The Hybrid (28 page)

Ben hugged his wife closer to him, rubbing her back.
He was much taller than she was⎯ nearly a whole foot⎯
and his arms were able to wrap around her body from
shoulder to shoulder. “Then maybe it’s time we take her
to Laisa again. Maybe we should keep her away from that
meadow, away from Edyn. You can keep her here, but still
keep her safe.”

“No,” Maggie released her husband and pushed away
from him to turn and look down at a cooler filled to the
top with cellophane-wrapped steaks. “I have to tell her. I
can only protect her so much. If Kayne ever found out
about her, and she didn’t know what was going on, she
would be in even more danger. She would have no way to
protect herself.”
Maggie dug through the steaks, choosing the best looking ones, wrapping them in plastic bags before placing
them into the cart.

“Okay,” Ben replied, grabbing a few more bags from
the giant roll attached to the cooler. “When do you want
to tell her?”

“When we get home I guess?” Maggie looked up at Ben
as he handed her the clear bags. “But she has that party.
Maybe we should wait until tomorrow?”

“I agree. We should wait until tomorrow. Let her have
one more night of fun before we turn her world upside
down.”

“Okay,” Maggie replied, smiling at him. “Can you grab
three pounds of the hamburger?” She pointed to another
cooler on the other side of the aisle. “And some Italian
sausage too?”

Maggie watched as Ben walked away before she returned to the cooler in front of her. She loved her husband, everything about him ⎯ the way his greying hair
fell just past his ears, tousled and shaggy, his light brown
eyes that seemed to always look right into her soul, his
tall and thin stature and the fact that he never slouched or
looked solemn, and his smile. His smile lit up her heart
every time he looked at her. But as she smiled, watching
him carefully. She couldn’t help but wonder what her life
would have been like if she had never met him.

The thought was quickly pushed out of her mind when
Ben turned around to look at her, holding a hunk of meat
shrink-wrapped to a yellow tray. Maggie shook her head
back at him, a quiet chuckle escaping her lips, indicating
he had chosen the right brand. She knew they were meant
to be. She hadn’t seen her life any other way.

Twenty minutes later, when the two were standing in
the checkout line at the front of the store, Maggie decided
to speak up again. “We should go over to the hardware
store. I had my eye on a couple of things there.”

“You want to go to the hardware store?” Ben asked,
surprised. He had never once considered the idea of Maggie walking into the hardware store. That was his place⎯
his fortress of solitude, where he could spend all day if he
had the time.

Maggie pushed the cart forward as the line moved a
couple of inches in front of her. “Yeah. I saw some things
in their catalog this month. I think the yard could use
some sprucing.” The tires of the metal basket squeaked
beneath her.

Maggie quickly moved to the front of the cart and began
emptying its contents. “And I think the trim out front
could use a fresh coat of paint.”

As Edyn and Tru sat on the plaid couch in the silent
family room, Tru rubbed her hands gently up and down
Edyn’s back, following along the rough scar tissue that
protruded from his spine. The sound of his breathing was
all that she could hear. She could feel Edyn’s cheek resting against her head, and for a moment, she thought he
had fallen asleep there ⎯ he hadn’t moved in quite a
while.

Tru slowly buried her face into the space between
Edyn’s neck and shoulder, breathing in his scent. She
could still smell the faint, but fairly fresh scent of pine
trees from the forest near his home. It reminded her of
the air fresheners that were handed out at the car wash
near her old house. She could also smell the indistinct
smoky aroma that reminded her of a campfire. It was like
traces of the forest had embedded themselves into his
skin permanently, even though he was no longer a part of
it.

Suddenly, there was a loud ringing noise coming from
behind them, breaking through the quiet house like a
gunshot through an expansive, empty field. Tru could feel
Edyn’s body jump beneath her. It had seemed that they
had both forgotten where they were.

So, Tru released Edyn from her grip, and as she rose
from the couch, he looked up at her with his pale green
eyes. Tru smiled happily back at him, and then raced to
catch the phone before the machine could pick it up. Tru
was afraid of what would happen if her grandmother was
the one calling and she had failed to answer it.

