The Cardinal Gate

by Amy Cissell

  “You’re right, child. At the same time, I’ll be here to ensure you don’t take on more guilt than is necessary. You’re walking a path you did not plan, and I know these are not the choices you’d make for yourself. All you can do is be the best person you can be, do your best to do no harm, and face the world as it comes.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  SATURDAY MORNING, FLORENCE and I drove to Sylvan Lake and checked into the two-bedroom cabin we’d reserved. We’d packed everything with the assumption we wouldn’t be back. It was harder for Florence. She had friends here, family, ex-lovers.

  I saw her glaring at me out of the corner of my eye and smirked. I’m not sure why she thought I was going to let it go. Savannah was very interested in rekindling the relationship.

  “Whether she is or not doesn’t matter at this point,” Florence chided. “I can’t rekindle anything, and she will likely change her mind tomorrow when she sees my role in the event.”

  “Whatever. This will be over eventually, and now you know there’s someone waiting for you at home. Isn’t it nice that you have people to come back to? I don’t have that.”

  I paced the main room of the cabin while Florence puttered in the kitchen.

  “I do not putter.”

  “Get out of my head.”

  “Make me. You can, you know. You should practice so that even when you’re nervous or impatient, people can’t read your thoughts. A powerful telepath will likely be able to breech your mental shields—especially if they touch you—but it’d be great if you’d stop projecting what you’re planning on doing with your wolf the minute he walks through the door.”

  “I’d like to hear a bit more,” Isaac said.

  I spun around and ran into the arms he freed by dropping everything he was holding. After a spine-tingling kiss that almost went past the bounds of public decency, he put me down. I grabbed one of his hands, unwilling to let him go.

  “I am going for a walk,” Florence said.

  “Be careful,” I said. “Finn is probably out there.”

  “He has not shown an ability to shield himself against me, and as yet has made no plans regarding me. I am more worried about my coven coming after me.”

  “If you run into Savannah and need a private place to…talk, come back and kick us out.”

  Florence pointed at me. “If you don’t stop, I am going to turn you into a frog.”

  I laughed. “Can you do that?”

  “I don’t know, but you’re tempting me to find out.”

  She stalked through the door, slamming it behind her.

  “We should probably do something about these errant thoughts that are plaguing Florence,” Isaac said. “I feel terrible that we’re making her uncomfortable.”

  “Agreed. What do you suggest?”

  He scooped me up and strode towards the bedroom.

  “How do you know which is ours?”

  “Your scent is all over it, the doors are open, and I can see your sword on the bed.”

  “Your powers of observation are impressive.”

  Isaac kicked the door shut and threw me on the bed. He eyes were streaked with gold, and I knew that he was holding onto control by the skin of his teeth. I hope that meant he was barely resisting ripping my clothes off. He removed his clothes inhumanly fast and then jumped on the bed.

  “Strip,” he growled, “or I’ll do it for you.”

  I wiggled around and removed my shoes, socks, shorts, and tank top. I reached around to unhook my bra and barely got it off before my clothes were tossed off the bed. I was nearly naked and extremely anxious.

  “You’re not the only one feeling a bit out of control right now,” I said. “If you don’t touch me soon, I’m going to have to do something about it.”

  Isaac lowered himself onto me and kissed me until I was gasping for air. His erection pressed against my panties and I arched up into it, rubbing myself against him.

  “If you don’t stop, this will be too fast,” Isaac warned.

  “If you aren’t inside me in the next couple of seconds, it won’t be fast enough.”

  Isaac reached down and ripped off my panties. There was a burn of pain as he tossed the useless scraps of silk aside. The pain disappeared when he plunged inside me.

  Then, he held still.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, voice strangled.

  “What you asked.” He sounded strained, too. “I’m inside you.” He teased and touched while holding the lower parts of our bodies completely still. He pinched my nipples to stiff peaks and then flicked first one and then the other with his tongue. I was writhing beneath him, but his weight kept me mostly immobile.

  Just when I thought I would go mad, he stopped playing with my breasts and rose up enough to look into my eyes. “I love you, Eleanor.”

  I smiled and pulled him down for a kiss.

  He started moving against me. It didn’t take long before that movement sent me over the edge. I screamed out my orgasm and he quickly followed.

  We lay panting in each other’s arms. I punched him. “You’re a tease, Isaac Walker.”

  He nipped at my ear. “You like it, Eleanor Morgan.”

  “We should probably get dressed and get everything ready. Florence brought enough food for dinner, breakfast, and a sandwich lunch, but I want to be ready to head out with minimal effort in the morning.”

  “What time do we need to be there?”

  “1:00” I said. “We’ll need to leave by mid-morning.”

  “Do we have a coffee maker?”

  “Florence brought one in case the cabin didn’t have one. Something about it being the most valuable thing she could provide on this trip, blah blah blah.”

