A Supernatural Secret in Faerywood Falls Page 12

  Then my eyes fell on the music box.

  If I could open it, then I could slip out while Rebecca was mesmerized by it. It was my only chance.

  But it was on the other side of the room…

  I only had one chance. I had to bolt for it again.

  So I did.

  I ducked underneath her arm and charged toward the box, my eyes glued to it, hand outstretched –

  Rebecca howled in anger and latched onto the back of my dress just as my fingers grazed the side of the box. With as much force as I could muster before she yanked me away, I pushed the box off the desk…

  And it fell to the ground, the top and bottom splitting clean in two.

  I didn’t think I’d ever heard an anguished scream quite like the one that escaped Rebecca just then. She charged past me and knelt down beside the box, her fingers cradling the broken pieces.

  My heart slammed against my ribs. “I – I didn’t mean to break it. I just wanted to open it – ”

  Rebecca turned her murderous eyes up to me, and she launched herself at me again.

  Her hands wrapped around my throat. She wasn’t planning to drink me. She just wanted to kill me outright.

  Choking and sputtering, I tried as hard as I could to pry her hands away as we spun in circles. My mind was fogging, but I was vaguely aware that I was slamming into things; the windows, the posts of her bed, her dresser.

  She squeezed as hard as she could, trying to make me pay for what I did to her music box.

  I was sorry. I had no intention of breaking it. I just wanted to get away –

  The side of my arm struck what felt like ice, but I soon realized it was just the glass from the window.

  I felt spray on my face, as if I were standing on the shore at the ocean. It took me a moment to realize that it was freezing rain, and it was streaming in through the open window beside me. A storm had begun outside.

  Rebecca’s hands shifted, and she lost her grip as her foot slipped on the wooden floor boards that were quickly becoming slick with partially frozen drops of rain.

  She flailed her arms, trying to grab onto anything that would break her fall.

  She lunged at me, but I moved out of the way. She collided with my shoulder.

  I pushed against her with all my might, trying to put more distance between us…

  She struck the low windowsill with her calves, lost her balance…

  And tumbled out into the darkening night.

  “No!”

  The cry hadn’t come from my own lips. I whirled around, my skin slick with sweat and icy rain…to see Cain standing at the doorway into Rebecca’s room.

  Horror passed over me, making my knees even weaker than they already were.

  “Cain…” I said

  Cain hurried past me, staring out into the night. Thunder rumbled overhead, and flashes of lightening chased each other through the dark clouds.

  “No…” he said, shaking his head. “No, no, no…She can’t be. She’s not – ”

  “Cain, I – ” I said.

  “You have nothing to say to me!” Cain bellowed, whirling around, his green eyes hot and piercing. Gone was the kindness that he always showed me, as well as the glint of amusement. In that moment, I caught a true glimpse of his age and vast power.

  I took a step back, my bare feet slipping on the icy puddle that was forming on the floor.

  “This – this is your fault!” Cain cried, walking toward me, the same malicious look in his eyes that his sister had. “How did you – Why did you – ” His face fell into his hands, and the anger shattered, giving way to intense, bone-aching grief. His knees gave way, and he sunk down onto the wet floor, unable to collect himself.

  I could only stare at the back of his head. “I never meant for this – ”

  “Then what did you mean?” Cain asked, reaching out and grabbing onto one of Rebecca’s bed posts so tightly that it splintered in his grip. He turned to face me. “What did you come here for? You knew that my sister – she was – ”

  “I was looking for answers,” I said, anger starting to bubble up within me, too. All the anger I’d been feeling toward him about my mother, about his lies…it pushed aside the fear and took front stage. “She – she killed my mother.”

  Cain seemed taken aback at that, but only for a moment. His dark look returned, the shadows hiding his eyes.

  “And you…” I said, pointing at him, my voice quaking, my eyes welling with tears. “You lied to me. About all of it! You are the one who covered her tracks! You’re the reason that I couldn’t find anything about her!”

