Trees in the Desert (Afterlife Book 8) Read online

  "Kiss me," he said.

  She lowered her mouth to his, and slipped her tongue into his mouth. He kissed her back, but all he could think of was Harper's soft lips, and the way she sometimes bumped her teeth against his.

  He pushed Colleen away. "I have to go."

  "No, stay," she said.

  "I have to go," he repeated.

  "There's no refunds," Colleen said, her voice becoming professional again. "You don't get your money back just because you changed your mind."

  Conner shook his head. He walked past Colleen and down the stairs. He picked up the bottle of rum and took a long swig from it. The bartender looked at him curiously. Conner laid two fifties on the counter, took the bottle with him, and went home.

  Once he was there, he sat on his couch, and stared at the wall. Then he picked up the bottle and thought of Harper and the first time he'd met her. He'd bought her a screwdriver and his powers had no effect on her whatsoever. He threw the bottle against the wall, where it shattered. He put his head down on the edge of the couch and stared at the ceiling.

  Eventually he fell asleep, and his dreams were littered of all the girls he'd once used. He remembered Livy the most, Livy the beautiful girl who'd had a boyfriend, Livy the beautiful girl he'd taken to a hotel room, because unlike Harper, his powers had worked on her.

  He wasn't a good man, and he didn't think he ever would be.

  TEN

  The next day, the Afterlife crew went back to the land of the fey. They were taken there by Marissa again. Conner had met up with them early in the morning. He didn't look as though he'd slept well, and Chloe wondered if he'd been up all night thinking of Harper.

  Chloe felt bad for all three of them: Conner, Harper, and Alec. The love triangle was complicated and it wasn't getting any easier. She might have her own personal demons when it came to loving Brittney, but at least she could love her without worrying about hurting someone else.

  "So what's the plan today?" Brittney asked.

  Alec said. "We'll stay together this time. Harper will use her Sight to find out if there are anymore demons here, and if there are, we'll question them. Find out what the first one meant when he said the magic was fading. We'll question the fey we meet too, find out if anything has changed."

  "You all go do that," Chloe said. "I'm going to go talk to some of my family."

  She looked over at Brittney, who looked disappointed. She smiled. "Hey, I met your parents. They disapproved, but I met them. You can't meet mine, but you can meet more of the fey that I know. Why don't you come with me?"

  She saw the way Brittney's eyes lit up and realized that when she'd ditched her the day before, it must have hurt. Brittney was glad she'd decided to bring her along this time.

  "Well, stay safe," Conner told them. "We don't know what's going on around here."

  "I've got my gun," Brittney said.

  "And I'm a fairy," Chloe said. "I'm not without protection. You forget, this used to be my home."

  "I didn't forget," Conner said. "I'm just warning you to be careful. There's no crime in that, is there? Damn it, Chloe, calm down."

  Chloe frowned at Conner. "I am calm," she said. "You're the agitated one. What's wrong with you, Conner?"

  Conner didn't say anything, but his eyes flickered briefly to Harper. Everyone saw it, but nobody commented.

  "Come on," Chloe said to Brittney. "Let's go."

  The two of them went off into the town. They stopped at several different fey homes, and Chloe introduced Brittney to each of them. Most of them were polite and friendly, though on occasion, Chloe thought she saw disapproval in their eyes. It made sense; in the fey world, you married fey. Anything else was unheard of.

  It wasn't until they got to Gregory Clinton's house that Chloe and Brittney met real antagonism.

  "I'm happy to see you, Chloe," Gregory said. "But you brought a human with you. What's the meaning of this?"

  "Well, Greg, this is my girlfriend, Brittney," Chloe said. "We're together. I wanted her to meet my family. I thought she might like to see where I grew up and the people I knew when I was younger."

  "Your girlfriend?"

  "Yes," Chloe said.

  Brittney shifted uncomfortably beside her. "It's nice to meet you," she said, extending a hand that Gregory didn't take. Brittney let it drop down by her side. "You have a very nice home, I love the trees you have outside. My mother would adore your garden as well."

