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MORE CALM THAN LEAH HAD expected him to be, Marcus stood at the door. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She stood and rushed into his arms. “What took so long?”
He sighed, threading his hand into her hair. “I’ll tell you all about it later. Let’s head out of here. Do you still have everything you came with?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s go. Our ride is on its way.”
“So, we can stay? Is Kaylah not going to say goodbye?”
He pursed his lips, shaking his head. “She’s... Yeah, we can stay, but we should get going.”
Leah wasn’t about to argue with that. She took his hand and followed his lead. The cave was near silent; all employees they passed had their eyes on the couple.
They wove the reverse route Leah had taken two-plus years ago to get there, eventually ending up in the fake nature preserve’s display room. They had a little while to look it over this time since they were waiting on a rideshare to take them away instead of going to a car in the parking garage. A giant tan moth with a broken wing hung lopsided off a single pin in the other wing. A coyote looked like it had been taxidermied by someone while blindfolded. They really did go to great lengths to deter humans by making this place dumpy.
A single cashier stood in the gift shop.
“What happened?” Leah whispered to Marcus.
He rolled his eyes. “A cave supervisor with balls the size of the Grand Sea? He came to see what was causing the holdup, and once he saw me, and you... He tried to uphold Aunt Catrina’s orders, and wouldn’t budge.”
Could Leah have found a way to be content as a shotgun bride? Maybe she should have just sucked it up months ago... But that wouldn’t have resolved everything. Not even close.
“That is seriously ballsy, with Kaylah there and everything.”
“Right?”
“But where is she now? What happened? What took so long?”
Marcus ruffled his hair. “We were trying to minimize the damage, to keep it under wraps. In the end, she pretty much put both caves under lockdown, staff sworn to secrecy until she could bring proof from Aunt Catrina that her orders regarding you were rescinded.”
Leah angled her head. “But they’re allowing us to leave.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, pulling a cell phone from his pocket. “Under the condition we carry this with us. For ‘emergencies and updates.’”
She wilted. Her mom had tracked her via cell all her life. “You mean so they can track wherever we go?”
Huffing, he tucked it back into his pocket. “I swore I’d take it. It was either that or they’d send you back home until it was all sorted out.”
Yuck. “I guess I’ll take the phone.”
He nodded. “So right now, I’m pretty sure your aunt is on her way to storm the palace to have a few choice words with my aunt. And I’m putting my money on yours winning this one, or at least hoping... She was scorched.”
Catrina hadn’t even fought in the old war. Kaylah had taken multiple lives. “I’m putting my money on Kaylah, too. Plus, Catrina wouldn’t even be the queen yet if Kaylah hadn’t given the position to her.”
“Shh,” he whispered.
“Right, sorry.” The employee was still in the room, and that kind of talk wasn’t ideal from the usurpers’ daughter.
Marcus kissed Leah’s forehead, and soon after, his phone dinged, notifying them that their ride was there.
They slipped into the back seat of a pristine blue car and headed out. They’d decided ahead of time to go to a somewhat familiar area, but not too close to where Tobias lived, or Marcus’s grandparents. They’d be about an hour away.
Marcus rested a hand on her leg, and she leaned her head on his shoulder, dazed.
“Is that place any good?” the driver asked as he pulled away. “Such a weird out-of-the-way place for people to come and go without their own cars. And at the weirdest times of day. And around the holidays...” Caves were open around the clock.
“No. It sucks,” Marcus said.
“Dang. Then they must pay for some good advertising, huh? To con people into checking it out?”
“Guess so.”
After a couple more questions from the driver and disinterested answers from Marcus, the driver got the hint.
Leah closed her eyes and let herself simply be. Her life was a disaster. From conception to the foreseeable future. Part of her said the only way out of that would be to take that phone in Marcus’s pocket and chuck it out the window, and tell the driver to drive any which way until sunset.
But that would be too rash. Rash decisions rarely paid off for Leah.
After a while in silence, the driver turned some music on.
“Are you okay?” Marcus whispered into her ear.
She swallowed. Being grabbed like that by the security officer... And threatened to be strip-searched? Not really. “I will be.” She rested a hand on her relaxed baby bump. “I will be.”
An hour later, they rolled up to a hotel in the city they’d chosen, thanking their driver.
“You have that debit card Kaylah gave you?” Marcus asked as they stood outside the hotel.
“Yeah... But didn’t you exchange your Ivy money at the cave?”
He frowned. “I wanted to get you out of there.”
