by Amy Cissell
“I wonder why light gets through but not sound?” I mused.
“Maybe because it travels fast enough to get through whatever your shield is made from? Do you think you could make shields that looked more solid? Like a brick wall?
I frowned. “I don’t know. I can try…”
“We can work on it the day after tomorrow,” Finn said. “But blocking sound is pretty useful in the short term, especially since the distortion of the shield will be enough to block all but the most skilled lip readers.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “Now, on to the important agenda item.” I let the shield drop back down to its default state of being my personal magical barrier. “What are we going to see tomorrow?”
I drank the cup of steaming hot coffee that someone had thoughtfully prepared and set out for me. Finn and Isaac were absent when I’d crawled out from under the picnic table the next morning, and I took the time to luxuriate in the beauty of my surroundings and my increasingly-too-rare solitude. I was a bit surprised to find myself alone but reasoned that there was likely someone close by, as I couldn’t imagine either of my companions leaving me alone while I slept.
A few moments later, Isaac appeared at the tree line on the edge of the campsite. He walked over and poured the last of the coffee into his mug and leaned against a nearby tree to drink it. He was shirtless and wearing the tightest blue jeans I’d ever seen. I couldn’t tear my eyes off of him. When I finally let my gaze wander up to his face, he was smirking at me. “See something you like, Princess?”
“Shut it,” I muttered. “Where’s Finn?”
“He’s showering. Are you ready to go sight-seeing?”
“Almost. I want to freshen up a bit.” I grabbed my knapsack and headed to the bathroom. A quick wash, some clean clothes, and a French braid later, and I was ready to go. Isaac, still shirtless and breathtaking, was leaning against a tree outside of the bathroom when I emerged. My heart skipped a beat. I walked towards him and couldn’t resist standing on tip toe and giving him a quick kiss. His arm snaked around my waist and the kiss turned into something deeper and more passionate. I was gasping by the time he let me go.
“That was unfair,” I said.
“You started it,” he answered, obviously unrepentant.
He grabbed my bag and walked me back to the campsite. Finn was making sandwiches, and while I teased him for taking over my one job, Isaac put on a shirt. I did my best not to watch. Judging by the force Finn used to cut the sandwiches, my ogling was not going unnoticed. This was turning into a problem.
I did my best to put it out of my mind as we left for the day. We headed north towards Mammoth Hot Springs. We took our time driving the scenic north loop and stopped for a picnic lunch near Yellowstone Falls.
As we were finishing our lunch, Isaac tensed. His entire body almost vibrated and then went more still than I would’ve thought possible. Finn, too, went on alert. I threw out the shield to encompass us all and tried to concentrate on making it completely transparent so it wouldn’t be obvious we were shielding. No need to alert anyone my abilities were growing.
“What is it?” I asked around my sandwich, hoping the chewing would mask my speech.
“I smell bloodsucker,” Isaac said, his voice low and growly.
“That’s impossible. It’s two o’clock in the afternoon.”
“It’s a Renfield,” he replied. “She stinks of vamp, but still smells a bit human.”
“Do you think she’s here for me?”
“Why else would a vamp’s juice box be here? They might still be human, but they’re not exactly outdoorsy creatures of the light.”
“I don’t know their lives. Maybe she’s on vacation.”
Isaac chuckled softly but didn’t relax his guard.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
“No. Let’s finish our lunch, go on our hike, and then head back to camp. We’ll see if she follows. I don’t want her to know we know she’s there.” Isaac slowly relaxed and picked up his soda. I let go of my shield and felt it pop back into me.
We took the short trail to the Falls overlook before heading back to our campsite. Once we were all in the truck with Finn behind the wheel, I shielded us again.
“Is she still following us?” I asked, wishing my senses were more finely honed.
“She was at the overlook in a tour group but left the group when we headed back,” Isaac said. “I don’t see her or smell her now, but I’ll recognize the scent again if she gets anywhere near us.”
Finn added, “Someone is following us. There’s a black Civic a few car lengths back. I can’t guarantee it’s the same person, but it followed us out of the parking lot.”
