A Shift in the Water

by Eddy, Patricia D.

  “No. Goddammit, honey, you’re getting sick again. I can smell it. Every time you got weak, my wolf knew. You’re not there yet, but you’re not as strong as you were this morning. What the hell is going on with you?”

  “I’m dying. I told you that.” She wrenched her wrist away and stalked out of the room. “Good night, Cade.”

  Ten

  Mara couldn’t sleep. She missed the wolf next to her. The bed felt empty. “Get over it,” she muttered to herself, turning over so violently that she tangled her legs in the sheets. Cade’s words hung heavy in the air. You’re getting sick again.

  “I feel fine. What the hell does he know?” She got up and trudged into the bathroom to refill her water bottle. Her hands trembled and the bottle slipped from her grasp and landed with a dull thud on the bath mat. “Shit.”

  He was right. This was always how it started. Trembling hands, then the headache, then the exhaustion, then the dizziness. She gulped down half a bottle of water and the trembling ceased. Well, that was something. She slipped back under the covers and stared at the clock. One in the morning. Then two.

  Creaking floorboards in the kitchen startled her. Cade paced from the living room to the kitchen and back again. He couldn’t sleep either. Why not? He’d been exhausted not two hours ago—so weak he’d barely been able to keep his eyes open. She found him leaning against the counter with a cookie in his hand. His back was to her.

  “Can I have one?” she asked.

  Cade jerked and nearly dropped the half-eaten cookie with a hoarse yelp. He sounded so much like the wolf sometimes.

  “Easy there. I didn’t mean to startle you.” Mara hurried over and caressed his bare forearm. In the dim light from the street lamps outside, she got a good look at his chest. He wore his jeans slung low over slim hips. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the sprinkling of hair covering his torso, his sculpted abs, and the cut of his obliques as they angled down into his pants. Goddess, why hadn’t she thought to buy him pajamas? Or a parka. Yes. He needed a parka. Something big and shapeless to hide his body.

  He blew out a breath and passed her the half-empty box of cookies. Without a word, he moved away from her touch and brushed his hands over the sink. He didn’t turn back around to face her again.

  “What woke you?” she asked after a bite of chewy, chocolaty goodness.

  “Memories.”

  Mara wrapped her arms around his torso. He stiffened and tried to pull away, but she held fast, pressing her cheek against a long healed burn on his back.

  “I can’t,” he said, his voice practically a growl.

  “What? Let someone comfort you?”

  “Do this. Be close to you without . . . more. I don’t even know your last name. And despite your rather logical argument about my current level of health, I’m going to have to leave soon. Don’t make it harder on me than it’s already going to be.”

  “What?” Mara released him and backed away. He turned around and she flicked on the light to get a better look at his face. Goddess that stubble is sexy. She couldn’t help herself. The man in front of her warmed her entire body.

  “Wolves are instinctual creatures. I want you, Mara. And it wasn’t only the nightmare that woke me. The bed feels . . .”

  “Lonely. I know. There’s a remedy for that.” She looked up at him through lowered lashes. She needed him close to her.

  “No. I mean, yes. There is. But I can’t sleep with you. I’m sorry I said anything. Good night.” He turned and strode back into the guest room and shut the door.

  “Taylor. My last name is Taylor,” she said quietly.

  The next morning, after a night of fitful sleep, a shower, and way too much time choosing her wardrobe, Mara trudged into the kitchen to find Cade cooking breakfast. His hair was damp from his own shower and he smelled like clean male, a scent Mara could get used to first thing in the morning. Eggs sizzled alongside crisp slices of bacon and a mug of coffee steamed next to the stove. She cleared her throat, hoping she wouldn’t startle him again. He turned and gave her a sad smile. “Morning, honey. Mara. Hungry?”

  “No. But I’ll eat.” She headed for the espresso machine, but he waved her off.

  “Sit down. I’ll bring you coffee.”

  What was he doing? He looked like he belonged here, like he wanted to stay. Mara took a seat at the table and chewed on her lower lip. She tugged at the sleeves of her body-hugging red sweater. She rarely wore red, but Jen always told her that it made her look irresistible. Her fingers hadn’t trembled since last night. She’d woken to only the faintest of dark smudges under her eyes that she’d covered up with makeup. Hopefully Cade wouldn’t notice.

