Traitor (35 page)

“Hardly. Don’t get your hopes up on that one. You don’t have the cheekbones for that kind of thing.”

“Harsh, Ashlyn, harsh!”

She laughed. “You know I’m just messing.”

The silence that passed between us was awkward. It was the first time something like that had happened. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, so I tried to cover it up. “Let’s uh, let’s get to where we can touch the bottom. You’re still human and all, you know.”

Once more her tongue came out. Little punk. She turned and dove under the water soundlessly. I watched her sleek shadow glide toward the bank. I followed suit, but like a guy, I made way too much noise for my own good on purpose.

We sloshed our way into waist-deep water. Ash stopped and turned back toward the deeper water. The moon was high in the sky now, and its light bounced off the lake and threw Ashlyn’s features into contrast. She was beautiful. The best thing was she didn’t know it.

Her hand traced light circles on the surface of the water, and her body swayed each time a wave reached us. She turned to me and smiled. “You okay?”

I pointed to myself. “Me? I’m more than fine.”

It was the truth. This was what I’d wanted forever. Now that I had it, though, it didn’t feel right. I knew the only reason we were here was because she was all worked up about Liam. I thought about what to say next, but she beat me to speaking.

“Do you think I was too hard on Liam?”

I shrugged. “Not particularly, but I’m kind of biased.”

She laughed. “This is true.”

Air hitched in my chest as I debated what I wanted to say. My honest streak warred with what I wanted to do, which was to scoop her up in my arms and kiss her. “Look, Ash,” I began, “I’m gonna cheer you on no matter what you do or who you choose, unless he’s a royal douche. I may not like Liam all that much, but I’m pretty sure most of that is because I wish I had made a move before you went to Ireland. You deserve to be happy, and I’m happy he does that for you. He isn’t that bad of a guy, when I think about it. Don’t tell him I told you that, though.”

She turned to face me full on. “You’re just gaming me right now, aren’t you?”

I pulled her into a hug and breathed in her scent, then pushed her an arm’s length away. “Look, I suck at all of this. Relationships make no sense to me, and you females speak in tongues like ninety percent of the time. It’s ridiculous.”

Ashlyn opened her mouth but I waved her off. “No, let me finish, you dork. All I’m saying is if you are happy, I’m happy for you. You deserve that.”

She looked at me seriously. “And you don’t care at all that it’s not you?”

“Hell yeah, I care it’s not me. It’s just I’m not going to get in the way of what makes you happy. That’s what friends are for. I’m your Protector. I get to keep you safe. That’s fine by me. Maybe someday I’ll find a hot faerie and we’ll be all hot and heavy.”

She punched me and laughed at the last part. “You’re so gross.”

“Hey, I’ve got forever to find someone. It’s bound to happen eventually, right?”

She took my hand and we walked to the beach. Thin streams of water slid from the tips of her hair and down between her shoulder blades and over her shoulders. She looked at me curiously when she caught me checking her out. “Are you happy you have forever?”

The question caught me off-guard. “Why wouldn’t I be happy with forever?”

She shrugged. “Just curious.”

We reached the grass and lay down. Her head automatically found its natural spot in the crook of my arm, and I pulled her close.

It felt right – like we should be.

I also knew it wasn’t anything more than two friends lying in the grass.

She hummed to herself for awhile, and I caught the tune. It was the song we always played in the car. I tried to ignore it.

After a while her hums died out, and I chanced a glance at her. She was looking directly at me. Her eyes pierced me with an intensity I hadn’t seen before. “Reese, sometimes I think I made a mistake not seeing you for who you really are.”

I scrunched my face in confusion, and she laughed. I sat up and pulled her with me. “What do you mean?”

“I just mean everyone always said you and I were going to end up together.”

There wasn’t much to say to that. It always seemed that way to me, but then again, what did I know. “Gotcha.”

“And now I guess we are together in a sense, but not really in the way everyone thought, you know?”

“Well, yeah, but everyone’s not always right. You’ve got to find your own path and follow it. That’s what we’re both doing.”

