The goblin path, p.23
The Goblin Path, page 23
“A disaster.” Wren covered his face with both hands and let out a loud groan as he walked her to her front door.
They’d spent almost two hours at the restaurant with Dylan and Ian. Every time one of them had tried to suggest leaving, Dylan had started up a new conversation, almost as if he hadn’t wanted to be left alone. Because of that, they’d hardly said more than two words to each other in all that time, had even been mostly silent on the drive back.
“I was going to say not the worst, but yeah, yours works too,” she admitted, swinging her purse a little, just so she had something to do. Somehow this part was even more awkward than him picking her up at been.
“I’m really sorry, Blair. That is not how I imagined out first date going, at all. And I’ve thought about it, a lot. It was supposed to be perfect. I was going to show you how worldly I was by teaching you about the different dishes—stupid Dylan,” he grumbled that last part under his breath, then continued more loudly, “—and then I was going to suggest we catch a movie at the tiny theater down the road, but by the time we escaped, all the show times had passed.”
“I hope everything’s all right with them,” she said. “I’ve never celebrated one myself, but I’m pretty sure one year anniversaries are special? You definitely aren’t meant to spend them with an entourage.”
“God no,” he agreed, taking the steps up to the porch now. “Our one year is for sure going to be just the two of us. There’s no way—” He stopped abruptly, realizing she was no longer with him, and turned on the last step to find her still at the bottom. “Blair?”
They’d just had the worst first date of all time, yet he was talking about the one they’d have a year from now?
At first, Blair thought for sure she was going to feel sick, had paused to give herself the opportunity to settle before it got to the point he’d notice. But…once she’d let her mind take a moment to sift through it, she found she was actually kind of…fine.
It was a little too much too soon, a bit scary to think that far ahead, especially since that brought up those thoughts about college and all the obstacles they’d need to face at the end of this school year but…She actually didn’t hate that he seemed optimistic about them.
She thought she’d gone into this date acting as if everything was normal, but now she realized she was being the weird one. All night she’d been walking on egg shells around him.
Before he’d confessed he liked her, Blair had started growing concerned about their friendship possibly coming to an end. She hadn’t wanted that at all. So why was she suddenly so afraid of them lasting, when that’s pretty much the same thing she’d wanted this whole time?
She’d teased him for bringing flowers and driving a fancy borrowed car, but she was acting a cliché part just as much as he was.
Blair had never had a problem talking to anyone before. Why start now?
“Let’s try again,” she suggested, noting that they’d been standing there with him staring at her questioningly for a while.
“What?” he asked.
“Our date,” she clarified. “Let’s try again. And this time, let’s get it right.”
“Meaning…?” He turned fully on the step to face her, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jacket. It was obvious he was wary, probably thought she was gearing up to reject him or something, despite what she’d just said.
“Meaning, no Dylan or Ian,” she took the first step up, “or super pricey restaurants.”
When she’d seen the prices on the menu, she’d practically spat out the water she’d been drinking.
She took the next step so she was standing directly below him, continuing before he could argue that last point. “You don’t have to bring me flowers if you don’t want to, picked from your neighbors garden or otherwise, and, while you look hot,” she reached up and tugged on the fold of his dress shirt, right above where it was tucked into his jeans, “like, really hot, I kind of miss your t-shirts and your varsity jacket.”
He sucked in a breath, clearly caught off guard, but she wasn’t finished.
“So, for our next date, I’m thinking something low key and normal, like dinner at Marty’s, and maybe a stop at the bookstore where we can get coffee and browse.” For the first time since he’d brought up his crush on the soccer field, Blair felt one hundred percent like herself.
Her confident, do as she pleased self.
“There’s one thing that happened on tonight’s date that I do want you to promise will happen on our next one though,” she said, and when he opened his mouth to ask her what that was, she took the final step.
Since he was already standing on that stair, Blair planted one foot between his, boosting herself up and wrapping her arms quickly around his neck before he could pull away. Without giving herself time to revert back to that embarrassed mess she’d been only moments prior, she pressed her lips firmly against his.
At first, he remained frozen, but just as she started doubting herself, she felt him return her embrace, arms banding around her waist to pull her even closer. His mouth moved on hers, and he tilted his head for a new angle, causing a tingle to rush up her spine before she could help it.
It wasn’t the most perfect first kiss imaginable, but her lips on his felt right. His arms tightened around her, holding her securely to him, the warmth of his body combating with the chill of the night air at her back. He smelled like fresh cotton and lemon verbena, and for a moment she was drunk on the scent of him alone.
When she finally leaned away, breaking the kiss, his eyes were still closed and he was smiling an almost dopey half smile that had her grinning.
“Whoa,” he murmured, just loud enough for her to hear, and she laughed. The sound had his eyes popping open, then narrowing on her.
Blair let out a small yelp when he suddenly lifted her into the air and spun her around, setting her down again on the porch. With him still on the last step, she was a foot higher than usual, which put them practically eye to eye.
