Part 16.
Emma tapped her fingers against the table incessantly. Her English homework sat in front of her and the radio was blaring but she was successfully ignoring both of them. Her eyes drifted to the phone for only the 6th time that minute. Psyche was supposed to call and tell her when they were going to try and trace the spell.
Emma felt so frustrated she didn't know what to do. She wanted to hit things, to kick the table or fling a plate across the room. She couldn't stand this, any of this. Everything was out of her control; she couldn't do anything to change or fix things. She felt utterly useless.
The worst part of this whole thing was that she couldn't do anything about it. From the first day she had met Midir events had spiralled further and further from her control and she didn't like it. She had never wanted excitement or adventure. She was an ordinary, normal, fairly boring girl living an almost ordinary, normal, occasionally monotonous life and however much she had complained about it she liked the dull life.
She didn't want to have to deal with people hurting her friends and her other friends not talking to her. She didn't want to have to deal with the difficulties of having a vampire as a soulmate but here she was trying to deal with all these things. She was angry at fate or God or whatever powers had done this to her and she hadn't let it out properly. She had taken all that anger, pushed it down and let it grow into a bitter rage.
When Truth had been hurt she had taken that rage and aimed it at whoever had performed the spell. She didn't like the person it made her then but the anger had sort of clouded her mind making her that horrible, vengeful person, just one more thing beyond her control. And now it seemed that anger was being directed at Midir.
She hadn't said anything to him or fought with him or anything but he seemed to have sensed it anyway. Then today he had been so upset and she didn't even know why. She hadn't said any of the things that she had been thinking about him yet something she said had upset him and she didn't know what. She sighed, wasn't this usually the guys part, not knowing what they'd done wrong. She was going to have to try and fix it; it was another thing on her ever-increasing list. It had to work out because no matter how angry she was she still loved him. Now all she wanted was a nice, normal life with Midir.
As she was thinking this the phone finally rang. She jumped in surprise and laughed at herself. She had been waiting for the phone to ring for hours and now she was surprised that it had. She was such a fool sometimes. She picked up the receiver and listened as a breathless Psyche told her they were to meet later that evening. Apparently she had been running around all afternoon helping her mother prepare and then calling everyone. She said she felt pooped and they hadn't even begun the spell yet.
As she put down the phone Emma left out an enormous sigh of relief. It would all be over soon. Well maybe not it all but at least whoever hurt Truth would be punished and they wouldn't be able to hurt any more of her friends.
Knowing what was going on still didn't help Emma concentrate. Now she was worried about what would happen that evening. As much as she wanted to find out who had cast the spell a large part of her was afraid to find out. Who could hate Midir so much they would hurt someone for just being friends with him? Why did they hate him so much?
As the bottom of the sky was tinged with red, in what Emma always considered the suns last ditch effort in the battle against the oncoming darkness, she heard the car pull into her drive. She grabbed her coat and taking a deep breath stepped outside. Midir sat in the car waiting for her; she could tell he was nervous though he was trying hard to hide it.
"Hey," she said softly.
"Hey," he replied.
"How're you doing?" she asked.
"Okay, I'm glad it will be over soon."
"Me too," Emma told him. "I wonder how Truth is feeling."
"Probably just like us only more so."
"Probably. She's handling it a lot better than I would," Emma said.
"Me too," Midir said with a smile, "she's stronger than she looks. Stronger than most people but I don't think she realises that."
"She doesn't," Emma agreed. "I don't know, I think it's just she doesn't have a lot of self confidence, she doesn't realise how much she is capable of."
"Most people don't know what there capable of until they're in a situation where they have to act."
"That's true. You didn't know you were capable of being good and now you do."
"I wouldn't say good exactly," Midir replied.
"I would," Emma said and smiled.
Midir smiled back and Emma could feel some of the tension between them slip away. She felt more comfortable with him than she had in a while and it felt good, it felt right.
Emma could see three or four dark figures waiting outside Psyche's house as they arrived. She recognised them as Fiachra, Hern, and two other pack members. They stopped beside Fiachra and she rolled down the window to talk to him.
"Hi, so what's going on?" she asked.
"Dad and some of the other older guys are talking with Mrs. Ahern. They wanted to sort out some of the details and stuff and soon as they're done we're going to get started."
