Wayward
I am so sorry for not updating this sooner. But if you read my profile, I promise to update like crazy before life steps back into place and takes over again. And a big thanks to all my reviewers!
Thrilled to report that Ironside, a sequel to Tithe, will be out in 2007 by Ms. Black. Hopefully I'll get this up and done by then!
And, since Spike said the Tithe was during Samhain, and Samhain takes place on November 1st, this is going to take place sometime in early December. Also, let me know if Roiben felt too out of character last chapter. But at this point, I've got a better idea of the plot…I'll do my best not to get too distracted with faery fun and fluff. Also, there's a language warning in this chapter. That said…
o O o
Recap
You're a pixie…why do you even bother with school?
Kaye didn't answer Corny as she stepped into the car, shutting the door behind her.
She didn't answer, because she didn't even know the answer.
o O o
Chapter Two
"A winning wave (deserving note)
In the tempestuous petticoat:
A careless shoe-string, in whose tie
I see a wild civility."
- Robert Herrick, "Delight in Disorder"
The history teacher's lecture blended into one big string of sound that made no sense to Kaye. Corny had offered to skip the rest of the day after lunch with her, but she had declined. Why had she done that? Kaye wanted to slap herself for not taking Corny up on his offer, even though she still couldn't answer that simple question.
She was a pixie, wasn't she?
Born one, at least, Kaye thought.
Really, though. What was keeping her in her desk? What was keeping her from raising her hand, getting called on, and telling the teacher that he was duller than a piece of bark on the side of the freeway? What stopped her from walking right out of the class and back to the cemetery, to the Unseelie Court, and to Roiben?
Nothing.
That was the answer, but even in Kaye's mind it didn't feel right.
Did she want to be here? In history class, getting told about events that happened over a hundred years ago, and that weren't even really her history, since technically, she wasn't human.
The click clack of something rolling up against one of her desk legs snapped Kaye out of her thoughts rather abruptly, her head shooting up with the break in the sound barrier that was the dead silence of the class as the teacher continued on with the lecture.
Kaye glanced down at her feet, and nearly jumped with relief at what she saw: familiarity.
An acorn, the size of a gumball, lay next to the metal desk leg. Reaching down, careful not to brush her hand up against the metal, she picked up the acorn and tucked it into her lap. She looked up, and out the windows that lined one side of the classroom, hoping to see Lutie fluttering by the window or a bush, waving at her.
Nothing.
The hall outside the classroom was empty; leaves still, grey clouds casting a dim hue over everything in sight. The last time she had gotten an acorn out of nowhere it had been a message from Spike and Lutie, saying that her childhood friend, Gristle, had been killed.
Well, she'd intended to avenge Gristle's death by killing the black knight that had taken his life, but that turned out to be her Rath Roiben Rye. And when Kaye had gotten her chance at an attempt to kill him, she'd demanded a kiss instead.
Kaye hated irony.
Sometimes.
Looking down, she popped off the top half of the acorn, just as she had before, until the two popped open with a soft pck!
Sure enough, there was a small piece of paper rolled up, stuffed inside. Carefully pulling it out of the grooves, Kaye unraveled the small scrap, glancing up only for a moment to make sure the teacher didn't pause at the first movement in the classroom in over half an hour. He hadn't even glanced over at Kaye, but continued to direct his voice to the entire class from his desk at the front of the room.
Wondering if something had happened to Lutie made her heart speed. She'd already lost Spike and Gristle, one to murder the other to sacrifice. She didn't want to lose her last childhood friend, even if that friend had lied to her since just a few months ago. Kaye read the scribbled message under her breath: "Tell your human friend to be careful whom he makes his friends. Remember to always hold your head high and your arms at your sides. LL&TW"
If ever there was a definition for confused, Kaye was it after reading that message. Her "human friend", Kaye hoped that meant someone other than Corny. She knew having Corny as a friend might put him in danger because of the enemies that Kaye had made with both Courts, but what else did Lutie know? And TW? The Thistlewitch?
The second thing Kaye noticed about the note was that it wasn't the same pinkish ink her last acorn-message had been written in. A chill ran down her spine when she realized it was blood. Dried blood.
What the fuck is going on? Kaye demanded silently, though no one heard her. Something about the wording bothered her too.
