Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

INDI

Smoke and embers drifted up toward the moon. Burning orange embers danced on the light breeze, fading to black specks as they rose into the night sky. I loved the way bonfires smelled. It was such a woodsy, ashy scent that reminded me of nights spent on digs sitting around a quiet fire, though this night was far from quiet. The bonfire was smack in the middle of the fall festival with the tents still set up all around it. People milled around, going from tent to tent to get their goodies.

Daniel stood next to me, watching everyone come and go. "It's kind of surreal, isn't it?"

The Island was surreal. It was a paradise of sorts. There was so much peace and fun in the air that it was almost impossible not to be happy, yet I felt kind of overwhelmed with everything. Between the wedding and Will and trying to figure my life out, it was a bit much. "It really is."

"There's nothing like this in Vegas. I can tell you that." He put his hands on his hips and ducked his head as he looked around.

"There's nothing like this anywhere else in the world." I'd traveled enough to know that.

"You're sure your sister will be here?"

"Yep, this is where she told us to meet them." I went up on my tiptoes and glanced around. "There she is, right next to the fire . . . with everyone."

He followed my gaze and sighed. "So, are we doing this?"

I glanced around, everyone was gathered around the bonfire. Will sat directly across from us. That pretty fae with the lush, dark hair was next to him. She leaned in and chatted with him, and he chuckled at whatever she'd said. They shared a container of popcorn, each one taking turns having some. Her eyes darted to me, then away again. Bash, Peggy's adopted son, sat on the other side of her with Collins on his other side. Just beside them sat the King and Queen with an infant in each of their arms. Constantine was beside his mother along with his younger brothers, Kallahan and Hemming.

I held my hand out to him. "Absolutely."

He took it and held it as though we were a couple and guided me toward some open seats next to my sister and Nash.

I dropped down on the bench next to her, and she handed me a long stick with a marshmallow at the end of it. "Thanks."

The Queen beamed at the two of us. "Don't you two look cute together."

All eyes swung toward us, and I suddenly felt self-conscious. Daniel chuckled and that smooth, confident smile spread over his lips. "I like to think so too."

"I was thinking about setting you up with Rebecca, but I can see Indi is a nice fit for you." She bounced the baby on her knee.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Please stop talking now.

Torren squirmed in her seat like she was uncomfortable, but she said nothing.

Nash leaned into her side. "What is going on with you?"

"Nothing," she answered too quickly, and I knew the secret I'd told her was pressing on her. Torren was the worst at keeping secrets. She was even worse at trying to hide her emotions. "I'm fine."

"Are you?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Yes." She pressed her lips together.

The King cleared his throat. "I agree with my wife. You two are a match well-made."

My eyes snapped to Will for a split second. But in that second, I could tell three things. One, even though he was pretending not to listen, he was indeed listening. I could tell by the hard set of his lips and the small muscle ticking in his jaw. Two, he was still as gorgeous as ever with his tousled dark hair and the way his eyes caught the light of the fire and seemed to glow all on their own. And three, I really, really wasn't over him . . . not at all.

That revelation was a blow to my psyche and mood. Ten years and I wasn't over him.

"I was surprised as well, but we just click." Daniel was an expert with his words. Nothing he said was a lie, technically. We did click, just more as two friends helping each other out rather than a couple.

"I think you'd make cute children," the King observed.

"Can you think of nothing other than children." Constantine groaned. "This is why you have an alphabet worth of offspring."

Kallahan, who was right beside him, chuckled. With his long dark hair, he reminded me so much of Constantine, except his face was clean shaven and showed off the sharp angle of his features. His eyes were the same shade of blue, and he was just as tall and well-muscled. His thick eyebrows stood out as they were perfectly sculpted. He nudged his brother with his elbow. "Oh, come on. Infants are cute."

" You are an infant," Constantine grumbled.

