Chapter 13
Dylan followed his mother up the stairs. Gabriel was close behind, and Dylan could sense his unease.
“Do you know what she’s talking about?” Gabriel’s attempt at a whisper would have seemed comical under other circumstances. His mother’s lack of reaction was not reassuring. He wasn’t sure how much he could safely say.
“I don’t know for sure.” His whisper was much lower, but came out sharper than he had intended.
The hallway at the top of the stairs seemed to stretch on forever, making Dylan feel like he was on a death march. He didn’t know what was about to happen, but something in his gut—his intuition (or as his grandmother would say his sight ) told him it wasn’t as bad as he was making it out to be, making him more uncertain. He still wasn’t sure he believed in any of that nonsense.
Merrin led them into the small library. His mamaw sat in the old wooden swivel desk chair centered in a circle of books that looked ancient. Tinah was dutifully finding books and adding them to the circle and looking for things when asked as his mamaw flipped through the journal.
She peered at them over the top of her reading glasses as they entered the room.
“Dylan, from now on, this journal doesn’t leave your possession. Got it? You’re going to want it handy in case you need it. Homer was a lot of things, and apparently a fucking genius was one of them. It’s a summary of a larger journal he kept… he indexed this goddamned thing!” She let out a sigh and turned her attention to Gabriel. “Young Mr. Coinin. What can you tell me about your family history? Homer mentioned y’all briefly, but there’s not enough there. It’s almost like he wasn’t sure.”
Gabriel cleared his throat and fidgeted beside Dylan. “W-what do you mean?”
His Mamaw glared. “No time to be coy, son. I know the Coinin name appears all the way back to the beginning of this town. But where do you come from?”
“Well, I think it’s Irish…”
“That’s not what I mean, and you’re being evasive.” Her tone was firm, but not unkind. Dylan was sure she would’ve been harsher had it been him.
Gabriel let out a sigh. “Well, my granny told me that one of our ancestors was found in the woods as a baby and a nice young couple took him in, but the rest of the village thought he was a changeling or something like that.”
His Mamaw’s face softened, and she smiled. “Well, I guess that’s what Homer was missing.” She pointed to a larger volume on the floor. The page simply had Coinin written in what Dylan assumed was Homer’s handwriting, with a question mark behind it.
Dylan felt Gabriel’s eyes on him and met his gaze. “I have a feeling that this shit’s about to get weird for you. I’m sorry.”
Gabriel cocked an eyebrow.
“If you boys will hush for a second. Gabriel, there’s no delicate way for me to ask this. Do you believe that story?”
To Dylan’s surprise, Gabriel shrugged. “I guess everything has a kernel of truth. Something had to have happened for them to think that. I don’t doubt he was abandoned in the woods and taken in by the Coinins.”
It was Dylan’s turn to raise his brow. He didn’t have to be psychic to know that Gabriel was hiding something. “Gabe, you’re leaving something out. C’mon. Spit it out. No one here’s going to think you’re crazy.”
Gabriel’s head jerked up, his brow furrowed, and he stared into Dylan’s eyes. Understanding passed between them. “You’re convinced she was making fun of you for being gay. A changeling was a human replaced by fairies, right?”
Gabriel nodded and dropped his head.
Dylan placed a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “It’s ok.”
Gabriel looked up at him, a tear ran down his cheek. “Is it?”
Merrin cleared her throat. “Of course it is. There’s nothing wrong with you, no matter what you are.” She turned her attention to her mother. “Can you go on before the emotions in the room get any heavier?”
Dylan’s mamaw chuckled. “Of course. Always intuitive and empathic.” She smiled at Gabriel. “Do you believe he could have been a changeling?”
Gabriel chuckled under his breath. “Why would you ask me that?”
Her smile didn’t waver. “Close your eyes, son.”
Dylan watched as he huffed and obeyed.
“Dylan, face him and take his hands in yours.”
He wanted to ask why, but simply complied. The moment their hands linked, a flash of light filled the room. Gabriel’s eyes flew open, and Dylan could’ve sworn they were glowing - they looked like the boron flames in Mr. Holland’s chemistry class. He’d been showing how certain chemicals changed the color of certain flames. The green had been Dylan’s favorite, and that was the only one he remembered.
“What’s going on?” Gabriel’s grip tightened on Dylan’s hand, the fear clear in his voice.
“OK. You can let go now. Seems Homer was right about his suspicions, but he couldn’t figure out how it all fit.”
Dylan let one of Gabriel’s hands drop. He held firm to the other hand, and squeezed, trying to comfort him.
Gabriel’s eyes were wide. “Please tell me you’re going to explain because I am freaking out right now.”
She cackled. “Of course, son. Now that’s out of the way, I figure you’ll both suspend your disbelief.”
Merrin muttered under her breath. “Maybe Dylan will listen for a change.”
He shot her a glare, but he knew she was right. He had always wanted to forge his own way and didn’t like being in the dark.
“Merrin, the pizza should be here any minute. Go downstairs and wait for it. Tinah, gather these books up and bring them down. I’m not sure we’ll need them, but if we do might as well not have to climb the stairs again.” She stood and handed the journal to Dylan. “For the love of God, keep this on you. Until you know it forward and backward, it’s more important than your goddamned phone.”
She stretched her back and headed toward the door.
Gabriel cleared his throat. “I thought you were going to tell me what the hell just happened.”
She didn’t stop and called back. “We’ll talk about it over dinner. I imagine you’re starving now. I had them get extras in case you didn’t like something on one of them.”
Dylan stared after his grandmother until he felt eyes on him. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Gabriel’s face. His shoulders fell. “I don’t know much more than you do at this point. If I try to explain it, you’d probably just be more confused.”
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Gabriel was shaking his head.