“Is your shield up?” Isaac asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Plan. We’re going to pretend we didn’t notice anything. We’ll talk about tomorrow’s plans—heading out midmorning for a multi-night backpack in the Tetons. Once it’s dark, I’ll shift and patrol. If she leaves to report back, we can pack and then leave at first light. I’m hoping that broadcasting our plans will keep any vamps from attacking tonight since it’ll be easier to grab us in a remote location tomorrow night rather than risk exposure with a fight in a crowded campground.”
“Where are we headed?” I asked.
“Let’s drive straight to Rapid City. We’ll have to ditch the truck, now that it’s been ID’d. We can find a cheap motel to hunker down in there while we decide next steps.”
Finn had been quiet for the entire exchange. Finally, he relaxed his grip on the steering wheel. “That sounds like a great plan, Isaac.” The words sounded grudging, but Finn smiled. “We’ll pretend nothing’s wrong. Drop your shield, Ellie. Let’s do this thing.”
I did as he asked, and we got out of the truck. Isaac suggested the backpacking trip. I protested as much as I could until he wore me down. “No toilet? No running water? This place is barely civilized as it is,” I whined.
“Suck it up, Ellie,” Finn said.
“Fine, but I’m off cooking duty during the trip.”
“When are you on cooking duty?” Isaac asked.
I stuck my tongue out at him, and he laughed.
After dinner, we prepped for our backpacking adventure, poured over the map to find our planned overnight stops, and got our gear ready to go.
We were on our third beer each when the sun went down. Isaac walked towards the bathroom and disappeared in the dark. I climbed into my customary below-table sleeping location and closed my eyes while staying on high alert.
About thirty minutes later, I heard Isaac return. He sat down at the picnic table, and I scooted out carefully. “Still awake?” he whispered.
“Duh” I replied. “Glad we’re not doing an early start.” I pushed the shield out. “Is she gone? Shield’s up.”
“I didn’t smell her or sense her on my perimeter run. Let’s pack up.”
We packed up everything but our sleeping bags before retiring for the night. I was under the table and the guys were nearby.
Isaac shook me awake at way-the-hell too early the next morning. We threw our bags into the back of the truck and headed off into the sunrise.
We drove for two hours before Isaac stopped. Two hours without coffee. Two hours that started at five am. I signed over the title of my new truck to Isaac, patted her once in goodbye, and then headed into a diner with Finn while Isaac drove off. Four cups of coffee, three pancakes, two strips of bacon, and one order of biscuits and gravy later, I started to feel a bit more like myself.
Isaac reappeared and slid into the booth next to me. He ordered a Denver omelet with a side of pancakes and bacon. I stole a piece of bacon and laughed when he pretended to stab me with his fork. We grinned at each other until I remembered Finn across the table. He was looking elsewhere, but the set of his shoulders betrayed his mood. Again, I wondered what I was going to do about this. Put it off longer? Solid plan.
We paid up and left. Isaac led the way to a beat-up Subaru
Outback that might have been white at some point. A major step down. “I hope you don’t mind, but I put it in my name,” Isaac said. “I’m guessing everyone knows yours by now, but mine might still be a mystery.”
I sighed. “I guess it’s okay, but when this is over, you owe me.”
“Of course,” Isaac agreed. “Anything.” His exaggerated wink left no doubt as to what he was offering.
“I want unlimited use of the Vantage.”
He blanched. “That’s my baby!”
“You’ve already sold two of my babies. It’ll work out.”
“We’ll talk more when the time comes,” he said. We got in the car, this time with Finn at the wheel, and headed east. We lunched in Sheridan and then it was my turn to drive. We didn’t see any sign of the black Civic, and felt hopeful that we’d shaken our tail—at least for now.
I left the interstate to drive to Devil’s Tower, determined that I’d at least get to see that landmark. We stopped for a couple of minutes and then Isaac drove us the rest of the way to Rapid City. We found a cheap-looking motel, and Finn checked us in. One room. Two beds. This wasn’t going to be awkward.
