Changeling: An Appalachian Magic Novel Book 2 (Appalachian Magic Series) Read online

  “Well, I’m glad she did. Enjoy yourself. I’ll bring over your favorite picture books.”

  Picture books? How old was this Kyle dude anyway?

  Delia returned with a stack of books and set them by his side. “Let me know if you want anything else. I’ve got to go back in the kitchen but come on back later if you want.”

  He nodded again and picked up the first book on the stack, A Picture Encyclopedia of Herbs. Kheelan skimmed the pages and looked at the other titles: Fairy Flower Magick, How to Attract Fairies, Picture Book of Fairies Around the World. Kheelan’s mind spun and he rubbed his temples to stop the dizziness. Shock, most likely. He took another sip of the hot cocoa, trying to bring warmth and sanity back in his body.

  A scruffy-looking guy in an olive army jacket got up from a table and waved in his direction. “Hey, Kyle. Learning more about herbs and fairies?”

  Once again, Kheelan could do nothing but nod his head. He must be part of some mass delusion. Or the fairies might be playing an elaborate trick on him. But if so, he couldn’t imagine the point. He had no idea how long he sat there, mind and body numb with shock and disorientation. The drink and scone were finished, the books in a scattered heap in front of him.

  The caffeine brought some clarity and he focused on the mistaken identity problem. Humans said everyone had a twin, so this could be a huge coincidence.

  But Kheelan, though raised in a fairy realm full of what humans would find extraordinary, didn’t believe much in coincidence. Was it possible Kyle was supposed to be him? When the detestable spriggan fairies stole human children, they replaced them with the body of a Fae child enchanted to physically mimic the look of the stolen child.

  Kheelan warmed to his theory. By the fairy’s own records, his parents were alive and living in this area. If Kyle was a fairy abandoned from the Fae world, it followed that he might have problems thinking and functioning like a mortal. Maybe that explained his obviously low reading level. He hadn’t been raised among his own kind, never told about his true nature. That was bound to lead to problems, especially since the exchanged fairies were often swapped children because they exhibited some oddity in their Fae state.

  The bells at the front door jangled abruptly and two husky guys entered.

  “Skye! It’s closing time, fun time,” one of them said. His deep voice echoed throughout the store.

  The redhead looked up and beamed, walking over to the newcomers. So, her name was Skye. It suited her. Kind of quirky and new agey. Skye hugged them and the lingering cocoa flavor in his mouth deteriorated to a burnt sugar aftertaste. He wanted to ignore the threesome, but instead he became acutely conscious of their every word.

  “All work and no play sucks. We’re kidnapping you tonight,” said the shorter one.

  The tallest one, the one Skye paid particular attention to, added:

  “Come out and get the full college experience for once.”

  “Meaning alcohol and the opposite sex?” Skye asked.

  The shorter dude clasped his hands over his ear. “I don’t want to hear my little sister talking about sex, thank you very much.”

  The tall one laughed. He grabbed Skye around the waist and lifted her.

  Kheelan was out of his chair and across the store before he could stop to think. The way Skye’s eyes sparkled when she was picked up grated on him. When he reached them, she gave him a smile.

  “Kyle, you remember my brother, Michael, don’t you?”

  He nodded, looking only at the other, who still had an arm draped over Skye. Her boyfriend?

  “This is our friend, Tanner. I don’t think you’ve met him before.”

  Tanner raised an amused eyebrow at Kheelan, then took his arm off Skye and extended his hand. Before he could shake it, Skye shook her head slightly at Tanner.

  “Kyle doesn’t like to shake hands with someone he’s just met,” she said.

  He didn’t? What was up with that? Before he could react, someone came up behind him.

  “When is Melissa coming to get you, Kyle? I’ll be glad to give you a ride if you need one.”

  He turned to see Delia and his mind leaped at this chance. There was no better way to find out who this Kyle person was than to see where he lived. He nodded. Whoever Kyle was, he must not be very talkative because he hadn’t said more than ten words in the past couple hours and no one found it odd.

  “Sure, a ride.” His voice croaked, as if fallen into disuse after only one afternoon of silence.

