The Devil's Due (The Earthwalker Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  “Yeah, I was thinking about it. I’m actually more worried about Nate, he sounded pretty freaked out over the phone.”

  Caleb nodded. “We’ll figure it out.”

  I smiled and leaned back against the headrest and played with the tassels hanging playfully at the end of my scarf. Two minutes later, he was turning into my driveway, and I felt my entire body flutter at the very sight of it. The Victorian manor nested deep within the trees was exactly the way I remembered it. Virginia Creepers climbed up the red brick façade, and foliage was all around the yard. It was like my own little fairy tale castle, though I’d never fancy myself a princess.

  My former window, which opened out onto the roof, was framed in black shutters, and I could faintly see the crystals hanging just behind the glass. Aw, they kept it just the way I left it, I thought to myself sentimentally. A surge of nostalgic emotion started bubbling up inside me at the sight of my childhood home, and I bit my bottom lip. It felt odd to be coming back here, so much had happened since I left.

  He pulled into the drive and parked behind Dad’s SUV. I threw the car door open, and Caleb met me on the drive as we both stepped out. We both looked up at the structure wordlessly as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Come on, let’s get our bags,” he encouraged me softly.

  I nodded and followed him around to the back of the truck, gabbing my suitcase from behind the seat. We hadn’t even finished getting them out before Dad came walking out to meet us. “Wynn! I’m glad you made it in safely!” he told me with a hug. “How was the drive?”

  “Long,” I told him honestly. “I’m starving.”

  “Well, go in and get some food,” he told me happily. “Caleb, it’s nice to see you again.”

  Caleb accepted his handshake with a smile and set his own bag on the ground. “It’s nice to be here.”

  “We set up an extra bed in Nate’s room since Wynn told us you were coming. We weren’t sure if you were planning on sleeping here or at the Dunaway’s.”

  “I’m not sure either, my time here might be split.”

  “Where is Nate?” I asked him nervously, grabbing hold of my rolling suitcase.

  “Upstairs being a moody teenager,” Dad told me with a laugh. “He’ll be glad to see you. I'd ask him what he's doing, but I don't want to know.”

  I snickered, making my way towards the door. “I'll go talk to him.”

  The three of us went inside and after dropping off my suitcase in my room, went to knock on Nathan’s door. The yellow Caution tape was still wrapped around it with a Hazmat sign hanging in the center. It seemed more appropriate than ever. Knock! Knock! Knock!

  “Go away!” he responded frantically from inside.

  “Nate, it’s me. I wanna talk,” I told him calmly. Caleb was right beside me and waited patiently from the side.

  “Wynn?” Nate answered nervously.

  There was the sound of the door unlocking, and it swung open in a flash. Nate stood there frazzled, and slightly more scraggily than usual. His aura had completely faded into nothing and his eyes were a vibrant green — unnaturally so. There was something weird about his skin too, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was like he was vibrating … static?

  Behind him I saw the wreckage of his room, and dark green vines crawling out from inside his television, being reclaimed by the earth. The headboard of his bead was wrapped inside thick green foliage that had broken through the slats. A family picture that was hanging on the wall had been forced out of the hole made by it thumbtack and absorbed into the general culmination of everything around it. “Whoa, buddy … you weren’t kidding,” I told him awkwardly.

  “Shut up and get inside,” he spat out angrily. “Hi, Caleb.”

  “Hey there, kiddo,” he offered pleasantly. “What are you in for this time?”

  “Take a wild guess.”

  “Running your own meth lab in the bathroom and selling it for beer money?”

  His joke managed to release the tension in the room and Nathan laughed. “Something like that.”

  He and I both stepped inside the bedroom and looked around to see the extent of what we’re dealing with. I saw the ruined electrical equipment in the garbage with scorch marks on the side. The sentient vines were everywhere and slowly closing in around his living space. “How long has this been going on?” I asked him.

  Nathan shrugged. “I dunno, a week? Maybe two?”

  “Why didn’t you call me sooner? I would have come.”

  “I was too freaked out to tell anyone.”

  “Right. Okay, how dangerous are we talking?”

