Queens of Wings & Storms

by Angela Sanders et al.

  When her mother had come through the door, Taimi first assumed it was Ranger. But the welcome died when she realized who it was. To her surprise her mother didn’t try to compel her. Taimi darted outside and the others followed. They all now stood on the grassy surface, near the sliding door. Now that the moment was upon them, she was frozen with fear and weird relief.

  “How did you find me? I’m not going back there. You can’t make me. Leave me alone. Just leave me alone.”

  “Your phone may have been off, but I was still able to track you through it. Taimi, I am your mother. I promise you. Things will be different. Just come home with me.”

  “I won’t.” She backed up a step.

  Melinda’s face twisted, pain crossing her features. “It was a mistake to do what I did. Come home. I will take you to where I found you, and you can meet all your sister Hamadryads. Without me, you will never understand where you came from. I’ve been your mother your entire life. Please.”

  She had never watched her mother beg. She was a witch, used to getting her own way, and she never asked Taimi to do anything, she told her what to do. She bit her lip in uncertainty. Part of her desired to run into her mother’s embrace and go back to the way things were.

  Her mother stood there, her body trembling, her arms outstretched. Behind her were the two members of the coven, standing at attention. Taimi focused on one of them. Her lips were moving but the rest of her was still. The vista blurred in front of her. Taimi couldn’t be sure of anything. A string was compelling her toward her mother, back where she belonged.

  She took a step forward, still not close enough for her mother to touch. The tree women swayed with the wind. Ranger and his aunt Lizzy hovered in the patio doorway.

  “I don’t know, Mother,” she said, grimacing when her voice was shaky. In moments, her mother would be able to grab her and take her away. Taimi hesitated.

  He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. She was going to go back to her mother. After all that, she was going to go back to the woman who had enslaved her. Ranger stood rooted to the spot like his own version of a tree, unable to believe what he was witnessing. All of it, the rescue, the running, the dryads, it was all for nothing.

  “Ranger.” His aunt whispered his name and then said it a little louder. “Ranger.”

  Her attention was fixed on a woman behind Taimi’s mother. She was blurry, like rain on a windshield. He glanced from the indistinct woman to Taimi and grasped that she was staring at Taimi. No time for subtlety. Ranger partially shifted, willing just his head and hands to turn into a dragon, something he couldn’t sustain for more than a minute. His head expanded and his hands turned to claws. He focused on the woman. She had something in her hands and was aiming it toward Taimi. Ranger roared, snapping his teeth and directing a stream of weak fire toward the woman.

  The woman shrieked and fell back. The object dropped from her hand with a clatter. He took a swipe toward her, although he was too far away to touch her. It didn’t stop the woman from backing away. Taimi’s mother turned toward Ranger with a snarl.

  He shifted back into his regular form, leaving everyone blinking. He tried not to appear smug. He had practiced that again and again with his parents, groaning at the time when they’d forced him to do it, but it had all been worth it.

  Taimi shook her head like a dog, as though she were once again aware of her surroundings. Ranger glared at the woman, who was staring at him.

  Taimi focused on what the woman had dropped on the ground. Ranger followed her gaze. It was a short, stout thing, more a stick than a wand, but with a tapered end that left little doubt as to its use. Taimi gave a shocked cry and stepped back, away from her mother.

  “You would…oh, Mother…you tried to compel me. You’ve been using magic this whole time.” The words were torn from Taimi, a tortured shriek that made Ranger flinch. He moved to go to her, but his aunt’s hand on his arm stilled his movement. She nodded with her head toward the pair and he subsided.

  Taimi’s face changed, going hard, in that moment much older than her sixteen years.

  “I only ever thought about what’s best for you,” Melinda said. She was almost within touching distance. To Ranger’s relief, Taimi took a step back.

  Ranger’s attention was diverted by the rod on the earth. It shifted and slid a few inches, vibrating as though dancing. A root shot out of the ground and curled around the wand and then pulled it under the soil. A moment later there was the cracking of wood shattering.