  “I’ll get my coat,” Delia said. “Come back to the kitchen with me and help me close up.”

  Kheelan followed; glad to escape Skye before he made a fool of himself. He’d had no business interrupting her conversation. What had come over him? He hadn’t even properly activated the crystal to search out and pinpoint exactly where the bad Fae might be in this place. Well, he could always lie and tell Finvorra the shop had closed early and he needed to return tomorrow. Finvorra was too lazy to check out his story.

  Skye waved to him on his way out. “See you Friday, Kyle.”

  Tanner was flirting with Glenna, and Kheelan caught Skye’s tight-lipped annoyance as she turned her back on the spectacle and went to the crystal display case.

  Each one of the crystals came alive with light and color, like huge kaleidoscope chips, shifting to new angles and patterns. Hundreds of them glimmered around her in waves of purple, red, green, pink, an entire spectrum of chromatic wonder. Skye herself had a brilliant aura of rainbow colors. No one else noticed which astounded him further. He didn’t even need to activate the fairies’ cross crystal hidden under his shirt to see her aura. He knew what it meant.

  She was The One of Sidhe legend.

  4

  Pixies In Dixie

  “Skye, have we got any more of those astrological calendars?” Glenna called out behind the front counter.

  Skye thought a moment. She’d seen them recently—oh, yeah— the box near the bottom steps of the storeroom. “Yeah, I know where there’re some. Be right back.”

  Each creak of the pine board steps sent an uneasy vibration tumbling around her insides. Skye gripped the iron railing on the side of the staircase, taking in the scent of dampness and darting quick glances in the dark corners.

  It seemed creepier than the last time she was downstairs several days ago. A cloying sweet smell, with an underlying note of rot and decay, assaulted her nose. Skye caught the barest hint of movement out of the corner of her eye. She whirled and looked around, but saw nothing.

  “It’s just me here,” she whispered in the empty silence. Her voice echoed in the dimly lit room. The tiny window, high up on the back wall, reflected the black night. Rain pelted the pane and tiny rivulets ran down its surface like tears. The darkness matched her mood. All day she was haunted by Tanner’s look the other night when she told him she wanted more, remembered the feel of his breath in her hair. What an idiot she’d been to speak up. She only hoped he didn’t tell her brother about it.

  Skye thought of the strange humming noises. Would she hear them again if she headed to the back of the room? She had to know. Grabbing several of the calendars she had come down for, she gripped them tightly in her arms as she walked deeper into the room.

  Something moved just at the edge of her vision. She turned slowly in a complete circle, but the fluttering sensation had disappeared. This wasn’t such a good idea. She turned and took a step, only to scowl at the unmistakable crunch of dried bugs beneath her feet. As before, the floor was littered with the carcasses, only now there were more of them.

  “Termite extermination time,” she muttered. “I don’t like sharing space with unidentified varmints, dead or not.”

  A quivering brushed by her ear. Something soft brushed her cheek. The fluttering multiplied and the beating of some kind of insect wings, dozens of them, tangled in her hair and tugged at her scalp. The humming returned. Skye closed her eyes and concentrated on the buzzing vibrations. The noise increased in volume and the pit
ch became higher, like the squeak of mosquitos.

  She waited for the sting, but there was none.

  The sound ceased to be a monotonous buzz and morphed into a clipped pattern. It ebbed and flowed like syllables … it was saying something!

  Good goddess, she was transported to age seven again, hearing the trapped fireflies struggling to communicate. She concentrated harder on the unfamiliar sounds.

  “What is it? What do you want?’ She whispered the words as softly as possible, barely moving her lips.

  More buzzing. Something brushed against her eyelids. They were moving in on her.

  “Help me.” The hum said, ever so faintly. “Please, help me.”

  Skye gasped and opened her eyes. Dozens of pinpoints of light danced in front of her. The humming increased into a chorus. “Help us, please help us.”

  “Skye!” Heavy footsteps clomped down the stairs. “What’s taking you so long? I’ve got a customer waiting on that calendar.”