  “BAD.”

  I sighed. “Okay, I need you to breathe. Freaking out only makes it worse,” I told him calmly. “I think it’s your Fae powers beginning to manifest.”

  “I don’t want to be a goddamn Fae!”

  “We don’t really get a choice!” I spat out angrily. “Do you think I’d be a demon if I had a say in it? Mom and Garrett both had fairy blood, it makes sense that gene would pass on to you and me. The only difference is mine got mixed up as part of this demonic contract, yours didn’t.”

  “How do you control it?”

  “Dude, I am still trying to figure that out myself. Nadia would know, she’s coming to our house next week for Thanksgiving. We can ask her about it then.”

  “What if I hurt someone?”

  I sighed and started walking back towards the door. “Welcome to my world. Okay, I’m gonna go make some tea. Do you want peppermint, or lemon?”

  Nathan stared at me like I was crazy and gave a dramatic gesture around the room. “You really think I want freaking tea right now? Like that’s going to make everything okay?”

  “Yes!”

  Caleb chimed in and said, “It’s a trick she learned from Nadia. Drinking tea calms the nerves and helps neutralize that negative energy. If you want to get things in control, I’d take her up on it.”

  Nathan shifted his weight awkwardly, trying to figure out what to say. “That really works?”

  Caleb and I both nodded. “I do it all the time.”

  He sighed, scratching the back of his head and told me. “Lemon … I guess.”

  I smiled at him and said, “I’ll be right back. Caleb, can you keep him calm in the meantime?”

  Caleb gave me a one-handed salute and sat down on the bed so the two of them could talk. I stepped out into the hallway and took a calming breath myself before retrieving the tea from my bag. It had been a fortunate thing I thought to bring it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know where to start.

  As I unzipped the front compartment and grabbed the box from my suitcase, I heard an inquisitive meow from behind me. I turned around at the sound of it and found the giant ball of fluff with her head upside down as she stared at me, lying in a sunbeam. “Hey, Cleo!” I greeted with a smile. “Oh my goodness, what a big kitty you’ve become.”

  The calico kitten Nate and I adopted in the spring had grown up over the past few months. She was more of a cat than a kitten, but still chirped in an affectionate manner. “Reow?”

  Caleb poked his head out from around the corner and grinned at finding me with the happy feline, giving her belly rubs. “Now, I don’t want to be an alarmist,” he stated calmly. “But I think she may have melted.”

  I rolled my eyes at him and stood up to go make the tea that I had promised.

  “I’m just saying, your cat’s broken. Sorry, babe, but we’re going to have to find you a new one.”

  “Har-har.”

  Caleb disappeared into the room again as I bid Cleo farewell for the moment. “You’re cute, kitty, but I’ve got to go help Nate.”

  She cocked her head to the side, looking at me with her big yellow eyes. “Raw-raw?”

  I stood up and went to go make the tea in the kitchen, where Dad was sitting calmly at the table. “Hey, Dad.”

  “Hey, did you kids get settled in okay?”

  “Yeah, I was going to make Nate and I some tea. Would you like some?
”

  “Oh, no thanks. I prefer coffee myself.”

  So do I.

  I sighed and retrieved two mugs from the cabinet overhead and set them on the counter as I went about making the herbal remedy. As the water heated in the microwave, I grabbed the lemon juice from the fridge to give it an extra kick. I stirred in the sugar and made the drinks exactly the way I liked it. “Is Nathan coming down, or are you taking that upstairs?”

  “I’m taking it up,” I told him.

  “Will you tell Nate he can’t hide in his room forever? I’m getting sick of his unsociable behavior.”

  I clicked my tongue and took a step towards my father, trying to figure out the best way I could phrase this. “Dad … I think you should go easy on him. Nate is genuinely freaking out up there. I think he’s afraid to talk to you because you won’t understand him.”

  He was about to respond when I held up a hand in protest. “I’m not saying that he’s right or wrong, I’m just saying he’s got a lot on his plate and if he needs a little space then we should give it to him.”

