Part 24 (1/2)

I felt like I had been punched in the gut. Now I knew: it was Logan we were going to start looking for. It was Logan himself who had invited the Water Sprite to Maine.

”Logan....” I breathed.

”Oh, don't be pathetic,” Logan shot at me. ”You know you aren't supposed to be here. You think you have to wait around and choose, because that's what they've led you to believe. You don't HAVE a choice. The Summer Court doesn't want you.”

”Logan, stop it now,” said Holt, grabbing his brother by the s.h.i.+rt. Logan grabbed Holt's wrists. ”You don't like it that someone finally dared to tell her the truth instead of the lies you tell her? Has no one told her that she CAN'T marry you unless Samuel agrees? And look at Samuel,” he screamed. Samuel was still leaning against the counter; he hadn't moved. ”He isn't going to.”

Samuel unfolded his arms. ”You sent a Water Sprite after Autumn?” His voice was filled with rage.

”And why would you drag us into it?” Leslie demanded.

”Because you didn't want them together any more than I did. You tried to get her to choose Samuel. You threatened her. At least you tried to handle it. And, you said the Water Sprite was dead when it wasn't. Are you seriously going to tell me that was an accident?”

”Yes,” cried Lydia. ”It certainly wasn't calculated to kill her. We would never try to kill her,” she said, her eyes boring into Samuel's.

I felt sick. Logan was Holt's brother. And they were fighting, because of me.

”You would have thanked me if the Water Sprite had taken her. Then everything would have gone back to normal, to the way it was before she ruined it.”

I had thought Mrs. Ches.h.i.+re was the only one who was against Holt's interest in me, but it had hit closer to home. His own family, his own brother, was against it. I couldn't think of anything that would have hurt Holt more.

Logan's face was pale, with two bright red spots of color on either cheek. ”Brother, you must come to your senses,” said Logan. ”Before it's too late.”

”Logan.” Of all the people to speak up it was Samuel who said, ”My mother should not have done what she did.”

”You mother is right and a brilliant Queen,” Logan raged. ”She did what was necessary to protect her family. To protect OUR way of life. The One Black Rose is sacred, and here that girl is with two” a he didn't even bother to use my name a ”and she flouts both, pitting two families against each other? It will not be tolerated. The One Black Rose is what we live by. It is HOW we live. It cannot be in the hands of someone who would treat it so callously.

”How did I ever?” I tried to ask, but Susan hushed me, and she was right. I didn't want Logan's rage directed at me any more than it already was.

”Logan, it's not her fault. This has never happened before,” said Holt. Even now, when he knew his own family was against me, he was trying to defend me because he valued truth above everything else.

”It has only happened because you let it,” Logan growled.

He walked out. I had expected him to keep arguing, not to give up, but he just left. Everyone stared after him in silence.

Susan stood up and hugged me. I didn't realize how much I needed it until her comforting arms wrapped around me. I leaned my head against her shoulder. My face burned with shame.

Logan was right. I was still just an ordinary girl. What right did I have to wreak havoc on the lives of Fairies? I should have jumped at the chance of becoming immortal. And all I had to do was accept a Rose. But I hadn't done it.

Without a word Lydia and Leslie left. Susan pulled back and looked at me. ”Are you alright?” she asked.

I wanted to look Susan in the eye and tell her that I was fine, but I couldn't. Instead I found my eyes traveling to Holt, who was staring at the floor. If I had thought Mrs. Ches.h.i.+re's disapproval of our being together was bad, I couldn't even imagine how much worse it was for him to absorb Logan's hatred of the idea.

Samuel was still standing by the counter, quiet. I met his eyes. They were filled with something I couldn't read. For a second I thought it might be sadness. Then he looked away. ”You two should talk,” he muttered, and grabbing Susan's arm he propelled her out of the room. I put my hand to my stomach, breathless.

Now I was alone with Holt.

”I'm sorry,” I said. I got up and went to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. Gingerly, he wrapped one arm around me, but it felt cold.

”It's not your fault,” he muttered.

”I never should have come here,” I cried. ”None of this would have happened. Your families wouldn't be torn apart because of some silly girl.”

That woke Holt up a little. ”You are not some silly girl. We can't control what other people think or do. No matter how much we might like to, it's out of our hands.”

”But Holt, he's your family,” I whispered.

Holt nodded, looking a little stunned. His brother had been trying to kill the girl he loved.

Holt looked down at me. His eyes were hollow. His arm was still around my waist. Slowly, so that I saw him coming and had a very long time to think about what I would do before he got there, Holt lowered his head to mine.

My breath stopped, my eyes were locked on his face. I had kissed a couple of guys before, but it had never been serious, it had all just been good fun. Mostly, it hadn't felt like much. The one guy who drooled a little was unpleasant, but the others weren't that bad.

I had imagined a million times what it would be like to kiss Holt. Sometimes, when we were in the same room, I had found my eyes straying to his lips. I had always blushed and looked away, but eventually my eyes had always found their way back there. I had tried to envision what it would be like to have his lips touch mine, and now it was actually happening.