Fiachra looked very pensive and he was even chewing his lip, something he always did when he was thinking, worried or frightened.
"What's wrong?" she asked him.
"Nothing, well I'm a little worried about Truth. Right now she's upset and angry and it's okay, it's easy to be angry at some unknown entity but when she finds out who it was it's going to be hard for her. You know how hard she finds it to trust people, no matter who it is it will make it harder for her but if it's," he stopped short obviously feeling uncomfortable about finishing that thought out.
"You mean if Stella or Hazel or Hayden has something to do with it she will probably never trust someone again," Emma said for him.
"Did I hear my name mentioned," Hazel asked as she stepped out of the shadows.
"Don't do that," Emma exclaimed, "you scared the bejesus out of me."
"Sorry," Hazel replied with a completely unremorseful grin. "You must be Midir," she said leaning in the window, "I've been hearing a lot about you."
"I've heard a lot about you too," Midir said smiling and reaching across Emma to offer her his hand.
"So you're probably wondering why I'm here," Hazel said to Emma.
"I think I know, someone hurt one of your friends and you want to be there if or when they get their ass kicked."
"Yeah and also I wanted you to know that I am okay with the you and Midir thing, Psyche and Truth explained everything to me."
"They did?"
"They did and I wish you'd told me yourself, I'd have understood. We can't choose who we love," Hazel said quietly with a bittersweet smile that made Emma think that she understood a lot more than she was telling.
"Thanks Hazel," she replied, "I should have told you myself but I was scared you'd react the same as the others."
"That's okay. So do you think there will be ass kicking involved tonight?"
"Doubtful," Emma told her, "I think the biggest thing will be finding out who it is and then the elders will take him or her off and I don't know. What do the elders do with people who break the rules Fiachra?"
Fiachra turned his attention away from the female pack member he'd been talking to, "That depends on a lot of things, what they did, who they did it too, if it put Glenalta in danger of being found out, that kind of thing. I don't know what they're going to do tonight. They were talking of letting the witches know and deal with it themselves; it was a forbidden spell that was done. Mrs. Ahern was talking about letting Circle Daybreak help, you know some kind of rehabilitation or something; it all depends."
"I think Circle Daybreak would be a good idea," Midir said softly.
"You do?" Fiachra asked.
"Yeah, obviously this person has a big problem with me and that's understandable, hell if I was anyone else here I'd have a big problem with me. Circle Daybreak helped me change they can help this person too. I just don't understand why they took it out on someone innocent like Truth. They punished her for my mistakes; I mean if they done it to me it would be different."
"No it wouldn't Midir," Emma told him strongly, "It wouldn't make any difference it would still be wrong. You are a good person now and you're trying to make up for what you did. To hurt you would be as big a crime as hurting Truth. Killing you while you are seeking redemption would be unforgivable, taking you from me would be unforgivable."
"You mean that?" Midir asked softly.
"Of course I do. I love you; I need you, you know that."
"I do now," Midir whispered and leaned across and brushed his lips against hers.
"I hate to break up this tender moment," Fiachra said with a smile, "but I think we're on the move."
Emma got out of the car as the older people came out of the house followed by Psyche and Truth. Truth gave her a quick wave that made Emma smile Truth seemed more like her old self. Emma was glad, it seemed so long since they had all been laughing and joking in The Rising Moon; she had been afraid they'd never do it again but everyday seemed to bring her closer to regaining her old friendships and regaining the trust of her friends. She hoped one day they would all trust her again.
Fiachra's father started to tell them all how exactly they were going to do this. Emma saw him glance warily at Midir as he spook and she knew Midir saw it too. She stood closer to him and slipped her hand into his. He squeezed it and entwined his fingers with hers.
The shock of physical contact was as strong as the first time they'd touched. She shivered slightly for no other reason than the sensation the connection sent through her. She had almost forgotten it could feel like this just so good, so reassuring and just so right. This was where she was meant to be and knowing that she was exactly where she was meant to be was more blissful and exhilarating an experience than anything she had felt before. She looked deep into the depths of Midir's eyes and she knew he felt the same way too. And she felt with complete certainty that no matter what happened tonight things would be okay.
"Okay," Mrs. Ahern said when Fiachra's dad finished. "Lets get this over with."
