Susan's Summer (3 page)

I rushed to help Mae, wrapping my hands around Kid’s clammy arm. Involuntarily I scrunched my nose. The sweat and hair under my fingers were gross.

I yanked on his arm, but at the very same moment I pulled, Larry’s arms came around my waist, digging into my hips hard enough to leave bruises. Now there was yelling around the bar. I couldn’t hear what the bartender was threatening, but I was sure some sober person somewhere was yelling for the cops. The smell of hot sweaty bodies and alcohol was everywhere and I didn’t want to breathe. In the midst of the chaos I met Mae’s eyes. She was small and didn’t like confrontation, but that didn’t mean it was okay to mess with her. She spun around in Kid’s grip, kicking wildly.

Without warning, the lights in the bar went off and a strange breath of power slammed into my chest. I thought that would stop some of the mess going on around me, but it only made it worse. More people started screaming, and Larry’s arms tightened around my body. I flailed wildly, but I knew it was no use. The only way Mae and I were getting out of there was if I used magic, and I seriously didn’t like that idea. Mae could have tried it as well, but she wasn’t very good. I had once been good, but I had refused to do anything more than was required of me to maintain the grounds at the Roths’ place after Holt died. It felt weird being a Fairy without Holt; it felt like I wasn’t a Fairy if he wasn’t there. And he wasn’t.

I waited for my eyes to adjust to the dimness, but before they could do that a beautiful shimmering light appeared next to my head. When I turned it was gone, but the next thing I knew Larry was being yanked away from me as if someone had attached a pulley to a trunk and pulled it away. I gasped as I stumbled backward, glad to be free of him. Then I sprang into action.

I leaped toward where I thought Kid and Mae were, but I only tumbled through the air because Mae wasn’t there anymore. I heard yelling and grunting nearby and could only assume that Larry and Kid were under attack, but I had no idea from what. Before I could do anything else, someone’s elbow—I’d like to think it was Mae’s clean elbow, but I probably wasn’t that lucky—swung around and slammed me in the side of the head. The last thing I remember is large, cool hands catching me as I fell. Then I didn’t remember anything at all.

I woke up to sun streaming through windows. It was high summer, after all, and even in my dark and unhappy state the light could still shine. I blinked several times, trying to clear my blurry green eyes.

I was in bed. A very nice bed. When I put my hands to my sides to try and push myself up, they sank into a plush mattress covered by a plush comforter. Soft silk caressed my hands. I looked around, trying to take it all in. Everything around me was white or the palest of creams. From the color of the blanket to the shade of the rug, everything that met my eyes was soothing.

The bedroom I was in was not only massive, but covered in light. The floor-to-ceiling windows let in the morning sun.

What on earth was going on? This was not the bed and breakfast where Mae and I were staying. I would know, because if the bed and breakfast had been this nice I never would have gone out to a bar.

“Ouch,” I muttered. My head hurt. A lot. Reaching up, I could feel the throbbing pain from where a bruise had formed near my temple, and I wondered if that was what had knocked me out. The soft hands I had felt catching me hadn’t reached me in time to stop the elbow impacting my head.

What on earth was going on??

I knew the situation was bad. I had no idea what had happened and I had apparently been kidnapped—I certainly hadn’t walked here on my own!—but here in this beautiful room I could barely bring myself to worry. Let’s be honest: whoever had kidnapped me had taste. I knew it couldn’t be Kid or Larry, because there was no way either of them had ever owned anything white and kept it clean for more than a day. The question was who had been at the bar last night who would have a place like this and want me there.

I wanted to reach out to my Glamour, that thing I’d been ignoring since the previous fall but that was still lying dormant inside me. I could have used it to find out exactly what was happening around me, and anyhow, without using my own powers I couldn’t feel if this place had any. But it seemed as if it must, because no normal person would have flowers stretching out in front of the windows as far as the eye could see. “Beautiful view,” I couldn’t help but think. The trouble was, I didn’t recognize the place I was in, and I thought I knew all the Summer Fairy kingdoms. On top of that, I had obviously not volunteered to come here, because I had been unconscious at the time, which meant I had come against my will.

