“My place is right beside her.”

Roslin appeared out of nowhere and caused all of us to jump. “Reese, I could hear you three blocks away at Ashlyn’s new house. Why don’t you try to be a little louder? I’m sure there’s someone downtown that didn’t hear your profession of love for Ash.”

I blushed. “I didn’t say I loved her.”

Emily chuckled. “You all but painted it on the walls, love.”

I shook my head. “Whatever. And since when did Ash have a new house?”

Roslin smiled. “Since I propagated funds for one. I might have spoken with the committee, and Antony has quite the gift for the stock market. He was more than happy to part with some human money.” Roslin took Mrs. McVean’s hand and was practically dancing. “Would you like to see your new home?”

Mrs. McVean was speechless. Emily just shook her head and smiled as she watched Mrs. McVean erupt into a smile that took over her entire face. It looked like Emily wasn’t surprised at all, but Mrs. McVean had definitely been blindsided by the huge gesture of generosity. Roslin didn’t wait for a response. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go! I decorated everything for you, Sarah. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

Roslin was pretty much dragging Mrs. McVean from the house with Emily following behind when she stopped to look at me. “Ashlyn is downtown at Expressions. It’s on the corner of Main, right down the street from Giovanni’s and all those Halloween stores.” Roslin scrunched her face up in distaste. “What’s with this town, anyway? You have like three blocks of stores dedicated to one holiday, and a kind of morose one at that.”

I nodded, disgruntled that she felt the need to give me directions around the town I’d lived in since I was born. I ignored the Halloween jibe. She had a point. “I know where it is. I grew up here, remember?”

Roslin laughed. “I was just informing you in case you forgot. Go. I’ll catch up with you, okay?”

Mom shook her head, looking from one person to the next. “I know you tried to explain to me the mess you’ve all created, but I don’t think I’m ever going to understand.”

Emily laughed. “Justine, it’s probably better if you don’t understand. Smiling and nodding is easier, plus it keeps you from being liable.”

Mom took a washcloth from under the sink and began to wipe down the table where everyone had been eating. Empty paper plates and plastic tableware littered the dining table. There wasn’t a scrap of food left on any of the plates. Mom was a great cook. She started to pick up plates as she cleaned the table off, section by section. “You’re probably right, Emily; although liability makes it sound like something my son shouldn’t be involved in.” She shook the washcloth at the guys who had begun to help clean up. Her sudden sternness stopped them cold in their tracks. “You gentlemen: are you going to be staying here still? Am I
liable
for you?” She framed her usual mom scowl around the word liable. I didn’t think anyone could appreciate it like I could, though.

Roslin sighed and hauled Mrs. McVean out the door, no longer willing to wait on Emily. Emily laughed and nodded at my mom. “If you don’t mind them staying, it’d be a big help. Having so many people under one roof is quite the task.”