Weald Fae 03 - The Aetherfae

by Christopher Shields

  “You are pathetic, all of you, siding with humans like their mangy curs. What are the Ohanzee if not Seelie barnacles, clinging to the stinking belly of human-loving traitors? Do you suckle Ozara’s tolerance like a piglet on a muddy teat? Do you cower from her rage like a roach from light?” He laughed loudly. “The great Tse-xo-be, a homeless vagabond, a coward of...uuhhh, uuuhhhhh.”

  Tse-xo-be held the creature’s tongue. “I will end your suffering if you answer but one question.”

  The creature glared at him, its broken and bloody jaw hanging slack.

  “Shall I remove more?” Txe-xo-be asked, reaching slowly towards him.

  The wounded Fae, slumping in Wakinyan’s grip, shook its head.

  “Who is the Second?”

  “Only two have seen her. She remains cloaked—only communicates with Dersha.” It silently communicated.

  His comment about Mara haunted me. “What do you mean, Mara sees me?” I asked.

  He turned his eyes toward me, healing the stump of a tongue, and forced a bloody smile. “She knows you watch her—she is watching, too.” He laughed again.

  “But you didn’t know I was here?” I asked.

  He smiled again, but there was no conviction. He had been genuinely shocked when he recognized me—he’d already said too much and he knew it. “You don’t have to answer that, I already know. She sent you and your friend here when she when into hiding, didn’t she?”

  He maintained a smile. “Yes, and that means she sees through your ploy—your trickery failed.”

  “That also means she sent you as a sacrifice,” I said.

  His smile turned to a frown as the inescapable truth settled in.

  “I hope she’s watching—I want her to see this,” I said. Tse-xo-be nodded as I set Quint loose in his body. Wakinyan withdrew his hand as the Arustari collapsed into a small white orb and flashed out of existence. I channeled his residual energy and directed it to the storm outside, spreading it out in the falling rain.

  “She’s been watching me, somehow—maybe the same way I’ve been watching her. That’s why the Arustari stayed here when the others left,” I said.

  Wakinyan and Tse-xo-be stared at me.

  I continued, “If she can project, she can locate me anywhere. At the very least, she knows when I track her. That’s why she’s hiding, isn’t it?”

  Gavin nodded, wrapping me up in his arms. “That would make sense, if you believe him. He might have been lying to scare you.”

  “I believed him, and so did you—I can tell by your reaction. But she didn’t tell Dersha where to find me, did she?”

  “No, I don’t think she did.”

  I nodded, resting my face against his chest. “It’s personal. She wants me to herself. Somehow, I’ve known this for days—I felt it.”

  Gavin waited a few seconds to answer. “You are a challenge. She’s fixated.”

  “That settles it, then.”

  Gavin pushed me back, cupping my shoulders at arms’ length. “What does it settle?”

  “When you take my family back to Arkansas, I have to leave by myself. It’s the only way she’ll come after me now.”

  Gavin shook his head. “No Maggie, that’s too dangerous.”

  I grabbed both sides of his face, the warmth of his skin temporarily clouding my focus. “She’s not an Aetherfae. If I can’t handle her, then I’m not much of a chosen one, am I?”

  “I do not like the idea of you leaving without our help.”

  “Gavin, she won’t come after me while Wakinyan and Tse-xo-be are around. She’s older and more powerful than you—you’d be in danger if you came with me.” I couldn’t keep the grin off my face when I said it.

  He smiled and raised an eyebrow.

  “What?” I teased, “Not used to being the one who needs protecting?”

  Wakinyan laughed. “She has a point, Adonis.”

  Gavin ignored Wakinyan. “I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.”

  I thought about that conversation a lot over the last week and I was ready for it. “I know you are, but I heard Mara promise to take four hearts back to Dersha. They’re after Mom, Mitch, and the baby, too. Please, I need you to stay behind Clóca and protect my family. I’m begging.”

  His expression softened and he exhaled. He couldn’t refuse me, and I knew it. “Maybe Wakinyan and Tse-xo-be can teach you how to create Quint and Clóca. You’ll need them to protect my family and yourself.”

