She knew it, mentally, but she needed to really accept it and try to move on. And that process included wine, tears, and sappy made for TV movies. Not sitting in a field with ants crawling on her while she tried, unsuccessfully, to do some hocus pocus on an apple.
“Here, we’re going to try something else. Fuck this apple,” Cord picked up the apple and threw it hard, making it fly far out of sight.
“You should have played baseball,” she said, looking the direction the apple had traveled.
“I did, but that was before I learned how to do that and I sucked, I got to pick daisies out in left field every game,” he grinned at her.
“I thought I had to go in order.” She’d began working with water because that was what she’d been told to do, and after reading multiple books, taking copious notes, and listening to Fran go on and on and on about water ad nauseam, she was finally getting to try her hand at it. She should really be more excited but all she felt was a deep numbness. And she really should be working with Fran, who it seemed, was exceptional at water magic, but she’d had something else to do that morning so Cord had been assigned to help Sidney. Not that she was complaining. Even with the mind reading, she’d take Cord over Fran any day of the week. It was amazing what a little personality could do for a person. Not that she could fully appreciate it in the mood she was in. Maybe Fran would have been a better match for her mood, come to think of it.
They’d started with water droplets on a plastic cutting mat. Cord had sprinkled the droplets and then instructed Sidney to move them to the edge of the mat one at a time. Sidney had tried so hard her brain felt sore and finally a few of the droplets had moved, but she wasn’t entirely sure that wasn’t because of gravity or some other completely explainable event. Such as Cord tipping the board to make her feel better.
Then they’d moved on to trying to make a glass of milk tip itself over. Sidney had completely failed at that. All she’d gotten the milk to do is ripple a bit as it sat in the glass. Then they’d gone to the orchard to play with apples. So far all she’d made the apple do was sweat, a little of the juice leaking out through the skin.
“Oh we’ll still be working with water, we’re just going to try a different approach,” he jumped up, wiping the grass of his pants, the kind Sidney was now mentally referring to as Zen pants, before he held a hand out to help Sidney up. “Come with me,” he said, walking back toward the path they’d come on.
She watched the sun play across the muscles in his back as he walked. It really was a shame he was gay. Such a beautiful man.
“My boyfriend doesn’t think it’s a shame,” he turned back and grinned at her, his bright white smile slashing against the dusky olive of his skin. It was a shame, no matter what his boyfriend thought.
“Do you own shirts? I have yet to see you wear one. I may not be rich but if you need a couple of teeshirts I’m sure I could grab you a few from Wal-Mart.”
“I just like feeling closer to nature, I wouldn’t wear pants if I could get away with it.”
“Those things you call pants are almost skirts, except with a giant slit up each side,” she actually thought they were really cute and considered asking him where he got them. They’d be wonderful on yoga day.
“I’ll have you know that I make these pants myself, and they are all the rage in Mysteria,” he made a sharp turn, taking them off the path that would lead back to Bree’s house.
She followed, the trail getting narrower with tree branches beginning to inhibit their progress, “Mysteria?”
“Yeah, it’s a temporary town that pops up at Transformus every year.”
“Transformus, of course, how silly of me.”
“Oh my God Sidney, do you live under a rock? It’s a free expression art festival slash burn that happens every year.”
Whatever that was, “Ok,” she’d just take his word for it. “So where are we going?”
“You’ll see, it’s not much further.”
They walked in silence, Sidney trying to turn her mind away each time it landed on Red. But it wasn’t much use, all she could think about was how cold he’d looked when she’d told him what she was. Cold and unfeeling. It was hard to believe the man who had been so caring with his daughter, with her, could turn into stone at the mention of a single word. Witch.
“You really shouldn’t have told him, but I understand why you did.”
Sidney blew a piece of hair out of her face, “How does your boyfriend deal with you reading his mind all the time.”
“He doesn’t because I don’t. That’s no way to have a relationship.”
“Well can you do me the same courtesy?”
“Nope,” he said quickly and unapologetically. “I have to keep myself open to you to help you learn how to think while you’re practicing.”
“Well can’t you just turn it off while we’re not practicing?”
He sighed, “It’s obvious you don’t know how hard it is to turn this off and on so I’m going to go with the short answer. No.”
“Whatever,” she said, annoyed that he had the ability to give her privacy but refused to do so.
“But you really can’t blame him for his reaction,” Cord steered them back to the subject.
“I sure can, I can’t help that I’m a witch, any more than he can help that he’s a shifter. It’s not like I asked for this.”
“That’s true, but his kind has a taboo against even dealing with witches at all. They have like this big book that dictates how shifters should behave. It’s like a religion, with no God.”
“And his book says he can’t be with a witch.”
“His book says he can’t even associate with certain kinds of creatures. I mean we aren’t supposed to have children with them, for obvious reasons, but we can associate with whoever we want. All living beings are part of a whole? Why would we be prejudiced against one group?”
Sidney didn’t know what those obvious reasons were, but she had other questions. “Bree called them ‘nasty shifters’ when I first met her. That seems a little prejudiced to me.”
