I stared at her. Where was this coming from? This sounded more like something I would expect to hear from Tess, not Sam. “We should take on the world, you mean? Aren’t there already a slew of organizations trying to tackle all of that? Maybe not specifically with the fae in mind, but for sea life in general?” I knew there were people fighting to recycle and reduce waste to try to clean up the oceans, to save the coral reefs of the world, to preserve the habitats and nesting grounds for seabirds, turtles, and other threatened and endangered species. All of that benefited the water fae, at least indirectly, didn’t it?
She stopped. “Yes, but they don’t have the resources you do.”
My eyebrows went up. Maybe the heat had gotten to her. “They don’t? Some of those organizations have lobbied for millions, if not billions, of dollars. I saw all the zeroes attached to my bank account, but I’m pretty sure that’s small potatoes compared to what they’ve got.”
Now it was her turn to raise her brows at me. “You have a lot of holdings that don’t show up on your bank account, Roxanne.”
When she used my full name, I knew she meant business. I settled deeper into my chair and waited to see where she was going with this. And if I was going to have to talk her down.
“Think about it. You have more than just money. You’ve got magick at your disposal, too. Not to mention the whole magickal community. They’ve already shown they want to fight. There should be some way to use that to help this situation.”
I hadn’t seen her this zealous about a project since she’d taken on a big water bottling company when they tried to set up shop in Flint, Michigan years before the city’s water crisis made headlines around the country. She’d been fresh out of law school and joined forces with a larger group of lawyers involved. All of her work was pro bono and she was elated when they’d won. It was shortly after that when she’d really started making a name for herself in the law community. I thought about what she was saying, trying to figure out how I should proceed. Finally, I asked, “Sam, do you have any lawyers that don’t have enough on their plate at the firm, right now?”
She frowned and came back to the table, hesitating before sitting down. “Not really. We still need to hire at least three more to try to whittle down our current caseload.”
I couldn’t believe I was the one on this side of the conversation. She was usually the voice of reason. “Do you have the time to take this on?”
She ran a hand down her face. “No. I don’t. I just hate knowing what they’re going through.”
“Tell you what. How about you pencil it in somewhere on your ‘saving the world’ day planner and we’ll revisit it sometime after we deal with Turned witches trying to kill us, the group of blood magick witches or whatever they are, who may or may not be affiliated with the Turned witches, and are also trying to kill us, a prophecy that may or may not involve me, training the first five witches after they bond with Zara’s kits, saving the rest of the wraiths-slash-lost-familiars trapped in the gray space, training the witches you’ve hired—though they do seem to be working together exceptionally well from what I’ve seen—and,” I frowned, pausing more for dramatic effect than anything else. “What am I forgetting? Oh, yes, figuring out how to set up a new Council, learning my magick, dealing with this,” I raised the wrist wearing the bracelet, “waiting for the Powers to show up again—which, by the way, will probably happen in the middle of the night in the form of an embarrassing dream where I’m naked—and then there’s figuring out what’s going on with Rand.” I couldn’t help it; my voice hitched a little at that last part. More gently, I continued, “We can’t save them all, Sam. Not all at once, anyway. We’re going to have to take on what we can, when we can.”
She deflated. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. “I know.”
More gently, I asked, “Is there something else going on? You’re usually the one giving either Tess or me this talk.”
She sat back in the chair, keeping her eyes closed as she tilted her face up to the sun. She took a few more deep breaths and opened her eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about Leo. I feel like I can’t save him, like I’m letting him down.” When she looked at me again, her eyes looked as though they held the weight of the world in them. Maybe they did. I wasn’t the only one dealing with crazy life changes.
Drumming my nails on the table, I thought about what she’d said. Then something occurred to me. “Are there any humans working at the firm? Humans that have a little working knowledge of all of this,” I made a circling motion around us, “but are smart enough not to talk about it?”
Her brow furrowed. “A few. Plus a couple of contract employees. They aren’t so much human, as they are paras so low on the magick scale that they don’t really register as anything else. They know they can’t talk about this world. Why?”
