Coercion

by Tamara Hart Heiner

“Mistress with lots of money,” I replied, waiting for the front door to open and some immaculate Latvian princess to walk out.

  Trey smirked. “The only kind worth having.” He climbed the steps and rang the bell.

  Meredith grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, “Male pig,” but before anyone could ask her to clarify, the door opened.

  “Trey! No one told us you were in town!”

  The woman who wrapped her arms around him was about the age of his mother. But she was much rounder and healthier looking, in contrast to the thin waif of a woman Meredith and I had met in Trey’s crumbling house a few weeks earlier.

  “Please tell me that’s not his mistress,” Beth breathed.

  Meredith snorted. “Mistress? That guy is going to be lucky to get one woman.”

  Completely unaware of the topic of our conversation, Trey turned around and gestured to the woman. “This is my aunt Tessa. Tessa, these are some of my friends from school. They’re doing a living farms research project and get to stay at Grandpa’s place for a bit.”

  Smooth. Lies fell from his lips even easier than they fell from mine.

  Tessa reacted excitedly while I glared at Trey. We could’ve been staying here, in high comfort, instead of wallowing about his grandpa’s place?

  Tessa ushered us into her house and quickly sat us down with glasses of ice cold lemonade. Trey settled onto the couch in the living room and obligingly answered every question she threw at him.

  “I’ve barely heard a word from your mom since she moved to New Jersey. How do you like that private school Grandpa put you in?”

  Trey leaned forward and picked up the remote control on the end table beside him. “I didn’t like it so much and it was really expensive. I’m at a regular public school now.”

  Tessa blinked. “But Grandpa worked so hard to get you in there.”

  “I know. I feel bad about that, but it wasn’t for me.”

  “He was suspended,” Meredith said with a sweet smile. “For killing ducks.”

  Trey shifted his body and glowered at her. “I did not. That’s not why.”

  “Why, then?” she hummed.

  “That’s okay. You don’t have to explain.” Tessa inspected us, and I know she was thinking that we didn’t look like private school material anyway. Not with our discount store clothing. “Well, as long as you’re happy. You’ve got friends. Anyone special?” Her eyes lingered on me.

  “Nope.” His lips popped on the final P. “Just going to school and staying out of trouble.”

  “Or that’s the plan,” Meredith said.

  Trey’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t look at her this time. He aimed the controller at the TV and pounded the On button as if he could inflict pain on it. That didn’t deter Tessa, who kept right on talking over the cacophony of voices that filled the room.

  “And your mama?” Tessa’s voice softened. “She never texts or calls. Doesn’t answer my letters.”

  “Sorry.” Trey kept his eyes on the television, acting disinterested in the conversation. Maybe he really was? He flipped through channels until he landed on the news. “I don’t know why she won’t talk to you.”

  The conversation dwindled, and I wondered what more wasn’t being said.

  “Well, you’re here, and that’s all that matters!” Tessa was back to happy. “How long are you staying? Let’s have you and Grandpa over for dinner!”

  “Does Grandpa come over often?” Trey asked. He caught me looking at him and inclined his head toward the television. Right. I was supposed to be paying attention to that.

  “Often enough,” Tessa replied. “Usually on Sundays after church. Sure would be nice to have you and your mama come up once a month, at least.”

  Trey shrugged and shot me another pointed look. I made a very conscious effort to stare at the television. So far the telecaster was going on about a problem with the traffic lights causing huge congestion in the small towns. So fascinating.

  Trey was giving some excuse for why he and his mom never came over when the news report abruptly changed, catching my attention.

  “Three more bodies have been identified as people who went missing from the tri-city area last week. This brings the total number of dead to eight so far.”

  I lifted to my feet, guilt lancing through me like a hot knife, splitting my chest wide open and making me ache. I didn’t even hear what else she said. “They’re dying,” I gasped out.

