“Angel’s an empath. She’ll be able to find you someone who you can work with. I’ll text her to give you a call tomorrow, if that’s all right?”
“That’s fine. I’ll be home all day. I can’t handle going into work right now, and my boss gave me a month’s paid leave to get everything organized.” She shook her head. “I just can’t believe this has happened. I can’t believe our life just…shattered like this.”
“Unfortunately, chaos is a part of life and sometimes it hits like a sledgehammer.”
As we made our good-byes, I hated leaving her there alone at the table. She looked so lost. But there was nothing we could do to take away her pain, and all the distractions in the world wouldn’t help when the night fell and she was alone in her home, with the weight of memory pressing down on her shoulders.
Viktor and I drove Chaya’s route, but saw nothing unusual. I had no clue what we were looking for, but whatever it was, we didn’t find it. We drove back to the office, where I picked up Angel.
On the way home, I decided to stop for fast food. Neither Angel nor I would have time to cook that night. “What do you want, pizza? Chicken? Burgers? Fish?”
Angel was in the passenger seat, staring at her phone. “Hmm? Oh, anything’s fine. How about burgers? They’re easier to eat and less messy than some of the others.”
“Dusty Dan’s okay?”
“Fine.” She went back to staring at her phone.
Dusty Dan’s was a small burger joint near our home. I had bought a house on 36th Avenue, across from Discovery Park. Over the past nine months since we had moved in, we had been chipping away at the list of things we wanted to change. Now, the work we had put in on the side lot—a full-sized foliage-filled lot that had come with the place—was beginning to show. Our gardens were flourishing. We had dug through the weed-covered yard and exposed good soil, along with a number of beautiful bushes that had gotten lost beneath the tangle.
I eased into the takeout window and ordered four cheeseburgers, two large fries, and two orange sherbet shakes. Another ten minutes and we pulled into our driveway. Traffic was a bitch during rush hour, which lasted from three p.m. until seven p.m. most days.
After greeting Mr. Rumblebutt, my black Norwegian Forest cat, and making sure he was fed, we carried our food out to the patio and sat at the picnic table we had bought. It was still warm, though it would cool for the night soon, and the fresh air felt good.
“So, do you think you can find Isolde a therapist?” I opened one of the bags and spread out the burgers on the table while Angel took care of the fries and shakes. “She’s carrying around a lot of guilt over arguing with Chaya on the morning she disappeared.”
“Sure. I know quite a few qualified doctors who could help her. I can’t imagine what she’s going through. I lost Mama J., of course, and you lost your parents, but somehow that doesn’t quite seem the same as losing a spouse. Though I guess you can’t really qualify grief—it’s harsh no matter who it hits.” She unwrapped one of the burgers and the smell of freshly cooked beef and onions wafted out. “I’m hungry. So, why do you think Morgana wants to see you tonight?”
I shrugged, biting into my own burger. “I have no clue,” I said after swallowing. “These are good. I don’t know if I remembered to eat lunch today.” I paused, taking another bite, then asked, “Speaking of therapists, how’s Rafé?”
Angel licked ketchup off her fingers, then took a drink of her shake. “He’s doing better. He’s processing everything he went through and he’s a lot calmer now. He’s starting to look for work again. He made a huge decision, though.” She paused, glancing over at me. “He told me he’s going to stop acting. I can’t believe it. I thought acting was his life, but he said that after coping with what the Tuathan Brotherhood did to him, he doesn’t feel a passion for the stage anymore. He’s talking about going back to school to study psychology so he can help others who have been victimized.”
That was news. Rafé loved acting. And he was good at it.
“Wow. I never expected him to go that route.”
“Me either, but he said it just doesn’t feel like him anymore. The experience over on the peninsula changed him. Whatever the case, he seems to be a lot more centered than he was. Even before he was…” she paused, glancing down at her food.
