2 Deja Blue (16 page)

I glanced around and noticed that Jeremy was the only one wearing shoes. Ha! For once, I actually looked like I fit in.
I wasn’t as pretty as the
other
girls, but at least I was dressed for summer and arrived sans shoes.
Jeremy, on the other hand,
had on his
black jeans, black sleeveless t-shirt
and black Converse tennis shoes. Although, I did notice that the
new
purple streaks he had in his
black
hair
were almost the exact shade
of Celestine’s purple eyes. Th
ose eyes
still kind of freaked me out.

Brennan took charge immediately, “Did you bring the items?” he looked directly at me.

I nodded
,
and Jeremy and I peeled the backpacks off of our shoulders and laid them on the beach in front of us.
Brennan nodded with satisfaction and gestured to the muscular, stocky
,
almost-attractive stranger standing across from him, “Ruby, this
is
Grobel
.”

What?!!
My breath caught in my throat and panic rose in my chest. I froze. I couldn’t speak. Why did Brennan want me to meet the creepy stalker who
tried
to kill me?! My instinct was
to
turn a
nd run, but my feet were stu
ck like I was standing in quick
sand. Just then, Anya came closer to me and grabbed my arm, “
It’s
okay, Ruby. We’re all here to make a deal. Nobody’s going to hurt you.” She sounded reassuring.
But
,
I
had a hard time
process
ing
what she was saying. My mind was racing as fast as my heart. I felt Jeremy move closer to me
;
he grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. I tried to
calm myself down as I felt my breathing speed up.

Brennan spoke seriously
,
in a warning tone, as he stared stone-faced at the
Troll
standing near me.
“
Grobel
is going to behave, aren’t you?”
Grobel
gave a firm nod, but his hardened expression didn’t change. It was as if he was carved out of
a rock,
standing there on the beach.

Anya grabbed onto my other hand and closed her eyes. I suddenly felt a wave of calm wash over me
,
and I breathed a sigh of relief.
The warm calming rush of energy ca
me up from the sand,
through my toes,
up
my ankles,
and over
my calves as it melted though my muscles and bones, gradually working its way up to my head.
Slowly, the panic left my body and my fee
t no longer felt stuck in quick
sand.
I shifted my weight around and gave Anya a look of gratitude. She squeezed my hand, then let go.

Seeing
that
I had calmed down, Brennan continued, “
Grobel
, so far, you have
kept
your end of our initial deal and have not harmed Ruby.”
Grobel
nodded firmly, his mouth set in a tight line. “We know you are to compete for your brother,
Bexin
,
in the
Grá
mo
Chroí
Dúshlán
.” Again,
Grobel
nodded. (Did the guy ever speak?)
Brennan continued, “We have another deal to make with you.”
Grobel’s
face tilted ever-so-slightly and his eyes piqued interest. Although it was only a slight change in his expression, at least I could tell the guy wasn’t
actually
carved out of stone
.
Brennan nodded and held up his index finger, as if to gesture “one moment,” and turned to look at the
Mermaid
.
“
Celestine, as part of her payment of life debt to you, Ruby has
hidden
,
and
kept
safe, something very valuable that we will use on
your
behalf
.”
Celestine smiled and nodded at me, and then I heard her sing-
songy
voice, “And she has agreed to the other?” she looked questionably at Brennan.
Uh-oh.
That didn’t sound good. I spoke up, “Agreed to the other
what
?” I looked at Brennan, because he seemed to be the one in charge of this crazy meeting on the beach.

Brennan avoided my gaze and
,
instead, spoke to Celestine, “Not yet. But she will.”

That’s it.
I pressed my lips into a hard line and balled up my fists.
Now they were talking like I wasn’t even there. Anger started bubbling under the surface
,
and I tried to look calm and re
frain from screaming. “
She will
? W
ho will?
And ‘she’ will agree to
what
?
” I
said
through my
gritted
teeth.

Brennan looked
squarely
at me, authority oozing out of every por
e
,
and said, “You will, Ruby. Trust me.” He looked into my eyes with such a burning
intensity
that I blinked and had to look
away.
G
eesh
.
Talk about a serious stare-down. I guess
I didn’t really have a choice to say no to
whatever it was
they were going to ask me to do
.
Brennan redirected
his
burning gaze to
Grobel
.

“
Grobel
, as next of kin to
Bexin
, you are to compete for him
in the
Grá
mo
Chroí
Dúshlán
. But, you also have the right to choose another competitor on your behalf.” Again, the stocky
Troll
nodded.

