Fifty-Seven
Lola stepped out of her room, bare feet barely making a sound as she crept down the hallway.
She didn’t want to risk waking them. Grabbing her shoes and her purse, she turned the lock and twisted the doorknob, pulling the door open. Slipping into the empty hallway. Shutting the door softly. She prayed that it didn’t wake the others. Her heart thudding in her chest as she let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
Resting her forehead against the cool wood of the front door, she took a moment to breathe before slipping on her shoes. Lola walked past the elevator with a longing glance. The entire time she’d lived in the building it had never worked, and she wondered if the handsome, blond landlord would ever get it fixed.
She opened up the door to the stairwell, quickly rushing down the steps. Once she was outside, she turned her face up to the morning sun and took a deep breath. She could do this. She was strong.
Or at least, that’s what she was telling herself.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.
A part of her wanted to go back up the stairs. To slip back into bed between Lu and Puca, to let them take away these thoughts.
Lola knew that she could not do that. Last night she had dreamed of what had happened with Merrow. Only in her dream, he hadn’t woken up. A similar dream of Lu followed, his eyes slipping closed as she worked her body above his. Watching him struggle to breathe as water poured from his lips.
Walking down the sidewalk, she tried to shake the dark thoughts from her head. There was only one person she knew that she could go to about this, she just hoped it wasn’t a bad decision.
Picking up her pace as she got closer to Erik’s shop, she pulled her hair into a loose bun. Hoping that this wasn’t a horrible idea she pushed the door open. The tinkling bells announcing her arrival.
“Lola, it’s so good to see you. I was just getting ready to text you.” Erik said as he looked up from the front counter, a coffee cup in his hand.
“Erik.” Lola said, biting her lip as her eyes moved about the antique store. “I, um, I wanted to talk to you about the Fae.”
Sitting his mug down on the glass counter, he looked down before looking back up at Lola. A strange glint in his steel-gray eyes. He dragged a hand over his mouth and down his chin. Biting his lip as his eyes met hers.
“What did you want to know?”
***
Puca moved his hand along the cotton sheets. They still held the warmth of Lola’s body. He listened to the quiet apartment with a frown as he heard the front door click closed.
Where did his go halainn think she was going?
Opening his eyes, he looking at Lu. The other man needed all the rest he could get, so he wouldn’t be waking him. Puca rolled off the bed, tugging on his jeans and shirt as he went. His feet barely making a whisper of a sound as he moved down the hallway towards the door.
Grabbing his shoes and slipping them on as he went out the front door. He didn’t know where Lola was headed, but he knew he was going to find out. She may not realize it, but he’d always be able to find her.
Exiting the building, he saw the flash of her purple wavy hair as she turned a corner. He jogged a bit behind her, trying to stay out of her sight. He could see from the way she moved her hands together that something was bothering her. He wished she had just woken him to talk about what it was.
Frowning, he watched as she got closer to Erik’s store. He had a bad feeling about this. The world around him started to shift and he let out a growl of frustration. He didn’t have time for this. Looking at the color fading from the trees and grass around him, he let out a sigh or annoyance. The antique shop turning a muted color as the violet shades of Lola’s hair did the same as she stepped into the building.
Puca scanned his surroundings, knowing that as long as he was in this trap he wouldn’t be going far.
“Cén scéal?.” Puca called out as he circled around, waiting for her to show herself.
“Coinnichidh tu ri do sheann charaid, Puca.” The blonde woman stepped out from behind a tree, her curls moving in a breeze that Puca couldn’t feel as her autumn eyes studied his.
“Your Majesty,” Puca replied. Dipping his head as she moved closer, trying not to get pulled in by her hypnotic gaze.
“You are getting caught up in something you know nothing about. Do you think that she will choose you?” She asked, her lips twisting up into a cruel grin.
“Lola, is ours.” Puca said, his fists clenching at his sides as he looked down on the lithe creature in front of him.
“Are you sure?” She asked, running a hand over his chest, “I could send you home. If you will just leave her be.”
“Lola is my home.” Puca said through clenched teeth, catching her wrist in his grip as she pouted up at him.
“Pity, you were always so much fun.” She said, pulling her hand away from his, “I suppose you think that you are going to charge in there and save the girl?”
“That is my plan.” Puca said, his hand dropping back to his side as he watched the queen turn away from him.
“I do not think I like that idea. It spoils my plans.” She smirked back at him, raising her delicate hand. Bright light enveloped Puca and he let out a scream, trying to move forward. Knowing that he needed to stop her. “You’re now part of them.”
Knowing that it was too late as he found himself trapped in a cage in a dark room that buzzed with old magic. He moved towards the bars, grabbing them in his fists.
Hissing he pulled back, looking at his scorched flesh. He was trapped in an iron cage and Lola was out there. In far greater danger than he had thought if the queen was against her.