I nodded. “Yeah, though my mother’s disappearance happened twenty years ago, and Shawna was taken last weekend.”
Daphne chewed her bottom lip and lowered her chin, still staring at me with blue eyes. “The Hunters had a plan twenty years ago. The mermaids helped them perfect it to try again. It is why they took our sisters. It is why they took yours.” Her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. "It is why they tried to take you, but unleashed your huldra instead. Bloody night that was.”
The others nodded and made grunting sounds of agreement.
I paused from biting my lip. “You can see what happened that night? I don’t remember. I blacked out.”
Daphne nodded. “The outcome is where the importance lies. Not the action.”
“What’s the Hunters’ plan?” I asked. “What do they want from us?”
“The mermaid’s mind did not tell us these things. If she would have known, I would have seen it,” Azalea said. “And I was not able to extract the answer from the Hunter.”
“Do you have any ideas, then, why the Hunters are doing this? What they’re trying to accomplish?” I asked.
“Speculation is useless,” Azalea answered. “Not worthy of the time spent wondering.”
Okay. I tried a different approach. “How could the mermaids help the Hunters perfect their plan if the mermaids didn’t know what the plan was?”
“Oh, this I did see from the Hunter’s mind,” Azalea said with the hint of a smile. “He saw the mermaid as foolish for sharing Wild Women secrets freely in conversation. Though, to me he is foolish for believing mermaids share anything without motive.”
“You can see the rough outline I’ve devised as a plan for attack,” I said. “How your abilities could help us succeed.”
One rusalka nodded.
“Will you help me, then?” I asked. “Will you come to Washington and join the others in helping us to attack the Hunters and get my sister away from them? Help us to rescue all of our sisters and mothers.”
The four rusalki eyed one another, communicating telepathically, I assumed. In one soft, fluid movement they all turned to stare at me and said Yes into my mind.
“We will leave in the morning,” Azalea said. “And meet you at your coterie’s home.”
“I can fly back with you,” I offered. “I have a ticket to fly home tomorrow morning anyway.”
Daphne laughed and shook her head. “Silly huldra, we do not fly. We have no wings.”
“I don’t either. I use an airplane,” I said dryly.
“We do not. We will travel by other means.” Daphne smoothed her hair as though the thought of flying messed up her already tangled tresses.
“By train? That may take a while,” I said.
The four rusalki shook their heads. “We have our ways,” was all Daphne would say.
“Okay, but can you make sure to get there in the next day or two?” I asked.
“Yes, we can promise that.” Azalea stood and blew out the many candles along the outer edge of the circular wall. “After we rest, we will be on our way.”
I stood to leave, ready to have alone time to process everything, ready to be away from the four mind-benders living in a hole in the ground.
“It is not safe to return to the cabin,” Azalea said. “It is your choice. But she had thoughts of the cabin before her physical life ended. The small inadequate one with two rooms, correct?”
I nodded. If Gabrielle had been in contact with the Hunters, she may have told them about the rental. Ugh. Okay, now I wanted to strangle Gabrielle for forcing me to spend a night in a dirt hole with mind-readers who spoke in circles.
“Thank you,” I forced my lips to say. “I’ll stay.” I looked around. “Where is the shower? The toilet?”
The others stretched across the moss-carpeted floor for the night. I breathed in the natural scents of soil and moss with a hint of iron and mold.
“You may relieve yourself to the south of our home, about fifty steps or so. And you may wash yourself in the lake. I’m sure you know where that is,” Vernonia said. She closed her eyes and rolled away from me.
I wanted to ask how they lived like this, without modern conveniences like refrigerators and televisions and cell phones. But I wasn’t in the mood for a long, patchwork answer, so I kept my question to myself. And then I kicked myself for thinking the question.
Azalea raised her head and motioned to me, patting the soft green moss beside her. I lay next to her and stared up at the dirt ceiling.
“We live like this because it is closest to Mokosh,” Azalea whispered under her breath. “We live within the moist mother earth, in her womb. If we are taken from her, we lose our abilities. Our umbilical cord is severed.”
