by JJ King
“I’ll do it,” Rose leaned forward, a look of pure hope on her face. She reached across the table, stopping just inches from Quinn’s arm and pleaded, “Please, I need to know.”
Quinn stared at her for a long moment, then nodded, “Alright, let’s head back to the hotel.”
Rose shook her head, “Can you do it here? I don’t want to wait.”
Katherine pushed her emotions out and into her mate, sending him every ounce of hope, fear, and confusion inside her. He took a deep breath, turning to her with wide eyes, and raised a hand to her face. “For you, anything,” he pressed his lips to hers.
Quinn leaned forward and touched his hand to Rose’s face. Katherine remembered when he’d slipped into her mind, showing her his memories as a child of the Old Ones speaking with him. She’d been surrounded by him, his mind and very soul, and something had blossomed within her. She’d found out she was pregnant shortly after.
Quinn didn’t close his eyes, this time. He focused on Rose who remained motionless and unblinking. Minutes ticked by in silence and Katherine became aware of the librarian looking their way, her forehead creased in disapproval. To her it probably looked like Quinn and Rose were practicing the Vulcan mind meld. Let her think they were geeks, she thought, the impression wasn’t completely wrong in either case.
Rose made a mewling sound in the base of her throat and dropped her head just as Quinn pulled his hand back. Katherine’s head swiveled back and forth between Quinn and Rose as she waited for one of them to speak.
Quinn broke the silence. “She is who she says she is. The daughter of my sister’s best friend and completely innocent in all of this.” He touched Katherine with a reassuring smile, “She’s your sister.”
Katherine reacted, reaching for Rose before she could stop herself. She gripped her sister’s hand and squeezed, feeling tears run down her cheeks. Without saying a word, she pressed her emotions into Rose who took a deep breath and let her own tears spill free.
Chapter Ten
Rose looked over Katherine’s shoulder as she tabbed down through the emailed report. She stopped halfway down at the list of ingredients found in the serum and pointed, “I’ve never heard of this one.” She highlighted the words and copied them, then opened a search engine and pasted them in. She pulled up the first webpage to appear.
Katherine scrolled down the page reading aloud, “Arenariaciliata, the fringed sandwort is a perennial herb of the family Caryophyllaceae.” She mumbled the next bit to herself, “Science, science, science… and…” Katherine spun around and grabbed Rose’s arm, pulling her down into the seat next to her. “Read this!”
Rose skimmed the page, her eyes moving over the words then back to the start to reread as her mouth gaped open. “Oh my god.” She sat back in shock while Katherine bounced in her seat, wearing a wide smile.
“What?” Quinn and the others gathered round them, pushing in to read what was on the screen. “It was discovered in Ireland in 1806 growing on Benbulbin in county Sligo. This remains the only known Irish population.” He rocked back, gripped Katherine’s chair, and grinned, “Well shit.”
“I’ve seen that before,” Rose muttered, staring at the picture of the small white flowers. The harder she searched for the memory, the further away it slipped, until frustration flared and she cursed. “Damnit, I know I’ve seen it before.” She chewed on her thumbnail, “Can you search fringed sandwort and Benbulbin to see if there’s anything more.” Rose held back from snatching the laptop away from Katherine. They’d never been allowed to use the computers Raphael had kept in the castle, so she knew Katherine would find the information quicker than she ever could but anticipation made her fingers itch and her skin tingle.
Katherine punched in the new search words, clicked on news, and selected the first article to pop up. She read aloud, skimming the irrelevant parts, “…not all plants and animals struggle through the cold months, and some of them may have important lessons for modern medicine. The most notable of these is the humble fringed sandwort plant. Walk up Benbulbin on these cold January days and you’ll see it growing on the hills. This hardy plant thrives in the coldest conditions.”
An image of the flowers and her mother sprang to life inside Rose’s mind, but it refused to come into focus. She closed her eyes and willed it to clear, but it kept slipping away. Not willing to let it go, she turned and motioned for Quinn, “There’s something in my memory, but I can’t get it. Can you help me?”
Without a word, he touched her face and closed his eyes. Rose stared at him, waiting for something to happen, disappointed when nothing….
She was young, maybe two or three years old, and tiny enough to be able to hide in the nightstand beside her mother’s bed in her human form. She was hiding there from Skyla and the other young girls, giggling because they were never going to find her there. She felt sleepy after a while when they didn’t find her so she’d closed her eyes and dozed off, until the door to the room flew open, crashing loudly against the wall, and her mother raced in, slamming it shut behind her. Rose had woken with a start, her heart racing in her chest, and reached to open the nightstand door, when the door shoved open again and Raphael’s familiar footsteps had frozen her in place.
Fear and curiosity mixed in her tummy, giving her strange butterflies as she watched through a tiny slit in the stand. She didn’t like him and she didn’t like the way he made mama hurt.
He’d growled at mama, turning Rose’s stomach sour, and gestured wildly. It was hard to see from her hiding spot, but she could hear perfectly.
