The Halfling (Aria Fae #1) Read online

  I paused, studying him. What I did next spoke volumes about how I felt toward him, because I handed the weapon over. Samantha Shy was the only other person alive I would’ve let touch the staff had she asked, and she never had.

  Matt took it with wonder, touching it gingerly, a reverence in his brown eyes as the magic inside it met with his fingers. “Magnificent,” he said, almost as if to himself. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It makes no sense.”

  He handed it back. I ran my hand over the staff again and it returned to its smaller size. “You wouldn’t have seen anything like it,” I agreed, “because there is nothing else like it. It’s one of a kind, and it makes perfect sense, just not in your world.”

  “What’s going on here, Sam?” Matt asked, his face a touch wary.

  So we told him. We sat around in the dank old warehouse and told him everything, and once we were done telling him everything, Sam and I sat beside each other, staring at Matt, gaging his reaction. I could tell from Sam’s aura that she was as nervous for his reaction as I was.

  When Matt only sat looking back at us, wonder and amazement behind his eyes, Sam said, “So that’s it, Matty. That’s everything. Grant City needs help, and we’re going to be the ones to deliver it… What do you say, are you in?”

  Matt blinked rapidly, as if waking from a dream. “Are you kidding me?” he said. “Hell yeah, I’m in. I’m not going to let you be some hero vigilantes without me.”

  And, like that, we were a team. Looking back now, I always wonder how things would have been different if I’d been smart and not let them get involved. I suspect it would have changed everything.

  CHAPTER 31

  If this were a movie, a montage would have gone right about here. The three of us spent the rest of the evening clearing out a good space in the warehouse, rearranging things, coming up with ideas.

  “I heard about that on the news,” Matt said, moving some debris over to the stack we’d created against the far wall. “That was you?”

  Sam answered for me. “Heck yeah it was her!” she said. “She totally saved those women. Kicked the crap out of some pretty beefy dudes, too.”

  “Sam,” Matt said. “Do you think that’s what happened to your mom?”

  Sam’s shoulders fell, the excitement leaking out of her aura to be replaced with the shadows of grief. I answered for her this time. “That’s what we suspect.”

  “We gotta do this, don’t we?” Matt observed.

  Sam and I both nodded.

  Picking up my jacket that I’d set down when we’d begun working, Matt asked, “Is this what you wear to go out on the missions?”

  I flushed. “I don’t have a lot of clothes.”

  “No, it’s cool. It’s a cool jacket… but if you let me take it with me for a few days, I might be able to make some upgrades.”

  My head tilted. The jacket was really the only one I owned. It was black and gray, the sleeves a sweater material that allowed easy movements, the hood matching the sleeves. The vest part was just black denim, with pockets and black buttons.

  “What kinds of upgrades?” I asked.

  “Awesome ones, obviously,” Matt replied. “Do you trust me?”

  “Obviously,” I returned.

  He stuffed it into his backpack. “Cool,” he said, looking around the warehouse. “You’re also going to need somewhere to train. I think I can make some upgrades to our lair, too.”

  I rolled my eyes and let out a little laugh. “You’re calling it that, too?”

  “What?” Sam said. “That’s what it is.”

  “It’s getting late,” I said, checking my watch.

  “We’re suspended, remember?” Sam replied.

  “Matt’s not.”

  “I could be sick,” Matt answered. “Yep, I’m pretty sure I’ll be sick tomorrow. We have so much to do here!”

  “You shouldn’t miss school,” I said, the good little soldier in me rearing its head.

  Matt chuckled at this. “What are they going to teach me at GCHS? I mean, really? Genius, remember?”

  Sam nodded, a slow grin working its way over her face. “He has a point,” she said.

  At last, I agreed, and we called it a night. I walked the two of them home and headed toward my own apartment, feeling a little naked without my jacket, and wondering what Matt had meant about upgrades.

