Freyja's Daughter

by Rachel Pudelek

  I cleared the growl from my throat. I was done playing nice, done placating the evil Wild. “You took my sister. Just like you had me attacked, for what my mother did years ago. As though killing her back then wasn’t revenge enough. She had no idea you’d already claimed the visitor from Oregon.”

  Marie jumped from the lounge and leaned over me. Her breath warmed my cheek. “I did no such thing.”

  My head throbbed and my vision blurred as I pushed against her power. I gained control of the tips of my fingers and dug them into the comforter.

  Marie gasped at my movement. “I did no such thing!” Her words pulsed through my head, the pain threatening to split my brain open. “We are not monsters! You are the monsters, you and the mermaids, killing humans at your whim, biting into their flesh like they are nothing more to you than a steak. We may play with humans, give them a dreamy night of pleasure, but we’d never hurt one, never kill one.”

  The honesty in her tone shocked me. Was it possible they truly weren’t behind my mother’s abduction like we’d thought all those years? It made me think back to the way John had acted. Was it possible the Hunters planted lies about her disappearance to make us think the succubi did it?

  She spun from the bed. She faced the line of succubi who held me in place with the powers of their mind. Their foreheads glistened with sweat. At least I was making them work to keep me down. “Get her out. Now. I want her out of my home. We were fools for even entertaining the idea of a civilized conversation with such a foul creature.”

  My body flung from the bed and hovered over the wooden floor. “Wait!” I yelled. “Please. I need to find my sister. If you didn’t take her, if you didn’t order the attack on me, then who did?”

  Marie snapped her fingers and I dropped to the floor. I quickly stood of my own accord, ignoring my throbbing knee. “I was attacked, night before last.” If they hadn’t taken Shawna—which explained why I couldn’t pick up her scent—then I needed whatever information they could supply. And to get information, you’ve got to give it. “I blacked out and when I woke up, I’d killed my attacker, a human male. Whoever was behind my attack must have come back and taken my sister instead.”

  “You’re suggesting your attacker was enthralled then?”

  “Or for hire, but that wouldn’t explain how I blacked out. I assumed it was succubi magic,” I said.

  “We can put you to sleep, cause you to forget what you’ve done, but we would never force you to kill a man.” She nodded to the row of succubi, who relaxed under her gaze. “We don’t condone hurting others. Goddess knows we have enough to deal with, unintentionally absorbing the energy of the hurting humans every day. We wouldn’t cause such pain.”

  “Killing my mother caused pain. A lot of it,” I said in a cold tone.

  “Your mother was that huldra, huh?” Marie sniffed the air. “I thought I remembered a scent similar to yours. She’d mated with a male from our territory. A male with whom our leader, at the time, enjoyed nighttime visits. When he returned to Portland, he stunk of huldra and when questioned, spoke of the love of his life. Our leader was irate. But she did not act on her anger, outside of breaking a china cabinet full of dishware.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said. My head swam with questions. Marie’s heartbeat hadn’t sped when she spoke of her leader’s innocence. Her scent hadn’t changed. She’d been telling the truth. “Who else would have cause to end her?”

  “Your mother or your sister?” Marie asked.

  Could two similar instances have been ordered by two different parties? Not likely. “You’re suggesting one group or person is behind my mother’s murder, my attack, and my sister’s abduction?”

  “I’m suggesting nothing,” Marie said. “I am offering a deal, however.”

  Now she wanted to negotiate.

  “Six days ago a sister of ours left without so much as a goodbye letter. She emptied her drawers, told her roommate she was doing laundry in the basement, walked out the front door, and hasn’t returned.” Her throat didn’t catch. Tears didn’t fill her eyes. I wondered how often sisters left the succubi galere.

  “And her clothes aren’t in the laundry machine?” I asked.

  “No. They were in the laundry bag she had slung over her shoulder when she left.”

  “So then what’s the deal?” I said.

  Marie sat on the edge of the bed. “I will give you information that could help get your sister back and answer your questions. In exchange, you follow up on my information where you will most likely find our sister and get word to her.”

