Page 45 of The Beginning
The bat moved through him, as though he weren't there.The image of him dissipated like a figment.He was like a phantom made of dust and smoke.He was an apparition, a vision, and he faded into the air as though he'd never been there.
The scent of old, well-oiled leather, and the clean smell of sweat overcame me.I turned around, disoriented, holding the bat in my bleeding hand.Wondering what the hell was going on.
"Marigold!"a man's voice shouted my name.Deep and rich, the one word ricocheted through my body.It echoed through the room, through my ears, and vibrated through me as though his voice had been wired into me through my skin.
I woke and sat up straight in the bed, my sheets damp from sweat, and the baseball bat leaning against the wall near the door, untouched.It had been a dream.Just a dream.
I blinked.This was too much.Mr.Green Eyes, with his Ren Faire costume and his shoulder cape wasn't going to lure me into another trap.I was already down a finger.
Sorry guys, fool me once...but never again.
I leaned back against the pillow, trying to shake the cobwebs of the dream.
When it became clear I wouldn’t be able to sleep, I slipped out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt.I refused to sit back and let this happen to me.If they wanted to mess with my family, then I would be ready.I pulled on my boots, grabbed my leather jacket, and walked down to the front door and into the night.Calyx might not know what she was mixed up in.Hell, I didn't know what she was mixed up in.But I wasn't going to let her fall.Not to these monsters.
If I was the Vessel for the family, then the Vessel was the one who was going to be the protector, too.Isn't that what Aunt Beatrice had said?We were the cornerstones of the family, even if the rest of the family didn't appreciate us.
At the corner, I stepped into the garage lobby and took the elevator down.As I walked to the car, my cell phone buzzed.It was Mother.I clicked the phone off, pulled out the sim card, and dropped both it and my phone in the garbage can.
I pulled out the keys to my dad's Corvette and opened the door, surprised to find so much blood all over the seats.
Oops.Sorry about that, Dad.Not.Dropping the keys to the car into the footwell of the driver's side, I slammed the door to the Corvette and moved across the garage to a car that stayed parked in the corner, under a cover.
I pulled the cover off and admired my Aunt Beatrice's old classic Mustang with a smile.She'd left it to me when she died, but I'd never had the heart to drive it much.Tonight felt like the right time.
I slid in the driver's seat, breathed in the familiar smell of the worn leather interior and oranges from the clearly magically enhanced air freshener on the dashboard that reminded me of my aunt.I turned the key and let the car warm up, then I pulled out of the parking spot, eased through the exit gate, and peeled out onto the street.
I would discover more about my family's Vessel, and what it meant for me.I'd find Calyx.And I was going to find the man with the dreamy green eyes.I didn't know who he was, or why I kept dreaming about him, or how his shade ended up in my apartment, but I was going to find out.
But for right now, if Calyx and Silas wanted to play with fire, they had just woken the dragon.
I drove on into the night.
The future, good or bad, was waiting.
This time, I wouldn't be hiding, hoping not to be seen.
This time, I was running straight toward it.
I hoped I was ready.The future better be ready for me, too.
A smile slid across my face for the first time in days as I stepped on the gas.
A memory burst into my mind as the moon set down on the horizon.When we were little, our parents hired a tutor for my sister and me in our studies.Even then, my mother wouldn't allow us to disgrace her, even in human school.
Our tutor, a woman from New Orleans, had a phrase tattooed on her forearm.I only saw it one time, when she was out in the small yard of the guest house she occupied.She never wore sleeveless shirts while she worked with us—my mother wouldn't allow it.She hadn't known I was there, and I'd been fascinated by the tattoo.
I had to remember the words so I could look them up later.They had been dark against her brown skin, the cursive letters full of artistic curlicues.
Cave.Venio.
Beware.I'm coming.
Chapter Twenty
Eamonn
The Fae Realm