  The mug of coffee he offered her smelled like life itself. Seated across from him, Mara pushed her eggs around on her plate. Cade ate heartily, glaring at her until she took a few bites of her breakfast.

  “I want you to reconsider Bellingham,” he said. “It’s too dangerous for you to go with me.”

  “We had this discussion last night. My way or no way. And there’s a part of you that wants me there.” Mara crunched into a piece of bacon.

  “No. There isn’t.”

  “Really? My purse is sitting on the counter. I’ve got probably fifty dollars cash in my wallet. A couple of credit cards. My keys are hanging on the hook by the door. If you’d wanted to go alone, you could have taken what you needed and left. Hell, you could have left early and been back before dinner.” She finished her bacon, but the eggs weren’t going to go down. Not with how nervous she was. She dumped the eggs onto Cade’s plate. “I need to call Aunt Lil before we leave. Eat more. You know you want to. We can go as soon as I’m off the phone. It’s only a little over an hour drive, but you’re probably going to need snacks. We’ll stop at a coffee shop before we go.”

  Alone in her bedroom, she dialed her aunt.

  “Hon, I’m bringing Eleanor with me when I come today. We’ll be there around noon,” her aunt said as soon as Mara said hello.

  “I’ve got some errands to run today, Aunt Lil. Can we do this tomorrow?”

  “Mara, you’ve been actin’ odd since you adopted that wolf. What the hell is goin’ on with you? What errands are more important than learnin’ how to stay alive? If Eleanor’s right, what she has to say to you could save your life.”

  “I’m not going to die today. Probably not tomorrow either. I’ll meet the two of you wherever you want, but not today.” Mara paced her bedroom. Various cleaning sounds came from the kitchen.

  “Eleanor drove up from Cannon Beach to see you. But fine. I’ll put her up tonight and we’ll be over tomorrow for breakfast. You’re goin’ to have to put the wolf outside when we’re there. I don’t trust that thing.”

  “Fine.” Mara agreed. She knew there was no way Cade was going to shift and sit in her backyard the whole time. He could hide in the guest room. She certainly wasn’t going to explain to Aunt Lil who he was. Jen had been bad enough.

  Less than half an hour later, Mara pulled out of her garage, headed down the hill towards the lake, and turned off onto a side street. She angled into a free spot next to the local running store. “Stay here.”

  A black knit cap, a pair of sunglasses, and a windbreaker would help disguise Cade if the fire elemental happened to be around Bellingham. It wouldn’t help if she could track him by scent or anything, but neither of them had any idea if that was possible. Before she returned to the car, she ducked into the coffee shop next door. “Two Americanos. No room. Two cinnamon rolls and a cherry scone.”

  Laden down with her purchases, she hurried back to the car. “Put on the hat and the sunglasses,” she said. “That hair and those eyes are way too recognizable. If the fire elemental is out there, we don’t want to advertise your presence.”

  Cade carded a hand through his hair, down to the back of his neck, and shook his head. “Why are you doing all this for me?”

  “Because the wolf saved my life.” She turned in her seat, giving him her full attentio
n. “Because when I was on Orcas that last night, I prayed. I asked whatever deity is up there for one thing: Please let my life matter. That’s all I wanted. I wanted to have mattered. This is a way to do that. I don’t care what you say I smell like. I’m still dying and anything I can do before the end to make a difference to anyone is important to me.”

  Cade reached for her so suddenly, she didn’t have time to pull away. He held her against his chest, his face in her hair. “You matter, honey. You matter to me.”

  Behind the sunglasses, Cade’s eyes never strayed far from Mara’s face. She’d tried to cover up the dark circles under her eyes, but he knew they were there. She didn’t smell sick yet, but she was weaker today. Her water element was leaving her. He wished he could remember how elementals used their power.

  Mara kept trying to draw him into conversation, but every question she asked him, he couldn’t answer. Brothers and sisters. Favorite foods. Sports. Eventually, the motion of the car lulled his healing body to sleep.

