Page 91 of Rise of the Melody
“Do you think he’d be over here snogging you if he knew what you were?”
He may as well have punched me in the stomach. His words took the breath out of me. My mouth opened and I told him what he could do to himself, but it only made him chuckle.
“I think Teague would accept me,” I told him, though as I said it…I wondered.
Zar cocked an eyebrow up. “Do you, now?”
I shoved my doubts away. “Yes. He knows what kind of person I am…at heart.”
“You’re no’ a person at all, Colette. You’re half faerie creature.”
“And half human,” I spat back.
“With fae magic.”
“It doesn’t matter!” I stomped closer to him. “I have morals and compassion and—” I clamped my mouth shut as I shook my head.
“And an ability to curse others likethat.” He snapped his fingers and I burned.
“Why am I bothering to argue with you? And why are you even here right now?”
“Still trying to figure you out.”
“Yeah? Well, what you see is what you get.” I held out my arms. “This is me. Hot mess.”
His eyes pinched. “Hot mess?”
“What?” I crossed my arms again. “You’ve never heard that saying?”
“No.”No-ah.
A bubble of fascination for this guy came to life inside of me and was quickly followed by guilt. I’d just been kissing his cousin, geez. I looked down at the painted porch, staring at the spots that were peeling. He stayed very still, leaning against the railing, only lifting his eyes to me. Why was he really here?
“Look,” I said. “It’s been a long day and I just want to go to sleep. Can I…have CooShee tonight?” I didn’t want to be alone either.
“We’re no’ his parents,” he said. “The cù goes where he pleases.”
I almost cried all over again when Coosh moved over to me and sat, nudging my hand.
“And there you have it. He stays with you.”
Zar began to turn when I called out, “Hey.” He canted his head. “Wheredoyou stay? For real. Do you, like…need anything? I have frozen pizza….”
“Tempting,” he deadpanned, then stared at me a long moment. “You can stop pretending to care for me.”
I scoffed as he descended the stairs and shoved his hands in his pockets, crunching his way down the road and out of sight.
“He has major trust issues,” I murmured to CooShee before I let us in the house, double checking the locks behind myself. I tried not to think about how strange the house felt alone. It helped a little when Ron texted me to see if I was okay. And then I texted the group to ask Shani for updates on Chrystamos when she had them.
I climbed into bed and CooShee nimbly bounded up next to me. I immediately snuggled into him and murmured, “Thank you for staying. It was a bad night Coosh. A bad few days.”
What was I going to do? I counted my breaths in and out, trying not to panic about…well, everything. I’d felt so helpless out there facing a literal monster with barely any magic. And how the heck was I supposed to find an ancient mystic in Scotland to restore my aunt’s memories?
Wait…
I sat up, my heart pumping.
Maybe I wouldn’t have to go to Scotland. Maybe I could lure the ancient back here. If someone had been on the island, in the cave behind my aunt and Bryant MacCray, then they probably believed nobody knew or could remember they’d been there. But if they found out Zar was here…that was it! They’d want to know what Zar remembered! Zar could lure them out. But it would put him in danger.