  “Deal.”

  Marie spoke to the other females in the room. “Do you agree she tells the truth?”

  They nodded.

  Marie spoke to the tan succubus with dreadlocks. “Return the man to his home. We are finished with him for the night. Remember to place an empty bottle of whatever alcohol is in his cupboard near his bedside.” The tan succubus nodded and left the room.

  “I lead this galere, but I do not speak for them,” Marie said to me. “You and I can discuss the possible deal, but until I get agreement from every member present, nothing is settled. Do you understand?”

  “Very much so,” I said. My coterie always had to meet, discuss, and agree upon any action we took as a group. Not that we’d had a lot of action.

  Marie led me into the main area of the apartment, now brimming with succubi ranging from late teens to late fifties. “She has agreed to strike a deal. We will trade our information for her agreement to locate our sister’s whereabouts and relay a message to her. Do you support this deal?”

  A resounding “Yay” filled the room along with yips and tongue-clicking.

  Marie stood beside her older sisters as she spoke to me. “Our scouts have reported news of the mermaids building an army. Within their ranks are humans and creatures alike. Our informants tell us the mermaids cut all ties to the Hunters many years ago, that they’ve been in hiding. We believe the army they are building may be to oppose the Hunters. And we fear our sister has run off to join their ranks.”

  A rash of cries, tongue clicks, and yips forced her to pause. She gave the other women a harsh look and they swiftly fell silent. The pain of loss in their eyes was so familiar it pinched at my heart.

  “If she does not show up before our next check-in, she will be a fugitive and hunted down. If she’s made it to the mermaids already, we need to know that she’s safe. Our informants cannot make contact with the mermaids as they are not Wild nor human—”

  I interrupted her. “Not Wild nor human? Then what are they?” Not one lesson from the Hunters included a being similar to Marie’s informants. Well, other than Hunters themselves—they weren’t Wild or human. But there was no way Marie’s informants were Hunters.

  Marie ignored my question and continued, “And as you know, the Hunters won’t let us cross state lines without prior approval, which they won’t give. But, seeing as you’re here, you obviously can.”

  More soft comments interrupted her, this time words of distrust and suspicion. She held up a hand until they fell silent again. “When you arrive, they’ll accept you as another member of their army. The mermaids must know more than us if they are preparing to wage war. They may have the answers you seek.”

  A grey-haired succubus added, “We need our sister to contact us so that we can warn her, one last time. Standing against the Hunters will only end in her death.”

  Bark tingled along my lower back. To be an enemy of the Hunters was not safe.

  “How did the mermaids break from the Hunters?” I asked. “And why would they build an army against them?”

  “That is not a part of our deal. Do you still accept?” Marie said.

  I had no choice but to move forward with my search. “I agree to your terms.”

  Marie moved a strand of hair from my shoulder. “If you’d like, we can return to my bedroom before you leave. I’ve never been with a huldra.” Excitement twinkled in her eyes.

>   “I’ll pass, thank you.”

  “Maybe some other time, then,” she said, licking her lips. I thought she intended to shake my hand, so I took hers. But she drew me into an embrace. Warmth flowed into me as though I were soaking in a deep, jetted tub. My muscles unwound. The exhaustion headache eased away.

  She whispered into my ear, “First, allow me to heal your exhaustion and muscle fatigue, restore your energy, and then we will supply you with everything you’ll need to locate our sister.”

  Succubi healing abilities were the stuff of many a lesson at the Hunter compound, except they hadn’t been called “healing” so much as bewitching. I figured, though, even if it came through bewitching, I could use all the energy I could get. I happily melted into Marie’s arms and accepted the energy healing. I did not black out. I did not lose control. I only felt light as a snowflake and as bright as one too. Images of my mother and Shawna flickered behind my eyes.

  “Please,” I mumbled. “Don’t heal me of my anger. I need it.”

  Marie giggled along with a few other succubi. “You aren’t the first to believe that, but I’ll leave it if you like.”

