Queen of Ruin(Book three of the Immortals Series)
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE STELLA

"Pick up the fucking phone, Teddy." The creepy cries and cackles bounced off the windows that overlooked the courtyard as Tessa danced all by herself to the melody in her head. Even for a man like Haldir, who had been everywhere and done everything, her behavior was beyond bizarre.

With his arms crossed against his chest, he rolled his eyes as he kept watch and listened to another of his calls go unanswered.

He wasn't blind to her deteriorating state, and short of keeping her by his side night and day, there was little he could do without Teddy releasing her.

When the hallucination set her free at last, she slumped down by the pool and breathlessly repeated the routine. Hearing her hum the tune for about the hundredth time today was like fingernails down a chalkboard, and he threw the phone on the stand as he finally gave up on Teddy. "Damn you."

While she splashed her feet in the cool waters of the fish pond as she whispered the lyrics to the spirits who surrounded her, Tessa closed her eyes and let the sun wash over her. Rafik's voice soothed her pain away like a warm set of hands massaging her neck, and she spent practically all her time this way now.

Her deceptively angelic face curled into a sneer when she heard the glass door close in the distance. A throaty, smoky hiss came from her nostrils for the interruption of her daily haunted birthday party, and she hesitantly opened her eyes to glare at Haldir.

He flopped down on the brick pool beside her, faced the opposite way, and shoved his shoulder into hers. "He still won't answer."

"I don't care if ever does." She turned back towards the water and swept the tears from her cheek.

As he watched her try to blink the truth away, Haldir nodded. "Yes, you do. I miss him too."

Her eyes burned as the hot air blew the fragrant tea olive her mother planted against her face, and they pulled away to the house beyond their fence. "Something's not right in my head, Haldir. I hear it knocking and trying to make me open it up, but I can't replace it. I don't understand what's happening to me."

Wishing that he could tell her everything, he pushed his forehead into her shoulder. Even if he spilled the truth, he could never help her remember. The veil of Teddy's spell was strong, and being his twin, she only made it stronger. "I know, Tess. We'll get through it."

She leaned into his hair and rubbed the tip of her nose against his head. Her wheezy mumbled words were more of a chant as she repeated them time and time again. "Rafik sings to me all the time, and I see his face everywhere. I don't understand why he doesn't want me. I don't understand why he sings to me, but he doesn't want me. Why doesn't he want me?"

"That's not true." His hands cupped her cheeks and brought her eyes to his. Every day his visions for her got darker, and he needed to keep her holding on to whatever crumb of hope she had left. "Wherever he is, Tess, his only thoughts are of you. I promise you that."

The halted clucks rose through her chest as her eyes closed and her shaking fingers made their way to his. "I'm sorry about the other night. I didn't mean to make Teddy go away. I just want someone to love me, and I think you're the last person on Earth who does."

He pulled her to his shoulder and rubbed his hand up and down her back. "We all want that, Tess. I've always been here for you, and I always will be. Just give him some time. He's going through something too, and he needs a break from us, I think."

Wiping her sleeve across her lips to catch her tears, she smiled and tried to joke away her pain as she always did. "Well, I guess that leaves more bitches for us. Doesn't it?"

A soft huff left his nose as he smirked and prayed wherever he was that Teddy had found some happiness for himself for once. "Yeah. I guess so."

The crisp, Autumn mountain air blew through Teddy's curls as the sun bounced off his dark aviator glasses while he drove along the almost empty stretch of highway through Virginia. When he came to the next exit ramp, the tickle in his fingertips urged him to turn that way. "Alright, I got nothing better to do. Let's see what you crazy bitches got for me today."

As he passed the green pastures, farms, and little, well-kept homes of the train stop, Norman Rockwell-esque town, Teddy spotted an old-timey Apothecary and decided to have a look around.

It was a month since he and Tessa spoke, and his heart ached to know what was happening, but the one thing he was sure of is that she is better off without him.

He kept his phone nearby and, although Haldir left him a massage daily, she never called, not once. His bond with her severed, Teddy was like a feather in the wind looking for someplace to call home.