  Tessa looked over at me. She pulled her mouth down, sadness in her eyes. “It’s awful, isn’t it? All of those people. Randomly abandoning their homes, their families, and now they’re showing up dead. Theory is maybe they got some kind of contagious disease and are slowly dying by the wayside.”

  “Like zombies.” Beth shuddered. “It’s like the real walking dead.”

  I had used the same words when talking with Lieutenant Bailey. It almost fit, except these weren’t zombies. They were people, and Samantha had trapped their souls.

  Tessa was still talking, inviting us and Rory over for dinner, though Trey’s eyes hadn’t left my face.

  “Thanks, Aunt Tessa,” he said, rising and giving her a hug. “Maybe we’ll come over this week. I think it’s time for us to go now, though.”

  I wrapped my arms around my torso, shivering slightly. “Yes. We’ve got to go.”

  Laima’s intention had been for us to discover Samantha’s trail and follow her, but something had occurred inside me. I was angry, and indignant, and some fiery and ferocious emotion swelled through me.

  War had happened before, and I had lost people to it.

  Not this time. Not on my watch.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  We left at daybreak. All four of us shoved into the cab of Rory’s pick up, armed with his debit card and what was left of Trey’s cash. We had a general direction, thanks to the bodies left behind by Samantha, but none of us really knew where we were going or what we were going to fight, and the uncertainty weighed on us.

  We stopped to get gas and Beth went inside to buy a map. Meredith stayed inside the car, but I sidled up next to Trey.

  “There’s something else Laima said,” I murmured. “I didn’t want to say it in front of everyone.”

  “What?” He didn’t even glance at me as he stuck the nozzle in the back of the truck.

  “She said Samantha’s hunting me. And that I shouldn’t use my powers.”

  Now he looked at me. “She said that?”

  “Yes.” I chewed on my lower lip. “What does that mean?”

  He squinted and lifted his gaze skyward. “I’m not sure. But the powers part is a moot point. First of all, you can’t summon, and second of all, we’re about to leave your geographical area.”

  “My geographical area? What do you mean?”

  He redirected his attention at me. “Why do you think Karta and Dekla split their souls into hundreds of pieces? So they could spread themselves out across the earth, that’s why. And each companionship covers a certain region.”

  “Oh,” I said, starting to understand. “So my region is the tri-state area?”

  “Yep. Once you leave this area, you won’t smell any uncertain deaths. The people won’t be your responsibility. Now, if you could summon, you could still summon a vision from any child and cast judgment. But you can’t, so.” He shrugged.

  “What good am I, then? Why are we even going?”

  “Because Laima told us to.”

  Well, didn’t that just solve everything.

  We climbed back into the truck and got going again. Beth acted as the navigator, using the atlas we’d bought at a gas station.

  “I can’t believe this is how people used to get around,” Meredith said, inspecting the backside of the map as Beth folded it at odd angles so she could focus on the roads. “It’s a wonder people made it anywhere.”

  “Before smart phones, people used to be smart,” Trey said.

  Meredith clicked her tongue. “I was waiting to see what acerbic
response you would have for me.”

  “Whoa, acerbic. I hope you didn’t hurt yourself coming up with that one.”

  I wanted to wallop both of them upside the head for being so ridiculous. But before I could say anything, something tugged so hard on my belly that I sat up straight and grabbed the door handle.

  All three of them swiveled to look at me.

  “What’s wrong?” my sister asked.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. I just felt something weird in my stomach.”

  Trey turned left into the intersection, and I cried out as something yanked on my insides, like a shepherd’s hook gripping me by the small intestine. It pulled me against the passenger door.

  “Stop the car, stop the car!” I said.

  Trey pulled over and squealed to a halt, his eyes large and concerned as they turned to me. “What is it, Jayne?”

  I doubled over. An urgency to move filled my brain, like the instinct to duck when a fist flies at you. My hand fumbled for the lock on the door, and then I pushed it open and tumbled out of the car.

