"I had to," said Holt. "Let's talk about it in the morning."

I wanted to reply that he certainly hadn't had to, that in fact my going in the water had been a monumentally stupid thing to do. But I was too tired to go into it. Instead I said, "Where's Susan?"

Holt grinned. "I gave her the night off." Carefully, very carefully, he eased himself next to me, wrapping one arm around my waist. I gave him just enough room on the bed, then turned my face into his chest, breathing in the faint smell of plants.

Holt was back. I was content. Everything else fell away.

Chapter Thirteen.

I'd never been so happy to wake up in the morning. All night I had felt warm and protected. I rolled over onto my side, wondering what Holt looked like while he slept. It was then that I realized that he wasn't there.

Disappointment swept over me. I stared sadly at the spot where I thought he'd be, wondering if I'd just imagined the whole thing or if it really had been Susan who had stayed the night.

No, no, that wasn't possible. Holt had definitely come last night. I might have been tired and a little out of it, but I wasn't crazy. He'd climbed into bed, put his arm around me, and let me fall asleep. I picked up his pillow and was about to toss it away in frustration when a small piece of white paper fluttered off it.

Greedily I picked it up. The note was simple: I'll come to UP, UP and Away for lunch today. Holt.

It wasn't a love note, but at least it was a promise that I would see him.

He knew I was going to work, so even though Carley had told me I should rest, I couldn't. Between the Water Sprite attack and Holt's return I had too much to do. There was so much we needed to talk about. At least I'd have something to look forward to through all of Mrs. Fritter's complaining.

I jumped out of bed and went to shower. I tried to move quickly; I winced. My muscles were protesting having to do anything more than lie still. Considering the beating I'd taken under the water yesterday that made sense, but I wasn't going to let it get in my way. As I hobbled to the bathroom, I was certain of one thing: that I didn't want an attack like that to happen again. I would have to think long and hard about how to prevent it, especially since I wasn't sure that always having someone around to protect me was the answer. I was starting to think that knowing how to protect myself was a way better idea.

Once I was dressed in the black pants and white top of UP, UP and Away, I hurried downstairs.

There was no sign of Mrs. Hightower or Carley or Nick, so I just ate and headed to work. I was relieved that I hadn't seen anyone; I didn't want to have to argue about whether or not I felt good enough to go.

If I was thinking I'd get a little sympathy from Mrs. Fritter about yesterday, I had another thing coming.

She stood behind the counter with her hands tucked into fists on her hips, both her flower ap.r.o.n and her horn-rimmed spectacles colored with eye-watering shades of green and purple.

Apparently, because Holt had done Glamour to hide what happened, she just thought I'd slipped on a rock and gotten pulled out by the tide. She said that it was entirely my fault and that I should be more careful. She wondered what I'd been thinking given what had just happened with Mary and Katie.

I had no idea what to say, so I simply got to work and listened to the lecture about safety. Any time I tried to defend myself she simply cut me off. She said, "If you aren't going to be responsible when you go swimming then you just shouldn't go swimming."

Well, she had that right. I didn't think I'd be going swimming for the rest of my teenage years, at the very least. Not unless I could fight off a powerful Water Sprite.

"Sure thing, Mrs. Fritter," I said to her while I dried off some mugs.

"And I'm going to tell Mrs. Hightower I said so," Mrs. Fritter continued. "If she can't keep a better handle on you then she should just send you home."

A shot of red-hot fear went through me. I knew Mrs. Fritter was crazy to suggest it and Mrs. Hightower would never listen to her, but...what if she did? I wasn't sure I could deal with being sent away from Castleton. At least, not when everything was so confusing. Not when Holt had just come back.

"Hey, Autumn," said Holt, standing in front of the counter grinning at me. He was wearing a white b.u.t.ton-down and shorts. Pushed up on his head were some bright blue shades that brought out the color of his eyes. Now that I saw him I couldn't believe I had ever thought he and Logan looked alike.

Guys have it so easy, I thought. He probably hadn't spent ten minutes getting ready and he looked gorgeous.

"Holt Roth," said Mrs. Fritter. "So the prodigal son returns. Wonderful." She sounded about as pleased as the time she discovered she had bought a basketful of rotten apples.

"Morning, Mrs. Fritter. How are you?" Holt said politely.

"I'd be a whole lot better if your family would stop scaring off my customers," she retorted.

"What are you talking about?" I asked before Holt could shush me.

"You know, that monster of a house they have on the hill with all the flowers. It makes customers nervous," said Mrs. Fritter, glaring at Holt.

I highly doubt that, I thought.

I would have said that to her, too, except that Holt gave a tiny shake of his head.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Mrs. Fritter," he said.

Mrs. Fritter harrumphed and then disappeared into the back.

As soon as she was gone I forgot that she'd ever been there. Holt was giving me a bright smile and I returned it with one of my own.

"How are you doing?" he asked. "Sleep alright?"

I blushed. It was the first time I'd actually slept in the same bed with someone. I wondered if it made me a bad person that Samuel was the first guy to sleep in my room and Holt was the first guy to sleep in my bed and both had happened in the same week. Not that I was ever going to tell Holt that. I knew we couldn't do anything, not until we figured everything out, but it had been wonderful to have him there.

"Yes. I feel a lot better today," was all I said.

"Good. I knew you would," he said, beaming. I wondered if he'd given me something to help the healing along.

"What can I get you to eat?" I asked.

