“How are the children?” My voice sounded anxious, even to me.
“They are understandably traumatized, but they will recover. Children are very resilient. I performed a light healing on all of them again, as well as Dorn. There should not be any lasting physical damage from their ordeal. I left them some of the serum from Tess’s snails, also, since they were so interested in it after seeing her use it on Shay. I may have to send for a few more snails if Olen’s colony wants them.”
The mention of the snails no longer turned my stomach, but I’d still rather not talk about them. I redirected the conversation. “So, those water shifters . . . how are they able to survive in this river? Don’t Orcas and dolphins need salt water?”
“I can answer that. This river feeds into Maurepas and is freshwater, yes, but Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain are both saltwater. They probably have to go out to sea regularly, but they can survive here. There’s a magickal component involved, too, I’m sure. I imagine it’s the same with the rest of the water fae.” Clyde’s answer made sense. “There was even an article a few years ago about a pod of dolphins that were discovered in Pontchartrain. They’re probably shifters. One is an albino, or pink, dolphin, which is rare. She could be a hybrid shifter of some sort.”
Apparently, fae and shifters of the water were just as diverse as those on land.
“Oh, I’m supposed to tell you that Olen requests a meeting with you in one week.”
I could do a week. That gave all of us a bit of time to recuperate, at least.
One week later . . .
Once again we stood on the bank of the river, waiting. It had taken Sam’s borrowed magick two days to finally fade away completely. She didn’t seem any the worse for wear or even terribly disappointed, though she did say she was really going to miss the glamour cream. Speaking of glamour cream . . . I glanced over at Tess, noticing the dark circles under her eyes. She was still complaining about noises above her bedroom at night. Sam had broken down and both she and Toby had slept in Tess’s room with her for two nights in a row and heard nothing. She’d confided that she believed Tess was dreaming about the noises, as she’d seemed to sleep soundly both nights, but still claimed the noises had kept her awake when asked about it at breakfast. Zara was no help, so I’d turned to Trixie. The fae Object had backed Sam, believing that Tess must be dreaming. I asked if she could sense anything in the attic and she’d only responded that the house was full of magick, but she didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary.
Sam had given the firm’s coven time off to recuperate. I later found out that the vials of the potion they’d made that night had been effective against one of the magickal weapons Rand had encountered. The weapon had been used against one of the water fae. Rand had poured one vial over the fae’s injury and thrown the other vial at the man wielding the gun. When it broke over the gun, he’d said it sizzled and popped as if it were short circuiting. He had handed two vials back to us on the way back, so we still had three left. Somehow, I had a feeling they might come in handy at some point, so I saved them and asked Sam to have the coven make up more when they were back to work.
Surprisingly, Sam had opted to work from home since the rescue. She’d been getting daily updates from the PIs she’d sent to Michigan, but neither team had anything of note to report so far.
Danai and Sebastian continued to check on the children daily. I offered to go with them, but she assured me the children were already comfortable with herself and ‘the big cat.’ She worried that too many people too soon would only add to the trauma they’d already endured. In the meantime, I’d kept myself busy with projects in the lab—and Rand—while I waited to hear from Jeremy. The crow shifter still hadn’t returned any of my calls or voicemails. I was beginning to worry, so I’d asked Clyde and Dutch to go check on him since they were heading into town on shifter business anyway. Since they’d already planned on being absent for the meeting by the river, I didn’t feel guilty about sending them on the errand.
Before I could dwell further on any of that, there was a telltale splash. Several heads popped up from the brackish river, pulling our attention to the water. I glanced back at Rasta, hovering next to her mother, and then the other twelve pixies who had taken part in rescuing the children. Rather than perching in the trees on either side, as the flights who’d accompanied us the first time we met the water fae in this spot had, they sat across the roof of the Gator, their little chests puffed out proudly, and their wings fluttering in anticipation.
