Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
We go over the post-and-rail fence into the park rather than wasting precious time by walking around to the gate.
I can’t be bothered scrambling over the top of it.
I’ve already established that I lack coordination or any luck with wood.
Fortunately, the gap is wide enough that I climb between the rails.
Of course the gargoyle just vaults, and I can’t help smiling at him when he does it. “Show off.”
He grins back at me, and then my smile fades. I shouldn’t be laughing when my brothers are missing. Soren catches the switch in my mood as we silently walk across the grass and onto a stone path.
The park has two outer paths: one has a sign for horses and bikes, so it’s a bridleway and cycle path, and the inner track is for walking, so we choose the inner path.
I’ve never seen a horse in real life before. I don’t think horse riders would want to stumble onto a gargoyle, and I’ve no idea how a horse would react. I have a massive urge to ask him, but I clamp down on the words. He’s been kind, and I don’t want to offend him.
When this is over, I’d like to get a pet—not a horse, of course, but a cat or a dog.
After ten minutes, we come to a copse of trees on the edge of a small duck pond. “Here.” Soren looks up from the directions on his phone.
I don’t know why my brothers thought it was a good idea to meet these gaming buddies here. I’m sure the park has safer places, but Ava said they were elves, so they wouldn’t want to be seen.
My naive, sneaky little brothers would also like to avoid the eyes of our mum, which has put them in danger.
There’s some flattened grass and uneven and muddy ground closer to the pond, but nothing—no blood, no evidence—nothing to indicate they’ve been here. I wish I could scent like a wolf. “Can you smell anything?” At least one of us has a super sniffer.
“No.”
I stand there while the cold breeze plays with the loose strands of my hair and freezes my face.
My nose and eyes are sore from crying. Think, Kricket.
The charms are no longer here. They’ve left through the gate.
I can trace them, but then something doesn’t seem quite right.
I narrow my eyes. Why would the elves take my brothers when they got what they were coming for?
Many of the fae deal with human trafficking. But would they risk taking two young boys to the portal? Ava would have checked that. Plus, they could have used a disguise spell.
“Oh,” I say, looking around again. I realise what I’d overlooked. I can see other people’s magical signatures and not just mine. I have no idea if other creatures can do that, but I’ve always presumed they can. If I can see the charms on my mental map… “Can you see magical signatures?”
“No, that’s not a thing.”
I rub between my eyes and groan. Really? No one else sees magical signatures? Only me? This is getting ridiculous. Me and my freaky magic. I could have saved myself a lot of hassle and time if I had known.
When I was in the cube, I told myself that I was going to embrace this magic shit. You better get to it then. Okay, well, I start by finishing that last thought. I can see other magical signatures, so maybe I can do the mental map thing to track my brothers.
My stomach flips. It won’t work, and the idea is ridiculous, but I try anyway, concentrating on picturing my brothers and their budding witch magic.
I close my eyes and bring up that map—the one I usually reserve for charms—and use it to search for magic similar to mine.
Their magical signatures are so familiar it’s easy.
I find my mum still in the house and my nan travelling from work, and then I spot two pale green threads twisting together, moving apart, and intertwining again.
I smile. Two lines twisted and mixed, that has got to be my twin brothers.
I follow the thread of magic, and my knees become weak with relief. They aren’t in Faerie with the charms. My brothers are still bloody here in this park. I think. I lick my lips and my hand shakes as I point. “I can see their magical signatures, and they went that way.”
“You can? You can see magical signatures? Since when?”
I nod, drop my hand, and shrug. “Since forever. I can see them, and now I can track them. Come on.” I wonder if this is a useful skill or another reason people will want me dead.
“And I thought your brothers didn’t have any magic.
” His voice gets a suspicious edge, and a flash of anger rolls across his face.
His immediate anger makes me uncomfortable and mad.
I do my best to ignore it, but I can’t help feeling hurt.
I don’t know why. I shouldn’t. After the run-in with my mum, I’m a little sensitive.
It doesn’t matter to me that he doesn’t trust me.
It shouldn’t matter. But it does. I don’t even know this man, and we aren’t friends.
“Their magic is dormant and normal.” I head in the right direction, stomping through the trees, skirting the pond and onto the walking track.
“I didn’t lie to you; they are technically both witches, so they will be capable of stirring spells or making wards if they want to train in that direction. ”
They’re still young enough for training. I wonder if, now that the town council no longer controls us, my parents will put them in the Witch Academy.
“Don’t worry, their magic isn’t like mine. But they have a light, magical signature that I can track.” Even pure humans and animals have magic.
Following the trail that only I can see, we keep walking. Our once comfortable silence now feels uncomfortable. I’m not trying to give him the silent treatment. I just don’t know what to say.
This has been a crappy day, and part of me wishes I could just go back to sleep.
After about fifteen minutes, the gargoyle grumbles. “I apologise. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t upset me,” I tell him, trying to keep my voice blasé. He did upset me. But I’m not going to say anything. I’m lucky he’s letting me do this, and I’m grateful he’s helping.
Then, “I did upset you,” he says as if he were plucking the thought from my mind.
“It’s okay.”
“We need to stop for a break. You’re still weak from being poorly.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I need to get to my brothers.” I trip over a stone and almost fall on my face.
Soren’s hand snaps out, grips the back of my top, and pulls me into his massive chest. “Nothing girl, you’re exhausted,” he whispers.
