See Me

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

IT WAS STRANGE TO part ways with McKale and watch him carry the bin away. The blue container had been a constant part of my life for so long, and now it was going home where it belonged.

I went back to my room and was surprised to see Cassidy in bed. She stirred when I came in, rolling over and shoving something under the covers.

“Still tired?” I asked her.

She nodded and rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?”

“As if I know.” I laughed. “What were you looking at?”

She sat up and shrugged.

“Show me.”

“It’s nothing,” she insisted, pulling out a small item I recognized as her pocket calendar. “I’ve been keeping track of the date. Do you know your birthday’s only six days away?”

“Yeah, I know.” My insides leapt with nervous energy at the reminder. I plopped myself down next to her and we both laid back.

“You okay, Cass?”

“I don’t know.”

I took her hand and we continued to stare up at the low thatched rafters.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked.

“A lot of things.”

“Please don’t be sad. Especially about me. I think everything’s going to be okay.”

She waved it off and cleared her throat. “How did it go when you gave him the gifts?”

I rolled toward her, curling up and smiling into her shoulder.

“It was amazing,” I whispered.

“Really?” I could hear the happiness in her voice. “Finally.”

“Everyone outside is dancing and stuff. Will you come with me?”

She shrugged and said, “I guess.”

“I wish Rock could come,” I whispered.

“You do?”

“Yes. He’s fun, and he makes you happy.” I touched the tip of her nose. “I do want you to be happy, even if I worry. Now, come on.”

We struggled out of her bed and got ready, pulling our hair back in ponytails. We walked out to the open area where a light rain still fell, finding McKale sitting with our parents. He stood when he saw me, and his face lit up.

“Whoa,” Cassidy whispered as we approached them. “Must have been a really good date.”

When we got to the table I stretched up to kiss McKale on the cheek before taking his hand. My family appeared ready to burst into a round of applause. Instead, Dad stood and announced he would get us all a round of mead. Cassidy made a face, sticking out her tongue.

“I’m sick of that stuff. I’d kill for a soda.”

“Sorry, chickadee. I’ll get you some water.” Dad walked off with a grin.

“Ready to dance?” I asked McKale.

He kicked a small tuft of grass. “I’m no’ the best o’ line-dancers.”

“We’ll get through it together. Come on.”

I tugged his hand toward the dance formation. It was the middle of a song and the dancers were holding hands in a circle, moving back as they lowered their arms, and moving in as they lifted joined hands to the sky. When we stepped into the circle of dancers, a few people started clapping, and soon the entire clearing of Chaun broke into cheers. McKale’s grip tightened on my hand. They were cheering for us.

It was mine and McKale’s first time dancing in front of the Chaun as a couple. Our first true appearance together. Seeing their expressions of relief and joy made me realize they’d been worried that McKale and I weren’t hitting it off. So much was riding on our union. Seeing us hand-in-hand brought the clan’s hopes to the surface.

Emotion swelled inside me as McKale and I took our places among them. Every person who wasn’t dancing circled around us, clapping in sync.

Brogan stood with my family, and even from a distance I could see firelight reflecting the moisture in his eyes. This was the confirmation they’d all been waiting for, and I was glad to give it. Maybe I was biased, but as I linked hands with my betrothed and we stepped in tune to the music, I was certain it was the happiest dance ever performed. Despite his worries, he moved lithely, full of grace. And the way he captured my eyes… there was no way anyone watching could doubt what had grown between us. Especially as the dance ended and he tilted his head down for a kiss, which was met with a round of hooting from the clan.

Leilah and Rachelle came running over afterward, and I embraced them.

“By glory!” Leilah whispered in my ear. “I’ve never seen our McKale so sure of himself! A lucky lad, he is.”

Brogan climbed atop a table and belted out, “Well, Leprechauns! It looks as though we’re going to have ourselves a binding!”

Raucous cheers bellowed and I smiled up at McKale as that roller-coaster sensation wooshed through my body.

“Leon Mason!” Brogan shouted. “As the father of the binding female, you shall name the date.”

Daddy looked at me. I nodded, though nervous energy ratcheted under my skin.

“Six days from now!” Dad announced in a loud, clear voice.

“Six days it is!” Brogan lifted his glass and the clan raised theirs with him. “Here, here!”

“Here, here!” the clan chanted.

Oh, wow. Oh, gosh. Oh, shitballs. Six days.

One by one, Chaun members and village women approached us, kissing our hands and hugging us. In that moment, I admitted to myself I’d been harboring mild negative feelings toward the majority of McKale’s people. It bothered me how McKale was treated, and how they seemed to think women were lesser in many ways. But with each well-wish received, hurtful emotions shed away into forgiveness, leaving behind fresh, new sentiments.

