Chapter 224: Welcome Friendship
Lunch. I was dreading it. Until I approached the doorway and found Liam standing to one side. He didn't see me at first, back against the wall with his hands in his pockets. I watched him as he watched everyone else, that same gentle look on his face. Not an act, then, a show for my benefit. He genuinely was just a really good person.
Which made me feel terrible. How far had the gay rumor gone? I was pretty sure Liam wouldn't care what other people thought of him, but I felt like I was part of the rumor mill just by association.
I glanced over my shoulder as I approached him. Ms. Spaft hovered at the end of the hall, her evil eye scanning each kid as they passed, though for some reason I felt again like she'd singled me out. Maybe me being the first to pass her little test the other day was a bad thing, made me target zero.
Whatever. I smiled at Liam as he glanced up and saw me, a slow grin making me feel welcome.
"Your table is full." I didn't even have to look inside to know Page had taken over my old place.
"I'm all for outside." Pretty soon it would be too cold to enjoy the outdoors. My witchiness preferred it, all that earth magic connection stuff. Liam seemed happy with my choice. I just wished I could shake Ms. Spaft's intense focus. Luckily, as we neared her on our way out, two freshmen's friendly roughhousing drew her attention and sent her marching off to end all fun in the world forever.
My sandwich tasted better in the sunlight. So did the tiny sugar donuts Liam shared with me. Which meant I couldn't keep my sleeve of Oreos to myself.
Or my guilt.
"Liam," I dragged his name out, not wanting to keep going but knowing I had to.
"Syd." I loved how he mimicked my tone exactly.
I jabbed him with my elbow and laughed, knowing no matter what it would really be okay.
"Never mind." He didn't need to know. And with Page being so far fallen, it was likely no one would stop to listen to her long enough to give a crap what she had to say. Sitting there in the sun, with him, my concern felt very silly.
"Doing anything after school?" I glanced at him as he asked me, still searching for some ulterior motive, romantic in nature. But he didn't seem to be flirting or anything so I chastised myself for my lack of trust.
"Library," I said. "Starting a history project about Wilding Springs."
Liam grinned. "Cool, want some help?"
I almost choked on the white sugar center of my cookie. "Seriously?" He didn't radiate nerd vibes. Not that being a nerd was a bad thing, either.
Liam actually blushed, making his freckles stand out. I hadn't noticed how many there were under his tan until just now. "I know," he said. "Go ahead, laugh. The geeky library guy."
"Nope," I said, finishing my cookie. "I'm all for some geekage as long as it's in my favor."
When he met my eyes again, I could tell he was feeling me out as much as I was him. It made me laugh suddenly and spit dark brown crumbs all over myself.
Liam laughed too, that deep, warm sound I was starting to love.
Gulp. Like. Definitely like only. No love involved.
"See?" I brushed at the mess. "You're not alone."
Liam nodded. "My grandfather was the town archivist," he said. "And my dad worked there, too. Mom may have raised me in hair salons, but I got my start at the library."
"Then your help would be much appreciated." The warning bell rang, echoing from the outdoor speakers over the property. I grudgingly packed up the remains of my lunch. "I'd like to check out the school selection first," I said as we strolled back to the door. "Then maybe the town one."
"Sounds like a plan." He held the door for me. Sweet. It took a powerful amount of resistance not to wink at him.
Enough flirting, Syd. The last thing I needed was another Brad Peters. It didn't strike me until that moment, as Liam passed from the sunlight where his hair glowed red into the dimness of the school that I could have another latent on my hands.
That would be all kinds of suckage. I'd almost ruined Brad's life when his itty bitty talent latched onto mine and wouldn't let go. Mind you, I knew far more now than I did when Brad was Mr. Obsession all over me. And if Liam was a latent, I'd be able to nip this particular relationship in the bud before he turned into the needy idiot Brad had.
It would have to be done delicately. Even feeling around inside him could trigger the attachment. Latent power was so deeply buried it had no chance of accomplishing much. But when it came in contact with someone open, the need for that seed of magic to grow was so overpowering at times it drove the person to an almost thralled state to the witch.