  “Jayne!” Trey called after me, alarm in his voice.

  But I was heedless to him, speed-walking back the way we’d come as quickly as I could until the ache in my stomach lessened. I let out a careful breath of relief and slowed my pace, feeling normal again. As long as I didn’t stop moving forward.

  Meredith was at my side in an instant, her hands jumping up and down frantically as if she wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. “Jayne? What’s wrong?”

  “That’s not the way.”

  “Well, you just tell us which way to go. Let’s get back in the car, though, okay? We’ll make better time behind the wheel than on foot.”

  That made sense. I nodded. “I’ll wait here.”

  She shot me a dubious look but ran back to the truck. I watched her and Trey argue through the driver’s side window, and then she got in and he turned the truck around. Look like she’d won that one.

  Trey pulled onto the shoulder of the road beside me and waited while I climbed back in. “Where to?” he asked me carefully, as if afraid the wrong words or tone might set me off into hysterics.

  “Just go back to the intersection we drove through and keep going straight.”

  Trey obliged me, shooting me suspicious looks the whole time. I relaxed as we drove west on the highway, until that same sensation began to tug at me twenty minutes later. I sat up and paid attention as we neared another junction.

  “Go left,” I said.

  Trey followed the highway in a southwestern direction, and I nodded as the tugging relaxed.

  “Yes, that’s good.”

  “Where are we going?” he asked.

  “I haven’t the slightest.”

  Trey looked slightly irritated, his brows knitting close together. “Then why are we following your directions? How do I know you’re not being tricked by something?”

  I gave him my own suspicious glare. “You mean there are elements out there that will try to trick me?”

  “It’s happened to me before.”

  Was that how he lost his powers? I did my best to insert lasers into my glare. “And how am I supposed to know the difference?”

  “That’s why we’re training you. And why you’ve got me.”

  I growled impatiently. “And right now? How do I know I’m not leading you into a trap?”

  “You guys are not reassuring me,” Beth said.

  “Do you think something is manipulating her?” Meredith asked.

  “Obvious. Question is, is this someone on our side or their side?” He glanced at me, and I returned his stare.

  “If you have a better plan, by all means, feel free to share.”

  He didn’t. Trey merely grunted and turned his eyes back to the road.

  Beth clicked on the radio and searched through stations, probably looking for the news. When she didn’t find anything, she settled on a country song.

  “Oh, please no,” Meredith groaned. She reached for the dial, but Trey smacked her hand away.

  “Hey! Some of us like this music!”

  “This is not music.” She reached for the dial again, and again Trey knocked her hand away.

  “You touch me one more time,” Meredith said, “and you lose a tooth.”

  “My truck, I’m driving. I decide.”

  “Oh yeah? Is that how this goes? The king of the car rules the road?”

  Beth giggled, and we looked at her.

  “Sorry,” she said. “But you guys fight like these two little kids I used to babysit.”

  Meredith’s face flushed crimson, and even Trey looked chagrined.

  “Sorry,” he muttered.

  “Oh, don’t stop on my account,” Beth said, her eyes sparkling. “I think it’s quite funny. And there’s not much else to entertain me.”

  Knowing they were the source of Beth’s amusement did the trick. Neither Meredith nor Trey said another word to each other, although the music feud raged on in silence, both of them switching the station whenever they got the chance.

  We drove past a fast food chain and my stomach give such a hard jerk that I twisted around in my seat, staring out the window.

  “Hungry, Jayne?” Trey asked, laughter in his voice.

  Hunger didn’t begin to describe the sensation in my gut. I pressed both hands against the back window, staring out. “Turn around.”

  “Are you serious?” Beth asked.

  “Just turn around!” I snapped, little tremors erupting from my fingers.

  “I think she’s serious,” Meredith said.

  “For the love of hamburgers,” Beth mumbled.

  Trey had already done a u-ey and was heading back to the fast food restaurant.