“You have to say it sometime,” I said. “Rafé was tortured. He managed to survive, and he’s healed up from his physical wounds, but the ordeal isn’t going to just go away. Even with the therapy, it’s something he’ll always remember. And events like that can alter your life. It makes the world seem like a vastly different place. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that he’s changing his focus.” I popped a french fry into my mouth, then said, “How are you and he doing?”
She smiled then, the glow radiating through her face. Angel was gorgeous. She could have been a model, and at five-ten, she stood three inches taller than me. Her skin was a luminous brown, her hair coiling to her shoulders in tight curls, though she almost always wore it in a high ponytail. She was lithe, with the body of a swimmer. Rafé had skin as pale as hers was dark, and his shock of red hair and trim body complemented hers. They were a striking couple together.
“We’re doing better. For a while, I was ready to kick him to the curb, even though I knew it wasn’t his fault, but you know what? I’m glad I didn’t. He begged me not to give up on him, and he’s following through. He has his anger and cynicism under control. I think we’ll pull through this. I’m so grateful he’s healing.” She finished her dinner, leaving the extra cheeseburger for me. I had a much bigger appetite than she did.
I accepted the last sandwich. “So what’s Marilee going to teach you tonight?”
“I’m learning how to ward the house this week. She’s teaching me several protection rituals. I should be able to practice on our home in a couple weeks. Marilee says I have a natural gift for healing as well, and wants to teach me several spells. It feels so weird. I’m not a witch, I’m not Fae like you, but all of a sudden, here I am, learning magic.” She bit her lip, then added, “Marilee says she thinks Mama J. had some form of magical ability and that I inherited it. She thinks there may be some magic-born blood in my background. I want to get tested, though it kind of scares me. Because if I have it, then DJ will likely have it, too.”
I froze. “A wolf shifter using magic? That would be an unlikely scenario. I wonder how he would handle that knowledge. Wolf shifters are naturally suspicious of the magic-born, and magic. If you test true for it, how will you tell him?”
She shrugged. “I’ll deal with that when and if I get there. For one thing, it depends on how much. I mean, if I’ve only got a small percentage of magic-born in my background, then I doubt I would need to tell him. His wolf shifter nature is prominent.”
“But puberty often sets off latent abilities. That’s when you began noticing you were an empath, remember?” In fact, I remembered the very day when Angel told me that she had seen a dark cloud around our seventh-grade math teacher. The next day, he had died.
“I’ll talk to Cooper and ask him what he thinks.”
I finished the last of my meal and wiped my hands on a paper towel. “Okay, are you ready to head out? I need to get moving if I’m going to get through traffic in time to reach the marina.” The Fantastica was located in a slip in Portage Bay over in the North Broadway District. And while traffic should have eased up by now, I still didn’t want to be late. Morgana expected me to be on time and she didn’t accept bad traffic as an excuse.
We carried our garbage into the house, I gave Mr. Rumblebutt a quick cuddle, and then I headed for my car while Angel called for a taxi. It had been a long day, and it was about to get longer.
Chapter Six
The drive to Portage Bay took me only fifteen minutes—a surprisingly short time, except that it was finally past rush hour and I wasn’t driving downtown. The marina was near the Seattle Yacht Club, on a side street off of Fuhrman. Misty Lane ended in a small par
king lot, with six parking slots. Two were marked “Reserved” and the others were empty. I eased my car into the slot nearest the dock and stepped out into the cooling evening.
The sky was partially cloudy, but we weren’t due for rain for at least a week. I inhaled deeply, the smell of the water mingling with fresh lilacs and that slightly dusty scent that hangs heavy in the air on spring evenings. The sun was beginning to vanish below the horizon, spreading out in long crimson and yellow fingers. It was nearing eight p.m. I’d be right on time.
I headed toward the end of the dock, where a blue houseboat gently rocked on the waves. Single story, it was about the size of a school bus. Three other houseboats were moored in the slips before the Fantastica, two illuminated by lights from inside.