Once Holt had ordered he sat down at the counter to wait for his food.

"Is your family happy to have you back?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Holt. "Logan wouldn't leave me alone this morning. He wanted me to spend the entire day playing video games with him."

"Nice," I said.

Holt grinned. "Yeah, so I'm going to go back this afternoon and play."

Somehow, I knew before it happened who was going to walk through the front door next. Holt saw me tense and looked over my shoulder.

A split second later, in walked my two least favorite people in the world: Lydia and Leslie. Leslie's dark hair shone, almost like it had a light sheen of ice over it. Her lips were a dark blue and she wore knee-high, black stiletto boots and a short skirt. Lydia looked similar, only her skirt was red instead of black.

Even though they acted surprised to see Holt and me there, I didn't think they were.

I glared at them, but they ignored me.

"Holt, fancy seeing you here," Leslie sneered.

Holt hunched his shoulders like he was bracing for an attack. "How are you, Leslie?" he asked.

"We're good. It's always great to be up all night freezing on the beach," said Lydia.

"Well, if you'd caught the Water Sprite the first time like you said you did, we wouldn't be having this problem," I pointed out.

Lydia glared at me. I knew that if I didn't want her to hate me I was going about it the wrong way, but after the Water Sprite nearly killed me, I didn't care if she hated me or not.

"Pity it didn't get you," she mouthed to me over Holt's head.

Leslie stepped up to the counter and ordered a sandwich. I glared at her dumbfounded for a second, because she had the nerve to come in here and order food when she'd almost gotten me killed yesterday and I hadn't even heard an apology. But I couldn't make a scene in public, so I just clenched my teeth and didn't respond.

"Don't spit in it," she told me.

"It's a good thing other people are around," I told her quietly.

Lydia smirked. "Or you'd do what?" she asked.

I found myself wondering if she would know if I had spit in it. Probably. It still might be worth it though....

I turned on my heel and went to place their order while I listened to their soft t.i.tter of laughter at my back.

When I came back from the kitchen I could see Leslie leaning over Holt, speaking into his ear. When she saw me she blew me a kiss, then turned around and walked out the door.

Leslie stood next to Holt for a second and said, "I guess we won't be having those sandwiches," and walked out after Lydia.

"I hate them," I said, coming back up to the counter. My entire good mood at seeing Holt had evaporated.

"Don't let them get to you," said Holt. "There's no point. They just like being unpleasant."

"Easy for you to say," I replied. "You're a Fairy too."

Holt looked surprised, but he didn't say anything.

"What was she saying to you?" I asked.

Holt shrugged. "The usual stuff. She wanted me to know that it still wasn't safe to be in the water and that they'd had no luck finding the Water Sprite."

"How nice of her," I said sarcastically.

I had to leave and go help customers for the longest time after that. By the time it had quieted down again, Holt had finished his lunch and was getting up to leave.

"Don't you think we should talk?" I asked, coming over to grab up his plate and cup.

Holt sighed as he stood up. "Yeah, tonight?"

"I thought you were hanging out with your brother," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but someone has to be at your place tonight," he said, and I was sure I could see the faint blush creeping up his cheeks. "I'll come after I see Logan."

"Alright," I said. "Tonight it is."

I had no intention of arguing with the idea of Holt joining me again to sleep.

Once he was gone I turned my attention to the other customers. It took me a while to realize that the police chief had come back, along with the guy he'd been talking to the night I'd been waiting for Susan. This time they were at the counter, so as much as I could I tried to be down by their end so that I could hear what they were saying.

"She doesn't remember a thing," said the police chief quietly into his mug. "Just thinks she hit her head, but the doc said there wasn't anything wrong with her head."

"She probably just ran away for a few days to have time with her boyfriend," said the other guy. "And lied about it so her parents wouldn't find out. Girls do it all the time."

Scared of getting caught eavesdropping, even though in my defense they were in a public place, I moved away.

For the rest of my shift I was aware that I'd be spending the night with Holt. Not even seeing Lydia and Leslie could ruin my mood with that to look forward to. Try as I might to think about Mary, or Water Sprites, or even Samuel, my mind kept coming back to Holt. I had thought that when I saw him I'd be mad, but I wasn't. Maybe it was just because he'd saved me, but all I felt was overwhelming relief. For the rest of my shift I was smiling.

Chapter Fourteen.

"The time has come," said Carley imperiously as she swept into the living room. Nick was in the middle of a forkful of spaghetti. As he paused, a bit of red sauce dripped onto his lap.

"s.h.i.t," he said, getting up to grab a napkin.

Carley stared at him for a second, squinted her eyes shut like she hadn't just seen that, and said, "Yeah, that's who I'm hooking up with. Awesome."

Nick pretended to glare at her, but I could see the hurt in his eyes. Of course, Carley was too busy talking to see it. "We have to go to a party," she said.

"A what?" asked Nick.

"You know, a party. Those things like everyone has in the summer." She sat down next to Nick in a huff. "We've barely been out."

"There have been some good reasons for that," I said carefully.

Carley chewed her lip. She knew I was talking about her and Nick being lost in their own little world and my own minor depression over my first real potential boyfriend leaving without saying goodbye. Not to mention a girl dying.

"What party did you have in mind?" I asked. I glanced at Nick. He'd cleaned up his pants and was now busying himself on his phone.

"The party at Chelsea's tonight," said Carley.