  The tension in my stomach dissipated, and I let out a little breath, quite annoyed with whatever was doing this to me.

  Trey parked the truck, and I climbed out first. Now that we’d arrived, I eyed the restaurant with trepidation. Did I really want to find out what had brought me here?

  “I guess it is dinner time,” Meredith said. “Although I think you could’ve found a better way to tell us than to order us to turn around, Jayne.”

  Before I could defend myself, the door to the fast food restaurant opened, and two women came out. One was tall and thick, looking like a cross between a backliner and a viking with her short blond hair and square jaw. The other was slim and tiny, diminutive in stature with long black hair and porcelain skin.

  They walked straight toward us with quick, deliberate steps. The four of us stood at attention, watching their approach. I didn’t know them, but I didn’t feel afraid. In fact, the warm tingling that started up in my navel could only be described as anticipation.

  They stopped in front of us, and we stood in silence for a moment before Meredith spoke.

  “Who are you?”

  The shorter one focused her dark eyes on Meredith and said, “They have a ragana.”

  Her tone held a mixture of envy and admiration.

  “That must be why they’ve been chosen for this,” her companion said in a much lower voice.

  Trey shifted slightly. “We seem to have missed something here. What’s going on?”

  Their eyes focused on him, and then the tall one bent her head and they whispered to each other. I couldn’t hear what they said, but I thought I caught the word, “Auseklis.”

  The tall one stepped forward, her pantsuit swaying gracefully with her movements. She extended her hand to Trey, towering over him like an Amazonian warrior. “I’m Melissa.” Trey clasped her hand in his, and she nodded at the girl behind her. “That’s Amy. We are Dekla and Karta. You have entered into our territory.”

  I sucked in a gasp, my hand fluttering around my mouth.

  The short one—Amy—focused her eyes on me. A smile played about her lips, and she said, “You are Dekla.” She stepped forward and took my hand in both of hers. Her skin was soft, and only now that I was closer did I realize she was muc
h older than I had first thought. I had originally guessed her to be in her late twenties, but the smile wrinkles around her eyes made me think I was off by about two decades. Remembering how slowly we aged, I realized I could still be wrong.

  “So am I,” she said, releasing my hand and stepping back. “Dekla, I mean.”

  “You’ve been waiting for us,” I said, my eyes looking back and forth between the two of them.

  “Amy called you here,” Melissa said, lifting that square jaw. The short blond hair fell back from her face.

  “Anybody hungry?” Trey said, re-directing all eyes to him. “I think we better go inside to get our questions answered.”

  “And I thought you were only thinking of your stomach,” Meredith said.

  “Sometime I use my head,” Trey said casually.

  “You’ll never cease to amaze me,” Meredith replied.

  Melissa and Amy had already turned back toward the fast food joint, completely disinterested in anything else we had to say. I hurried to catch up with them, Beth on my heels. I thought we would sit down at a table and immediately begin to ask our questions, but instead they got in line behind the counter.

  Right. We still had to eat.

  “Get it to go,” Melissa said. “We can’t stay here.”

  I watched her and Amy move in front of us, tilting their heads toward each other as they spoke. They moved in a kind of rhythm, with the grace of dance partners familiar enough with each other and the dance to know the next step without asking. They placed their order and then went over to a side booth to wait.

  “What are you getting?” Beth asked.

  I studied the menu. “I’ll just take a grilled cheese sandwich.” Food was not foremost on my mind right now. My eyes kept looking at the two women, sitting at a booth now, and I was desperate to pepper them with my questions.

  “Me too,” Beth said.

  I placed the order for both of us, indicating Trey with my finger as the guy who would be paying. Then I joined Amy and Melissa at the table.

  “So how did you know I was coming?” I said, barely waiting for my rump to touch the bench before I started asking.

  “Laima told us,” Melissa said. “She asked us to set up a location and let you know.”