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When they arrived at the land, Tamani turned to her.
"Stay here," he said his eyes on the tree line. "Just until we know it's safe," he added.
Laurel relented; after all, he was combat-trained and she wasn't. He unbuckled his seat belt and sprang out of the convertible without bothering to open the door. Just before he reached the shadow of the trees, someone in green leaped out from Tamani's right and toppled him over.
At first Laurel couldn't identify the blur that knocked Tamani to the ground, but as soon as she realized it was Shar she opened the door and hurried to them.
The two sentries were tangled in the dirt, Tamani with his arms wrenched firmly behind him, his legs wrapped around Shar's waist, pinning him to the ground. Each struggled to get free of the other, but it looked like a stalemate. Laurel crossed her arms and grinned as the faeries grunted out Gaelic epithets and outlandish faerie slurs.
"Rot-headed spore! Make me worry."
"Pansy sentry, totally unprepared."
Finally Tamani called truce and they got to their feet, dusting off their clothes and shaking leaves out of their hair.
Laurel noticed that Shar's hair, like Tamani's, was no longer green at the roots. Apparently Tamani hadn't been the only one to change his diet.
"Why didn't you answer the phone, mate? I've been calling you all week!"
Laurel put up a hand to cover her smile as she listened to Tamani's accent thicken with every word. Shar reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out his iPhone with the same look Laurel's mother reserved for leftovers found moldering in the back of the fridge.
"I can't work this blighted thing," Shar said. "Half the time I don't feel it buzzing until it's too late, and even when I do, I put it up to my ear like you said and nothing happens."
"Did you slide the bar?" Tamani asked.
"What bar? It's as smooth as a holly leaf," Shar said, looking at the phone Laurel noticed he was holding upside down. "You told me it's as easy as picking it up and talking. That's what I did."
Tamani sighed, then reached out and punched Shar in the shoulder. Shar didn't even move, much less an inch.
"There's not even anything to remember! It tells you right on the screen what to do. Let's try it again," Tamani said, reaching into his pocket.
But before Tamani could reach into his pocket, someone leaped out from the trees and tackled him to the ground.
Laurel couldn't see who it was but it looked like a girl, a very pretty girl. She had long flowing auburn crème hair that reached her waist, pale green eyes and had the same olive skin tone as Tamani.
Laurel was horrified at the way Tamani wrestled the girl.
He wasn't holding back at all and she could see it in his face, happiness and love and determination.
The girl didn't hold back either. Tamani was stronger and more experienced but she was faster, more agile than he was.
They wrestled the same way Tamani fought Shar.
Finally, after what felt like minutes rather than seconds, the girl managed to trip Tamani down by tripping his legs and flipping in the air backwards landing on his body perfectly on his waist, her legs wrapped securely around his waist.
She had pinned his arms down with her arms and their hands were clasped together.
The look Laurel saw on the girl's face was the same look Tamani used to look at Laurel.
Slowly, their fingers entwined and Laurel felt a surge of jealousy wash over her because she was expecting for Tamani to push the girl back and struggle.
But he didn't, he actually seemed to enjoy her company and the way she held him.
Tamani stared at the girl the way he used to stare at Laurel.
A look filled with longing, passion, fire and love.
"I win," the girl whispered smiling softly.
"So it seems," Tamani said as he chuckled.
The bond between them grew rapidly, igniting them with months filled with longing and hunger, desperately wanting to be one with the other.
Months of longing hit Isalinda at once and tears fell from her eyes as she loosened her hands.
Tamani's face fell as he saw his true love crying, filled with longing and pain and hurt. He let go of her hand and cupped her cheek, in which she instinctively leaned into, and gingerly wiped her tears with his thumb.
Laurel didn't understand but she didn't like what Tamani was doing either.
"Isalinda, don't cry. I'm here. I'm not going to leave you again."
Leave you again? Laurel thought. What does he mean, leave you again?
Laurel suppressed a wave of jealousy.
"I missed you," The girl, Isalinda said.
"Aye, I missed you, my little wildflower." he whispered, his breath light on her face.
Something inside Laurel froze as she saw Tamani pull the girl down and kissed her long and hard.
He never called her his wildflower.