"Exactly my point, Brother. I am cute. Thank you." The other Vaunteros chuckled, and Kallahan clapped him on the shoulder. "So says Father Time. Besides, I think I'm old enough. I do travel the world as an ambassador for the family."

Constantine rolled his eyes. "Yes, I can't believe they let you out unsupervised."

Hemming hunched over laughing. He was just as beautiful as the others, but there was a more rugged edge to him. His head was shaved on the sides and longer on top. A five o'clock shadow dusted his jawline and surrounded his full lips. "You're aging yourself, Brother."

"Age is no account for taste, wisdom, or good decision-making, all of which you both lack," he said with a straight, serious face.

"You know, Indi, I was thinking about setting you up with one of them." The Queen motioned to her three very handsome, very single sons.

In my peripheral, I saw Will's eyes snap toward me, and I had to force myself not to look at him. "Oh, um, thank you? That's . . . uh, very flattering?"

I didn't know what to say but telling her I didn't want to be with a Vauntero sounded offensive even in my head. They were all beautiful, successful vampires, yet none of them held an ounce of interest for me.

Daniel chuckled. "Then I guess I got here just in time."

The others around the fire all chuckled.

Bash's brow furrowed. "Is this the way it's done? Does the royal family choose who their children are to wed?"

"No," all the Vaunteros responded at once.

Bash shrugged and muttered, "There is logic in it."

"No, we must always let love grow where it will," the Queen chimed in as she turned toward Will. "Don't you think so?"

"Of course," he answered quickly, as though it were automatic.

This conversation was getting uncomfortable, and Torren practically vibrated beside me. I leaned in closer to her. "Are you okay?"

"Mhhmm." She pressed her lips together and began to rock back and forth.

Her eyes bounced from me to Will and back again.

I hissed at her below my breath. "You have got to stop."

"I'm trying."

But I could feel the magic already starting to build.

"Try harder," I hissed through thinned lips.

I barely got the words out before there was a pop of light and Torren blew up and turned into a full-sized teal hippo. Daniel and I tumbled to the ground and my s'more stick went flying into the fire, marshmallow and all. The wooden bench cracked and turned to dust under her weight. Daniel chuckled as he flopped onto his back. Torren let out a little screech and began to back up from the bonfire. Her hippo body jiggled as she backed up. More benches snapped and broke behind her, sending shards of wood flying in all different directions. When she got past those, she turned and ran right into a tent, knocking the whole thing down. It wrapped around her head, covering her eyes and only making it worse. She charged farther away, only knocking more tents over and sending people screaming out of her way.

Nash's jaw dropped as he just looked at me. "You caused that. You go get her."

I rose to my feet and dusted myself off. "She's your fiancé. You go get her."

"Rock, paper, scissors." Nash held his fist out toward me.

I curled my hand into a fist and at the same time we said, "Rock, paper, scissors. Shoot!"

I threw out my closed fist as Nash threw out scissors.

"Dammit," Nash said with a sigh.

"Rock always beats scissors." I motioned toward the path of destruction. "Off you go."

"I still maintain this is your fault." He started to walk away.

Daniel pointed to another set of seats that just opened as people ran away from Torren. It was slightly more secluded, and I was happy to get just a little space even if it was only one or two trampled benches away from the others. Well, not the others. Will. Even so I still had a perfect view of him, but at least I couldn't smell him or see the sparkle of the embers in his amber eyes. Daniel grabbed us two more sticks with marshmallows on them and handed me one. We both sat down, and I gave a heavy sigh.

"At least no one really reacts poorly to her. Not one person batted an eyelash at her spontaneous hippo episode just now." I smiled. "Makes me love this Island more than anything else, the way they just embrace her."

Daniel nodded and spun his stick around to cook the other side of his marshmallow. "It's beautiful the way they all just accept her for who she is."

"That's all anyone can ask for, right?" I gazed at the fire and let myself be mesmerized by the flicker of the flames.

"So, what was all that with Torren? What made her so nervous?" He waved a hand at the destruction. "I think Nash was right in that somehow you caused it."

