by Coralie Moss
Alabastair turned his head side to side, searching the ground. “There should be portal stones here, and there are not. I can see I’m going to have to devote an inordinate amount of time to replenishing this poor tree.” Offering one arm, he turned his hand palm up and beckoned. “If you step close enough to touch me, we can travel together without the stones.”
My fingertips hovered over the thick tendon at the base of his wrist. His pale skin, with its greenish undertone, had the dulled lustre of old marble. I made contact with Bas, wary of a sudden reaction, and searched for his eyes in the shadows cast by the cape’s hood. One brief moment of hesitation, enough to register that I might want to rethink his invitation, maybe even get a second opinion, before Alabastair pulled me toward him.
Too late to leave a voicemail or a text, it occurred to me that no one besides Malvyn and perhaps Maritza knew where I was going. I gripped Bas’s wrist.
“I won’t bite.” He chuckled. “But do hold tight.”
Travelling through a portal was like being sucked through a huge tube while wearing a full-body blood pressure cuff. The trip lasted seconds before solid ground met my feet and the squeezing sensation released.
I gasped and wobbled in place, Alabastair at my side. A faint meow and the sound of hacking came from inside the canvas bag.
“Duck,” I said.
We had emerged in a far corner of the Flechette estate, somewhat hidden underneath the draping branches of a weeping cherry. The tree was one of four, if memory served, planted around a working fountain. A similar grouping of four trees and a fountain graced the opposite corner, one-quarter of a mile away.
In the center of this fountain was a scarily well-rendered likeness of a winged fairy caught by her ankle and anchored to a faux rock. Knowing what I did, I would bet good money the fairy was once a living being, now locked in place by Meribah’s misdeeds.
“We can see about freeing her later,” said Alabastair. “Right now, we need the cat.”
When I unzipped the bag, Jasper paused, hopped out, and switched into high alert. His tail straightened and lowered. He went into a half-crouch and emitted a low growl.
I beckoned Bas closer. I didn’t want our voices to carry. “The witch who left him at our house said Jasper’s attuned to sensing Fae magic. I’m not sure exactly what she meant, but my kids told me the cat can ameliorate the effects of Fae poisoning.”
Bas nodded. “You seem to have good rapport. What’s he saying?”
I had to stifle a snort. Reading Jasper’s body language was easy: Danger Ahead. “Exercise caution. That’s what I would say too. I was married to a man who grew up here,” I added. “And I hate this place.”
A cool, heavy hand patted my shoulder. “We all have our crosses to bear. Lucky you could drop yours and move on.” He sucked in his breath. “You said was married. I hope you’re implying you’re divorced now?”
“Gleefully divorced, Bas. And only recently discovered a lot of crappy things about him and his family, hence the reason behind why we’re here.” I stood, careful to not disturb the nearby branches. Alabastair followed my actions, while being forced to maintain a slight hunch to his shoulders. I asked, “Now what?”
He tapped his watch and read. “Missing Magicals. Hidden in plain sight. Mark locations. Free if possible.” He tapped the watch again. The glowing face disappeared, and he leaned closer. “Sounds like Malvyn’s prisoners are trying to exchange information for a lighter sentence.”
I agreed. “Any clues as to what type of Magical we’re looking for? Because we could start with the fountains.”
I pointed to the unmoving figure. Made sense to me the right spell could make anything look like it was concrete. Or marble.
Jasper agreed. Body hovering above the grass, tail streaming behind him, he dashed to the edge of the fountain and stopped. The rim rose about three feet off the ground. The cat hopped up and began to circle. During the day, water flowed out of the sculpture’s mouth. The late hour meant the pump and spotlights were off.
“Stay close.” Bas parted the slender branches and held them open for me.
Side by side, we followed Japer’s path to the fountain. The cat circled once, then again, and began another round, stopping at the ten to our six. His eyes focused on the statue’s face, flickering from amber to a steady bright green. Jasper then hunkered down and spat at the fairy, over and over, firing saliva like it was a weapon.
