That was when Drey's head popped up through the lower door, an eyebrow cocked. “And just what am I missing up here?”
I gave her a manic grin and held up the bribe, then took a huge bite of snack cake. I swear by the stitch and nap that these things are made of Zeus' ambrosia, but without the syrupy aftertaste. I said through a full mouth, “Spongecake.” Though it came out more like “smudtchake.”
She grinned and reached out for the package. I pulled back like she was a red hot fire, holding the crinkling cellophane to my chest, my eyes wide, my grin defiant. She just fluttered her eyes, and I broke. But by the Loom of Ages, the woman was cute. I sighed and held out my half eaten cake, and she grinned widely and almost took my fingers off when she took a large bite.
I checked my fingers to make sure they were still there, then accused her smug and grinning face. “I was only offering a nibble, copper.” Then I looked down, feeling bashful, and offered her the other cake to her. She hugged me to her side and accepted my offering.
Enid said offhandedly as she put the last of the groceries away, “You only get her body, Lisbon, she's havin' my babies.”
Ok, when had the girl who was afraid of her own shadow become so forward and brave. I'd have felt a bit of pride for her with that quip if my cheeks hadn't been burning at the time. I complained, “Eeen.”
But all was better when Drey kissed the top of my head, released me, then started the preparations to cast off. I envied the top of my head, I wanted those lips on mine. Come on Sloan, snap out of it, where was your confidence? You're a Fate for goodness sake.
Andreya said, “Captain Cheong said that things are still in an uproar around HQ and that the press is poking around. He knows about Ilwaco, because, you know, the two and two thing. He thinks we need to lay low while he deals with some federal types that showed up. He doesn't want my witnesses, you ladies and gentleman, compromised.”
Lach winked at the gentleman part. Mother was so encourageable.
Then she said in a thoughtful tone, “He didn't ask about the more... complicated things to explain. The supernatural aspects of the eye witness accounts. He's either discounting them, or he may have had some preternatural dealings himself in his long career. It's best not to ask questions you really don't want the answers to you know.”
She asked Lach, “Cast off please?”
Mother nodded and stood as our erstwhile detective continued, “Cap has a little cabin on Allen Island in Puget Sound, just offshore near Mount Vernon. He said to batten down the hatches there, and check in again tomorrow to see if the storm had passed and it was safe to come in.”
I nodded, recognizing the island name from the local maps I had studied when I was trying to spark any memories. Allen Island was one of three small islands in Burrows Bay. I think it had just enough room on it for a little dirt airstrip in the middle of a tiny forest.
Once Mother returned, Drey started up the motor, and I stepped up beside her to keep her company on the long trip still ahead. She had stood behind the wheel most of the prior day. She let me take over from time to time for her to eat or use the little toilet down below. But for the most part, she stood there, piloting the boat with me at her side.
I actually enjoyed it as it gave us time to talk and learn about each other while the others took turns going below deck to rest. Mother or Atta would pull weavings from me from time to time to check on any hunter activity, but everything was oddly still out there. Had they given up on finding us?
I remembered this feeling as I grew closer and closer to this intriguing blonde, it was more than just the insane sexual attraction. The woman beneath the pleasing exterior was multi-faceted and fascinating. I wish I had seen some of the shenanigans she spoke about when she was growing up. And I just had to meet her sister, Bree. She sounded like she was a mini-hurricane in human disguise, but she couldn't stay in any place long enough to develop roots, something that seemed to eat at Andreya.
I was so relaxed around her and Enid now that I wore just a tank top which I found in one of the drawers under the bed, in the hot cabin. The heat from the motor and the body-heat of the four of us fought off the chill air, it was a bit stifling. More than once I caught Enid staring at the shifting tattoos, and Drey would trace a finger along the twisting vines to the ever changing images, sending shivers through my body at her touch.
I'm pretty sure the evil woman knew what she did to me. I hated her rule about getting involved with people in her cases, but to my satisfaction, I think she did too.
