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During the drive home from school, Kendra felt the exhaustion the hectic day had caused settling on her like a blanket. After she had finished explaining everything to Bracken and Warren, who called Grandpa and reported to him, she noticed Seth lay his head on the window, eyes closing. Kendra sat back in her seat, resolving to try and follow`s Seth`s lead before they had to face even more bad news at Fablehaven. But as she let her eyes wander, she noticed that Bracken seemed on edge. His hand was curled into a tight fist, shoulders tense, face stormy as he worried his shirt between his fingers.
When Kendra had gotten to the part of the story that mentioned the strange man, Bracken had stiffened, but kept quiet, which scared her even more. Did Bracken say anything about any strange occurrences? That had been Vanessa`s first question to Kendra after she had returned from that mission. The mission that seemed to have started it all.
So Kendra reached over and touched Bracken`s shoulder softly. "Hey, what`s wrong?" She and Warren met eyes in the windshield mirror, before he fiddled with the radio a little, turning it up some, apparently reading the situation, his eyes refocusing on the road. In the front seat, Seth breathed deeply and evenly, asleep, at least for the time-being.
Bracken looked around at her in surprise, trying his best to smile. "Nothing. I`m fine."
Kendra narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't believe you. What`s going on?"
Bracken sighed, leaning back in his seat, "There`s something I haven't told you. I hoped it would have blown over by now, but it hasn't."
"If this is about the disappearances, Grandpa told us everything last night."
"Not everything." Catching Kendra`s look he sighed again. "I`m not exactly sure of everything myself, but from what you`ve just told me about what happened today, I can`t dismiss this anymore."
"Dismiss what?" Bracken didn't answer, so she leaned towards him, laying a hand on his arm. "What, Bracken?"
"Mother wants to speak to you." Bracken said abruptly, turning fully to face her. "Something is happening and now that you`re involved, you need to know everything."
Kendra opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, Warren`s voice cut her off. "We`re home! Come on kids, let`s go!" Seth stirred from his nap, stretching lazily before getting out of the car slowly, ambling towards the house. Kendra opened her door and got out, about to follow Seth when Bracken`s hand pulled her back.
"Kendra, before we go in there, there`s something you need to know. About Cassidy and Eli."
"I thought you said we could trust them?"
"I said they had good intentions and that they mean us no harm. Trust is something that must be built up. But you need to know that they`re here and doing all this because they`re desperate. I don't why, or for what reason, but they both feel that they need to be involved."
Kendra stepped back, savoring Bracken`s words, nodding. Desperate. She could relate to that. As Kendra and Bracken headed inside, she turned the conversation she had just had with him over and over in her head. Vanessa had been right, something had happened that Bracken had yet to tell her about. She was a little upset that Bracken was hiding something from her, but even so, the way he talked about it made her questions if she really wanted to know.
"We should get inside." Bracken tried for a smile, but it didn't reach his eyes and Kendra nodded again, following Bracken into the house. Waiting by the door were Grandma Sorenson who pulled her into a hug, asking her if she was alright. Kendra assured her grandmother that she was fine, noticing Bracken slipping into the living room.
"Grandma, what happened?" Kendra asked under her breath as they made their way down the hall. The house was more noticeably empty, her other set of grandparents apparently at the mansion, as they were missing from their customary places in the kitchen and the living room. The door of Grandpa`s s study was closed and Kendra was certain she knew who was in there.
Grandma noticed her staring at the door. "Well, those two new boys for starters. Your grandpa was relieved when Bracken confirmed they meant no ill will, but he was not happy that they used their access to the Knights to get to you and Seth directly." Grandma frowned at the door, and Kendra felt the need to defend the boys.
"It wasn't that bad. They`re terrible at espionage anyway." Grandma managed a smile at that.
"Your brother mentioned that."
"Why do you think they came to us instead of Grandpa, or another Knight?" Kendra continued as they stepped into the kitchen where Warren, Vanessa, Seth and Bracken were sitting.
"They probably thought you could help convince Stan, since you're his grandkids and everything." Warren guessed, looking to Bracken for confirmation.
Bracken nodded his agreement. "I`m sure we`ll hear more about why there here soon, from them, but essentially, yes."
