by Amy Cissell
A beefy man strode towards us. He was accompanied by a woman on his left and another man on his right. Both men were running towards fat and looked as if they spent more time swilling beer than doing any kind of work that would keep their bodies lean. They were, however, taller than Isaac and looked to be a weight class heavier. The woman was close to six feet and didn’t have an ounce of extra fat anywhere on her body.
They stopped less than halfway to us. Isaac’s hand tightened on mine, and I could tell he was pissed, although I didn’t know why. Isaac kept walking until we were within spitting distance of the others.
“I, Isaac Walker, second of the Pacific Northwest Pack, am here to answer your challenge. I waive my right for a second. I am not fighting for your Pack or your Territory, as I desire neither. I fight only for the recognition of dominance. If I prevail, you will give me the respect that is my due as your superior and answer my questions.”
“I, Greg Nelson, acknowledge that you are here at my challenge. Since you waive your right to a second, I will do so as well.” The other man returned to the crowd. “When I prevail, you will acknowledge me as Dominant and cede your place as second of the Pacific Northwest Pack to the shifter of my choosing. How do we fight?”
“We fight as men. No weapons. No teeth. No claws.”
Greg bowed slightly, never taking his eyes off Isaac. “As is your right to choose, so shall we fight.” He reached out his hand to the woman. “Will you introduce your companion?”
“This is Eleanor, my mate.”
“She is human.”
“She isn’t a shifter,” Isaac agreed.
“This is Rebecca, my mate. She could lead a pack in her own right if she were not a woman.” I saw a flash of anger in Rebecca’s eyes, but she said nothing. “The hour draws near,” Greg said. “Let’s send the women away and take the field.”
Isaac raised my hand to his lips and kissed it. “My lady, if you would take your place in the stands, I’ll do my best to make you proud to call me mate.”
I nodded my head in acquiescence. Greg said the same to Rebecca, and she and I walked across the field. I veered left when she veered right and sat by myself on the first row of the empty bleachers.
Greg and Isaac went to the center of the arena. The buzz of conversation stopped, and it was like everyone collectively drew in their breath. Isaac took off his leather jacket and folded it neatly. They shook hands, stepped back a few paces and waited.
I was about to go crazy from the waiting when a loud gong sounded. I jumped and was relieved to see I wasn’t the only one. Moments later, Greg attacked.
Greg’s first swing went wide, and Isaac blocked it easily and landed the first blow—a vicious right cross to the jaw. Greg stumbled back but recovered quickly. He kicked out and caught Isaac in the thigh. Isaac sank to his knees, and my breath caught in my throat. Isaac swung his undamaged leg out, and Greg tripped as he scrambled out of the way. Isaac rose to his feet and landed another punch to Greg’s jaw. Blood sprayed, and Greg’s head snapped back with an audible crack. Greg’s fist shot out even as he fell back and smashed into Isaac’s nose. From the blood that gushed out, I was guessing it was broken. They were both slowing down a bit, but Isaac still appeared to have the upper hand, even if barely.
I didn’t see what happened—if Greg made a mistake, or if Isaac got lucky—but when Isaac’s side kick connected with Greg’s shin, but I heard it. There was a loud crack, a muffled yell, and Greg was down.
“Do you yield, Nelson?” Isaac asked, his voice colder than I’d ever heard it.
“You broke my fucking leg, Walker.” Greg spat. “Of course I yield.”
“Acknowledge my dominance, and I’ll accept your surrender.”
“Fine. You win. You are dominant to me, and as such have the right to my Pack, my Territory, and my mate.”
“I want none of those things. I am passing through. I have no desire to be tied down to another Pack when my own suits me so well. Your territory is beautiful, and any man would be lucky to call it home. You may keep it with my blessing. Your mate is beautiful, but mine is a jealous woman and does not share well. Please, keep your lovely Rebecca and may you enjoy many years together. All I require of you is safe passage for me and mine during our sojourn in your Territory and an introduction to your Pack’s mage.”
“Whatever you want, Walker.”
