Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Aodhan joined her outside a few minutes later. Without a word, he slipped his hand into hers, and they began the walk back to her apartment.
They walked in silence for a few minutes, but something between them felt off to Sierra.
She wasn’t sure if it was because their first time having sex had been in the library microfilm room, or if it was something else.
Normally, she would be too shy to say something and brush it off, but Sierra knew that wouldn’t help if everything wasn’t okay.
“Umm…” She cleared her voice. “Is everything okay?”
Aodhan nodded but kept his face forward. “When I went to the bathroom, Braan texted me and said someone from home tried to contact me today.”
Sierra rolled the words over in her mind. “What do you mean tried to contact you? And who?”
Aodhan glanced at her briefly before returning his vision to the path in front of him.
“My father. And…it’s a bit complicated. Since my world isn’t your world, we can’t use modern methods of communication.
We use a method similar to what humans call scrying.
It isn’t perfect, but we can speak to each other while we are in different worlds at least.”
Sierra had never been more disappointed that she hadn’t been more into reading, as she didn’t want to ask what scrying was, but she didn’t really know either.
Sensing her embarrassment, Aodhan jumped into an explanation.
“Scrying is an ancient method used by witches to see the future using water.” They turned the corner, drawing close to her apartment.
“Now, we can’t see the future or anything, but we can use the water as a connection and speak to each other through it. ”
Sierra felt her eyes widen at the realization that witches also existed, and turned to Aodhan to ask a question, but he held up a finger before she could.
“There’s quite a few…caveats. The water must be from the same source, and it grows…stale after a while. So, every few years, more water has to be brought here from The Hills to replace the water we have on hand for communicating.”
“And the water is just kept in a jar…or something?”
They came to a stop in front of her apartment door, and Aodhan turned to her.
“Not quite. It must be stored in stone. So, it is brought here in a stone jar, and kept in a special stone bowl. Which brings up the other problem. There is no way to let someone know you want to communicate, so you have to just go for it and hope that someone is near the bowl to fetch the person you want to speak with when you call.”
“I see.” Sierra unlocked the door, and they made their way up the stairs. “And you weren’t nearby today.”
Aodhan waited until they were inside her room before he replied. “Exactly. But that’s the weird thing. Last night, I felt I needed to be home today, which is why I didn’t make plans. And then someone calls.”
Sierra removed her jacket and set her messenger bag on the table by the door as his words sank in. “What do you mean you had a feeling?”
“That’s just it. I can’t explain it. My magic isn’t future-telling or anything. But in the pit of my stomach, I felt I should spend a night at home. Of course, I was home all day and eventually came to find you…but this is very unlike me.”
Silence fell over them as Sierra pondered what he said for a moment. “You know, this is going to sound crazy, but just hear me out.” Sierra sat on the couch, Aodhan sinking into the seat next to her.
“So, you believe humans are differently evolved Fae, right?”
Aodhan confirms with a nod.
“As humans, we have this thing called intuition. It’s where something bothers you, or maybe you feel you should do something, but you don’t have any rational reason to do that thing you feel you should do.
We don’t have magic, so this is one of the few unexplainable things about our nature that somehow works to protect us.
“Most humans brush off their intuition because it isn’t always right.
But sometimes it is, and especially as women, we often have to rely on that intuition to protect us—when we are meeting men for dates, for example.
Because we have nothing else. As a result, women tend to be more in tune with their intuition than men.
But men often think we are crazy when we mention it. ”
Aodhan remained silent, his gaze resting on his hands in his lap.
Feeling self-conscious, Sierra asked, “Am I making sense?”
Aodhan swallowed. “Yes. Too much, actually.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re saying all humans have this feeling, right, though it is stronger in women because they use it more often?”
“Yes, well, most anyway. I’m sure there is someone somewhere who will say they don’t.” Sierra rolled her eyes, thinking of all the idiots who live on the internet these days just to harass or bother other people.
Aodhan glanced at Sierra, his green eyes boring into hers before continuing. “So, if I have suddenly developed this intuition, it would mean I am gaining a common human trait. Remember how I said I believed the Fae were losing their magic because they were intermixing with humans more?”
Sierra nodded, setting her hands on Aodhan’s, sensing whatever was rolling over in his mind was upsetting him.
“Well, what you just said would mean that maybe it isn’t the intermarrying that is thinning the magic.
It would mean that we are simply evolving as humans did.
Just more slowly, for some reason. Or maybe we are even evolving differently.
Or I suppose something else could be at play, but either way, what I think to be occurring isn’t really occurring. ”
Sierra didn’t know what to say. For all her years studying medicine, this wasn’t something she had an answer to, but she did have one thing to suggest. “Maybe you aren’t evolving to humans, but rather developing an intuition because you can no longer rely on your magic to protect you.