  Gregory eyed her for a moment and then turned to Chloe again. "You have forgotten your people, Chloe McAllister. Your parents would be ashamed."

  "My parents would be happy for me," Chloe said. She felt herself growing angry. "They would appreciate the fact that I found someone who loves me, and that I love. It wouldn't matter to them if Brittney was human or not. It shouldn't matter to anyone. Fairies are supposed to be accepting of all love."

  Even as she said it though, Chloe didn't know if it was true. Would her parents be accepting? Would they approve of Brittney? Or would they say the same thing that Gregory was telling her -- that she was forgetting where she came from and who she was?

  "When you left, we understood," Gregory said. "You were hurting. Your parents had just been killed. Nobody blamed you for needing time away and alone. But when you didn't come back, we worried for you. We worried what the outside world was doing to you, and now I can see that worry was well placed."

  "I'm sorry you feel that way, Greg," Chloe said. "Come on, Brittney. Let's go."

  "I'm sorry," Brittney said, as they walked away from the house. "I know the people here don't like that we're together."

  "You have nothing to apologize for," Chloe said. "It's not your fault that none of our families approve of us. Don't forget, your parents are against us being together too, and I'm not about to apologize for that. Look, you want to be with me, right?"

  "Yes."

  Chloe smiled and leaned forward, kissing her lightly. "Well, I want to be with you too, so stop worrying. Who cares what they think?"

  Brittney nodded. "You're right. Let's go back and tell him off. I've never run off before and I'm not going to start now."

  Chloe shook her head. "We're not going to go tell anyone off."

  "Well, you might not be," Brittney said. "But I sure am."

  She quickly walked back toward the house and knocked on the door. Gregory answered.

  "What do you want?"

  "I want to tell you that you're a racist," Brittney said. "I've dealt with racists before, but never against me. I'm not going to allow you to make my girlfriend feel bad when we're here to help your village."

  "Help our village?" Gregory repeated. "By what? Going around and trying to shove your relationship in our faces? I understand if Chloe wants to come back and see her family but she doesn't need to pretend she's here to help somehow."

  "We are here to help though," Brittney said. "Your magic is fading. There are demons wandering in. So far, your people have managed to kill any they find, but what happens when one gets away and leads the others back here? You're going to have a massacre on your hands. So if you want to be a hillbilly racist, then we can leave, and you can deal with it in on your own."

  Gregory was quiet for a moment. "Our magic is fading?"

  "Yes."

  "And you're here to help?"

  "That's right," Brittney said.

  "Then I apologize," Gregory said. "If you need anything, call on me. We can't allow demons to overrun this place. Our people are not fighters. We can defend ourselves, but if there's an onslaught, we will have no way to stop them."

  Brittney nodded and turned back to Chloe. "Come on," she said. "We're should warn the others we see, too. If they don't like me, they can say it to my face, and then they can deal with the demons on their own. Alright?"

  "Alright," Chloe said. She was impressed by her girlfriend's ability to deal with the criticism that came from the fey. "Brittney, I love you. No matter what, remember that, okay? I love you."

  ELEV
EN

  Later that night, Brittney stretched out on her couch; she was tired. Harper was taking Ash for a walk, and she was alone in the house. Chloe had decided to stay over with Sarah. They had a lot to talk about with Samuel leaving and they hadn't had much of a chance yet.

  So far, they'd turned up nothing in the village. Another demon had wandered in but after extensive questioning, he'd been unable to tell them anything. Conner had killed him. They'd walked around all day, and it was for naught. The most they'd accomplished was convincing people that they were there to help.

  Her doorbell rang.

  Brittney frowned and sat up. She quickly ran her fingers through her inky black hair to straighten it, made sure her shirt was tucked in, and got up. She didn't know who would be calling this late, but with her luck it would be the police. There were two detectives who were investigating her and Harper and had already targeted their families for information.