And with that, she pulled it out, and peeled off the sticker. “Our independence lasted long, didn’t it?” She gave him an ironic smile, and he chuckled.
They paid with the card, presenting fake IDs, and headed to their room. Starving by now, Leah gulped down water while Marcus ordered room service. If they were having to utilize Kaylah’s generosity already, they were going to enjoy a good meal. It kinda felt like a last meal, given that the phone dangled over their heads like an axe, so they ordered extra dessert.
Leah turned the debit card in her hand. “I swear Kaylah can see the future.”
Marcus plopped on the bed next to her. “I think if she could, she’d have split us up and had a whisper rifter sworn to secrecy help you get out.”
She cringed. “If we’d decided to go that way, I could have just tree rifted myself.”
No, they’d wanted to do this smoothly, and as legally as possible. Kaylah could smooth-talk, though apparently not everyone once she’d passed on the crown and entered retirement. Bomen could only rift through caves anyway, and Leah hadn’t wanted to be separated.
“How do you feel energy-wise?” Marcus asked.
Leah rubbed her face. “It’s weird. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.” She hadn’t known the Green Lands energy growing up. But the difference between realms was palpable. It had been invigorating as it flooded her upon her arrival when she originally went over there. Now, as she stepped back into the human world, she already understood why most green folk only came to visit over here. She’d wondered if that difference, that lack, had contributed to her mom’s depression over the years, to Cheryl’s bitterness toward Leah. Leah feared that for herself now. If her biology, her cravings to return to the realm and that unique energy, would trump her craving to be free.
Then again, if Catrina dispatched guards to drag the couple back, Leah wouldn’t have to find out for herself.
“On a scale of one to ten, how much would you hate me if that phone smashed itself during the night?”
Marcus lifted an eyebrow.
“Fine. I’m just throwing it out there. If they’re going to keep thinking I’m a villain, might as well see how badly we can blow things up.”
He placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Kaylah will come through for us.”
She snuggled up to him as they waited for their food. All she could think about was how she never wanted to go back, would never forgive Catrina, and how excited she was to eat meat-lover’s pizza after two and a half years without it.
In the middle of the night, Leah’s bladder happily reminded her she was pregnant. She reached for the striker on the nightstand to light a candle, only to remember she was in the human world. With a smile on her face, she clicked the button on the lamp next to her, then tiptoed to the restroom.
When she finished up in there, she decided to sneak one of the leftover breadsticks. As she was midchew, something caught her attention from across the hotel room. A tiny blinking red light—the cell phone.
Her gut twisted with dread. Was it a message from Catrina to make sure they were dressed because a dozen guards were on their way to drag them back?
Please leave us alone.
Leah sat on a chair next to the small table where they’d emptied their pockets into a pile. Drawing a deep breath, she grabbed the phone and turned the screen on. Two texts from an unknown number.
<Free as a kite, kiddos! Keep this phone and number for emergencies. Merry Christmas. Love you!>
<P.S. I’m not saying you have to, but if you wanted to name your gremlin after me, I wouldn’t be mad. ;) >
Leah’s heart swelled. They were free. Kaylah had come through for them. She hadn’t signed her name, but it had to have been Kaylah. No one else would have called their unborn child a gremlin, and she wouldn’t have sent a servant through a rift to type that. That was a private joke.
The timestamp showed it had been sent a couple of hours ago. Kaylah wasn’t likely lingering in the human world for a response, but she might rift over now and then to get in cell phone range. Leah typed up her own message.
<And Happy New Year. Love you too!>
After sending it, Leah gingerly set the phone on the table. The room was silent other than Marcus’s soft breathing behind her, the occasional hum of a car on the street, and the clunk from the ice machine down the hallway.
Leah sat there a moment, surveying their tiny cache of belongings, and considering the many tasks ahead of them in the next few days. She plucked out two of the things that made all the difference in the world right now: a debit card and a gold ring.
In that moment, Leah came to a realization that was both heartwarming and heart wrenching. Kaylah had done more for Leah in the two and a half years she’d known her than her mom had her entire life.
Even as she thought it, guilt rose within her. Her mom wasn’t all bad. She was bad. She had let her husband do unspeakable things in war and in his personal life. And she’d manipulated him by getting pregnant with Leah. And she still clung to old prejudices.
But Beata had also kept Leah safe... Somewhat safe. Clothed and fed. And she’d done her best to keep Leah out of trouble with regards to shoplifting and school and boys. Yet, she had been grossly neglectful. She was horrible at communicating, at keeping harmful secrets. She had refused to see the things her aide was doing to Leah, refused to listen to Leah, calling her a drama queen about Cheryl’s insults and abuse over the years. She’d taught Leah to run away from problems instead of trying to calmly face them.
