Fairy Bad Day(41)

“That’s because you’ve grown up in a house where it’s completely normal to talk about kreplin dragons and sword fighting.” Curtis seemed to be clenching his jaw. “The first time I told my dad that I thought there was something evil in the room he didn’t believe me. The second time I did it he smacked me around. The third time, well, I had enough sense to keep my mouth shut.”

“What?” Emma studied his eyes to see if there was any hint of joking in them, but he merely returned her gaze in a steady, unflinching way.

“The thing is, my dad’s spent most of his life working in a wood mill during the week, drinking his body weight in beer on the weekend, and hoping that the Vikings will win the Super Bowl. No one in my family has ever had the sight before, so it’s not exactly an easy thing for them to accept.”

“Your family’s sight-blind? Curtis, I had no idea.” She hadn’t been quite sure what he was going to tell her, but it certainly wasn’t this. She’d never even heard of someone being born to two sight-blind parents, and as far as she knew, she was the only one who had been born with just one sight-gifted parent.

“There’s no reason why you should.” He looked down at the cast on his leg. “Anyway, my dad pretty much disowned me when I came here, so I’m sort of on a scholarship. Now, seriously, can we please drop the subject?”

Emma ignored his request as she realized how wrong she had been about him. It also explained why he hadn’t even known what the Pure One was.

She softened her voice. “What about your mom? And do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“My mom left when I was just a kid and we haven’t heard from her since. And my younger brother died a few years ago.” He bowed his head and seemed to be studying his hands.

“Curtis,” Emma whispered, feeling her throat tighten.

He cut her off. “It’s fine, Jones. Can we just forget it?”

“Sure.” She quickly nodded.

“Right, folks, here we are,” the driver interrupted as the taxi came to a halt. “So how do you want to pay for that?” he asked as Emma glanced up to realize they’d arrived back at the parking lot by the lakes. For a moment she just blinked as she tried to digest what Curtis had told her, before the taxi driver started to tap his hand impatiently on the steering wheel.

“Um, cash,” she quickly said as she pulled some money out of her pocket and passed it over before getting her stuff together and getting out. Once the taxi had disappeared from sight and they’d made their way in silence over to a wooden picnic table, Emma started to carefully transfer the books into her slaying kit. She was fairly sure the minibus driver would want to know how they had managed to find a box of old books when they were observing troubadour dragons.

She had just finished when the minibus pulled into the parking lot. The group of seniors was already inside, looking a bit wet and worse for wear. All Emma longed to do was start reading her mom’s books, but instead she was forced to spend the whole trip back listening to what the older slayers had been through on their selkie patrol. However, the trip was made easier by the comfortable silence that had descended between her and Curtis. It was . . . nice.

Finally, the minibus pulled into Burtonwood and they both made their way back into the dark, silent Academy.

“So what now?” Curtis asked as they came to a halt at the entrance of her dorm.

“Now I go back to my room and start going through these books and hope I can find some mention of the darkhel,” she said as she hitched her slaying kit, weighted down with books, higher over her shoulder.

“Well, I’d offer to come and help you but I guess the last thing you need is to risk being caught with a guy in your room,” he said as he leaned forward on his crutches so that his face was almost level with hers. For a moment Emma found herself staring at his dark, velvety eyes, temporarily mesmerized at the intense swirling colors. She wasn’t sure how long it was before suddenly realizing he was waiting for her to answer. She felt her face start to heat.

“Oh yeah. It’s probably best if you don’t,” she agreed, her voice sounding breathy, even to her own ears. “And, look, I’m sorry I’ve been such a . . . well, less than nice to you. I guess I was so caught up in my own problems I didn’t really think anyone else had any.”

“Hey, Jones, we’ve talked about this. You know it freaks me out when you’re too nice to me. It makes me think you’re going soft,” he teased as he shot her a lopsided grin.

“Hardly.” She found herself grinning back at him, her mood lighter than it had been all day. “As you will discover when we do our virtual tests tomorrow. Because, Mr. Green, I hate to inform you that I plan to whip your dragon-slaying butt.”

“Really?” His lips twitched in amusement. “I’ll have you know that just about the only time this stupid broken leg doesn’t hold me back is when I’m doing a simulation test.”

“Uh-huh. Sure.” Emma smiled and turned to walk away.

“Oh, and Jones?”

“Yes?” She turned back around for a moment to see that he was still grinning.

“Try not to stay up all night reading that stuff, because if you want to beat me, you’re going to need your sleep.”

“In your dreams,” she retorted as she watched him swing his way back toward his dorm. But it wasn’t until he was gone that she realized she was still smiling.