Eternal Promise (Between Worlds Book 3) (2 page)

He smiled in response and we continued to Azura’s house.

As we got closer, I noticed concerned glares from light faeries. Dark faeries used to be banned from entering light faery territory. Since Varwik died, and Kallan was changing things, the light faeries were allowing him in. According to Kallan, the rest of the dark faeries hadn’t tried to mingle yet. It was something that needed to change, but faeries didn’t seem to like change. Not that humans did either.

Azura was outside of her tree house—literally a tree house. It still amazed me that there was a house inside of the tree. “Welcome, Oleander,” she greeted. The light faeries were the only ones I tolerated calling me by my faery name. I insisted that everyone else still call me Rylie. Just before summer, Azura had called me Rylie. Now that she was back to calling me Oleander, I wondered if that was a one-time thing. “Thank you, Kallan, for escorting her here.”

“It was my pleasure.”

“Will you stay for dinner?”

“I’d be honored,” Kallan answered, surprised. He acted so formal that I had to stop myself from laughing.

When the front door opened and Móraí and Aunt Lorella stood inside, I knew it wasn’t just a quiet dinner. Kallan shot me a pointed look and I shrugged. “Maybe they’re just here to get to know you better.”

“I doubt that.”

Móraí wrapped her arms around me. “Good to have you home, Oleander.”

I stepped back and glanced at her beautiful white wings with gold tips. “I’m happy to be here.”

Aunt Lorella hugged me quickly. “The girls are looking forward to hanging out with you.” She was talking about her daughters, my cousins, Violet and Nessa.

“Me too. I’m not used to having cousins. It’ll be a lovely change.”

We walked through the hanging vines that separated the living room from the kitchen and sat down at the table where my mouth—which had been watering for hours just thinking about faery food—finally got a taste of Azura’s delicious home cooking. It was amazing. I had to admit the food here was a million times better than at home.

After the main course was done, Móraí dabbed her mouth with a napkin and said, “Kallan, our elders would like to know what you plan on doing now that you’re in charge.”

Kallan took a deep breath. “There’s so much to do, I’m not sure what will be next. I’d like to have some sort of meeting where the council comes together again to discuss things.”

“What’s the council?” I asked.

“Both the light and dark elders,” Aunt Lorella replied. “Your Móraí is one.”

I glanced over at my grandmother. She hadn’t mentioned that she was part of the council. I wondered what her role was.

“Oleander needs to be a part of this,” Móraí said.

My head snapped in her direction. “Why?”

“You’re a huge part of our future.”

“How?”

“Aurorians are meant to lead us,” Móraí responded.

“I keep hearing that, but nobody will tell me what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Azura smiled at her. “We don’t want to overwhelm you. You’re so new at all of this, we didn’t want to drop more on top of you.”

I looked at each of them. “It has been quite a lot to digest and I’m sorry that I haven’t been mature about everything. I did a lot of soul searching since my father died. I want to make you all proud of me. I just hope that when I stumble and fall, you’ll understand and help me.”

“You can count on it,” Kallan said, squeezing my hand.

Azura beamed. “I’m already very proud of you.”

I felt my cheeks turn red. “Thank you.”

“We’ll all be here for you,” Móraí said. “Your mother told us that you’re still planning on finishing school in the human realm.”

“Yes. I only have a year left. I know it may seem silly, but it’s important to me.”

“You could be schooled here.”

I had thought about it, but graduating from high school was important to my parents and me. I didn’t want to let them down either. It was hard to talk about that with Azura and her family. Many of the faeries thought I should leave the human realm altogether. And maybe they were right. I was a faery. I never should have been raised by humans, but I was and I had a life there I didn’t want to leave. Why couldn’t I have the best of both worlds?

Azura must have seen the look on my face, because she changed the subject to Nessa and the boy she had just begun dating. After dinner, she ushered my grandmother and aunt out of the house. “I apologize for them. They’ve had a hard time understanding what I did and why you’re not here with us. I assure you they mean well.”

“I know.” I stood. “I’m going to walk Kallan out.”

“Of course.”

Kallan followed me outside. The sun had set, leaving the sky full of pink, purple, and turquoise stars. Seeing all the faeries that were out and watching us, I opted for a quick kiss instead of a long, drawn-out one. I didn’t want anyone saying I wasn’t being proper by showing public displays of affection.