“It could be a lot different here for you and the girl if you weren’t so fucking proud.” He snarled.
“It’s not pride, Raphael,” her mother had laughed, mocking him. Rose had felt terror spring to life inside her and tears began to course down her cheeks as she prayed for her mother’s safety. There was one rule in the house that nobody ever dared to break; never talk back to Raphael.
Her mother had ignored the rule. “It’s disgust. I hate you more than I ever knew someone could hate. You’re sick and I could never love you.”
“Then rot!” Raphael had roared, lifting his hand high to crash down on June’s lovely face. Rose had watched in horror as her mother fell to the floor, cradling her cheek, but refusing to cower. She’d climbed to her feet and stood, unrelenting, before their captor, until he huffed out a frustrated breath and stalked out of the room, leaving a bouquet of white flowers lying on the floor at her mother’s feet.
Rose opened her eyes wide, breathing heavily as Quinn dropped his fingers from her face and backed away. She couldn’t speak, yet, couldn’t share the memory that she now wished had stayed hidden. The thought of Raphael, with his stench and insane eyes, touching her mother, bringing her flowers… it was too much.
“Rose?” Keme’s voice interrupted her thoughts. Everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to share the memory Quinn had rooted out of her brain. She looked at them, so normal, each and every one of them, and felt completely alone. She reached into her bag for a bottle of water.
She took a long swallow, wetting her incredibly dry throat, and turned to face them. “I just saw something that happened when I was a little child. I think,” she wiped the drops of water from her mouth, not ready to say what she’d remembered but needing them to hear it, “Raphael had feelings for my mother.” Her stomach churned at the thought, at the memory of his offered flowers.
“Feelings, like feelings feelings?” Daphne stressed her words carefully, a look of surprised disgust on her face.
Rose nodded slowly. “He brought her flowers,” she pointed to the screen with a leaden hand, “those flowers, and told her life could be different for her,” Rose frowned, “and me, if she wasn’t so proud.”
Daphne’s eyebrows soared, “So…?” She seemed unwilling to ask the real question.
“So, my mother was a strong wolf and refused to give into a sadistic murderer.” Rose spat out, her emotions in turmoil. Now that she�
�d found this memory, more were pouring in. She’d been young, but she’d been a keen observer. That hadn’t been the first gesture Raphael had made, and it hadn’t been the last. She frowned, “I don’t think that was the only time he brought her those flowers.”
“Really?” Katherine clicked on a picture of the flowers growing atop Benbulbin Mountain and pointed. “These flowers don’t grow anywhere else in Ireland besides right there. If Raphael had some, he had to have been on the mountain.”
Daphne nodded, “And if he brought them multiple times…” her face widened in a smile. “It means he was up there often, as in, maybe his lab was up there somewhere.”
“But where?” Keme held out his cell phone with a Google Earth image of the region. “There’s nothing anywhere near Classiebawn or Benbulbin Mountain but rocks.”
“That’s not technically true,” Ronan spoke up. Rose looked across the room to where he sat and waited; he didn’t usually speak unless he had something worth saying.
“The Dartry Mountains surrounding Classiebawn are filled with caves,” he continued. “I did a bit of digging last night and there’s apparently only one decent cave near the top of Benbulbin. Emphasis on “decent,” because there are supposed to be a ton of smaller caves scattered over the range. If Raphael has been living at Classiebawn all this time, it’s possible he could have created a lab right in the mountain.”
Rose sat still while her brain spun. She’d spent her entire life staring out at that monolithic mountain range, wondering about Yeats’ fairies, dreaming that they were real and would come take her and the others away someday. They’d never come, but maybe, there was something even more fantastic hidden in the caves of Benbulbin. Her family. “How do we find it? That mountain is huge.”
Ronan’s face brightened. It was nice to see, she thought, as he pushed to his feet and stretched. “Let’s go for a hike.”
♀♀♀
Daphne set her pace to Rose’s stride and walked beside her for a few minutes before working up the will to speak. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, feeling like a child being forced to apologize.
Rose cocked her head to the side to look at Daphne, but remained silent with a look of expectation on her face. The only allowance she gave was a slight arch to her brow.
Touché, Daphne thought, appreciating the woman’s tactics, if indeed they were tactics. She always thought in terms of war, because that was what court was, really. Being a lawyer, fighting for her client, finding just the right way to phrase something or present evidence was what made her heart race and her days exciting. She missed it, desperately at times, but there were greater things at risk now, bigger challenges to meet. Still, she and Katherine commiserated from time to time, over a pint late at night when the others were attempting to discuss topics other than life and death.
Rose was a worthy opponent, strong and in total control of her reactions, for the most part. Most people would jump at the opening she’d given, asking questions, demanding answers, but not Rose. No, she just waited patiently, giving Daphne just enough leeway to either hang herself or find the words she needed to make things right.
Daphne sighed and tried again, “I’m sorry.”
