Nash shrugged again. Carter offered to pick you up himself.
Of course he had. Because he was Nashs best friend, and Sophies boyfriend. And my cousin had seriously bad taste in guys. As, apparently, did Nash. Why do you hang out with him?
Were teammates.
Ahhh. And if blood was thicker than water, then football, evidently, would congeal in ones veins.
And that makes you friends? I twisted to peer briefly into the tiny backseat, which was empty and still smelled like leather. And like Sophies freesia-scented lotion.
Nash shrugged and frowned, like he didnt understand what I was getting at. Or like he wanted to change the subject. We have stuff in common. He knows how to have a good time. And he goes after what he wants.
He could easily have been describing my fathers German shepherd. As could I, when I replied, Yeah, but once he gets it, hell just want something else.
Nashs hands tightened around the wheel, and he glanced at me with his eyes wide in comprehension, his forehead furrowed in disappointment. Is that what you think Im doing?
I shrugged. Your record kind of speaks for itself. And why else had he put up with so much from me? Why would a guy like Nash Hudson stick around through freaky death premonitions and possible brain cancer, if he didnt want something?
Or even if he did, for that matter? He could have put in a lot less work for a lot more payoff somewhere else.
This isnt like that, Kaylee, he insisted, and I wasnt sure I wanted to know what that was. This isWere different. He didnt look at me when he said it, but I felt myself flush anyway.
What does that mean?
He sighed, and his hands loosened around the wheel. You hungry?
Half an hour later, we sat in Scott Carters car with the front seats pushed back as far as they would go. The setting sun took up the entire windshield, painting White Rock Lake a dozen deep hues of red and purple.
What does that mean?
He sighed, and his hands loosened around the wheel. You hungry?
Half an hour later, we sat in Scott Carters car with the front seats pushed back as far as they would go. The setting sun took up the entire windshield, painting White Rock Lake a dozen deep hues of red and purple.
I was well into a six-inch turkey sub, and Nash was half done with some combination of provolone, ham, pepperoni, and a couple of meats I didnt recognize. But it smelled good.
Id already dripped mustard on Carters gearshift, and vinegar on the front seat. Nash had just laughed and helped me mop it all up.
If I was dying, Id decided to spend every single day I had left eating at least one meal with Nash. Talking to him made me feel good, even when everything else in my life was totally falling apart.
I swallowed a big bite, then washed it down with a gulp from my soda. Promise me that if I do have a brain tumor, youll bring me sandwiches in the hospital.
He eyed me almost sternly, peeling paper away from his bread. You dont have cancer, Kaylee. At least, thats not why youre having premonitions.
How do you know? I bit another chunk from my sandwich, chewing as I waited for an answer he seemed reluctant to provide.
Finally, after three more bites and two false starts, Nash wrapped the remains of his sandwich and stuffed it between our drinks on the console, then took a deep breath and met my gaze. His forehead was wrinkled like he was nervous, but his gaze held steady. Strong.
I have to tell you something, and youre not going to believe me. But I can prove it to you. So dont freak out on me, okay? At least not until youve heard the whole thing.
I swallowed another bite, then wrapped the rest of my sandwich and set it in my lap. This didnt sound like the kind of news I should get with food in my mouth. Not unless I wanted to check out earlier than Id expected, with a chunk of turkey wedged in my throat. OkaaayWhatever it is, it cant be worse than brain cancer, right?
Exactly. He ran his fingers through deliberately messy hair, then met my gaze with an intensity that was almost frightening. Youre not human.
What? Confusion was a calm white noise in my head, where Id expected fear or even anger to rage. Id been prepared to hear something weird. I was intimately acquainted with weird. But I had no idea what to say to not human.
Either your aunt and uncle dont know, or they dont want you to know for some reason, which is why I didnt tell you yesterday at breakfast. But youre killing me with this whole brain cancer thing. He was watching me carefully, probably judging from my expression how close I was to flipping out on him.
And honestly, if Id had any idea what he was talking about, I might have been pretty close.
I think if they knew you thought you were dying, theyd tell you the truth, he continued. It sounds like theyre going to tell you soon anyway, but I didnt want you to think I was lying to you too. He flashed deep dimples with a small grin. Or that you have cancer.
For a moment, I could only stare at him, struck numb and dumb by an outpouring of words that contained no real information. And I have to admit there were a couple of seconds there when I wondered if maybe I wasnt the one in need of a straitjacket.
