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Zoe
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Kieran, Sidelle, Vash, Cali, Jackson, and I gathered in Kieran’s living room. A smile crept onto my face when I saw a Silico had been installed, just like the one at Vash’s house. That meant Cali and I could continue our training.
Since I’d been busy as Aiden’s babysitter, the day had gone by in a blur. I hadn’t gotten the chance to ask Vash or Jackson how they were holding up, though I suspected they would both say they were fine and that I shouldn’t worry. But still, I’d be a basket case. It’d be hard to lose a parent, never mind both at the same time. They were my friends. And friends were always there for each other.
“Sidelle came up with a brilliant plan for this weekend, including the two days off this Thursday and Friday,” Kieran said, grinning. “She’s even managed to cancel school by putting together a”—he curled his fingers into air quotes—“‘teachers conference’ in the Twin Cities. Smart move, Sid.”
“Thanks,” Sidelle said, but she frowned, deep in thought. “I was thinking we should go visit my father in Fairyland. We may or may not need the extra time, but once we enter Fairyland, we won’t know how much time has passed until we get out. It could be a few days, or it could be a few weeks. We’ll deal with that if it happens, and come up with some sort of story.” She paced the large room. “We have to focus. We still don’t know how the demons got onto pack territory, but the borders into Fairyland are all guarded by glamour, so no one can simply stumble into it. You have to know your way, and the Marqs don’t. The DKs for sure won’t.”
“Cali,” Vash said. “I want you to stay at the compound with Jackson and Era. That way I’ll know you’re safer being with the rest of the pack. Jacks, you’ll be in charge while I’m gone, so you’ll have to continue to monitor the lands and watch for strange behavior. The demons shouldn’t have been able to penetrate the property but they succeeded. That means they had help. Find the traitor.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Jackson said gravely.
“Okay, Vash,” Cali said with reluctance. “I’ll go, but I need you to promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“You need to keep Zoe safe.”
“Of course.”
“Promise me, Vash. Say the words.”
“I promise I will keep Zoe safe.”
“Sidelle, Kieran. You need to do everything in your power to bring her back. She’s my girl, and if anything happens to her—”
“We promise, Cali,” Kieran said. “That’s been our job all along.”
“We need to come up with a story to tell your parents, Zoe,” said Sidelle. “You stayed at Kieran’s house last weekend, so maybe if you tell them you’re staying with me, it’ll be better. Let’s tell them we have a huge final project to do. That isn’t too much of a stretch, because the end of the school year is in six weeks. When we get back from the long weekend, the teachers are going to start piling on the homework and projects. I have it on good authority that we’ll get a ginormous English project soon, and it’ll require tons of research and writing. So you and I would be joined at the hip, even if we weren’t going to my real home.”
“That should work,” I said. “My parents take school seriously, so they won’t deny me study time, even if it’s at someone else’s house. Plus, they’ve met you a few times now. And if I bring Cali into the fold, the three of us can work on it together. That gives Cali an excuse, too. What do you think, Cali?”
“Yeah, but we have to come up with some sort of project, so we can describe it to them.”
“Agreed,” I said. “So let’s think on it tonight and see what we come up with tomorrow. I’ll tell my parents we haven’t picked the topic yet. I’ll say we still need clarification from the teacher.” I smiled at Sidelle, already anticipating Fairyland. “Hey, Sid. What’s it like? Your home, I mean. I’ve never asked you about it.”
She shrugged. “Home is home. I live in Summer, which is like the weather in Minnesota during the summer months. Warm weather, flowers in bloom, rolling prairie grasses. We don’t actually have a concept of time, so we count sundowns. The sun rises and falls when it wants to, which is why time passes in unequal intervals—”
“Let’s talk about Aiden,” Kieran interrupted. “Who else thinks there’s something strange about him?”
“I will concede that there might be something a little bit off, but You just don’t like him, for whatever reason,” I said. “You’ve never liked him. I’m giving him a chance. Minnesota is far from California. A new person in a small town where everyone grew up knowing each other. I can imagine it’s hard being new.” I turned to Vash. “Right?”
“Zoe, it’s just a feeling I get when he’s around. Like he’s hiding something.”
“I don’t trust him either,” Sidelle added.
I shrugged. “So he hid the fact that he’s an Enlighten. That’s not enough to hate—”
They all stared at me. “Stop,” Kieran said. “What do you mean by that?”
