Chapter 3 #2
“So when did he disappear?”
Kaelan dropped his arms and sighed. “Right to the point,” he said with a small smile. “Let’s sit and I can fill you in.”
We followed him around the shelves toward what I assumed was the back of the building.
The register was located near a wall that had several doorways and signs that read ADULTS ONLY above them.
The music was louder here and Tris and I shared a look before sitting down on two stools that Kaelan pulled out from behind the counter.
When Tris wiggled his eyebrows at me, I quickly broke eye contact and did my best to focus on Kaelan’s well-placed glitter that formed a tiny white lily on his cheek.
“Gil is always in and out of the club, which is why he made me manager,” Kaelan started .
“Wait, Gil owns this playroom?” I asked as Tris swallowed a laugh.
“Dance club and adult entertainment store,” Kaelan corrected me with a wink.
“And yes, he’s owned it for a while now.
But, like I said, it’s not unusual for him to disappear for a few days at a time.
It’s in his nature to—” Kaelan stopped himself and cleared his throat.
“He has a tendency to enjoy traveling. But he’s never been gone this long. And then Muir got a vision and?—”
“Wait, what? Muir?” I interrupted.
“A friend of his had a…a dream that disturbed him. So now we’re all worried that Gil might be in some kind of trouble.”
“Is this friend usually right?” Tris asked.
Kaelan turned his attention to him and nodded once. “Yes.”
“So, you thought maybe he went to my mom’s house?” I had a sinking feeling there was a lot Kaelan wasn’t sharing right now.
“No, I mean, I didn’t think he would do that, but I was desperate. How is your mom handling the news? She seemed a bit too calm when I left.” Kaelan’s voice got higher as he finished the question.
“She didn’t take it well. And neither did I. She had to tell me that Gil was my real father.”
“Oh shit,” Kaelan said. “She’d never told you?”
“Nope.”
“Well, that’s a total bummer. I’m sorry.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay.” Was it? The words didn’t feel like a lie. Or maybe that was the distracting effect of Tris’s hand on my knee that helped me not focus on the whole surprise father thing. “So, when did you see him last?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“And where was he going?”
“To some fae—” Kaelan stopped himself again. “To some festival in the Euclid Mountains. But he said he’d only be gone for a couple of days.”
I pulled out my little notebook and started to write. “Where was this festival? ”
“Some town in southern Kilderoy…Spring Gap, I think he said.”
“And what kind of festival was it?”
“Why does that matter?” I gave Kaelan a look that said it was important. He crossed his arms and continued. “It was a mystical celebration. Like with healers and mediums and crystal balls and things.”
I shared another look with Tris, who still had his hand resting on my thigh. That was the kind of place I wouldn’t be caught dead at. So even though we may share the same genes, it sounded like Gil and I led totally different lives. “What was he doing there?”
Kaelan shrugged. “I don’t know. He always goes to places like that.”
“Places like what?”
“Like with mystical powers and stuff.” He stood and grabbed a water off the counter, then turned to Tris. “Is she always like this?” he asked with a small laugh.
“She’s a reporter,” Tris said with a proud smile on his face.
Kaelan didn’t respond, but just as I was about to ask him some more questions, the front door jingled with a new customer. The store manager visibly shivered as though he knew what was coming. “That’s for you,” he said.
“What?” Turning in my seat, I looked for the new guest to emerge from the hallway of sex toys. “Why would someone be here for me?”
Tris stood and pressed his palm against my lower back in a show of support. This time I was glad he touched me like that. We were both unsure about Kaelan’s cryptic words, and leaning into Tris’s side, I waited to see what new surprise was in store for me.
A petite woman appeared first. Long brown hair that hung to her waist and looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a week.
A flowing skirt that covered her legs down to her sandal-clad feet and bracelets that dangled from her wrists, her jewelry made more noise than she did.
Seeming to float across the floor, the woman danced and skipped toward us.
She wasn’t much older than my mother, but her flawless face made me wonder if maybe she’d used some kind of tonics to keep her looking young.
“Kaelan Black,” she cooed and danced her way to the counter like she was listening to music only she could hear.
It certainly wasn’t the same beat of the club music leaking up from the floor beneath us.
Leaning over far enough that her feet came off the ground, she kissed Kaelan on each cheek and then pressed her forehead against his. “My kin.”
“Morningstar,” Kaelan said with a kind smile. “I didn’t know you were coming, too.”
“The dark guardian thought it might help,” she said, looking at me and Tris out of the corner of her eye.
And just as she said that, the Dark Guardian came walking through the aisles.
Several inches taller than Tris, the woman was absolutely stunning and terrifying in the same way.
Her flawless umber skin stretched across sharp cheekbones and lavender eyes.
With thick, black hair pulled tightly into a ponytail, there was no hiding the slightly pointed shape of her ears that I’d never seen before.
She wore black leather pants, a corset with copper metal trailing up the bodice, and heeled boots.
The outfit could have had her passing for an employee of the House of Treasures, but I knew this woman was way more than a dancer at this playroom.
I’d put her in her thirties, and the way her eyes studied every part of our surroundings set some natural instinct inside of me on high alert.
She watched everything like an eagle searching for its next meal.
This woman was more than a little scary.
“Arelis,” Kaelan said in acknowledgment. “How did you know?”
Arelis glared down at me as though I were a fly ruining her dinner. “Sosie’s grandmother told Delicia she was coming here today. And Delica told me to get Morningstar.”
“What?” I shouted a little too loudly.
Arelis flinched at the sound, and Tris held me tighter. “You don’t have to scream,” Arelis said with a wince and a sharp note to her surprisingly soothing voice.
“I wasn’t screaming,” I muttered. I just wanted to understand if I heard her correctly. My grandmother communicated with this Delicia person?
“Who are you?” Tris asked.
Kaelan sauntered around the edge of the counter, his bright red boots clicking on the tile floor. Pointing to both of the new guests, he said, “This is Morningstar, and this is Arelis.”
Morningstar looked at me. “Did you find Gil yet?” Her sing-song voice had to be fake.
“No,” I said.
She ran into Kaelan’s arms. “I don’t like this,” she whispered.
“How much does she know?” Arelis grunted toward Kaelan. She’d crossed her arms in a way that made me think she was trying to look bored. But it only made her seem even more intimidating.
“She just learned about Gil being her biological dad. That’s it.”
Arelis let out a sigh. Her muscles flexed underneath the black leather, and I wondered why she was wearing it in this summer heat. “Should we tell her?”
“Yes!” Morningstar danced with excitement.
“I don’t know,” Kaelan grumbled. “It’s not really our secret to tell.”
“Tell me what? Why are you all acting so strange?” I hated the feeling that my mom’s news last night hadn’t been the biggest secret. I needed to know everything right now. “What other secrets should I know about?”
Arelis shared a look with Kaelan, who then both focused on me. Kaelan cleared his throat and said, “You’re half fae.”