It was getting dark by the time we crossed the busy shipping lanes where Puget Sound emptied into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and we rounded Lopez Island. We could see the dark outline of Allan Island growing in the distance, through a light rain in the twilight.
The wind was picking up, causing the waters to get a bit choppy. Atta said what all of us who grew up in the area knew from all the signs, “A storm is coming.” Though in this case, the double meaning of her statement was not lost on me, or the others as we all nodded absently.
The rain was really coming down, and the darkness was starting to consume the world as Drey circumnavigated the island, keeping clear of the rocks on the west shore. “Cap said there are some old docks extending into the bay on the east shore. His cabin isn't far from there. It used to be the caretaker's cabin for the landing strip before a more modern structure was built.”
The little windshield wiper on the window was barely able to keep up with the rain, and I could hear thunder in the distance over the sound of the motor and the choppy waves slapping the hull of the boat.
I was starting to get a bit worried, the island was nothing but a shadow on our port side. But then Lach pointed and said, “There!” I started a little, I was so intent on looking through the rain in the darkness that I hadn't heard her come up beside us.
I exhaled, and Drey nodded. There was a single dim light on the shore, and it illuminated a grey finger that extended out to us like the reaching finger-bone of some long dead Goliath.
Goliath, by the way, was no giant. He was just a large Philistine soldier, who seemed to get bigger and bigger with each retelling of the tale of when he faced off with David, who was almost as large as Goliath in his own right. David told me so himself.
Andreya reduced our speed and piloted us in slowly and deliberately along the long dock. My impression of bones proved to be apt, as there were long sections where the planks had rotted completely away, leaving only pilings sticking up through the water in a straight line.
As we approached the light on the small beach, the dock looked to have been maintained better, and planks had been replaced. There were two smaller vessels already tied up. We pulled up behind them and Lach and I ran out onto the deck into the chilly rain which was coming down relentlessly now.
When the Water Pixie came to rest against the dock, rebounding slightly as the large foam bumpers hanging over the boat's side did their job, Mother and I tied us off to bollards on the dock.
A nearby lightning strike lit up the island in a snapshot in time. I shivered in the cold, knowing I should have at least thrown on a rain slicker or jacket before coming out into the storm. When my eyes readjusted to the darkness, I glanced around as I headed back in. Besides the dock light, the only other light I could see on the island was a light half way up the hill, coming from a large structure, likely the caretaker's house.
I stepped back in after Mother, her holding the door for me like a gentleman. I gave her a twap to the belly as I passed. I was surprised at how tight her abdomen muscles were. This Brett Holiday was definitely in shape. It is a shame he died while trying to save a friend. If we survived this, Mother would do his memory proud.
It just struck me as unnatural to have one of us take over a life that had been truly lived out instead of a stillborn baby. I'm sure both Atta and Lach felt even more disconcerted, having to live with full memories from someone else. I could understand, being in the body of someone I had been at one time
through life and death. It felt just as unnatural to me.
Drey was by my side, draping an all weather jacket over me. “You're drenched, woman.”
I felt a warmth burning deep down inside of me that she felt the need to take care of me. I shivered once and appreciated the warmth of the jacket immediately.
Then Andreya was in command mode as she said, “Ok everyone, food and a change of clothes are our number one concern. Cap says there is power and running water in the cabin. We can come back to the Water Pixie for anything else we may need after the storm passes. There are plastic garbage bags in the galley we can put our gear in.”
I saluted. “Ma'am yes ma'am!”
She grinned and playfully slapped my salute aside then we went about getting the specified supplies.
Thunder rolled, and the ship rocked as the winds picked up. Mother mumbled, “The sea is giving us her best tonight.”
She nodded once and said, “That's the nature of the beast.”
