by Kimbra Swain
“Yay!” she said, jumping up and down which spilled the remaining petals out of her basket.
Dylan wrapped a warm arm around me, then kissed me on the cheek. “You want me to kiss you like that?” he asked.
“Maybe,” I said.
“If you are lucky,” he quipped.
“I’m feeling pretty damn lucky,” I replied.
He jerked me to him, planting a hot kiss on my lips. I felt Winnie trying to wedge between us. We broke the kiss off laughing at her. “Jealous, much?” I asked her.
“What? You were embarrassing me,” she said.
“Six going on sixteen,” Dylan said. “Hey, Matthew said he needed to speak to you in private. I’ll take her to the truck.”
“Um, okay. What is it about?” I asked.
“He wouldn’t tell me,” he said looking worried.
“Okay. I’ll be right out,” I said.
Matthew and Robin waited for me at the center altar. The stones on the pillars stopped glowing once the circle was broken, but they still sat on the pillars. Robin kissed Matthew, then walked past me without looking at me, leaving me alone with the High Druid.
“Grace, thank you for your words. They were very royal,” he said.
“I hoped so,” I said. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s not what you can do for me. It’s what I can do for you,” he said. I thought he meant the way he summoned the stone holders.
“Thank you for revealing those who control the stones,” I said.
“It was part of the ceremony, but of course, they didn’t have to show up here,” he said.
“I know Josie, but I don’t know the water woman,” I said.
“You didn’t recognize her?” he asked.
“No, but she wore my father’s sword,” I said.
He nodded. “She does. She gave it to him, then took it back when he died,” he said. “When she is ready to meet you, she will. However, I am allowed to tell you that her name is Nimue.”
“The lady of the lake,” I said.
“The very one,” he replied.
“Wow.”
“But that isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about,” he said.
“Oh, really?”
“Before setting up for the wedding, I came into the grove and found this,” he said holding up a silver cylinder. I knew what it was. A message from the Otherworld. He rolled it over in his hand revealing the triquetra symbol on the seal. “I assume only you can open it. I will leave you with it.”
He handed me the tube, then left me alone in the grove. The warmth of summer flowed through the trees. I looked down at the cylinder, apprehensive of the contents. I clicked open the ring latch. The spell holding it closed tingled around my fingers. I knew the magic. It was from Levi.
Rushing then, I opened the tube, pulling out the parchment inside. I rolled it out revealing Levi’s steady handwriting.
“Grace, we have been delayed. Things here are not what they seem. Finley is busy with his wife, and I’m anxious to get back home. However, Riley will not relinquish the book. Jeremiah was here the first day that we arrived, but I have not seen him since. I cannot express the warning that I need to with these words, but Grace, do not trust anyone. Only Dylan. The tales here in summer about your father, Brock, and Shady Grove are very different from what we have known. I’ll be home as soon as I can. With all my heart, Levi.”
My hands shook reading the words. They were in danger, and the danger was coming here. I felt the urge to get to Dylan as soon as possible. I rushed toward the portal when a gust of wind hit my back. Spinning around, I watched as a glowing portal opened. The cold wind came not from summer, but from my father’s realm. A man tumbled through the portal, then it closed. He lifted his eyes to me. Blood covered his clothes. It ran down his face like crimson tears.
“Jeremiah?” I said, running back to him.
He held up his hand as I approached, but I ignored him, rushing to his side. He fell over in the grass before I could get to him. I rolled him over to look at his injuries. I pulled his button-up shirt apart to reveal numerous stab wounds. “You can’t stop it now,” he said.
“I can fix it,” I said igniting the tattoo on my arm. I felt the power flowing in me greater than it ever had. Hovering over each wound, I tried to close them, but the blood continued to flow out of the rest. Jeremiah grabbed my hand, bringing it to his lips.
“Grace, I have tried to do right by you. I hope that one day you will see it that way. Please forgive me for the missteps along the way,” he said. His eyes were resigned to death. I could not stop it at this point. Over the years, I had had differences with Jeremiah, but I didn’t want to see him go. He brought me to Shady Grove, and now I had a family here because of it.
