Page 3 of Oleander
My mother strolls in before my next protest can even pass by my lips. Her long, flowery dress billows behind her like silk in the wind. She has white blonde hair, much lighter than my own, with small flowers woven through and braided back into a beautiful style fit for an Earth fairy queen. Since the Fae age very,veryslowly, my mother barely looks older than Flame and me.
“It’s not a choice, Oleander. You’re going. You’ve locked yourself away long enough. You need to learn control. And you can. I promise. Youcan, son.” Her bright lavender eyes, just like my own, shimmer with unrestrained emotion. My mother hugs me, and as she does, I peer over her shoulder at my brother, mouthing her words back to me obnoxiously. His amber eyes are practically on fire.
You can, son.
I narrow my eyes on him. Why can’t he be a supportive twin one hundred percent of the time instead ofnone?
“No.Mother, please,” I whisper, but Flame hears me anyway and snickers.
She pulls away, addressing me first. “Oleander, you need to find the perfect match, someone to help balance your powers until you can learn to rein them in. Your father was that rock for me when my poison was too strong. Goddess rest his soul.”
Flame scoffs at her words, disrespecting me and our late father, who passed shortly after we were born. She turns her stern gaze on him. “Flame, would you listen to me and try beinga friend to your brother for a change? I’m absolutely sick of your behavior.”
“No.He nearly killed River,” Flame growls, and my stomach sinks to the floor as painful memories assault me.
Black veins spider out from River’s kiss-swollen lips. His jaw goes slack, and his normally tan skin turns ashen. Bright blue eyes cloud over and roll into the back of his head. Tears stream down my face as I touch my lips in shock and disbelief. River starts to convulse next to me as foam bubbles out of his mouth. . .
“W-we were kids,” I sputter, caught off guard by his cruel words. “It was an accident, and you know it,” I say, defending myself like I always do.
My mother takes charge. “Yes, Flame. Stop this at once. You know how many Fae have bad experiences when puberty hits and their powers activate, or in your case,ignite. Did you not light the school gymnasium on fire with your class inside? Luckily, everyone made it out unscathed. Just like you three boys made it out of that tree house. No harm, no foul.”
She’s downplaying it. The only reason River is still alive is because she’s powerful enough to be able to pull the toxins from his body, even though it greatly depletes her and comes at a great risk.
“No harm, no foul?” Flame scoffs. “He’s the entire reason River’s parents pulled him from school and moved away from Auroria. I lost my best friend because of him! The more I think about it, the more I disagree with your plan for him to go to the academy. He’s a threat to the entire student population.”
“He needs to learn control, Flame! Books and plants alone can’t accomplish that,” my mother says somewhat coldly, dismissing my hobbies, as well as my way of gaining knowledge, in private at my own speed.
She turns to me with a soft expression gracing her delicate features. “You need teachers, mentors, friends, andfun. You need to find someone strong. Someone to take a risk for you. You could have it all if you open yourself up to it. Please, Oleander, give the academy a chance. For yourself and for the future of our kingdom. It’s imperative.” Her eyes glow like mine do when her magic is turbulent and emotions aren’t under control. Her gaze is intense, the power swirling inside like an electric storm trapped in the clouds.
And I know I have no other choice but to agree. I knew I couldn’t hide out forever, but I was hoping for a few more years.
I nod once. “I’ll go.”
My mother gives me a sad little half-smile, knowing she won’t get any more out of me.
“Keep your poison away from me and my friends,” Flame mumbles, and there’s no denying the sting the words cause. Before everything happened with River, Flame and I were the best of friends and the closest of twins. But I suppose I can’t even blame him for hating me. Ididalmost kill River, and Iamthe reason he’s gone. Maybe if I learn to control my magic at the academy, I can prove myself to Flame, too.
CHAPTER TWO
SKYLER
My head spins violently as I stumble out of the ancient stone circle. Falling to my knees, I grasp the long blades of grass beneath me, grounding myself after that roller coaster ride from hell.
“Jesus H, you coulda warned a guy,” I accuse before a hacking cough steals my breath. My stomach churns as I swallow down the overwhelming nausea.
I blink a few times, attempting to acclimate to the blinding sunlight and dazzling array of colors surrounding me. Everything seems so much brighter, so muchmore. Maybe it’s because I’m in a shiny new world and my senses are in shock. Or maybe that’s how it is here. InFaerie.
Because I’m a fairy.Fae, as they seem to call themselves. And I have fucking magic.
Me. Skyler Fairfield—troubled teenager and notorious pain in my mom’s ass.
It’s so far-fetched, it’s unbelievable, really. And I definitelywouldn’tbelieve it had an F5 tornado not shot straight from my hands, destroying half my neighborhood in a matter of minutes. My mom thinks I took shelter in our basement to survive the natural disaster, but what she doesn’t realize is that I wasstanding in our living room the entire time, unable to stop the cataclysmic cyclone from tearing my house and a dozen others to the ground.
After expelling a massive amount of energy, my body gave out, and the tornado dissipated. I collapsed onto a pile of debris that was once my home, and that’s wheretheyfound me.
The Fae.
Their names are Onyx and Birch, and they’re soldiers from a place called Auroria, a kingdom within Faerie.