"You said something bad happened at Fablehaven, and Grandpa and Grandma Larsen and Dale and Tanu aren't here." Seth pressed on, never one to beat around the bush.
Grandma sighed, "I`m afraid it did."
Warren leaned back against the counter, "Stan will want to tell you himself. Dale`s out dealing with the chores, Tanu`s at a meeting but he`s on his way back now and your other grandparents are meeting with some Knights in regards to the situation at your school."
"The fire?" Kendra asked. She couldn't possibly imagine how the Knights would be able to explain away what happened, but she knew her grandparents were some of the best in the business. If anyone could do it, it was them.
Vanessa nodded and answered instead. "Our dark friend caused some real problems. Massive damage to the school, as well as a whole lot of weird apparent "hallucinations." Vanessa used air quotes, her tone sarcastic and for a moment, Kendra felt a pang of regret. She had seen her friends outside the building, but they probably had no idea where she had gone. With that, she pulled out her phone, finding a bunch of missed texts and calls from Jane, Natasha and Steve, just to name a few. She sent them all a quick text, explaining that she had been picked up from school and that everything was fine.
She out her phone away just in time to see Grandpa come into the kitchen with Cassidy and Eli, following behind, all solemn- looking, Cassidy and Eli looking a little sheepish and Kendra had to resist a smile. No one gave reprimands like her grandfather did.
Grandpa came over to the kitchen table and sat down in one of the chairs, sighing deeply. "As all of you know, this is Cassidy and Eli Adler, their parents, Julia and Wyatt used to be part of the Knights of the Dawn."
"The Julia and Wyatt?" Vanessa asked, arching her eyebrow. "As in the dark artifacts specialists?"
"Yes." Cassidy returned Vanessa`s stare with his own, eyes dark and determined.
Vanessa gave a short nod, lips curling into a smirk. Kendra knew Vanessa well enough to understand that this was her façade, specialized in making other people uncomfortable.
"Weren`t you a double agent for the Society of the Evening Star?" Eli blurted out, before Cassidy hit him hard on the shoulder. Kendra glanced at Vanessa to see her reaction, but her lips simply thinned a little before answering.
"Formerly." That seemed to be the end of the conversation for Vanessa as she turned and headed out of the room, and Kendra watched her go, wondering if she should follow her. Turning back to the rest of the room, it seemed she wasn't the only who had that thought, Warren had started to get out of his chair, a concerned look on his face, before Grandpa shook his head and Warren reluctantly sunk down in his chair.
"Why don't you two explain everything? From the start?" Grandma invited, pulling Kendra closer to the table. Kendra took a seat next to Bracken, who glanced over, giving her a slight smile.
The brothers looked at each other for a moment, and Cassidy cleared his throat. "It all started a few months ago. After our parents… died, we took over the family business, so to say. They taught us everything they knew and Eli`s always been good with computers. We`d been working with a group of Knights up in Canada for a sting operation." Cassidy glanced at Eli, who pulled out his phone and began to type on it.
"There was a buyer looking for fairies. A lot of them. We were able to bust the sale and the fairies were settled in new preserves. But there`s this one preserve, Falling Branch in Vermont that we passed through on the way back to New York. Something was wrong there."
Kendra spoke up, "Isn`t that one where-"Eli cut her off, sliding his phone across the table.
"Where the first disappearances were?" The picture was of a group of fairies, lying on the ground, slumped over one another. Their coloring was way off, skin almost gray and Kendra felt Bracken tense beside her.
"These are the fairies that had just been rehomed from the sting operation only a week before we got there, and this what they look like when we went looking for them." Eli picked up his phone, giving it to Grandpa who examined it, a deeply troubled expression on his face.
"We reported it to the caretakers, but we couldn't stay for long, we had business in Los Angles, so we never knew if anything came from it. Few weeks go by and we hear about what happened at Falling Branch." Eli finished.
Cassidy picked up the story. "As soon as we heard we went to our supervisor. We thought that those fairies might`ve had something to do with what happened there, but we were turned away, told we were crazy, so we kept digging on our own."
Bracken leaned forward, "Where did you find them? The fairies?"
"There`s this meadow in Falling Branch, an old fairy shrine used to be there, and a lot of the fairies flock around it." Eli answered, pocketing his phone. "And it`s where the re-homed fairies had been initially placed."