Hadn't she already dealt with enough of this crap before? "I guess that's what I get for messing around with a Faery King," Kaye sighed. "A bad ass Faery King," she added with a grin.
Screw class, she resolved, even though this was her second to last period. Kaye stuffed the acorn and the paper into her jean pocket and stood. Surprisingly, the teacher did move to protest her leave.
"PMS," Kaye made up an excuse, and left the classroom.
o O o
The weather had chosen that afternoon to rain down on the New Jersey coast, letting Kaye inhale a mixture of metal, mud and rain scents, flooding her sense as she walked along the sidewalk towards the gas station where Corny worked.
It was still early enough so he might not have gone off in search of more entertaining company. Yet.
The thought made something inside Kaye twist. Not with excitement or anticipation, like it did when she was with Roiben, but with a strange sense of foreboding. She knew that faeries never did anything without a reason, or at least, the ones brave and devious enough to come into the mortal realm during such a hectic time. She hoped Corny didn't get hurt, especially since the blame would likely be hers.
She hated the Spider-man reality of it all.
Corny had been the one who helped her at first, when she had first de-glamoured herself by rolling around in clovers. Granted, he had been frightened and elated at the same time, asking Kaye endless questions that she didn't have the answers too. But he also didn't turn her in.
The rain was coming down harder now, and Kaye could feel the barely-there tingle of the acid in the rain. It was no surprise, as she lived in New Jersey, that their rain would be slightly acidic because of air pollution. Still, it bothered her even though she was fascinated by the different scents that made up the smell of the rain. But she couldn't describe them.
There was a striped awning attached to the Quick Check, just a few yards up ahead. Kaye hurried under the downpour of the rain, wrapping her jacket tighter around her shoulders, the tingle of rain on her glamoured skin a constant reminder of who she truly was.
Once under the awning, she almost regretted being so close to the blue Geo parked in the parking lot in front of the store; her glamour wasn't very strong today. Luckily, no one was around to question her being there before—
"Kaye?"
Kaye turned at the sound of the familiar voice: Kenny's.
"Hey," Kenny said blankly.
Before, she would have been wary of his presence, because of their history. But looking at him now, after everything that had happened to her in the past couple of months, she saw the little flaws she missed before. His nose was sharper than she remembered, and dark circles were under his eyes, a result of the partying nightlife he catered to. His hair was still that same cinnamon color, but now, Kaye noticed, it was slightly greasy.
It was a strange realization, but a welcomed one.
Kenny didn't affect her anymore.
"Hey," Kaye returned.
He seemed awkward, even though it had been some time since Kaye had made a public spectacle of him in front of the school. She still was disgusted with how childish that act had been, and how wrong it had felt to manipulate him like that, after the pleasure of her victory had worn off.
She wondered why he was even speaking to her. Didn't he think she was some sort of blond Asian freak?
It didn't seem like Kenny was going to speak, so Kaye decided to make the encounter somewhat useful.
"Have you seen Corny?" She asked. It was a lame question, but she didn't want to go all the way to the gas station if he wasn't there. She didn't want to go to his house either, because Janet wouldn't be there.
Kaye felt her throat tighten at the thought of her friend, but Kenny's voice stopped her from reliving that memory on the beach again.
"Marcus was at the station this morning, said he didn't see him there." Kenny seemed to be searching Kaye's expression for some reaction.
Kaye paused. Corny had given her a ride to school this morning. He had, so why did Marcus say he didn't see him? Maybe he was in the store, Kaye reasoned with herself, but she knew that wasn't true. Corny didn't manage the store; he worked the pumps during the graveyard shift last night. So he would have been there til the morning. It didn't make sense that Marcus hadn't seen him.
"Kaye? You all right?" Kenny asked, genuinely concerned.
Did she not look all right? If Corny hadn't been there this morning, then how could she know if it was really him or not? That thought startled Kaye—because she had talked to him, and he had acted like Corny, and sounded like Corny. He was Corny. She was sure. Marcus must have been mistaken, Kaye thought.
When she looked up again, Kenny was observing her with a concerned expression.
"I've got to go, catch you later," Kaye said, stepping back out into the rain, and ignoring Kenny's protests to give her a ride.
Again, and not for the first time that day, Kaye wondered what the hell was going on with her life.