Isaac took off to explore the area. He came back with a bottle of red and a pizza. I eyed the beds, then my companions. Isaac walked out to the car and reappeared with a sleeping bag. “We can take turns on the floor,” he said.
The next morning meant yet another local diner. It was the ninth of August, and we had until the autumnal equinox to find the next gate. I was hoping it would be easier this time around but thought it might be a good idea to narrow down the location.
We decided the easiest way to find the gate and stay under the radar was to keep up our tourist charade. We went to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. A few times I felt a magical tug, but we weren’t close enough to pinpoint a location. We stopped in Keystone, and I tried to talk the guys into taking some old-timey photos dressed as gamblers and a bar wench, but they resisted.
By the end of the day, I was exhausted. We weren’t any closer, and no matter how many times I told myself we still had time, panic overtook me when I remembered I had no idea where to start.
We hit a drive-through and headed back to the room. There wasn’t much conversation, so I turned on the television to catch the news. As I flipped through the channels, I realized I hadn’t seen a newspaper or checked cnn.com since we’d opened the first gate.
The local news led with the continuing story of a series of odd events. “…still investigating what caused the failure of navigational systems resulting in the crashes of over a dozen planes taking off and landing near Portland International Airport. Initially these failures as well as the regional power outages were blamed on a small EMP—or electro-magnetic pulse—but now there is some disagreement among leading experts as no source of the EMP can be found. Although Portland, Oregon was the hardest hit, the computer system failures have resulted in power outages across the Pacific Northwest. President Murphy will be holding a press conference tomorrow afternoon but has continued to assert that this is not a terrorist attack.”
The anchor segued into another story while a cold sweat broke out over my body. It hadn’t been an EMP; it had been an MP—a magic pulse.
My gorge rose, and I ran to the bathroom and lost everything I’d eaten.
Holy shit. I had killed people. Hundreds of people. And that was just the deaths mentioned on the news. Who knows how many others had died due to my actions? My body started shaking uncontrollably, and I fought back the urge to vomit again.
I looked at Finn. “This wasn’t supposed to happen! Me opening the gates was supposed to save everyone! Did you know this would happen?”
“If I’d known that this,” he gestured towards the television, “would be the result, I would’ve told you.”
“I knew,” Isaac said. “Or, at least, I suspected.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I yelled.
“Shield,” he growled.
I pushed out my shields to cover the whole room, noticing that it was much easier when I was angry. “We’re shielded. Now talk.”
“I did try to tell you. Or at least stop you. That’s how we met, remember? It’s not like we were friends before the gate opened. When you seemed hell-bent on continuing, I figured you either knew and didn’t care or that you knew how to mitigate the damage. When I saw the first reports last week, I’d already gotten to know you well enough to know that neither of those scenarios could be true.”
“How long have you known?” I was practically whispering.
“We didn’t think it would help if you knew. It wasn’t your fault.”
“We didn’t think? Finn knew about this, too?”
“I saw the first reports while you were still unconscious,” Finn said. “Isaac and I talked and knew you’d feel terrible. Since it was too late to do anything, we didn’t tell you.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. This is completely ridiculous. I killed hundreds of people and caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage, and you both were not only willing to let me do it again, you’re helping me. Knowingly. We can’t open the second gate. I. Am. Done.”
“I’m not sure ‘done’ is an option,” Isaac said. “From what Finn’s said, if you don’t finish this, you might die from the backlash of magical power ripping through this world.”
“So be it. I’d rather die that kill a few thousand more people.” I was fighting alternating waves of icy-cold panic and too-hot nausea. I was a murderer. A mass murderer. Tears gathered in the corner of my eyes, and I dashed them away.
“Stopping now might cause a series of uncontrolled waves at a magnitude greater than the first as the rest of the gates crack open,” Finn said.
“Opening the gates was supposed to stop the uncontrolled wave in the first place. My participation was supposed to prevent this!”
“Your participation likely prevented something much worse from happening.”