  So far, she'd come up with exactly no idea on how to deal with Detectives Livingston and Grady. If they were demons, it would be easy, but they couldn't exactly make two cops disappear. First of all, they were humans and Afterlife didn't kill humans, and second, they were the good guys. So to speak.

  Were they there to arrest her, though? She was impersonating an FBI agent and that was a crime. Her father would hire her a lawyer but things would get ugly. She prepared herself for the worst when she opened the door.

  Peter stood there. He was holding a suitcase.

  Brittney stared at her little brother. "Peter. What are you doing here? And why do you have that?"

  "I thought I could stay with you for a little while," Peter said.

  "Oh, no," Brittney said. "No. First of all, you have a house. Why would you want to stay here with me and Harper?"

  Peter pushed his way inside and dropped his suitcase by the door. He went over to the fridge and helped himself to one of Harper's ginger ales. "I quit college."

  "What?"

  "I decided business wasn't for me," Peter said. He flopped on the couch and looked back at his sister. He was blond, like she was naturally, and the resemblance between them was striking. They had the same nose, chin, and smile. He flashed it at her now.

  Brittney wasn't going to be distracted by a smile, though. "You love business."

  "No," Peter said. "I hate it. I told Mom and Dad that I loved it because Dad wanted it so much. He wanted me to take over for him when he retires. You know that. So I played the dutiful son, and I hate it, Brittney. Then I saw you so happy with Chloe, and so happy with Afterlife, and I knew that I couldn't waste my life doing something I hated."

  "Well good for you," Brittney said. "I mean that. I'm proud of you, Peter. What are you going to do instead, though?"

  "I thought you could give me a job," Peter said.

  "What?"

  He smiled at her again. "Please?"

  "You're not helping with Afterlife," Brittney said. "It's too dangerous. You'll end up getting yourself killed. There are all kinds of things out there, Peter, things that would make you have nightmares every night. You're too young to get involved."

  "You misunderstand me," Peter said. "I don't want to help you fight demons. I'm not a fighter. You know that about me. I run when there's confrontation, or I call you. I always have. Remember in grade school when that kid kept bullying me? You were the one to put the stop to it. No, I want a job at the actual Afterlife, the nightclub. I could be a bartender."

  "What do you know about tending bar?"

  "I could learn."

  Brittney sighed. "I don't know, Peter. First of all, it's not my club. I'd have to convince the others."

  "So do it."

  "Maybe," Brittney said. "Mom and Dad won't be pleased, though. Remember how they acted when they thought Harper and I were tending bar? They were incredibly disapproving."

  "Oh, I already told them," Peter said. "That's why I'm here. They cut me off. Dad says unless I go back to school, he's not giving me money. My house is in their name. I can't stay there either. Oh, and I have no car. I had to walk here. They're canceling all my credit cards."

  Brittney frowned. The last thing she wanted was to live with her little brother. She loved him dearly, but he could be a pain in the ass at times. He was messy, he didn't cook, he took up all the hot water, and he was always telling jokes that were more offensive than funny.

  "Please," Peter said. "I have no where else to go."

  "Don't you have friends you can stay with?"

  Peter looked away. "Friends are funny, you know? You think they're real, and then you find out that they're there because you can bank roll their parties and pay off their debts. Then when you're the one who needs help, they're gone. I have nobody, Brittney."

  "I have to talk to Harper."

  "Talk to me about what?" Harper asked. She had just stepped in the front door. She let Ash off her leash and hung it by the door. "Hey Peter. What are you doing here so late?"

  "My parents cut him off," Brittney said. "He's decided to drop out of college and become a bartender at Afterlife, and he has no place to stay. His friends have all ditched him, his credit cards don't work, and Mom and Dad took his car. Does that sum it up, Peter?"

  "Sounds about right."

  "Well, we have a guest room," Harper said before yawning. "There's no private bathroom, but it has a huge closet."

  "Harper," Brittney said.