“Bree has had some bad blood with shifters in the past, mostly because they were so intent on hating us. Sometimes that rubs off on others. Fran, for example, doesn’t care much for shifters either. But don’t worry, it’s not like a rule that you can only live with, date, or even marry other witches or humans. We’re an open welcoming bunch. Hell my boyfriend is a Faery.”
Sidney stopped in her tracks, “You’re dating a Tinkerbell?”
Cord rolled his eyes, “Your parents really suck. Someone should have told you at least a little bit about how the world works.”
She agreed that her parents sucked, however that didn’t get him out of answering the millions of questions that were flying through her head.
“But really, a fairy? Like with fairy dust and everything?” Sidney was going to have to get someone to sit down and tell her exactly which mythical creatures were real and which one weren’t, so that if she came face to face with a centaur in the forest she wouldn’t shame them all by passing out or accidentally looking at his junk.
“Oh Great Brigid save me from this noob,” Cord put his hands out in a mock plea. “We’re here anyway. The lesson on creatures, myth and fact, will have to wait.”
Sidney was blocked in on either side by trees and Cord was standing directly in front of her, so she didn’t see where ‘here’ was immediately. But when he moved and she saw what was before her she felt like she’d stepped into a tale of Irish lore.
A lake, the deepest blue she’d ever seen stood before her, stretching across the distance. She could barely see the other shore. But the one she was walking up to was breathtaking. Grass greener than should be possible lined the lake, with huge grey rocks that seemed to sparkle in the sun randomly piled in artistic formations. She could imagine that all of the legends could come true. Selkies shedding their skin to turn into beautiful women, brownies darting between rocks and causing mischief, waterhorses luring me
n to their graves, even strange women distributing swords to young men could possibly live in those depths. This was a place anything was possible.
“I felt that way the first time I came here too, there’s something special about this place. It feels… old. Like the spirits of all the witches who came before us are gathered on these shores, ready to share their ancient knowledge,” he looked at Sidney as she took it all in. “Ok, now strip.”
“What?” she jumped, startled out of the reverie his words had created. She could well imagine those women, and men too, spending their afterlife in a place like this. And now he wanted her to strip in front of all of them.
“If dead people are roaming around I’m pretty sure they’ve seen you in the shower,” he was already kicking off his sandals and untying the string that held his pants up. “And I’ve already seen you buck naked at the dedication ceremony the other night. Remember?”
She remembered, but it hadn’t been just him and her. Getting naked here with him alone just felt too intimate.
“Oh honey, you wish, now take it off or I’m throwing you in fully clothed,” he didn’t even wait and let her decide, he just began tugging her shirt off for her.
She gave in and threw all of her clothes onto a rock, even her panties and bra. She didn’t plan on putting them back on wet and letting them chafe her for the rest of the day, so buck naked it was.
Cord took a running start and dove in with a whoop, letting her know that there was a steep drop off somewhere near the edge. There would be no slowly wading in, as was her habit. She stuck one foot in and pulled it back out quickly.
“Holy cow, that’s cold as ice!”
“It’s invigorating, come on in!”
She started shivering just thinking about it.
“Start running and just jump in. it’s better that way, I promise.” She watched his head bob back under the water and decided that he must be right.
Taking a few steps back, and then a few more, and then a few more, she worked up her courage.
Deciding it was now or never she began running and screaming, waiting until the last second before she broke the water to take a deep breath of air.
She plunged into the murky depths. The bright blue she’d seen from above was almost black from below. And cold was not the word to describe the painful feel of the water on her body. She immediately started kicking, needing air so she could scream some explicative that would indicate how truly cold she was.
She swam up, the water getting lighter and lighter as she went until she knew she was about to break the surface, about to take a breath of air and yell at Cord. She already had some words picked out for him when she hit a wall. Something invisible was blocking her from swimming up. Her hands splayed against it, solid and cold like ice, but completely invisible. She swam over a few feet and the same thing happened. She tried the other side, and again was met with the same solid surface.
Sidney began to panic. Her mind screaming out for Cord, she beat on the barrier that was keeping her under, pounded on it until she started feeling weak. No matter how hard she pummeled her fists against it, it wouldn’t break or even bend. Her mind raced for a solution even as her body began to tire. She knew if she didn’t find a way out that she was going to give up. She didn’t have a choice, her body wasn’t going to let her fight much longer. She wouldn’t be able to demand that her lungs not inhale. Already they burned, begging her to suck in something to appease their ache.
She stopped beating the hard wall that kept her from the air she so desperately needed, giving in to the inevitable. What a strange way to die, locked underwater by something she couldn’t see. She looked at her hands, they were cut and bruised, and then let them float to the side. She looked around at her final resting place, at least it was beautiful, the last place she’d see. The light coming in from above made the currants underwater shimmer, like a child had sprinkled a bottle of iridescent glitter over the water.
The light was getting darker and she knew she was about to pass out. Strangely she didn’t feel panicked anymore, this wasn’t so bad. And then a form swam up out of the darkness and swirled around her. It looked alien, snake-like, but large. Almost as large as Sidney.