“We want you to pick Ruby to compete for you.
”
My mouth dropped open in surprise
,
and Jeremy literally gasped. Out loud. At the same moment, I heard the
hard,
gravel
l
y
,
al
most-amused voice of the
Troll
say,
“And what makes you think I should or will or even
can
pick her to compete for me in such an important
Challenge
?
She is not of Fey. The Water Court King and Queen may not even accept her.
This is the girl that I was supposed to
kill
,
remember?
” He shifted his weight around
and looked
both
amused and offended at the same time.

“You should pick Ruby because I am offering you a very lucrative exchange,
and we’ve already bargained and paid you to
not
kill her.
Don’t worry about the Water Court King and Queen. We’ll take care of that. I think this should convince you to choose Ruby.
”
A
t that moment
,
Brennan and Anya knelt down and unz
ipped the backpacks that were l
ying at our feet, revealing the glistening rocks inside.

Grobel
gasped with a look of
surprise and broke his stony glare as his face suddenly became animated with what could only be described as wild greed. 
“Are those Isle
Royal
e
s
?” he knelt down to inspect the rocks more closely.

Brennan stood, taki
ng on a regal pose of authority
and answered, “Yes. And you
will
pick Ruby because you are of the Earthen Court, and I am your Prince. I
order
you to choose her.
Disre
s
pecting a direct order from your Prince is an act of treason. Penalty is death.
I am only offering you the Isle Royale stones as a token of good faith...consider it payment for the job of
not
killing Ruby.
” He stood staring down at the
Troll
with a look of such determination that even I felt a little weak in the knees.
Yikes. Brennan was totally hard-core in charge here.
Grobel
slowly stood, rubbing his chin with his hand as he thought over what Brennan had said.

“The
Royal
e
s
…they are
safe? Untainted?”
Grobel
cautiously asked as his breath quickened. His hardened expression had morphed into that of a
crazed, strung-out child who had just ingested a
gallon of soda
pop
, a pound of candy and was greedily staring at a mountain of presents on Christmas morning. 
Greed.
It was the look of pure and obsessive greed.

Brennan nodded smugly, “Of course.”

The
Troll
nodded, shifting his
stance to look more aggressive as he tried to control his expression again.  He cleared his throat and regained his composure.
“I will choose this girl at the
Challenge
, but if she loses, no recourse must be taken upon me. On this, I must have your word.”

“Agreed.”
Brennan ans
wered, and continued with an ic
y voice, “But,
consider
this payment in full
. You shall abandon
your plans to get rid of the girl. After the
Challenge
, you must
leave. If any of my g
uards or F
airies report seeing you in this state again, you will be dealt with
immediately
.
If you run, or try to hide, we will find you.
You must call off the deal with your employer. Return whatever payment they have
given you, do whatever you mus
t. I don’t care how you handle your
end of it. If you do not
follow through with what
we have agreed here,
the highest p
enalty
will be paid by you and your loved ones.” Brennan’s firm statement had the air of finality to it.
Grobel
merely nodded again, picked up the bags with the stones
,
and turned to leave.

“Excuse me? Aren’t you forgetting something?” Anya chirped.

Gro
bel
stopped, turned back to face
the F
airies and got down on one knee. He placed his
right
arm across his chest,
with his
fist closed
,
and bowed his head.
The
Troll
spoke solem
nly in his deep, gravelly voice,
“
On my honor and the honor of my family, I shall obey the orders of the Earthen Court and shall forever give fealty to my Prince or suffer the highest penalty.”

Brennan placed his hand on
Grobel’s
shoulder and said, “So be it done.
  I call to the Earth to seal these words.
” Just then, I felt a strange tingly sensation ripple through my body, and I saw a magic mist swirl up from
Grobel’s
body as he shuddered. It was as if tiny particles of light
and energy
came swirling and crackling out from the ground and passed up through his body. I instantly though
t
of someone being electrocuted, but it
wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t gor
y or anything. But the
Troll
definitely looked like he
received
a little shock. He stood
up quickly, gave a slight head-
nod bow to each of us, and then turned and walked down the
beach
. He seemed to just gradually fade into the horizon. It was we
ird. No popping sound like the F
airies, no instant disappearing, no swirling mist, no nothing.
It was j
ust a silent, gradual fade into
nothingness against
the landscape.

I stood there, blinking my eyes in disbelief at what had just happened.
Jeremy was the first to speak, “Well
,
hot
diggity
-
d
amn
.
If that
ain’t
some whacked-
out wizard stuff.
”