A Thief of Nightshade(8)

He pointed at a small craftsman on their right. “This is home.”

She turned into the driveway and remained in the SUV while he ran inside to get his spare keys. “Aubrielle Wright, what are you doing?” she asked herself aloud.

He got back in, reached for his seatbelt and paused. “How do you know the brothers Grimm intended their stories for children?” The seatbelt clicked into place as he settled himself back in.

“I don’t know,” she laughed. “I read it somewhere, I think.”

“Has it been so very long ago that you believed in magic?”

“I’m twenty-three years old.” She swiveled in her seat to back out of the driveway. “I stopped believing in faerie tales when I was shipped off to boarding school. You tend to grow up faster when you have to take care of yourself.”

“I’m sorry, Aubrielle. Truly, I know what that’s like to feel as though you don’t mean anything to your family besides what you can do for them. What was boarding school like?”

She stayed hushed for several long moments before responding. “We would have parent day twice a year. Grant, my older brother, would take time away from veterinary school, or later on from his practice, to come. I have an older sister and a younger brother who were with me at school, but it isn’t the same as having a functional family. I remember badly breaking my leg when I was ten and my parents were too busy planning a charity benefit to come see me in the hospital.

Really, I love that there are still people in this world who can believe in all things warm and fuzzy. But there’s nothing like cold, hard reality to take it right out of you.”

Dr. Sellars reached over and, with his thumb, wiped a tear from her cheek that she hadn’t realized was there. It wasn’t like her to cry, and certainly not in front of someone she barely knew. In fact, she could count the number of times she’d cried on one hand, even as a child. She felt the warmth in her cheeks as they reddened.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to get so personal.” She wiped her eyes and laughed. “You know us women, always first to get emotional.”

His demeanor remained serious.

“You aren’t the emotional type, Miss Wright.”

They pulled into the faculty parking lot. “I assume the lone mud-covered Pathfinder belongs to you?” she asked.

“Does that surprise you?”

Aubrey pulled up beside it and admitted, “A little.”

Jullian leaned toward the dash, catching her eye, though she was trying to avoid it. “Magic’s a funny thing. It finds us in the very places we aren’t looking for it.”

“And where is that, Dr. Sellars?”

He opened the door and got out.

Once he was on his feet, he leaned down and rested his arms above the open window. “In the ordinary, the everyday.”

He stood upright and cordially bowed his head, whispering,

“Sweet

dreams,

Aubrielle.”

She smiled in return and watched in silence as he opened the creaking driver’s side door to the Pathfinder and climbed in.



His words hung in the air, holding with them a feeling of wonder that she hadn’t felt in

so

long,

it

was

nearly

unrecognizable.

Avalar

Aubrey’s skin still throbbed where she’d pinched herself, which, truth be told, gave her a modicum of hope. “There must be a way. Maybe—”

“No,” Aislinn barked. “Don’t you understand? He knows nothing, recognizes no one and is going to be crowned King.”

He softened his interruption with, “He may already be King. You don’t know what you’re up against.”

She narrowed her eyes, unfazed.

“I’ve read Jullian’s books.”

“The Faerie Queen, Saralia if you care to know her name, has ruled Avalar for centuries, with no one to challenge her.

Considering how long Jullian has been gone, I can’t tell you how accurate those books are or how many details they left out. Do you even know the King’s name?”

Aubrey couldn’t recall mention of a king at all, save one or two brief references to the King of the Beasts, whom Jullian had conveniently failed to name. “No,” she admitted.

Lipsey

jumped

from

Aubrey’s

shoulder to her lap and looked up at her.

“Yes, that’s who we need to talk to, the King of the Beasts, he challenged Saralia.

He could help. They fought, right, Aislinn?

That’s how he got the scar on his nose.”

“Do you remember how long ago that was?”

Lipsey shook his head, his eyes losing their excitement.

Aislinn readjusted his position, seemingly uncomfortable in his own skin.

“Lifetimes ago. Tabor is immortal. He was here when the world began and he will be here when it ends. This is a dark place, Aubrielle. So my condolences, but you’ll never get within a hundred yards of Jullian—that I can promise you. You’d be better off asking Tabor to send you home.”

She nudged Lipsey off her lap and started to pull on the black boots she’d worn to the funeral. She looked up at Lillian. “Thank you so much for your kindness and for the soup.”