Isaac bowed slightly and picked up his jacket. He walked towards me, and Greg’s second ran out on the field. He helped Greg get his shirt off and cut off the jeans. Greg immediately shifted shape and limped towards the crowd. A young man, hunched over and shaking, approached us and knelt before Isaac.
“You have the guarantee of safe passage, and on this piece of paper is the contact information for the mage we work with most often. She may not agree to help you. She isn’t ours to command.”
“I understand. Thank you.”
The man stood and backed away. Isaac held out a hand to me, and we walked back to his motorcycle. He put the helmet on my head, helped me on, and we rode off back the same way we’d come. It was 10:15.
Isaac and I entered the motel room. He hadn’t said a word to me since before the fight. I wanted to know what had made him so angry when we got there, how he was feeling about the fight, and if he’d give me the damn piece of paper so I could call the witch. I didn’t say anything, though. I took off my jacket, hung it in the closet, and watched him pace.
I double-checked my shields and waited.
And waited.
I was about to give up when my stomach growled. Isaac looked up, his eyes widening in surprise.
“What are you still doing here?” he growled. His voice was huskier than usual, and his eyes had glints of yellow in them. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that his teeth were getting pointier, too. He was a hair’s breadth from wolfing out.
“I came back with you. Finn has the car, I can’t drive a motorcycle, and you have the witch’s contact information.”
Isaac took a deep breath. “Sorry.”
“Why don’t we go get some lunch, you can tell me what’s going on in your furry head, and then we’ll call the witch.”
“Please don’t call her a witch to her face.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know. Come on.”
I grabbed our jackets and led the way out of the motel room. I saw something out of the corner of my eye and paused. That tree hadn’t been there earlier. I covered my confusion by pulling on the jacket and helmet, then climbed behind Isaac.
“Where to?”
“Taco Bell,” I said.
Isaac started the bike and roared off.
Chapter Eleven
ISAAC AND I blended into the crowd at Taco Bell. More than half the people there were in leather of one type or another. We ordered and stood silently, waiting for our food. “Do you want to eat here or take it back to the room?” he asked.
“Here. If we go sit in the corner over there, we’ll be less likely to be overheard.”
“Less likely than a motel room?” Isaac asked, one eyebrow raised.
“Yes. Those walls are so thin,” I replied. “Do you have Danny’s new number? I wanted to give him a call later.”
Isaac’s right eyebrow joined his left in its escape attempt into hairline. I wasn’t sure if he knew Finn’s middle name was Daniel, but I hoped he got what I was saying. “I do have that number. Do you want to call him now?”
“No. He was going to be busy until later, so I’ll try to reach him after lunch.”
A teenager with an expression bordering on competitive apathy called our number. Isaac grabbed our food, and I carried our sodas to the corner table. I carefully pushed the shields out, trying to keep them transparent enough that no one would look at us twice. I didn’t want to draw any attention to us, but didn’t want to be overheard.
Isaac quirked an eyebrow up at me, and I wasted a moment feeling inexplicably jealous of that ability. My eyebrows were decidedly uncooperative, which was monumentall
y unfair. Maybe I needed more practice.
“All shielded,” I said.
We should still be careful,” Isaac said, “in case our spies read lips.”
“Yeppers,” I murmured around a big bite of Crunchwrap Supreme.
“I said careful, not disgusting.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and then got down to business. “When we were leaving the motel, I saw something odd.”
“Can you define odd?”
I tipped my head to one side, trying to think of a way to explain that wouldn’t make me sound too crazy. I gave that up quickly as a waste of time. “A tree was watching us.”
I cringed a bit and looked up at Isaac through squinted eyes.
He laughed. “Stop being all weird about it. Why would that statement, out of everything else you’ve said and done, be bizarre?”
Huh. Good point. I relaxed a bit.
“What specifically about the tree was suspicious?”
“It wasn’t there yesterday.”
“Maybe it was new landscaping.”
“It was a nearly forty-foot-tall Hawthorn. There would’ve been some kind of disturbance if someone was transplanting a full-grown tree that’s not native to the region.”