Again, Rose remained close-lipped, making Daphne’s well practiced speech slip away to be replaced by a fissure of anger.
Daphne shook her head, narrowing her eyes at Rose, “No, actually, I’m not sorry,” she kept her voice low so the others wouldn’t hear, even though she was sure they were all listening. Damn wolves. “I did what was best for the group, for my friends. I’m not sorry for asking the hard questions and finding proof before trusting you.”
“And do you trust me now?” Rose asked quietly, no trace of amusement in her tone. She stopped, turning toward Daphne with arms crossed in front of her and a frown marring her beautiful face.
Daphne stared at her, so young but with so many scars. She was a fighter, Daphne respected that, she respected her. Well fuck… “I do.” She admitted, somewhat reluctantly.
Rose’s straight features cracked as a smile spread across her face and amusement filled her dark eyes, “On a scale of one to ten, how painful was that?”
“A fucking twelve,” Daphne chuckled, turning back onto the trail. The others had gained ground on them, so she sped up with Rose by her side. Curiosity built in silence until Daphne couldn’t hold it back, “When this is all over, what are you going to do?”
“I haven’t really thought that far,” Rose confessed, glancing over with a shrug. “My life hasn’t exactly been full of long term plans.”
Daphne mulled that over. Even when she’d been a young girl hating her parents for refusing to split up and find better mates, she’d still had permanence. Her family, her people, her land. She couldn’t imagine growing up surrounded by danger and uncertainty, or the damage it would to do to a young wolf. Daphne decided to fuck boundaries and went for it, not caring if she was overstepping, “What about Liam?”
Rose took a deep breath, as if she were about to go underwater and stay for as long as she could. Her face was a study in what the fuck if Daphne ever saw one.
“I have no bloody idea.” Rose said slowly, spacing the words out with emphasis. She turned to look at Daphne with big eyes, filled with wonder and confusion, and Daphne couldn’t help it, she giggled.
Rose blushed, her cheeks turning rosy pink, and let her cheeks turn up. She slapped a hand to her face, covering her mouth, trying to hold back the laughter, but it proved too much and soon she dissolved with Daphne following suit.
“Did you see the way he looks at me?” Rose managed to whisper between giggles that made her look even younger than she was.
Daphne nodded, brushing tears from her face, “He looks like he wants to eat you! But you don’t see the way you look at him.”
Rose’s eyes blurred, looking far away for a moment before snapping back into the present. “Huh? Did you say something?”
Daphne doubled over, laughing so hard her stomach hurt. She clutched at it, gasping for breath on the side of Benbulbin Mountain with the threat of a madman looming over them. She laughed because it felt good and because it felt like a giant fuck you to Raphael.
“Catch up ladies,” their guide called out with a too chipper voice, her fresh face beaming out at them from under a baseball hat that read “Yeats Country Hikes.” Ronan had suggested the tour hike up the South side as camouflage, a way to hide out in the open amongst the tourists eager to hike the table top range. They’d also agreed that disguises would be a good idea, so each of them had taken the time to change their hair color with temporary dye and add Superman style accessories that shouldn’t fool anyone. They’d also used the remaining vial of scent eraser.
“Coming!” They called out together, causing another round of laughter.
They picked up the pace and moved through the group until they joined Katherine, Quinn, Keme, and Ronan, who were dressed in hiking gear with obnoxious trekking poles and hydration packs that weren’t necessary for such an easy climb. They stood out like sore thumbs but looked completely at home among the group of eager hikers.
“Hey,” Keme sidled up beside her and pulled her in for an easy hug. “We were just discussing our jump off point.” He kept his voice pitched low since they were surrounded by humans. “There’s only one cave included in the tour, but it’s pretty big. We stop there for lunch so we should have a decent amount of time to search it.”
“It’ll be hard to search with the rest of the group watching,” Daphne murmured, snuggling into his side as they walked together.
“Yeah, which is why we’re going to split it into sections so we can cover more ground without being obvious.”
Daphne nodded, “Smart.” She licked her lips, thinking about the cave, “With all these tours coming through, there’s little chance Raphael would be using it for an entrance. It’s probably well searched already.”
“We figured the same thing. Which is why we’ll branch off from the group and s
tay the night. There are smaller caves not included in the tour that are more likely to be access points. They have waivers for us to sign if we decide to stay. Hikers do it all the time so we won’t stand out.”
They’d thought it through, as much as they could, and now all their hopes were balanced on one of them finding evidence of a deeper, man-made cave somewhere on the mountain. It would be a long tedious day, but at least they were outside, finally, after too many days of being cooped up. Her wolf was ecstatic to be in the fresh air. The only thing that would make it happier would be to change and run as fast as her paws could take her. Soon, she promised herself, hoping she was telling herself the truth.
As they got closer to the top, the air that had been hot at the base of the mountain changed, becoming crisp. Daphne didn’t mind it, she liked the cool wind and missed the weather in her home province, something she’d never thought possible. Newfoundland was infamous for its quick changing weather and short summers.