  An uncharacteristically agitated Florence returned a few minutes later.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  “I ran into Savannah.”

  “Guessing it wasn’t good?”

  “It wasn’t. I don’t know if I can hold the weir tomorrow if the coven shows up to challenge us.”

  “How did she find you?”

  Florence sighed. “When we were younger, we exchanged tokens that would allow us to always find the other. When we broke up, we agreed to put them away and only use them in cases of great danger. Apparently, she thinks that I’m in great danger of being exploited by your knowledge of my personal life, you being a ruthless Fae and all.”

  “Will they attack?”

  “It is highly likely.”

  “This will be a magical attack and not something I can help with unless you want me to kill them, right?” Isaac asked.

  Florence nodded. “I’d prefer you not kill them.”

  “That would be hard to hide,” I agreed. “Also, wrong,” I added, when Florence shot me a look. “Are we set with the FAA?”

  “Yes, all air traffic in the Midwest corridor will be grounded from noon until sunset tomorrow.”

  The scent of coffee brought me out of sleep the next morning. I buried my head under my pillow, and Isaac poked me. “Time to get up!”

  “Not today. Maybe tomorrow.”

  “You’re so fun in the morning,” he said. “I have coffee.”

  I sat up and looked around. “Where?”

  “In the kitchen. Get dressed and let’s go.”

  I got up, rubbed my eyes, and got ready. I stumbled out into the bright main room and made straight for the coffee pot. I did a double-take when I saw someone I wasn’t expecting. “Rebecca!”

  “I decided to come with you to help guard against physical attack. One of my wolves is here to make sure your things and new vehicle are parked at least fifty miles away so that if you release a circuit-frying pulse, it won’t take out your car’s computer.”

  “That’s great, but how are we going to get to that vehicle?”

  “I arranged for a couple Blazers—one for you and one or me—at the Willow Creek Horse Camp. We’ll hike back that way when you’re done. The Blazer gets crap gas mileage, but it doesn�
��t have any computer parts to fry.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “You’re amazing. And congrats on being Alpha.”

  “It won’t be without its challenges. There are a few who will challenge me because I’m female, and I’ll get outside interference from others hoping to take over the pack. I’ll hold this pack, and I have friends in other packs. If you tell me where you’re going next, I’ll send word ahead that you’re to be welcomed and that Isaac isn’t a threat.”

  “I wish I knew. Thank you for everything.”

  “Thank me by taking care of my friend and not destroying the world too much.”

  “I’ll do my best with both. I need you know that the world as we know it will end. What happened in Portland is a precursor. This region will experience power surges, and when all the gates are open, technology will fail. Replace your vehicles with earlier models. Stockpile gasoline and weapons. Find a way to store food without refrigeration. Maybe buy all the coffee in the Black Hills.”

  Rebecca nodded. “We will follow your advice and pass it on to our allies.” She looked at Florence. “Tell your coven that our treaty will remain if they’d like. It will be valuable to maintain our supernatural allies.”

  “I’ll tell them, but my word means little at the moment.” Florence passed Rebecca a card. “Savannah Fischer will lead the coven once I’m gone. Give her time to cool down and call her. She will deal.”

  “Ready, Princess?”

  “As I’ll ever be.” My stomach was tight with nerves. I was going to take the next step in unleashing chaos on this world, because it was that or die. I wished the Fae I’d met thus far had seemed worthy of being free. I hoped Arduinna, Finn, and Harvey weren’t typical representations of the Fair Folk, because destroying technology and releasing a flood of douchecanoes on the earth was beyond the pale.

  Florence chuckled. When I looked at her, she said, “The Fae, like anyone else, have good folks and bad, nice folk and assholes, caring folk and callous individuals. Because they are Fae and many are virtually immortal, there may be more callous individuals than you’d find in a similar group of humans. It’s hard to hang on to your humanity—for lack of a better word—when you see centuries pass by. Compassion isn’t an alien emotion for those that are mostly immortal, but it’s not as common as it is in humans whose live are so fleeting.”

  “I know you have doubts, and that makes you compassionate. Keep them, but don’t let them rule you. The Earth cries out in pain, and although this is a rather cataclysmic way to aid her, it will help.”

  I armed myself, turned on my flashlight, and walked out the door.

  Rebecca ran ahead at the trailhead. I saw a shimmer, heard a couple of pained grunts, and then a wolf trotted back towards us. She grinned, tongue lolling out, and then tilted up her muzzle and howled. She was joined by an entire chorus. I shivered and looked at Isaac.

  “They are here to offer protection and be a show of force. I’m hoping there’s not a fight, but if there is, I want to win.”

  When we reached the exposed peak next to the old lookout station, I could feel the power of the gate tugging at me. Rebecca stood in front of the tree line. Isaac and Florence were close enough to pose as bodyguards. I looked at my watch. It was stopped.