  “Yes,” Dáire said behind them. “That’s right, Taimi. Feel your power. It is inside you—it has been there this entire time.”

  Her mother was still far too close to Taimi for his liking, but somehow, his Hamadryad was much further away from her mother than she had been moments ago.

  “I do feel it. After all this time, I appreciate what I am. To hell with you, Miranda.”

  She turned away from her mother as though the woman meant nothing. Melinda let out a cry and began to wail.

  Chapter 7

  Plants susurrated under her feet, clover and bits of grass spoke to her in their unique way. It was the language of the green, not of mortals. It was the speech of the trees in the yard and beyond, the flowers that were quiet in the night but waited for the day, and bees. It was the vines that climbed the chain-link fence that separated this area from the next. All of them called to her in the dialect of nature.

  She could hear and feel them all, and they would do anything for her. The tree that had extended its root had a smug satisfaction in its core that it had done a good thing.

  This was what it was to be a Hamadryad. This, and so much more. Her mother had taken this from her as she kept Taimi in her unnatural form.

  “You spelled me, and you would have bound me forever,” she said, her voice harsh and rough. Tears threatened to spill, but she would not give Melinda that satisfaction. This woman had stolen her from her rightful place and kept her a slave.

  …yes, yes…feel your strength…this human took your heritage…

  Taimi perceived buzzing from every corner, each unique to the plant it belonged to. The night was alive with sound. Her gaze landed on Dáire and the woman nodded.

  “I did what had to be done,” Melinda protested.

  “It was a mistake to bring a wooden wand,” Taimi continued as though Melinda hadn’t spoken. “Wood is mine to command. Did you try to hide this power from me by spelling me? This,” she gestured to the yard, all the yards, and the city beyond that, “this, nature, this is for me. You forced me into a pot on a roof, cut off from everything.”

  Melinda blanched, and the two witches with her took a step closer. Taimi focused and vines shot out from the fence, driving them back to their original spot.

  “I rescued you,” she said and the others with her nodded. Ranger made a choking sound, like a human rather than a dragon. She kind of liked that he was scared. It made the new power within her swell, gave it voice where she might not believe it otherwise.

  “You wouldn’t hurt your mother,” Melinda said, surprising strength in her voice.

  Taimi frowned. One of the witches was reaching for something round. A crystal ball, perhaps. Intolerable. Taimi focused on the tree again, and it reached a branch down and swiped the thing out of the witch’s hand. It tumbled across the yard before shattering on a rock.

  “Wouldn’t I?” The vines sprang forward, tangling the witches and sending them sprawling before wrapping around Melinda, binding her hands and feet. One snaked across Melinda’s face, covering her nose and mouth.

  “Taimi!” Her mother’s voice was strangled before it was cut off. Her expression changed to terrified when the green leaves covered her mouth. Power pulsed inside Taimi, craving to bring her mother down as she had made Taimi suffer all these years.

  “Taimi, no.” Dáire spoke in a low voice, but her tone was urgent. “This is not what dryads do. We are creatures of the forest and we do not kill.”

  “She kept me in
bondage. She needs to pay.”

  Melinda made a muffled sound and Taimi smirked. Her life had been taken from her and there was no getting those years back.

  “She will pay,” the older dryad said in a soothing tone. “She is going to sign custody of you over to me.”

  “No,” Taimi replied. “Nobody gets custody of me. I am not a chip to be bargained with.” Rage suffused her at the idea that Melinda had tried to compel her.

  “Let me turn into a dragon and roast her!”

  Ranger’s voice punctuated her fog. Taimi had images of Ranger shifting into his other form and setting Melinda on fire. It would be satisfying to watch her burn.

  Then Taimi took a deep breath, the rage draining out of her. Melinda still struggled against her vine prison, muffled sounds coming from behind her leaf gag. The other witches were whispering to each other, and Taimi motioned to the dryads. The two younger ones charged forward and the witches stopped talking. They cast frightened glances at both Taimi and Ranger.