Olen emerged from the water, as he had before. This time, however, Arella was at his side. Dorn, his arm completely healed, walked out next, along with two males I hadn’t seen before only a few steps behind him. Clothing appeared on the three water fae between one blink and the next. This time, the king and queen wore robes that definitely looked like something befitting royalty. I tried not to think about the casual pants and blouse I wore. The two males had emerged from the water in swim trunks and it took me a moment to realize they must be shifters. Even though their animal forms weren’t visible to my Sight, I could still sense that’s what they were when I tried. Their bodies shielded a smaller form, who peeked out from behind them to catch my eyes and I smiled. Kylen. After Danai had healed the bruising on his face on the trip back, he’d watched me most of the way home with those large, cobalt eyes, but he’d remained close to the other two children, holding their hands until they finally awakened. Once Arella and Tess had managed to clean all three children up, Sebastian laid by the boy’s side until he relaxed enough to close his eyes.
“Roxanne,” Olen said solemnly, inclining his head. Arella followed his lead, going a step further to curtsey after greeting me.
I put a hand up. “Oh, please don’t do that. We’re all just friends here. Danai says the children are doing much better and I see Dorn’s arm healed well. If it would be acceptable, I, well, we,” I spread my arms to indicate everyone with me, “brought them something. The children, that is, not Dorn. Unless, of course, he wants to play with them, too.”
Rand had already gone to retrieve the large plastic tub in the back of the Gator. Gloria, Sarah, and Michael had made a special trip into town to pick up water toys of all kinds for the kids, to help make up for the ones that had been discarded. We’d checked each one over for trackers or anything that didn’t look right, but since they were purchased from one of the local big box stores, they’d all been clean. I pulled a Nerf foam water toy out of the box, watching Kylen’s face light up as I did so. Arella held out her hand to him and he darted out from behind the two shifters, stopping by her side. She put her hands on his shoulders, her fingers tapping a rapid rhythm. He looked up at her, then at the toy, then at me. I smiled as I knelt down and held it out. Slowly, he strode over to me.
Tilting his head up to meet my eyes, he gave a stilted “Thank you,” as he accepted the toy. He started to turn away, then whirled and launched himself at me, his arms wrapping tightly around my neck. I held him just as tightly, my nose buried in the auburn curls that were only a couple shades darker than his aunt’s. He smelled like the sea and freshly cut grass.
“You’re welcome,” I whispered.
He finally released me and went to stand next to Arella. I couldn’t help but smile as he inspected the toy, losing himself just a little in the wonder and excitement of something shiny and new. Maybe Danai was right—children were resilient.
Clearing my throat, I motioned Rand to bring the tub closer. “Would you mind sharing these with the rest of your friends?”
Kylen’s eyes went wide, but he nodded. Dorn stepped forward to pick the tub up and returned to his place. The boy kept sneaking glances back at the tub until Arella finally gave him a small push back toward Dorn, watching him over her shoulder.
Rand leaned over to me. “I definitely think you won him over.”
I hoped so. If a box of toys could even begin to make up for what he and the other two children had gone through or remove even a little of t
he haunted look that still remained in Kylen’s eyes, I would make sure they received a new box of toys every day. But even I knew it wasn’t that simple. Sighing, I returned my attention to Olen and Arella.
Arella tapped her mate’s arm, communicating silently to him. He considered whatever she’d said for a moment, then gave a small nod.
“Our children are our greatest treasure. We wish to acknowledge that we are forever in your debt for what you did to bring them back safely to us.” He went down to one knee, bowing his head low. Arella went to both knees, the others following her to the ground, their heads bowed. Only the child still stood, looking slightly bewildered, the toy still in his hands.
“No, please get up. You don’t owe me, or any of us, anything. You are under Devraux protection and as such, your children were as much my responsibility to find as anyone else’s.” I’d been afraid of something like this and had discussed appropriate responses with Sam earlier in the week. I had just hoped it wasn’t the reason Olen had called for the meeting. “In the meantime, I’ll be extending the protection spell further out to make sure your colony has added protection. If there’s an area out at sea that you would deem safe for your people if it were protected, I’ll cast a spell there, too.”