Wren grinned, then cupped the back of her head with a palm and pulled her in for another kiss, this one less tentative than the last. He applied more pressure, tongue stroking against the roof of her mouth the second her lips parted. There was a wildness to the way he ran a hand through her hair, cupping the back of her skull to gently tilt her the way he wanted her.
She didn’t mind, too focused on clasping his hips and tugging him close enough she could feel the thump of his heart through his chest against her own. If this was what things were going to be like between them, she was pretty annoyed she’d put it off so long.
“I’ve got practice all week,” he blurted, disengaging their lips abruptly.
Blair blinked at him, needing a moment to come to her senses, head still spinning. “Huh?”
“For our next date,” he said, brow furrowing deeply now. “Even though school is out all week, I’ve got daily practices. I can’t get out of them…What about Thursday?”
“Thursday?” Why did it feel like there was something important about that particular day she should be remembering?
“Yeah, my uncle is throwing this event thing, he does it every year. I know it’s not exactly the low key date you just described, but I’ve always had to go alone, and it’d be nice for a change to have someone there with me.”
She was about to agree when it hit her. “Wren Thursday is Thanksgiving.”
That’s why they had the week off of school. Duh. How had they forgotten?
He immediately deflated. “Oh, right.”
The front door swung open, fast enough both of them jumped. As soon as her dad poked his head out the two of them sprung apart, Wren practically tripping backward down the steps in the process.
“What time is this event?” her dad asked, casually, like he hadn’t been eavesdropping or practically walked in on them making out.
“Uh,” Wren cleared his throat and straightened, smoothing the front of his shirt down with both hands, “it’s a lunch thing, so it starts at noon.”
“Be back by six,” he told him, “that’s when dinner starts.”
“What?” Blair had to have misheard. “Dad—”
“You don’t help in the kitchen anyway,” he waved her off, still looking at Wren. “You’re welcome to stay and have Thanksgiving dinner with us, Wren. Since it’s usually just Blair and I, we typically have more leftovers than we know what to do with anyway.”
“Dad!”
“What?” he finally glanced at her. “Do you not want Wren to come?”
“No, of course it’d be great if he came.” It wasn’t so much that she was upset he was inviting Wren without asking her, but more that she was in complete shock.
“Well then, that’s that.” Her dad went to retreat back inside, then as almost an afterthought turned back and pointed a finger at them. “When I was your age, kissing didn’t happen until the third date.”
“Oh my god.” Blair covered her face.
“I should,” Wren dropped off the steps onto the cement path that led to the driveway, “get going.” He held up his right wrist as if to check the invisible watch there. “Wow, is that the time? I didn’t realize how late it was.”
Blair gaped after him, completely at a loss for words.
“I’ll text you about Thursday, okay, Blair?” He pated his back pocket where his cell phone was.
“Goodnight, Mr. Woods,” her dad called, then chuckled as Wren waved and practically jumped into his car. “That one is definitely a keeper, Blair.”
Her phone dinged and she blindly reached into her purse, feeling around for it. Once she had it, she pulled it out, sending one last look at Wren’s car driving down the street before checking the screen.
There was one new message from Wren.
She was glad he wasn’t there to see the stupid grin split across her face when she read the words “Good night”.
“Yeah,” she found herself agreeing, heading inside with her dad, “he is.”
* * *
Monday night Blair was lying in bed, trying to convince herself to go to sleep and not continue worrying about how she’d boldly kissed Wren after their date, when her phone rang. Without bothering to check the caller ID, she answered, expecting another late night call from Layla, who usually wanted to discuss the latest drama she’d binged immediately after finishing the last episode.
When Wren’s voice came through the line instead, Blair shot upright in bed, giving herself a slight head rush in the process.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, gripping the comforter tightly in one hand. Had something else happened in Goblin? Did she need to worry about being attacked randomly on the streets again?
Was he infected now too?!
“Yeah,” he said, dashing her fears, “why?”
She exhaled loudly. “People don’t usually talk on the phone anymore. I thought it was an emergency,” she admitted, feeling stupid for it.
“What do you mean people don’t talk on the phone? We’re doing that right now.”
Blair rolled her eyes and resituated on the bed. “Mostly people just text. Or Face-Time, but that’s not exactly the same. You know, twenty-first century and all that.”
“Well,” she heard him smiling through the phone, “we should bring phone conversations back to life, since I can’t Face-Time right now and we’re already talking.”
“Why can’t you—”
“I just showered.”
Unless he was standing in the middle of his bedroom naked, she didn’t really see the problem—honestly, she didn’t really see a problem if he was—but she kept that thought to herself. He didn’t know how interested in him she suddenly was, especially since she still partially couldn’t believe it herself.
She’d had a plan and Wren Woods hadn’t been a part of it. Neither was getting chased through the streets by invisible creatures so…Blair almost snorted out loud, but caught herself at the last second.
“So, why did you call?” She stared up at the ceiling in the dark, watching a beam of light from a passing car skate through the window and pass above her. “Any reason?”