But hed believed me when I told him about Heidi, as crazy as the whole thing sounded, and had talked me through two different premonitions. The least I could do was hear him out.
What am I? The very questionand my willingness to ask itmade my heart pound so hard and so fast I felt like the car was spinning. My arms were covered in goose bumps.
Fading daylight cast shadows defining the planes of his face as he squinted through the windshield into the sun, now a heavy scarlet ball on the edge of the horizon. But his focus never left my eyes. Youre a bean sidhe, Kaylee. The death premonitions are normal. Theyre part of who you are.
Another moment of stunned silence, which I clung toa brief respite from the madness that each new word seemed to bring. Then I forced the pertinent question to my lips, fighting to keep my jaw from falling off my face as my mouth dropped open. Sorry, what?
He grinned and ran one hand over the short stubble on his jaw. I know, this is the part where you start thinking Im the crazy one.
As a matter of fact
But I swear this is the truth. Youre a bean sidhe. And so are your parents. At least one of them, anyway.
I shook my head and pushed my hair back from my face, trying to clear away the confusion and make sense of what hed said. Banshee? Like, from mythology? Wed done a mythology unit in sophomore English the year before, but it was mostly Greek and Roman stuff. Gods, goddesses, demigods, and monsters.
Yeah. Only the real thing. He took a drink from his cup, then set it in the holder. Theres a bunch they dont teach you in school. Things they dont even know about, because they think its all just a bunch of old stories.
And youre saying its not? I found myself scooting closer to the door, until the handle cut into my back, trying to put some space between myself and the only guy in the world who could make me sound normal.
No. Kaylee, its you! He watched me intently, expectantly, and while I wanted to wallow in denial, I couldnt. Even if Nash was one grape short of a bunch, there was something compelling about him. Something irresistible, even beyond the sculpted arms, gorgeous eyes, and adorable dimples. He made me feelcontent. Relaxed. Like everything would be okay, one way or another. Which was quite a feat, considering his claim that I was unqualified to run in the human race.
Think about it, he insisted. What do you know about bean sidhes?
I shrugged. Theyre women in long, wispy gowns who walk around during funerals, wailing over the dead. Sometimes they wail over the dying, announcing that the end is near. I sipped watered-down soda, then gestured with my cup. But, Nash, banshees are just stories. Old European legends.
He nodded. Most of it, yes. They spell it wrong, for starters. The Gaelic is B-E-A-N S-I-D-H-E. Two words. Literally, it means woman of the faeries.
My eyebrows shot halfway up my forehead as I dropped my cup back into the drink holder. Wait, you think Im a faerie? Like, with little glittery wings and magic wands?
Nash frowned. This isnt Disney, Kaylee. Faerie is a very broad term. It basically means other than human. And forget about the wispy gowns and following funerals. All that went out of style a long time ago. But the rest of it? Women as death heralds? Sound familiar?
Okay, there was a slight similarity to my morbid predictions, butTheres no such thing as bean sidhes, no matter how you spell it.
There are no premonitions either, right? His hazel eyes sparkled in the fading light when he grinned, refusing to be derailed by my cynicism. Okay, lets see how much of this I can get right. Your dadHe looks really young, right? Too young to have a sixteen-year-old daughter? Your uncle too. Theyre brothers, right?
Unimpressed, I rolled my eyes and folded one leg beneath me on the narrow leather car seat. You saw my uncle an hour agoyou know hes young. And I havent seen my dad in a year and a half. Though as a child, Id always thought he looked young and handsome. But that was a long time ago.
I know your uncle looks young, but that means nothing to a bean sidhe. He could be a hundred.
That time I laughed. Right. My uncles a senior citizen. Wouldnt it piss Aunt Val off to think he could be more than twice her age and still look younger!
Nash frowned at my skepticism, his face darkening as the last rays of daylight slowly bled from the sky. Okay, what about the rest of your family? Your ancestors are Irish, right?
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. My names Cavanaugh. Thats not a big leap. Plus, he already knew my dad lived in Ireland.
Bean sidhes are native to Ireland. Thats why the stories all stem from old Irish folktales.
Oh. Now that was quite a coincidence. But nothing more.
Got anything else, Houdini?
Nash reached across the center console and took my hand again, and this time I didnt pull away. Kaylee, I knew what you were the minute you told me Heidi Anderson was going to die. But I probably would have known earlier if Id been paying attention. I just never expected to run into a bean sidhe at my own school.