Thad nodded. “And win money in air terminal bars.”
How could did one do that? Not that she planned to ever be in an air terminal bar.
“Please? I’d like to learn to defend myself,” she told them. Then perhaps Vix wouldn’t think her quite so useless.
“You will do no such thing,” Jeff snapped. With a sigh, his brow furrowed. “Noli, did you see Charlotte after you both left the school? Did you run away to her?”
“Yes … and no.” Noli busied herself with slicing off more apple. “It’s complicated, but yes, I saw her in between leaving the school and her passing on.”
“Where? Did you go to Georgia?” Jeff pried, taking another bite.
Ugh. How did she get out of this?
“No, James took her back to the big house and stayed with her there until it was time.” The words poured out as the sprite spoke for her.
“The big house?” Jeff made a face.
“Where V and James lived before they moved to Los Angeles.”
Noli wrestled with the sprite for control before she said something incriminating.
Jeff blinked. “What?”
The sprite wouldn’t budge. “James is really sad now that she’s gone so he went with V on his errand for their mother.”
Jeff paused, apple halfway to his mouth. “I thought their mom was dead.”
Noli shoved the sprite back into her mental closet and sighed, trying to ignore the stab of pain slicing through her mind as she retook the body. “It was easier to tell people she was dead than the truth—she abandoned them. It’s not a happy story. Anyway, James and V recently made contact with her. She doesn’t like me much. I think that’s why he broke it off with me—because she forced him to. After he returns we’ll figure out how be together again.”
Somehow. The more she thought about it, the more it smacked of Queen Tiana. Mr. Darrow preferred subtlety.
“And we’re not going to find a way to be together simply because I have some societal need to be with a man. I can make my way in the world without a husband just fine. But I enjoy being with him,” she added when Vix frowned in disapproval.
Jeff’s eyebrows knitted. “Noli, I’m very confused. When did you meet his mother? Is she in Los Angeles? And, well, if she abandoned them, why would he listen to her? I could see how Mr. Darrow might take issue with you and Steven courting … ”
“Wait, that’s why you’re here?” Vix’s face contorted in dismay, apple weighing in her palm as if she were about to throw it. “You’re fleeing Los Angeles because some boy breaks it off with you because his mother made him?”
“It’s complicated.” It wasn’t as if she could tell them V could never disobey an order from the high queen, or that he was Fae, or the big house was V’s home in the Otherworld and he was actually a prince of the earth court.
Or that she was no longer mortal.
“I … I’m sure it is. I need to return to the bridge and fly this tub before we crash. Perhaps you’ll sit and explain this all to me?” Jeff gave her a pleading look. “You could start with when you left the school. I’m still not precisely sure what occurred when you went missing.”
That definitely wasn’t a story she could share with Jeff and Vix. “It’s fine, Jeff.” She finished her apple and tucked her knife into her boot. “Eventually V and I will figure it out. I’m sure as soon and he and James finish their errand he’ll get in touch with me. That’s why I left the note—so he could find me when he returns.”
“Noli, if a boy won’t stand up to his parents in order to be with you, then he’s not worth it.” Vix shook her head, dark strands flying. “It doesn’t matter how handsome or wealthy he is. If he truly loves you, he’ll be with you. He’s not coming back. He’s not going to fix this.”
Her voice wasn’t harsh, but Noli still bristled as their eyes met.
“Yes he is.” Noli shot up out of her seat and threw away the apple core. “You don’t know him the way I do.” V valued his honor, his word.
“Noli … ” Jeff put a hand on her sleeve.
She looked into his eyes and what she saw made her knees shake under her skirts. “Wait—you don’t believe it either? But you know V.”
“I knew him once, but you aren’t children anymore. Marriage and courting are complicated—especially among families like ours and with Mother’s situation being what it is … ”
Noli’s jaw dropped. “I can’t believe you’re telling me this. He’ll come back.” Her throat swelled. “He will.”
Without waiting for an answer, she ran down the stairs and into her little room. Clutching her little pot of roses, she curled into her hammock, not quite crying but upset nevertheless.
Sometime later someone knocked on the door. “May I come in?”
“No, you may not,” Noli sniffed, not wanting to speak to Vix, of all people. Whatever she meant about men not being worth it if they wouldn’t stand up to their parents didn’t apply to V since his parents weren’t mortal.
“Please? I promised your brother and he gets cranky when he doesn’t get his way.”
A sigh died on her lips. Vix did say please and she hadn’t spouted anything about this being her ship. Truly, since she was the captain Noli should say yes.
“Well, we don’t want to make Jeff cranky because then he’ll become insufferable and make everyone around him miserable.” Noli sat up in the hammock, still holding the pot of roses. “You may enter.”
Vix strode in. She closed the door and took a seat on the workbench. “They say you never truly get over your first love … and it can be very difficult when things don’t go the way you planned.” Vix held up a hand. “I’m not saying this to be mean … I’m saying this because when you spoke all I could hear was myself when I was about your age. I don’t want you to go through what I did.”
Noli crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not you.”
Vix laughed. “No, not unless you snuck into his barn, stole his prize horse, let the rest of the horses go, then lit the barn on fire.”
Her jaw dropped. “You actually did that?” Noli scrunched her nose. “But who still keeps horses? You’re not that old.”
Vix’s lips pursed as if holding in her gut reaction. “Plenty of people still use and raise horses. Some people like them for recreation or sport—these were race horses and very expensive. If I’d realized exactly how much race horses were worth I would have stolen more.”
“He didn’t stand up against his parents?” Her voice softened.
“No, he didn’t.” For a moment she looked far away. “In all honesty, it was the best thing that ever happened. It started a chain of events that changed my life. Otherwise, I’d never have become a captain, gotten my own ship or … ” She smiled in a way that seemed almost schoolgirlish. “Met your brother. You know Jeff and I are …
He told me, and well, now that I’ve met you, I can see why.” Noli smiled back. Jeff never liked proper girls any more than Noli liked being a proper girl. Also, he loved things that flew more than anything. Any girl that could capture his attention would have to share that passion.
Vix’s smile grew wry. “I hope that’s a good thing.”
“Usually.”
On the bench Vix squirmed a little. “Noli, there’s no chance you might … be of a delicate condition, is there? No one will be angry, no one will blame you, but since you’re on my ship I need to know.”
It took a moment for Vix’s words to penetrate Noli’s brain. Her jaw dropped. “No…that’s not why at all… how…”
“It happens—more than you think, even among society girls.” Vix’s shoulders relaxed, her expression returning to her usual cool one.