I sighed. "I told her my ex was Will and she cannot keep a secret . . ."

"Ah, so she cracked under the pressure of a secret former love." He chuckled and shook his head."For Torren, that makes total sense."

"Which is why I hadn't ever told her the secret." I glanced over my shoulder and spotted Nash catching up to her. "Right, so, you know enough about my love life. What about yours?"

"You mean my nonexistent one?" He gave a heavy sigh. "It's been a rough few years for me and my sister. My parents, the creator love them, got tangled up with Tephine."

My eyebrows shot up. "Bash's mother? The former Queen of the Fae Realm? The pure evil one?"

"Is there any other?"

I grimaced. "I was really hoping there was another person named Tephine, yes. This is already not a good start."

"No, it is not." He nodded. "She was everything everyone made her out to be. And worse. My father was involved with Tephine for a time, at least until he met my mother. Let's just say Tephine was not pleased when that happened."

"I can imagine."

"They tried their best to hide from her, but it was no use. She found them . . . She found us." He swallowed and lowered his voice. "She killed them both, but sometimes I think my sister got the worst of it."

"I hate to ask. But what is worse than that?" I wanted to know but I also really didn't. Tephine was as bad as they came.

"My sister has some gifts, nothing huge, but her fae senses and magic are stronger, which happens when both parents are from the other realms."

"Are yours not as strong?"

He pursed his lips. "Isolda got the fancy gifts, like aura readings and stuff. I got the cunning, sneaky mind of a fae, which I'm not upset about."

"Got ya. So, what happened?"

"Tephine did everything in her power to use Isolda to her advantage. And every time Isloda thought she'd finally gotten rid of Tephine, she would come back even worse. I tried to hide her, I tried to protect her, but I just . . ." He groaned and hung his head. "Let's just say love has been the least of my concerns for the past few decades, centuries even."

"Daniel, I . . ." I tried to search for the right words. His life made all this seem so trivial. "I?—"

"Shit. You're on fire!"

"What?"

He pointed toward my marshmallow which was completely on fire and burning around the edges. A little chuckle slipped out. "Indi, you're on fire."

"Oh shit." I panicked and started to wave my stick back and forth to put the flames out.

"Don't—"

But it was too late. The damn thing flew off the tip of my stick and hurled like a flaming ball of death through the air. I spun to see where it was headed to try and scream out a warning, but then I realized it was going right at Will. Panic overcame my body, and before I could control it, my body shifted into the parrot and I raced after the flaming marshmallow. I flapped my wings as hard as I could and shot toward Will like an arrow. I squawked loudly. His eyes widened. He jumped to his feet and stumbled back. Somehow I lost track of the marshmallow and flew headfirst right into his chest. He tipped back over his bench and fell to the ground with me sprawled out on his chest.

Pink feathers stuck out from his hair and in his sweater. He cradled me in his hands and got back on his feet. He cleared his throat and placed me down on the bench just beside him. I wanted to scream from the embarrassment. I spun around, looking for the marshmallow. I wasn't crazy. It had been heading right for his face. I turned and found Bash standing there holding the flaming thing in his bare hand.

He looked at it with those vivid moonstone eyes. "What is this weapon?"

Will cleared his throat. "It's not a weapon. It's food."

Bash held it to his mouth and took a small bite. He shrugged. "Not bad."

Collins frowned and reached for it. " Bash, no ? — "

"Oh my god, Indi, are you okay?" Torren ran up to me. "I was on my way back when I saw what happened."

My heart hammered in my chest. I had no words. I could hardly breathe. I just stood there staring up at Will.

Torren leaned down and lowered her voice to a whisper so only I could hear, " Why haven't you changed back? You're stuck, aren't you ?"

I wanted to yell at her and tell her I wasn't stuck and that she just needed to shut up for a moment and I would get it under control, but I couldn't talk in this form.

Her brow furrowed. "You never get stuck. Why are you so flustered— oh is it ?—?"