“Hello?” Tru said, placing the receiver against her ear.
“Tru?” the girl’s voice said.
She immediately regretted answering. “This is she.”
“Hey Tru! It’s Bethany.” She sounded more enthusiastic than she ever had before.

“Oh, hey,” Tru responded, half interested in the conversation. “What’s up?” She wanted to keep the conversation short, but she didn’t want to be rude either. Tru casually looked up at the clock above the kitchen door. It was
already twelve-thirty.

How has four hours already gone by?
Tru thought.
“Well, I was wondering if you had any music for the
party tonight. The girls and I are trying to put together
some
good
playlists just
in
case
Declan’s band
falls
through.” Her tone of voice indicated that she wasn’t really confident that the rest of the school would enjoy listening to them all night.
Tru had almost completely forgotten about the party.
But it wasn’t of much importance to her anymore. Things
had changed drastically since the previous day, and the
last thing that was on her mind was figuring out what she
was going to be wearing to Bethany’s party.

“Um
⎯ actually,” Tru responded after a moment of
silence. “Something came up. I’m really sorry Bethany,
but I don’t think I’m going to make it to the party tonight.” It was hard to lie. Before the past week, Tru had
never lied to anyone before, and lately, it seemed like all
she had been doing was lying to people. And she was never very good at keeping secrets.

“Oh, is everything okay?” Bethany asked. “Never mind.
You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I shouldn’t
have asked. I’m sorry.”

She hesitated, leaning her back against the doorjamb,
between the kitchen and the hallway, carefully making
sure not to crush or bend the wings protruding from her
back.

“Uh, yeah, everything’s fine.” Tru closed her eyes, trying to come up with a good excuse. “My grandma just
wanted to go out for dinner tonight. It’s kind of a fancy
thing. She’s really excited about it.” Tru looked back over
at Edyn who had instantly dropped his head into his
chest. “I’m really sorry.”

“Oh!” Bethany shouted. “No, it’s totally okay! Go have
fun with your family tonight. There’ll be plenty of parties
this year.” Bethany paused. Tru could tell that she was
upset, but there was nothing she could do to fix it. “Don’t
worry. Do you want me to tell Declan you wont be there?”

“Sure,” Tru
replied. “Tell him
I’m
sorry,
too.” She
watched as Edyn’s head shot straight up, his eyes locking
instantly
with
hers.
Tru
quickly
closed
her
eyes
and
turned away from him.