  “Of course I did!” Cain said, his voice just as loud as my own. “I had to protect my family!”

  “What about my family?” I asked, the tears splashing out onto my cheeks. “I don’t have mine because of your sister!”

  Cain’s chest was rising and falling rapidly, and his jaw clenched. I was pushing him, I knew it. He was angry, he was despairing…and here I was, making it even worse.

  “Did it ever occur to you, daughter of the fae…that I was trying to protect you?” he shouted. “And did you ever once heed my warnings, to leave the past where it belonged, and not draw the truth out of hiding, especially when it didn’t want to be found?” He began pacing back and forth. “You are so naïve, so blind…you have no idea what they’re like, do you? They had your father killed. Did you know that?”

  I swallowed hard. “Yes,” I said.

  “Oh, good, you have been educated,” Cain spat. “You will be hunted in the same way, Marianne Huffler. Without mercy, without thought. You will be seen as an enemy to them all because of your powers, they will all hate you for it.”

  There was a deep bitterness in his tone that broke my heart. The tears came fresh, spilling onto my chilled, flushed face.

  “Get out of my sight…” Cain said, waving his hand through the air. “I don’t ever want to see you again.”

  I stared at him. Was he…was he serious?

  “Get out!” he shouted when I didn’t move. “Now!”

  And I bolted for the stairs, my beautiful dress fluttering behind me as I ran.

  13

  I knocked on the door three times before taking a step back to wait.

  It was early in the morning. The birds were awake, though, singing to one another in their trees, the first light of dawn brushing against the still surface of the lake in pale pinks and yellows. The air was crisp, and my breath hung in the air above my head like a tiny, puffy cloud.

  I hadn’t slept. My eyes itched, the skin on my cheeks was raw from the cold, and even though I’d washed my hair three times, there was still hairspray in places, making it crunch when I reached up to touch it.

  The door swung inward, and the sleepy face of Mrs. Bickford greeted me. “Oh, Marianne…good morning,” she said.

  “Hi, Mrs. Bickford,” I said, forcing a smile. I didn’t even try to hide that it was fake. “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get back here. I know I promised I’d bring this back to you last night, but by the time I got home – ”

  “It’s quite alright dear,” she said, pulling her fuzzy yellow bathrobe more tightly around herself. “Here, why don’t you come in and get out of that cold.” She reached out and gently tugged on my arm, drawing me over the threshold.

  It was warm inside; her wood stove was crackling in the corner, and it smelled of cooked bacon and garlic. My stomach growled in protest. When was the last time I ate?

  “Would you like some breakfast, dear?” she asked.

  “No, that’s okay,” I said. “I can’t stay long. I just wanted to keep my promise and give your gift back.”

  “Oh,” she said, and I could see from the brightness in her eyes that she wasn’t upset about that. “Alrighty, then.”

  I glanced around the room and saw Mr. Bickford sitting in his rocker. He gave me a quizzical look.

  “Hi, Mr. Bickford,” I said, waving at him.

  He gave me a single nod in response.


  I reached out and took Mrs. Bickford’s hand in my own, and after searching through myself, pushing past my subconscious, I found the magic well within me. Navigating through it to find Mrs. Bickford’s gift was much easier this time around. I was able to easily pass it from myself to her with almost no effort.

  When she opened her eyes, she looked around, and beamed. “Hello, Jim,” she said, staring at the armchair where I’d seen him sitting just a few minutes before. “Oh, right.” She looked back at me. “He says thank you.”

  “Don’t mention it,” I said with a small, genuine smile. I turned back toward the door.

  “Did you find out what you needed to?” Mrs. Bickford asked, hope clear in her tone.

  I hesitated, my back to her. Memories of the night before slogged through my mind. It was amazing that had all happened in one night…

  “I did,” I said with a tight smile.