  I made it home without incident, and sleep came easier than it had in what felt like years. There were no bad dreams, no waking up in a cold sweat, no tear-soaked pillows.

  It seemed I’d found myself a makeshift family, and I was more grateful than I could even express with words.

  On Wednesday morning, I awoke feeling refreshed, ready to take on whatever the world threw at me. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and went for a run. When I returned, I saw Thomas Reid returning home from wherever he’d been.

  Determined not to look like a complete idiot, as I had managed to do every other time we’d encountered each other, I gave him my brightest smile and said, “Good morning, Thomas.”

  He returned the smile, his aura swimming with that darkness so common to veterans, and my heart gave a squeeze. “Good morning, Aria,” he said. His hazel eyes ran the length of me, heating my cheeks. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

  For some reason, this question embarrassed me, and I grew a bit defensive. “I’m going back Friday,” I said.

  “You get in trouble?”

  I told myself that I didn’t have to answer that, and then did anyway. “Maybe,” I said. “Maybe a little.”

  He gave his head a small shake, that touch of amusement flashing through his aura. “Be careful,” he said, before retreating into his apartment. “This city can be a dangerous place. Especially for a girl like you.”

  Before I could ask what he meant by that, he shut the door behind him, leaving me to stare at the spot in which he’d been.

  Once I was inside my own apartment, I saw I had a message from Sam, telling me to meet her and Matt at the ‘lair’, and promising coffee and donuts upon my arrival. That was enough to get me in and out of the shower in a jiffy and out the door.

  I arrived at the warehouse ten minutes later—I refused to call it our lair—taking what was becoming my usual method of travel, the rooftops of the buildings. It worked to my advantage that people in cities seemed not to look at anything other than exactly what was in front of them. They didn’t make eye contact or call out greetings. They just jammed themselves between the buildings and then proceeded to ignore those sharing the city walls. It was curious to me, strange, even. Fae people were an intimate race, and more like the humans in small towns; they took the time to know each other, to interact as they passed by.

  People in Grant City always seemed to be on the go, and so I went unnoticed as I travelled above them, at once a separate and a part of it all.

  I climbed in through the same window I’d used the day before as I reached the warehouse, and jumped off the landing outside the small office, making Matt jump and nearly trip over the stuff scattered around his feet.

  “Boo,” I said as I dropped in front of him.

  “Holy cannoli!” Matt said. “You scared the bejeezus out of me, Aria!”

  Laughing, I took a cup of coffee from Sam, who was also chuckling. “Sorry,” I said.

  “Pfft,” Sam replied, pushing her glasses up her nose. “No, she’s not. Come on. Matt, let’s show her what we’ve done so far.”

  I followed them over to a corner of the warehouse where a bench had been set up. There were ropes hanging from the ceiling and a metal bar and been attached to the wall. The warehouse floor was better lit during the day, the high windows in the walls letting in golden sunlight, highlighting the dust motes floating in the air. The floor here had been swept and there were thick gym mats set up in the space beside the bench.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “It’s the start of a training area for you,” Matt answered. “It’s not much yet, but we’ll
get there. If we’re gonna do this, you have to keep up your strength.”

  Grinning, I said, “I’ll need a sparring partner.”

  Sam gave Matt a little push forward. “He volunteers.”

  “What? No, I don’t.” He gestured to me. “Look at her biceps.”

  Laughing, I spent the rest of the early afternoon working out. I used the bar to do pull-ups and work my abs, the bench to do dips and more abs, the mats for some yoga and stretching. It felt good to have a place to do the things I’d spent most of my life doing, and while I did all this, Sam and Matt did their thing.

  Matt worked on hooking up some electricity and setting up a security system while Sam set up a place for her computers and other electronics. How they were doing what they were doing was beyond me, a language I was not familiar with, but I could tell by the way they looked over at me occasionally during my exercises that they felt the same way about all the things they had seen me do.

  It would seem we made a good team.

  “It’s like fate,” Sam said to me.