Cracks split the air like a skater skimming over black ice. Except this wasn’t winter and the water in the fountain wasn’t frozen. A section of the statue fell off and plopped into the water. Jasper hissed again, coughed, and lowered his whiskered face to drink.
Bas and I crept around to the left until we faced the statue—the most delicate, living and breathing creature I had ever seen.
Chapter 14
“What is she?”
“True Fae,” said Bas. “Seelie Court. Usually more on the side of do-gooders than evil-mongers.”
All at once, the front of the statue shattered. Pieces rained into the fountain, splashing us. The last section to go was the claw-like hand clutching her ankle. Three fingers broke off, allowing her to fall forward into Bas’s waiting arms.
“Sister,” she murmured, her jaw trembling. “Free my sister.”
“I know where the other fountain is,” I said.
Jasper had plunged his face into the water as soon as Bas had the fairy and drank greedily.
“Jasper? You ready?” I dashed back to the canvas bag and grabbed the protein bar I’d packed. “It’s not fresh fish,” I said, crumbling the bar to pieces in my palm, “but it’s packed with protein.”
He chewed fast.
“Let’s go.” I dropped the rest into the bag.
I set the pace and led our foursome to the back wall of the property. A slow run got us to the other fountain without getting winded. I was dying for a closer peek at the Fae. Bas seemed determined to get her wrapped in his cloak, but she fought him off, pointing toward the statue and snapping her teeth.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “I get it. Sister first.”
Jasper repeated the same projectile spitting routine. The statue’s hard exterior cracked and fell. The sisters had a quick, wordless reunion then scrutinized the cat, the caped man, and me. Either the girls were planning an escape or getting ready to blink themselves to another dimension.
Look at me, travelling by portal and thinking in terms of Magicals occupying different dimensions.
“Wait.” I held up my hand. “Alabastair, do you think these two are it, or are there more trapped Magicals?”
Bas crouched. The fairies were slight. At his full height he could be intimidating, right up until he opened his mouth. He spoke a few words, maybe phrases, in a tongue I didn’t recognize.
The sisters looked at each other. The second one answered, “We speak your language. There are two hidden folk here, trapped as we were. Please free them and help us get back to our…” They turned pleading eyes to me. “Our boyfriends were caught too.”
“Are your boyfriends named Peasgood and Hyslop?” I asked, grabbing my lightbulb moment.
They nodded in unison. They did a lot in unison.
“How did you guess?” asked fairy number one.
“Long story,” I said. “They’re free and safe and with our friends. Let’s get you reunited.” I reached for Bas’s shoulder and squeezed. “Can we go now?”
He unfolded his long legs and stood. “The sooner the better. Grab the cat. I’ll take the sisters,” he said and looked from one to the other, “if they’ll allow?”
They nodded, leapt into his arms, and drew the sides of his cape around their shoulders. Alabastair took off toward the cluster of weeping cherry trees and our portal, and I bent to pick up Jasper. The cat resisted then gave in. I ventured a guess all that spitting was exhausting.
Bas waved at me. “Would you please hurry?” he hissed. “Someone’s coming, and this is going to take two trips.�
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“What?” Oh, hell no. No.
He put his forefinger to his lips. “Be right back.”
I stuffed Jasper into the canvas bag and dug my toes into the trimmed and prickly over-watered grass. A heavy body was running toward me—two heavy bodies—and I knew exactly who they were by the amount of stomach acid charging up my throat. I stepped away from Jasper, whipped my wand out of my pants, and pointed in the direction of Doug and his brother.
The men’s faces, silvered by the light reflecting off their outstretched and fully armored fingers, were bloodthirsty. The Doug and Roger I had known in my early-twenties were abandoned to memory, their true faces now revealed more sharply than the night they’d crashed my party.
I gripped my little wand hard. I’d never felt this vulnerable and ill-equipped to handle a dangerous situation in my life. No Tanner, no Christoph, no mother.
Until Bear rose up on its legs behind me, surrounding my shoulders with fur.