  Sometime later, he woke to the sickening feeling that something was wrong. He sniffed the air and forced his eyes open. They were parked, but Mara wasn’t in the car. He looked around wildly and then froze. In front of him an empty lot was all that remained of his apartment building. Rain pattered and danced over the windshield. A greenbelt to the left beckoned to him. His wolf wanted to run. His fingers tingled with the desire to shift, but he slammed a lid down on that need. He balled his hands into fists. Where was Mara? He needed Mara.

  Shrugging into the windbreaker she’d bought him, he got out of the car and inhaled deeply. Fresh pine, dirt, rain, rotten wood, and Mara. She couldn’t be far. He followed his nose past the empty lot. There were four other apartment buildings close by. Too many people. He could smell them all. Sweat, scents of cooking, cleaning, and car exhaust. Mara’s sweet aroma was still the strongest.

  He turned and saw her across the street talking to an elderly woman on the covered porch of a townhouse. He raced over to her. “Mara? Honey, don’t leave me like that. Not with—”

  “Cade? Is that you, boy?” The woman stepped closer. She was well past eighty and shuffled awkwardly forward, poking him in the chest. “Take off those glasses.”

  Her tone brooked no argument and Cade obeyed. “Well, shit. It is you. What in tarnation is your game, girl? He ain’t dead.” She whirled on Mara who threw up her hands.

  “I’m sorry, Maggie. Cade didn’t want anyone to know he was alive. There might be . . . someone after him.”

  “Maggie? Shit.” His neighbor. He remembered her. He’d made her a headboard less than a week before the bad woman came. Her snow-white hair haloed around her head. Her skin crinkled like tissue paper, but her lipstick was perfect and her pink cardigan sweater was buttoned up to her neck. She smelled like talcum powder and liniment.

  “Well, don’t stand there, boy. Come inside before I catch my death a cold.”

  They sat in Maggie’s doily-filled living room while the elderly woman bustled about in the kitchen making tea. She refused their help. “I’m old, not dead,” she asserted. “I can still make tea for guests.”

  Cade held onto Mara’s hand tightly. He couldn’t let her go. “How did you know to knock on her door?” he asked.

  “I didn’t. I went to the complex next to where your old apartment used to be and tried to find the manager. I wanted to know if anyone had been around the lot recently. Maggie was waiting for me when I headed back to the car with a frilly pink umbrella I think she wanted to use as a weapon. She doesn’t trust outsiders after the fire. She asked me what I wanted. I made up a story.”

  “She said she was a reporter from Seattle doing a piece on your death. I take it that’s a lie?” Maggie shuffled in with three mugs of tea on a tray. “The reporter part. I can see you ain’t dead.”

  “Yes. I’m sorry, Maggie. After the fire, bad things happened. I . . . I lost my memory. Mara’s helping me. I don’t remember most of my life before. Bits and pieces. I came back to try to put together all of these images I have in my head. Someone’s after me. Someone bad.”

  “The dark-haired woman shooting fire from her hands?” Maggie sipped calmly at her tea. Cade nearly choked on his.

  “Yes. You saw her?”

  “Sure did. Cops didn’t believe me when I said the fire wasn’t natural. Tried to tell me I was insane.” Maggie enunciated each syllable of the word, as if she couldn’t believe anyone would dare question her sanity.

  “I can’t remember who she is,” Cade said. “But I know she wants me dead. I came back to try to piece it together. If I can’t, I’m never going to be safe. Mara’s never going to be safe.” Cade squeezed her fingers tightly. Mara’s safety was everything to him. Nothing meant more to him than that. “I don’t remember anything other than fire and my—err—friends screaming. I don’t know how the woman got me out of town or exactly where she took me other than somewhere on Orcas Island.”

  “Where’s that little blond dynamo who lived upstairs from you?” Maggie asked. “I haven’t seen her in a month. She could help.”

  “Livie?” Cade tightened his grip on Mara’s hand. She hissed out a breath and he released some of the pressure. He was stronger than a human and sometimes forgot that. “Livie’s alive?”

  “She was a month ago. Comes around every four or six weeks. I usually see her sitting in a car across the street. I’ve tried to bring her tea once or twice, but she always drives away when she sees me coming. I got the idea she didn’t want anyone to know. But I figure you’re her pack leader or whatever you call it. You deserve to know.”

  Cade looked from Maggie to Mara in shock. Mara shrugged and grinned. “Maggie?”