I brushed his hair back out of his face. It had gotten much longer since I last saw him. He looked very much like Nestor. “No, you haven’t done anything to me. You kept me safe from the Sanhedrin. You brought me here. And Dylan. And Levi. Shady Grove is here because of you.”
“I followed your father’s orders. There were some commands I should have fought,” he said.
“What commands?” I asked.
“I took things from you that I shouldn’t have,” he said. “Where is Dylan?”
“He’s outside with Winnie. Troy and Amanda just got married,” I said.
“Stay close to him. I told him and you that I brought him here to keep you in check, but he is your greatest protector. I doubt that Levi and Finley will ever return from Summer. Things aren’t what they seem,” he said, choking on blood. I lifted his head to ease his pain. He was going to drown in his own blood.
“Jerry, old coot. You can’t die on me. Please don’t,” I said, tears flowing down my face.
He reached up and brushed my cheek leaving a bloody mark. “This dress is beautiful. I’m sorry I marred it with my blood. Be the queen you were always meant to be, Grace. It will be the only thing that will save our kind.”
“I’m trying, but I sure could use some help. I need you to stay,” I said.
“It’s too late, but I want to give back to you what I took,” he said.
“What?” I asked.
“Your memories,” he said, pressing his hand to my forehead.
A flash of images pulsed through my head.
Vrykolakas.
Krampus and an Ifrit.
Bottles of Absinthe Moonshine.
An exploding house.
Dylan in flames.
It overwhelmed me, and I skittered across the ground away from Jeremiah. I didn’t understand any of it, but my whole perspective over the last five and a half years changed. My memories changed everything. I only thought I knew everything about my relationship with Dylan. I only knew half of it. I felt confused as the missing pieces worked their way into what I remembered.
“Why did you do this?” I asked.
He tried to answer, but only coughed up blood.
“Why?” I screamed. “You did this to us! Why?”
“I thought it was best. You were going to run,” he said.
“No, I remember, Jeremiah. All I wanted to do was stay with him,” I said.
He groaned rolling over on his side. “I’ve failed him, you and your father. I beg you to forgive me.”
“Who did this to you?” I asked, jerking him by his shirt. “Who did it?”
“Your uncle. Brock,” he said. “She gave me to him.”
“She?”
“Rhiannon,” he said. His voice faded.
“Why?” I asked. “Jeremiah! Why?”
“Appeasement,” he said. “Grace, make the pain stop.”
“I can’t heal it,” I cried.
“No, end it,” he begged.
I fought anger and pain. The memories continued to flow through my head. The ones he’d taken from me. This was what Levi was trying to tell me before he left. Something about a book that he wrote for Dylan. I pushed up off the ground, looking down at Jeremiah gasping for a
ir. The pain ate through is features.
“Grace,” he muttered. “I beg you, my Queen.”
“I can’t hurt you. Remember,” I said. “I remember that part.”
“You have accepted your father’s power. You own me now,” he said.
The royal power of my father flowed through me like it had the day I executed Diego Santiago, but this wasn’t an execution. This was mercy. I snapped my finger, and Jeremiah Freyman turned to icy dust. The warm summer air around us quickly melted the particles.
I darted to the portal, grabbing the umbrella at the last minute. When I stepped into the parking lot, it was empty. Even Dylan was gone. I spun around in the rain looking in disbelief.
“What the hell?” I screamed into the night.
I took a deep breath, focusing on the parking lot outside the Food Mart. My body lurched through space to that point as I willed. I marched toward Hot Tin in my bloody dress. When I reached the door, I swung it open to the cacophony of noise inside. It suddenly silenced.
“Grace!” Dylan yelled from the other side of the room. I watched as he pushed through the people to get to me. “Are you hurt?” he asked running his warm hands over my body.
“It’s not mine,” I said.
His heart pounded as he cupped my face. “Who?”