I heard a grumble that was really more like a happy sigh, and looked around wildly. Across from me was another bed, identical to my own. I couldn’t see who was in it, just a mass of swaying blankets. Hope rose in my chest and I grinned when the short dark head of Mae popped out of the finery. At least we were in trouble together.

She yawned and looked around, stretching languidly, as if we had all the time in the world. “Hey,” she said, beaming. “This place is awesome.” She blinked several times like an owl and flopped back onto the bed. “You didn’t mention spas when you proposed a road trip. I would have been much more enthusiastic.”

Now that she mentioned it, that was kind of what this place felt like.

“That wasn’t what I was thinking, but now that you mention it, yeah,” I said. “Do you have any idea where we are? Were you hit in the head too?”

Mae’s head popped back up.

“I have no idea where we are,” she said. “Someone grabbed me and dragged me along. I’m pretty sure I was charmed, but not at all in a threatening way. And anything that got me away from Kid is fine with me.” Mae shivered to emphasize how unhappy she had felt about being anywhere near that guy.

“And there was a shower for me to use here,” she went on, waving her hand in the direction of a doorway that I had to assume led to a bathroom. “I made sure you were with me, because I heard you cry out and then felt you collapse. Kid hadn’t taken me very far away from you, and then this super soft”—Mae sighed longingly—“hand touched mine and pulled me away. It was pretty romantic.”

I screwed up my face.

“We were in a bar and almost kidnapped and who knows what else. I don’t think romance was involved,” I muttered, shaking my head. Seriously, did Mae see hearts and flowers everywhere? How was I still friends with this girl? “We shouldn’t be here,” I said. “We didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t use my magic even if I could have.” I ran my hand through my long blond hair and pushed it away from my face. It was a tangled mess and I didn’t like how the strands pulled on my bruise. I would have to be careful brushing for a few days.

Mae shrugged. “We’re safe. I never have to see Kid again, and that’s all I care about right now. Pretty exciting night for the beginning of our road trip!”

“I don’t know if I would call breaking out of a mansion exciting.”

All our plans came crashing back on me. I had meticulously planned our route, and at this very moment we were supposed to be speeding across the deserted highways of Vermont, bound for the wild west and my one true love—or at least my betrothed. Instead, I didn’t know where we were or what had happened to our broken down car.

“We have to go,” I said, throwing off the comfortable covers and starting to get out of bed. But the motion made my head spin and I had to lie back quickly to avoid getting seriously dizzy.

“What?” Mae asked, looking at me. I could tell more than see that she was letting herself sink further back into the bed, as if she planned on staying there forever.

“Our trip. . .” I said, as if that was all she needed to hear. She raised her eyebrows at me.

“So?”

“So, we’re losing time. I only have the summer,” I said in desperation. I knew Mae thought my idea of finding my betrothed was total lunacy, and sometimes I even agreed with her, but I refused to give up. It was the last thing I had that my parents had left for me, and I intended to see it through.

“We aren’t going anywhere,” said Mae, folding her arms across her chest and sitting back. Now that I looked at her I could see that she wore a plain white t-shirt with a rainbow across the front. I frowned. It looked suspiciously like one of her own t-shirts, but that made no sense at all. We had left all our stuff at a bed and breakfast. Yet another reason why we had to leave.

“Is that your own shirt?” I asked, trying to keep the suspicion out of my voice.

Mae nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“How’d it get here?” I asked with confusion. Maybe Mae had planned this? But who would plan two creeps in a bar trying to pick up drunk girls? Well, okay, ONE drunk girl and one best friend.

“I have no clue,” said Mae. “This wasn’t my idea at all. I’m as shocked as you are.” I looked at her, but she didn’t look shocked. She looked well-rested and happy.

“Seriously,” she added for emphasis.

“Yeah,” I said. “Whatever.”

My intention had been to get out of bed, but I was filled with such peace resting there that I hadn’t done it yet. Even the air in the room smelled good, like vanilla with a hint of mint. Mae was plopping happily around in her own bed as if she had no intention of getting out of it for years, or at least several hours.

“We really should get up and see what’s going on,” I said, giving the closed door a hard look. I had visions of finding it locked from the outside, and no matter how hard Mae and I tugged and pulled on the handle it would never open. “For all we know we were kidnapped and now we’re locked in here.”