Emma tapped her fingers against the table incessantly. Her English homework sat in front of her and the radio was blaring but she was successfully ignoring both of them. Her eyes drifted to the phone for only the 6th time that minute. Psyche was supposed to call and tell her when they were going to try and trace the spell.
Emma felt so frustrated she didn't know what to do. She wanted to hit things, to kick the table or fling a plate across the room. She couldn't stand this, any of this. Everything was out of her control; she couldn't do anything to change or fix things. She felt utterly useless.
The worst part of this whole thing was that she couldn't do anything about it. From the first day she had met Midir events had spiralled further and further from her control and she didn't like it. She had never wanted excitement or adventure. She was an ordinary, normal, fairly boring girl living an almost ordinary, normal, occasionally monotonous life and however much she had complained about it she liked the dull life.
She didn't want to have to deal with people hurting her friends and her other friends not talking to her. She didn't want to have to deal with the difficulties of having a vampire as a soulmate but here she was trying to deal with all these things. She was angry at fate or God or whatever powers had done this to her and she hadn't let it out properly. She had taken all that anger, pushed it down and let it grow into a bitter rage.
When Truth had been hurt she had taken that rage and aimed it at whoever had performed the spell. She didn't like the person it made her then but the anger had sort of clouded her mind making her that horrible, vengeful person, just one more thing beyond her control. And now it seemed that anger was being directed at Midir.
She hadn't said anything to him or fought with him or anything but he seemed to have sensed it anyway. Then today he had been so upset and she didn't even know why. She hadn't said any of the things that she had been thinking about him yet something she said had upset him and she didn't know what. She sighed, wasn't this usually the guys part, not knowing what they'd done wrong. She was going to have to try and fix it; it was another thing on her ever-increasing list. It had to work out because no matter how angry she was she still loved him. Now all she wanted was a nice, normal life with Midir.
As she was thinking this the phone finally rang. She jumped in surprise and laughed at herself. She had been waiting for the phone to ring for hours and now she was surprised that it had. She was such a fool sometimes. She picked up the receiver and listened as a breathless Psyche told her they were to meet later that evening. Apparently she had been running around all afternoon helping her mother prepare and then calling everyone. She said she felt pooped and they hadn't even begun the spell yet.
As she put down the phone Emma left out an enormous sigh of relief. It would all be over soon. Well maybe not it all but at least whoever hurt Truth would be punished and they wouldn't be able to hurt any more of her friends.
Knowing what was going on still didn't help Emma concentrate. Now she was worried about what would happen that evening. As much as she wanted to find out who had cast the spell a large part of her was afraid to find out. Who could hate Midir so much they would hurt someone for just being friends with him? Why did they hate him so much?
As the bottom of the sky was tinged with red, in what Emma always considered the suns last ditch effort in the battle against the oncoming darkness, she heard the car pull into her drive. She grabbed her coat and taking a deep breath stepped outside. Midir sat in the car waiting for her; she could tell he was nervous though he was trying hard to hide it.
"Hey," she said softly.
"Hey," he replied.
"How're you doing?" she asked.
"Okay, I'm glad it will be over soon."
"Me too," Emma told him. "I wonder how Truth is feeling."
"Probably just like us only more so."
"Probably. She's handling it a lot better than I would," Emma said.
"Me too," Midir said with a smile, "she's stronger than she looks. Stronger than most people but I don't think she realises that."
"She doesn't," Emma agreed. "I don't know, I think it's just she doesn't have a lot of self confidence, she doesn't realise how much she is capable of."
"Most people don't know what there capable of until they're in a situation where they have to act."
"That's true. You didn't know you were capable of being good and now you do."
"I wouldn't say good exactly," Midir replied.
"I would," Emma said and smiled.
Midir smiled back and Emma could feel some of the tension between them slip away. She felt more comfortable with him than she had in a while and it felt good, it felt right.
Emma could see three or four dark figures waiting outside Psyche's house as they arrived. She recognised them as Fiachra, Hern, and two other pack members. They stopped beside Fiachra and she rolled down the window to talk to him.
"Hi, so what's going on?" she asked.
"Dad and some of the other older guys are talking with Mrs. Ahern. They wanted to sort out some of the details and stuff and soon as they're done we're going to get started."