My family was the last to embrace us. Dad held me close and kissed my head.

“You’ll always be my baby girl,” he whispered. I swallowed hard and squeezed him in return.

Mom and Cassidy cried. Shocking, I know. But I understood their happy tears now. I knew love was bursting inside their hearts for McKale and I, and it made me adore them more than ever.

Heavy, celebratory drinking ensued that night. Even after I headed off to the bungalows with Cassidy, we could still hear slurred singing drifting up the path.

“Somebody’s in love,” Cass teased. “Two somebodies, actually.”

I wanted to respond that there’d been no L-word action, but something in her voice was off. Her smile felt forced, and none of her usual amusement filled her words. She seemed fragile. We entered our room and closed the door, lighting the gas lamp. I needed to be gentle with her.

“What’s going on, Cass? Talk to me.”

She swallowed hard and blinked. Her hair was matted to her head from the rain earlier in the night. I’m sure I looked just as pleasant.

“I’m just tired.” She concentrated on changing out of her damp clothes.

“It’s something more than that.”

She didn’t answer me, choosing instead to climb into bed.

“No, I’m seriously so tired. I’m just going to sleep, and when I wake up, everything is going to be okay.”

Before I could attempt to get to the bottom of the issue, a weird buzzing and flapping noise came from outside our door.

“What the hell is that?” Cassidy sat up in bed with wide eyes. We stared at the door.

It continued, and we both jumped to our feet.

“Sounds like… a bird or something,” I said. A really large bird. Cracking the door, I peeked out into the darkness with Cassidy looking over my shoulder. I reeled when I heard the flapping again, but it was further away now. We opened the door enough to step out and look around. A small, hazy green form disappeared into the dark trees. Faint, high-pitched cackling sounded from within the nearby forest. I stared out, frozen, but Cassidy grabbed my wrist and tugged me back into the room, slamming the door behind us. We both leaned against it, breathing hard.

“That was one of those creepy little pixie things, wasn’t it?” Cassidy asked.

“No way.” I had no idea why I was denying it when we both knew that’s exactly what it had been.

“Freaky Fae Girl has a spy,” she said.

My stomach churned, threatening to send up all the mead inside.

“I hate her,” I whispered.

“I do, too. Let’s kick her ass. Two against one.”

“Don’t even joke,” I said, feeling queasy.

“You’re scared of her.” The realization seemed to shock Cassidy, and she grabbed my hand.

I’d never admitted fear, but I couldn’t deny it. We both knew that the FFG could take away everything I loved and royally screw up our lives if she had the notion. I was glad Cass didn’t say anything trite about how it would all be okay and there was nothing to fear.

“McKale loves you.”

Those cozy words made me close my eyes. I wanted him to love me. My heart was definitely headed in that direction, and I didn’t want to go alone. “Maybe,” I whispered.

“He hasn’t said it?”

“No.”

“Well, it was all over his face tonight. I’m happy for you, Robyn. So happy.”

Again with the sad voice, despite her sweet words. Something was off, but I was afraid to push her anymore tonight. She would likely clam up and get mad.

I lay my head on her shoulder and she leaned her head against mine. We stayed like that until it was clear the pixie wasn’t coming back, and then we climbed into our beds. Cassidy hadn’t been lying about being tired. She fell right to sleep.

She didn’t even wake when a gust of wind blew our door open. We must not have shut it all the way. I leapt from the bed with my heart in my throat, groping in the dark for the swinging door. I closed it hard and pushed my heavy suitcase in front of it. While I tossed and turned all night, afraid of monsters outside, Cassidy slept hard, even snoring at times.

I hoped she was okay. My world felt off kilter when Cass wasn’t well.

At some point that night my body’s exhaustion overrode my mind’s fears. I woke in the morning to the sound of Cassidy whispered cussing in our bathroom. She shuffled out and sat on her bed, leafing through her mini-calendar again.

“Hey, chickadee.”

She jumped at the sound of my sleepy voice.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Cass let out a derisive laugh and rubbed her temples. “I don’t know. I think… maybe… ugh! Never mind.”

“You think what? Tell me.” I sat up and took out my hairband, smoothing my hair back into another ponytail. She dropped her hands and looked right at me.

“The Clourichaun can’t, like, reproduce or whatever, right?”

A sickening dread filled me and the world seemed to stop.

“No. Why? Is your period late?”

“Yeah,” she whispered. “Four days.”

We stared at each other. Cassidy and I were never late. We were like the clockwork sisters.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, jumping up.

“Where are you going? Don’t tell Mom and Dad!”

“I’m not. I’m getting McKale.”

I ran from the room in my pajamas and bare feet with my heart threatening to beat out of my chest. I only saw one other person, so it must have been super early. Crap, I had to feed the animals! I sprinted and almost tackled Leilah and Rachelle as they came around the corner. I panted, leaning down with my hands on my knees.