“He has the Mark.”
“What? On his arm?”
“Yeah.” I pointed at my own arm. “Where the angels get it. Right, Cali? You saw it in gym class today, right?”
She nodded. “It’s a gold triangle with red wings around it.”
Kieran’s mouth snapped shut. “He’s not a Nephilim, that much I’m sure of.”
“He’s not?” I asked. “Then he’s an angel.”
Kieran looked concerned. He shook his head slowly. “No. He’s not that, either. Not as far as I can tell. And ... that’s what worries me.”
“What do you mean, he’s not an angel? If he’s not Nephilim or an angel, then what is he?”
“That’s what I can’t figure out, Zoe. And that’s why we shouldn’t trust him until we know for sure what he is.”
“He’s not a fairy?”
“No,” Sidelle said. “He’s definitely not a fairy.”
“And he’s not a wolf,” Vash confirmed.
Sidelle frowned. “Plus, I couldn’t Mind Walk him. I tried in class today. It’s like he’s blocking me. Just a little different from Zoe, but I don’t think she’s doing it on purpose. There’s something similar in the way their minds works. I don’t know for sure. It’s strange.”
That brought silence to the room, and we all considered what this might mean. I wondered—and not for the first time—if I could be wrong about Aiden. He obviously had a split personality that I couldn’t figure out. When he was around Morgan, he didn’t speak to me, but at home and during the rest of the day, he was pretty nice. Was that enough to not like the guy? Shouldn’t I give him a chance to prove himself?
“Well, we aren’t going to solve all the world’s problems in one night.” I got up from the soft leather couch. “Cali and I should get in some more training time.”
“Yes,” Cali exclaimed, grinning. “I totally agree.”
“You guys practice. We’ll keep talking about this,” Kieran said.
“What’s there to discuss?” I asked, selecting a helmet from the display shelf and strapping it onto my head. “I figure we have three things to do: one, get the pack to join us—done, two, go to Fairyland this weekend to visit the Summer King, and three, find out who Aiden is and what he’s hiding.”
I reached for another helmet, wanting to get started. Lucky for me, I’d chosen to wear yoga pants and a hoodie to school again today. Cali was only in a little pink sundress.
“I don’t have anything to wear for this,” she sulked, placing her helmet in her lap. “I didn’t bring spare clothes with me.”
“No worries,” Sidelle said. “You’re a size small?” She balled her fist as green glamour circled around her hand, and when she opened her palm, a pair of black pants hung from her fingertips. “Here you go. This should fit you. If not, I can adjust the size.”
I never quite got used to how amazing glamour was, and Cali’s jaw dropped. “That’s amazing, Sidelle. Thank you. Now, Zoe can have a sparring partner.”
She buckled her helmet into place and stood next to me on the floor mat Kieran had rolled out for us, and Vash and Jackson pushed the furniture to the outer walls. Sidelle took her usual spot on the couch so she could watch us. We started with a ten-minute warm-up exercise then launched into the program. Even though it had been a couple of days since we’d last trained with the simulator, my body moved like it had never skipped a day. Every move was right on, meaning I was no longer flailing around, like a massive swarm of bees was attacking me. I moved with surprising grace, though it was nothing like what Kieran looked like when he was in full battle mode.
“Level Three is more difficult,” Vash said as he pushed “Pause.” “First, remember everything you’ve learned so far. Core strength is found in your center.” He patted his stomach. “Move from here and not your back. Second, remember the stances from Level Two, as this level you’ll put them into longer sequences. As soon as the moves become second nature, we’ll take you off the simulator and practice against real people. So maybe tomorrow we can start that.” He grinned. “You guys have been doing a fantastic job, by the way.”
With that, Vash pressed “Play.” Our simulated bodies appeared on the screen, and I concentrated on doing the routine. I blocked out the real Cali standing next to me because I had to learn this. Like, really learn it.
My life had started making sense to me when I realized death could be right around the corner. I’d already witnessed the deaths of Vash’s parents. This quest, this passage, had been tasked to me, so I needed to get going on my kick-ass plan. Not that I hadn’t been taking it seriously before, but I hadn’t fully comprehended the consequences until Keegan died. Sometimes, it takes a death before we truly understand we must live for something. And my something was to save the world.