"Are you certain those are the fairies that had been involved in the sale?" Grandpa asked.
"Yes." Cassidy answered almost immediately. "We`d been tracking those fairies for months. We know all of them by name. There were three other groups of fairies that had been rehomed to three other preserves. All of them have had disappearances and fairies have been found in that state. We checked it out ourselves."
"That doesn't explain why you came to our school." Seth, who had been strangely quiet, spoke up, directing his question at Eli and Cassidy, who suddenly looked a little ashamed.
"No one was listening to us, so we tried to go the source, to the Captain himself," Eli glanced at Grandpa. "But when we found out you were fairystruck, we thought you might be a better advocate for our cause." Eli finished, looking at Kendra. She sighed a little, of course, when the Knights of the Dawn changed after the Sphinx`s time as captain ended, it became mostly public information within the Knights that Kendra was closely involved with the fairies, though the specifics were only rumors.
"We didn't think that anything like this would happen the same day we got there." Cassidy looked at Kendra, this time in the eyes, and then to Seth. "We`re sorry about what we did. We were desperate." Leaning back, Kendra cast a glance at Seth who shrugged.
"It's fine. You didn't really do anything anyway. Espionage is not your strong suit." Kendra replied, looking back at them.
Eli gave an embarrassed grin. "We`re not really used to being the ones doing the actual spying. We`re much better at working behind-the-scenes."
Grandpa stood, staring gravely down at the brothers, "We have much more to worry about now. Since Bracken here has confirmed you are indeed telling truth, and since there was no real harm done by your actions, I think we can all agree to move on."
As Cassidy nodded, thanking him, Eli opened his mouth, and then closed it, seeming to hesitate.
"Do you believe us? About the fairies?" Cassidy elbowed him hard, but Eli wasn't fazed, waiting for response. Grandpa glanced at Bracken, who took over.
"Your story makes sense. While the way you chose to pursue a solution is… questionable, I admire the lengths you went to. It`s certainly something we must consider going forward." Bracken`s words were perfectly diplomatic and Kendra was reminded of his royal status, acting like he was a wise king, making a decision for his people.
Eli nodded, casting his eyes down. "Thank you sir." Bracken gave a short nod of acknowledgement, turning his attention to Grandpa.
"Now that we all understand each other, I believe it`s time that I tell those of you who don't know the truth." Kendra felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as Seth interjected.
"There`s been a disappearance here, hasn't there?" Grandpa sighed and nodded. Kendra felt her heart squeeze and Bracken touched her arm briefly, as if to comfort her.
"Two. A hamadryad by the name of Silene and a centaur named Quickstride. They both vanished just outside the dark marsh." Kendra didn't recognize the first name, but the second seemed vaguely familiar to her.
"Same as all the others?" Seth asked quietly and Grandpa gave a short nod.
"I`m afraid school won`t be in session for a few weeks, so we`ll have the next few days to think about our next steps." Grandpa sighed, turning to Eli and Cassidy.
"Since you are already here and aware of the situation, you two are going to be assigned here until further notice." Both boys gave a sharp nod, seeming to stand a little more at attention, but while Cassidy seemed stoic and appropriately solemn considering the situation, there was a glint in Eli`s eyes that reminded Kendra of Seth when he was about to do something mischievous.
"You are both welcome to stay here at Fablehaven in the old mansion, for conveniences sake." Grandma invited and Cassidy thanked her, stating that they needed to return to their apartment first to get their things. Warren offered to join them and before she knew it, they were saying their goodbyes. Cassidy nodded at her as he left, something in his eyes Kendra recognized as gratitude.
"Kendra, Seth, before you go, there are some things we need to discuss." Grandpa`s voice called them back to attention as he sat down at the table, looking older by the minute.
Now it was only Bracken, Kendra and Seth with Grandpa in the kitchen, while Grandma bustled off to talk to some of her contacts. Grandpa nodded to Bracken who turned to Kendra, and of all the things she expected him to say, it wasn't what he did.
"Kendra, despite recent events, my mother and I would like to officially invite you to the fairy kingdom."
Thank you to Wolf Lover27, Jesus Saved even me and so many more for all of the wonderful support! Look out for another chapter in a week or so! I`m so excite people are liking this story, and I can`t wait to give you more chapters!
Much love, and please stay safe!