“Worse? Worse than the deaths of a few hundred people?”
“Yes. What’s a few hundred deaths when compared to saving the whole world?”
My mouth dropped open. This was not a side of Finn with which I was familiar. “No. I refuse to be party to murder. We either find a way to mitigate the damage, find a way to warn whoever can help that another wave is coming, or I don’t do it and take the chance that it’ll kill me.”
“I won’t let you die, Princess,” Isaac said. “This is more than me keeping an eye on you for the shifters now.”
“We are a team,” Finn added. “We will figure out a way to deal with this, but your death isn’t an acceptable outcome. I’d rather see all the planes crash and all the power plants explode than let you die.”
I stared at him. I didn’t want to watch him die, but that seemed a bit…callous. And weird. I gathered my wits. “We can talk, but there is one thing that will never be okay. Ignorance. You will not keep me in the dark.” I was so angry and could feel the heat rising. I noticed Isaac backing away from me out of the corner of one eye, and then Finn ran into the bathroom. I heard the shower go on, and before I could do more than think it was a strange time to wash up, Isaac grabbed me, wrapped me in the skeevy motel comforter, and hauled me into the bathroom. He dropped me into the tub and a cold stream of water hit me.
“What the fuck?” I yelled.
“You were smoking,” Isaac said.
I looked down. There were scorch marks on the comforter.
“Well, fuck.”
I turned off the water and climbed out of the shower. I pulled off my clothes and left them in a wet pile on the bathroom floor. Finn didn’t look away, although Isaac did. I didn’t care. I walked past them and pulled dry clothes out of my backpack.
I found the bottle of wine we’d purchased earlier and unscrewed the cap. I took a swig directly from the bottle, climbed up on the bed furthest from the door, tucked my feet under the covers, and then finally looked at Isaac and Finn.
“What the fuck do we
do now?”
“Share the wine?” Finn asked.
“Dream on,” I replied, taking another drink.
Finn sat in one of the chairs across the room, and Isaac leaned against a wall. “Let’s concentrate our efforts on finding the gate. Once we’ve narrowed down the location, we can work on mitigating the damage.”
Finn agreed. “Isaac, could you contact the local pack and see if they know a witch who might be sympathetic, or at least not hostile?”
“That’s a good idea. I know the Alpha of the Black Hills pack. He’s kind of a jerk, but he’s not as dominant as me, so in theory, he’ll have to help me.”
“What do you mean, in theory?” I asked.
“If he’s feeling especially cantankerous, he might try to refuse. And then, I’ll have to fight him.”
“That sounds like a shitty idea,” I said. “There’s got to be an easier way.”
“It shouldn’t come to a fight. Like I said, I’m dominant, and he knows it. He’ll likely back down after some macho posturing.”
“Fine. Do what you want. It’s not like I have any input into decision making. I’m a pawn.” I knew I sounded bitter, and I didn’t care.
“You know that’s not how we see you,” Finn said.
“Tell me again why you both appeared in my life?”
“That’s not why I stayed,” Isaac said.
“That’s bullshit. You would’ve stayed, watching, ‘guiding,’” I tried to make my air quotes look as sarcastic as possible, “and manipulating me whether or not you’d developed feelings for me. For all I know, the sex is another way to insinuate yourself further into my life!”
“That’s not true!” Isaac protested at the same time that Finn yelped, “You’ve had sex?”
“Not the point, Finn,” I said.
Isaac continued, ignoring the exchange between me and Finn. “Why don’t we sleep on this and talk tomorrow. If your anger still burns, we can talk about ways to make reparations. I hope you’ll eventually believe that what we did—what I did—was in the spirit of protection.”
“Oh, I already believe that. I just wish that you didn’t think I needed so much fucking protection. If I’m some great mystical key, I need to be cognizant of the repercussions of my actions so that I can take responsibility as it’s needed, so I can take steps to mitigate the damage if I can’t avoid it. Don’t treat me like a delicate flower that needs to be shielded. I can’t live like that.”