“Jeremiah,” I choked.
“What?” he asked as Troy, Amanda and Nestor came up behind him.
“Why did you leave me?” I asked.
“Matthew Rayburn said that you asked us to go ahead. He said that you would jump here,” he said.
“Where is he?” I growled.
“He didn’t come here,” he said. “He doesn’t come in the bar, remember.”
His eyes searched mine. There was too much to say, and I didn’t know how to start.
“I remember, Dylan,” I whispered. Nestor gasped covering his mouth. I saw Betty hug Luther close just to the right of us. Deacon Giles stood against the back wall, but his tall frame stood out among the crowd. His eyes flashed as though he knew the quiet words I had spoken.
Dylan grasped my waist, lifting me off the ground. I instinctively put my legs around him, and he went back out into the rain with me. He stood me back up on the ground outside but didn’t let go of my waist. Nestor followed us out the door.
“Nestor, give us a minute,” he said. His voice was gruff and hollow. Nestor reluctantly stepped back into the bar.
The rain poured down on us. Our hearts pounded in unison. Using the rainwater, he brushed my cheeks wiping off the blood. He leaned into me. “Everything?” he breathed.
“Yes,” I muttered. He turned me around pushing me to the wall of the bar. His mouth covered mine in a kiss so hot it made the rain sizzle on my lips. I felt my knees getting weak when he relented.
“I told you that I always loved you,” he said.
“I know,” I said.
“Tell me you forgive me,” he said. He didn’t ask, because he already knew.
“There is nothing to forgive. Jeremiah did this,” I said. “He’s dead now.”
“Who killed him?” he asked.
“Essentially, I put him out of his misery. Brock had done a number on him. I couldn’t heal all the stab wounds,” I said.
“How did Brock get him?” he asked, still pressing me to the wall of Hot Tin. I felt the fire in his body. More than his normal warmth, he burned.
“Rhiannon gave him to Brock as an appeasement,” I said.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“He said that Levi and Finley wouldn’t come home,” I choked.
“We will get them back. She gave your servant away without permission. She owes you,” he said.
“No, remember. I released Jeremiah when he took the book,” I said.
“You haven’t released Levi or your brother. She won’t cross that line,” he said.
“If she does, she will think my uncle is a great guy compared to me,” I said.
The rain pattered the ground around us, but we ignored it. The low rumble of a receding storm sounded from the east. He leaned his forehead against mine. “Greece?” he asked, questioning my memories.
“Vrykolakas,” I said. “Deacon and Luther.”
He swallowed. “The moonshine basement?”
“I just wanted the truth, but then it was taken from me,” I said.
Twice he had told me who and what he was, and twice Jeremiah had taken the truth from me. Because he thought it was the right thing to do. Because he was an idiot. I remembered the letter Matthew had given me. Thinking back over it, I was skeptical of it, but only until I recalled the tingle of Levi’s magic sealing the letter. I reached down into my bra and pulled out the wet note. Dylan watched me curiously.
“Matthew gave me this. It was sealed with magic. I know it’s real,” I said.
He opened the parchment. His eyes darted over the words. “This is bad,” he said.
“There is something else that I need to tell you,” I said.
“What?” he asked.
Cutting off my answer, Amanda flew out of the bar in a frenzy. We turned to her. She screamed at the top of her lungs, “Mark! Mark!” She sniffed the air, as Troy came running out the door.
“Mark!” he screamed.
“What’s going on?” Dylan asked.
“Where is Winnie?” Amanda asked.
“She’s inside,” Dylan said.
“No, she isn’t. They are both gone!” Troy said.
“Shit. Find them!” I yelled.
Troy exploded into a ball of fangs and fur. Amanda followed his lead. They howled into the raining night, then took off running toward the trailer park. Dylan and I ran behind them. My dress ripped as I hit my stride, keeping up with Dylan’s long legs.
As the wolves ran past, my trailer and down the hill, I knew where the children had gone. Bramble flew up to me through the rain. “I tried to stop them, my Queen, but she wouldn’t listen,” he said.