Ash’s eyes were a rich violet at the moment, and I knew that was her favorite color. It was hard not to stare. She watched me carefully without saying anything. It was like she knew I had more to say. She always knew when I had something to say. I took her in my arms and held her close. “Look, Ash, I love you. You know that. But if I can’t love you in the way I want, I’ll love you any way you’ll take me. You’re my best friend, seriously. Now I’m your Protector. We’ll go through this together, and we’ll make it out to the other side. Let’s figure out all the crazy killer faery deals before you decide to run off and get married to anyone – especially Liam.”

She pulled away and punched me. “I’m not marrying anyone! I’m not even seventeen yet!”

I laughed. “Not too long now – what, only three months to go. You’re an old fart.”

“Just because you’re six months younger than me doesn’t mean I’m an old fart.”

I pointed to her mouth and acted shocked. “Be careful now, I think I saw some dust come out when you said that!”

We both laughed, and she curled into me tighter. “I’m glad we came here tonight.”

“Me too.”

Without another word, we watched the stars above us. It wasn’t too long before Ash’s breathing grew slow and steady. This time when I glanced at her, she was asleep. I wrapped my arm tighter around her, and put my face toward hers. The smell of Ashlyn’s lavender shampoo filled me up and coaxed me to sleep.

This was probably going to be the best night in my entire life, even if I did have forever.

***

The sun rose over the edge of the earth and turned the clouds an array of reds, purples, and teals. It really was pretty cool.

Of course Ashlyn slept right through it.

I watched as the sun rose higher in the sky, and once I knew Ash wouldn’t consider it the butt crack of dawn, I rustled her beside me.

“Rise and shine, drool monster.”

She grunted half-heartedly. “I am
not
a drool monster.”

“My shirt says otherwise, but you go ahead and think whatever will get you through the day.”

She rolled her eyes and stood, so I got up as well. Something was up, but I couldn’t tell what. Her expression was happy, but it was forced. She was tired, but not in the sense of needing sleep. I knew she was just run down from everything going on. I called her on it. “Woman, just tell me what it is. You know I can read you like a book.”

She bit her lip, and her eyes strayed behind me.

I didn’t look back; I just kept my focus on her. “Ashlyn, what is it?”

Antony’s drawling voice sounded. “It’s the most handsome man she’s ever seen, is all. No need to be alarmed.”

A groan rumbled from my throat as I turned. “Seriously? Why are you raining on our parade?”

“Because Ashlyn invited me, of course. Consider me your personal raincloud. Now Reese, you come with me and we will make this as calm and civil as possible.”

I turned back to Ash to find her the brightest shade of red ever. She looked everywhere but at me. “Ash, what is this? What does he mean?”

She opened her mouth, but then closed it. Her eyes roved to Antony once again. “Antony, that’s not necessary,” she said quietly.

“What’s not necessary?” I asked, but a matter of seconds later, I found out.

Tendrils of Antony’s orange light snaked their way up my wrists and arms. As they went, they pinned my arms behind my back. I felt him reeling me in like a fish. “Ash, what the hell is this?”

Her eyes shined with tears. One escaped and wound its way down her cheek. “Reese, I’m so, so sorry. I just need a head start.”

She wasn’t making any sense. “A head start?”

Then it clicked.

She was going for her dad. She needed me out of the way.

I fought against the bonds. “Ash, you know you can’t save him! Why are you doing this? I’m your Protector!”

“Which is why I need you to stay behind for just a little while longer. You can’t have anything to do with this. Antony will take care of you. I’ll be back before you know it.”

I jerked away from the pull of the magic that Antony was using. “Antony, stop this! You know she can’t save everyone! Why are you helping her?”

Antony looked at Reese like he was crazy. “She’s the Assassin’s granddaughter. Do you think I’m going to make her mad? Have you seen her in battle?”

The orange light wrapped itself around my mouth, effectively gagging me from saying anything more. Ashlyn’s tears streamed down her face now. “Reese, you know I love you. This is for your own good. Just let me go, and I’ll be back. I promise. Don’t do anything stupid.”

She leaned in and kissed my forehead, then looked at Antony. “Give me six hours and he can head home. Don’t be mean.”

I couldn’t see him, but the tone in Antony’s voice made it clear he was disappointed he wasn’t allowed to be mean. “As you wish.”

“Don’t keep him bound up once I leave. You have other ways to keep him here. I know it.”

“Again, as you wish.”