  “Well, that’s good news,” Mrs. Bickford said, sighing with relief. “Alright now, dear, you go home and get some rest. Those bags under your eyes aren’t doing you any favors.”

  “Right,” I said.

  I headed back toward my own cabin, walking slowly. My shoes crunched against the frosted grass, the leaves crinkling beneath each step.

  I stopped and stared out over the lake, suddenly feeling very isolated.

  The things Cain had said the night before kept chasing themselves through my mind…that I’d be the enemy, that they’d all hunt me without mercy.

  Was he telling the truth? He hadn’t denied that he’d lied to me in the first place about everything else.

  Well…not everything. Just about the records.

  But then he said he never wanted to see me again…

  How was I supposed to feel about that? I’d made an ally into a powerful enemy…And not only an ally, but someone who I’d really begun to care about. And he’d said the same about me.

  The thought that he’d been trying to protect me…was that a good reason for lying to me? I couldn’t be sure.

  He had every reason to be angry at me for what happened with Rebecca. I felt terrible about it myself, especially after knowing about how sad her life had been. Cain loved her, and had done everything he could to keep her, and the rest of Faerywood Falls, safe.

  And after one scuffle with me…she was gone.

  I was starting to wonder if the curse my mother had spoken of in the letter they’d found with me as an infant didn’t mean that she was cursing whoever took me away…but was more of a warning, instead.

  And I wondered if that same curse followed my mother the way that it felt like it still followed me. Misfortune certainly did seem to follow me. Was that the mark of a faery? Or maybe it was just because I was such an incompetent one.

  Footsteps behind me caused me to look up…and my heart fluttered.

  Lucan was strolling toward me, his hands tucked deep within the pockets of his long, wool trench coat. His copper hair had been ruffled by the wind, and he looked as if he’d slept much better than I had, regardless of the fact that he’d hosted the biggest party I’d ever attended.

  “That’s a rather distant look for so early in the morning,” he said as he drew nearer to me, his golden eyes fixed on me, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips. He came to a stop beside me, and we both turned and looked out over the lake. “Unless the person in question has both greeted the setting and rising sun without rest in between.”

  “How’d you know?” I asked rather dryly, my eyes watching a passing family of ducks, and the little ripples of water that were left in their wake. “Mrs. Bickford had no problem telling me how terrible I looked this morning.”

  Lucan let out a small chuckle beside me. “What I meant was that you seem to be carrying a lot on your mind right now. You’re a thinker, Marianne, but you seem burdened. Would you care to allow me to help you carry it?”

  I swallowed hard. I’d trusted Cain, and look where it got me?

  I turned and stared up into Lucan’s eyes. His gaze was warm, and comforting.

  If I could trust anyone, I was almost positive it was Lucan.

  So I did. I told him about what I’d found out from the ghost, which lead me to the knowledge of Rebecca and how she’d killed my mother. I found myself still withholding the truth about her being a faery, but really, that wasn’t why I was troubled at the moment.

  “…And then he just told me to get out…” I said with a shrug. My voice was somewhat hoarse; the air was cold, and I hadn’t had anything to drink in hours. “So I don’t really know what to think.”

  “From the sounds of it, it wasn’t your fault,” Lucan said.

  “These things never are, though, are they?” I asked, looking at him. “You were there with Silvia on the mountain trail that day. She just happened to fall off the cliff, too. And then Rebecca’s caretaker, Mrs. Price. She just happened to fall down the stairwell inside the tower, and – ”

  “Marianne, that is a dangerous way to look at this,” Lucan said. “Did you intend to harm any of those people?”

  “Well, no, but – ”

  “Did you choose to push any of them to their deaths?” he asked.

  I sighed. “No, I didn’t.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “Then it wasn’t your fault. Accidents do happen,” he said.

  “But this many?” I asked. “Over and over again? Lucan, I don’t really believe in luck, but I’m starting to wonder if I just have the worst of it.”

  “To be quite honest, Marianne…these people that have so unfortunately met their demise…most of them were dangerous to begin with,” he said.

