“You’re lucky,” Raven said. “Some of the gods would have turned you to stone or struck you down when they realized what was going on.”
“Oh, I consider it luck, yes. But you know what they say—the harder I work, the luckier I get. I was hunting to feed my family, and good fortune prevailed.” At that moment, the front door opened. Angus shot to his feet.
There, in the foyer, was a woman as striking as Angus was. She was tiny, compared to the giant of a man, but there was a strength about her that chilled me to the core. She, too, had brilliant red hair, and she was dressed in a long white gown, with a thick fur cloak around her shoulders. She shrugged it off, staring at us, each in turn, with unsmiling eyes. Then, her gaze fell on Herne and she blinked, looking startled.
“Fiona Lesley, it’s been too long,” Herne said, standing.
A pale smile spread across her face as she moved forward, smoothly draping her cape over the back of the sofa.
“As I live and breathe, it’s Herne the Hunter, come to visit!” She turned to Angus. “Don’t dawdle, bring me a plate. I’m starving.” And then she stopped to gaze at us. “You’ve brought friends with you,” she started to say, but paused as her gaze fell on me. The smile slipped away, and she took a step back. “Why don’t you introduce us?” she said, but I could swear that meeting the rest of us was the last thing she wanted to do.
CHAPTER SIX
F iona Lesley was a striking woman, and her magical energy was impossible to ignore. In fact, she felt supercharged compared to her husband, and I wondered what kind of magic she practiced. But it would be bad form to ask.
“Dear heart, meet Ember, Herne’s girlfriend, and his friends Angel, Viktor, Talia, and Yutani. And this,” Angus motioned to Raven, “is Raven BoneTalker, one of the—”
“Ante-Fae. I can tell,” Fiona said, glowering. “I never expected to have one of the ancient ones gracing our home.” Her words were short and clipped.
I had that uneasy feeling that you get when somebody takes an instant dislike to you and you don’t know what you did.
But the next moment, Fiona turned to Herne, a smile plastered on her face. “So, Reilly vanished and now Ember takes her place? How lovely for you.”
I blinked, feeling as though I had just been slapped.
Angus blushed again. Flustered, he stuttered out, “Dear, really, is that the way—”
“Never mind me,” Fiona said, glancing at Angus with all the affection of a horse seeing a mosquito. It made me wonder just how close their relationship could be, and if this had always been the norm, how had they managed to stay together this long?
Herne seemed as taken aback as Angus did. He blinked, then cleared his throat. “It’s good to see you again, Fiona.”
Angel tapped me on the arm. “Ember, can I see you in the guest room a moment? I think I might have left my meds at home, and wanted to see if they got packed in your suitcase by mistake.”
Frowning—Angel wasn’t on any medication that I knew of—I excused myself and followed her into the guest room. Angel shut the door behind us, after peeking down the hall. Keeping her voice low, she leaned close.
“You remember I told you that I sensed something huge—something big?”
“Yeah.”
“Whatever it is, Fiona’s carrying it on her back, so to speak. I think Angus is right. I think something is piggybacking on her. She’s dangerous, and she’s—” She froze as the door opened and Fiona popped her head in.
“Is everything all right?” she asked, glancing at our suitcases, which were sitting on the floor, unopened. “Did you find your medication, Angel?”
“I was just going to check,” Angel said. “Ember, do you mind if I go through your suitcase?”
I shook my head. “Be my guest.”
As I lifted my suitcase onto the bed, Fiona continued to stand by the door, a canny look on her face. She knew we were lying. I wasn’t sure how, but she knew.
“If it’s something important, you should probably go home for it. You don’t want to chance being trapped over here without the supplies meant to keep you alive.”
That was an odd choice of words. I unlocked my suitcase, turning so that I blocked Angel from Fiona’s sight. Angel ruffled through my clothes, ostensibly looking for medication.
“I can’t find them,” Angel said, popping out from behind me. “But I can stop at a pharmacy in town. They should have my prescription on file from the branch in Seattle.”
“Excuse me,” Fiona said. “I’ve something to talk to Angus about.” Abruptly, she turned and headed down the hallway.