“Do you think it’s Danny’s woodsy friend?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. If it’s not the ass-candle herself, I’m sure it’s a compatriot of hers. I figured she’d find us sooner or later. If Greg’s colleague can’t or won’t help us, maybe this lady can.”
“Do you think it wise to involve her?”
“Not even a tiny bit, but I think that ignoring a possible resource would be even worse.”
I washed down the last of my taco and then broached the subject that had been bothering me since the fight. “Why were you so pissed off this morning?”
Isaac’s eyes gave nothing away. “Why wouldn’t I be angry? I’d just been forced to partake in a fight I’d wanted to avoid.”
“It was more than that. You were fine until we got to Greg’s. I’ve never seen you so angry.”
“You’ve know me for six weeks. You haven’t even begun to plumb the depths of my anger.”
His rage was palpable. I told myself that I wasn’t afraid of him, but I couldn’t force myself to relax. My skin began to feel uncomfortably warm.
“Christ, girl, tamp it down.”
“Girl?” I tried to raise one eyebrow to show my disdain for his diminutive, but both shot up together, causing my eyes to go really wide.
“Relax before you set your hair on fire and blow our cover.”
I took a few deep breaths, and as I cooled off—literally—I realized Isaac had effectively changed the subject. I opened my mouth to bring us back on point, but he silenced me with a look. “Not now. Maybe not ever. It has nothing to do with you and our reason for being here.”
“Fine.” For now, I thought.
“It’s almost two. Let’s ride to Custer and then call Danny. We can decide tomorrow’s plans.”
Two cherry trees in full bloom stood in the parking strip between the restaurant and the road. I elbowed Isaac. “Aren’t those pretty?” I asked. “You hardly ever see them blooming this late.”
I put on my helmet, and we roared out of the parking lot and headed towards the highway.
Less than an hour later, we pulled into a gas station in Custer. I climbed off the bike slowly and sank to the ground. Between the curvy roads and the aggressive wildlife, the trip through the park had been intense. I never again wanted to play chicken with a bison. I pulled off my helmet and put my head between my legs.
Isaac made a strange noise, and I looked up. He was shaking and not looking at me.
“Are you laughing at me?” I demanded.
“Of course not,” he choked out. “Got some dust in my throat.”
I glared. He finally lost it completely and collapsed howling on the ground next to me.
“You’re a menace,” I said.
“You’re a pansy.”
“Whatever, Evel Knievel.” I stood up and tried to convince my stomach that we were safe now.
“See anything weird?” he asked.
“Nope,” I replied. “I probably shouldn’t have mentioned the out-of-season cherry blossoms. They’ll probably be more subtle now.”
“They don’t seem real bright,” Isaac said. “Maybe they won’t pick up on your comment.”
“I’m not sure if it’s a lack of intelligence as much as a lack of knowledge about the local ecosystem.”
“You’d think, though, that beings that can be trees would be able to tell what’s typical for the region and season.”
“Good point. I still think that we should assume that these spies are intelligent and adaptable. That way, even if they’re not, we’ll be more than paranoid enough.”
“Another point, Princess—you have some wicked powerful earth magic. You should be able to sense what belongs and what doesn’t, the same way you can sense the gates. Anything that is new shouldn’t feel part of the landscape.”
I stared at Isaac, mouth hanging open. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that! Of course I’ll be able to feel anything not wholly part of the earth. I could’ve been checking for spies this entire time!”
“Don’t beat yourself up too badly. If either Finn or I had thought of this before, I’m sure one of us would’ve mentioned it. This is all so new.”
“It feels like I’ve lived a lifetime in the last couple of months. Before, my life was so mundane: work, gardening, running, reading. There were occasional happy hours with coworkers, but the only person I spent time with was Finn. And now we’re on the run and being spied on by trees. I make invisible, sound-proof shields with my brain. The world is so much bigger than I imagined. The past was over and done, and I don’t have regrets about leaving that life behind.” There were other things, too. Private things. My unrequited lust for the werewolf in front of me and the wild dragon dreams that almost rivaled the excitement Isaac conjured with his touch. I closed my eyes and breathed in, savoring the twin memories of Isaac’s hands and the dragon’s power.