She stood up straight and slammed her hand over her mouth. But it was too late, she'd flustered herself, and the next thing I knew, she was right beside me as a teal parrot. Her voice came loud and clear through my mind. ‘ I handled that well.'

No one was handling this well. Me included. ‘ Yeah, you did .'

Torren groaned in my mind. ‘ Sorry .'

I couldn't ever be mad at her. It wasn't like I was doing much better. I could barely take my eyes off Will. It was hard just being around him. ‘ We're clearly related as I didn't handle it much better .'

Zita rushed up to us. "What happened? Is everything okay?"

Will pulled one of my pink feathers from his hair. "Yeah, we're all good here. There was a s'more incident.

"A s'more incident?" She glanced from me to Will.

Bash moved in closer to us and held the rest of the flaming marshmallow out to her. "Try their snacks. We didn't have these in Third."

Zita pinched the bridge of her nose. "That's not the damn s'more, Bash."

"What do you mean? This is s'more, no?"

"It's fire. We don't eat fire here. You put the marshmallow between graham crackers and chocolate, then eat it."

A burst of laughter flew from Will's mouth, and I instantly hated that she could make him laugh so easily. Jealousy ate at every fiber of my being, and I wanted to look away, to get away. If it wasn't for my sister's wedding, I'd flee this Island and not return until I knew he wouldn't be here. I didn't hate Will. I just hated that I struggled so hard to be around him.

"I saw a restaurant put fire on a drink. People drank that. Why can't I eat this?—"

"Collins—"

"I tried." She threw her hands up. "Some kids have to learn by doing."

Daniel hurried over to us and looked down at me and Torren sitting there as parrots. "Which one is which?"

Torren spoke out loud for us. "Indi is pink. I'm teal."

I sent her my message telepathically. ‘ I need one of those animal voice boxes .'

Torren sucked in a deep breath. "Well, actually, I got you one, but Peggy is still making it," she said out loud, which made everyone frown at her because they hadn't heard me speak.

"Is this what she was asking about?" Will pulled a box out of his pocket.

Torren nodded. "If that's my order from Peggy, then yes."

"Actually, that's why I'm here. Mom asked me to give this to you."

He opened the box and held it out for me to see. I was starting to calm down a little. The necklace was so cute and an exact replica of the one Torren wore. I instantly loved it.

Will pulled the necklace out and held the two edges between his fingers. There was an awkward moment where he hesitated, waiting for me to say or do something. I flapped my wings and flew up a little. I closed my eyes and let the change wash over me. I sucked in a deep breath when my feet touched the ground. I was only a few feet from Will. He held the necklace between his fingers, staring at me. I didn't know what to say or do, but my breath was caught in my chest.

Daniel gave a subtle cough and caught my attention. He winked and walked up to Will and held his hand out. "I can put a necklace on my own girlfriend. Thanks, Will."

"Right, of course." Will handed the necklace to Daniel and took a step back.

Daniel moved behind me, and I held my hair up. Will didn't take his eyes off me. They lingered on where Daniel's fingers brushed against my neck. I tried to figure out what he was thinking or feeling, but his face was unreadable.

Zita moved to his side and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. "It was really nice of you to bring that here for her."

I placed my hand over the necklace once it was clasped. "Yes, thank you—I mean, tell Peggy thanks? But thanks for bringing it?"

"Any time."Will blushed and nodded.

Zita gave his arm a little tug. "C'mon, let's get stuff to make s'mores before Bash starts eating the benches."

Daniel wrapped his hand in mine and tugged me in the other direction. "Let's go find Nash. He must be worried about Torren by now since she returned and he didn't."

As we let our respective partners drag us in opposite directions, it felt like trying to pull magnets apart. The air seemed to be tugging me back to him with every step. I glanced over my shoulder and my gaze met his. A huge, huge part of me wanted to run to him and give up this fight. But the reasons we broke up were still valid, and I needed to remind myself of that.