It could be a sort of… backward evolutionary advantage? ”
Aodhan didn’t answer, removing one of his hands from underneath Sierra’s to rub his face.
After a few moments of quiet, he finally turned to face her. “I really wanted to spend tonight with you, but Braan said my father would try to contact me again later. So, I should go. But I will see you for our date tomorrow, right?”
Sierra smiled slightly, but it didn’t meet her eyes. “I understand, you should go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Aodhan nodded, grabbing her chin, and pressing his lips to hers so firmly it took Sierra’s breath away. “I’ll text you, okay? I’ll let you know how the contact goes.”
“Okay. And either way, I’ll see you tomorrow after work.”
A smile overtook Aodhan’s face, his eyes becoming even brighter than before. “Yes, and I’ve got special plans for us. Until tomorrow.”
Sierra opened her mouth to ask what they were, but before she could, Aodhan disappeared from sight, apparently shifting back to Braan’s.
With a sigh, Sierra made herself comfy on the couch and grabbed the remote. But before she could dig through the visual sludge on Netflix to find something good, her phone vibrated from where it was tucked in her messenger bag.
Thinking it was Aodhan, she jumped up to grab it, only to see her mother’s name on the screen. Her shoulders dropping in disappointment, Sierra pressed the green answer button and held the phone to her ear.
“Hola, mamá. Como estas?”
“Oh, now you want to talk to me? It would be nice if my hija would call me from time to time, but nooo, she’s too busy in the big city—”
“Mamá, we live in Dallas.” Sierra cut off her mom’s dramatic speech, hoping it was the end of it, but of course, her mom was not to be dissuaded from her petition for attention.
“—and it’s so far, we can’t even visit. Why, I’ll be an old maid when you return.” A sniffle came through the other end of the line, but Sierra knew it was likely fake.
“Mama, I’ll be back in a year and a half.
You will be exactly 55.” Like most women of Hispanic descent born in the early 70s, Sierra’s mother had children very young and close together, meaning she was not an old mother, at all.
Though anyone listening in on the conversation would think she was on her deathbed with the way she was acting.
“Even Maria makes time from being a doctora to come see me. But noooo, it’s too much for mi Sierra.”
Taking a deep breath to keep her cool, Sierra replied, “Mama, I am going through a similar program to Maria. Remember when she was in medical school how busy she was?”
“Si, but she became a doctora, and what are you becoming, hija? Do you even know?”
Sierra sighed. This was the same argument they had when she had entered the program a few months before. “I am not sure, mamá, but I may become a medical researcher. Something which is just as important as a doctor, I just won’t see patients.”
Sierra’s mother let out a hmph from the other end of the phone, and Sierra knew it was no use, so she tried to change the subject.
“How is Diego, mamá? Are things better?”
“Sí, sí, he has come to visit his mamá and make amends. And he will attend mass with the family on Saturday.”
Sierra pulled the phone away from her ear to look at the date. Saturday was Día de Los Muertos, which is why her family would be attending mass. “Ah sí, mamá, that’s great. Light a candle for me, por favor.”
“You could come light the candle yourself.”
Just when Sierra thought they were making progress. “Mamá, it is a 13-hour flight to Dallas. I cannot just get on a plane for every holiday.”
“Y la Navidad?”
La Navidad was Christmas. But Sierra knew at this point, she didn’t have the money to buy a flight to return to Dallas for Christmas.
“I don’t think so, mamá. I will come in the summer for a week or two, though.”
That was clearly not the right answer, as another sniffle came through the line, and this time, Sierra could tell her mom was crying on the other end. “I cannot believe you won’t be here for Navidad. What have I done to deserve this, mi hija?”
Sierra closed her eyes slowly. Her mother had always played the guilt card, but it seemed to be escalating lately.
She just didn’t seem to understand that Sierra had her own life, which she had to be allowed to explore.
Deciding to take the path of least resistance, Sierra muttered an apology in Spanish.
“Your apology means nothing. I do not understand why you can’t put your family first. Or at least before your studies,” she huffed.
Sierra knew it was no use, but she tried anyway. “Mamá, I am my own person. I love our family, I do, but I have to be allowed to be on my own for some time, too. This year, I am very far away, but once I finish this study, and have a job, I will be able to visit for more holidays.”
“Hmph. Fine,” Sierra’s mother replied. “I will see you later then.” And with that, the line went dead.
Sierra scrolled through her contacts, debating on contacting Maria or Diego to see if they could talk any sense into her mom, but she was exhausted and didn’t have the mental space to speak to one of her siblings tonight.
Though it was early, Sierra didn’t much feel like dinner, and doom scrolling on her phone in bed sounded heavenly. With a click, she shut off the TV and slipped on her pajamas. She would worry about how to deal with her mother’s dramatics tomorrow.