Sometimes I wondered what it would be like to live on the water. While the thought appealed to me, there was also my father’s blood, the Autumn Stalker who loved the foundation of solid ground and needed the deep forests and the craggy mountains nearby. My best bet, I thought, would be to live on a lake, or near the shore between forest and ocean. But that wasn’t likely to happen any time soon.
As I approached the door of the Fantastica, it opened before I could knock. Aoife stood there, her eyes shimmering with the same green as mine. Her waist-length blond hair was caught up in a tousled chignon, with golden strands lightly kissing her cheeks. Her eyes lit up when she saw me.
“Ember, welcome back. Morgana said you’d be coming tonight.” She stood back to allow me in. As I entered the houseboat, it was exactly as I remembered it from the last time I had been here. The main cabin was long and narrow, with bunk beds buttressing the end of the room. A sofa ran the length of the starboard wall, and the bathroom door stood to the right of the beds.
Another door next to the bathroom door led to a closet. The kitchenette lined half of the port wall, and the rest was taken up by a floor-to-ceiling bay window. Everything was decorated in shades of silver and gray, and it felt very misty.
“Should I change?” I asked. Sometimes, Morgana demanded those of us in her pledge to dress up when we entered her realm. It was more a show of respect than anything else, and the first time, I had balked at the tradition but now I just accepted it as matter of course.
“Please. You’ll find your dress in the closet.”
I opened the closet, expecting to see the gown I’d worn the last time I’d been here, but it had been replaced with a flowing gown the color of the indigo night, beaded with crystals. The gown had tank-top straps and a sweetheart neckline. It was fitted to the waist, then flowed out in a bohemian-style skirt.
“This is beautiful. You’re sure it will fit me?”
Aoife nodded. “Yes, it will fit. Go change.”
I carried the gown into the bathroom and slipped out of my jeans and top, adjusting my boobs. My bra did a good job of keeping them in place, but the underwire was wearing thin and the material was beginning to stretch a bit. I needed to go shopping. I slid the dress over my head and the gown fell loosely around my legs. It was so light that I almost felt naked, though I knew that I wasn’t anywhere near exposing anything except some cleavage.
I changed my boots for the slippers that went with the gown. They were better suited for walking in the sand, as I’d have to walk along the shore once I went through the portal. I stepped out of the bathroom with a smile on my face. It felt nice to be dressed up, especially after the heaviness of examining Mendin’s home, and of interviewing Isolde.
“I actually need this today,” I said, smiling at Aoife. “It’s been a rough day and it’s not likely to get any better for a week or so.” I brushed my hand across my forehead, wincing. “Have you got anything for a headache?”
“Ask Morgana when you get there. She’ll be able to help you.” Aoife led me to a ladder on the other side of the bathroom door that went to the roof. “Come.”
I began to climb, following her up the ladder. She opened the skylight overhead but we weren’t climbing onto any roof.
We climbed up onto a spit of sand next to a rolling ocean. The waves were continually singing their song as they crashed into the land and then withdrew, only to come rolling in again.
The sand spit led to a castle that was built out over the ocean. The castle was immense, rising glossy black against the setting sun, embossed with silver etchings that lined the base. There were sirens in those images, luring sailors into the ocean, and bas-reliefs of a regal people I did not recognize. The windows of the castle flickered with light from within, and a parade of battlements crowned the walls. It was still light enough to see the merlons jutting into the sky. As before when I had come here, the castle intimidated me. It seemed so heavy and oppressive for a goddess who lived on quicksilver and moonlight.
Aoife motioned to the path leading to the castle. “Do you remember the way, or do you need me to lead you again?”
“I remember the way,” I said. “If you’ll just wait for me so I can get back through the portal when I return.” I smiled at her. “Your life must be full of waiting.”
“It’s not so bad. I work every other week, so I have plenty of time off. And it’s not like I don’t have Netflix and an e-reader! Go now, and I hope you have a good visit.” She turned back to the portal and settled on a rock near the entrance.