I let out a long breath, my shoulders slumping as I closed the door again. “I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but she scares me.”
“She scares me too. To be honest, I don’t like the idea of sleeping here.” Angel glanced around. “I don’t trust her to not poison our food.”
Pressing my lips together, I thought about the creatures out in the woods. They had been deadly, too, but in a different way. Cunning, deceitful, but they didn’t feel like a giant hand waiting to crush us.
“I think maybe it’s best if we talked Herne into staying in town tonight. Let’s go see what she’s up to now.” I headed toward the door.
Angel’s mention of poison had set me off and now all I could think about was we’d be sleeping under the roof of a woman who obviously didn’t like us. What could happen if she really was possessed? And if she wasn’t, then she had either snapped or had a dramatic personality shift, given Herne’s kind words about her before. We returned to the living room, to find Angus apologizing to Herne.
“I’m sorry—I had no idea she’d react like that. Please don’t mind her. She’ll come around.”
“What happened?” I glanced at Herne.
He was scowling. “Fiona has requested that we spend the night elsewhere. She says you and Angel were rude to her.”
“What the hell? Where is she? We weren’t—”
“I know you weren’t,” Herne said. “As for where Fiona is, she went out for a walk in the snow.” He turned to Angus. “I think we’d better stay at a hotel.”
“I think we should too,” I said. “For what it’s worth, Angel thinks Fiona is carrying someone on her back.”
“You mean, possessed?” Angus asked. “Like I thought?”
“Quite possibly,” Angel said. “But the thing is, I don’t sense a spirit hanging around her. Not a ghost. But there’s something else. What about you, Raven?” Angel motioned for Raven to join us. “You deal in the spirit world. Is Fiona possessed?”
“That’s no spirit attached to her,” Raven said. “At least, not in the usual terms. But something powerful and angry has hold of her, and whoever it is, it sees us as a threat. Probably because we can sense that Fiona’s not herself, so to speak. I concur with removing ourselves to a different location. We aren’t safe here.”
“What about me?” Angus said. “Am I safe?”
“As long as you don’t tell her that you invited us, I think you’ll be all right for now.” Herne glanced at the door, then back to Angus. “You need to think about anything that happened over the past few weeks. Anything. We’ll talk tomorrow, but it better be at the hotel since Fiona doesn’t want us here. Meanwhile, before the snow gets worse, we’ll head to a hotel in town. Talia, find us a hotel, if you would. Yutani and Viktor, take our bags back out to the cars.”
As they jumped to do as he bade, Herne’s phone went off. He glanced at the screen. “Text from Rafé. He made it to Port Angeles and is checked in at a hotel for the night.”
“The Anchor Inn is on Oak Bay Road, just past Breaker Lane. It’s near the Port Ludlow Village Market. I’ll call and see if they have rooms available. How many do we need?” Talia held up her fingers, counting. “Three men, four women. Four rooms? One for you, Herne, one for Yutani and Viktor, and two for the women?”
“That works,” Herne said.
When we were out on a case, he and I didn’t sha
re a room. It was one of our ways of separating business and pleasure.
I glanced at Raven. “Are you willing to double up with Talia?”
She nodded. “That’s fine with me.”
Talia moved to the side as she called the inn. Viktor and Yutani returned from stowing our luggage back in the car.
“The snow’s coming down thick and if we don’t get out of here soon, we’ll be stuck,” Viktor said.
“Well, we’re in luck,” Talia said. “The inn has enough room for us, and it’s not that far away. We should get a move on.”
“Aren’t you worried about Fiona being out in this weather?” I asked.
“Yeah, but she says she loves it. She’s never been particularly fond of winter before, but she’s taken to going on long walks through the woods. I tell her it’s dangerous, and she should know by now, after living here forty years, but she just blows me off.” Angus stared at the floor, shaking his head. “I’m at a loss. Please, if you can think of anything… Meanwhile, I’ll search my memory. Something had to precipitate this.”
