22

Dranian Evelry and the Thing that Happened After

The insides of his eyelids were pink. Dranian peeled his eyes open, wondering for just a second why he'd been able to sleep in peace. He brought a hand to his forehead, realizing his head was thudding like a mountain village war drum. He winced and sat up, finding himself in pink bed sheets. He lifted a handful of the bedding to his face to study it. He knew these sheets.

This was Kate's bed, above Fae Café.

He lowered the sheets, his mind taking him back to his dream—the quiet one. The dream that wasn't really a dream at all, just an absence of anything.

Where had the girl gone? The dreamslipper? The girl with no name ?

Why hadn't she shown up this time?

Dranian pulled the covers back and headed out of Kate's bedroom into the kitchenette. He slowed to a stop when he saw Mor was there. His faeborn heart tumbled when he realized Cress was there, too. And Lily. And Kate.

There was a tense silence in the room. Then Kate cleared her throat. "Are you okay—"

"Un-real, Dranian!" Lily said, and Kate scowled at her for interrupting.

Dranian opened his mouth to ask, but he closed it again, trying to determine what exactly he was in trouble for. He finally thought to ask Lily, "Did you tell them—?"

"I think the cat's out of the bag." Lily's folded arms tightened like it was taking all her human self-control not to reveal other things, too.

"What cat?" Cress asked. He began looking around. "I don't see a cat."

Mor closed his eyes in disbelief, and Dranian took the opportunity Cress provided by constantly misunderstanding human word expressions to come up with something proper to say. "It's not what it looks—"

"It's exactly what it looks like," Mor stated. "You were keeping company with that fox."

"Seriously, you guys keep cutting him off. Let him speak!" Kate snapped at Mor.

Mor folded his arms, mimicking Lily. The two looked like poorly paid interrogation guards of the Silver Castle when they stood side by side like that.

Dranian's arm had felt heavy since the day it had stopped working properly. But right now, it felt as though his limb was filled with iron and weighing his whole body down.

"No more secrets!" Cress announced. "With Shayne on vacation, that makes me the next in charge, and I've had about enough of the not-telling-of-things. The next fairy—or human," he stole a sidelong glance at Kate and Lily, "who keeps a secret shall be forever banned from Fae Café and forced to work in the nearest amethyst salt mine for three months!"

"There aren't amethyst salt mines in the human realm," Dranian muttered, but no one heard him—no one apart from Lily. She must have, because she held Dranian's gaze, worry etched into her pretty human features. Worry about the one other secret the two of them were still keeping.

Dranian hadn't had a chance to tell her that he'd learned where Shayne was. That Shayne was in a mountain of trouble—that she may never see him again. The right thing to do would be to begin talking until everything was out in the open. But there was one matter Dranian could not shake, and that was the question of why Shayne had kept it a secret from everyone.

And for that, Dranian found he could not tell the others the truth about Shayne, because it was not his secret to tell. He cast Lily the tiniest shake of his head.

Her face fell, just a smidgen. She didn't let the others see though. She dropped her gaze to the floor and said nothing of Shayne or his mysterious whereabouts.

Also, Dranian learned in this exact moment that he hated keeping secrets. And he perhaps hated that he was too loyal to consider revealing them to others. He wished he was bad at it like Mor and Cress.

Mor sighed. "No one's getting banished from Fae Café," he objected. "But Cress is right. You should have asked us for help if Luc had you trapped in a roommate contract," he said to Dranian.

Dranian's lips thinned a little since that little detail wasn't one he'd shared with the group. This time, he glared over at Lily. She cleared her throat and looked off at the wall, suddenly seeming less tough.

"It's alright to ask for help, Dranian. Even Luc knew that," Mor said, mumbling the last part. Cress glanced at him in question, and Mor slammed his mouth shut.

"You're one to talk," Dranian muttered, wondering how everyone could forget that Mor had been the first brother to fly off and face Luc Zelsor on his own. "And the reason I didn't tell you wasn't because I was afraid of that fox. I kept it to myself because I was perfectly capable of handling it on my own!" Dranian stated, raising his voice a little. But as soon as the loud words came out, he wished he'd said them quietly.

Mor's jaw slid to the side. "Don't get snippy with me, you grump. That fox would kill us all if given the chance."

"Would he have? Because it looked to me like he was protecting you, Mor," Dranian snapped. "And me, for that matter."

Mor's mouth parted, his next response nonexistent. It was a look Dranian was sure everyone was used to seeing on him , and not on Mor. The others glanced between Mor and Dranian, and Dranian shifted his weight, realizing it was too late to take back his statement. His arm burned in anguish from his beating, and he felt like a fool before these perfectly whole fairies with great gifts and menacing reputations.

His shoulders dropped, reminding him of the physical agony that had found him because of Luc. Every little inch of movement sent pain shooting down his arms and into his body. "There is no one I am more loyal to than the fairies and humans in this room. But Luc Zelsor had every opportunity to leave me to die, to run to a faraway place, and to never return to face his fate. And he came back instead. Because of that, I'm now here with you all."

"What are you trying to say, exactly?" Cress asked. His eyes felt a little colder than normal. "Are you proposing we get involved in that father-son fox fight? That is preposterous, Dranian! Don't you know the cost if we show up anywhere near them?! Shayne's bargain will become void, and they'll come for us!"

Dranian looked at the floor. He wasn't sure what he was asking. If there was even a question to be asked. "They stole me from my bed. They attacked us first," he said.