Isaac’s touch between my eyes startled me. “What’s going on in there?” he asked quietly. “You got a little crease right here.” He smoothed his thumb over my forehead and moved his hand around to cup my head.
I tilted back to look up at him. “Thinking about what my life was like two months ago and how different and weird everything is now.”
“And are you wishing it had never happened?”
“Not even a tiny bit. I wouldn’t want to go back to a time when the trees weren’t watching me, and I’d never ridden a motorcycle.”
Isaac leaned down and brushed my lips with his. “There are definite advantages to life as it is now.”
I smiled and leaned further into him. “Definite advantages.”
The kiss ended too soon for my liking, but considering we were still in the middle of a gas station parking lot, it probably shouldn’t go any further. I sighed and stepped back.
“Do we have anything at the motel that we need to collect?” Isaac asked.
“My sword is under the mattress and most of my clothes are still there.”
“I’ll go back tonight and get everything. We’re paid up through the end of the week, but it’s probably time to move on anyway.”
“Camping again?” My lip curled involuntarily.
“It’s easier to melt into the woods,” Isaac answered.
“But there are fewer showers,” I whined. “I like showers. And you like air conditioning.”
“I remember how much you like showers,” he growled.
“That is not what I meant.”
Isaac laughed. “Call Danny and have him meet us at that Dairy Queen in Keystone. We’ll regroup from there.” He pulled his own phone out and walked off a ways to make a call. I watched, trying to hear his half of the conversation, but when I couldn’t make out anything other than a low murmur, I gave up and dialed Finn.
“How’d it go?” he asked.
“Hey, Danny!” I said.
“Where are you?”
“Custer. I can’t imagine getting trapped here in a blizzard. That would suck!”
“What time?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe a half dozen. Of course, Pennsylvania isn’t much better, is it?”
“You enjoy this shit, don’t you?”
“Good thing you’ve got plenty of time, isn’t it?”
“I’m going to spank you.”
“Dream on. See you later.”
I hung up and turned around, grinning at Isaac who was staring at me in confusion.
“What the hell was that?”
“Code.”
“You guys have a code?”
“Nope. I made it all up. I’m pretty sure he got the DQ thing, because he knows that my love for the Blizzard is second only to my love for a Crunch Wrap Supreme, but we’ll see if he makes it to the right town at the right time.”
“You’re a little bit ridiculous.”
“But awesome.”
“Of course.” He grinned. “Where to next?”
“Can we drive back through the park? Slowly? I was so scared that I couldn’t take in the scenery.”
We meandered through the Park. The tug of magic remained nebulous and far away. Finally, in late afternoon, when the rumbling of my stomach was almost louder than the bike, we headed towards Keystone. The magic force grew the closer we got until its touch on me was almost painful. I tapped on Isaac to get his attention, and he pulled over. I took off my helmet and pulled the GPS unit out of my backpack.
I rotated slowly, trying to pinpoint in which direction the power originated. Isaac wrote down the coordinates, and when I settled on the direction that called to me the most strongly, he noted the bearing.
A few miles later, the power surged again, and we repeated the process.
Finn was eating a banana split at an outside table when we got to the Dairy Queen. He looked at us, but his glance slid away immediately. I didn’t see anything suspicious, but remembering Isaac’s theory about feeling anything new or unnatural in the earth, I dropped my shields and reached out. The low box hedge around the fast-food joint, although ugly and smelling vaguely like cat piss, belonged. The trees had deep roots and exuded an aura of longevity. It wasn’t until I paused on the bed of petunias while I looked around for more flora that it hit me. The petunias were not normal. I grabbed Isaac’s hand, resurrected my shields, and tugged him inside. We ordered and discussed in low voice what to do. Obviously, they were going to know either Finn or me, and if they were here from Arduinna or the Fae court, probably both of us.