“I’m going to be a little late on my chores.” I felt light headed. They eyed me like I was a scary sight.

“Don’ worry, miss Robyn. We’ll take care of the lot this mornin’. Ye just relax now.” Leilah patted my arm and they ambled off to work.

“Thank you,” I called.

I made it to McKale’s room and knocked on his door. He answered after a minute, shirtless with half his hair sticking up. He attempted to flatten out the mess of red when he saw that I was his visitor.

“Wha’ happened?”

“Can you come with me?” I whispered, wishing I didn’t sound so frantic. “I can’t talk about it out here.” He nodded and left the door open while he flew around his room, throwing on a shirt and scooping a handful of water to tame his hair. I waited outside the door with my arms crossed.

Cassidy couldn’t be pregnant. She was under a lot of stress with this trip: being in a strange place, knowing she’d soon be without her sister, getting involved in a serious whirlwind romance with someone she’d met a month ago. That stuff could have thrown off her body. I did the dates in my head. She would have conceived during one of their first times, if not the very first. What were the chances?

McKale came out, closing the door, and we rushed to my room where Cassidy waited. Once we were in with the door closed, the three of us stood close so we could keep our voices low. We each crossed our arms over our chests, which might have been comical under different circumstances.

“The Clour cannot have children, right?” I asked.

“Tha’s correct.” He looked back and forth between the two of us with a crease in his brow, then his gaze stopped on Cassidy and his forehead smoothed. “Ah.”

“Please tell me they can’t get women pregnant,” I whispered.

McKale paused, too long.

“Aye, they can.” He sounded respectfully sorry. “But it does no’ last beyond the early months.”

Cassidy whimpered, covering her mouth, and angry fire raged through me.

“McKale,” I said through gritted teeth. “Please find Rock and bring him here.”

He pushed a hand through his dampened hair and nodded at me, looking pained.

“Wait!” Cassidy’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm as he turned to go. “You’re not gonna tell him, are you?”

He looked down on her with sad eyes. “Nay. If I did, he’d no’ come.”

She watched him leave with her mouth agape. “He would still come.” She sounded childlike.

“Cass—”

“No!” She pulled away when I tried to touch her and went to her bed, sitting down and pulling up her knees. “McKale’s wrong. It’s not like that. Ronan loves me.”

I curled my hands into tight fists. My sister could be pregnant with a baby that had no chance of survival. And I had a terrible feeling the only person Rock loved was Rock.

We waited in silence. She stayed in bed and zoned out while I paced. It felt like forever before the guys came. Rock’s hair looked particularly big this morning and he wore a good-humored expression.

“Wha’s the secret, then? Are we off on another grand adventure today, lasses?”

“Oh, it’s grand alright,” I said.

“Robyn, stop!” Cassidy jumped out of bed and went to Rock. He draped an arm over her shoulder and they gazed at one another.

“Sorry,” she said to him. “It’s just that…”

She looked down, not able to say it, and Rock absorbed the silence. He noted our serious faces, and lost the stupid grin on his own. His hand dropped from Cassidy’s shoulder. When he took a step away and her chin quivered, I trembled with anger.

“Och. Ye should have warned her,” McKale told him.

“It’s okay,” Cassidy said. “I’m not mad at you, Ronan.” She moved toward him, but he looked afraid.

“I thought ye knew it was possible,” he said, eyes darting toward the exit, which was blocked by both McKale and myself.

“Well, you thought wrong.” I worked hard to thaw the ice from my voice. “So, now’s the part where you comfort her and tell her you’ll be there for her.”

Cassidy sent me a furious look. Rock reached out with uncertainty and laid a hand on Cassidy’s shoulder. When she leaned on him and began to cry into his chest, he put his arms awkwardly around her.

“Och, shiteballs,” he said.

Cassidy laughed at his funny-sounding use of her word before her tears tapered off and she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.

“Will ye be tellin’ yer folks?” he asked, seeming terrified at the prospect.

“No way. If I told my mom she would tell my dad and he’d probably kill you.”

His expression of terror expanded, and Cass managed a small giggle. “I won’t tell them, but I’m not good at keeping secrets. Maybe I’ll tell Mom when we’re back home.”

Rock didn’t look reassured. He’d obviously had bad luck with fathers in the past. Imagine that.

“Everything is okay,” she told him. “It’ll be okay.”

Why was she comforting him? It was not okay.

“Aye, Cassie-lassie.” His smile was nervous, but she beamed back at him anyway. I was shocked. She hated being called Cassie. She once chased me and gave me a wedgie when I said it.

At least Rock seemed to be making an effort now, even though he appeared unaccustomed to doing so.