  I was getting ready to go to work at Roses, having promised to return to the warehouse tonight.

  “What is?” I asked.

  “Us,” she replied. “The three of us being together. I mean, what are the odds? It feels like it’s meant to be or something.”

  These words stayed in my head as I walked toward the flower shop, using the street instead of the rooftops because I wasn’t sure how Rose would react to seeing me climb in a window.

  My head felt clear, my feet light, my mind untroubled.

  The thing is, when you go looking for trouble, it has a way of finding you, and my two new friends and I were doing nothing if not looking for it.

  What I walked in on upon arriving at Roses was proof enough of this.

  CHAPTER 32

  The bell over the door of the shop dinged as I walked in to find a very upset man in front of the counter behind which Rose stood. I didn’t need to be able to read auras to discern this. His face was bright red, his jowly cheeks shaking.

  “She didn’t like the flowers,” said the man, his teeth baring with the words. “She threw them back at me and slammed the door in my face.” He leaned forward over the counter now, his meaty hands splayed out between them. Rose took a step back. “You owe me a refund,” he said, slamming a fist down on the counter.

  “Sounds like it was you she was displeased with,” I heard myself say, drawing the attention of both Rose and the man. “Not the flowers.”

  He turned his rage toward me. “Who the hell asked you?” he spat.

  I held my hands up, palms out toward him, body shifting the way it always did in tense situations. Rose shot me a concerned look, and I tried to reassure her with a nod.

  “Nobody,” I said. “I’m nobody at all.”

  “Then why don’t you mind your own damn business?” He turned back toward Rose.

  I moved slowly around the counter and stood beside her. “It is my business, sir,” I said.

  “Aria—” Rose began, but I shot her a look and she quieted.

  Studying the man’s aura, I looked him in the eyes and asked, “Who did you lose?”

  This question diffused his rage a bit purely because it shocked him. “How do you know I lost someone?” he asked, some of the acid leaking out of his voice.

  “Because I’ve lost people, too, and it has a way of sitting on your shoulders,” I answered. It was as close to the truth as I could give. I couldn’t very well say I saw it in his aura. I knew the look of a grieving soul well.

  “My sister,” he answered, slumping only slightly. I felt Rose relax beside me.

  “How long ago?” I asked.

  “Last week,” he said.

  I nodded. “I’m sorry for your loss. I lost my mother last month.” As soon as the words slipped out of my mouth, I knew my mistake, but it was too late. Rose looked over at me, her eyebrows furrowed a bit, but she said nothing.

  Holding out my hand, I decided to help the man out. It seemed to be my new purpose as of late—helping strangers out. Pushing some of my will on him, he reached up and set his sweaty hand in mine.

  I met his eyes, and pulled some of the grief from him. It was a gift I hadn’t told Sam about, and didn’t use very often, as it took its toll. I could absorb feelings from people if I touched them, could transfer energy and ease the pain of their minds, but it meant shouldering that pain myself.

  That’s why you were built so strong, my Arianna, I heard my mother’s voice say. Because there are those that cannot bear their own burdens… because the world needs heroes, but it also needs healers. You happen to be the rarest combination of both.

  It was a memory that I hadn’t thought of in what seemed like ages, and as I gave the man my condolences and pulled some of the grief from him, I found my mood darkening, as if my world were dimming around the edges.

  Three minutes later he walked out of the shop having bought himself some of his sister’s favorite flowers, a smile on his face and an apology on his lips.

  When he was gone, Rose turned toward me, her eyebrows practically touching the ceiling.

  I moved to the back room of the shop and put on my apron, grabbing the notepad that held unfilled orders. Rose followed me and watched me as I did so.

  “What?” I said at last.

  “What?” Rose replied. “How about what was that?”

  I wasn’t really in the mood for explaining myself, and there was no doubt that the dark emotions I’d taken on were a part of this. “That was good people skills, ma’am,” I answered.

