Destined

Laurel’s mom was in the kitchen, a light cotton robe tied loosely at her waist, concern in her eyes. “Laurel? Where have you been? And what…?” She gestured wordlessly at Tamani’s wet, torn shirt.

“Is Chelsea here?” Laurel asked, avoiding her mom’s question. For the moment.

“I don’t know. I thought you were in bed.” Her eyes flitted to Tamani and his pained expression made her face go white. “Trolls again?” she whispered.

“I’ll go check for Chelsea,” Laurel said, pushing Tamani on to a barstool as gently as she could manage.

She hurried up the stairs and cracked open her bedroom door just wide enough to see Chelsea’s unmistakable curly hair spilling across the pillow. She pulled the door shut and heaved a sigh, relief washing over her, melting her down onto the carpet.

She looked up at the sound of footsteps, but it was just her dad stumbling blearily down the hall. “Laurel, what’s the matter? Are you OK?”

The avalanche of events that had buried her life in less than twenty-four hours forced her to blink back tears. “No,” she whispered. “No, I’m not.”

Chapter 6

Like water seeping through a dam, first as a trickle, then a torrent, Laurel found herself stumbling over her words as she explained everything to her parents, including the events of the past week that she’d been avoiding telling them. The words came more slowly as she wound down, explaining how Klea had attacked and that Shar was still in danger, and then at last she was done, feeling purged and empty — except for the smouldering memory of the one thing she could never let her parents find out.

“I… I didn’t know how to tell you earlier,” she finished.

“A Winter faerie?” her dad asked.

Laurel nodded.

“The kind who can pretty much do anything?”

She rubbed her eyes. “You have no idea.”

Laurel’s mom glanced up at Tamani, who had remained silent through Laurel’s explanation. “Is my daughter in danger?”

“I don’t know,” Tamani admitted. “Despite being a Winter faerie, I don’t think Yuki is a threat to Laurel personally. Klea, however, is another story. She does things that aren’t even remotely legal in Avalon, and we still don’t know what her end goal is.”

“It’s a shame we couldn’t have just hit Klea on the head and dragged her away when she was here at our house last month,” Laurel’s dad said, only half joking.

“Do we need to take you somewhere, Laurel?” her mom asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Would you be safer if we took you and went away? We can be gone in an hour.” She was on her feet, staring down at Laurel with an expression of such fierce protectiveness that Laurel wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

“I can’t leave,” Laurel said softly. “This is my responsibility. If Klea was going to hurt me, she’s had plenty of opportunities. I don’t think that’s what she wants from me.”

“What does she want from you?”

Laurel shrugged. “The land, probably. The gate to Avalon. Like Tamani said, we just don’t know.”

“And we won’t know much of anything else until Shar comes back,” Tamani added.

Laurel noticed his tightly clenched fists and laid a hand on his arm. “He’ll come back,” she said softly, hoping she sounded more certain than she felt.

“You know,” Tamani said quietly, not looking at her, “maybe your mother’s right. We’ve done everything we can here. Jamison asked us to find the root of the troll problem. Klea brought trolls to rescue Yuki. I think that’s proof enough that the root is her, so, mission accomplished. The rest is really up to Aaron and Shar, but if they aren’t… successful…” Tamani paused, and Laurel could almost see him imagining the worst. “Maybe you should leave.”

Laurel was already shaking her head. “With all the sentries in the woods, there’s nowhere safer than right here.” She turned to her mother. “I know you want to protect me. But I have a job to do and there are thousands of faeries in Avalon who are depending on me to keep their world safe. If Shar and Aaron can’t stop Klea — if there’s anything I can do, I have to be here to do it. I can’t run away from that. I just…”

Laurel’s mom was smiling at her, eyes shining with unshed tears.

Laurel shrugged helplessly. “I just want to help.”

“We’re not going to talk you out of this, are we?” her dad asked.

She shook her head, afraid her voice would quaver and inspire her dad to try just that.

“Maybe you two should go without Laurel,” Tamani suggested. “I don’t think Klea has any interest in you, but at least then Laurel would know you were safe.”

Laurel’s mom looked over at her. “If Laurel is staying, so are we.”

Tamani nodded.

Her dad stood and sighed. “I’m gonna go shower. Clear my head. Then we can make a plan.”

“I have to call David,” Laurel said, reaching for the phone as her dad tromped up the stairs.

“Why does David always have to be involved?” Tamani muttered, already starting to pace.

“Because he thinks he has a shift coming up,” Laurel said pointedly, dialling David’s number as Tamani pulled out his cell.

“He has an iPhone?” her mom whispered as the second ring sounded in Laurel’s ear.

Laurel nodded. “I was saving that little tidbit for ammunition the next time we discussed me getting a phone.”

Her mom was silent for several seconds as Laurel listened to David’s voice-mail message. “Do they get… service? In Avalon?” she asked.

Laurel shrugged and left a brief message for David to call her when he woke up. She considered calling his home phone, but didn’t want to wake his mom. After all, it was barely seven in the morning. She would have to wait.

Just like everyone else.

Tamani’s hand lingered in his pocket and he walked back and forth across the kitchen floor until Laurel thought she might scream.

“Would you like a cup of tea, Tamani?” her mom finally said, with a tiny edge to her voice. Pacing was not a popular habit in the Sewell household. “Or perhaps you want to… clean up a bit?”

“Clean…?” Tamani said, looking a little dazed. He peered down at his tattered shirt and the scratches on his arms that were no longer oozing but remained shiny with sap. “That’s probably a good idea,” he said haltingly.

“Maybe something to eat, too?” Laurel suggested. “Considering this turn of events, I suspect even green stuff is back on the menu,” she added, forcing a laugh. Tamani had been avoiding his favourite foods to keep from colouring his eyes and hair roots, but Laurel assumed it wouldn’t matter anymore. She supposed, in retrospect, that it had never really mattered — Yuki had always known what he was.

Tamani nodded jerkily. “Yeah. Thanks. Broccoli, if you have it.”

“I’ll go up and find you a T-shirt,” Laurel’s mom said, turning to follow in her husband’s footsteps.

“Thank you,” Tamani whispered, though his eyes were on his phone again. Laurel could feel him willing it to ring.

Numbly Laurel grabbed a knife to chop up the stalk of broccoli she’d fished from the refrigerator.

Tamani turned his head slightly, listening to Laurel’s mom’s footsteps as she climbed the stairs and went into her bedroom. Then he seemed to melt on to the barstool, running his hands through his hair with a soft groan.

Laurel loaded several florets onto a plate and handed it to him, but he took the plate with one hand and her hand with the other, his gaze so intense it took her breath away. He slowly transferred the glass plate to the counter and pulled her close.