Fairy Bad Day(38)

“You know why I couldn’t.” She looked at him before taking a deep breath. “The thing is, the darkhel spoke to me. It told me that I fought just like my mother.”

Curtis’s dark eyes widened, and for a moment as he looked like he was having some sort of internal battle with himself, but whatever he had been wanting to say seemed to be lost, and instead he straightened himself to his full height and said in a businesslike voice, “So what can I do to help?”

“Loni and Tyler spent all last night at the library but still couldn’t find a thing on the darkhel. That’s why I need to go back to my house. My mom had a really big collection of one-of-a-kind elemental books. I’m hoping there will be something there.” Her voice probably sounded a bit gruffer than she had intended, but it was only because his own change of tone had caused such an overwhelming sense of relief that she suddenly felt like crying. However, she quickly jabbed her nails into the fleshy part of her palm and managed to regain her composure. Slayers didn’t cry. She didn’t cry.

Curtis started to swing his way toward where the taxi was still waiting. “So you need to get the books and get back here before the minibus comes to pick us up.”

“That’s right . . . and Curtis, thanks,” she said as she swallowed hard. She seemed to be saying that a lot to him lately.

“It’s no big deal.” He gave a dismissive shrug as he came to a halt next to the taxi and held the back door open for her. She slid in and had just given the driver her dad’s address when she realized that Curtis had made his way around to the other side of the taxi and was trying to maneuver himself, his crutches, and his slaying kit into the cramped space next to her. Finally, he was settled and he reached to put on his seat belt.

“What are you doing? You don’t have to come with me. I’ll meet you back here,” Emma assured him as she rubbed her sore eye.

He shook his head. “Nope, I don’t think so.”

“But, Curtis—” she started to explain.

“Yes, Jones?” He cut her off with a serene smile, which reminded her why he was so annoying. She took a deep breath and tried again.

“Can’t you just go and look for the troubadour dragons and do the assignment?” she urged, but he merely shook his head.

“Strangely enough, I’m not really in the mood for doing my assignment. Probably because you got attacked by something that no one else can see, and part of me thinks it might not be the best thing to let you go there alone.” He turned to the driver. “Okay, we can go.”

“But I’m the only one who can see the darkhel, so even if it did attack me again, you couldn’t help,” she pointed out, and for a moment Curtis’s face froze again before he gave her a tight shrug.

“All the same, I’m coming,” he replied. Then he paused. “Actually, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. It’s about what happened yesterday outside the simulation labs.”

“Oh.” Her face started to heat up. “You mean with the tie?”

“I mean, how you asked if I wanted to go to the practice range,” he clarified.

“R-right.” Emma suddenly decided that it might be a good idea to study the handle of her slaying kit, since reliving humiliating experiences wasn’t exactly her number one hobby.

“The thing is—” He paused for a moment and cleared his throat. “It’s not that I didn’t want to go with you, it’s just the practice range isn’t really my thing. I find it easier to fight in the simulation labs.”

Emma looked at him and blinked in surprise, since of all the things she thought he might say, that wasn’t one of them. “So that’s why you said no?”

“Sure.” He nodded, then his expression turned confused. “Why else?”

“Er, no reason.” She blinked as she realized that Curtis must be the only student at Burtonwood who didn’t know what “going to the practice range” was code for, but before she could say anything else, the taxi suddenly turned onto a quiet suburban street and too late she realized that she had been so focused on her conversation with Curtis that she was now woefully unprepared for her visit.

The taxi slowed down and came to a halt. Emma felt something catch in her throat as she stared out at the pale wood veneer and teak trim of the house on Larnark Road. It was the place she had grown up, but it no longer felt like home.

“Are you okay?” Curtis asked from beside her.

“I’m fine,” Emma said, a little bit too quickly, as she busied herself getting out of the taxi, hoping he couldn’t see her reaction. Curtis followed. She didn’t even like telling Loni about her dad, so she was hardly going to talk to Curtis about him, even if they were friends now. Especially because to the outside world her dad was a pretty decent guy. Cheerful, happy, supportive. Capable of transferring his affections from her mom to Olivia less than a year after her mom had died.

Then without saying another word she hurried up the path and knocked on the door of the place she had once called home.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN





Emma. This is a wonderful surprise. We didn’t expect you.” Olivia appeared at the door wearing a soft green sweater to hide her baby bump, while deeper in the house Emma could hear the faint sound of music and smelled roast pork wafting through to the front. Turning up here unannounced suddenly didn’t seem like such a good idea, and she felt a flood of emotions catch in her chest.