  “He … doesn’t think I’d understand? I’m his father, I can deal with teenage angst.”

  “Not like this,” I told him. “I love ya, let me try to coax him out of his shell and see what can be accomplished.”

  Dad sighed. “Okay. I’ll let you kids know when dinner’s ready.”

  “Kay.” I grasped the two mugs by their handles and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Daddy.”

  I carefully took the herbal tea and started up towards his room. When I got to Nathan’s room, I tapped the base of his door with my shoe. “Guys, I’m back.”

  Caleb opened the door for me and let me come inside. Nathan was just as morose as he had when I had left, and his eyes were downcast towards the floor. “Okay, I got some lemon tea for you. It’s my personal favorite as well.”

  He took the mug from me and took a tentative sip. “Thanks.”

  I pulled out his computer chair and sat down in it, taking a sip of my tea as well. “You’re welcome.”

  Caleb smiled at me from across the room, and I gave him a knowing wink.

  “Okay, bud. Obviously, you’re freaking out hard over here, let’s talk about specifics. What exactly have your powers done so far?”

  “Well … I was playing on my Xbox, and my fingers started sparking.”

  “Could you see it? Or was it more like static?”

  “No, I could see it!” he insisted. “It startled me so I dropped the controller. Then the TV exploded, and I jumped back and fell over my chair. I thought it was a power surge in the house or something so I didn’t worry about it. I told Dad and he just kinda shrugged. When I woke up the next day, there were these vines climbing in through the window. That was weird too, but I pulled them back and threw them outside, but it kept coming back. Every time there was more of them, so I started panicking, then my keyboard caught fire when I was trying to do my homework, and —”

  “Whoa! Whoa, calm down,” I told him urgently. His hands were vibrating, and the fluid in his cup had begun to glow. “Drink the tea.”

  He nodded, shaking slightly, and took a sip of the tea.

  “Your fingers started sparking,” I repeated calmly. “I’m not gonna lie, that’s really freaking awesome!”

  “It really is,” Caleb agreed with me in earnest.

  Nathan chuckled from his seat and took another sip of tea. “I guess.”

  “Now we have to come up with a superhero name for you like … electro-boy or something.”

  He laughed, and his hands started trembling wildly, with little electric sparks shooting out around his fingers. As the vibrations grew bolder and more intense a bolt of electricity shot out from either hand and came straight towards me. I barely had time to react before I caught the aberrant spark with a vacuum sphere that Aidan taught me. Nathan gasped and almost went pale when the initial release took place, but when he saw me decompress the spark from the sphere, he started apologizing profusely.

  “Wynn! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to. But see, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. It just comes out, I can’t control it.”

  “It’s okay,” I tried to reassure him.

  “Wynn’s right,” Caleb told him fervently. “If anybody can hold their own against aberrant fairy magic it’s your sister. She can take care of herself.”

  “Yeah, but could Dad? Could my friends?”

  He groaned and sat back deeper in his seat. “When does Nadia get here?”

  “Not until Tuesday,” I told him calmly. “I’m sorry, Nate. I was honestly hoping you wouldn’t have to go through this like I did.”

  Nathan chuckled. “Wynn, you can’t protect me from everything.”

  “No, but I’m your big sister so I’ve got to try.”

  ~ * ~

  Caleb and I stood in front of the Dunaway’s house, trying to figure out the appropriate way to navigate this evening.

  It was a quaint wood paneled home with a massive screened in porch on the side with a ramp that led up to the porch. It was the perfect little country home with children’s toys and a swing set stationed across the yard. At the end of the driveway was an open carport with Lacey’s old Civic parked inside.

  He took me by the hand as we walked up to the door and knocked to let them know we had arrived. Lacey was the one who met us at the door with a goofy grin on her face. “Hey! You finally made it! I was wondering when you’d get here. Come in and make yourselves comfortable, I’m going to go get my dad and let him know you’re here.”