  The trees swirled, branches moving although there was no wind. She could hear their music inside her, in welcome but also warning.

  “You can’t. You might set one of the trees on fire. It’s too big a risk.”

  She commanded the vine to release Melinda. It headed back toward the ground but did not retreat, its tip poking up in a watchful manner.

  “You always were a willful child,” Melinda spat. “Stop this foolishness at once and come with me. This little display of temper has gone on too long.”

  She stood, her hands on her hips, in a manner that would have cowed the prior Taimi into submission. Taimi still felt that draw, the instinct to do as her mother said and follow her back to the apartment, and her rooftop prison, but it was muted, easier to suppress.

  Her mother half-turned to the door, meeting her witches’ gazes as she did so. The plants buzzed with their own voices, and their power gave her strength. They were part of her, and she would never again feel alone.

  “That is not for you to dictate. I will no longer obey your commands. You do not control me.” Taimi had to choke out the words, her voice shaking, but she said them.

  “I am your mother and you will listen to what I say.”

  Ranger snorted and joined Taimi, standing next to her. Dáire came to her other side, and the older woman’s bulk was comforting.

  “You are not my mother. I don’t listen to you anymore. This,” and she gestured, taking in the trees, the vines, the plants as well as the people, “this is my family. All of nature is. You kept that from me, but you will not keep it from me again. It’s over, Melinda. I’m not yours to command.”

  “I have custody of you.” She gave the impression that this would be her final weapon. “I can and will go to the police and declare that Ranger has kidnapped you…no, I will say that you,” and she pointed a finger at Lizzy, “that you took my baby. Or you,” and now she aimed at Dáire, “I will say that you are a spinster after my child, and you are sick. All of you.”

  “I will flame her,” Ranger said, and his hands shifted, his nails changing into claws.

  “I would like that,” she said. “Maybe you can do it later, when she thinks she’s safe.”

  Melinda let out a strangled cry.

  “You do any of those things and the government of the country you took Taimi from will step in. Ranger’s parents took care of it. Melinda, if you push this, you will be the one who loses.” Lizzy’s voice radiated anger, her posture ramrod straight.

  “As I said, you will give guardianship to us,” Dáire continued and raised her hand before Taimi could protest again. “It is a legal matter, dear Hamadryad. You are very much your own person, but this will make it easier for us to do what needs to be done.”

  Taimi considered and nodded. “Be sure that it is.”

  She was tired, her fury exhausted. She was no longer trapped. It was night and she could enjoy the stars. There were many things to do but she had no energy left.

  Melinda sputtered, and the other two witches glared, but the dryads held their ground. Lizzy handed Melinda something, to Taimi’s shock.

  “You had it ready?”

  Lizzy nodded and Ranger let out a whoop. “Just in case,” Lizzy said. “We often forget the legalities. There can be no mistake in this. We have not come this far to lose you to the government.”

  “That wouldn’t happen.”

  “Ah, the arrogance of youth,” Lizzy said, but her voice wasn’t unkind.

  “I won’t sign it.”

  “Won’t you?” Taimi summoned the vine again and it slithered forward like a snake, brushing Melinda’s foot. Her mother was powerless now, her strength abated. At one time Taimi would have been sorry for her. “I think you’ll find that with your spells removed, I have much more power. Unless you plan on never leaving your house again, you will sign over custody. Brooklyn may be a city, but there are many plants on every street. They will all be against you.” The promise of nature was in the soil, in the air, on the wind.

  Dáire stepped forward and Lizzy joined her. They held out the paper between them. “Taimi the Hamadryad speaks the truth, witch. The dryads and all of nature will be waiting for you. Your rooftop will not be safe. No place will be a sanctuary. You may have committed this theft once, but we will not be tricked a second time. You would be wise to sign the paper and be thankful you had sixteen years with a dryad. Most are not so lucky. Your time was stolen, but it was precious nonetheless.”

  Melinda’s gaze focused on Lizzy, and her face turned hard and calculating.