“Tell Fiona we’re sorry we imposed on you—that we should have called first. We do not want her thinking you invited us. Keep your guard up, though, because whatever has hold of her is dangerous.” Herne and Angus clasped hands, and Herne pulled him in for a quick hug.
As we gathered the rest of our things and headed out the door, I glanced at the thicket where we had met the grigit and the schnee-hexe. The woods were illuminated, with something deep within the trees glowing with a faint blue light. It occurred to me that it was Fiona, and given the energy I had felt off her, the padurmonstris would do well to hide when she came near.
THE DRIVE to the Anchor Inn was precarious at best, even with Herne’s SUV. Luckily, both he and Viktor managed to navigate the quickly freezing roads and we pulled into the parking lot about twenty minutes later. If the roads had been clear, it would have taken us perhaps half that time, but the snow was falling on black ice, and everything was tinged with that glacial shade of blue from the snow and ice.
The Anchor Inn was three stories tall, built of stone and polished wood. It was a pleasant change from the pseudo-Victoriana that seemed so prevalent over here on the peninsula. The warm lights glowing from within, along with the massive tree tucked into the side of the door, decked out in shimmering ornaments and lights, gave a cozy, welcoming feel to the lobby. The reception counter was made of the same polished cherrywood that adorned the trim on the outside of the inn.
I found myself breathing a sigh of relief, grateful that we were well away from Angus’s house. Fiona had scared the crap out of me. We checked in and took the elevator up to the second floor, where the four rooms were side by side. As we entered our room, Angel gave a little squeak when she peeked in the bathroom.
“A jetted tub!” A grin sprawled across her face. “I call dibs on the first bath.”
“You’ve got it,” I said, examining the rest of the room. There were two queen beds with a nightstand between them. A TV sat on the dresser, and the closet had enough space for all our clothes and our suitcases. To the left of the bathroom door, a stand held a microwave, a coffee maker, and several mugs. The stand had a built-in mini-fridge in it, as well as the guest bar. All in all, the room was comfortable and looked clean.
I drew open the curtains and we found ourselves overlooking Oak Bay Road. Directly across the road was a patch of trees, and I thought I could see lights from within the thicket.
“I thought the wild places in Seattle were teeming with life. Look.” I nodded to the shimmering lights that seemed to bob and weave across the road.
Angel stared at them for a moment. “I’m glad we’re here, to be honest. Even if Fiona had seemed happy to see us, I think we’re safer here.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Tell me, did Fiona seem…” I tried to find the words. “I’m not sure exactly what I’m trying to say. She felt…not human to me.”
“She’s not, really. The magic-born aren’t fully human.” Angel frowned. “Sometimes I wonder about my own background. I’m an incredible empath—I know that. And Mama J. could read the cards like nobody else. I never knew my daddy, he died shortly after Mama J. got pregnant with me. She loved him so much, and he loved her, but she never told me much about him. For all I know, he could have been one of the magic-born, or he could have been human.”
“Is there a way you can find out? What about your relatives back east?”
She shook her head. “No, they fell out with my mother when she took up with DJ’s father. They really don’t like shifters and were pissed at Mama J. for having DJ.”
“Speaking of, have you heard from DeWayne again?”
Angel shrugged. “No. But I expect to, if he’s anything like he used to be. He’ll be sniffing around, trying to find out about DJ and whether he inherited any money. It almost makes me happy there wasn’t anything left after all the bills were paid. When he finds that out, if he loses interest, then we’ll know he was just looking for a free ride all along. But DJ doesn’t need to know about this until I’ve figured out just what DeWayne wants. I won’t get his hopes up only to see them be dashed by that creep.”
It hurt me to hear the crack in Angel’s voice. Mama J. had been one of the most loving women alive, and she had taken me in when I was fifteen and my own parents were murdered. Angel and I had already been best friends, but Mama J. treated me like her own daughter, and I’d never forget her kindness.
“Don’t sweat it for now. We’ll figure it out when we get back home. If he calls again before then, just send him to voice mail.” I sat down on the bed. The mattress was comfortable, and I yawned. “It’s been a long day. Hell, I’m still wiped out from saving the woman on the ferry.”