  Again, he reacted, this time pulling me close to him, his eyes burning holes into my resolve. We hadn’t been physical since the locker room at Nationals, and my body reacted. I’d been too upset and too angry to think about intimacy since he’d returned, but with him cradling the small of my back and gently caressing my face with his, it quickly dominated my thoughts. I wrapped us in Clóca, just the two of us. We were alone for the first time in a year.

  “Gavin…” I breathed. I forced my hands to let go of the handfuls of hair I’d clutched on the back of his head, only to grab the muscles in his back. “I know what you’re trying to do.”

  His lips caressed my right ear as he spoke, igniting the nerves throughout my body all over again. “I’m only reminding you that you need to come back to me. I need you to come back to me.”

  I sighed when he moved his head back and stared into my eyes. The room spun. I closed my eyes so that I could speak. “You’ll let me go, then?”

  “I will never ask you to do anything you don’t want to do,” he said in a husky whisper.

  “A double negative?” I joked, trying to regain my composure.

  “A promise. I will not stand in your way.”

  “I thought you’d put up a fight—refuse to let me go.”

  “No you didn’t,” he whispered, with a chuckle. “You know me better than that. I love you too much to refuse you. Courage, devotion, strength, your ability to resist me…” he grinned, “…you’re the most intoxicating creature I’ve ever met. To trap you—even if I could—that would be unforgivable. Only humans cage the things they love. The thought of us being separated again is excruciating, but it is nothing compared to seeing you in the kind of pain you experienced when your father died. Your family is my family.”

  Emotion welled in my chest. “Thank you,” I whimpered.

  “Their welfare is your one weakness—I see that, and so does the enemy. So that you can do what you need to do, I will stay and protect the O’Shea clan.”

  * * *

  Grandpa pulled a suitcase into the living room, sliding it next to several others. He grinned at me, flashing big white teeth, as he darted back up the stairs, taking two at time. I still wasn’t used to seeing him or Grandma so youthful and physically fit.

  “Gavin, you once told me that Caorann couldn’t prevent her lover’s death.”

  “Yes, I did.” He looked up the stairs and then back at me. “We cannot.”

  “But you can postpone it?”

  “For a time, of course,” he said in a low voice.

  “For a time?”

  “We can repair the body, eliminate disease, but the human mind is a different story.”

  “How so?”

  “It is not possible to make the brain younger without eliminating memories and altering the chemicals and molecules where memories are stored. Changing just one thing in the brain alters connections. Alter a few connections and all memories are lost. Humans are fond of believing that the essence of what they are is contained in the heart—it’s a romantic, but misplaced notion. The essence of who you are is in your mind, and in time every human reaches a point where the mind becomes irreparable. Caorann did her best to keep his body alive, but there was nothing she could do to stop his death without changing everything she loved about him.”

  I sank back on the white couch. Justice climbed up beside me, wagging his cropped tail.

  “I’m still not used to seeing him like this.”

  Gavin laughed, rubbing his head. “He’s seen a lot in his t
ime, the change is probably easier for him than you.”

  I stared at Gavin. It was the second time he’d suggested that Justice was older. Aunt May made passing remarks about it as well. “Gavin…”

  He laughed. “Brace yourself. He’s ninety-seven. We’ve kept him around your family because he seems to sense Unseelie. He was quite useful to prior stewards who weren’t as gifted as you.”

  “Oh my gosh, really?”

  Gavin nodded, laughing aloud. “Surely you’ve seen the old family photos?”

  “I have, but I just assumed my family had a thing for standard poodles.”

  “They’ve had a thing for just one.”

  “If he goes crazy?”

  “Eventually he will, I think, but a dog’s mind is not as complex as a human’s. He may be around for another century.”

  Justice wagged his tail again, nuzzling my hand. “Wow, boy. I learn something new every day.”

  Ten minutes later, we were in the living room ready for the next leg of our trip. I think everyone knew I was leaving, but I needed to say it anyway. When I finished, Doug spun and stomped outside, slamming the door behind him. Candace followed after him, shooting me a quick, knowing glance.