“Get away from me,” I scowled at him. He darted away toward my trailer. Dylan continued to run down the hill. The water was high around the last two trailers in the park. When I reached the edge of the water, I watched as Troy and Amanda scratched at the door of the weird trailer. Dylan rushed up behind them. He started to pound on the door.
“Winnie! Mark!” he screamed. When I hit the water, at full speed, it splashed up around me. He swiveled to me. “No, Grace! Stay over there. You can’t get through this ward. We are going in,” he said, as Troy returned to human form, standing naked in the rain. Dylan jerked off the jacket to his suit, holding it out to Amanda who had returned to human form, too. I watched as Troy ordered her to walk back to me. She protested, but he invoked his alpha status forcing her to walk away. She stomped back up to me where I still stood knee-deep in the water. I opened my sight but didn’t see the creature in the water. Looking over to Jenny’s trailer, I saw that the water had already made its way inside her home.
Dylan and Troy counted as they both kicked the door at the same time. It swung back on its hinges dented from the force of the werewolf and the Phoenix. They ran into the trailer without looking. Time passed by slowly, but what felt like an hour was only a few minutes. Nestor and other people from the town ran up behind us, staring at the dark trailer. It started to glow an eerie green color.
“Fuck this,” I said. Before I could march toward the trailer, Nestor grabbed my arm.
“Grace, just wait. You don’t know what’s in there,” he said. “If something happened to her…”
His voice trailed off. Flashes of a mangled Cody Martin filled my head. “Winnie!” I screamed. “Dylan!” Amanda whimpered beside me.
A small form in a blue dress appeared at the door of the trailer. “Winnie!” Nestor called out to her when my voice failed me.
“Come here, baby,” I said. She stepped down into the water, and I ran toward her. She met me halfway, and I scooped her up in my arms. “What were you thinking?”
“Mark and I were pretending to be w
olves. We were investigating the strange trailer,” she said, as I carried her back to Nestor who hugged us both.
“Troy,” Amanda muttered. I turned around to see Mark hanging on to Troy’s naked body. He sprinted down the steps into the water.
“Run!” he screamed. “Run, Grace, Run!”
“Dylan!” I screamed. Nestor took Winnie from me, then ran up the hill with the other people in town. Amanda turned with Troy as he passed me. His voice sounded muffled to me, but I ignored him. My fiancé was in that trailer, and I wasn’t going to leave him. Taking one step toward the trailer, I heard Nestor screaming my name, then an explosion of green flames threw me back into the water. Strong, dark arms pulled me out of the water.
Coughing up water, I strained to scream, “Dylan!”
The carcass of the trailer was engulfed in flames. It didn’t matter. Dylan would rise if he died. Everything would be fine. Luther dragged me out of the water, up the hill.
“Come on, Grace,” his voice sounded gruff.
“No, I am waiting on him. He will rise,” I protested. “What happened in there?”
Troy’s eyes were filled with fear. “She is in there,” he said. “He…” He shook his head.
“Dylan!” I screamed to run back toward the trailer. Luther wrenched me back. “Dylan!”
The earth beneath us shook. My eyes met hers as she stood amid the green flames of the trailer. Robin Rayburn stood in the middle of the trailer with a mason jar in her hand. She wore that red cloak. It flowed around her in the wind and rain. She laughed at me, as I struggled against the strong arms of Luther.
“Where is he?” I screamed.
She tucked several jars into her basket, lifting her hood over her head. She skipped across the surface of the water. Her voice echoed through the night as she moved the opposite direction deeper into the swamp.
“The big bad wolf doesn’t scare me. I’m little red Robin hood,” she laughed. “To grandmother’s house, I go.”
The earth shook again, and against the dark sky, I saw the tops of trees dropping into the abyss across the bog. Luther growled, hefting me up. I kicked and screamed as he carried me like a sack of taters. “Let me go. I have to get to him,” I said. “He will rise.” I got away from him for a moment.