“Why don’t you come hang out here with some of your friends?” I suggested to Kallan before our final goodnight.

“You think the light fey would be okay with that?”

“They have to get used to it. We might have to force the change to happen.”

Kallan nodded. “Okay. I’ll come hang out.” He blew me a kiss and walked away.

Once he was out of sight, I went back inside. Azura was waiting for me on the couch. I plopped down and tucked my feet under me. We talked for a long time about my vacation, school, and just about everything but what was expected of me as an Aurorian. I didn’t push it. Azura was wise and I trusted her to know when I’d need to hear it.

That night, I lay in my bed in my room at Azura’s. The windows didn’t have glass, so I could hear all the night creatures. I found them peaceful. Every now and then a gentle breeze blew through my room. The last thought that floated through my mind before I fell asleep was how easily I could get used to this.

The second day, I sat in the yard surrounding the faery homes watching Kallan and his friends play some version of human rugby. It was just him and the four friends he had brought. The adult light faeries stood back watching, but the young ones didn’t seem to care that dark faeries were playing on their land. They were running about playing. The faery teens also didn’t seem to care much, but they hadn’t joined in either.

Violet was flirting with the blond faery she had a crush on, even though I knew he wasn’t the one she would marry. I had used her mother’s talent of seeing the future to see my own future, but had seen Violet getting married instead and it wasn’t to the boy she was with right now. I hadn’t told her though. It was her future and she needed to find it in her own time.

Nessa was with one of her friends lying on the ground. I ran my palm over the soft green grass and didn’t even jump when a ladybug crawled on my hand. I was beginning to enjoy nature and just the overall way the faeries lived.

Drake plopped down next to me. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

“How’s Sierra? I haven’t seen her in a few days.” Drake was a light faery in love with my human best friend.

“Good. Misses you every minute you’re apart.”

He grinned. “I feel the same.”

“You know she’s been through a lot.”

“I know.”

“Don’t hurt her, Drake.”

“I don’t want to, but what…what are we going to do? She can’t live here.”

“Is there some sort of law that says that?” I asked.

Drake’s expression was blank. “I don’t know. I guess. It’s always been said that humans don’t live in the faery realm. Glamour covers the whole realm. She eats the spelled food to see everything, but it only lasts a little while.”

“Could you live there?”

“I’ve thought about it, but I can’t imagine leaving this place. And then there’s the aging thing.”

Drake was right. There were a lot of differences, including the time it took faeries to age compared to humans. I didn’t mind knowing I would live longer if I stayed in the here. I had to admit the faery world was a pleasant change from the busyness and technology of the human realm. I also had to admit I missed my favorite TV shows.

“We’ll figure something out. If it’s meant to be…”

“It is,” he interrupted me.

I met his brown eyes. “Then we’ll find a way.” I looked back at Kallan and his friends playing. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Yes.”

“Grab a few of your friends and go play with Kallan.”

Drake didn’t hesitate. “Sure! Kallan is a great guy. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit.”

“Now we just need everyone else to understand that.”

“I’m on it.” He sent me a huge grin and winked.

Drake disappeared for a few minutes and then came back with a few light faeries. They joined in the game and soon they were all having fun, hooting and hollering. The smile on Kallan’s face made my day.

Azura sat down next to me gracefully. “You did it,” she said. “You’re bringing the light and dark together.”

I looked around at the faeries who were so tense-looking before. They definitely seemed more relaxed now. There were some who still had pained expressions on their faces, but it was an improvement. “I don’t think one game of rugby is going to bridge the gap.”

“It’s a start.”

When the game was over, Kallan’s friends mingled and Kallan flopped on the ground and laid his head in my lap. I smiled as I traced his face with my finger. “Thank you for coming,” I said.

“It worked out well. Getting Drake involved helped out a lot.”

“He says you’ve gotten to know each other.”

“Yeah, we’ve hung out. He’s got it bad for that friend of yours.”

“I know. I need to find a way to help them be together.” I traced Kallan’s lips. “Are you living in the cottage now?”

“Yes. It’s much more a home than that castle ever was.”

I shivered as images of the castle I was kept captive in flooded my mind. “I’m glad you moved. Are you painting?”

“I am.” His blue-green eyes twinkled. “I’ll show my new ones to you soon.”

“I’d like that. What was your mother’s name?” I didn’t know what made me think of her, but I did. I hoped he wouldn’t be upset.

