Dolmarehn - Book Two of the Otherworld Trilogy Read Online Free Page B

trotted alongside the fronds, brushing them with his legs.  What followed completely transfixed me.  As he moved down the line of ferns, hundreds of the little fairy creatures took to the sky, chirping in agitation and flashing their multicolored wings.  A living, breathing rainbow.
    I was dumbstruck, and a sense of pure joy filled me as the fairies fluttered all around me.  Wait, not fairies.  In Irish lore fairies were more like humans, but with supernatural powers.  The term ‘fairy’ might even apply to the Faelorehn.  These charming faelah were most likely pixies.
    Taking a deep breath, I tore myself away and started back down the trail, grinning like I’d received a dozen roses from a secret admirer.
    Cade’s gift probably meant I’d be late for school, but the delay had been worth it.  Whether the delightful little creatures were pixies or some other form of faelah, I couldn’t say.  What I did know, however, was that Cade had more than made up for his so-called neglect.
    * * *
    The next several weeks passed with just a hint of bitter sweetness to them.  Cade stayed away from the mortal world, like he promised, busy paying back the damage caused by his broken geis.  He also kept his other promise and wrote to me at least twice a week.
    Fergus was always diligent in letting me know if there was a letter waiting in the oak tree for me, but to be honest, I checked the knothole every day after school.  Nothing thrilled me more than getting notes from Cade.  He would start the letters by telling me how much he missed our archery lessons and how he was looking forward to showing me the Otherworld (without the Morrigan and her minions tagging along, of course).  My heart would leap when I conjured up images of wandering those misty hills with him, to see him in his element.  I also dreaded the possibility of my memories from that horrible night returning; when the Morrigan’s demons nearly killed me.  Despite everything, however, Cade would protect me, I hadn’t a doubt.
    As fall progressed, the days got shorter and my school work got more intense.  Nothing I couldn’t handle, though.  I mean, what was an impending calculus test and a biology report compared to the anger of a Celtic goddess?  Hah!  A walk in the park!  If only I could convince myself such thoughts were true.
    A few days before my birthday and Halloween, I dreamed of my childhood again.  I had almost forgotten about it, what with everything I’d learned in the last several months.  But I shouldn’t have been surprised.  It came every year, and nothing had changed this year: the younger version of myself, wandering L.A.’s streets, clinging to a huge white hound.
    When I woke up, however, I sensed the puzzle pieces of my mysterious past had finally fallen into place.  Sure, they hadn’t been pressed together yet, but I envisioned all of them clearly, lying on the glass coffee table in our living room, each one lined up and ready for my fingers to slip them into place.  I had been taken through a dolmarehn at the age of two, I’d already determined that much, but who had brought me to the mortal world and why?
    I grumbled under my breath and shut off my radio alarm, another old question floating up from the depths of my mind to mingle with my other thoughts.  Exactly who were my parents?  I still didn’t know, and every time Cade had visited in the past, he managed to distract me with his essence, thus striking any other questions from my mind.  Of course I loved my mom and dad, but some undetectable sense inside of me insisted on knowing who I had once belonged to.
    Kicking off my bed sheets in frustration, I got up and decided to get ready for school.  I would puzzle over my mysterious origins later.  Time for me to think about something else.  A few more school days remained before the weekend, until Halloween, the day I turned eighteen . . .  What a daunting thought.  I didn’t feel any older, and I definitely