“That means your sisters, the ones who were taken, they aren’t able to defend themselves by messing with the Hunters’ minds,” I whispered.
Azalea wiped a tear winding down her temple. “That is precisely what it means.”
So her sisters were unable to telepathically communicate over a distance.
“How will you help us fight the Hunters then, if you’re away from home?” I asked.
“We will stay on your coterie’s property, but not in your home.” Azalea closed her eyes and soon her breath matched the others in the den—the rhythmic breathing of deep sleep.
When I woke, the four rusalki were already gone. I sat up and wiped my eyes. Everything looked as it had last night, so they hadn’t taken much with them. If they were walking they wouldn’t arrive in Washington for weeks. I hoped they held to their word of helping us in the next day or two.
I crawled from the hole in the ground and stood up tall to stretch my muscles. My spine popped and I sighed with relief. I didn’t consider washing off in the poopy lake. I’d take my chances with the cabin and risk a Hunter attack.
I looked right and then left, but I couldn’t find Gabrielle’s body. Sniffing the air didn’t help. I hadn’t thought to ask the rusalki what they planned to do with the mermaid last night. The lake’s scent wafted to me as I sniffed the air and it occurred to me that they’d probably placed her in the lake, in the water where she belonged.
My throat tightened and it hurt to swallow. I believed the rusalki, but I also didn’t blame Gabrielle. Helping the Hunters was awful, but I understood the desire to do anything to protect my sisters and aunts. I walked past the trees and bushes to the side of the lake and looked out over the dark water. Reeds swayed at the edges and strips of seaweed poked from the glassy top.
“I really wish you hadn’t betrayed us,” I whispered out to Gabrielle—to the water. “I was starting to trust you.”
A pain stabbed at my heart and I fell to my knees. Tears wound down my cheeks. Exhaustion clawed at me, compelled me to quit, to give up. It was like the olden days all over again, when Wilds turned against Wilds. Shawna was missing. My mother might be alive, but I hadn’t a clue as to where she was. Wild groups were falling apart, disintegrating in what little power, strength, and numbers they held. And while I’d gotten them all to agree to meet together and devise a plan to get our loved ones, some were double agents. I’d taken two steps forward and three steps back.
And the mermaid I called my friend lay dead somewhere, probably at the bottom of the lake. Yes, she betrayed me, but she wasn’t the only one secretly speaking with a Hunter.
Nothing made sense anymore. The more I dug, the more I realized there was no such thing as deep enough. I wiped my face and stood. I brushed my jeans off and walked to the fir tree where I’d left my boots and socks.
I had to keep going. I had to get home to warn my coterie and plan a battle. But first, I needed a hot shower to wash the tears from my face and a serious breakfast to fill me with enough strength to attempt the impossible.
I sat at a Denny’s about a block away from the Bangor International Airport and cut into my rare steak. Blood oozed from the meat, covering the plate and seeping into runny yolk.
I fingered through the stack of
old missing persons reports Marcus had left with me. No one had been in my cabin while Gabrielle and I were gone. I’d sniffed around to make sure. Once I’d gotten in, I’d taken a shower, brushed out my tangled hair, put on a new change of jeans and a V-neck t-shirt, and then headed out. I’d grabbed Gabrielle’s suitcase along with mine, because I don’t know why. I’d also checked my phone and found no new texts or messages.
Marcus had warned me that he’d have to cut contact if he rejoined the Hunters, but I’d hoped to hear from him by now. Maybe just a quick text that everything was on track. It’d help to know what I was flying home to. It would have also let me know he was okay. After Gabrielle, I was desperate to know.
I had called home during my drive to Denny’s. They had nothing to report, other than their new dog’s ability to now sit and lay on command. I reminded Aunt Abigale that Shawna would be thrilled when she arrived home to her favorite rescue dog performing tricks in her own living room. That seemed to brighten my aunt’s mood.
I swallowed a bite of egg when my cell phone rang. I peered down at the screen. Marcus.