“Um, so, Robyn and McKale are having their binding ceremony in five days,” she told him.

“Truly?” He grinned, but not as wide as usual.

“Perhaps I’ll see if me father can make an exception and allow the Clour to attend,” McKale said.

“Aye, if ye can get the stubborn old man to agree, I’ll be there.”

“Right.” McKale cleared his throat. “Well, we should get ye out of here before anyone sees ya.”

Tension still filled the air when the boys got ready to leave. Cassidy kissed Rock, and he was out the door, out of sight, quicker than a pixie.

McKale looked at my sister who stood there rubbing her arms. “Cass, if ye’d like I can have one of the women folk speak with ye. There’s several in the village who can advise ye what to expect. They’ll be discreet.”

She swallowed and shook her head. My heart tightened at what she’d soon be going through.

“No thanks,” she whispered. “I’m gonna take a bath now.”

She left us, and I took McKale’s hand, leading him outside of the bungalow door.

“Thank you,” I told him.

He nodded. I didn’t let go of his hand. In fact I tightened my grip when he started to leave. “Wait, Kale.” My stomach turned as I thought about the previous night. “Nobody came to visit you last night, did they?” He didn’t have to ask whom I meant.

“Nay. Why? What’s the matter?”

“There was a pixie outside our room last night.”

His jaw tensed and he stared out into the trees. “When she comes again, I will speak with her, and surely she’ll see reason.”

I didn’t know about that. I loathed the idea of them speaking, but what more could we do? He bent and kissed my lips, too briefly. But he kept his face close to mine and I admired his light eyes.

“Five days until our binding.” He spoke in a husky whisper.

A thrill tore through me and I reached out to grip the doorframe. The way he said it sounded much more like a sexy promise than a mere statement. Anxious excitement pinged around inside me.

“Five days,” I repeated.

The moment he walked away my happiness evaporated as I entered my room and remembered what unnecessary heartache we now had to deal with.

I paced the small room with my arms crossed. I knew I should have crushed Rock’s bits and pieces when I had the chance.

I was so engrossed in my dark thoughts about my little sister’s predicament that I didn’t notice the round-bellied green creature crouched on the bedside table until it freaking waved at me, grinning evilly. I stumbled, biting back a scream and tripping over a suitcase. The pixie flew up in the air, laughing with that unnerving high-pitched cackle as I dove for the door and flung it open.

“Robyn?” Cassidy called from the bathroom.

“One second!” I managed to say as the thing flew for the doorway, kicking me on the side of the head on its way out. Ow. I’d have given anything for a can of Raid at that moment. I slammed the door and sat in front of it, leaning my head back.

It was a spy. It had to be. No doubt, the pixie was going straight to his mistress to tell her everything he’d learned here this morning. Crap! How long had he been in our room and how’d he get in? And then I remembered the door bursting open during the night. Sneaky little bastard. He’d stayed still and quiet the whole time, hidden. The FFG would be proud of her little pet. I kicked the suitcase hard.

“What is going on?” Cassidy shouted, annoyed now.

“Oh, nothing much. Just found our freaky little pixie friend in our room.”

Frantic splashing sounds came from the tub. “Ohmigawd, nuh-uh!”

“Don’t worry, it’s gone now.”

She stilled. “Are you sure? Come in here.”

I stood and went to her, pulling the curtain aside and squatting on a small stool next to the tub. She was sitting up with a washcloth over her chest, and her knees pulled up in the cloudy water.

I told her what happened and Cassidy proceeded to once again call the FFG every bad name in the book. She knew it gave me great joy when she did that.

Cassidy ended her tirade, saying, “She needs to get a life and leave you alone.”

We were both thoughtful for a few minutes until she broke the silence.

“You know, McKale’s kind of cool.”

“Yeah?” I grinned. “He needed to warm up, I guess.”

“I’m glad he’s being good to you. I wish…”

“I know, Cass.” She wished a lot of things, and so did I. We reached out for each other and rested our joined hands on the edge of the tub. She laid her cheek on her knees.

“I’m scared.” Her voice hitched and a tear fell, sliding down her leg.

“Sweet girl,” I whispered as my heart shattered. “I’m here. I’ll do anything I can.”

“I keep thinking,” she said. “The Clour usually get humans pregnant, right? But I have magical blood. What if, you know, that makes it different? Maybe it’ll cancel out the curse and I won’t lose the baby.”

I stared at her. I didn’t believe for a second that her having magical blood would somehow reverse the curse against Rock’s people. Entertaining such thoughts would only make it harder. Plus, the idea of Cassidy as a teen mom was frightening.

“Don’t get your hopes up, chickadee, okay?”

She nodded and closed her eyes, pressing out more tears. “I love you, Robyn.”