Ellie's Flames BOOK 2

14: Battle Planning

Ellie's POV

"Okay, so we all think that Audrey is at Fairy Godmother's cottage." Mal explains to Ben. "We have no idea where that is. Did she ever take you there?"

"Every Fairy Godmother's day." Ben says. He looks off, lost in thought. "Where is Fairy Godmother when you need her?"

"Or Dori." Sera adds.

Everyone kind of glances at Jane, but she shrugs helplessly. "I wish I knew. Maybe she's still at the school, in which case I have to wonder if she's asleep, too."

"No, I think magical beings weren't affected by the sleeping spell." Sera says. "Arson was stone, and so was Hector. I think Mal's right, that the regular mortals fell asleep while fairies and demigods and so forth got turned to stone later on."

"So maybe if we..."

"Hey." I flinch and turn to see Carlos behind me, holding a red box with ribbon wrapped around it.

"Hi." I say, my heart still pounding. "Any reason for scaring me to death?"

"Come here." He pulls me off to the side while the rest of the group continues battle-planning. I see Sera side-eyeing us, but she doesn't interfere.

He holds out the box. "This might be a bad time, but... considering that we might be turned to stone soon or some other thing, I thought I should probably give it to you before we leave. Um, it was originally supposed to be for our anniversary, but..." He kind of laughs, gesturing around. "Here. I made it with my 3D printer."

I take it, unfurling the ribbon easily (score boyfrind points---he didn't tie it obnoxiously tight so that I had to struggle to get it off---I hate when people do that) and lifting the box's lid.

Inside, a simple necklace rests on packing fuzz. I take it out, the kind of smile on my face that you couldn't hold back even if you tried.

Carlie. In cursive silver. With a tiny snowflake attached to the 'e' on the end.

I press my lips together to hold back a laugh. I'm pretty sure that would cause a different kind of reaction than I want from my ridiculously sweet boyfriend.

I look up finally. "Carlie."

He smiles nervously. "Yeah. That name Evie gave us, before Cotillion. You know, our names, put together. Because, you know, we're together. Is it weird? I mean, I didn't think it was---um---I can just---"

I stop him abruptly by kissing him. He instantly shuts up, and I pull away. "Carlos." I say. "I love it. I think it's sweet. Besides, that necklace you made for my birthday a while ago got ruined. I needed something new from you."

He grins wide, stretching from ear to ear. I hand him the necklace, and he latches it around my neck.

Sera suddenly appears, grabbing Carlos by his arm. "It's 'bout time." She growls happily, rubbing his head. "This knucklehead was supposed to give it to you a week ago but he thought it deserved a special occasion. Guess his version of those is life-and-death moments."

"So, anything to do with you." I reason.

She laughs. I can tell she's still a little shaken about her brother, but she's more herself now. I think the prospect of finally having a good location on Audrey helped her feel better.

The talk over battle plans is over now, and Ben pulls Doug in front. "Doug. Go with Jane, we need to find Fairy Godmother."

"They might need some muscle." Uma says, a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey." Doug complains.

Gil looks down at his arms. "Well, I'll go." he offers.

"Yeah, actually, I would feel better." Jane says, sounding apologetic.

"Actually, I'd feel better too." Evie says, stepping forward.

"Same." Mal agrees.

Doug looks offended for a moment, but... "Actually, I would too."

Gil grins, patting him on the back and then grabbing his shoulder. "All right, man, let's do it! Let's go, Jane!"

"All right." She follows them both, and they all disappear into the woods.

Oh, crap, I'm going to have that song "Into the Woods" stuck in my head for hours. 

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I know it's short. I don't have a whole lot of free time. :(

BUT: In other news, I went shopping for a homecoming dress last night---and I found one!!! It's silvery, COVERED in glitter, (like literally COVERED. I shake it, and glitter just falls to the ground like snow) and off-the-shoulder, and it's shorter in the front but longer in the back skirt, AND I LOVE IT IT TWIRLS AND BOUNCES AND I LITERALLY LOVE IT SO MUCH AND I ALSO GOT GORGEOUS SILVER NECKLACE AND BRACELET WITH IT but is it bad that I want to wear converse with the outfit?  :)

Okay. Gotta work on homework now. Bye!