  Rose gave me an incredulous look. “That was more than good people skills, Aria… but didn’t you tell me you moved here because your mother got a new job? You told Mr. Bennett she passed a month ago.”

  I shrugged. “I lied to him so he could feel like I related to his situation,” I said. “What I told you is true.”

  Rose took a moment to absorb this. After a bit of awkward silence, she said, “You can trust me, Aria. You know that?”

  Looking over at her, I offered a smile. “I know that, ma’am,” I said.

  She stared at me a few seconds longer and then returned to the front of the shop. Once she was gone, I slumped against the counter before retreating to the small bathroom in the back. There, I splashed some water on my face and cried a few tears over the feelings that were running through me. I clung to the knowledge that I’d helped the man a great deal. It made the pain bearable.

  Rose didn’t ask any more questions, for which I was grateful, and three hours passed quickly. Then it was time to head home… and from there back to the warehouse for whatever mission I would find myself on tonight.

  With the dark cloud of my newly acquired mood, I was shutting down the shop with Rose when a final customer entered. I released a sigh as Caleb Cross walked through the door, the little bell on the top signaling his arrival.

  He grinned, dimples denting his cheeks as he took sight of me. “Aria,” he said. “What a pleasant surprise.”

  Rose came out of the back room before I could respond. “Caleb,” she said, “how are you, dear?” She came forward and kissed his cheek. “How’s your brother?”

  Caleb gave Rose his heartbreaking smile, and I watched as some sadness surfaced behind his blue eyes. “I’m doing well, Rose, thank you. As for Chris… no change, I’m afraid.”

  Shaking off the seriousness of whatever they were talking about, Caleb’s blue eyes flashed over to me. “So you hired Aria, I see,” he said.

  Rose looked back and forth between the two of us. I had yet to speak since Caleb had entered.

  “That’s right,” she said. “You two know each other?”

  “Yes,” he said, at the same time as I said, “Not really.”

  “I see,” said Rose, a small smile on her lips and a sparkle in her eye. “Your order is in the back, Caleb. I’ll just go grab it.” She disappeared after shooting a wink at me.

  Awkward silence fell. I cleared m
y throat, noticing a skateboard tucked under Caleb’s right arm and rushing to fill the quiet. “I didn’t know you rode,” I commented. It sounded stupid, but it beat the awkward staring at each other we were doing just then.

  Caleb looked down at the board in his hand, as if he had forgotten it was there. One side of his mouth pulled up and he ran a free hand through his stylishly quaffed hair. “Oh… ha… well, it’s funny, really,” he said.

  I saw in his aura that he was suddenly a little nervous, and tilted my head, as it was an emotion I’d never seen him wear before. It was effectively disarming.

  “What’s funny?” I asked.

  Holding the board up, he said, “This is actually for you.”

  This took me so off guard that for a moment I searched for words and couldn’t find any. Then, one word came, because I’m a genius. “What?” I said.

  Caleb gave a short, nervous laugh. “Yeah… well, your other one got smashed, right? So… I got you another one.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “And you’ve just been carrying it around everywhere?” I asked, feeling a little hitch in my chest. “Hoping we’d run into each other?”

  Another nervous chuckle as he ran his hand through his beautiful hair again and set the skateboard on the counter between us. His blue eyes threatened to drown me as he looked up and met mine.

  “I’m a big believer in fate,” he whispered, leaning forward as if sharing a secret. His cologne was light and expensive, but I held my breath for some reason.

  “And that’s how we seem to keep meeting,” he continued. “Just randomly running into each other… so, yeah… I’ve been carrying it around since yesterday when I got it, hoping to run into you again.” His smile turned full-fledged, and I felt my throat bob. “And what do you know? Here we are, running into each other.”

  “Wow,” I said.

  “What?”

  I bit my lip, swallowing hard. “You’re, uh… you’re hella smooth.”

  This made him laugh out loud, and he leaned against the counter, staring at me dreamily and earning a return giggle from me that sounded entirely too girly.