It coiled around her body, its face coming inches from hers. The panic returned.
“Why are you here?” The sound of its voice slid through the water like oil, slick and menacing.
Sidney shook her head, how did it to expect her to speak?
It seemed to sniff her, its face, coming even closer. Its features were so dark she almost couldn’t see it. It was like staring into a void, except for the eyes, they burned bright turquoise, almost like underwater fire, swirling with sparks of blue flame.
“Human, why are you here? This is not your place.”
I DON’T KNOW, she screamed within herself. I DON’T KNOW!
The creature held one hand-like appendage up to her face, covering her from forehead to chin and immersing her in darkness.
“Speak,” it demanded.
Sidney opened her mouth, powerless to do otherwise, expecting water to rush in and end this vision, instead air filled her lungs with welcome relief. She gasped again and again, the creature seemed content to let her catch her breath. Finally she spoke, “I was here to learn about water magic, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to trespass if I’m not allowed here.”
“Magic, human? You can do no magic.”
“That’s what I TOLD them!” If she weren’t in water she was sure there would be tears streaming down her face, “I TOLD them that I was just an average person but they insisted and now I’m drowning and my brain is making last minute horrible hallucinations as my oxygen runs out.”
She gurgled out the last few words as the thing removed its hand. It seemed to consider her, to sniff at her again through a slit in its onyx face.
“Not human. Witch, but blocked,” it uncoiled from around her, letting her arms and legs move freely again. “Do not come back here until you’ve healed yourself.” It swam away, looking back over its shoulder to level a final warning, “or I will kill you.
Rough hands grabbed Sidney pulling her out of the water and onto the shore, where sunlight and air greeted her like old friends. She gulped the air like she’d never breathed before and it tasted like heaven. The pain in her chest loosened and her vision gradually cleared, letting her see a frantic Cord above her. He was saying something but she couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in her ears.
She put her hand up to his mouth to stop whatever he was saying. She had something she wanted to say to him instead, her voice felt gravelly, her throat swollen and sore.
“Next time, we go to the pool.”
Red paced the small kitchen of his new apartment. He’d sent Morgan over to Glory’s, indefinitely. He didn’t know when he’d be getting back from Asheville, and even then, he didn’t know how long this job as President would last. He hoped not long. He was tired as fuck, of everything. He and Morgan needed a new start. Until then Glory and Morgan’s grandparents could take care of her, hell, they’d done it up until the last month or so. A little longer wouldn’t hurt. Just until he could get out and get them settled. No Dogs, no Three Rivers, and no fucking Sidney.
He didn’t have time to think about her and her lies. He had to plan. He wanted everything to go perfectly so there wouldn’t be any questions when he came back. But he needed back up. Trainz was old but he’d been the muscle for the Dogs for years before Red had even been born. He might be past his prime, but let him shift and he was still dangerous as fuck. Not to mention he had Big Dog and BillCo there, and they sure as shit wouldn’t just let him waltz in and kill them all without a fight.
He needed Donny-O. His oldest and closest friend, but he didn’t know if he could trust him anymore. It seemed like every time something came up that he needed to keep quiet, Donny-O turned around and told Demon or somebody about it. He needed someone who he knew without a shadow of a doubt was loyal and who could also keep a se
cret. He ticked off each of the guys in turn but couldn’t come up with one he was one hundred percent sure of. Then it hit him.
Tinker. Tinker probably held more loyalty towards him than he did the rest of the group. It was Red who’d given him a second chance after all. It was Red who hadn’t killed him and had allowed Sidney to heal him… with magic. But he wasn’t thinking about that. He also wasn’t going to think of the wounded look on her face when he’d left. An act, that’s all it was. Witches were liars from the very core of their beings. They couldn’t help it, it was a way of life for them. Taking things that wasn’t theirs, making people feel things they didn’t really feel, causing pain and heartbreak every where they went. It was just in their shitty nature. Sidney couldn’t help be what she was, a user, but Red didn’t have to let himself be sucked in by her. No matter how good of an actress she was.
Oh and she’d been good. Those soft eyes looking at him like he was perfect, like she’d never want to look at anyone else, like he mattered to her. All an act. He didn’t know why she’d chosen him as a victim and he didn’t care, he wouldn’t be a part of it. He slammed his beer on the table a little too hard and it cracked, the golden brown liquid seeping down the bottle to pool on the table. That was enough thinking about Sidney, he scolded himself. She wasn’t worth all this.
He picked up his phone to see if he’d programmed Tinker’s number in there, and was relieved to find he had. After a brief conversation, Tinker was a man of few words, they’d come to an agreement. He’d do this for Red if Red patched him in as a full member of the Dogs. Conveniently, he’d just become president, and while there would be a vote, not many would vote against someone the president wanted to be patched in. It was bad mojo.
Yes, Tinker was his man. And he’d take Squirt and Squint too, just as cover. He’d leave them outside and they could corroborate his story of hearing a fight. And there would be a fight, but no simple death during a fight was going to kill Big Dog, he deserved much much worse. And he was going to get it.
Dogs of War Episode 5 Page 2