Olen stared at me. This time it was Arella who answered. “If you do this, it would mean much to our people. To have a safe area in the ocean to raise our children . . . this would give them the chance to grow healthier, stronger . . . to survive. It might even mean . . .” She looked up at her mate, her face so cautiously hopeful I could almost see what she was thinking. The ocean would hold the potential for more successful breeding seasons for their people.
Now that I’d met them, I hated to see them leave, but I knew they needed more space and less polluted waters. “You’ll always have a place here if you want it.”
“Thank you. Even if we take you up on your offer and no longer reside here,” he gestured at the river. “We will gladly come to your aid and fight by your side, should you ever need it.” He reached inside his robes and pulled out a small box inlaid with mother of pearl and silver, stepping forward to present it to me. It was beautiful, I noted as I accepted it.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t you wonder what it is for?” he asked, looking like he was trying to repress a smile. Arella nudged him.
I frowned down at the box. It wasn’t much bigger than my hand. There was a slight buzz of magic coming from it. “Dare I ask?”
“If ever you need to reach myself or any of my people, simply speak their name and your message into the box and close the lid. The message will reach the one it is intended for, if they are in the water. If they are able, they will come.”
Well, that actually sounded kind of useful. I looked down at my wrist. Too bad they hadn’t shared this magick with the pixies.
Hey, I heard that! Trixie glowed a soft, pulsing blue on my wrist. That was new.
I was kidding. Kind of.
“It is time for us to take our leave.”
Holding the small box carefully, I accepted hugs from Arella and Kylen, a handshake from Olen, and a curt nod from Dorn. “Thank you for this.” Hopefully, I wouldn’t ever need to use it, but still . . .
As a whole, the small group turned and made their way into the river. Dorn pulled the large tub of toys into the water with little effort. Kylen gave me one last wave before diving in.
Tess let out a mock dramatic sigh. “Ghosts, pixies, witches, shifters, and now water fae . . . you’re making all kinds of magickal alliances, Roxie.”
“I couldn’t have done any of it without all of you, you know that right?” I let my gaze rest on each of my friends. When it fell on Sam, she was staring off into the water, watching the ripples from the water fae.
“As much as I hate to say it, with those Paragons still out there, I have a feeling we’re going to need all the help we can get.” She tore her gaze from the water to meet my eyes.
As if her words were a portent of things to come, a large bank of clouds passed over the sun, casting a shadow over the estate. I shivered as the air suddenly chilled. Rand pulled me closer and I leaned into him.
“Um, guys, what’s Toby doing?”
Rand turned at Tess’s question, releasing me. With one last look at the river, I followed as his sharp gaze searched for the German Shepherd who had been sitting at Sam’s side a few minutes ago.
“He’s just playing with Jake, isn’t he?” I asked. I could see Toby racing around Jake as the big Newfoundland lumbered across the lawn toward us.
Rand gave me one of those looks I couldn’t interpret. “Jake was up at the house when we came down here.”
“So he changed his mind and decided to join us.” I started walking toward the two dogs. The rest of the group followed, even though Rand and I were the only ones who could see both of the dogs.
“Roxie, I left Jake inside the house.”
“Yeah, so—” I stopped as what he was saying hit me.
The dogs were almost to us by now. Toby gave an excited bark and rushed at Jake. The ghostly Newfoundland turned his body away from his canine friend, like he was playing a game of keep away. He spun again as Toby reversed his direction.
“Rand? What does Jake have in his mouth?”
Sam and Tess stepped up on either side of us, watching, well, Toby at least. We stood there as Jake finally made it to us. He sat, looked at us as if he were seriously considering each of us, and dropped a baseball-size chunk of rock from his mouth. As it rolled to a stop between Sam and Tess, Tess stooped to pick it up.
“Did anyone else just see this rock appear out of nowhere?” she asked, reaching for it. As she straightened, the rock in her hand, she noticed Rand and I staring at her. “What?”
I looked at the rock, at Jake, who had flopped to the ground, his tail wagging lazily, at Rand, then back at Tess.
Tess was standing stock still, her jaw slack as she stared at the place where Jake lay.
Rand’s voice broke the silence around us. “Houston, I think we have a problem.”
The End?
Not even close . . .
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