His massive grey forearm, which wraps around my waist, stands out starkly against my black top.
I shiver and lean into him a little, even though I shouldn’t. He smells so good.
“Please, ten more minutes. They’re just up here.”
He growls and lets me go.
We continue to walk. But now he’s closer. I’m almost brushing against him.
I don’t know the park, and apart from checking crime statistics before I purchased the house, I didn’t look it up.
But now we are out here walking it and I feel a little bit silly.
We’ve already been out here for a while.
We should have gone back to my parents’ house, got the car, and driven around, as I have a feeling that Aleric and Ledger will be closer to the main road than they will be to our parents and the house.
We turn around the corner, pass another pond, and then come to a minor road. To the left is a hotel, and to the right is the main road around the park. And then I see them, two redheaded boys messing around.
They’re throwing stones in another pond, joking and laughing with each other like nothing has happened. Like they didn’t convince me, a gargoyle, and our parents that they’d been kidnapped. If I had the energy, I’d run over there and give them a dig. But I can’t do that because I’m knackered.
“Oi! You two! You are in so much trouble!” I yell while we amble across the road. They both jump and spin around at the sound of my voice.
“Kricket!” Ledger shouts with a wave.
“Don’t you Kricket me,” I say as my arm moves of its own accord and I give him a wave back.
“We’ve missed you. Are you all right?”
“Never mind am I all right. What are you doing outside? You’re supposed to have bodyguards, and why did you numpties meet elves and give them my charms?”
Aleric slaps his forehead and groans, “She knows.”
Ledger throws his hands in the air. “Of course she knows. It wasn’t our fault,” he whines.
“We thought that they were our pals. We were telling them about the charms. We didn’t mention you or anything, but we said that they were really good.
They called us liars, and we said we weren’t, and we had an argument, and then we met here to prove them wrong, and they robbed us. ” Ledger shrugs.
“They robbed you?”
Aleric groans. “You were useless. Yeah, they robbed us, but sis, they were elves, and one of those guys, the blond one, was scary.”
“I chucked the charms in a bush and then ran. We ran to the road, and they couldn’t get us without people seeing, so at least we did that. I’m sorry. Are you mad? Were they worth a lot of money?” Ledger innocently blinks at me.
I’ve seen that expression on my face in the mirror a time or two. I hold my hand up. “You chucked the charms in a bush, and you ran?”
“Yes, of course we did!”
I grab them both around the neck and squish them to me.
I kiss one sweaty redhead and then the other.
“I’m so proud of you. Please do not meet strangers off the internet next to duck ponds in the middle of nowhere.
Don’t meet random weirdos anywhere, as that’s a great way to get killed.
They could have been vampires and eaten you both.
” I hiss and flash my blunt teeth to make a point.
“But you thought on your feet, and I’m so proud of you.
I don’t care about the charms. I’ll either get them back or I won’t.
But I’ll never get you two back, now will I? ”
I give them both a squeeze and they groan and push me away. I laugh when they pull the same face. “Get off!” Aleric shudders, rubbing his head as if he can rub the residual kiss off. “Can’t believe you kissed my head.” Aleric looks Soren up and down. “Bloody hell, you’re a big one, aren’t you?”
“Oi, Aleric, don’t swear.”
“You always swear. Hell’s not swearing, not really. Fate, man, you’re huge.” Both boys stare at Soren.
I tut. It’s not like they’ve not seen a gargoyle before. “Don’t be rude to Soren. He volunteered to help me look for you. “
“Thanks, Soren,” Ledger says.
“Yeah, thanks, pal,” Aleric grumbles.
The gargoyle gives my brothers a manly chin lift while he watches me with a soft smile.
“Come on then, you two shits, we’d better get you home.”
“Aw, do we have to? She’s going to be so mad,” Ledger whispers, and his eyes flick about as if Mum is going to leap out of a hedge any minute.
“Yes, she’s going to be mad. But now, she’s going crazy because she’s worried about the pair of you. Come on. Let’s get you home. I’m sure you’re hungry, and Nan should be home by now to protect you.”
“Are you going to stay for dinner?”
“Not tonight. I have things to do. Perhaps another time.”
“We’ve got a lift over there, so you don’t have to walk back.” Soren points to the road and a waiting vehicle across the grass playing field.
“Oh, thank fate, I’m knackered,” I say.
We head over to the car. The ground feels mushy underneath my trainers.
At the car, we are greeted by a colossal shifter.
I can tell he’s a wolf straight off. The magic oozes off him, and I get fur and flashes of purple.
Purple? Huh, that’s strange. I expect the man’s eyes to be cruel and arrogant, but I’m shocked to see against his dark skin, his striking pale grey eyes are soft, warm, and kind.
He holds out a giant hand and shakes mine. “You must be Kricket. I’m pleased to meet you. My name’s Owen.” The hellhound smiles at my brothers and even shakes their hands too.
Introductions over with, we all scramble into the car.
Owen’s magic is different, odd, and more, and I poke around a little bit. I can taste ashes and fire on my tongue and, for some reason, marshmallows and chocolate. I’ve never tasted magic before, but his is incredibly unique.
Well, now that’s interesting. As my dragon magic has bloomed these past few weeks and I’ve become more aware of it, I’ve never met a hellhound, but I can see clearly from his magical signature that the fire magic he has is a dragon-touched gift.