She looked back to me. “I really am sorry, Reese. I’ll see you in a little bit, and I’ll spend the next ten years as an indentured servant to you to make up for this.”

Lingering no more, she ran to the dock and pushed the boat back toward the mainland. That girl was gonna get it when I got her back.

If I got her back.

T
HE BOAT HAD
one speed, and it wasn’t fast enough.

I refused to look back, even when Reese called my name. Even when he called it again, and it was cut short.

So much for Antony not being mean. He was going to get an earful next time we met up.

If we met up.

The boat cut through the water soundlessly, and fish glided through the water peacefully as I passed.

It made me mad.

“Get!” I yelled as I leaned over the boat and slapped the water. The fish darted in all different directions, leaving behind a bottomless pool and a mirror to look at myself.

I didn’t like what I saw.

I pulled myself back into the boat and looked ahead. This was the only way. Reese would be fine, I’d get Dad, and we could break the news about MaKenna to Memaw afterward.

It wasn’t meant to be like this. I really did just want twenty-four hours with Reese, but when I saw Antony in the hallway on the way back to the beach, the idea hit me. It was the only thing that made sense.

No one could stop me but Reese and Memaw. With Reese out of the way, I just wouldn’t go back to Ohio. I’d go straight to Neamar. Memaw problem solved.

The boat knocked the dock on the other side of the lake gently to alert me I could get out. A pylon was right next to the boat, and I supported myself with it as I started to get out of the boat.

A hand extended to me. It was Roslin. Her hand wrapped around my wrist, and she pulled me ashore. “Do you have a death wish?” she asked.

Memaw and Tess stood at the end of the dock, both with their arms crossed and their expressions severe. Crap. I hadn’t really thought about the fact that they could come to Adaire, too. Only a slight oversight.

I swallowed hard. “Uh, the correct answer to that would be no, right?”

Memaw stomped forward. “There is no right answer to that question after the stunts you’ve pulled, Ashlyn McVean! You could have been kidnapped, you could have been killed, you could have gotten Reese killed – “

“He’s a Glaistig now, there’s hardly anything that could kill him,” I argued.

Roslin beat Memaw to the punch. Her usually kind eyes were severe. “And the people who would be following you all know how to dispose of a Glaistig.”

I clenched my teeth. “Well, we’re both fine, so no harm done.”

Tess was the one to speak up. “Except you’ve left Reese on the other side of Adaire with Antony to babysit him, while you try to run off to Neamar, correct?”

The words I wanted to say but couldn’t formulate swam in my brain. They were right. I couldn’t let them know. Nothing I could think of to say sounded intelligent. My eyes locked onto Memaw’s and I spoke the absolute truth that powered my actions. “I need Dad.”

“You can’t bring him back. I won’t allow Ankou to be any closer to being whole.”

“Then I’ll bring him back without Ankou’s permission.”

Memaw shook me. “Ashlyn McVean, do you even hear yourself? You’re completely mad to think you can do something like this. We’ve pushed you too much. It’s time to admit you can’t save everyone.”

“That’s thick, considering you haven’t given up on MaKenna after all these years.”

“That’s different.”

I broke from her grasp. “Oh yeah? Well, for the record, the crazy woman at the football game was MaKenna. She’s with Ankou now. I don’t think we’ll be saving her, either.”

Memaw’s face crumpled in pain. “You’re wrong.”

My resolve faltered. Memaw didn’t deserve to have more bad news cast down on her. Still, this would make her see why I needed to go after Dad. “I wish I was, but it’s the truth.”

Her knees buckled. Her eyes were downcast. “I’ve failed her.”

“I’m not failing Dad.
We
can’t fail Dad.”

She looked back up to me. “You can’t save him, Ash.”

“Watch me.”

I leaned down and hugged her. I knew she wouldn’t fight me on it now. Part of me almost felt evil for slamming her with information the way I had, but I needed to save Dad. “I love you, Memaw, but you’re wrong this time. I’m saving Dad.”

Tess and Roslin stood stock-still and open mouthed. I turned to them. “Any other comments?”

Roslin lifted a hand and dropped it in defeat at her side. “It wouldn’t matter if we had comments or not. You’re so set in your ways. You’ll have to learn the hard way that we were right.”