I smiled. “Are any of them PIs?”
Understanding dawned on her face. She shook her head, and looked up at the sky. “And here I thought I was the brains of this operation.”
Smiling at her, I conceded, “Usually you are, and you know it. But you have to admit that we’ve all been running on adrenaline for long enough now, it’s got to be affecting brain cells. Plus, you’re way older than me, so it could be Alzheimers or dementia setting in.”
She threw her napkin at me. “I’m only a year older than you, thank you very much.” She pushed her chair back and started to stand.
“Hey, where are you going? I thought you said there were two things. Was the thing with Leo the second?”
“No, it wasn’t. Have you noticed anything odd going on with Tess?”
She’d looked a little tired lately, but that was probably to be expected after what had happened only a few weeks ago. “Do you think she’s still shaken from the attack?”
Sam shook her head slowly. “I don’t know. She's mentioned several times that she keeps hearing things bumping around above her room at night, but I’ve stayed up and listened. I haven’t heard anything. She’s also fallen asleep in the media room and ended up sleeping there all night more than once.”
I remembered her mentioning the noises. We’d checked out the attic and hadn’t found anything but dust and a lot of old drop cloth protected furniture and other random stuff stored away. Gloria and Zara both assured us it wasn’t mice, but Zara had acted a bit terse about it. I’d chalked it up to her wanting to get back to the kits. “Maybe we should talk to Danai. She might be able to give Tess something to help her sleep.”
Sam snorted. “You know how she is about taking anything.” I did. The woman wouldn’t even take so much as an Advil for a hangover.
“Well, I’ll still mention it to her.”
She leaned over and gave me a quick, one-armed hug. “Okay. I’ve got to go make travel arrangements for a couple of the firm’s finest.” She turned to walk away, then stopped and looked back over her shoulder at me. “Thanks, Rox.”
I waved her away. “My door’s always open.” As she walked through the doors leading to the dining room, my sleeve rode up to expose the sapphire bracelet. It winked at me in the sun. “I don’t suppose you can bring someone good luck, can you?” It seemed to glow a little brighter, but that might have been a trick of the light or simply my imagination. I felt silly, talking to a piece of jewelry, but thinking back to what had been said down by the river, I continued anyway. “If you can, Sam could really use some magickal help right now.” It warmed against my wrist and then went back to normal. I would take that as a good sign.
After checking in on Zara and cuddling the kits for a bit while I updated her on the meeting with Olen—most of which she’d caught through Sebastian anyway—I went to the library to talk to Tess and Danai. They were animatedly debating points about something in one of the several books opened in front of them when I walked in. Sebastian lay in a patch of sunlight streaming through one of the windows, his eyes closed. They didn’t notice me right away, so I rested against the door frame, just watching for a moment. Tess so
unded fine, even if she did still look a little tired. Maybe Sam and I were overreacting. Finally, I rapped lightly on the door frame, not wanting to startle them.
I heard you approaching, Witch. Sebastian’s eyes were still closed. His whiskers twitched and he yawned, showing off wickedly large canines for a housecat.
Tess and Danai both looked up and I realized there was something on their hands. I moved closer, not quite sure what I was seeing. “What are those?”
Danai held her hand up and I realized what it was. There was a snail the size of a kumquat sliding across the back of her hand, leaving a slime trail the width of its body. My stomach flipped, threatening to give up the soup and sandwich I’d just had for lunch. My hand went to my mouth, and I swallowed hard.
Tess must have seen me turn a little green. She grinned, her eyes mischievous, and raised her hand, showing off another huge snail leisurely making its way up her wrist. Sebastian finally opened one eye to watch—and probably shared the scene with Zara.
Not sure if I actually wanted to know the answer, I asked, “Why do you have those things on your hands?”
Danai, taking pity on me, lifted a small acrylic container from the floor and gently coaxed her snail into it. She motioned for Tess to do the same. When the snails were safely put away, Danai set the container out of sight.