A loud and steady heart reverberated against my back. Bear roared its displeasure.
Doug skidded to a stop, arms out to the side in what I was fast learning was a favored pre-strike stance of the Fae, and laughed. “Are you growling at me?”
I shook off his sarcasm. Bear growled again, the sound moving through its chest, into mine, and out of my throat.
My throat. I was the one growling. And holding up a stubby crabapple stick against magic-infused metal and an overflow of rage. My dirtied toes tried desperately to hold ground with what strength the little digits had left.
Shit.
Roger tapped his brother’s extended, weaponized fingernails with his own. “If she gets away, it’s your ass on the line.”
I pointed the tip of my wand at Roger, ready to buy myself a few extra seconds with my full-name spell, when my waist was circled by a steady arm corded with muscles of steel.
“Got you,” Bas said, squeezing me hard. The air punched out of my chest. “Close your eyes. This is going to be a bumpy ride.”
Doug’s roar, heard way too often this summer, echoed in my ears.
Bas held me, and I held the bagged cat—that much I was aware of—and the suction I’d felt on my first portal ride returned. This time we landed at the ocean’s edge, scrambled across barnacled rocks and up an embankment to an Arbutus tree, and were pulled into the suction again.
I opened my eyes when we stopped. My feet slipped on astroturf in a lit-up sculpture park in what looked like Seattle. I dry-heaved, closed my eyes for another leg of Portalmania, and finally caught my breath under the familiar arms of my crabapple tree.
Bas let me go. I rolled to my side and lost my cookies in the grass. Throwing up was becoming a thing, and I was tiring of it, fast. Belle must have an herbal remedy. Or maybe the combination of both real and existential nausea were part and parcel of awakening one’s magic.
While I philosophized in my head and waited for another wave of queasiness to pass, Alabastair called to me. “Calliope Jones, you are magnificent. Let’s get you washed up.”
“Where’s Jasper?”
Bas held up the bag, still zippered shut. “In here. You might want to wait to let him out. I think he’s a bit peeved.”
“Where are the fairy sisters?”
Before Bas could answer, headlights swept the driveway. A car engine cut out. More lights, higher up, signaled the arrival of another vehicle. A truck engine choked, four doors slammed one after the other, and familiar voices called out across the front of the house.
“They’re back,” I said.
“Are they good guys or bad guys?” asked Alabastair.
“Really good guys.” I wiped my mouth with the bottom edge of my long-sleeved T-shirt. “Come and meet some of my family.”
Bas passed me the handles of the canvas bag. “Another time,” he whispered. “I took the fairies to their boyfriends, and I must go back. Maritza will expect me to ask them all the questions, and I want to have all the answers. She’s that thorough, and I’m that eager to please.”
He probably couldn’t see my weak smile, but I was pretty sure my new friend had a crush on his teacher.
“Will I see you again?” I asked.
“Yes, my dear Calliope, you will see a lot of me in the coming months.” Bas gave another dramatic flourish of his cape, touched the crabapple tree, and winked away.
“C’mon, Jasper.” I hauled the bag across the grass to the accompaniment of growls. “The kids are home.”
Rounding the side of the house, I waved at Wes and winced. Barnacles had cut up my feet. Christoph gave me a hug and a worried glance. “Did you just throw up?”
“Puked right over there in the grass,” I said. “I’ll tell you about it later. Did you find everything you need?”
“Let’s just say it’s good that I have a bottomless credit card.”
I must have looked confused.
He wiped his hand over his face. “Endless? Wes, what’s the word I’m looking?”
“No credit limit,” answered Wes. “And I say we leave everything in the truck overnight and unload in the morning.”
I agreed and bent to unzip the bag holding the cat.
Thatcher came barreling out of the house, “Mom, where’s Jasper? I can’t find him, and I’ve looked everywhere.”
A feline wail split the air. Jasper hissed at me before tearing up the porch stairs and launching himself into Thatcher’s arms.
“Hey, boy, where you been?” said Thatch.
“We had an adventure,” I said, “and I think he’s upset. It took us three portal stops to make it home.”