  “I’m heading to California,” I said into my Bluetooth as I sped up to enter the morning commute of traffic heading southbound on I5. I explained the plan, the deal I’d struck, and how the mermaids were rumored to be building an army.

  “Do you think the mermaids could have taken Shawna?” Aunt Patricia’s voice boomed through my speakers. I turned the volume lower.

  “Possible. I don’t know how probable, though. But they can cross state lines and don’t have Hunter check-ins. Who knows how powerful they are. And Marie seems to think that they’d at least be able to give me information to help me find her.”

  I was on speaker phone. Olivia spoke up. “Faline, you think maybe they wanted you to kill your attacker? What if they sent him, knew he’d cause you to unleash your huldra? If they’re building an army, wouldn’t they want an unbridled huldra? And then they took Shawna on accident instead of you? We didn’t see who was in the car. It could have been mermaids.”

  She had good points. “Except, I’m not sure how they’d get the two of us confused,” I said.

  The road blurred before my tired eyes for at least the thousandth time. Not even talking to my coterie was helping any more. I saw a sign for upcoming lodging and food. Though it killed me to do it, I flicked my turn signal on and got over to the slow lane. If I didn’t get sleep soon I’d end up a smear on the highway and do Shawna more harm than good. I was to that exhausted point where not even stress would keep me awake much longer.

  “I’ve been thinking since you told us about your discussion with John,” Aunt Patricia said with a frustrated sigh. “What if the Hunters know more about this than they’re leading on?”

  I exhaled loudly. “I know. It’s been nagging me too.” I hoped we were wrong.

  “Text us the mermaids’ address, please, once you stop. Just in case,” Olivia said.

  “Olivia wants to see what their place looks like,” added Celeste.

  “It’s not an address,” I answered, still feeling the dread from when Maria explained their location. “It’s an island. San Miguel Island, off the coast of Southern California. I’m supposed to charter a boat to get there. And their house is off the grid, undetectable by plane or satellite images. So you won’t see it anyways.”

  “Are you serious?” Celeste spoke up. “You’re going to an island…out in the middle of the ocean?” A huldra away from mountains and trees was like a fish, or a mermaid, out of water.

  We said our goodbyes as I parked outside the Marriott’s entrance. As I grabbed my wallet an idea occurred to me. The succubi assumed their sister ran off to join the mermaids. But they couldn’t know for sure that their informants were correct about the mermaid army, if their informants were even trustworthy. How much of their assumption was planted on false hope? Of course I’d visit the mermaids. If they had any information about Shawna, it was worth the trip. But I’d be a fool if I spent time chasing a succubus on the grounds of hearsay from an unknown scout. When looking for a missing person, you always start at the morgue. And seeing as I didn’t have contacts at any Oregon morgues, there was only one person I could call.

  My stomach rolled in on itself. With how many times I’d had to swallow my pride in the last twenty-four hours you’d think my stomach would be full.

  I dug my phone out of my pocket and walked into the Marriott. I pressed on his contact information with shaky fingers.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Marcus.” I said. “It’s Faline.”

  Eleven

  I stopped at the hotel’s front desk and waited behind a sharp-looking business woman to check in. I blamed my jitters on lack of sleep and not nerves.

  “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” Marcus said, his voice made up of only maybe a quarter of irritancy, which was good, I thought. “It’s like you fell off the face of the earth.”

  I pulled my phone away from my ear to look at the date and time. “It’s only Monday afternoon,” I said. “It’s not like I’ve been avoiding you for a month or anything.”

  “So then you were avoiding me.”

  “Not exactly… I need to ask a favor.” If I weren’t in public I’d have face-palmed for such an ineloquent delivery.

  The woman ahead of me in a black pencil skirt took her key card and made her way through the lobby. The concierge smiled and greeted me, fully expecting me to step up to the counter and check in. He did a quick sweep of my attire: jeans, calf-covering black boots, and a leather bomber jacket. I zipped my jacket to hide my holster and its contents.