“You don’t know how happy I am to see your name on my phone,” I said instead of answering the traditional way.
Marcus chuckled under his breath. “They watch me constantly,” he said. “I’m in the bathroom now, the one place they don’t want to watch me.”
“That explains the echo. So what have you found?” I asked.
“Not much,” he said. “They don’t trust me. When I walk into a room they stop talking. I have to wear a vest over my black shirt with a huge red circle on the front and the back, as a warning that I can’t be trusted.”
“You mean like a target? You’re joking, right?” I said through a mouth of perfectly cooked hash browns.
“No, a ruby. As in the ruby on their dagger hilts that symbolize the fiery pits of hell as the resting place of all evil.” Marcus turned the faucet on.
“Fire doesn’t sound restful,” I joked.
“There’s a woman here you’ll want to know about.” Ah, the reason for the added faucet water to cover his words.
I sat up straighter in my chair and set my fork on the plate. “And?” I asked. I rustled through my purse for a pen to jot down any notes he had to share.
“That woman who skipped bail, the one taking the rap for the human trafficking ring that was in the news, she’s here.”
“Clarisse? What’s she doing hiding out there? Have you made contact with her?”
“She’s a Hunter. I mean the daughter of one. And no, I can’t get near her. She’s betrothed,” he answered as though I should have known one equaled the other.
“What’s that got to do with anything?” I asked.
“It’s inappropriate for a woman who’s promised to a Hunter to be alone with another single Hunter.” Marcus answered my next question before I had the chance to ask it. “She could cause the single man to stumble and make advances on her and then she’d be used and unwanted by any of them. Not to mention the fight it’d cause between the brothers.”
I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Please tell me you don’t believe any of that bullshit.”
“I wouldn’t be on the phone with you if I did. But if I’m going to work my way back into the fold I need to act like I believe it wholeheartedly.” Marcus sighed. “I think they’ll let me in tonight. There’s a big meeting. Some higher ups from other complexes are coming in for it and I’m sure our complex leaders will want as many strapping young Hunters on display as possible, to show off our force. Sans the vest,” he added.
The waitress walked toward me with the coffee carafe, but I covered my cup and shook my head so she kept walking.
“Hey, I missed talking to you,” Marcus whispered.
My heart fluttered for a quick second before I put a stop to that nonsense. Huldra do not do heart flutters.
“Me too,” I said and then quickly shifted the topic so the heart flutters would stop. “How was the hazing?”
“Not as bad as I thought. They need all men on deck. A violent hazing would keep me down for a while.” Marcus turned off the sink faucet. “I’ll call you when I can.”
“I look forward to it,” I heard myself say. And then I had to backtrack and re-mold the meaning of my statement. “I mean, I look forward to hearing more so I can better devise a plan.”
Marcus’s quiet chuckle sounded like soft base. “All right, Faline,” he whispered and then ended the call.
I shoveled the rest of my steak, eggs, and hash browns into my mouth and chugged down my coffee and orange juice. I had a flight to catch, a bunch of upset Wilds to gather and compose, and Hunters to take down.
Twenty-Four
I flew into SeaTac International Airport—located between Tacoma and Seattle—right on schedule. As I heaved Gabrielle’s and my suitcases from the conveyer belt at baggage claim I wondered if leaving my car in California was such a great idea. Asking the mermaids to pick it up from the airport was no longer an option. I could always ask before they arrived and before I delivered the bad news, but that felt dishonest. I’d get it myself when this was over, hopefully with Shawna. A road trip with her sounded like the perfect way to move forward.
I didn’t have to wait outside on the arrivals curb for long before Olivia’s Jeep fought through the traffic. I landed a kiss on her cheek the moment I was close enough. I’d missed my sisters and aunts terribly. The grey skies were an added welcome-home gift from nature. I fought the urge to clap when rain splashed onto the windshield as we made our way northbound on interstate five.
I filled Olivia in on everything, but she was most interested in how the different groups lived, especially the mermaids.
