My Soul to Share ~ Chapter Transfers

Chapter 2

Before I left my house, I was nervous. As I pulled into the Nash's driveway, I was nearly terrified. I took my seat belt off and just sat in my car trying to calm down. I was contemplating how tough this visit was going to be and my thoughts went in a million different directions. Oddly, my first thought was that Harmony was expecting me - even before I called - although I didn't know why. Then I thought about Nash and me.
Nash had been my first real boyfriend, and surprisingly, a bean sidhe to boot. Since the time Nash had explained to me who and what we are, it seemed like I'd been living a fairy tale of sorts. Even though the last few days had been hell, in retrospect, I didn't believe for a second that Nash meant me any harm. In fact, he wouldn't be addicted to Frost in the first place if it weren't for me. He reluctantly followed me into the Netherworld to help Tod rescue Addy's soul. But before we'd even started the escapade Nash, who was never one to mince words, made it abundantly clear at the start that he was only there to keep me safe. I'd gotten involved in something way too dangerous for me and I had no idea what I was doing. Now he was paying the price for my well intended but rash actions and the damage done was all my responsibility.
Some of my choices were affecting humans on our plane also. With my balloon idea, at least one hellion was profiting on his breath which was an extremely addictive inhalant to humans. Doug was dead and Scott was locked into a psych ward because of it. Who else was being affected by my brilliant idea? I just sat in the car for a while, trying to calm down - get hold of myself. I started thinking about all the good people I had in my life and that helped. I began to feel calmer and very blessed as I counted down the names on the list. Before I lost my nerve and drove away from Nash's as fast as I could, I grabbed my stuff and headed up the walk to the door.
The door was unlocked, just like Harmony said it would be, and when I opened it, I smelled something wonderful coming from the kitchen. For a time I was all alone in the room, but it was only a few moments before Harmony came in from the hallway. At first, she didn't say anything. She just walked over to me and gave me a huge hug. Without my permission, my tears began to flow again and my throat was thick. In her gentle way she led me to the couch and we sat down together. She grabbed me a couple of tissues from the box on the end table and then left me to either check the oven or to wait for the tears stop. As usual, her mental timer had gone off and she took two muffin pans out of the oven and set them on the stove top to cool. Then she came to sit beside me again.
I didn't have a clue where to begin, so I just dove into the conversation from where I thought was the start. "Harmony, how much do you know about what's happened over the last four weeks?" I figured I should find out what she did you know before I started filling in the blanks. As each moment passed, I realized that this conversation was going to be hell. She hadn’t responded yet and I was so scared, I just started asking questions.
"It's obvious you know that Nash is hooked on demon's breath but Nash isn't the only one now. Humans at our school are addicted to demon's breath, too. Nash's best-friend Doug, you know him right? He died the night before last after he found Nash's balloon. It wasn't Nash’s fault Doug died though, but I'm worried about the guilt he'll eventually feel. I'm pretty sure he knows Doug died because the second Doug hit Nash's balloon, Doug had a seizure that wouldn't stop. He just fell on the ground next to my car. And even before Nash helped Doug, he put Emma and me in my car and said we had to leave - THEN! Nash wouldn't have left Doug alone to get us to leave if he thought Doug was going to be okay. And since Nash had been kidnapped to the Netherworld, I have no idea if he knows for sure or not. And Scott's still strapped down in the psych ward because of his Frost use. And since I stopped the party in the Netherworld, Tod said Averice was taking it out on Scott and Addy. And none of that had anything to do with Nash. All the earthbound use of Frost comes back to me. I'm the one who thought up the balloon transport system. We were trying to save Addison Page with her soul intact and demon's breath was the currency required. So I thought the best way to transport demon's breath safely was with balloons. That's where Tod comes in. Unbeknownst to him, he was being used as a mule to get humans hooked also. He made a deal with Avarice: Tod could spend one hour a day with Addison if he simply carried a locked tote bag from the Netherworld to our world and gave it to some half-harpy named Everett."
"Kaylee, stop! Take a breath! This sounds crazy. I'm not saying you're crazy, I just think we need to back up a bit, slow down and we'll get through this. Honey, you don’t look so good. You're shaking like a leaf and I've seen corpses with better color, and as a bean sidhe that's saying something! Take a few deep breaths.” She stopped talking to breathe with me, slowly in the nose and out the mouth.
After a few deep breaths, she continued. “Now, how about an apple-raisin muffin and a glass of milk?" Harmony's best form of therapy was something baked with love but she gave me another hug, for which I was incredibly grateful, before she walked away from me. I could tell by the set of her eyes that she was worried and I felt even worse because, again, it was because of me.
