The months flew by. Everything had turned quiet after the curse was removed. I don’t know what I expected to happen, but there was no word from Leo’s birthmother, no more Curses or Jinxes. Cynthia was still on bedrest as a precaution but was as big as a house, ready to drop any day.
Even the attacks stopped after we met with Jack. He did not find a speck of dust to follow. He was more frustrated at the loose ends he could not tie. Quinn stopped dreaming about Star Gazers, and everything was quiet in the strange supernatural world.
Speaking of Quinn, she still did not return home. While staying with Devan, she informed her dad that she would only return after removing my lock. Not his wife, Winnie, laid it all out on the table. Give up the role, remove the lock, and stop your need to control everything.
Things had shifted in the coven. Faith in Nixon’s ability to lead unbiased was questioned, and the lead was passed with a vote. Travis (Devan’s Father) took up the role with pride.
Alex, well, had yet to Enmagica. With his fifteenth birthday coming soon, we all held our breath.
My phone buzzed, causing me to pull away from Leo; we both looked at it on the side table, but he continued showering me in kisses.
I giggled, “Leo, come on, let me answer it! It might be important.”
“Nothing is more important right now.”
Laughing, I wrestled over to the bedside and picked up the call.
“Hello?”
“Heeeeyyyy,” Seri greeted on the other side, “Ready for our summer break away? Quinn wants to leave at ten.”
I groaned, “Ten? What happened to twelve?”
“Ha! She is way too excited for the beach. Tell Leo to stop hoarding you. I’m sure he can keep his hands off you for a few hours while we get there.”
We were halfway through summer break, and our little coven booked a week away to Whitby. Leaving at ten would mean less time alone together…
Leo took the phone from me, “Sorry, Seri, Lexi is busy at the moment.” And he hung up.
I laughed, “You know she will call back, right?”
“Yep, and you are going to ignore it this time.”
He dragged me back to the centre to continue.
Expect the unexpected, they say.
My phone did not ring a second time as predicted, and I can’t say I expected Quinn to barge into the room.
“Get up. We have a beach house to get to.” Quinn swanned in like she owned the place.
“Geez, Quinn! You could have knocked!” Leo said, pulling the covers.
“Where is the fun in that? I shit you up.”
I sighed. Although the recent months had been quiet, our time alone was non-existent. We wanted to take advantage of an empty house and free time.
That plan was now foiled.
“Alright. We will get ready,” I resigned, “Get out. We will be down in fifteen.”
As she left, Leo muttered, “Cockblocked once again.”
Gathering my discarded clothes, I chuckled, “We may not be alone, but at least we get to share a bed,” I said, winking.
I gave cuddles to Sooty before I locked up the house; my mum would return later in the evening. The car was already packed up. This time, I wasn’t the one driving. Leo, now having a part-time job, had been able to purchase a decent car that was larger than my petite Yaris. The others were waiting outside the house.
“You got everything?” Leo asked, closing the boost of his Fiesta.
I nodded, “Everything apart from Seri!” I smiled as she hugged me.
“Have you got the address, just in case?” Devan asked.
“Yeah. If I lose you, I’ll ring,” Leo said, approaching the driver's side.
“Let’s Go!” Quinn cheered, hopping to Devan’s car with Lathen behind them.
“Psst, I got sweeties,” Seri said, jiggling a packet.
“Yes!” I said, fist-pumping, “From the old sweet store?”
“Obviously,” she said, getting in the back.
We had not lost Devan’s car while travelling down the motorway, and Seri was suspiciously quiet in the back.
“Seri?” I turned, “Are you okay? You're not feeling sick, are you?”
“Hm, no!” she said quickly, putting her phone face down.
My eyes narrowed, taking in her behaviour; she looked like a dear in headlights, “Who’s the boy?”
“You got all that from her silence?” Leo pipped up next to me.
“Yes, now shush, I am interrogating.”
I returned to Seri, “Someone I know maybe?”
“No,” she said quietly, her face flushing red.
“Alright, I will just call Quinn to see if she knows.”
“No, wait!” Seri said, grabbing my shoulder, “It’s… Erm…” she mumbled under her breath.
“What?”
Her face could rival a beetroot, “A guy… at work, he left his number…”
I gave her a knowing look, “Is this the guy you have been making eyes at for the past month?”
“I have not been ‘making eyes’ at him!”
“Trust me, yes, you have. Is it?”
“…Yes”
“Ha! He took his time taking Quinn’s advice,” I uttered quietly.
“Wait, What?”
“Nothing. Continue texting your boyfriend,” I teased, and she slapped my shoulder.
Taking a sweet, I offered it to our driver, who took it without taking his eyes off the road and placed a hand on my thigh.
I like being a passenger princess.
The car speakers stopped their music broadcast and started playing Leo’s ringtone. Tapping a button on his steering wheel, he picked up Devan’s call.
“Yo,” Leo said.
“Hey, we need a pit stop, Quinn is starving.”
“Next turn-off?”
“Yep.”
Pulling up, my stomach began to growl; sweets can only do so much!
Once we stopped, I got out of the car and ran to the passenger door.
“Lexi, don’t you dare!” Seri shouted.
“Seri is taking to café guy!” I exclaimed.
“About time!” Quinn said from the window.
Seri groaned, “We are talking! That’s it!”
“Oh no, you don’t! The tables have turned Seri! It’s our turn to tease you!” I said in jest as Quinn got out.