“We often use snails for healing. Their mucin has regenerative properties and is very useful in potions. I brought this pair from my home for Tess. She doesn’t need two for breeding purposes, as they can reproduce by themselves, but they do like the company of another snail, I believe.”
“Oh. They’re . . . staying?” I asked weakly.
Tess smirked. “You’ve faced down the Curtens sisters, those witches that trapped us,” she motioned between the two of them, “and their possessed shifters, and you’re afraid of a couple of tiny snails?”
She retrieved the container again, gently picking one of the snails up. “Get over here.”
“Nope. I’m fine over here, thanks.”
She stood up and marched over to me, the snail cradled in her hand. “Hold out your hand, Rox. These things are awesome.”
I could see the slime on the back of her hand. “No thanks. I’m good keeping my hands slime-free.”
She cocked a hip. “Hand out. Now.”
Sebastian lifted his head, his interest now fully engaged. They are quite delicious. He licked his lips.
“That’s not helping, cat. I’ve never had escargot and I never plan to.”
“Really?” That surprised Tess almost as much as the fact that I wasn’t jumping at the chance to hold the slimy creature she was holding out to me. “How did I not know that? I love escargot. Well, I used to. I’m not sure if I can ever eat it again after meeting this little cutie.” She raised her hand, palm up, appraising the snail. It stretched and raised its eyestalks toward her. Could it see her? “Just close your eyes and let him rest on the back of your hand. They’re clean, right?”
Was she seriously asking me if my hands were clean when she wanted to give me a thing that produced slime? “I just washed them, both before and after visiting Zara and the kits.”
She grabbed my hand, quicker than I expected, and set the snail on it. I froze, stiffly holding my arm away from my body. Tess snickered. “Relax. It can sense that you’re tense, you know.”
The thing on my hand slowly unfurled and stretched its body out. I was so focused on it, I didn’t notice as Danai made her way over to watch.
“That is the foot, the muscle that propels the snail. They can travel much more quickly than most people believe,” she informed me, keeping her voice low and soothing. “This is a land snail, one of the species that breeds quickly enough that it is banned in most of the United States because they can decimate food crops. We are careful to keep them contained with both physical and magickal barriers. I’ve shown Tess how we do this, so you should not have to worry about escapees.”
The snail was exploring my hand, its foot rippling as it glided over my hand. Oddly enough, it didn’t feel slimy, even though I could see the trail it left. It felt softer than I expected. I said as much.
“The slime, or mucin, rather, contains a perfectly proportioned blend of hyaluronic acid, proteins, peptides, antioxidants, and many other beneficial components that are wonderful for your skin. That glamour cream of your aunt’s? The main ingredient in it is mucin from this little guy’s family members. Our healer community sells humanely harvested mucin to several larger cosmetic companies. It is one of the ways we keep our community self-sustaining. We supplied your aunt, as well. With the progeny from these two, Tess will be able to harvest enough mucin to supply any needs you should have within a year.”
Listening to her was almost enough to forget about the snail that was now making its way across the span between my thumb and my forefinger. Almost. I turned my hand so it wouldn’t fall to the ground.
If it falls, it is mine. Sebastian licked his lips again, chuffing when Danai gave him a stern look.
“They usually sleep upside down, attached to the branches, leaves, or lids of their habitats. They rarely fall, though when they do, their shells can be damaged. I’ve gone over their care with Tess, including emergency care, so you do not need to worry.”
Worry? Right. “That’s all well and good, but will one of you please take it away now?” I might no longer be completely grossed out by it, but it wasn’t anywhere near as cuddly as Zara’s babies.
Thank you. I think.
Your babies are gorgeous and you know it.
Tess took the snail and put it back in the acrylic box. I breathed easier, even with Tess laughing at me.
“I guess it could be worse. You could be bringing her leeches or something even more disgusting.”
Danai and Tess exchanged a look and I held up a hand. A hand that was still covered in snail slime.