I turned back to the castle. The path was barely twelve inches wide, and to my left were stark cliffs towering above the castle. Beyond the edge of the cliffs, it looked like a forest took hold, but I couldn’t see much of it from below. As I started walking, the sound of the ocean kept me company, the rolling waves hissing up to crash against the shore and then pull out for another assault against the land.
The water crashed around the foundation of the castle. How the structure sat atop the ocean, I didn’t know, but the black of the walls melded into the dark waters that constantly churned against it. The ocean was alive, both at home and here in Annwn, and magic hung heavy in the air, coming from the land, sky, and sea. Everything had a life force, and especially here, everything kept watch.
As I approached the doors of the castle, they swung wide. I entered the hall. Instantly I could feel the Unseen—those beings who walked between worlds. They were all around me, though I couldn’t see them. They seldom bothered with those on the physical planes, but now and then I knew they would come through the veils, either to help or to harm.
The hall was long and stark, illuminated by a cool, blue fire that flickered from the torches resting in wall sconces. At the end of the hall, I came to a pair of double doors. I remembered what Aoife had done the first time I arrived and placed my hand on a panel against the wall. The doors swung wide and I found myself facing a narrow path leading over the water that coiled and hissed inches below either side. The path led to a boulder the size of my house. I cautiously followed the path, placing one foot in front of the other as I navigated the narrow trail. Overhead, as when I had been here before, the clouds churned by, racing as if they were being chased by a devil. The air was thick and humid, and the smell of brine was everywhere.
I steeled myself, remembering that there were sirens in the water, and I held my breath as I passed the rocks where I knew they lurked. But this time, they were silent and didn’t try to lure me in. Before long, I was standing beside the boulder. Tall timber grew straight up out of the sea—fir and cedar. Steps, shimmering mother-of-pearl, led up to a throne created of seashells. Pearls and seaweed dripped down the throne in long strands, and the entire boulder was lined with crows, all watching me closely.
Morgana sat atop the throne, in all her beauty. Here, she dressed as the goddess she was. Her skin mirrored the pale moon, her hair was long and flowing, as black as the night sky and atop her head, and she wore a crystal tiara formed of aquamarine, amethyst, and pearls. Morgana wore a dress the color of spring rain, sheer and glittering with crystal beads, and I could see every inch of her beneath the diaphanous material. Her breasts were full and round, and her waist curved into her hips in a smooth
, sensuous flow.
She held out one hand as I approached, her fingers beckoning me to come forward. “Ember, well met, my pledgling.”
I sank into a curtsey, feeling overwhelmed. When she came into our realm, Morgana still felt every inch the goddess, but she was more relatable, more human. Here, her divinity shone forth, and she felt vast as the ocean, as distant as the stars studding the sky.
“My Lady,” I said, my eyes fastened on her face. She was beauty incarnate, with a wild, feral streak that both appealed to me and terrified me.
“Rise, Ember, and be seated.” She waited until I obeyed, then let out a long breath. “I assume you’re wondering why I called you here.”
“Yes,” I stammered, sitting on a bench by the bottom of her throne. “Did I do something wrong?”
Morgana stood, descending the steps to her throne to sit beside me on the bench. And in the blink of an eye, she felt more the Morgana I knew, less terrifying and more friendly.
“Wrong? No, child, you did nothing wrong. But I wanted to talk to you about something. It’s something you need to be aware of and I’m going to set you a task to correct it.”
I blinked. “Correct what? Then I have done something wrong?”
“Not at all,” she said, shaking her head. “When I talk of correction, I mean righting an imbalance that has to do with both sides of your heritage. You’ve been relying on your father’s blood heavily and it’s clogging up your magic.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Think of it this way. You have two magical heritages within you. They aren’t well aligned and they don’t act together easily. The Cruharach allowed you to merge them enough to move into your adulthood, but you rely on your father’s blood more than your mother’s. Put simply, doing so bottlenecks your Leannan Sidhe abilities. If you don’t start using your mother’s power more, you’ll find both sides weakened. You have to maintain a balance.”
Sun Broken Page 6