  I decided to finish the call with Marcus before checking in. I turned on my heel and walked past the counter, past the floor-to-ceiling rock fireplace, past the stand of ice water, tea, and coffee, and found a seat on a plush brown couch. I could stretch out and sleep right then and there.

  “So you ignore my calls and then a day later you’re asking for my help?” Marcus asked. “I’m not giving you a hard time. Just trying to make sure I’ve got it straight.” He laughed.

  “Sure you are,” I said, feigning annoyance with my voice, but glad he wasn’t mad.

  “Excuse me, ma’am.” The man from the front desk walked toward me. “If you’re waiting for one of our guests I’d be glad to notify them that you’re here.”

  I shook my head and let out a groan. He wanted me to check in or leave, not crash on their couch. I covered the receiver of the phone and answered the male whose square gold name badge identified him as “Luke.” “Thanks, but no need, Luke. I’m checking in, but I need to finish this business call first.”

  “Fair enough,” Luke said, nodding and backing away like we’d just had a standoff and I’d won.

  “Check in?” Marcus asked. “Are you traveling?”

  “That’s a lot of questions for someone who wants nothing to do with me unless we’re in a serious committed relationship,” I quipped, pulling from his comment the last time we talked at the party.

  “Hey, I’m calling you, aren’t I? And I never said I wanted nothing to do with you. If it were up to me I’d have everything to do with you.” Marcus went silent.

  Yeah, that was awkward for the both of us, and he knew it.

  I blew out an exhale. “I’m in Oregon. Working on a missing person case,” I said.

  “Oregon is outside of your jurisdiction,” the cop in Marcus responded.

  “I’m not in law enforcement, not technically, so nothing is outside my jurisdiction. Plus,” I added, “it’s for an acquaintance.” I struggled to say that last part. An acquaintance who used her Jedi mind tricks to steal my energy until I was a pile of slop on the floor and then pinned me to her bed. Marie did return my energy to me and then some, so I figured it was a wash.

  “You’re conducting your own civilian investigation.”

  “Oh, come on, Marcus, don’t say civilian with so much indignation in your voice.
Civilians are people too,” I joked. I eyed the coffee dispenser to my left but remembered that after the phone call came nap time. No coffee for me.

  Marcus didn’t laugh. “Clearly I can’t change your mind on this vigilante thing you’re doing. So what help did you need from me?”

  “It’s not illegal to ask questions, to look around,” I reminded him.

  “Faline, we both know you’re not going to stop at the asking questions part,” he said.

  “I need to know if any females between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five have turned up in any Oregon morgues recently.” I got up and poured ice water with lemon wedges into a clear plastic cup before sitting down on the couch. According to Marie, my missing succubus had a love of body ink. “The female I’m looking for has a slew of tattoos; one in particular is of a snake.”

  “No,” was all he said.

  “Come on, seriously? You’re going to say no?” I moaned inwardly. If I was going to fast-track this search, I needed that information.

  “Do you have any legal documents giving you clearance, as a bounty hunter, to look into this exact case?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “Then it’d be illegal for me to share anything I found. I won’t do it.”

  “Think of it as a favor,” I said. “For leaving me early Saturday night.”

  “Yeah, I left early, and I’m sorry. I told you it couldn’t be helped. But that’s not a fair trade. I left early, you probably did too, and you probably went out and did something else equally as fun. Not a huge inconvenience.” Someone else’s voice called for Marcus through the receiver. He had no idea how wrong he was. And the fact that he hadn’t brought up the dead guy found at the same hotel as the party spoke volumes. Whoever orchestrated my attack had wiped up their tracks and mine.

  “Are you at work?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” he said.

  I didn’t have all day to convince him. Any minute he’d be pulled away for some task or another. I pursed my lips. If the Hunters had allowed me to be a detective, I would already have had access to these sorts of records. I needed those records. My gut told me that the idea of a young succubus running off to join the mermaids was about as plausible as Shawna deciding to get into an unknown car for a never-ending joy ride. Maybe Olivia was right. Maybe the two disappearances were connected and the mermaids had pulled the strings.