“Leeches are sometimes used,” Danai explained. “But I did not bring any with me this time.” She took my hand and started working the slime into my skin. “This will help to keep your hands soft.”
“That’s, um, great. Thanks,” I said weakly. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I would be washing my hands as soon as I left the library. When she released my hand, I practically bolted from the room. I stopped abruptly in the hallway, remembering I had come here for a reason. Shaking my head I went back in, ignoring the amused, knowing look on Tess’s face.
“Don’t you just hate it when that happens?” she asked with a smirk.
“Yes, I really do,” I sighed. When I told them about what Sam was going to do, Tess looked torn. She loved learning with Danai, I knew, but she would also want to be there for Sam.
Danai sensed this, too, for she gave Tess a gentle push. “Go and check on her, Tess. We can finish this lesson later. She is so emotionally close to the situation, that she may want friendly support.”
Needing no other encouragement, Tess hurried from the library. I gave Danai a nod and turned to follow Tess, but the healer’s voice stopped me.
“Wait. I would have a word with you, please.” She motioned me back to one of the loveseats.
Waiting for her to sit, I followed suit, wondering if she had discovered any information about Rand’s situation. I realized this was also a good opportunity to discuss Tess.
“I know you are under much stress. How are you holding up, Roxanne?”
Was everyone going to catch me unawares today? “You do therapy sessions, too? We may have to keep you on here permanently, Danai,” I joked. “But be warned, it will probably be a full-time job from what I’ve experienced so far.”
She tilted her head, a small smile on her lips. “I would very much like to discuss that possibility at some point. But, seriously, how are you doing?” She watched my face carefully as I thought about how to answer.
“All things considered, I think I’m handling things fairly well.” I lifted my shoulders in an exaggerated shrug, then dropped them. “I mean, what else ca
n I do? Um, while we are on the subject of handling things, has Tess talked to you about anything that might be going on? Sam and I are worried about her.”
“She has not been herself lately, I know, but she will talk to us when she is ready. Let’s get back to the subject of you.”
“Danai, I’m a Devraux witch and this is my job. Like I said, what else can I do?”
She pursed her lips. “I’m not sure if that is an answer.”
She was right and we both knew it. Chewing my lip, I made a decision. I started talking, letting it all out. Every worry, every insecurity, every bit of what I was feeling, right down to my guilt about what had happened to Rand. When I was done, I lowered my head, waiting. At least I wasn’t crying.
“As you have said, you have handled all of this extremely well, Roxanne. But I can see the weight you carry—it shows in your aura. That you have such supportive friends, your tribe, is a very good thing. I don’t know of any in our world who could have survived everything you have, especially being as new to all of this as you are, no matter how much magick they might possess. And to do it with two, no, three humans by your side,” she held up a hand when I opened my mouth to object. “I count Rand as human, for now, until we figure out otherwise. Tess is not yet considered a witch. Other than her healing skills, she is still mostly human at this stage of her life.”
“Don’t let her hear you say that,” I said wryly.
She gave me a serene half smile and reached for my hand, patting the top of it. “As I was saying . . . everything you are feeling is normal. You have worked hard to keep your friends safe in our world, but they are proving themselves to be quite formidable, for humans. Do not be afraid to let them in. They are part of your strength, I believe, as are the horse shifters, Gloria, the pixies, and even myself. You are bringing us all together.” She slid my sleeve up, exposing the sapphire bracelet. “I have been thinking about what the king of the water fae said about this and I think he is right. Accept and embrace this, as you have your own magick.” As she said this, the sapphire began to glow again. “See? It agrees. Perhaps you need to negotiate with it, as the king suggested. Let it know Rand is important to you and you do not want to hurt him. I know nothing of fae magick, so this is just my opinion. Before you rescued me, I did not even know so many of the fae still existed—they’ve become little more than myths and stories to most.” She shook her head, a look of wonder on her face. “But I am glad to know that they do. They may be part of the key to bringing our world back from the precipice on which it teeters.”
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