Upon Waking (Youngling Series) by Ashley Mason

before she could bring herself to ask the questions she had, Elijah pulled back from her and rolled off the bed. Despite how clumsily it was done, he still landed gracefully on his feet and picked up the cloak in the same motion.
    “I should get going. I told Harper I would work the bar tonight.” Tessa sat up and climbed out of the bed, running her fingers through her hair so smooth it down. When she looked up again, he was gone.

 
    The apartment was cold and empty once she left her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her. Damn Elijah, and damn his secrets too. Every time she thought they might be getting closer he had to go and shut her out. Not that she particularly wanted to get any closer to Elijah but hell…even if she wasn’t interested in him that way he sure was interested in her. Plus, he was Harper's brother and if she planned on being with Harper then that meant she would have to learn to deal with Elijah.
    Tessa groaned and massaged her temples, collapsing into the soft couch and kicking her bare feet up onto the coffee table. A piece of paper flew off the table, whirled around a few times then landed on the floor beneath the table. If she had been in her own apartment, Tessa would have just left it but as it were, Penny was a neat freak. So, out of the goodness of her heat, Tessa sat up and snatched the paper, ready to crumple it into oblivion before noticing that it said her name.
    The handwriting was small and neat with few flourishes; written in a dark ink from what she could only guess was one of those old fashioned pens that had to be dipped into an ink well.
    Tessa Gwendolyn Rake
    The sight of those carefully written letters sent a shot of icy dread through her veins, her fingers clenching and wrinkling the parchment. Before she knew what she was doing, Tessa ripped open the back, her eyes drinking in the words before her.
    She wha tills the fairies’ green
    Nae luck again shall she:
    And she wha spills the fairies’ ring
    Betide her want and wae.
    For weirdless days and weary nights
    Are hers till her deein’ day.
    But she wha gaes by the fairy ring,
    Nae dule nor pine shall see,
    And she wha cleans the fairy ring
    An easy death shall dee.
    Come find me.
    No signature, no explanation. Just what sounded like a rhyme and a three word message that gave her no indication as to who had written the message or how long it had been sitting there on her table. Tessa reread the message several times over, even going so far as to sniff the paper to see if she maybe smell the person who had written it. All she got was a hint of what she thought might be lavender.  As for the message, none of it made sense to her. No sense at all. But she knew someone who would know.

 
    Tessa grabbed her phone and dialed Nira’s number before she could talk herself out of it. How was she supposed to explain the situation to her? How was she supposed to explain anything at all? Turns out that she wasn’t going to have to explain anything after all. She tried the number three different times but each time was told by the automatic voice that the number was disconnected. Making a split second decision, she dialed Harper’s phone, hoping he could hear it in the noisy club.
    “Hello?” He picked up after the second ring. Tessa could hear the noise of the club in the background but it was muted, like he had hidden himself in his office again. “Tessa?”
    “Harper, I need your help.” She quickly filled him in on the note then bit her lip, waiting anxiously for his reply.
    “Tessa…what does any of that even mean? Why would anyone leave an old Scottish rhyme about fairy rings on your coffee table? That makes absolutely no…sense…” Worry filled his voice at the other end of the line, silence quickly taking over. “Rowena.”
    “Rowena? Your sister? Why would she want me to come and find her?” None of it made much sense. She had only met his sister once and it hadn’t been for very long. It was true that she