Page 86 of Oleander
Gaia bursts in with a giant bunch of balloons that looks like it could carry her away with a single gust of wind. Get Well and Congratulation messages are written in decorative, embellished script across the dozen oversized balloons, and I’m assaulted with a rainbow of colors, adorable kittens, flowers, and hearts.
She overdid it, but I can’t complain. They’re as cute as Gaia is, and I’m thankful for her friendship.Truly.
“Skyler! Oh my goddess, I was worried! I’msoglad you’re on the mend. I still can’t believe you two competed in the Wild Hunt andwon. Gosh, it’s so exciting!”
She ties the balloons to the arms of the chair in the corner before plopping down in it. “I couldn’t decide which type of balloon to get you, so I got them all!”
“Glad you’re feeling better,” Nerine whispers as she gracefully glides past me and props her hip against Gaia’s chair.
The guys come into my room next. “I got you something, too,” Hawk says with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes before he reveals what’s hiding behind his back. “I was going to get you a vase of fresh flowers to brighten your room, but I didn’t think your boyfriend would appreciate me giving you decapitated plants. It’s kinda barbaric if you think about it.”
I burst out laughing at his choice of words as does Gaia and Leo. Hawk sets the small pot on the nightstand. I think it’s an orchid, but I’m not one hundred percent certain.
“It's yellow for friendship, strength, and new beginnings. All of which I hope for you,” Hawk says thoughtfully, and I’m a little taken back.
“Thanks, dude. That was really nice of you. I’m sure Ander will help me take good care of it.Right?” I glance at my boyfriend, and he nods as if it’s a given.
Leo speaks up, a big, genuine smile gracing his boyish features. “I got you some of the best handcrafted chocolates in all of Faerie.”
I open the lid to the small box and gaze down at half a dozen small chocolates shaped like delicate flowers. “Wow.Thanks, Leo. These look fucking amazing.”
“His sister makes them,” Hawk interrupts with a rude, fake cough.
“That doesn’t change the fact that they’re the best chocolates in the entire realm, and you know it.” Leo looks a little angry as well as hurt, and I have no idea what’s going on. “I don’t know why you’re disrespecting Luna like that. Just because you two broke up last year doesn’t mean you get to be an asshole to her. That’s my sister.”
Zephyr steps forward next, stopping the budding argument. “How about you two discuss Luna later?Hmm?Now isn’t the time.”
Hawk and Leo look properly chastised by their leader, and they don’t utter another word about it.
“I’ll see you around, Skyler. I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Leo says softly before he ducks his head and escapes the room and the building tension.
“I’m outta here too. Good to see you looking well, Sky,” Hawk says, giving me a charming wink that has me rolling my eyes.
“I didn’t come with a get well or congratulatory gift, but I do come with important news. Intel that I’m certain you’d be interested to hear.” Zephyr’s dark eyes stare intently at me. His waist-length locs cascade over his shoulders, and his thick arms are folded across a broad chest. He looks formidable in an ethereal and otherworldly sort of way.
“Okay. . .” He’s making me a little nervous with the ominous tone.
“Goulding is withholding information from you pertaining to your mother. I thought you would want to know.”
“Of course, man! What is it? What’s he hiding? Is she okay?” Question after question escapes my lips as the worst-case scenarios dart through my mind. I knew I shouldn’t have given up on her, even if she gave up on me.
“She has a new cell phone number that he didn’t give to you,” Zephyr relays with zero emotion, simply passing the knowledge along. I can appreciate his stoicism because I am freaking the fuck out inside.
She hasn’t been ignoring me? She didn’t write me off? What if something’s happened?
A lead weight drops into the pit of my stomach, smashing the hope blooming there.
“Do you have her new number?” I desperately need to talk to her and make sure she’s okay. I’ll have to make up some version of the truth. She won’t like what the headmaster did. We’re all adults here, and he had no right to withhold that information from me. This isn’t high school, yet he’s controlling me like I’m a child. But not allowing me to speak to my mother? Who the fuck does he think he is? Well, besides the nearly millennia-old headmaster of the most esteemed university in all of Faerie.
Doesn't matter.I just need my mom’s phone number.
“I do not,” Zephyr tells me, not removing his intense stare from my face. I feel like he’s dissecting my every micro-expression, and it’s making me uneasy.
Damn. That sucks.
“How do you know all of this?”
“Words travel fast on the wind, Skyler.” Zephyr unexpectedly shows a smidge of emotion and winks at me, leaving me to ponder the meaning of those simple words and what they mightmean for the potential of my Air magic. He slips from my room as Flame steps in, hovering in the corner and not saying a word.
