Now You See Me

Twenty-Three: Phantasm

"I don't know who Vashde is working with," Leia said again, starting to get irritated. "Vashde is the only one of the group I recognise. I don't see why you keep asking considering you didn't even know that much."

Feila put a restraining hand on her partner's arm and shook her head minutely; Leia huffed and turned her glare from my mother. I couldn't blame her for getting annoyed. Mum was being irritatingly persistent in her questioning and Leia's fuse was one of the shortest I knew.

"Our primary consideration is Damien's safety," the fae said, her deep voice instantly calming the tension. "Arguments will not bring us to a solution any faster."

Mum sighed, her breath hitching, and leaned back against my arm where it rested along the top of the sofa. Her expression was one of total exhaustion, something that was reflected in every expression in the room at that time. I wasn't sure how long we'd been here trying to determine what our next step should be after Leia's revelation, but it felt like hours, and I was sure that the steady stream of caffeine coming from Thea's cupboard was the only thing keeping any of us awake. It had totally failed on Lorien, who was curled into a ball on another couch, nestled up against Courtney's side.

I turned to look out the window, where the first spatters of a rain shower were beginning to pepper the glass, and felt a sudden urge to be out there under it as it grew heavier. What might happen if I stepped out in the rain didn't really enter my consideration; the air in this room was so thick and dry that it felt as though my lungs were imploding from the pressure. My neck itched as if the mere thought of water was enough to open my gills, even though it never had – it seemed as though, no matter how dire the situation was, I couldn't keep my thoughts from straying back to that idealistic little dream I'd had about the ocean and Chris and the total lack of more goddamned black magic.

"What are you doing, sweetie?"

I took my hand from the handle of the window, starting, to find Mum staring up at me with confusion. Raindrops littered her cheeks, and I realised I'd pushed it wide and was standing on the ledge leaning out into the increasing downpour.

"I... It got humid," I tried. Leia didn't buy that at all.

"Is there something you've been neglecting to tell me, Mr Smith? Because that doesn't look like normal behaviour to me."

"No..." I said slowly, wracking my brains. "I mean, I've had a sort of...longing, I guess...I mean, certainly a few dreams...about the ocean. And Lorien said I smelled like sea magic the other day and never had before."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She suddenly seemed angry, as she got up from her seat and stalked over. She waited until I'd clambered down off the sill before reaching out and slamming the window shut. In the reflection off the glass a few emerald scales glinted on my skin where I'd been rained on, and I suddenly comprehended the full stupidity of what I'd been about to do.

"I was about to step out there, wasn't I?" I said, pointing. Leia nodded grimly, crossing her arms and cocking her hip out to one side.

"And the reason you haven't told me is...?"

"I tried," I said defensively. She raised an eyebrow at me. "You were busy. And then I forgot about it after the thing with Marilyn happened."

"I don't remember you knocking." She frowned at me.

"I told him not to," David put in, nodding slightly at my look of gratitude. "When he says you were busy, he means you were holed up in there with Feila. For the sake of his innocence, I stopped him."

It was the first time I'd ever seen Leia blush, and I wasn't particularly comfortable with it.

"Okay," she muttered. "I'll let you off. Just this once."