Fiachra looked very pensive and he was even chewing his lip, something he always did when he was thinking, worried or frightened.
"What's wrong?" she asked him.
"Nothing, well I'm a little worried about Truth. Right now she's upset and angry and it's okay, it's easy to be angry at some unknown entity but when she finds out who it was it's going to be hard for her. You know how hard she finds it to trust people, no matter who it is it will make it harder for her but if it's," he stopped short obviously feeling uncomfortable about finishing that thought out.
"You mean if Stella or Hazel or Hayden has something to do with it she will probably never trust someone again," Emma said for him.
"Did I hear my name mentioned," Hazel asked as she stepped out of the shadows.
"Don't do that," Emma exclaimed, "you scared the bejesus out of me."
"Sorry," Hazel replied with a completely unremorseful grin. "You must be Midir," she said leaning in the window, "I've been hearing a lot about you."
"I've heard a lot about you too," Midir said smiling and reaching across Emma to offer her his hand.
"So you're probably wondering why I'm here," Hazel said to Emma.
"I think I know, someone hurt one of your friends and you want to be there if or when they get their ass kicked."
"Yeah and also I wanted you to know that I am okay with the you and Midir thing, Psyche and Truth explained everything to me."
"They did?"
"They did and I wish you'd told me yourself, I'd have understood. We can't choose who we love," Hazel said quietly with a bittersweet smile that made Emma think that she understood a lot more than she was telling.
"Thanks Hazel," she replied, "I should have told you myself but I was scared you'd react the same as the others."
"That's okay. So do you think there will be ass kicking involved tonight?"
"Doubtful," Emma told her, "I think the biggest thing will be finding out who it is and then the elders will take him or her off and I don't know. What do the elders do with people who break the rules Fiachra?"
Fiachra turned his attention away from the female pack member he'd been talking to, "That depends on a lot of things, what they did, who they did it too, if it put Glenalta in danger of being found out, that kind of thing. I don't know what they're going to do tonight. They were talking of letting the witches know and deal with it themselves; it was a forbidden spell that was done. Mrs. Ahern was talking about letting Circle Daybreak help, you know some kind of rehabilitation or something; it all depends."
"I think Circle Daybreak would be a good idea," Midir said softly.
"You do?" Fiachra asked.
"Yeah, obviously this person has a big problem with me and that's understandable, hell if I was anyone else here I'd have a big problem with me. Circle Daybreak helped me change they can help this person too. I just don't understand why they took it out on someone innocent like Truth. They punished her for my mistakes; I mean if they done it to me it would be different."
"No it wouldn't Midir," Emma told him strongly, "It wouldn't make any difference it would still be wrong. You are a good person now and you're trying to make up for what you did. To hurt you would be as big a crime as hurting Truth. Killing you while you are seeking redemption would be unforgivable, taking you from me would be unforgivable."
"You mean that?" Midir asked softly.
"Of course I do. I love you; I need you, you know that."
"I do now," Midir whispered and leaned across and brushed his lips against hers.
"I hate to break up this tender moment," Fiachra said with a smile, "but I think we're on the move."
Emma got out of the car as the older people came out of the house followed by Psyche and Truth. Truth gave her a quick wave that made Emma smile Truth seemed more like her old self. Emma was glad, it seemed so long since they had all been laughing and joking in The Rising Moon; she had been afraid they'd never do it again but everyday seemed to bring her closer to regaining her old friendships and regaining the trust of her friends. She hoped one day they would all trust her again.
Fiachra's father started to tell them all how exactly they were going to do this. Emma saw him glance warily at Midir as he spook and she knew Midir saw it too. She stood closer to him and slipped her hand into his. He squeezed it and entwined his fingers with hers.
The shock of physical contact was as strong as the first time they'd touched. She shivered slightly for no other reason than the sensation the connection sent through her. She had almost forgotten it could feel like this just so good, so reassuring and just so right. This was where she was meant to be and knowing that she was exactly where she was meant to be was more blissful and exhilarating an experience than anything she had felt before. She looked deep into the depths of Midir's eyes and she knew he felt the same way too. And she felt with complete certainty that no matter what happened tonight things would be okay.
"Okay," Mrs. Ahern said when Fiachra's dad finished. "Lets get this over with."