When the bell at the top of the door rang, he stepped up onto the shop's old wooden floor and closed the door behind him. The surge of heat that shot through his veins brought a cheeky smile to Teddy's face as Fate pulled him along. "Oh, shit. You're here, aren't you?" A tug came to his shoulder, and it drew his eyes left to a fashionably dressed young woman with short blonde hair.

When he came to her side, Teddy spoke to her as his eyes glanced over the shelves. "Is there something I can help you with, honey?"

When her blue eyes met his, Teddy's heart fluttered, and he had to work to catch his breath. A shy blush came to her cheeks when she finally offered him a toothy smile. "I don't believe you work here."

Crossing his arms, Teddy shook his head and scratched behind his ear. "No, point in fact, I don't. However, I am more than a little skilled in potions, elixirs, and brews. Tell me what's ailing you, and I'll fix you up like that." Snapping his fingers, Teddy wrinkled his nose before holding out his hand. "My name is Teddy Mason. Now, what may I call you?"

After her eyes darted around his face, she gave him her hand. "Stella Hexom."

He kissed the back of her fingers and slid his other hand on top before glancing back to her face. The tingly hum on his skin vibrated every cell in his body, and even his teeth chattered when she touched him. "Do you feel that? Am I crazy?" "No, you're not crazy." Stella came back to her senses long enough to see everyone in the shop staring at the two of them, and she smirked as she glanced back to Teddy and motioned towards the door. "Do you want to go have coffee or something? I think we're causing a bit of a scene."

Peeking over his shoulder at the other customers, Teddy smirked then waved his hand in front of her. "After you."

Peering down the street, she lifted her chin towards the row of storefronts that lined the road. "There's a place right down here if you have the time."

He glanced in that direction for a moment and smiled as he wrapped his fingers around hers. "I got nothing but time, Stella Hexom."

As Teddy got their drinks, Stella sat in a little booth near the back of the shop and hurriedly texted her mother. Her fingers trembled so much that she had to retype the message. When Teddy set the cups down, Stella dropped her phone in her purse and smiled up at him. "Thank you."

He slid into the booth and crossed his arm against the back of his seat. "So, I take it you live around here?"

With a puzzled, twisted lip, she narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. "You seriously don't know who I am?"

As his eyes swept over her and took in every attractive feature, he shook his head. "No, ma'am, I'm afraid not." Leaning in closer for a moment, Teddy winked at her. "But I'd like to."

Stella nodded at his pretty Southern drawl and grinned at the secret she was about to tell him. "I'd like that too. Well, Teddy, my parents run this territory."

"Territory?" His face pulled together as he pushed back against the seat. "I don't think I understand what you mean. Are they politicians?"

In that town, she was a bit of a celebrity, and she laughed out at being a nobody to him. Turning her head slightly, Stella wrinkled her nose and whispered as she placed her fingers against her ears and bent them a few times. "They're werewolves. You're in Lycan territory. You're supposed to let someone know you'd be traveling through."

His eyes widened in surprise before he chuckled to himself and placed his hand to his chest. "Witch." Picking at the bottom of his cup, Teddy shook his head. "Sorry, I wasn't aware of the protocol."

Her lips pulled into a pucker as she blew across her cup, and it sent a shiver through Teddy. "Well, we established you're not a local. Where are you from?"

Setting his cup back on the table, Teddy swallowed and inched his fingers towards hers. "Georgia. I was just out riding around, seeing the country." His eyes glancing to the ceiling for a moment, he shrugged his shoulder. "They told me to come here."

The perky dinging and vibration of her phone buzzed the table as Stella grabbed it before glancing back at him. "Do you mind if I take this real quick?"

He swept his hand aside and motioned to her phone. "By all means. I'm not going anywhere."

After reading the text, she wrinkled her nose before looking up at Teddy. "My family would like to meet you. Would you like to come to dinner? I realize that it's a little..."

With not a soul left in the world that he could call his anymore, the thought of having a family again sent a warm rush through his chest as he waved his hand to stop her before she took back the invitation. "It's been a very long time since I've been to a family dinner. I'd love to meet everyone, Stella."