"Sure. Sounds like the breakfast of champions."




The deep breathing cleared the chaos in my mind, stopped the verbal and mental hemorrhaging. It gave me the chance to change my train of thought. Now, what I really wanted was information. Had Nash asked for me? Had he told his mom that I'd walked out of our relationship (even if just for a time)? Could he ever again love me more than Frost? As much as I wanted answers, all my questions would have to wait, all except for one - how much of this whole story did she really know and could I put everything together so it made sense.
When Harmony returned, she had a tray with two glasses of milk, a basket of muffins and some butter. It smelled absolutely wonderful, but no one ever expected anything less when Harmony baked. "Okay Kaylee, help yourself." For a moment we were both silent as we each buttered a muffin and grabbed a glass of milk and I settled in for the duration. "Alright, yes I know that Nash is addicted to demon's breath but I don't know how he got his hands on it. And you said that Tod is involved in this as well? Tod is the one who came to the hospital to tell me about Nash, but he didn't tell me much else. In fact, now that I think about it, He popped in and out pretty fast. Hmmm."
"Let me back up for just a sec. I want you to know that, although I've only known you for a few months, you've been more of a mother to me than I've ever had, or at least remember. I'm sure that Nash told you I didn't even know I was a bean sidhe until he, himself, told me. After my mother died, my dad only saw my mom when he looked at me. That's one of the reasons I went to live with my Uncle Brendon and Aunt Val. My Uncle Brendon is my Dad's brother but my Aunt Val and my cousin are human. And there was a really good reason for my dad to leave me here with my aunt and uncle and for him to go back to Ireland. But that isn't pertinent right now so I'll tell you about that later. So my aunt and uncle raised me here, and my father raised me long distance and visited when he could but none of them ever chose to tell me what I really am. My Uncle sort of doted on me and Val sort-of tried to be a mother to me, but my sweet cousin made sure that she was the only daughter and that I was a cousin they had to take in because of my tragic loss So when I was growing up, I didn't have a mother. I had Aunt Val but sometimes I felt like a foster child. And looking back, I think the reason Aunt Val and I weren't close and Uncle Brendon and I were, was because I was what she wasn't; bean sidhe. I just wanted to thank you now, just in case."
"Kaylee, thank you for your gratitude, but what do you mean by ’just in case'?" Oops, I'd slipped and I didn't know what to say. Like she needed anything else to be concerned about.
"I just wanted you to know. After everything we've been through in the last three days, I wanted to thank you before I forgot or something." I was praying she'd drop it so we could move on to the important stuff. She didn't say anything more about it so I think we were in sync - on to the important stuff.
"Okay Harmony, let's try this again. By the way, these muffins are awesome. You know that Nash is addicted to demon's breath. But it isn't his fault. It's mine. He was accidentally exposed when he was trying to keep me safe. I'd agreed to help Tod save Addison Page's soul. We went to the Netherworld to find out who held Addy's contract. That was the night that Crimson Creeper got my ankle, remember?"
"Kaylee, I can understand him being accidentally exposed once, but he didn't accidentally continue to get more, so it's not your fault!" I could see her point but the fact remained that if I had done as he'd asked and stayed out of that mess, none of this ever would have happened.
"I understand your point Harmony but no matter how you cut it, he was exposed because I wouldn't listen to him." I just wanted to take responsibility for my part Nash's addiction.
"Now tell me, there are other kids at your school that are addicted to demon's breath? How is that even possible? And I know Doug and his family. I can't imagine Doug using demon's breath, let alone being dead." Well at least Harmony remembered some of what I initially told her. Explaining it this specifically - this was excruciating but I deserved it.
"Remember that great idea I had when we were trying to save Addison? Well, the balloons really caught on. Now at least one hellion is sending balloons filled with demon's breath up from the Netherworld as a new drug called Frost. Once again Harmony, my fault!"
"Kaylee, stop it! Not everything that happens is your fault. Yes, you guys shouldn't have been in the Netherworld but Doug's death is not your fault." I could tell that Harmony was getting frustrated with me. I'd only known I was a bean sidhe for a few months but I'd done so much damage in such a small amount of time, it was astonishing.
"What does Tod have to do with this? You mentioned that he was carrying the balloons out the Netherworld, is that right?"
"Yes. Tod made a deal with Averice. In exchange for one hour a day with Addy he'd carrying a locked bag back from the Netherworld and give it to a guy named Everett. Tod says he's half harpy and is working for that hellion. When I asked Tod if he knew what he was doing, he said the case was always locked and, although he could have broken it, he valued his time with Addy more than knowing what was in the case."