  “Oh please, my boy. I’m old. Not stupid. Your lot always disappeared at the full moon. That beau of hers even looked like a wolf half the time. Come to think of it, you look a mite wolfish yourself with that shaggy hair. You werewolves were thick as thieves. Always sticking together. This one’s different. Pretty. She one too?”

  “No,” Cade and Mara answered in unison.

  “Huh. You’re hanging onto her like she’s your everything.”

  She is. “She’s an elemental,” Cade said. When Maggie cocked her head, Cade explained. “The woman who burned down the apartments is a fire elemental. Mara’s got water in her.”

  Mara elbowed him in the ribs. He looked from her to Maggie and back again. “She can handle it,” Cade said.

  “Well, that makes one of us,” Mara replied.

  Maggie chuckled. “I’ve got the ladies for bridge in half an hour and I need to put cookies in the oven. Any more holes I can fill in for you?”

  “No, ma’am.” Livie was alive. She’d been here. Cade didn’t know how he’d find her again, but knowing she was alive bolstered his spirits.

  “Help an old lady up now, young man. And you don’t be a stranger. You hear me?”

  “Yes, ma’am. If anyone comes looking for me . . . anyone but my pack, I’d appreciate it if you kept quiet about seeing me.”

  “Well, I don’t feel like it’s anyone else’s business now, is it?”

  “No, it’s not.”

  Mara wrote down her name and phone number for Maggie. “If they do come—his pack—give them my number. I’ll do my best to keep him safe until we find them,” she said.

  Outside, the sprinkling rain soaked into Mara’s red locks, making them shine. She was stronger now. Cade could smell her element—all around him. Even her eyes were bright and clear again. He wanted to lose himself in the scent of her. He grabbed Mara around the waist and held her close. “Even if Livie is the only one still alive, it’s something. If she comes back here, I can find her.” Tears glistened in his eyes, mixing with the rain on his cheeks. “I spent the past seven months believing they were dead. Their screams. The fire. She lied to me. She told me all the time that she’d killed them.” Against him, Mara’s rain jacket rustled. He should get her out of the rain. Or perhaps get himself out of the rain, but he didn’t want
to let her go.

  “What do you want to do next? Where to?” Mara wriggled out of his grasp. The disappointment was a weight against his heart, but she quickly took his hand and grinned up at him.

  “My shop. If it’s still there I want to see it.” He looked around, eyes unfocused, brows knit. “I don’t know what direction. West?”

  “I know the way. Maggie told me.”

  Mara led Cade down the street on foot. Her hand in his was small and delicate. A smile graced her lips. The windbreaker and hat protected him from the drizzle, but Mara’s hair was heavy and sodden, trails of water running down the back of her rain jacket. She didn’t seem to care.

  “You’re going to catch a cold,” he said, moving to drape his arm around her shoulders.

  “I love the rain. And I’ve never had a cold.” She snuggled into his body, cool against his warmth. “This is nice. You run hot?”

  “Yeah. About a hundred most of the time. We all do.” He paused under an awning and turned her away from him. He ran his fingers through her hair, gathering it in a thick twist in his hands and wringing out the water. Mara’s head tipped back and a whiff of her element filled his nose. He pulled the hat from his own head and tucked her hair inside, smoothing the wool down over her ears. “That’s better.”

  “Your hair,” she protested, touching the hat and whirling around to face him, eyes wide.

  “If she’s here, she’s going to find me no matter what my hair looks like. Besides,” he said, trailing a knuckle down her cheek. “It looks better on you.”

  After another block, they took a quick right. The buildings were closer together here: quaint little restaurants, a stationery store, a local market, a bookstore, and a law office. Memories hit him left and right. Drinks with Liam. Grocery shopping.

  “The bowling alley is down Third,” he said, pointing. “The bank is two blocks north. The lumber yard is a mile south.” He was rambling, but he was so happy to have some of his memories back he didn’t care. A block from his shop, he suddenly quickened his pace. Now he led her. They stopped in front of a dark green building on the corner of a quiet street. The windows were trimmed with pale pine and the shingle hanging over the door had two hand-carved pine trees on either side of the shop name: Bellingham Woodworking. The building was deserted with a notice on the door: For Sale at Auction – December 14th.