  "What?" Harper asked. "He's your brother, Brittney. And he's like a brother to me too. I'm not going to let him sleep on the streets and neither are you. Is that all you brought?" She nodded at the suitcase.

  "That's all I have," Peter said.

  Brittney knew she had no choice. If Harper was on Peter's side, he'd already won. Besides, she knew what it was like to lose friends because you'd decided to change.

  "Fine," she said. "But you're not becoming a bartender. You can stay here with us for now, but you have to figure out what you really want to do."

  "Really? Thanks!" Peter stood up, and went over to hug Brittney. Then he hugged Harper too. "You two are the best."

  "You're going to earn your keep," Brittney said. "You can take care of Ash during the day. I'll give you a credit card too, and you can do the shopping. You can do the cleaning, too."

  "Anything," Peter said gratefully.

  "For now, I'm going to take a long bath and go to bed," Brittney said. "I'd advise that you go get some sleep yourself, Peter. Tomorrow we'll go find you a car. I'm going to need one too. Mom and Dad have officially taken mine away. Something about too many tickets."

  Peter smiled slightly.

  "Come on," Harper said. "I'll show you your room."

  "Thanks again, guys," Peter said. "I really appreciate this."

  "Yeah, well," Brittney said. "Just don't make us regret it, okay?"

  "Okay."

  TWELVE

  Sarah woke the next day with a killer hangover. Chloe had stayed the night and they'd gotten drunk on screwdrivers. She'd fallen asleep in her fox form, hoping it would help her with her head the next morning, but it hadn't. Chloe wasn't hungover, of course. The fey didn't get hungover; they healed too fast.

  Chloe was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. She was a terrible cook, so breakfast consisted of two bowls of cereal. She brought one to Sarah, and they ate in the living room. Sarah felt her stomach swoop a time or two while she ate, but she forced it down anyway, knowing she would need her strength for the day. They were going back to the woods.

  "So I got a text from Brittney this morning," Chloe said, as Sarah rinsed out their cereal bowls. "Apparently her brother is now living with her and Harper."

  "What? Peter?"

  Chloe nodded.

  "Isn't that dangerous for him?" Sarah asked. "I mean, we have people dropping by that house all the time looking for us to help them with stuff. That's how Brian Moser found us. If he can find us, so can the demons."

  Chloe shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I mean, I do know. It is dangerous. But I gues
s it's their decision. Just going to make sleepovers a little more awkward."

  Sarah laughed. Sometimes the things that worried Chloe made her so amused. She loved her best friend.

  "You know," Sarah said, "you are an adult, and so is Peter. He's not going to care if you stay and sleep with his sister. He might tease you, but you are a big girl, you know."

  "I know," Chloe said.

  "Come on, let's get going," Sarah said. "We're supposed to be meeting the others right now."

  Chloe nodded and the two of them climbed into Sarah's car and drove over to Afterlife. The others were already waiting outside. They made their way to the forest.

  "We have to figure out why the magic is fading," Marissa said after they entered. "I am wondering if there is a demon that's cast some kind of spell. Harper, do you think you could use your Sight to try and figure it out?"

  "I can try," Harper said skeptically. "But can't you cast some kind of spell?"

  "Not if our magic is fading," Marissa said. "Soon we will be too weak to even protect ourselves against a lone demon that walks in. You must stop this. You promised your help."

  "We're trying," Alec said. He put a hand on Marissa's arm. "We're going to figure it out, okay? There's no reason to make Harper feel bad, though. She's doing everything she can."

  "Of course," Marissa said. "I am going to go explore avenues of my own. Please, let me know if there is anything I can do to help."

  Everyone nodded.

  "Today, we stick together," Alec said. "All of us. No more running off on your own, any of you. I have a feeling something is about to go down."

  Chloe nodded. "I have the same feeling."

  Sarah said nothing; her head hurt too bad. She regretted the screwdrivers from the night before. It was nice to get drunk and forget for awhile, but the aftermath was never pretty. She transformed into her wolf form. Her hangover was less when she was in animal form. She trotted alongside the others.