Anger and jealousy ran through Laurel. She now knew what Tamani had meant in the car when he said, He'll always feel like I'm trying to steal you which I'm not, not anymore.
Laurel didn't like this, she didn't like it all. Tamani was supposed to be hers.
That's why Tamani hadn't even tried to hug her or try to kiss her when she secretly wanted him to.
He had someone else.
Laurel looked away, feeling sick. For that moment, that tiny moment, she wanted to be the one Tamani was kissing right now and get rid of the girl.
She shook her head feeling guilty for even thinking that.
She should be happy for him, happy that he found someone else to share his love with.
But she couldn't, she never would.
"Aye, get a room!" Laurel heard Shar yell and roll his eyes.
Laurel watched the couple and saw Tamani, with obvious reluctance, pull away.
They both were shaking and breathing heavily.
Tamani's eyes were shining brightly. She'd never seen his eyes shine so bright like they did in that moment.
He was different. Relaxed and casual in a way Laurel hadn't seen him when she first saw him.
Tamani leaned his head up to give her a quick kiss and trailed up to her ear.
The girl shivered and closed her eyes.
Laurel saw that Tamani whispered something in her ears because the girl snapped her eyes opened.
"Really?" She asked. There was obvious excitement in her voice. Laurel was curious as to what she meant.
Tamani smiled broadly at her and nodded. "Really,"
She squealed in joy and hugged his neck, assaulting him with kisses.
Tamani laughed as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
Shar had said something in faerie language and both froze in shock.
The girl looked at Shar with slight anger in her eyes.
"You wouldn't," she said.
Shar stared at her with such seriousness, Laurel felt uncomfortable looking at him like that but the girl didn't even budge.
"Aye, I can and I will."
"Shar," Laurel couldn't help but notice the plea in Tamani's voice.
"Tamani…" There was something added in the way Shar said his voice and both Tamani and the girl groaned.
They stood up and wiped the dirt off their clothes.
"Ugh, my hair's a mess!" The girl exclaimed, trying to smooth out her hair.
"No, it's not," Tamani said, looking at her with intimacy that forced Laurel to look away.
Laurel was filled with Jealousy. Tamani hadn't even glanced her way ever since he got out of the car.
He completely ignored her and Laurel didn't like the way the girl kept looking at him and touching him with intimacy.
"Yes, it is, ugh, it'll take forever to fix it." The girl gave up and pouted her lips in a way Tamani found attractive.
"Come here," Tamani said, pulling her backward toward him. "I can fix this."
The girl stood still as Tamani smoothed her hair— detangling some knots that she couldn't see—until it laid flat again.
"Wow," the girl said, her hands running down her smooth tresses. "Where did you learn to do that?"
He shrugged. "It's just hair."
"Hmm, this can definitely come in handy for those, ahem, games we used to have at night…"
"Especially tonight," Tamani whispered, trailing his finger down the side of her face
Laurel hated what they were implying and felt disgusted at the thought of Tamani doing anything with anyone besides her.
"I'm glad you still wear this," she heard Tamani say. Laurel turned to see Tamani fingering something around the girls' neck.
Upon closer inspection, it was a silver poinsettia flower necklace with pastel colored gems in the middle and in between the petals.
It glinted as the sun hit it.
Tamani never gave her a gift, the only gift he ever gave her was Laurel's baby faerie ring and it wasn't even his.
Another surge of jealousy washed over Laurel as she saw the girl used both of her hands to cover Tamani's hand that was touching her necklace.
"It was the only thing that I had to make me feel that you were with me when you were training." Her voice was sad but filled with honesty.
Laurel saw a quick flash of pain run through Tamani's face, and then chased away with determination.
The girl closed her eyes, turned around and sighed softly.
Tamani felt hurt at the pain she was feeling. He knew she was trying to calm herself down.
Deliberately, he moved closer to her, to have her in his arms once again.
She almost didn't notice his cheek press against her neck, his chin tilt until it was his lips meeting her skin. But she couldn't ignore the soft kisses that trailed up her neck and touched her ear; the fiery sensation that coursed through her, begging her to turn and face him, to give him the permission he was silently seeking.