Mor travelled to the window and gazed down at the street. "They will take Luc, they will leave, and this will be over. One thing I will never do again is put our humans in danger," he said. "I won't risk Violet again. I won't join a war if she's the cost." Even though he said the words, his face told a different story. There was a crease between his brows that Dranian had only ever seen when Mor was either lying or was holding back what he really wanted to say. Dranian had seen that very look on Mor when Luc had taken the first arrow through the chest.

Cress tugged Kate closer to his side. She cast Cress a small smile of assurance, but Lily had an entirely different reaction. She looked bothered by Mor's statement. Dranian eyed her rigid stance. It was almost as if the female was offended for being considered too weak and breakable to defend herself, should the wars come. But she kept her thoughts to herself. "I have to go to work," she said, pulling her bag off the counter. Something fell out, and Dranian hopped over to pick it up, suddenly feeling the need to be of service to everyone more than ever.

He held up a plastic rectangle with Lily's photo on it, dangling from a cloth necklace. Dranian recognized it as the mystical item she'd used to gain access at Desmount Tech Industries.

A fast blush hit Lily's face as she grabbed it and stuffed it in her bag, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed it. "Thanks," she muttered. Dranian watched her head out the door and listened to her footsteps down the stairs.

Behind him, there were two fairies with humans to protect. Cress wanted nothing to do with the Shadow Army. Mor pretended he wanted nothing to do with the Shadow Army. Either way, his brothers were right; meddling with the fox fight was a bad idea. And Dranian had always put his loyalty first and obeyed whatever orders Cress came up with. Today would be no exception— no one wanted to get their hands dirty with fox blood. What was a fairy like Dranian to do anyway with one arm and no Shayne to jump aboard his reckless idea?

But then there was Lily, and that special little thing Lily had.

It was an outrageously irrational solution. Not Dranian's style, but perhaps a way to keep everyone happy, and alive.

Except Cress. Cress wouldn't be happy. He might make Dranian eat rocks.

Even so, Dranian was sure his own typical way of doing things wouldn't get the job done this time. For the first moment in his faeborn life, Dranian asked himself the question, "What if I did whatever Shayne would do in this situation?" Shayne was utterly reckless. However, he was also very effective.

"I'll be back," Dranian lied. He headed for the stairs and swept down with silence and grace, the complete opposite to the stomping parade Lily had performed. The café was closed, the fireplace unlit. Dranian realized he missed the place a little. Going down to part time had taken something from him, and he swore that if he survived the next twenty-four hours, he would return to work full time.

He caught up to Lily just outside. "Wait, Human." Then he thought better of the address, and corrected with, "Lily."

When Lily turned around, Dranian paused, realizing he didn't have anything planned. He looked off and fiddled with a loose thread on the hem of his bloody shirt. She shot him an odd look. And so, Dranian did what he thought Shayne might do. He opened his arms wide, and with a perfectly straight face, he walked at Lily.

She looked at him like he was crazy, even taking a step back, but he caught her first and wrapped his arms around her to fasten her into a hug. "Have a good day at work," he said in his monotone voice.

When he let her go, Lily's face appeared a blend of wondering if he'd lost his mind, and looking like she might slap him.

It was dreadfully difficult, but… Dranian stretched his face, pulling with all his might. He created a slow smile, as wide as it could go.

Finally, Lily put her hands on her hips. "Did you eat mushrooms you found in the grass?" she asked. "Or are you actually out of your mind?"

Dranian's lopsided smile fell. "Never mind." He turned and strutted away, choosing not to go back into the café. He headed toward the bus stop instead, listening to Lily's sigh of disbelief behind him as she went on her way.

Dranian stole a quick look back. As soon as Lily was around the corner, he pulled the plastic rectangle with Lily's picture from his pocket. He flicked the cloth necklace with a satisfied nod, and he winced as he tried to ignore the shooting pains in his left arm from even the smallest movement.

Desmount Tech Industries was a wild jungle of crystal banners, secret entrances, and watching eyes. Dranian kept a straight, unsuspicious face as he battled the glass panels for access to the forbidden building. He brushed the dust off himself as he came into the lobby and drew out Lily's magic picture. A few humans glanced up at him, but no one raised their voices or asked questions. He slapped the picture down on a clear box thingy as he had seen Lily do, and a bar moved out of the way so he could pass.

Dranian conquered the staircase with minimal huffing and pain. He rounded into the hall and found the room Lily had taken him to before. When he was sure no souls were around, he slipped in and closed the door behind him.

There he gazed upon the fire-breathing, dragon-like mechanism hanging high upon the wall.

Saving Luc Zeslor wasn't going to be easy. But Dranian would do it, and he would do it on his own, because he was capable. Because even though Dranian was the one with the broken arm, Luc had considered Dranian to be far less broken than him. And it wasn't until Dranian had witnessed the fox come face to face with his devils that Dranian knew that to be true.

But it wasn't just for Luc. Dranian was doing this for Mor, too. Because, though no one else could see it, it was so utterly obvious that Mor cared about Luc, the way Mor always cared about everyone .

Also, Dranian was doing it for Shayne. The others—and Luc—would find that out soon enough.

And last, Dranian was doing it for Cress. Because with Cress and Mor having precious humans to protect, Dranian would not, and could not, ask them to return to the Ever Corners and wage war upon the House of Lyro. But maybe, just maybe , Luc could do it—if he stayed alive.

How absurd this plan felt.

Dranian was going to do it anyway.