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I cross my arms over my chest and thrust my chin forward, trying to control the butterflies dancing in my stomach. I’ve been looking for him for two days, and in that time I thought out a hundred scenarios. This, though, isn’t one I thought of. I was prepared for him to be angry and yell. I’d even prepared for him to laugh. Whatever this is, it’s not in line with anything I considered.
“Right.” I nod, a fast, sharp motion. “No. I’m not going to do this. I’m done.”
“You’re done?” His mouth curls into a sardonic looking smile. Now I’m angry. Is he making fun of me?
“Are you going to keep repeating what I say?” I snap, my frustration boiling over.
The raven glides down and lands on his shoulder. I quickly look around because that’s not strange or anything but no one is around to notice. When I finally found him, as if he knew I was looking for him, he was sitting on one of the stone benches in one of the campus grottos. He stands up, forcing me to look up to keep his gaze.
The scent of the Highlands drifts from him and its almost enough to crack my resolve. How can I say no to that smell? It calls to something deep inside and awakens fantasies in my head. For an instant I almost say yes. Almost, but I can’t. My mom, my dad, Savannah, all of them need me. They’re anchors holding me to the now. I’m needed here. He grunts, then shakes his head.
“This is your decision?” he asks.
There is a weight to his words that makes me hesitate. Pressure builds in my chest and head. The Fae call me Destroyer, but then what they talk about is my decisions. I’m certain this is a turning point. There is no doubt this decision is going to have effects I can’t begin to predict.
“For now, yes,” I say. “I can’t do this right now. I need to help with my dad.”
“That is not an answer.”
“Welcome to my world. How you like it when the tables turn?”
The setting sun casts heavy shadows around us. Dugald narrows his eyes and his jaw tenses.
“Destroyer, this is not a game.”
His voice is soft and low, almost a growl. The sound is so familiar it’s almost comfortable. I like his voice. The way it rumbles with his frustration echoes in my core. That sense of knowing him more than the time I have swells like a bubble about to burst and reveal some surprise. None of which makes me any less angry. If anything it pisses me off more. If he does know me then he should know I hate this game.
“You think I don’t know that?” I snap. The shadows pulse in time with the rapid beating of my heart. “You leave me on my own for a month. A freaking month! I waited for you, looked for you, I tried everything I could to find my way back.
And now, when you finally deign to show up, my life is falling apart. My dad is sick. There are bills to pay, and my mom needs me.”
“Yourmom?” he asks, his eyes narrowing and a deep frown forming.
“Are you listening or is this a one-sided conversation? It’s time travel, right? It can wait. Let me get things fixed here, then I’ll go and help.”
“That is not the way this works.”
“Really? Tell me, how does it work?”
“Not like that,” he says. “You must be trained, learn to use your powers. The moment of choice is coming and you are not prepared.”
“The moment of choice is coming.” I wave my hand. “Blah, blah, blah. That doesn’t mean anything. Why now? Why can’t I wait, a little while?”
The lines on his face deepen but the fire in his eyes burns brighter. He grimaces, then shakes his head and throws his arms up.
“Why must you always be so incredibly stubborn.”
“That goes two ways.”
His body goes preternaturally still and he does another one of those slow, time stopping blinks. Lowering his arms back to his side, he nods.
“So it does.”
“Does that mean I win?”
“And what do you think the prize is for ‘winning’?”
“A nice warm brownie with a coffee would be great.” He snorts and shakes his head. The raven caws, flapping its wings, then leaps into the air. “Not happening, huh?”