“Mom! You got to try out the portal? Which one, the crabapple tree?”
“Yes and yes. And right now I need to get some antibiotic ointment on my feet and go to sleep. I’ll tell you all about it in the morning.”
Thatcher waved and ducked into the house.
I turned to Wes. “I met that Portal Keeper you and Kaz were talking about. His name is Alabastair. Malvyn sent him here, via Maritza. We ended up at Meribah’s estate near Victoria, located the two fairies we were sent to find, and liberated them using Jasper’s spit.” I paused, took in a breath, and let it out. “Yes, you heard that right. Cat spit. Doug and Roger caught us, caught me—Bas was portaling the fairies to the Pearmain’s—and…”
“Calliope, stop.” Wes held up his hand then opened his arms.
I accepted the offered hug. “I was scared shitless. They were out for my blood. Bas got me out of there just in time.”
Wes patted my back in a brotherly way. “You need to wash your feet and sleep,” he counselled. “Ro’s on her way over. We’ll take turns on watch. We already discussed it.”
“Doesn’t she need to sleep too?”
“She got another doctor to take her on-call shift for the rest of the weekend.”
I collapsed with relief. One part of my brain cowered in fear of what Doug’s—or his mother’s—next step might be. The rest of my brain wanted to check out. “I wish I didn’t have to rely on all of you all the time. But thank you.”
I went for a second shower of the night and made it a quick one. Sitting on the edge of my bed, bandaged feet splayed on the floor, I drew the pillow Tanner had used to my chest. Floorboards thrummed under my feet at my heels and toe pads and sent the gentle vibrations up the leg bones to my knee joints. I pressed my nose into the soft cotton, closed my eyes, sent out a search party through my toes.
Where is he?
My house pushed aside my question, showed me an image of its structural interior, the essential pieces covered by plasterboard, tongue-and-groove paneling, tile, and maple slats. My house rested on the foundation of the house that was here before it and the one before that. Outbuildings had come and gone, but the original footprint was true to its origins.
My house was casting its vote: No additions. No alterations to the beams that created the A-frame’s sturdy skeleton. No peeling back of its skin, no “freshening” of its exterior.
House approved of bunkbeds and boarders—that was every bit as clear. And House could find no connection to Tanner’s whereabouts. I lifted one foot and bent that leg to rest on the cotton sheet.
A tug kept the toes of my other foot floor-bound for one more piece of information.
Traces of Meribah’s blood mingled with others’ blood in the packed dirt of the root cellar. The same root cellar where cousins had trapped me in a game of hide-and-seek the summer after my mother died.
* * *
I did not sleep well. Even with Tanner’s faint scent in my nostrils and the pillow clenched to my chest, I couldn’t shake the last image my house had sent. I reached for my cell phone, swiped through my messages, and called Harper.
“Hey, Mom,” he greeted. “How are you?”
“I’m okay. Just checking in. How’s Leilani?”
“She’s good. We’re both good. Making a plan with James about how to stay normal in abnormal times.”
“Is Malvyn home?”
“Mal’s due back by lunchtime today.”
“Have you talked to your brother?”
“He called me from the ferry last night and filled me in. Pretty intense scene, Mom.”
“Rowan’s witch friend has helped Sallie a lot. You’ll have to come by and meet the cat she left.”
“Yeah, Thatch was telling me about Jasper. Lei-li’s totally jealous.”
Silence.
“I love you, Harper. Maybe we can get everyone together for dinner tonight or tomorrow.”
“Sure, Mom. Love you too.”
I called Thatcher next, even though he was just upstairs.
“Mom? Where are you?”
“My room,” I said. “I talked to Harper.”
Thatch’s voice went to a whisper. “I miss the old days. When it was just us.” I missed them too. “But then I look at Sallie and Christoph, and they need us.”
“Yes, they do.”
“I like having a great-grandfather. And not just because he’s got a ridiculously high credit limit and wants to buy us, like, all the stuff. I hope he stays here a long time.”