  “This is your fault,” she said to Lizzy and then she glared at Ranger. “And yours. If you hadn’t come along everything would have been fine. It was you who filled her head with ideas.”

  Ranger jerked and Taimi put her hand on his arm. It was good to touch him, in spite of the chaos. For one brief moment they were the only two people in the world.

  “Nobody told me what to do. This has nothing to do with him. Leave them alone.”

  Her mother had to be aware it was a weak response. She turned to Taimi again and her face softened.

  “You are mine even if you weren’t born to me,” she said. “All I craved was to love something and I chose you. You can’t fault me for that, Taimi. Don’t let them force me to sign these papers. We’ll be separated forever. That can’t be what you were after.”

  Taimi wavered for a second. It sounded so reasonable when put that way. But no. She was young, but she wasn’t stupid. Ranger tensed, his body tightening as though getting ready for battle.

  “I need to be free, mo…Melinda. I must have a chance to do normal teenage things.”

  “I can give you that,” Melinda continued. “It was wrong to spell you. I can let you be the Hamadryad you were meant to be, but you can still be my daughter. Just come back with me, please. Everything will be different.”

  Taimi bit her lip. It would be easier to go with Melinda. She wouldn’t have to leave everything familiar to her.

  …open spaces…wind…others like you…dancing and singing…

  She wasn’t sure who the vision came from, it had none of the flavor of the dryads in the yard. Taimi couldn’t say who had spoken.

  “Yes,” she said. “It will be. Sign the paper, Mother. Melinda.” She groaned. It would take a while to lose the habit of referring to Melinda as her parent. “I can’t trust you not to dump me back in a pot if I were to go back with you.”

  Ranger breathed out a sigh of relief and Lizzy’s hands shook. They hadn’t been sure of her reply.

  “You will regret this,” Melinda warned but grabbed the pen. With a flourish, she scrawled her name at the bottom and glared at Taimi. “When you try to come back you will not be welcome. This will end in disaster and despair and I won’t be there to pick up the pieces.”

  She turned to the two witches and motioned to them. Melinda stalked to the house and then through, the others trailing behind.

  There was silence. Then Lizzy let out a full-bo
dy laugh and one of the dryads joined in. Ranger’s lips tugged up and he chortled. Taimi had a bout of warring emotions—sadness and elation, grief and euphoria—before she laughed with them.

  It was over. She was free.

  Dáire had custody of Taimi, but in truth, the person who had charge of Taimi was herself. She was a Hamadryad. She had a tree to deal with and school to handle. There were arrangements to be made. His parents would be in New York soon. Ranger was heading back to Queens and Lizzy and Taimi were going to be close by.

  Dáire had been the one to get Taimi’s belongings. The dryads showed up the next day at the Hoboken house with two suitcases—a sad remnant of sixteen years.

  So many things had to happen. She had to transfer schools. She would be going to Ranger’s school, and there was something both fantastic and scary about that prospect. She had a whole life ahead of her and no idea how to live it.

  There was a ton she had to learn.

  Her mother would not let it lie. She would make her pitch again to get her back, but Taimi would be ready for that. Her mother had lost her power over Taimi when Ranger had taken her off the roof and given her her freedom.

  The boy in question came into the house. Her heart lifted at the sight of him with his shaggy brown hair and fire inside him. He was like her, both more than they appeared.

  “What’s wrong, Ranger?”

  They were alone in the house—the others were getting things set up for her and her new guardian. She was thrust into the company of strangers—even Ranger was a relative stranger for all that he had saved her.

  “I…this,” he said and then stumbled forward, his foot catching on nothing. He reeled but caught himself. “We took you away from everything you were familiar with. It must be weird.”

  “I owe you and your family,” she said. “I’d still be in that pot if it weren’t for you.”

  “You were safe there.”

  He understood. The fact that he comprehended her warring feelings made Taimi want to throw her arms around him. But she wasn’t familiar with boys’ emotions and had no idea if that would be welcome or not.