Mae rolled her eyes. “No way.” She bounced up and was at the door in two large steps. The door opened easily to her touch.

“See? Nothing to it,” she said, grinning. Realizing that she had opened the door, she glanced around outside it. Turning back to me with a wider grin, she said, “And no guards. Go figure. We’re free to leave.”

“That’s what you think,” I grumbled. I flung off the covers with more force than was necessary and started to push myself out of bed. I hadn’t noticed when I was just sitting there, but my arms were aching, probably from the fight in the bar. It was odd to think that we had been in a fight the previous night. I wouldn’t have thought I had it in me.

“It’s amazing what you can do when you’re scared,” said Mae, as if she had read my mind. She padded over to my bed and sat on the edge, the t-shirt she slept in hanging almost down to her knees. For years she had slept in one of Holt’s shirts, stolen from him after a fun night one summer during high school, when she visited us in Castleton. After he died she had stopped wearing it when she was around me. I had erased everything that reminded me of him: the bracelet around my wrist, the first book I had ever read, and a thousand tiny visual cues that sent me hurtling into the dark place where my mind lurked in quiet moments. Mae had decided it was better not to challenge me about the reminders.

“Stop it,” said Mae, seeing my face. A worry line appeared between her eyes. “We’re fine.”

“Yeah, for now,” I croaked. “Who knows whose clutches we’re in.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Well, this could be a Winter Court, for starters. We aren’t on good terms with all of the Winter Courts,” I said, although I knew I could just message Samuel and ask that he help me out, and he would. That was Samuel. “Or worse. There are worse things out there than Fairies who don’t agree.” The thought of the Supreme Fairy Council entered my head. Their idea of enforcing justice usually ended up with someone getting hurt.

Mae shook her head. “This room was not created by anyone in a Winter Court. If someone wanted us hurt they would have just left us in the bar. We were doing a pretty good job of getting hurt all by ourselves.”

She had a point, even though I didn’t want to admit it, especially when my feet were now on a floor so smooth they could have skated over it.

The sound of Mae’s stomach growling decided me. “All right, all right,” I said. “Let’s get cleaned up and go see who it is that has kidnapped us.”

I could tell my friend thought I was being an idiot, but I ignored her. I was crabby in the morning at the best of times, and my throbbing head wasn’t helping matters. If I had been with Mrs. Roth she would have had some remedy made of herbs that would have taken care of it instantly. But Mrs. Roth had gone into mourning, leaving me behind. In theory I could have contacted her, but in practice I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

The bathroom, once I got myself into it, was just as impressive as the bedroom. It was toned in the palest pink, nothing too bright or obvious, just modern warmth. I loved it. If I could have designed the perfect bathroom, that room would have been it. The smell of jasmine was strong, and when I looked for the source I saw a lovely bundle of flowers. Sniffing them, I instantly felt calmer, but my mind screamed an alarm. I shouldn’t be doing this. Whatever this was, I had to leave. It couldn’t possibly be as nice and friendly as it felt like it was.

I forgot my reservations again when I turned on the warm stream of hot water and let it cascade over my shoulders. I tried to keep my head out from under the stream, worried that it would only make my bruise worse, but I finally gave in and let the hot stream soothe my neck and head along with everything else.

A banging on the door brought me out of my happy stupor. “You almost done in there?” Mae yelled. “This place is big, but I’m not sure they have enough hot water for you.”

Muttering to myself about impatient friends, I finally turned off the water. All our clothes and suitcases had been on the floor outside the door, and I had dragged mine in before I started my shower. It was a question mark in my mind, but not one I was going to think about right now. Whoever had brought our suitcases to the bedroom had to have been spying on us, invading our privacy, and I could at least be mad about that.

The few minutes in the shower had offered a bit of peace from my torment over Holt. Now that I was out of the shower it returned, but slightly subdued. I was just too calm to be upset.

“Hey,” I said, stepping out. “Do you have some makeup I could use?”

Mae fought the urge to look surprised, but I could tell she wanted to. I hadn’t worn makeup since Holt’s death, but I was sure this situation called for it. When confronting the enemy you want to look your best.