“When’s your date?” Quinn asked.
Groaning, Seri walked away without replying.
We arrived at the place we would call home for the next week. A large holiday home is looking over the harbour. The cobbled streets gave the fishing town character. Thanks to the history and ghost stories around Whitby, it is a hot spot for supernaturals.
I launched onto the double bed, sighing at the softness. It was a long drive; after stopping, I drove the car until we stopped again. It was now teatime; Devan suggested looking for food after a break.
Leo mirrored me on the other side of the bed and turned his head, “So your uncle lives here?”
“Hm, he owns one of the metaphysical shops on the other side of town,” I replied.
Mum’s younger brother, Kieron, resided here in his hometown; we were lucky to see him twice a year. I had not seen him since Dad’s funeral.
I could not help but remember what Nixon said to my mother that night.
“She will turn Dark just like the rest of your family.”
Mum looked in horror, “That’s what you think of my family? Of our family?”
“Just look at your mother, your brother, your husband. I am protecting you from that heartbreak.”
I am still unsure what he was referring to. Mum never made a peep about it and claimed Nixon belonged to a psychiatric hospital.
Knock, knock.
I leaned onto my elbows and looked at the open door.
“Devan has found a place. hungry?” Lathen said, peeking his head in.
“And parched. I’ll get the first round in!” Leo said, hopping up and rubbing his hands together.
One thing was for sure: the Scottish knew how to drink. I laughed and followed them out.
We strolled to the chosen pub; the streets were still bustling with visitors. The houses and streets were charismatic and charming, even with the many bodies. Leo gently held my hand as we walked with the group, but I felt it was just us.
Nearing our destination, I couldn’t help but notice the scene. The boats tied up swayed with the air and waves, and the call of seagulls made a change from home. Breathing in, you could smell the fish being pulled from boats and the smell of the salty sea.
There was something almost nostalgic about it.
Later that night, Leo and I managed to sneak away from the continuing drinking games in the shared house. Walking upwards next to a cliff, I leaned against the fence overlooking the town.
“I don’t know why,” I started, “but I feel like I am waiting for something to happen.”
“In what way?”
“It’s been too quiet. I can’t help but feel a little on edge.”
“Hm, I know what you mean. Didn’t you say Jack hasn’t found anything about that vampire?”
I nodded, “Vampires are good at making themselves scarce, but like everything before us, they leave something. I was worried about Quinn’s dreams for a while, but now they have stopped.”
Leo nodded, “I also half expected my mother to make contact again.”
I paused, “Again?” I asked, looking at him.
He didn’t look at me, and I gave him time.
“When I turned sixteen. A letter came. One for me, one for Derick. Da said it was from my mother, and it was my choice. I did not know what he meant until I opened it.
“She wanted to reconnect. Derick agreed, and I did not. My brother is probably back living with her just a few minutes away from Glenrothes,” he confessed.
“Another reason Ma and Da wanted to move. Last year, I got another letter asking me to see her, to let her explain,” Leo said, shaking his head.
I thought about that day Derick and Maddie came to visit. After a brief pause, I asked,
“You know… Maddie looked like she was trying to find something…”
“I know,” he turned around, looking at the red cliff.
“What do you think she was looking for?”
He shook his head, “I assumed she was snooping around to try and find my BoS or blackmail. It’s what she did last time,” he pointed out.
My intrusive thoughts kicked in, ‘what if…’
“Earth to Lexi,” Leo’s voice teased my ear. I glanced at him, “Don’t let those thoughts wander. There are others around.”
My eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, and I looked over my shoulder. Indeed, we were not alone.
“Strange, I never felt them coming… I still don’t,” I murmured.
“Fae,” Leo whispered, “Don’t give them a name and don’t say mine.”
I nodded, “Got it. Shall we head back?” I whispered back.
“No might seem suspicious.”
Leo shifted closer, sharing his heat against the wind, and we looked at the moon rise.
“We have not seen lovebirds around here in ages, have we, John?”
“No, we haven’t. A pleasure to meet you,” ‘John’ was a small distance away and purchased at a table.
“Evening,” Leo greeted them both, and I nodded, letting him take the lead.
Fae never used real names. Not only was their name’s un-pronouncable to non-fae folk, but names lead to favours. Favours and deals is what gets you into trouble.
“We haven't met witches in a while, too, have we, Fred?” John said to his friend.
‘Fred’ shook his head. Leo glanced at me; I kept a straight face and asked.
“How did you know that?”
“Ahh, I can tell you for a pretty penny, but we were hired, you see,” Fred stood up, rummaging through his pockets, he pulled out a letter, “For you, Edward.”
Taken aback, Leo reached out and took it from them.
"Have a good night." John. stood and with Fred they left as quickly as they came.
Leo flipped over the letter to read the writing on the front.
"The hell? This is the same handwriting as my mother's. But it's addressed to Edward," Leo looked puzzled.
"May I see?" I asked.
He passed it to me. The letter was sealed in Green with an 'M' calligraphy seal. On the front, it read 'Edward' in cursive. Whoever wrote this knew of the past life.
"I think… we need to look into our past lives again," I concluded.
"The past name addressed to you and Fae finding us here. This is not a coincidence. Someone is either playing with us or wants us to figure something out."
Leo nodded, "I think you are right. For now, though,"–I placed the letter into his opened hand– "Let us enjoy this holiday. We can worry about this later."
I nodded and took his offered arm, and we wandered back.
