29. Stella
29
Stella
I skip breakfast the morning after the assembly. It’s like if I avoid Clay, I won’t have to learn the truth that I know is waiting for me.
I’m sure he’s an escort, too, and that means something about these visiting dignitaries is dangerous for those of us with rare spirits.
Pressing my back against my favorite tree and hanging a forroweed cigarette from my mouth, I research the other countries within the Vorista realm.
I’ve spent my whole life in Rigent, and from what I know, that isn’t unheard of. Since the Rift War, everyone has stayed very insular within their region’s borders. The government claims it is part of the treaty with Reighold that we limit immigration between countries to maintain an appropriate population density of Authentics and supernaturals. Maybe that is why these other countries want to start their own Reformation Academies.
Perhaps simplynaturals do not count towards their supernatural threshold.
Michael and I have been assigned Missurd, the southernmost country within Vorista. Several online articles outline its hot and humid climate and the different types of fruit it exports.
I take a long pull on my forroweed before chomping into an apple I took from the cafeteria yesterday. I know I should be researching Missurd more, coming up with things to talk about with the dignitary I will be escorting, and maybe probing for answers to questions I don’t know to ask yet, but I can’t.
My mind is preoccupied with Yuri.
Tomorrow is Saturday. The day he shows up to collect payment for his silence.
I told Ryan and Clay I had it under control, but the truth is, I don’t. I don’t know what to do. At this point, I’m hoping that he gets in a car wreck on the way over here or something, and I never have to see him again.
My phone rings, and an unknown number flashes on the screen.
I let it go to voicemail, but it rings again.
And again.
Eventually, curiosity gets the better of me, and I answer. “Hello?”
“Stella Mikers?”
“Yes? Who is this?”
“This is Frank Quincy. I work for the Tioney Times. Lou asked me to call you.”
I balk at the phone. Why would Lou ask someone to contact me instead of calling me himself? The cigarette hangs forgotten between my fingers. “What can I do for you?”
“He wishes he could’ve called you himself, but a lot is going on right now, and he didn’t want you to wait to let you know. Yuri Rodgers died this morning.”
The phone falls out of my hand and crashes onto the forest floor.
Yuri is dead?
I must have misheard him.
Confused feelings swirl within me. I’m thrilled I don’t have to worry about being blackmailed anymore, but did he deserve to die?
“Are you there, Miss Mikers?”
I scramble to shove the phone against my year. “Yes, yes. Sorry. I’m here. What happened?”
“A car wreck. An unlucky accident.”
After a few platitudes, I hang up, slumping back against the tree.
“Sounds like your problem solved itself,” Blue’s voice drawls from the forest’s depths. He steps into my line of sight, his baggy ripped jeans and exposed stomach making him look casual and unassuming in a way I know is a facade. He looks exhausted, with sallow skin and dark bags under his eyes.
“I didn’t want him to die,” I whisper, picking at my nails. “I just wanted him to stop blackmailing me.”
“He certainly can’t blackmail you from beyond the grave.”
In the shock of Yuri’s accident, I forgot that I’m pissed at the male in front of me. My face twists into a sneer. “You stole the ledger a week ago and haven’t brought it to me.”
“Ah yes, about that. I suppose you would be all business now that your little problem has magically been solved.” His eyes sparkle as he lowers to the ground in front of me, helping himself to the forroweed cigarette that dangles loosely between my fingers. “After seeing the contents, I’ve decided my price has gone up.”
“There was no price other than my truth.”
He chuckles, leaning back to prop himself up on his hands, the weed dangling off his lips as he speaks around it. “I am well aware of the initial price. But, banloach , you see, when I realized exactly what was between those pages, I decided that the risk I was undertaking in possessing this deserved a higher cost.”
I dig my fingertips into the dirt beneath me. I can feel my wings twitching in agitation. “You don’t know what you’re messing around in, Blue,” I snarl. “If that book ends up in the wrong hands…”
“You didn’t think I was the wrong hands when you tasked me with stealing it.” The cherry at the end of the cigarette flares as he takes a drag, exhaling sticky sweet smoke away from me.
At least he’s kind of a gentleman in that way.
“Every day it is gone puts Michael at risk. I need to get it back to him.”
He hums an upbeat tune I recognize from the band, Supes Rad, and casually tosses the ledger in the air. My eyes track the way it rotates before landing gracefully in his grip. “It could be argued that it is safer with me. After all, I am quite lucky, you know.”
I groan, throwing my head backward into the tree. “Tell me your new price so we can stop this cyclical conversation.”
His presence looms over me. I feel it like a living entity as he kneels in front of me. Slowly, he drags his finger down my jaw as he rests his thumb in the center of my chin. “It’s nothing, banloach . Just your story.” He leans so close to me that there is scarcely any space between us, his warm breath brushing my lips in a way so intimate that it almost takes mine away.