  Mom cleared her throat when the door closed. “I won’t prevent you from leaving, but you’re not going yet. When we get back to Arkansas, we’re spreading your father’s ashes at the Weald. You need to be there.”

  If Mom’s words weren’t enough, Mitch’s eyes—even in a disguised face—did the rest. “Okay, Mom. I’ll go back.”

  * * *

  In an extended Dodge church van, we drove out of Washington and headed south through the green rolling hills of Virginia to I-40 in North Carolina. I projected a few times, but found Mara hiding in the same place. She was waiting to get me alone, and I was determined to give her the chance.

  Doug didn’t say a word to anyone until we entered Tennessee several hours later. We stopped at a gas station where he and Ronnie chatted and stretched. He clammed up when I approached, and walked away when I tried to talk. The distance between us had grown into a wide gulf, and I had no way of navigating it. When Ronnie took the wheel to drive us through the night, Doug slept.

  “He is miserable, in case you’re wondering. Worried about you, and angry that I’m here,” Gavin silently told me.

  I had too many things to worry about already. “I guessed as much,” I whispered so that only Gavin could hear it.

  “Any sign of Mara?”

  “No, she’s still in the same place. Any other Fae?”

  “Wakinyan passed two Seelie tracking parties who appeared to be hunting Rogues. They are well north of here and have not noticed us.”

  On the west side of Memphis, we passed a band of Fae who were close enough that I felt them, but they seemed to be occupied with other things. It happened again when we drove north of Little Rock. We really were invisible like this. Well, as long as Mara didn’t tell Dersha. An hour later, the car, now a Black Lincoln Navigator, wound around the hairpin corners and up and over the familiar mountains on Highway 23, affectionately known to locals as the Pig Trail. We were nearly home, and with each mile, my trepidation grew.

  Driving through Eureka Springs toward the Weald gave me mixed feelings. I loved the place—it had become home. It was also sad. It was a marked place. It had been the home of the Seelie for thousands of years, but it had seen their dissolution. To the Ohanzee it was more important, having been their home for an epoch. With the Seoladán destroyed and the clans on the verge of war, who knew what would become of it. I still didn’t know why Tse-xo-be chose to return. We could have hidden anywhere. He was unusually patient, even for a Fae, so I didn’t believe he moved us back for sentimental reasons. There was something else going on, but it was not something he wanted to discuss. At least not yet.

  Under an overcast sky, familiar sights looked slightly foreign when we turned right and passed the gate at the top of the drive. The Weald was full of Fae, but I recognized only a few. The Ohanzee elders were down near the lake edge, except Nodin and Aiyana, the Fae who’d taken my grandparents’ place. I also recognized an old friend. Danny waited below.

  Past the Cedars at the last bend, I lowered my eyes when I saw the burnt out shell of the cottage. Mom drew in a labored breath and wheezed a half-cry, half-sigh when she saw it. The toy box and the studio had been burned as well. Filing into the weed-filled garden, I fought with tears.

  “Our house is gone,” Mitch said.

  Mom wrapped her arm over his shoulder. “Oh honey, it’s not our house anymore. We sold it.”

  “I beg to differ,” Danny said.

  Mom shot him a severe look.

  “It’s true, Mrs. O’Shea, it still belongs to Maggie.”

  “How?” I asked.

  Danny pressed his lips together and shook his head, looking at me like I was an idiot. “Do you know nothing about me? And don’t worry about this,” he said looking around. “It can be restored soon enough. But you won’t be staying here, not until the conflict is resolved. I have a place for your family in Fayetteville.”

  “Are you serious? We can move back?” Mom asked, tears in her eyes.

  “If that is what you desire,” Danny said

  “More than anything. More than anything,” she said, stifling a sob.

  He didn’t tell her the obvious: if I failed, there would be no moving back. But the promise of living here again gave her hope. I let her have it. There was another problem, though. While I listened to Danny talk to my mother, I’d overheard bad news.

  “We were ambushed south of Hai-tonsa, just below the river,” Sinopa explained. “Aiyana died instantly. Nodin held them off and allowed us to escape.”

  “Who?” Enapay asked.

