To my surprise, he’s laughing.
ChapterTwelve
Luck has a way of evaporating when you lean on it. — Brandon Mull
I’m still cursing the Delaneys and mumbling to myself about arrogant leprechauns when I stumble off the shuttle at the Wonderland stop. I’m halfway to my parents’ place when the phone Seven issued me rings. I roll my eyes. Gods, he’s a pain in the ass. What could he possibly need so soon?
“What now?” I answer, loading my voice with annoyance.
“For one, you could cross the border so that I could punish you as nature intended.” Agent Donovan’s voice is eerily quiet with an undercurrent of malice.
“How did you get this number?” My words are thready with panic.
He scoffs. “Question is, who’s helping you? I have your cell phone. That phone is under your alias, Soho Lane. But the thing about doing what I do, Ms. Larkspur, is I have friends in high places. One of them runs the cellular provider you used in America, one that owns towers all over the world. He was able to link Soho Lane to Sophia Larkspur for me and put a flag on the account. That friend called me moments ago to alert me that a new phone had been set up with your real name and, wouldn’t you know it, a Dragonfly address.”
Fuck!I take a deep breath. Think, Sophia. I picture myself at the poker table. My gambler’s brain kicks into gear, and I analyze every word I’ve said and everything he’s said. What cards have already been played? What’s in my hand, and what’s on the table?Admit to nothing,I tell myself.“I think there’s been some kind of mistake, sir. You’ve reached a number in Dragonfly Hollow. I’m a pixie, and I’ve never left Devashire.”
He chuckles darkly. “Hmm. I’m overdue for a visit to Dragonfly. Maybe we’ll run into each other and you can tell me about your little secret.” The line goes dead.
A fit of coughing overcomes me, and a prickly orange seed scrapes up my throat. Anxiety. I spit it into my hand along with a spatter of blood. It’s been a long time since I let an emotion manifest like this. Maybe it’s my proximity to my family’s garden and the redemptive power of our reunion there that has revived the ability in me. Maybe it’s the sheer terror Donovan stirs within me. Or it could just be my return to Devashire and the overwhelming intensity of the emotions I’m experiencing daily.Damn, I need a hot bath and a serenity candle.
I stare at the seed, a strong, innate desire to plant it squeezing my gut. Instead, I toss it to the sidewalk and grind it under my heel. I don’t intend to foster this emotion. Donovan isn’t worth it.
By the time I walk through my parents’ front door, I’m exhausted and feeling tremendously sorry for myself again. I’m thirty-four years old and living in my parents’ house. I’m being forced to follow the orders of an arrogant, pretentious leprechaun who’s responsible for the most humiliating moment of my life. A federal agent has it out for me. Could things get any worse?
“We have to talk about signing Arden up for school,” my mother says when I walk in the door.
Yes, yes, it can definitely get worse.
“What brought this up?” I join her in the kitchen where Arden is helping her bake moon-shaped cookies. She greets me with a peck on the cheek.
My mother raises an eyebrow. “Well,shedid! She hasn’t graduated high school yet, Sophia. You’re here to stay, and she said she’s halfway through her semester. We need to get her enrolled so that she graduates on time. Arden was telling me she’s already been accepted at a college in North Carolina.”
I brush the hair back from Arden’s face. “She has. She’s brilliant.”
Arden smiles proudly. “I haven’t missed much school yet. Just a few days. But I only have six weeks left, and if we have to stay here, well… I don’t care about walking in the ceremony, but I have to graduate.”
I rub her back. “Right. Absolutely. We do need to figure something out. We will figure something out.” Gods, I’m exhausted. “I’ll call your old school and see if you can finish online.”
My mom and Arden exchange knowing looks.
“You two look like you’re conspiring. What’s going on?”
Arden gives me an exaggerated, toothy grin. “It’s just… I’m going to be here for months, and you’re going to be here for… maybe forever. I thought it would be nice to go to school here, maybe make some friends in an actual classroom.”
I shake my head, shocked my mother didn’t put this to rest immediately. “The schools here have an entirely different curriculum, Arden. It’s impossible. Mom, didn’t you tell her?”
I look expectantly at my mother but she just shrugs.
“We can always ask, Sophia. Arden has Godmother’s blessing to stay. That goes a long way.”
Threading her fingers under her chin, Arden smiles wider. She bounces on her toes. I can’t tell her no when she’s like this.
“I’ll talk to the headmistress,” I say. “Maybe something can be done.”
“Cool! I’m going to text Jayden!” Arden leaves the kitchen and heads for her room. Jayden is her best friend from school. Another pang of guilt hits me that I’ve taken her from her support system. I am, however, relieved that she has her phone and can continue the relationship. Herphone.
Grasping the bridge of my nose, I groan. I hear Donovan’s voice in my head…your little secret.