  Glenna’s scowling face appeared. “Did you find it or not?”

  Skye never thought she’d be happy to see Gloomy Glenna’s face, but her knees almost collapsed with relief.

  “I’ve got the calendars. Wait up for me.” She ran to the stairs, conscious of the crunching sensation beneath her feet. She didn’t want to be alone down there another minute.

  When she returned to the light and a throng of people in the store, Skye breathed easier, but her heart still raced. Maybe Tanner’s rejection had pushed her mind over some kind of edge.

  Tea, I need some kava-kava tea. And probably a few valiums would help. Too bad she didn’t do drugs. She walked to the coffeehouse and got tea. Her hands trembled as she brought the mug to her lips and a bit of the hot tea splashed onto her numb fingers.

  “Seen a ghost?’ Glenna’s sudden voice at her side made Skye jump. Half the tea spilt down the front of her shirt.

  Skye glared, but Glenna smiled knowingly. “Something must have happened down there in the storeroom. You’re pale as a blood-sucked corpse.”

  Maybe Glenna would understand, seeing as how she liked to claim she was clairvoyant. “Have you ever seen anything unusual going on here?” Skye asked cautiously.

  To her surprise, Glenna nodded seriously. “I see ghosts everywhere I go. It’s all part of my extraordinary psychic ability.”

  “Do they say anything to you? Do they have a smell?”

  “They tell me things, secret things.” Glenna gave a mysterious smile.

  “Like what?” A rush of excitement tingled down her spine. If Glenna could really talk to ghosts, maybe she could communicate with them and find out why they, whatever they were, kept asking for help.

  Glenna put on her most irritating smirk. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret.”

  Psychic ability, my ass. At least Glenna was focused on herself again instead of interrogating her. She popped a couple aspirins and sipped her tea.

  Glenna eyed the pill bottle with distaste. “Why are you always taking that stuff?”

  “Scoliosis. Gives me backaches most days, although it’s gotten worse lately.”

  Glenna shrugged indifferently and returned to her perch behind the front counter.

  “Thanks for the sympathy,” Skye said to her retreating back.

  What did Mickey see in that girl? It wasn’t fair when even a loser like Glenna had someone and she didn’t.

  Finally, closing time. Skye huddled in a heavy coat, then put a loose rain jacket on top of that. The pounding rain showed no signs of letting up. She opened an umbrella and hurried to her car. Once inside, she cranked up the heater and shrugged off the wet raincoat. The windows were foggy so she punched on the defrost button and started the windshield wipers. When the condensation began to lift, Skye fastened her seat belt and squinted through the wipers.

  He stood not three feet from the hood of her car. She let out a strangled scream. How had he materialized out of nowhere? After one terrified moment, she realized this was no stranger. It was Kyle. Her heartbeat calmed slightly, but still pulsed at a rapid clip.

  He looked like Kyle and yet . . . it wasn’t Kyle. Not like she had ever seen him anyway. He never looked anyone dead in the eye like now.

  Skye debated her next move. She couldn’t drive off without running him over. She pressed the auto lock on the side of the door. If she laid down on her horn, someone would surely hear her. Even in the pouring rain, some students were about, probably bar hopping. The adrenaline rush eased a bit. Besides, she knew him, he was harmless.

  If that was Kyle.

  Their eyes locked, the pelting rain a silvery, blurring shield between them. Skye shivered, and it had nothing to do with the cold. He held up two palms like a peace offering and slowly inched his way to her car door. Skye’s foot itched on the accelerator. Go or stay? His face was inches from her, and he twirled his hand indicating to open the window. Skye slid it open an inch. She couldn’t drive off in the night as if she didn’t know him, didn’t see him dripping wet right in front of her.

  “Kyle, is that you? What are you doing here?” she asked. Rain came in, wetting the inside of the car door. Her words formed little clouds of fog.

  “I need to talk to you. It’s important. You aren’t afraid of me, are you?” He smiled, a charming ‘it’s just little ole me’ kind of smile. He waved an arm in the direction of the McDonalds, cattycorner to The Green Fairy. The golden arches glowed through the rain. “If you don’t want me in the car, I’ll walk over to McDonalds and meet you there. Thought we could get a burger or something to drink?”