“So, they don’t drop men once they’ve mated?” she asked, astonished. “What happens when they get pregnant and it’s time for the male to go? He can’t return to the human world with what he knows, right?”
“They don’t see it that way,” I said, still unsure how the mermaids dealt with breakups. “They don’t have a limit on how many offspring they create or what years they’re brought into the world.”
“So there’s all different ages of mermaids running around?”
“And men.” I laughed, glad to be with my sister, with someone who grew up with the same values and rituals as I did. “The lead succubus had a man lying on a couch, mostly naked, while we discussed business. She asked him if he wanted a threesome with the both of us.”
Olivia took her eyes off the road and stared at me with her mouth agape.
“No, I didn’t do it,” I said, laughing and shaking my head.
“Why not? That sounds like a pleasure-filled night to me,” she said.
“Because I had other things on my mind.”
Olivia’s smile dropped and she exhaled. “Right.”
I wanted to cheer her up. I figured the mood around our home had been somber at best this last week. “Plus, the leader, Marie, is batshit crazy. You’ll see.”
It worked. Her mood lightened. “How?” she asked.
I told Olivia crazy Wild stories, which had her rolling, until she parked in front of our common house.
I nearly kissed the ground the moment I swung open the car door. I missed home: the scents, the trees, the familiarity. I yearned to scale up my tree and sprawl out on my bed. To eat in my own kitchen and read a book on my porch.
But the joyful familiarity was cut short. I lifted my nose. “Do you smell that, Olivia?”
“Thank you,” she said as though I’d confirmed her suspicion. “It started this morning, but none of us can find where it’s coming from. Somewhere on our property for sure, though.” She took the two suitcases I’d grabbed from the trunk.
I unlaced my boots and pulled them and my socks from my feet. The scent reminded me of lake and fir trees and tangled hair. I dropped my boots and socks and jetted for the woods. Low hanging, light green moss grazed the top of my head as I ran under tree branches. Ferns smacked at my legs. I catapulted myself int
o an evergreen and jumped from its branch to the branch of the next tree.
I neared the edge of our one hundred and sixty-two acres of forest and spotted the hole dug into a mound of dirt. I dropped from the tree with a light thump. “I can smell you. We all can. Why are you hiding?”
Four rusalki walked out from behind tree trunks.
“We are not hiding,” Drosera answered in her wispy voice. “Do the fish hide?”
I shook my head. “I have no clue what that’s supposed to mean, but I’m glad to see you.” I motioned to their makeshift home in the ground. “How’d you get here and make this so quickly?”
Azalea patted her messy black hair. Pieces of plants poked out from the knots. “Time and space are only configurations of the mind, easily transcended.”
“Okay…” I said, putting my hands on my hips and scanning the area they’d made comfortable for themselves. “We don’t have a lake. I hope that’s fine.”
“Oh no, you do not, but your creek will do nicely.” Daphne pointed to a small stream brought on by weeks of rain. Her movement caused the bone charms hanging from her neck to jingle.
“Well, are you ready to meet my coterie?” I asked, eager to see my aunts and Celeste, and to meet Shawna’s favorite rescue dog.
“I think it’s customary for you to lead the way,” Azalea reminded, waiting.
Well, there goes my break from crazy-confusing. I hoped they couldn’t read my mind in a way that they’d see what I’d told Olivia about them on the drive home. I quickly scolded myself for thinking about it in front of them, and leapt into a tree. “Follow me,” I said, and jumped to the next tree, heading home.
I wasn’t sure how they followed me because I hadn’t seen them do it, but when I arrived outside my common house, they did too. They all dressed alike now, with animal skin shawls draped over their shoulders. Fern leaves connected to what looked like a string wrapped around their chest and back, under their armpits, and draped down to cover their breasts…mostly. Brown-furred animal skins hung around their waists to their mid-thighs. And yes, they smelled. Not putrid…natural. Earthy, wet-dog, and moss kind of natural.
Wild Women Collection Page 20
