Brenon set his fingers under my chin and lifted it, so I was looking right into his eyes. Then, he leaned down, so his lips were hovering over mine. Our noses touched, and I could feel his warm breath against my lips. Hunger rose up inside me. I wanted to grab hold of him and pull him into me. I wanted to taste him, feel his bare skin with my hands.
"I would never do anything to hurt you, ever again," Brenon whispered. He dropped his hands, then turned away from me, walking up the stairs.
I stood in the living room alone for a moment, pulse racing, electricity feeling like it was shooting from the place of his touch to every inch of my skin. After a few deep breaths, I smoothed my hair and marched up the steps. It didn't matter if I wanted Brenon, he was leaving. It would hurt too much to let him back in just to say goodbye again.
I followed the sounds of shuffling papers and muffled conversation to a bedroom at the end of the hall. When I went through the door, I saw Aunt Kay and Gia already flipping through old, leather-bound books at a circular table. Brenon stood by the wall and nodded to me as I entered as if we hadn't just had an incredibly intimate moment a few seconds ago. I bit down on the inside of my lip to try to stifle the flicker of excitement that was rising inside my traitorous body. My mind might be telling me to resist, but I worried my body would take over if were alone again.
Finding a seat at the table, I pulled one of the unopened books over to me. "What are we looking for?"
Aunt Kay looked at me over a pair of reading glasses. "These are the journals of the Sayges from our family that came before us. We're looking for anything that might refer to the original curse or the gates that seal the entrance to Faerie."
She picked up a book and offered it to Brenon. "Here. Maybe you'll learn something."
Brenon took the book and then sat down in the remaining chair between Gia and Aunt Kay.
We all flipped through the pages in silence. I squinted at the tiny, cramped writing and tried to make out what the drawings and symbols might mean. Most of it didn't make sense. Notes about trees, spirits, and something with wings referred to as an Evil. I didn't know what the Evil was, but the hair on my arms stood on end every time I came across one of the crude drawings. The creature had a pointed beak-like nose, long arms and legs capped with curled claws, pointed ears, and wings like a bat.
"Coffee's ready."
I looked up to see Maggie and Joe in the doorway. Maggie handed a cup to Aunt Kay and one to Gia. Joe handed me a cup that was the exact right color for coffee with the perfect amount of cream. To my surprise, he gave Brenon a cup, too.
"I have no idea how you like it, so I made it the same way as Ara's. I'm sure she'll drink yours if you don't like it," Joe said.
"You could just hand it over to me right now. Joe makes a mean cup of coffee." I smiled at my friend.
Maggie and Joe left the room, and we went back to digging through the books. It was slow going, and every so often, someone would find something that seemed promising and shared it with Aunt Kay. Then, she'd dismiss it as the wrong thing.
Despite the several cups of coffee I'd had at this point, my eyes were growing heavy. I glanced toward the window. It was totally dark. We'd turned all the lights on several hours ago. I flipped the page and tension spread through my whole body as I stared down at a picture of what looked like a wall dividing two lands. Leaning closer to the page, I squinted at the tiny lettering. Curse breaking.
My heart pounded in my ears. We weren't looking for a way to break the curse, but this had to be important. Would Aunt Kay want to know about it?
I read the passage written next to the drawing.
A child of two worlds may break the curse using magic channeled from both earth and Faerie.
What did that mean? Did that mean that Brenon could be free of the curse without having to find a human girl to break it? If I could break it for him, would he let me? Did that change anything?
"Ara?" Aunt Kay broke me from my thoughts.
"Yes?"
"What did you find?" she reached for the book.
I passed it to her. "It's not what we need, but I think it's related. It seems that maybe there's another way to break the curse."
She lifted her eyebrows, then pulled the book in front of her.
Brenon stood and moved over to where Aunt Kay was without a word. The two of them leaned over the book for a few minutes.
"She's right," Brenon said. "There is another way."
I smiled. Though I was trying to tell myself that I didn't want to be with Brenon, I still didn't like the idea of him being with another girl. "That's great news, right? I can help you after we defeat Terra and open the gate."
"No," Aunt Kay said. "It's too risky. It says here that you'd have to channel magic from both sides of the gate. Magic from earth and Faerie. At the same time. That's too much for anyone to handle. I don't know what it would do to you."
"I'm sure I could handle it," I said.
"No," Brenon said. "Kay is right, it's far too dangerous. I don't know anyone who'd be powerful enough to channel that much magic. And I don't know what it would do to mix the magic of the two realms."
"If I did this, you wouldn't have to find some random human sacrifice, surely that's worth it, right Aunt Kay?" I asked.
"Absolutely not." Aunt Kay closed the book. "I don't want to hear another word about this. It's late. We'll look more tomorrow."
Chapter 14
The house was quiet when I woke in the pink room at Aunt Kay's. I took a deep breath and stretched before sitting up. Joe snored softly in the bed next to me. I considered waking him, then thought better of it. He'd been through a lot by going on this trip with me.
Still wearing the clothes I'd been in for the last few days, I wondered if I should risk asking my aunt if she had anything I could wear. I worried I'd end up dressed in a floral pattern like her furniture.
When I looked out into the hallway, I didn't see anyone. I didn't smell coffee or breakfast. Was I the first one up?
On tiptoes, I made my way to the room we'd been in last night looking at the old books. They were still sitting out on the table. Sunlight poured through the sheer curtains on the window, filling the room with a warm golden light.
Settling into the chair, I started flipping through the books again. Was it possible to open the gates after we took down Terra? My hand paused in the act of turning a page. Today was the day we were going to meet the other Sayges to plan our attack on Terra. Shouldn't the others be up? When would the elders be here?
The floorboards behind me creaked, letting me know I wasn't the only one awake. I spun around in my chair to face the door. Brenon was standing there, arms crossed over his chest, a soft smile on his lips.
"How long have you been standing there?"