  The minute we stepped inside, delicious smells of Thanksgiving dinner called to us greedily from the kitchen. My mouth watered at the smell of it as she disappeared down the hall and I glanced around at the humble dwelling. Toys were scattered across the floor with a curious little boy playing with a wooden train in the center of then with short black hair and almond shaped eyes. He must have been about seven years old, but still dragged a tattered blanket along beside him. As he got closer, it became clear he had Downs Syndrome, but nothing about him made me think he was “down” accept his diagnosis. He has the most glorious, heart-felt smile and genuine enthusiasm that I wanted to wrap him in a hug.

  Caleb smiled when he saw him as he started to remove his jacket. “Hey there! What’s your name?”

  The boy peered up at him wide-eyed and said, “I'm Pirro.”

  “Hi, Pirro. My name’s Caleb, and our sister Lacey wanted me to meet you.”

  “I know who you are,” he told Caleb happily. “You're going to be our family’s guardian angel!”

  Caleb smiled and knelt so he could look him in the face. “Well, just between you and me, I'm kind of done with the fighting business. But Lacey says I'm going to be your big brother instead. Is that okay with you?” I could tell from the tone in his voice that he really was concerned and leaving that open ended. He never meant for this to happen, no one did, but being wanted and accepted by a family was all he ever wanted.

  Pirro thought about that for a second, then wrapped his arms around him in a hug. “Okay, as long as you don't forget who you really are. I'll be okay with that.”

  “Thank you, Pirro.”

  They embraced, and Lacey came walking back in from the kitchen with her father right behind. “Ah, this must be the famous Wynn I've heard so much about.”

  I shook his hand and smiled. “It's nice to meet you, sir.”

  “And that means you have got to be Caleb,” he addressed him warmly. “I can't tell you how long I've been looking forward to this. Ever since Lacey called us in September ... I'm glad you're here.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Oh, none of that!” He teased. “You can call me George, or Dad, whatever seems more comfortable to you.”

  When Mr. Dunaway came to embrace him in a hug, Caleb was positively staggered. I'd never seen him so overwhelmed with emotion that he was at a loss for words before. For the first time ever, he had a family of his own.

&n
bsp; “Come in and meet the rest of us. Right here is Pirro and, of course, you know our Lacey. Mercedes and your mom are both still working in the kitchen.”

  The portly woman I remembered having dropped off Lacey at the start of classes poked her head out from around the corner, eyes full of concern. I smiled at her, and she quickly ducked back inside the room, seeming embarrassed at being caught. I felt guilty for deceiving them, making them believe Caleb was her long-lost son, but it wasn’t my secret to tell. I knew the truth about what happened to Alejandro, but the truth would only bring heartache. Lacey and Caleb were both willing to believe the lie, and needed each other to complete their family.

  Mr. Dunaway sighed and said, “Sorry about that. She’s a little nervous to have you here. It was such a long time ago that’s its bringing up old feelings for her.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Oh no, she’s … she’s embarrassed knowing she walked away from you and is afraid you will judge her or hold some kind of animosity.”

  Caleb’s expression softened, and he smiled kindly. “Never.”

  ~ * ~

  It was an awkward dinner for everyone involved, although for some more than others. In many ways, it felt like a first date where both parties were trying to feel the other out and see if it would be a good fit. It also included lots of the questions you’d ask after being set up on a blind date, work, hobbies and other superficial details.

  Lacey, to her credit, did her best to smooth things over and was overjoyed at the prospect of him being here. Their home was warm and friendly, filled with memories and the sound of children laughing. It was exactly what I wanted for him.

  “So, Wynn, how did you and Caleb meet?” Mrs. Dunaway asked us nervously.

  “Oh, that’s a long story,” I told them nervously. “It’d probably bore you.”

  “Caleb’s going to stay?” Pirro asked the table loudly.

  Mercedes rolled her eyes from across the table and poked idly at the apple-pie A la Mode Mrs. Dunaway had graciously made as desert for our Thanksgiving dinner. “Yes, Pirro. We’ve been over this already.”

  “Yay!”

  She was clearly in the depths of a teenage grunge stage and had her straight black hair hanging lazily in front of her face. I hadn’t seen her smile since we walked through the door and got the feeling she wasn’t happy about this turn of events.