“Your story and a kiss.”
My breath hitches, my mind whiting out. I cannot deny that I’ve thought about it and wondered what it would be like to press my mouth against the pillowy soft lips that look almost out of place on his thin face.
But anger rises in me before I can make a stupid mistake.
“Ah, so Yuri is no longer forcing himself between my legs, so you’re deciding to slide into the spot he left.”
Blue’s eyes widen, and his jaw drops, appearing … hurt? Did I hurt his feelings?
He squeezes my chin a little tighter, demanding my attention. “I would never, Stella. The idea of forcing myself on a female makes me ill. If you truly do not want to pay in a kiss, I will think of an alternative payment.”
The sincerity in his gaze destroys the fury I erected.
“Why a kiss?” I whisper, all of the bite in my tone gone. I’m aware of my body shivering, and not from the cold, as he strokes down my jaw.
His soft green eyes crinkle at the corners as a cocky smile flashes at me. “I have heard tales of what a Valkyrie kiss can do. I want to see it for myself.”
I pale, pushing myself back against the tree, aching to put distance between the two of us. “Ryan and Clay talked to you?”
He chuckles, the sound somehow coming from all around me. “No, they did not, but one of the luckiest things that can happen to someone is they overhear a secret that makes their lives easier or reveals information they need to make a big decision.” He lets go of my face and sits back, giving me some much-needed breathing room.
“Tales of the Valkyrie may as well be an actual myth. Not the myths Authentics used to think we were. Even among the supernatural, they’re misunderstood. Chooser of the slain.” His eyes rake my figure, and I become incredibly self-conscious about the t-shirt dress I put on today. “A warrior that flew over battlefields and chose those who would rise and become part of the army Odin was amassing for Ragnarok, right?”
I nod slowly, unsure where he’s going with this. “Yes, that’s the story. Obviously, over time, that stopped being the case. Valkyrie had to give up their place beside Odin when they began to marry.”
“Mmm, yes. A warrior female who is a warrior no longer. Terribly tragic.” He props his elbows up on his knees, head cocked to the side as he watches me. “Anyways, a kiss. That is my new price.”
Groaning and rolling my eyes, I sit up, intending to crawl the distance between us to kiss him. “Kiss me, then.”
“As tempting as that is, I want this kiss to be redeemed whenever I deem fit. Now is not the time, banloach .“ His eyes sparkle as he blatantly checks me out. “But I will not lie and say I don’t enjoy seeing you on your knees for me.”
Heat fills my cheeks and the space between my thighs, and its a fight to appear unaffected.
“Ugh.” I sit back, glaring at him in a way that no doubt makes me look unattractive and petulant. “Fine. My story, then?”
He waves his hand in front of him as if to say, “Go ahead,” so I dive into my story, the same one I told Michael last night. He doesn’t interrupt, and his face doesn’t change. He just sits there, passively gazing at me as he listens to my treason.
“Thank you for sharing,” he says softly, reaching into a pocket on the inside of his shirt for the ledger and handing it to me. “I hope the stag won’t mind that I added my rules there.”
“I doubt you follow them. Your luck must get you out of loads of trouble.” Michael’s comment from last night strikes me. “Hey, did you get a summons to escort a dignitary?”
He chuckles as he stands, his body moving in fluid grace. “Of course I didn’t. That would’ve been terribly unlucky.” He flips a coin and catches it deftly. “But don’t worry. I’m sure there is a reason for everything.”
“Are you ready to tell me your name yet?” I know the question is most likely a futile effort, but I feel so strange having told him my dark secret without knowing his name.
As suspected, he chuckles, shaking his head. “Not yet, banloach .”
He turns around and stalks off, whistling a low, haunting tune quietly as he does. I know nothing about this male or his spirit, and even though my soul tells me I can trust him, I need to know more. When he’s finally out of sight, I pull my laptop back to my lap and dive into the Spiritrealm.
Leprechauns are barely more than things of folklore for how few have been seen.
Their luck, tied to a coin they are born with, is said to be some of the most potent magic available. To steal a Leprechaun’s coin is akin to writing a death sentence for them because as vast as their luck is with it, the equal is true without. Without their coin, a leprechaun would, without a doubt, perish quickly.
As a whole, the spirit is fiercely protective of their names. There is no concrete proof as to why, but theories abound. The most touted one is that a name can be used to trap a leprechaun easily, and to trap a leprechaun gives the trapper access to the nearly limitless magic of the leprechaun for three wishes.
While a name is not the only way to trap a leprechaun, the possibility of it being used against them necessitates their names remain a secret. Greedy by nature, they do not want to share their power with anyone, so they will avoid any chance of being detained by another.
If you encounter a leprechaun, it is best not to enter any bargains with him because they always come out on top. Their luck will always spin the deal in their favor.
Well, fuck.