“Of course. Okay, well then I guess I’ll see you at school
on Monday!” Bethany giggled a bit.
“See you Monday,” Tru spoke softly. “Bye.” Then she
returned the phone to its cradle on the wall. As she
turned back toward Edyn, staring at the floor as she
gradually walked back to the couch, she focused on keeping her balance.
“You can still go to the party, you know.” Edyn spoke
in a delicate voice as he looked up at her.
Tru continued to look at the ground.
“By the way, who is this
him
you were talking about?”
Tru could feel Edyn’s pale eyes staring intently at her.
“Never mind that. He’s just a friend. But what do you
mean I can still go to the party?” Tru asked impatiently as
she plopped down on the couch next to him. “People will
know I’m different the second they see me!”
“There is a way, but there is no telling how long it will
last.” Edyn looked at her carefully, though his face remained completely expressionless.
“Tell me!” Tru shouted, grabbing his hand out of his
lap. Tru realized almost instantly that her words had
come out a little forceful so she tried to add a bit of sincerity. “Please?” she practically begged. In that moment,
she thought of Maggie and Ben. Regardless of whether or
not she was going to the party, they couldn’t see her like
this. Not yet. “And not for the party,” she added. “If anyone saw me like this,” Tru carefully touched the edge of
her left wing, feeling the velvet beneath her fingertips,
before dropping her head against her chest.
Edyn’s hand grazed her cheek as he leaned closer to
her. “All you have to do is imagine yourself how you were
before, without your wings. But it is not permanent. And
there is no knowing how long it will last.”
“Why haven’t I seen you do this?”
“Pure Fey cannot do it at all.” He looked down at the
ground, his eyes looked sorrowful.
“Why not?”
“You sure ask a lot of questions.” He looked back up at
Tru, slightly grinning.
“Well, all of this is new to me. I want to know everything about it. I barely even know anything about full fairies.”
“Alright. Well, remember how I told you that hybrids
have powers that pure fairies can only dream of?”
Tru nodded at him, fully intrigued. “Yeah?”
“
This
is one of those things.” He paused, and rose from
the couch. “The only problem is that I have never actually
seen it happen. I do not know the effects it could pose on
your body. Do you remember that day, when Airi met me
in the forest, and when you found out about our arranged
marriage?”
Tru nodded.
“Well, she was speaking in our language. I knew then
what you were. No one who is not born with our blood in
his or her veins can understand it. When I left you that
night, I went home and found a book from my people. In
it, there was a story of a man, from long ago. Part human
⎯ part Fey.”
“What did the book say happened to him?”
“He had to be executed. He had almost exposed us.”
Edyn paced around the room, remembering what he had
read. “He was about to stride into the center of his village.
He did not realize that he had completely changed back.
My people had to stop him the only way they knew how.”
Tru stood from the couch as Edyn walked over to the
back door, placing a hand against the clear glass.
“I do not know what I would do,” he said, “if you were
ever to be harmed.” He turned around and looked at her.
His eyes were lined with tiny beads of water. Tru walked
slowly over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Well, then we have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Tru smiled as he turned to look at her. “Teach me.”
Edyn smiled down at her. “Are you certain?” The light
from outside glistened off his heavily aged eyes. “We do
not have to do this. We can run away⎯ hide away from
everyone. Somewhere they will never find us.”
“And leave everyone I care about behind? And what
about you? You’re growing weaker, Edyn. You said it
yourself. Soon you won’t be here anymore. I have to do
this, Edyn. For you, my family. For
me
.”
Edyn grabbed Tru’s hands and pulled her to an open
spot in the family room. “You are positive?” He released
one of her hands, placing one of his own on her shoulder.
“Yes,” Tru said quietly. She released his hand from her
grip, trying to hide the fact that she was terrified. Her
palms began to sweat and her fingers were shaking violently. She wanted to be like Edyn ⎯ and his people ⎯
from the moment she had met him. But there was a part
of her that wanted to stay human. In truth, Tru was afraid
that
she
would be the one to expose his family, and death
was more terrifying than anything else she could ever imagine.

“Close your eyes,” Edyn whispered, slowly sliding his
hand gently across the exposed skin between her shoulder
and the bottom of her cheek.

Tru took one quick look into Edyn’s eyes. They were
almost gray now, but they were hopeful. He smiled, and
then the room was black. The only thing that told Tru that
she was still in the same room was the sound of his steady
breathing and the feeling of his cool hand resting on her
cheek.

“Now,” he began, taking a deep breath, “picture yourself the way you look now,
with
your wings. You are
standing in a stark white room, by yourself, looking into a
mirror.” He paused, and then whispered gently into her
ear, “change the reflection in the mirror, Gertrude.”

His thumb rubbed the side of her face softly, but she
tried to concentrate on her reflection in the mirror. As she
studied the girl looking back at her, Tru could see the
wings beginning to fold and fade. They were becoming
more and more transparent by the second. And then,
when all that could be seen were the fragile dark green
veins of the wings, they folded once again⎯ like a small
accordion⎯ carefully behind her back. In that same instant, a searing hot pain shot through Tru’s spine like a
jolt of electricity.

“I am standing here, seeing it, but I do not believe it.”
Edyn whispered before gently kissing her forehead. “You
did it.”

Hurriedly, Tru opened her eyes, and ran frantically to
the bathroom down the hall. She quickly turned her back
to the mirror. Tru’s mouth dropped in amazement the
minute she looked at her reflection. Leaning closer to the
mirror, she examined the skin on her back. There was no
scar. There were no wings.