"Got a spare room? We may need a place to hang out for a while after a Fae queen destroys our town," I replied.
It was going to be a long afternoon.
24
Tess
Back at home, I took some over-the-counter medicine, drank two bottles of water, and—what the heck—put some Vicks on my feet.
Then I called Molly.
Molly Chen has been my best friend since the first day of kindergarten, when a crayon-stealing bully picked on me. Molly punched the culprit in the eye, earning herself a Time Out and a ride-or-die best friend.
Even though the only things we rode back then were our bikes with training wheels.
For a while after high school, Molly had tried college, tried working in her parents' law firm, and tried music—and that one stuck. She discovered that music was her destiny. She sang like a dream, played a dozen different instruments, and wrote songs that made listeners laugh, cry, and sing along. Her band, Scarlett's Letters, was burning up the indie charts, and several serious record labels were pursuing her. She'd been touring almost nonstop for the past year, and the Paris trip we'd thought about for my birthday had been to check out a venue.
She also talked ninety miles a minute.
"Tess! Where have you been, what is happening, what is this about a Fae queen, is Paris off, why didn't you answer me sooner, how's Jack, and why is your Aunt Ruby inviting me to a birthday blowout for you at City Hall when the town is facing imminent destruction?"
I started laughing, but I could feel tears burning my eyes. It was so good to hear her voice, and I missed her so much. We hadn't had nearly enough Bad Movie Night Fridays this past year.
"Slow down! I've been here. I'll tell you all about the Fae queen. Aunt Ruby needs to be stopped, and Jack—Jack iswonderful." I touched the pendant.
"What? I heard something new in your voice," she accused. "What makes Jack so wonderful? What did he do?"
I took a deep breath. It was destiny that she'd call, so I could tell her first. I always told hereverythingfirst.
"Molly. He loves me."
"Of course he loves you! What's not to love? Everybody loves you! If he didn't love you, I'd kick his butt!"
I grinned at the idea of all five feet and maybe a hundred and ten pounds of Molly kicking Jack's butt, but I loved that she'd probably try.
"No, I mean, he'sin lovewith me. He told me. Just now, Molly." I still could hardly believe it. "He said I'm the most important person in his world. He said hebelongsto me."
Silence.
Then the faint sound of crying.
"Awww," she finally said, still sniffling. "It's about time. You've finally found somebody who might possibly be good enough for you. But if he hurts you, he's a dead man! Dead tiger. Whatever."
Tears started running down my face. "I love you, Molly."
After that, we chatted for a bit about very personal, very emotional things, and cried a little and laughed a lot, and then I filled her in on everything that I knew about the dagger, Jed, and the Fae queen's threat.
"That witch," she growled. "I'll be home Wednesday, and we'll figure this out."
"You may want to stay out of town. Your folks are in their Orlando house, right? Maybe go join them. It would be safer, and—"
"Don't make me kickyourbutt! I'll be wherever you are, and we'll find this dagger, or we'll fight if we need to fight. Just hang in there! And take some magnesium and drink lots of water for the headache."
"How did you know I have a headache?"
She laughed. "Tess. It's Dead End. Everybody in town knows you have a headache. It's on the town text blast."
I was still groaning when she said goodbye and hung up.
