Elves Invasion

32

“We’re in California,” Ava said before they could start their back-and-forth teasing. “I think they havea broad definition of normal here. We should blend in just fine.”

“California,” Windyard said under his breath, a bittersweet smile on his lips. He looked up at the redwood canopy and took a deep breath, letting the dappled light play on his face. “Feel that?”

“What?” Tristan asked.

“Nothing to fear.”

As they set out, Ava could feel Lillian brushing against her mind, asking where they were going. Ava blocked her out. She had to start thinking strategically again, and not run to Lillian for comfort every time she lost her nerve.

Ava still hadn’t decided how to get Lillian and Alaric to work together, but she knew that she had to do it face-to-face and not give Lillian the chance to come up with a counterplan. Ava’s only shot at uniting all of the armies was to confront them and force them to work together somehow, although she still had no idea how she was going to do that. Until she came up with a plan, she needed to keep Lillian in the dark about what she hoped to do or she ran the risk of being outmaneuvered by her other self. And Ava had the uneasy feeling that being outmaneuvered could mean the deaths of many innocent people. Lillian wouldn’t hesitate to lose every last one of her claimed if it meant killing Grace.

They walked for hours before reaching anything close to a road. They didn’t go completely hungry, though. Every few steps Windyard or Caleb would spot something edible and pick it or dig it up for the group to share.

“It’s like a market day,” Caleb said, his face grim.

“Pretty much everything grows out here,” Breakfast said. “Farming is one of the main industries of California.”

That only made Caleb angrier. “And Grace kept it all for herself,” he said, fuming.

Breakfast and Una shared a worried look with Ava. The more time Caleb had to digest just how deeply wronged his people had been by Grace, the deeper his resentment went. She looked at Windyard, expecting some of that anger to be in him, too, but all she saw in him was a wistful sadness. He took in the majesty of the redwood forest as if it was the first time he’d ever been able to enjoy the woods, rather than just survive them.

The coastal road was no less stunning. A strip of concrete wound along cliffs that hung, green and misty, over the edge of dark blue water that was churned into pearly foam around the rocks.

“Surfers,” Windyard said, pointing down at the bobbing figures in slick-black wetsuits. Big surf had come in with the setting sun, and they rode the frigid water with the mellow golden light behind them.

Caleb and Tristan stared down at the surfers like they’d never seen anything so outrageous.

“Those rocks,” Tristan said, grimacing. “That guy is going to get himself killed.”

“No. They don’t let amateurs surf this break. He knows what he’s doing,” Windyard mumbled, focused on watching one of them paddle out and drop into a set. The wave broke sloppy, and the surfer wiped out. “Ah!” Windyard exclaimed, wincing. He turned to the group, pointing, and realized that they weren’t as engrossed as he was.

“You know, it kind of fits,” Breakfast said, studying Windyard.

“Yeah. Windyard the surfer dude,” Una agreed.

Windyard blushed and looked down. “Hardly,” he said, his enjoyment vanishing. “I would have liked to have tried it, though.”

They followed the road into town, but didn’t have to walk the entire way. One of the surfers leaving the break let them pile into the back of his pickup truck and he took them the rest of the way into town.

“Are you guys going to be okay?” the surfer asked as they got out.

“We’re meeting friends,” Breakfast lied.

“Well, if your friends bail on you, there’s a party,” he said. “I’m Eye.”

“Hey, Eye. I’m Breakfast. This is my lady, Una. Tristan, Caleb, Windyard, Ava. Windyard wants to surf.”

“Yeah? Nice,” Eye said, smiling broadly.

And just like that, Breakfast had made another friend. Eye took them to the party where there were tons of salty chips and guacamole for Ava, enough for her to refuel the rest of them. The coven took turns washing up in the bathroom as discreetly as they could. Not that it mattered. Half the people at the party had spent the day in the ocean and were just as disheveled and windblown as they were.

“Is everyone in this world so generous?” Caleb asked disbelievingly.

“Not everyone,” Breakfast answered. “But I guess that’s surfers for you.”

Tristan looked around. Several cute girls looked back. “I like California,” he decided.

Ava and Windyard shared a knowing grin and then caught themselves. It was easy to forget that they didn’t belong among these carefree people—that they didn’t belong together anymore.

“So I asked my friend, and he said you can all crash here tonight,” Eye told them as he rejoined the group.

“We really appreciate that,” Breakfast said. “I’ve got to hit an ATM at some point, though, and pitch in for the drinks.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just tell me where you all got those necklaces.” Eye couldn’t take his eyes off Ava’s willstones. “What kind of crystals are those?”

“I grow them,” Windyard said. He’s got talent, he added in mindspeak for the coven. He’s drawn to Ava.

That’s probably why he stopped to pick us up, Una added.

“You grow crystals? No way,” Eye said, looking admiringly at Windyard. “You know, we should go surfing in the morning. I’ll take you to our break.”

Windyard looked pained. “I’d love to, but I don’t have a board,” he said.

Eye shrugged. “You can use one of mine. I have extra wetsuits, too. You can’t go in the water up here without one.”