Page 65 of Rise of the Melody
“You don’t know anything about me!”
“On the contrary.”
“Oh, that’s right. Because you’ve been stalking me like a psycho.”
“Keeping an eye on the situation,” he clarified. “And it’s a good thing, because you’ve got your fingers in quite a few jam jars.”
I glared. “What can I say? I love jam.”
He moved in, not amused, close enough to intimidate but not close enough to touch. A sweet and spicy natural scent wafted off him, like maple syrup and black pepper, making me wobbly on my feet for a brief moment.
“I’m going to need you to behave.”
Ha!“I don’t do that.”
His eyes narrowed and I truly wished I had kept that to myself.
“Have you spoken to your aunt, then?”
My mischievousness fell away, and I frowned. “I told you?—”
“She is the missing piece, Colette. I need answers from her before I can confront my father.”
“No, Zar.” I tried to remain calm and not let on that my heart was trying to race out of its cage. “I’m telling you. She doesn’t know anything!”
He took an aggressive step toward me, his power crackling against my skin. “This is not a game for me. While you’re playing with your friends and chatting up my cousin, my mother is stuck in that hell.”
His words slapped some sense into me. He was right.Ourparents were together in Faerie, and we could do something about it. Starting with my aunt telling Zar what she knew, even if it was nothing. I didn’t like this guy’s methods, but he’d been to Faerie and back to Earth. I had no choice but to work with him.
I gritted my teeth, biting back the fear. “Please,” I begged him. “Be gentle with her.”
Chapter18
I told You So
Ikept telling myself that Aunt Lorna was a smart, capable nix. She could face down some young druid, right? She would set him straight about what he thought he saw. It would be okay. My hands were in tight fists when we ascended the porch steps, my neck stiff with tension. The front door was open with the screen door closed. Maybe she could take off my cuff really quick….
“I’ll just go in and get her,” I began, but he pressed a hand to the screen door to keep me from opening it.
“Call her from here.”
Shoot. I cleared my throat and called out, “Aunt Lorna? Can you come here?”
She bustled out from her bedroom, her curls wound into a fluffy bun on top of her head. She slowed a moment when she caught sight of Zar, but then resumed and joined us on the porch. The two of them had locked eyes and not looked away.
“Who do we have here?” she asked.
“You’re not going to believe this,” I told her. “But this is Zar MacCray.”
She blinked rapidly twice and pressed a hand to her chest, then grabbed the back of a chair, never taking her eyes off his. “It can’t be….”
“Aye,” he said. “It is.”
Her head shook and a million emotions flashed across her face. “How?”
I answered in a rush while he stood there looking ominous. “He says the boat ended up in H’trae and he somehow made it back to Earth. And he remembers some things from that night. My mom singing.”
I watched her body still, then begin trembling. The hand pressed harder into her chest and she shook her head at Zar, eyes watering. “No. Why would she sing? You were so young. Are you sure you’re remembering right?” She let go of the chair and stood taller. “How do we know you’re really Xarus?”