“Radella,” he answered.

“Pretty. Tell me about her…if…if you want to.”

“I do. It’s just hard. I know it’s been many years, but it still feels so fresh.”

“I’m sorry.”

He stared at the pale pink sky. “She was beautiful. Her wings were black with green and blue in them. Her hair long and dark. She was an artist as you know and always had me making things. My father didn’t approve. It wasn’t a manly thing to do. Sometimes my mother snuck me to the cottage to do that sort of thing.”

I could totally see Varwik being like that.

“My mother loved my father, or who my father used to be. He changed at some point and she didn’t like it. They fought a lot. Sometimes, when I think about it, I wonder if she was thinking of leaving him.” He had this vulnerable look to him when he talked about his mom. “She would have liked you.” He gazed into my eyes.

“How do you know? You were only five when she died.”

“I just know. She had a good heart. She saw the good in my father and she tried so hard to make that part of him…dominant, but she never did succeed and after she died, my father got rid of all the good in him.”

“That’s sad.”

“I worry that I’ll become like him.”

My hand froze and I shook my head. “No, Kallan, you won’t. You’re nothing like him.”

“I was when we first met.”

He had a point there. I mashed my lips, trying to think of the right words. “You were just a hormonal boy under your father’s thumb.”

Kallan laughed, but then his face turned serious. “You bring out the good in me, Rylie. If I lost you—”

“You won’t.” I leaned down and kissed him to shut him up.

The rest of my time in the faery realm, I spent with family. After visiting with Móraí, I devoted time to be with Oren’s parents.

Maimeó and Daideó walked with me along the stream. “It’s nice to get to spend time with you, Oleander.”

“It’s overdue,” I commented. “I’m sorry for that.”

Maimeó’s face softened. “We understand, dear. It’s been very overwhelming.”

“Please don’t be mad at my mother. She only gave me away to protect me.”

“I wish she had told us. We thought you had died. We lost both our son and granddaughter that day.”

“I understand, but she was scared the wrong person would find out. She didn’t even tell her own mother.” I tried to make them see her point of view, but I had a feeling only time would help. “I’d love to know more about my father,” I said, changing the subject.

“Oren was a good boy. Bright, full of life, and a hard worker,” Maimeó said. “He fell in love with your mother and they wed shortly after. It wasn’t too long ’til they found out you were on the way. Oren was thrilled. He couldn’t wait to become a father. Family was very important to him. But I guess…he felt unimportant, ignored, something, and thus began his thirst for power—” Maimeó choked back a sob.

Daideó put his arm around her. “We’ll never know what happened. Why he wanted access to dark magick. Why he was willing to trade you for it. Was it something we did? Did we not show him enough love?”

“You shouldn’t blame yourselves. It’s not your fault. I’m sure you did the best you could. I can tell you are good and loving. Sometimes things happen outside of our control. Oren might be gone, but I’m here now, and I’d like to be part of your lives.”

My grandparents smiled and opened their arms to me. I spent the rest of the day hanging out and getting to know Oren’s family.

The longer I was there, the more I felt like a faery and less like a human. I wasn’t sure what that meant for my future. It felt like my days in the human realm were numbered.

Chapter Three

W
hen my time in the faery realm was up, Kallan walked me back to my house. We sat on a fallen tree just outside the boundary. “So I still can’t convince you to go to school in our realm?” he asked as his fingers played with mine.

“I’d really like to finish school in the human world,” I stated for the millionth time.

He nodded. “Okay. Then I’ll go too.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.” He waggled his eyebrows at me.

I smiled, keeping to myself how happy those words made me. “It might be hard.”

“How so?”

“Adam.”

Kallan’s face fell. “He better stay away from you.”

“I’m not worried about him trying to win me back or his attitude toward me. I’m concerned that we’ll hurt him. Maybe we shouldn’t kiss or anything in front of him,” I suggested, knowing Kallan wouldn’t like that idea.

“If that makes you happy.” He reached up and ran the back of his hand down my cheek.

I gulped. “Though I’m not sure I’ll be able to do that.” I pressed my lips against his and let the passion flow through me into him. My whole body tingled with excitement and my wings fluttered. “This just feels so right,” I muttered when we pulled apart.

“I tried telling you that. You were just too stubborn to listen,” he said with a rascally grin.