  I looked up at him. Good, sweet, Lucan. Trying to make me feel better.

  “I’m quite serious,” he said. “Take Silvia for instance. She was akin to a bomb ready to explode. In a lot of ways, Faerywood Falls is better off without her. That goes for Mrs. Price, too. She attacked you, Marianne. And from the sounds of it, she would have thought nothing of killing you. Much of what happened was in self-defense.”

  “And Rebecca?” I asked.

  Lucan sighed. “Well…she was a great burden to Cain. The man and I may have our differences, but she was a constant drain on him. Financially, emotionally, physically…she was dangerous, and he knew it. But he didn’t have it in his heart to do anything about it. In a way, he was a coward himself. Not that I would have been any different. I can’t imagine having someone so close to me being so…troubled.”

  I swallowed hard. “That was…very honest of you,” I said.

  “I try to be, especially with you,” he said. “I hope you know that I do care for you. And that’s why I will always strive to be honest with you.”

  “I appreciate that,” I said, and I meant it in the light of everything that had happened.

  We remained silent for a few minutes as we watched the day begin to wake up. The sunlight became brighter, and the clouds overhead moved lazily across the wide, blue expanse.

  “We found Delilah,” Lucan said in a low voice after a few moments.

  “I figured,” I said. “Why else would you come to visit me at such an early hour?”

  “My primary reason was to see you, I’ll have you know,” he said in a gently teasing sort of tone. “I wanted to make sure you were alright. You seemed so troubled at the party, and then to hear about everything that happened at the Blackburn castle last night…”

  “And the book?” I asked, looking up at him.

  He nodded. “We have the book. You were right in your assumption. She had no intention of handing it over to the council.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “Well…at least that’s good news. Where is it?”

  “I’ve…hidden it,” he said. “And I’m choosing not to tell you for your own protection. I think you are correct. This needs to be brought before the council, and there needs to be an agreement made about what to do with such a powerful item.”

  “That’s fine with me,” I said. As much as I thought I’d wan
ted that book, it had been nothing but trouble since I first found it.

  “And…there’s one other thing…” Lucan said. There was a heaviness in his tone that I didn’t particularly like. It made the small hairs at the back of my neck stand up.

  “Like what?” I asked, unsure if I really wanted to know the answer.

  “It seems that Delilah had developed some…suspicions about you,” he said.

  I swallowed hard. “Yeah…I know,” I said.

  “When she was found, it seems that she began to scream about you, and how we needed to be watching you, not her. She said something about your ability to procure gifts that you didn’t previously have, and…” Lucan said.

  My throat was tight, and I couldn’t meet his gaze. “…Yes?”

  “And she said that she’s almost certain you’re the first faery to walk among us in almost thirty years,” he said.

  So that was it, huh? I was too late. My safely guarded secret had finally been found out.

  “Marianne…” Lucan said, his voice even lower, even more gentle. “I just want you to know that – ”

  “It’s okay,” I said, finally looking up at him. I felt calmer than I thought I would. “I guess you might as well know.” I took a deep breath. “My mother was Adriana Hart.”

  “The former leader of the council of eleven?” Lucan said. “I never knew her, but my father did, and he spoke highly of her, saying she was the best thing to ever happen to Faerywood Falls…”

  That was both pleasing and saddening to hear. “Yeah…so I’ve heard. I just learned all of this the other day.”

  Lucan didn’t say anything in response. He didn’t ask about the faery thing any further, and I didn’t bring it up, either.

  “Thank you,” I said after another few moments of silence. “For getting that book.”

  “Of course,” Lucan said. “Thank you for caring enough to say something about it. It needed to be hidden away.”

  “And Delilah herself?” I asked.

  “I’ve summoned some members of the council to deal with her,” Lucan said. “Though since she herself is a member, I have no idea what will happen, if anything. I wouldn’t hold your breath for any sort of punishment for her.”