  “Rogues, Dersha. Nodin killed four before he died. I destroyed five. There were simply too many. More than a hundred.”

  My heart sank as the Ohanzee mourned Nodin and Aiyana’s loss. The rest of the Ohanzee, more than three hundred, gathered around Tse-xo-be and then disappeared when he cast Clóca. We didn’t linger in the spent garden for long. I wrapped Clóca around my party and we hiked up the path toward the bluffs. I followed my grandparents, Mitch and Mom. She carried Dad’s urn. Candace took my hand, while Gavin held the other.

  At the top of the bluff, the tears began when I noticed a presence I hadn’t felt in a long time. Aunt May was there—she’d never left. The tears fell harder when Mom let Dad’s ashes pour out of the container and said, “Goodbye, my love.” The emotion I couldn’t seem to find in Vermont came rushing back in the Weald, along with memories of my father. I saw Aunt May’s face from a memory. In her withered hand was the old photo of Dad and Kyle. As the last ashes blew away, becoming permanent parts of the Weald, I realized he was home where he belonged. I also realized I would not see Aunt May again, at least not in this life. She didn’t actually say anything, but I felt her say goodbye.

  “Goodbye,” I whispered.

  After Gavin transformed the Lincoln into a black Jeep, Doug demanded to have all the physical features returned to normal. Tadewi warned him of the risk, but he was adamant. He swung the passenger door open for Candace and Ronnie. Just before he drove them away, he glanced up at me with sad eyes. “Good luck. I’ve gotta get back to Fayetteville, you know. I—“

  “It’s okay, Doug. Goodbye.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  My gut instinct was to punch him in the face, but instead, I tried to remember the pain he was in. I managed a smile as the Jeep disappeared up the drive. My gut told me I’d never see him again.

  * * *

  Justice and I walked down the lower garden path toward the lake edge, then along the rocky shore. I refused to look across the cove to where Sara’s cottage once stood. Instead, I focused on the lake and the flat-topped hills on the western shore. At the point, Tse-xo-be stood staring into the late afternoon sun, which peaked out from a gap in the clouds.

  “I’m sorry about Nodin and Aiyana.”
>
  Tse-xo-be turned, the tiny pebbles under his feet crunching in the motion. He gave me a rare smile and took my hand. “We have all suffered loss, Maggie, and none greater than you.”

  I shifted my focus to the hills in the west. “I know how important Nodin was to you. He was an elder, one of your friends for, well, more time that I can really understand.”

  “Nodin believed that you were important enough to protect at all costs—I share that belief. Nodin did not die in vain. You will bear witness to that truth as a Maebown. We will protect your family, as you asked.”

  “Thank you. Any words of wisdom?” I tried to crack a smile, but the enormity of my task hung heavily on my mind.

  “Yes, I do. Trust your intuition. It is a gift.”

  “I always do.”

  He smiled again. “We will be here when you return to take your place as Steward of the Weald. Now, walk with me,” he said. “Let us enjoy this place together.”

  An hour later he led me back to the cottage garden and to my waiting family. At the driveway, I hugged Mom and Mitch, and said goodbye to my grandparents. They put on a brave face, but I didn’t have to be a Fae to sense their fear. Mom handed me a stack of journals, Pete’s and mine.

  “You need to keep writing,” she said.

  “Do you want to keep them for me?”

  “No.” Her voice cracked. “I want you to finish them. Then bring them back to me.”

  I rifled through my backpack and pulled out the garden journal. “Well, in that case, will you look after this for me? I can’t carry all of them.”

  Mom smiled and embraced the book. Tse-xo-be ushered them to a waiting car, and a minute later they disappeared behind the cedars at the first bend. Danny smiled and shifted to Naeshura, following them up the hill. I said goodbye to the remaining Ohanzee before they took their natural form and disappeared into the mountain behind the Clóca barrier Wakinyan had created. Only two remained.

  “Find Sara,” Billy said, “She’ll be waiting for you.”

  Rather than answer, I embraced him. “Thank you, Billy,” I finally mustered.

  “You’ll be fine. I trained you, after all.”