She could hardly breathe with the weight of the wanting. Then his hand was at her waist, turning her gently toward him. He kissed the very corner of her mouth and sighed before brushing his lips softly against hers.
He wrapped his arms around her, trying to feel her touch that he went months without. She let go and started to pull back, but he held on tighter, his hands begging her to stay. She didn't fight it—realized she didn't want to.
So, she simply wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed her face against his chest, breathing him in deeply.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Laurel felt tears rising in her own eyes as she saw this reunion. Secretly, she wiped them away. It was obvious to anyone they suffered and needed each other.
"I know."
Sighing, Tamani closed his eyes and leaned his cheek on her head, breathing her in.
"That will never happen again, I promise."
The girl looked up and smiled. Laurel noticed that they didn't pay any attention to anyone around them, it was as if they were in a world of their own where no one could interrupt them.
Unless Laurel interrupted them, she couldn't see this anymore. She didn't want Tamani to be taken away from her by some girl.
He was hers and she was going to win him back one way or another.
"Tamani, remember what we came for?" Laurel said. Tamani didn't even turn around or move away.
"Tamani!"
He opened his eyes and glared at Laurel for a brief second before reluctantly pulling away from the embrace but not before grabbing the girl hands and walking up to them.
The annoyance left his face and a genuine smile was fixed in his place. "Shar, has she been debriefed for tonight?"
"Aye, lad. She is, hence why she tackled your bum." Shar stifled a laugh and Tamani rolled his eyes.
The girl wrapped arms through Tamani's, showing signs of never letting go.
Then, Shar made a signal with his eyes towards Laurel which she missed.
Tamani felt nervous. He didn't know how Isalinda was going to react. She wasn't particularly fond of Laurel and was jealous.
But he continued and made the introductions. "Laurel, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Isalinda. Isalinda, this is Laurel."
Isalinda automatically bowed at the waist the way Tamani had shown her and smiled brightly at Laurel.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you. Tamani has told me a lot about you."
"Really?" Laurel said, raising a questioning eyebrow at Tamani who just shrugged.
"Yep, it's nice to finally meet the famous Laurel." The girl, Isalinda said.
"So, you're Isalinda."
"Yeah, but you can call me Linda. That's what everyone called me back at Avalon." She said.
Laurel couldn't help but smile at the girl's attitude.
Shar turned and walked down the path. "Best get out of sight. Would be our luck that after six months with no trolls, one would wander by as we're standing out in the open, gawking at human trinkets."
Isalinda giggled before Tamani entwined his hands with hers.
Tamani stood for a few seconds, and tromped after Shar, looking back with a shrug to make sure Laurel was following.
About ten feet into the woods, Shar drew abruptly to a halt. "So why are you here?" he asked, his face serious, playful demeanor gone. "The plan was never for you to bounce back and forth. You are supposed to maintain your post in the human world."
Tamani sobered as well. "The situation has changed. The Huntress enrolled a faerie at Laurel's school." Shar's eyebrow twitched; a big reaction, from him. "The
Huntress is back?"
Tamani nodded.
"And she has a faerie with her."
"How is that even possible?" Isalinda asked.
"I don't know. Supposedly, Klea's people found her in Japan, where she was raised by human parents. We don't know what she's capable of, if anything." Tamani's eyes darted to Laurel. "I told Laurel about the toxin. The wild faerie—Yuki—looks too young to have made something like that, but who could say for sure?"
Shar's eyes narrowed. "How young does she look?"
"Younger than thirty. Older than ten. You know it would be impossible to say for sure. But from what I've observed of her behavior, she could be within a year or two of Laurel's age."
Laurel hadn't even considered that. She knew faeries aged differently from humans, but the differences were most pronounced in very young faeries—like Tamani's niece, Rowen—and middle-aged faeries, who might spend a century looking like a human in the prime of life.
Yuki didn't look out of place at Del Norte, but that only meant she was at least as old as her classmates. Shar was frowning thoughtfully, but asked no further questions.
"Now that I know your sorry pulp isn't crushed to death under some troll's boot, we need to see Jamison," said Tamani. "He'll know what to do."
"We do not just summon Jamison, Tam. You know that," Shar said flatly.