Chapter 12 – Cabin In The Woods
We slogged down a path that paralleled the shoreline, like a band of drenched packrats scurrying for cover in the now torrential downpour. I kept eyeballing Enid who had found a little umbrella somewhere in the boat. She was keeping herself dry with that ungodly sized frying pan slung over her back on a strap she purloined from a backpack.
She noted my attention on her, and she looked up, dry and smug. I muttered, “Brat.” This amused her and the others, and they all shared a chuckle. It alleviated the weight of the situation and buoyed our spirits. I believe that Eeen had become our mascot. Fierce and meek all at the same time.
The look Drey gave me as she smiled and bumped shoulders as we walked told me she felt the same. Though I was a bit terrified for the two humans of our group. Though I could see they had long healthy threads, Adumbrates and other immortals could change mortal fates, even sever their threads prematurely, or graft onto their life forces for unsavory things, like creating slaves or reavers of them. Most immortals don't know the delicate workings of fate, so like Hades and Aries, just severed them.
The Adumbrates, however, have made an art of weaving the shadows of the threads for their own selfish and destructive purposes. We have had to clean up their messes on more than one occasion. And now that they have gleaned that their time is coming to an end, they've created this mess we now found ourselves in.
My hand absently went into my pocket, and my fingers brushed the fabric scraps I kept with me. If only we were in our realm, I'd be able to absorb these last few threads. They were the answer to this all. They were the last works of the Mother and Crone before they fled as the loom fell.
I swallowed. The last two Adumbrates were close, I could feel them moving just below all the millions of lives out there in the Seattle metro area, sliding from shadow to shadow, making them hard to pinpoint. They were the last of their kind, and they were angry... on the hunt.
I stopped dwelling on the situation as we came up to a small house, that was no more than twenty feet square. It wasn't anything special, and it looked to be on the verge of slipping into disrepair. It was obvious it hadn't been used in the past year or two. We all stepped onto the little, covered porch in front of it to get out of the rain as lightning flashed, and thunder rolled, shaking the structure we stood upon.
Andreya reached up to the top of the door but couldn't quite reach up to the little ledge over the door trim. She glanced over to mother. “Hey, tall, dark and handsome. Key?” She nudged her chin toward the ledge.
Mother swaggered forward, all full of herself. She teased, “Does the little lady need the help of a big strong ma...... uuuglllgghh.”
I chuckled as the wind was knocked out of her when Andreya backhanded her gut.
Drey pointed at her as she squinted one eye in challenge, then pointed at the ledge. Mother gave a toothy grin and said dutifully, “Yes, ma'am.”
Andreya winked at me and said, “See? Even men who used to be women can be trained.”
Mother grumped as she found the key and handed it to our Detective. “Why don't I get special dispensation for that? I was having fun teasing.”
Atta said as she stepped into the cabin first when Drey held the door open for everyone, “Just wait till you start thinking with something other than your head.”
Eeen slipped in, and we all followed, Mother coming in last and admitting with a blush, “Well I think it's already happening. My girlfriend has me following her around like a puppy on a string. Stupid male hormones.”
Etta chuckled. “It's all in the weave, dear girl.”
We all squinted and covered our eyes when I flipped the light switch next to the door, and an old brass chandelier lit the space up. We looked like a troop of lemmings as we all looked across the room. It was just one big open space with three doors along the back wall. There was a kitchen area and a sitting area with two couches and two chairs that were covered with sheets. A bare space between I assumed would have been for the dining area, but there weren't any table or chairs. They had probably been moved to the new caretaker's cabin.
I asked, “How long has your Captain owned the cabin?” You'd think the man would get a new table and chairs set up. But then again, he was a man... and it wouldn't be easy to move furniture across the bay in anything smaller than the Water Pixie.
Enid was on the move, peeking in the doors. She said brightly, “Tiny bedrooms, bathroom in between. Dibs on the left room. Who want's to share?” She looked bashful, keeping her eyes purposefully away from Mother, who was obviously the kind of man that got the little frying pan crusader's motor running... eww. Come on, it was my mother!