“At least you managed to save someone today. As to your question about Fiona, I’m not sure what to say. There’s so much power built up in that woman, and it can’t all be from her heritage. The magic-born are strong, but this…” Angel paused. “I don’t know what to say, except the woman scared me spitless.”
We finished unpacking and then met in Herne’s room. It was almost ten P.M. and everybody was dragging ass. I cuddled up beside him as he wrapped his arm around me. I leaned my head on his shoulder as we took a few minutes to let the energy settle around us.
“Well, let’s take stock of the day, shall we?” Herne cleared his throat and, with his free hand, ticked off points. “One: the ferry. I think it’s safe to say this storm was behind the car that scuttled itself off the ferry. Two: Angus has been worried about the storms. Three: Rafé’s in Port Angeles, and he’s ready for tomorrow. Yutani, I want you to activate the trace as soon as possible. Four: Angus and Fiona…there really is a problem and she’s piggybacking something that has control of her. As to who and why, we don’t know.”
I cleared my throat. “Let’s add another thing. Five: the padurmonstris in the woods. We have to be wary. Which leads me to the question: Does the Tuathan Brotherhood live in territory where the padurmonstris roam, and if so, how do they keep them at bay?”
“Good addition to our list,” Herne said.
I shrugged. “As far as Fiona goes, Angel and I were just talking about her. There’s something about Fiona’s energy that reminds me of something, though I can’t quite put my finger on it—” I paused as a gust of wind shook the windows. “Cripes, this is a strong storm. Wait—” I blinked. “That’s what Fiona reminds me of! A storm waiting to break. She feels like a pent-up storm. Like weather magic gone awry.”
“That’s an interesting thought. But what…” Herne froze, a look of understanding spreading across his face. “Crap. I need to call Angus.”
“Now? Isn’t it a little late?” Talia asked.
Herne glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “I suppose I should wait until tomorrow.” Turning to Yutani, he asked, “Pull up the Encyclopedia Mythatopia. Look up the name ‘Murray Lesley.’ ”
Yutani plugged the name into his laptop, then gave Herne a qu
izzical look. “Really? You knew this and didn’t think it was important to tell us?”
“Depends on what it says. Read it.” Herne leaned back against the pillows, pulling me with him so we were half-propped on the bed.
“Murray Lesley, the Keeper of the Corryvreckan Stone of the Cailleach. 1541–2018.”
At that, Herne paled and bolted upright. “Oh hell. Oh, hell in a handbasket.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Angus’s father died last year. I didn’t know that. It explains a lot. Murray Lesley is—or rather, was—the keeper of the Corryvreckan Stone of the Cailleach.”
“Just what is the Corry…whatever stone?” Angel asked.
“Corryvreckan is a gulf in Scotland. There’s a massive maelstrom there, creating a whirlpool that tops out as the third largest in the world. And in ancient times, the Cailleach used to wash her tartan in the whirlpool, which brought on the long winters.”
“Who’s the Cailleach?” I asked. “A goddess?”
He shook his head. “No, not in the sense that I’m a god or my mother’s a goddess, but she’s…a Luo’henkah. A spirit who makes up one of the forces of nature. She ushered in the ice ages, and she was forever trying to intrude into spring. One day the goddess Brighid decided to fight back. She takes over the season from Imbolc to Ostara, you know.”
“What did she do?” Talia asked.
“Brighid gifted a champion—Fearden Lesley—with a magical stone that acted like a genie’s bottle. He went up against the Cailleach and managed to capture her when she wasn’t paying attention. He trapped her within the stone and sealed it. But to make certain she never got free again, Brighid set him the task of watching over the stone, and it became the legacy for his family. The eldest is always given the task of taking up the vigil once the stone keeper dies. Now that Murray is dead, it’s up to Angus.”
“You think he has the stone with him?” I asked.
“I think that’s a good bet, and that in itself would be a serious problem. I am thinking that stone was never meant to leave the shelter Brighid created for it.”
The Silver Mist: A Wild Hunt Novel, Book 6 Page 7