"What was such a big deal last night that got Nash and your dad kidnapped yesterday, why them and how on earth did you manage to get two heavy, drained men out of the Netherworld?" Now when I said it was my fault she wouldn't be able to correct me.
"Well, Harmony it seems the day before yesterday was the winter solstice and this hellion called Averice had some big party planned and you'll never guess where - the high school. And night before last was our high school's Christmas Ball. On Friday night before Doug died, Everett and these two creepy identical girls"
“The Lampule Twin-Twins!" Harmony interjected.
"Yea, them. Well, that hellion Averice was planning to use those creepy twins, Nash, my Dad and this other subjugated half human to punch a whole through the veil on its' thinest night during our high school's Holiday Ball and usher humans enmass into the Netherworld.". Suddenly Harmony was on her feet and screaming!
"Why on earth didn't I know about this? Your father could' e been kil-" Harmony was halfway through her sentence, actually mid-word when he'd appeared. I'd been wondering when Tod would show up.
"Hey mom." Tod said kind of sheepishly. Harmony plopped back down on the couch. She was obviously just as used to him popping in and out as I was, it seemed. She took a deep breath and let Tod finish. "Don't yell at Kaylee about this. I didn't want that son-of-a-"
"Tod!" Harmony knew what word was coming next and just like any other mom on the earth, she used his name as a warning which was actually kind of funny.
"Sorry. I didn't want to know piece of crap to anything about you. Averice already had - has Addy, nabbed Mr. Cavanaugh and Nash and I forbid Kaylee from telling you anything. He's the meanest S.O.B. and I couldn't risk you too, mom." It was quiet ford a moment as all three of us thought over what might have happened. "Mom, you should've seen Kaylee in action. She was absolutely amazing. And Addy was great too, considering how much it must have hurt to put herself in between that jerk and Nash." I'm sure that Harmony saw identical looks on our faces as we thought back to Addy's burned flesh tearing and her screams as she pushed Nash toward me and turned away pulled away Averice, burnt and crusty flesh tearing open. The memory alone was nauseating.
"Tod, considering you're a reaper, you were pretty awesome yourself. You balled those creepy twins away from that staircase and didn't kill either of them! But you sure left me holding the bag when you popped out of sight with two security Guards on your tail. The look on their faces was priceless." I thought a bit of levity could help was away some of the uglier thoughts we'd had.
Harmony finally seemed to be catch up with all the crap we'd managed to get through. "Won't he just try again this summer?"
"I warned Creepy Twin #2 that Averice would have drained both of them to death and I think she believed me when I told her a reaper had just had his hands on her and she was still alive." which was the truth. "Without them, I didn't think we'd be seeing an encore performance." And suddenly Tod turned the "Happily-Ever After" into terror.
"I popped in on Bro and - man, even sound asleep he looks like he'll. No withdrawals yet?" Last night Tod had clocked Nash for letting Averice use my body, but clearly He still love his brother very much, but this was not a conversation I wanted to be part of.
"Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom." I had to get away from this conversation as fast as possible but then I realized I'd put myself closer to Nash. I willed myself to walk to the bathroom and ignore Nash's closed door the entire way.


When I went back into the family room but Todd had popped out. So I sat down on the couch with a heavy sigh. Then I yawned! Now that I'd told Harmony everything I needed to, I felt like I'd fall asleep before I could make it to the door.
"Kaylee, you look beat. Now that we've hashed all this out, you should go home and get some well earned rest. I have a feeling you didn't get much last night. Do you think you're okay to drive?" Harmony, always the care giver, was right. Now that I'd talked it all out, I could sleep, but I had no idea that sleep would come instantaneously.
"I don't think I'm safe to walk, let alone drive.". And I wasn't joking. Without Nash to talk bean sidhe business, my life was lonely. Of course, Emma new some stuff, but only what Nash and I had told her. "Can you give me a ride home? My dad can bring me back to get my care after I've had a nap?"
"Of course honey. After all you've done, it's the least I can do! Harmony was one of the most generous and kind person I'd ever met. Shall l call your dad or do you want to?" I took her up on her offer and asked if she'd call my dad for me and, of course she was happy to do something for me. I grabbed a couch pillow, laved down and shut my eyes while I waited. I listened to Harmony's start of her conversation with my dad. I sounded like she'd woken him on my behalf. I think they were talking about what had transpired over the last three days and then I was dreaming. I never even heard Harmony talking about me. I drifted for a while from one thought to another and then I was out.
good thing.