Mom would never forgive me if I let it happen again.
Liam was waiting for me outside the library after class and helped me peruse the stacks. He wasn't kidding about knowing his way around, leading me right to the section I needed. The books our school had to offer were pretty pathetic, but I checked them both out anyway while the librarian, Mrs. Pander, made squinchy faces at Liam and me before shooing us out so she could go home.
I'd forgotten all about Ms. Spaft until Liam and I were almost to the front doors. I looked up with a funny feeling making my skin creep to see her standing directly in front of them, arms crossed over her chest. The few students who trickled out ahead of us dodged around her carefully. Just the sight of her standing there, doing her best to intimidate everyone, roused my demon and made her growl.
"Side door?" Liam didn't sound nervous, just offering a suggestion. I shook my head with a jerk and headed right for the horrible woman. She was wearing the same black wool suit with a rose colored blouse. Or maybe she owned a bunch of black suits. Wouldn't surprise me. The tone of her shirt made her look like a badly animated corpse.
"Miss Hayle." She glared at me, staring me down.
"Ms. Spaft." In a moment of defiance I smiled sweetly at her. "See you tomorrow."
It brought me great pleasure, how her jaw clenched and tightened while her horribly stretched facial skin rippled in its attempt to pull forward from her very severe bun. I kept moving, forcing her to shift slightly to the side to avoid being hit.
Score. I'd pay for it, I was sure. But I'd take it.
"What does she have against you?" Liam was laughing so I knew he got the joke.
"Not a freaking clue," I said. "And I don't much care, either." I turned to head down the street into town only to have Liam walk toward the student parking lot. I followed him, curious, to an old VW Beetle, painted soft yellow with big daisies for hubcaps.
He blushed again when I grinned at it. Twice in one day, had to be a record. "Mom's car."
"I love it." The old seats were totally refinished with new leather, nice and springy. The motor sounded like it was something straight out of a movie and as Liam pulled out, I found myself giggling.
It was a short drive to town hall and the library archive. I'd never been inside the old brick building, but always thought it was cool. Huge white pillars flanked the entrance, the cliché clock ticking away at the pinnacle. The main library, a more modern, concrete structure, stood across the street. But Liam informed me the information I needed was in the older stacks, still housed on the second floor of the municipal building. It felt so small town USA my mood stayed happy until we passed through the main doors.
The feeling I always had, the one telling me something paranormal lived here well before we did, came rushing at me like I'd stepped in it. When I felt it first, I was sure it was tied to Cesard, the Firblog magician who lay under the earth for so many centuries. But the touch of magic now engulfing me had nothing at all to do with him.
"This way." Liam didn't seem to notice my dazed reaction. It's a good thing he spoke up or I would have stood there in the big lobby, feet screwed to the ornate marble floor, absorbed in the tremors of power floating up from somewhere below me.
We climbed the stairs and, as we did so, I felt the thrill of the magic fade. I turned and looked back down, as if I could see into the basement and what pulled at me from beneath the floor. I felt a surge of recognition and a shiver as I caught the image embedded in the marble tiles, impossible to make out until I stood above it.
But the part of me that knew the design wasn't me, per se. Shaylee gasped and prodded me sharply as the huge mosaic of a gate shrouded in a majestic tree took my entire attention.
The Gate. So there was a real gate, was that it? Shaylee seemed to think so. But its purpose and why it was a threat was still beyond her ability to communicate. I felt the sense of doom, the vibrations of the earthquake from the last dream.
No. Not an earthquake. Marching feet.
What the hell was going on?
"Syd?" I jerked around, meeting Liam's eyes. His concern gaped wide open. "Are you all right?"
Shaylee shivered within, going back to her fearful silence. But I had another piece of the puzzle. Which meant whatever the paranormal feel, the source of the strangeness in this town came from the touch of the Sidhe.
So why was my fairy side so afraid?
**