Kaylah always gave Leah the benefit of the doubt. Space and freedom and a listening ear. Encouragement and even calling her out when needed, in a way that helped Leah.
Leah wiped away a tear, hugging herself. “Thank you,” she whispered.
After another minute, she turned off the lamp and crawled into bed with Marcus, laying her head on his bare chest.
He stirred a little, and she adjusted her engagement ring, happy to wear it now that they were away from green folk. She kissed his chest. “We’re free.”
***
Marcus was over the moon the next day after he read the texts. After ordering more room service for breakfast, they had to prioritize their to-do list.
The Ivy money Marcus had brought would do no good in the human world. Green folk had allies amongst the humans—some minor politicians and scientists, some family members and friends—but for the most part, they were still very disconnected worlds. The only place to exchange that money was at rifting caves, and they didn’t want to step foot in one until they were sure they were ready to return, just in case. They’d stop by an ATM to check how much Kaylah had loaded into that account.
They needed to look into apartments, apply for jobs, get new toiletries and clothes and personal phones, and figure out transportation. They took time to enjoy each other, but this wasn’t a vacation. This was a trial run to ensure they could make things work between them.
They spent the next few days getting things lined up, taking a little extra time to celebrate Christmas. They didn’t exchange gifts, but they took a stroll in the snow. It rarely snowed in these parts, and it was exciting to witness it after its absence in the Green Lands.
The ATM revealed that Kaylah had indeed been absurdly generous, and while they still intended to try to do as much of this as they could on their own, it was comforting to have a safety net. They purchased the necessities, and started applying for jobs and apartments. It was tricky, having no references, no listable work experience.
Ivy royalty had connections in the human world, and they could get you any sort of fake background you wanted. The old assassin networks had been dissolved long ago, but their connections were still helpful for green folk who wanted to explore the human world.
Marcus still had his fake persona intact from when he’d come over as a foreign exchange student. For Leah, they’d taken one of her most recent photos and made her a fake driver’s license that they’d presented to her with her passport. Her mom had never let her get a license when she was a high schooler here.
But if a company did a background check, the couple didn’t have much set up to help out. Marcus’s job would be the easier one to come by. Hard labor paid well, trained on the job, and sometimes hired undocumented workers.
Soon enough, Marcus snagged a job, and they found an apartment. Without work or rental history, they paid a huge sum for a deposit on a dumpy third-story apartment in a busy neighborhood near a bus line. They quickly realized how naïve they’d been about finances.
Before moving into their apartment, they figured out how to disable the tracker on the phone they’d been given. Not wanting to worry Kaylah, they sent a text to her, letting her know they’d done that and were fine. A week later a text came in with a single heart emoji.
The couple didn’t waste money on decorations, so the apartment walls remained bare, dozens of poorly plugged nail holes dotting them.
Furnishing their new place was an adventure. Most of the stuff was secondhand. Leah’s Ivy energy, even when dimmed in the human world, became immensely helpful when they carried it all up the stairs to their place. She had to be extra careful to not use her vines in public—it had become second nature in the Green Lands, and they were useful for gripping things. Leah almost had a heart attack when she nearly dropped a couch they were carrying up the stairs. A pair of neighbors came running up to help, shocked a young pregnant girl was hefting a couch up to the third floor with her fiancé. She wasn’t wearing shirts designed to hide her fast-growing belly anymore, and wasn’t sucking in her gut. She chose to believe she was only getting bigger so fast because of the baby, and not because of the bacon and other things she’d missed and was now consuming on a regular basis...
Finding Leah a job was a harder task. She was trying for entry-level positions, but wasn’t getting many callbacks or return emails. They considered breaking their no-contact rule with family to ask his brother or grandparents to be references, but they chose not to, at least not yet.
So as Marcus worked full-time, Leah spent her days applying for jobs, reading books she got from the local library, and journaling. In the evenings, they enjoyed cooking together, relaxing, and chatting.
Marcus came home from work, day after day, exhausted but happy. He admitted it was awkward to learn to use power tools, but he never complained about having to work a hard job, not once. Not when he’d fall asleep while sitting on the couch. Not when he came home with a gash on his arm that Leah could only help bandage and kiss better, when his Seeder mom could have instantly healed it with a mere touch of a finger.
Separated from the stress and scrutiny of their home realm, they were doing well.