Free Luathara - Book Three of the Otherworld Trilogy by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson Page B

grow angry.  This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell them.
    Then Will surprised me by saying, “How the hell could you be keeping this from us Meghan?  I thought we were your friends.”
    I opened my mouth to respond, but the emotion that had been building up got caught in my throat.
    But Tully, who had remained calm and quiet this whole time, only nodded somberly.  “No Robyn, Will, you’re both wrong.  How could Meghan have told us something this big?  Think about it.  Would you have told anyone?”
    And that was Tully.  Always level-headed, always coming up with the right answer to smooth out all of our problems.  She was probably life’s greatest gift to me simply because she knew that not every predicament could be solved by talking about it.
    Tears burned my eyes.  I had lied to her all these years and she should be upset like Robyn and Will and Thomas.  But she wasn’t.  No, she understood.  Somehow, with all the hurt and anger and fear that was permeating the space around us, she understood.  I was going to miss her more than anything when I left for Eile .
    “Oh Tully,” I cried, swiping at a wayward tear, “I’ve been such a horrible friend.”
    She only smiled sadly and crawled over to give me a hug.  “No you haven’t Meghan.  I knew something must be bothering you all this time, but I knew you would tell us when you were ready.  Of course,” she added with a soft laugh and a smile, “I never imagined it could be anything like this.”
    I sniffled and returned her hug.
    Robyn, Will and Thomas had quieted down and were now donning looks of guilt.
    “I’m sorry Meg,” Robyn finally said, the tone of her voice telling me she had let go of her anger, “I didn’t mean to yell at you, it’s just, well, this is a big shock is all.”
    I nodded grimly.  I didn’t think I deserved such kindness.  Deep down, I thought what Robyn and Will had said was true.  They were my closest friends and I should have told them the truth.
    “Well, now what?” Will asked, crossing his arms after adjusting his glasses.
    “There’s no way we’ll ever get back to sleep,” Thomas offered quietly as he eyed Cade suspiciously for what seemed like the hundredth time that night .
    Or was he just checking him out again?
    I bit back my amusement, glad to be distracted with silly thoughts instead of angry, hurtful ones.
    “I don’t know about you guys,” Robyn said with her usual brusque confidence, “but I would kill to hear more about the Otherworld.”
    I grinned again.  So, Robyn was finally going to admit this was real, huh?  And just like that, Cade started in with details and stories from Eile and my friends hung on his every word.  I relaxed and moved so that I was settled between his legs, my back leaning into his chest.  I sighed when he draped an arm around me as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  I added a few tidbits here and there as he retold some of our experiences in the Otherworld, but left most of the talking to him.
    We stayed like that until dawn, exchanging stories like kids spending their first night with their cabin buddies at summer camp.  At some time during Cade’s regaling, it dawned upon me that I may have told my friends where I was from, but I hadn’t told them I was going back.
    “Well,” Robyn said, yawning as Cade finished off another story, “anything else we should know?”
    Cade looked at me and whispered in my mind, Well?
    I think I should tell them that I’m leaving.
    I studied my fingers, folded together over the hand Cade had placed against my stomach.
    Now would be a good time.
    His thoughts were gentle, soothing.
    Gathering my courage, I took a deep breath and let my eyes trail over Thomas, Will, Robyn and finally Tully.
    “Yes, there is one more thing you should know.”  I took a deep breath and dropped my gaze.  “I’ll be leaving soon, with Cade.  I am going to go live in Eile .”
    “What?” Tully asked, her voice