  She’d never heard Kyle speak more than a sentence at a time, and when he did speak, it was either gibberish or something to do with herbs or fairies. Claribel had probably filled his head with her nonsense. So, what was going on here?

  “Okay, get in.” She unlocked the car and called Michael on the cell phone—in case Kyle started any funny business. He sat down and Skye held up the phone. “I’m talking to my brother,” she informed him. Actually, Michael hadn’t answered her call but she carried on a make-believe conversation while she drove to McDonalds. A girl couldn’t be too careful these days. She continued the pretend conversation until they got inside the restaurant.

  She made her way to the front counter. “What do you want to drink?”

  “I’ve got it.” He cut her off and stepped up to the counter.

  “Coffee?”

  Skye nodded and watched, amazed, as he ordered the drinks and paid. When had he learned to function so well? Was the whole autism thing some kind of charade? She followed him silently to a table in the far back; they were the only ones in the joint. She gratefully accepted the coffee, put in some sugar and cream, and wrapped her cold hands around the steaming cup.

  This day was too weird.

  Kyle sipped the coffee, then set it down and stared at her. “You must realize by now. I’m not Kyle.” He held out his right hand, palm down, exposing an unusual tattoo just above his wrist. “Bet he doesn’t have a mark on him like this.”

  Skye stared down at it, instantly recognizing a Celtic knot design that formed a wreath around a tall black feather. She returned his gaze. Now that she was so close and really paying attention, she noticed physical differences she’d missed when he— whoever he was—came in the shop before. Because this was definitely not Kyle. Not only was this person’s hair a bit longer and straighter, his jaw and bone structure were more chiseled. And those chocolate brown eyes were flecked with specks of topaz, their intense expression a stark contrast to Kyle’s blank, far-off look. Kyle seldom looked at anyone directly, a trait common with persons with autism, according to the group home staff who had found him the job.

  “I’ve heard everyone has a twin, but this is ridiculous. Why didn’t you tell us you weren’t Kyle when you came in the shop?”

  He took a sip of the steaming coffee, not answering right away. He set the cup down and returned his focused gaze on her. “My name is Kheelan. When I went to the store and
everyone called me ‘Kyle’, it freaked me out. Still does.”

  Skye nodded. “It would me too. I’ve had people mistake me for someone else, but it would be pretty bizarre to have everyone call me by another name, and all in one day.” He continued to regard her steadily, as if trying to read her mind. It made her uneasy. “You should have spoken up yesterday.”

  He nodded. “True. But you were the first person to call me Kyle.” He took a long swallow of his drink. “Besides, I wanted to get to know you.”

  “Me?’ She laughed shakily, but had to admit she was extremely flattered, especially after Tanner’s rejection. Her already fragile self-esteem had taken a major hit.

  Wake up and smell the coffee. Something is off here. But . . . he was damn good-looking and seemed interested. Too bad it couldn’t have been Tanner. Thoughts of Tanner’s brush-off kiss sent a surge of anger and hurt all over. She dismissed the memory. “So the only way to meet me is to stalk me after dark and pull me over in a rainstorm? Unusual way to impress a girl.” She was gratified to see a muscle twitch in his jaw. Let him be the one caught off guard.

  “I didn’t say I knew how to make a good impression.”

  The humor was unexpected and Skye laughed in relief. After the weird happenings at the shop, it was fun to sit in a McDonalds and have a good-looking guy hit on her. This kind of thing didn’t happen often. Okay, it had never happened before. Everyone at her old high school thought she was strange, and she’d only had eyes for Tanner anyway.

  Kheelan smiled in return, and Skye caught her breath. His dark brown hair, nearly shoulder-length, was thick and his eyes matched the darkness of his hair—he was damn handsome. Kyle had never affected her this way—his looks and behaviors were otherworldly and airy. But even with the shared physical features, Kheelan radiated strength and intelligence.

  “Tell me about yourself,” he prompted. “All I know is that your name’s Skye.”