“Since we ran into Dylan and Ian yesterday, I didn’t really get the chance to talk to you about your visit to Goblin tomorrow,” he began, becoming serious. “I mean, since the other day, you’ve probably already figured out that it’s not safe and you don’t have to go.”
“Yeah,” she said. Despite what she’d just been thinking, she had to force the word past her suddenly dry throat. Even though they’d been small creatures and she’d come out of it basically unscathed, Blair was still terrified whenever she thought back to the redcaps chasing her from the bus stop. If Wren hadn’t shown up… “Honestly, I was kind of hoping that was the case anyway.”
“We’ve found most of the redcaps who were responsible,” he told her. “The few that are missing shouldn’t be enough to cause any real harm.”
“What about the virus,” she rubbed at her temples, “has it spread anymore?”
“No,” he said. “That’s the weird thing, it hasn’t.”
He fell silent a moment, long enough for her to read between the lines.
“You mean it’s weird because I haven’t been there again, and suddenly there’s no longer an issue.” Crap, that didn’t make her look good at all. “I know I’ve asked you this already, but you’re sure—”
“It wasn’t you,” he interrupted. “It couldn’t have been. I spend so much time in the human world, and I haven’t caught anything. Neither has any other goblin that’s lived above ground. There’s no way you brought something down there.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip. “Then how do you explain it? It can’t just be a coincidence that all this starts as soon as I arrive. And with Sprocket, the one goblin I’ve had the most contact with.”
“That’s not true,” he argued. “I’ve known you for years, remember? You’ve never made me sick before.”
“Wren, that isn’t the same.”
“How isn’t it?”
“We only just started hanging out? Of course I wouldn’t make you sick if we didn’t have any contact.”
“We’ve had plenty of contact,” he sighed, “you just haven’t noticed. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about going to goblin tomorrow, or possibly ever again. I’ve spoken with my parents and my mother is willing to wave the rest of your debt. She’s acknowledged it’d be too dangerous for you, and that you’ve obviously proven your good intentions.”
“Meaning, she doesn’t think I’ll tell on you guys anymore?” What did that mean for them?
“That’s what it sounded like to me,” he confirmed. “Just stay on guard until we figure out this virus thing. Some still blame you, and although no one’s actively stating they’re going to come aboveground and go after you, like the redcaps did, there’s always the slight chance someone will be angry enough to defy the royal family and try it.”
“This started out comforting, and is now dipping into ‘freaking me out’ territory,” she told him, rolling onto her side to glance at the clock. Since there wasn’t school tomorrow, it wasn’t like she needed to get up at a certain time, but she had promised her dad she’d go last minute Thanksgiving shopping with him. Experience told her she’d need all the energy she could muster to get through the crowded super markets with all her limbs still attached at the end.
She grimaced. Probably not the best joke to make, even to herself, when they were talking about goblins and the actual possibility she could get hurt by them.
“Don’t worry,” he reassured, “most goblins don’t even bother traveling up here.”
“How would I know even if they did?” She thought back to how hard it’d been just to glimpse one of them that time in the rain. “They were invisible for a while.”
“Some of us have the ability to do that,” the sound of shuffling papers came through the line, “mostly just the smaller types though. I can’t, for instance, and neither can any member of my family.”
“If you can’t find out what the real source is, does that mean I’m going to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder?” she asked. “Are the ones who caught it still sick?”
“Sprocket has slipped into a coma,” he confessed after a second where it was clear he’d tried to find a way around telling her. “Aside from her, there are four others. Last I checked, two of them were still running fevers, and one was exhibiting strange behavior.”
“Like?”
“Walking in circles and banging his head on the wall,” he said. “That sort of thing.”
“Oh.” That sounded awful. If she was a family member and saw that, she supposed she’d want to find out how that had happened to her loved one as well.
What if it was her dad who’d caught a strange illness they couldn’t place? If a goblin had visited just before, and that was the only difference in their everyday life, wouldn’t she logically blame it on him too?
“Our doctors are working on a cure right now,” Wren continued.
“Like…underground?” She’d heard mention of doctors when she’d been down there, but hadn’t seen any building that could be considered a hospital. Not that she would have even known what to look for.
“No,” he grunted, “like in an actual lab in a facility in New York. My uncle knows someone. He’s stupid rich, remember? This is partly why. Before he’d chosen this path—an unconventional one to our family—when things like this happened, we were forced to rely on dated medicines and home remedies. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of them work, and obviously our physiology is different from yours and there’s the whole not usually getting sick thing, but he’s been able to find a lot of real cures for things we’ve otherwise always just lived with. Like skin rashes and ear aches.”
“Wow,” when he put it like that, it was even more difficult to understand why his parents were so opposed to him following in his uncle’s footsteps, “I didn’t realize he was that involved.”
“Of course,” he said. “He’s still a goblin, Blair. Just because he lives in a penthouse and wears a three piece suit on the daily doesn’t change his DNA.”