"He's right, Tam. You know how he is about summoning Jamison." Isalinda said carefully.
Laurel flinched at the way Isalinda called him by her pet name. She didn't like it but she fought the urge to tell the girl to not call him Tam but Tamani.
"Shar, it's important."
Shar stepped close to Tamani, his words so quiet Laurel hardly heard them. "The last time I demanded the presence of a Winter faerie it was to save your life. I have watched other fae die when Avalon could have saved them because I knew I could not put my home at risk. We don't call the Winters down for a chat." He paused. "I will send a request. When they bring a response, I'll let you know. That is all I can do."
Tamani's face sank. "I thought—"
"You did not think," Shar said sternly, and Tamani's mouth clapped shut.
"Shar," Isalinda begged before she hugged Tamani tightly
Shar chased his reproach with a scowl, but after a moment he sighed and his expression softened. "And that is partly my fault. If I had been able to speak to you on that ridiculous thing you wouldn't have been so concerned, and I could have made the request days ago. I apologize." He placed one hand on Tamani's arm. "It is a matter of great importance, but do not forget who you are. You are a sentry; you are a Spring faerie. Even your position of great notice doesn't change that." Tamani nodded solemnly, saying nothing.
Laurel stood silently for a few seconds, staring at the three fae in disbelief. Despite her assurances to Tamani that she wanted Shar to be safe, she came to see Jamison. And she wasn't leaving until she had.
Lifting her chin defiantly, Laurel turned and headed into the forest as fast as she could without breaking into a run.
"Laurel!" Tamani called immediately after her. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to Avalon," she said, holding her voice as steady as she could manage.
"You can't do that!" Isalinda yelled.
"Laurel, stop!" Tamani said, wrapping one hand around her upper arm.
Laurel pulled her arm from his grasp, the strength of his fingers stinging against her skin.
"Don't try and stop me!" she said loudly. "You have no right!" Without pausing to look at his face, she pivoted and continued the way she had been heading.
As she walked, several faeries approached the path, spears raised, but as soon as they recognized her, they backed off.
When she reached the tree that disguised the gate it was guarded by five fully armed sentries. Taking a deep breath and reminding herself that, whatever else they might do these warriors would never actually harm her, Laurel marched up to the closest one. "I am Laurel Sewell, Apprentice Fall, scion in the human world. I have business with Jamison, the Winter faerie, advisor to Queen Marion, and I demand entrance to Avalon."
The guards, clearly thrown by this display, bowed respectfully at the waist and turned questioning eyes to Shar, who stepped forward and also bowed. Guilt welled up in Laurel's chest, but she forced it down.
"Of course," Shar said softly. "I will send your request immediately. It is, however, up to the Winter faeries to decide whether they will open the gate."
"I'm quite aware," Laurel said, proud that her voice didn't quaver.
Shar bowed again, not meeting her eyes. He circled to the far side of the tree and Laurel wished she could go and see what he did—how he communicated with Avalon.
But following him might destroy the illusion of power that, she had to admit, she was doing an excellent job of maintaining. So she averted her eyes and tried to look bored as silent minutes ticked by.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, Shar emerged from behind the tree. "They are sending someone," he said, his voice just a touch raspy. Laurel tried to catch his eye, but though his chin was raised as high and proud as hers, he would not meet her gaze.
"Good," she said, as though she were not the least bit surprised. "I will need to be accompanied by my, um, guardian." She indicated Tamani with a flick of her head.
She almost tried the Gaelic word that Tamani used to refer to himself, but didn't trust herself to say it right.
"Of course," Shar said, eyes still glued to the ground.
"Your safety is of highest priority to us. Sentries, my first twelve to the front," he ordered.
Laurel felt rather than saw Tamani start forward, but with a quick intake of breath he planted both feet again. Twelve sentries fled past a large knot on the tree, each placing a hand on it.
Laurel remembered with a twinge of sorrow the way Shar had lifted Tamani's nearly lifeless hand to the same knot when she'd brought him back— almost dead—after being shot by Barnes.
She tried to look unimpressed as the tree changed before her, transforming with a brilliant flash of light into the golden-barred gate that protected the faerie realm of Avalon.
Beyond the gate, Laurel saw only blackness.