Blackie noticed us first. “Oy! Lads, we have guests!” He ran a hand through his hair and grinned at us as the rest of the Clour rushed out of the rundown cottage.
Cass’s hand was cutting off the circulation to my fingers. Rock was slowly standing. Looking between the three of us. We greeted the Clour boys, who weren’t nearly as boisterous as usual. Like McKale and I, they kept glancing furtively between Cassidy and Rock.
Rock stepped up, pale.
“Feeling ill, mate?” McKale asked him with concern.
“Aye. ‘Tis a strange feeling about. Bad magic or somethin’. Can ye feel it?”
“Aye,” McKale whispered. “I can.”
Rock shook his head, then looked straight up at Cassidy. All movement stopped as they locked eyes. And then Rock turned to McKale and said, “Have ye been hiding the lasses from us? Afraid the ole Clour charm will steal ‘em away?” This was asked half-heartedly, and even the chuckles from the other Clour were weak.
Cassidy slumped and my heart sank.
“’Tis been a busy summer,” McKale told him. “This is Cassidy Mason. Cass… this is Rock.”
“Hi,” she said softly.
The look on Rock’s face as he watched her was pitiful, like his mind was frantically trying to grasp at something right out of reach. His entire summer had been spent with Cass—that was a lot of memory to take. As grateful as I was to the Summer King, I was also angry that he addled the mind of a young man in such a dangerous way.
Rock pressed two fingers to his temple and closed his eyes. “Me head…”
“You should have a lie down, mate,” McKale said, reaching out to steady him. Rock nodded and hung his head, heading indoors.
“It makes it worse for him to see me,” Cass said with sad realization.
“Should we try to remind ‘im?” Blackie asked. “A bit at a time—”
“No.” Cass’s voice was strong. “I’m afraid it’ll strain his mind. I need to just… stay away.”
We looked around at each other, at a loss, awkwardness and discomfort spreading. Cass turned from us and rushed away, tearing into the trees. I would have chased her, but I was sure she needed some time to herself. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“We still have three more weeks before my family goes home,” I said. “This is going to be hard.”
They all nodded. It was strange and wrong to see the Clour forlorn.
“Take care of him, ‘kay?” I said to the guys.
Again they nodded, and McKale escorted me away, back to Leprechaun land.
Three weeks passed in a dizzying mix of joyful love with McKale, and sorrowful silence with Cassidy. She had changed—matured overnight. Not once did she try to see Rock after that day on Clour land. She woke early every morning to help with chores, spent afternoons devouring classics from her AP summer reading list, and went to bed early each night. I actually missed the carefree, spontaneous, giggling girl who’d come to Ireland with me.
On another note of drastic change, Mom and Dad had spent the last three weeks on Clour land helping the boys till the land for a late summer garden, fixing up the cottage, and teaching them to do basic things to better care for themselves and their home. Dad had even talked Brogan into allowing the Clour to begin helping with Shoe House responsibilities again once they were gone. He said the boys needed more responsibilities to feel like men. They were young when the Fae had cursed their clan. The older generations of Clour who’d caused all the problems were now gone. Dad wanted these boys to have a second chance to be better than their ancestors.
On my family’s last morning I sat behind Cassidy french-braiding her wet hair while she finished reading Pride and Prejudice. My stomach had been hurting for days at the thought of them leaving. I loved McKale and would follow him anywhere, but I was going to miss my family like crazy. Especially my sister—my best friend.
Cass closed the book with a sigh just as I snapped the rubber band into place.
Someone knocked quietly on the door before pushing it open. Mom and Dad stood there, dressed for the day. Cassidy and I stood.
“Listen,” Dad said. “We need to go into town to return the tech stuff and van and get our rental car back. We’d also like to get some things for Robyn—necessities to hold her over here for a while.”
I nodded at that. There were several things I wanted to stock up on.
“And, um…” Dad swallowed and Mom slid his arm through his, encouragingly. “We were thinking of inviting McKale and Ronan to come along. But only if that’s okay with you.” They looked at Cass.
Her face stayed neutral, but I saw her chest rise and fall faster. “Okay.”
An hour later Cassidy and I were holding hands and turning the corner around the back of the village. Our hands were sweating, but we didn’t let go. The front of the white van came into view and then we stopped in our tracks. McKale and Rock stood there, waiting for us, looking so cute with anticipation. They both looked clean, with haircuts and shaven faces.