Lach said in her smooth baritone, “I'll bunk with Atropos.”
Enid sighed in relief and looked over at Andreya and me. I just gave her a reassuring grin, and she perked up.
I went to the kitchen and started opening the plastic bag with our food stuff. The rainwater dripping off the plastic onto the dusty counter, making little droplets of mud. Enid joined me and started scrounging up cookware to make us some grub. My stomach gurgled at the thought of food.
When Mother and Atta returned from the second bedroom, I saw Drey pulling out the other burner phone to call her Captain. My smile started widening as I inched my way along toward the middle door, trying to look as innocent as possible. I had just got past the others when they realized what I was doing, and they chased after me to the bathroom, and I slammed and locked the door, cackling in glee as I heard their protestations through the door.
I called out in a singsong voice, “You snooze, you lose, suckers!” I turned on the light and then sighed in almost sexual pleasure at the most wonderful sight in the world. The shower just sat there, beckoning me. I smelled like a drowned animal and that dingy looking stall with the dusty rubber ducky curtain was the most beautiful thing in the world to me just then.
I turned on the water, and the pipes moaned and shuddered in protest as brownish water started flowing. Whether it was rust in the pipes or silt in the well, the water cleared up about the time the pipes stopped shuddering and moaning.
I rummaged around the cupboard under the sink, and the little built in linen closet and found a new bar of soap and a fluffy towel. There wasn't any shampoo or conditioner, but this was a guy's cabin, so I don’t think I expected any.
I tested the water with my hand, and it had finally gotten warm, but not quite hot. I looked over at the big rusted looking water heater. It was probably the best it could do. I bet the elements were caked with calcium buildup and silt.
I sighed and got out of my ripe clothing, just then realizing I hadn't brought in a change of clothes. I sighed, knowing the evil women on the other side of the door wouldn't be very accommodating if I asked. It was time to suck it up, buttercup.
I stepped into the shower, my feet feeling the grit of the dust that was turning to mud and washing down the drain, and I sighed as the warm water washed down my body, and then moaned in pure pleasure. Ooooh, to be clea
n again. By the stitch and nap, it was almost orgasmic.
I kept glancing at the door as I sudsed up, knowing that Detective Tease-a-lot was just on the other side of it, and here I was naked and sudsy just a few feet away. It was all I could do to stop myself from indulging in the recurring fantasy I've had the past nine months since I met Detective Lisbon for the first time. If we lived through this, I promised myself I was going to indulge the bloody hell out of those fantasies.
And no, I'm not going to tell you if I haven't already indulged in them before... multiple times... vigorously.
I growled at myself and cleaned up, then shut off the water, grinning as I knew that I had used most of the hot water and whoever was next wouldn't have much warm water. I knew I'd pay for it later, but right now I didn't care, I was clean again.
I checked the drawer and the medicine cabinet and found only a comb. It had some dark and silvered hairs in it. I cleaned it a couple times before running it through my tangled mess. I again wondered if Drey didn't have the right idea with that pixie cut. I got the snarls out and then tied the unruly mass of wavy hair back with a loose thread from the towel. My hands did it automatically before I realized I was doing it. I was pretty good with thread... I tried not to giggle.
Then I looked at my clothes and washed them in the sink and hung them over the shower rod, then wrapped myself in the towel to cover my dignity and stepped out into the main room.
Atta, in her Mrs. Ramos form, was pretty funny as she almost ran at the bathroom to slide in front of Andreya, who seemed a little too preoccupied with staring at me wide eyed to notice the bathroom was free.
Ahhh... ok then. I smiled smugly and showed off my legs as I dug around in another plastic bag and pulled out some Mount Vernon police sweatpants and one of Drey's black tees instead of the clothes Enid and Lach got me at our last stop. I put them to my nose and inhaled. There was that soap and gun oil smell I loved so much.
Fate: No Strings Attached Page 11