  “Time?” I asked.

  “Nearly noon,” Isaac answered. “There are people approaching and they stink of magic.”

  “Human?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “My coven, then,” Florence sighed. “Now would be a good time for Rebecca and her pack to stand with us.”

  Fifteen wolves and one cougar paced out of the woods and stood behind us in a semi-circle.

  I turned my attention back to the trail. I didn’t have long to wait. Twelve coven members—the same members who’d helped save me—melted out of the tree line and were forced into a single file line up the stairs as they approached. They spread out, leaving about an arm’s length between them.

  Savannah paced forward. “This path is ill-advised. We will be forced to stop you if you insist on continuing.”

  Florence started to say something, but I stepped forward. “I appreciate the warning, but the course has been set. The gates will open. Balance will return.”

  “Balance?” she sneered. “What does a Fae know of balance?”

  I pushed down a surge of anger. This was a time for calm. “Savannah.” I hoped the measured quiet of my tone would inspire all to shut up and listen. “The aid you rendered to me last week is appreciated more than I can express.” I paused and noticed that everyone had stilled.

  “I am not here to destroy the world, though the effects of the magic are not completely known. My goal is to bring balance back. You sneered when I said that before—sneered at the thought that I might understand balance. I am a creature of the earth. Maybe not in the same way as you, but I draw power from her, and I can feel the trees languishing, and feel the animals choking on polluted air. The Fair Folk are elemental creatures. Your power comes from her body, but ours comes from her being. I draw upon the life she creates. The Fae will restore balance and increase the reservoir of magic.

  “You know who I am. You know I’m heir to the Light Throne. When I rule—and this, I promise—there will be no more kidnappings in the name of species continuation.” I let my voice grow hard. “It will not stand. Those children—of magical origin or not—will be found and given the choice to stay with their adoptive parent or return to the land of their birth.”

  Savannah laughed. “Adoptive parents? You show your bias already, Fae.”

  I sighed. “I know you’re determined to hear only the worst. I meant, of course, the parents they have lived with, not that there was consensual adoption involved. I would love to return all children to the parents that birthed and loved them, but am not so ignorant to believe that everyone will want to go back, and I am loath to force a teenager to return to a home where she was abused for her unexplained magical prowess or unloved because of his involuntarily shows of power. Promise me that never happened to anyone who was taken and we can have a different conversation. As you know, I was placed with human parents and wouldn’t have left them, even for the promise of a royal throne.”

  Savannah was silent.

  “I grew up in this world, you know,” I said, trying to be more conversational and less confrontational. “I was raised human. I knew nothing of the supernatural, of Fae and mages and shifters and vampires until the summer solstice. I am learning as fast as I can and doing the best that I can. If you have advice to offer on how to mitigate the damage that will likely be caused by the reintroduction of magic into this world, I would welcome it. If you have kin you need returned, tell me their names, and I will seek them out when I take my throne. But if you’re here for nothing else than to attempt to stop me from doing something that I can’t halt, then we have nothing more to say to one another.”

  Eleven witches stepped forward until they were even with Savannah. She held up a hand and looked at Florence. “We would hear, from her own lips, what hold you have over one of our own.”

  “I will tell you a story, but you must first agree that I am Florence White Elk, she who does not tell lies. I am not here to trick you into a truth or action. I leave that to Iktomi or Coyote.”

  Savannah looked at her coven. “We agree to hear your story if you give us a token that you are here of your own free will.”

  “What token would you accept?” Florence asked.

  “You shouldn’t need to ask.”

  Florence turned and looked at Isaac and me. “Do not be alarmed.”

  Before I could even begin to parse how she might alarm me, it started. The wind whipped up. There was little to blow around on the granite outcropping on which we stood, but the bits of dust and pine needles that were available stung my eyes. I squinted and saw a whirlwind around her. It looked as though it was solidifying, and soon I realized that it was crystallizing, becoming solid ice. She sent the funnel towards Savannah and
it softened until she was enveloped in the ice.

  She did the same in turn for each of the other eleven mages. Finally, she brought the icy wind back to herself and it dissipated.

  “As you see, my power is my own.” And then she looked directly at Savannah and they stared, unspeaking for long enough to make everyone uncomfortable.

  “You’re acting of your own volition.”

  Florence nodded and sank to the ground, cross-legged. The coven followed suit. Isaac and I looked at each other and did the same, trusting the shifters to protect us.

  “You know me as Florence White Elk, High Priestess of the Circle of the Harvest Moon. You know that I am a devout follower of the Goddess, and that she has blessed me with many powers. You know that I am one of the First Peoples of this region. And you know that I am older than I look.”

  Florence related the story that she’d told me, and I could see by the reactions of her coven, that only Savannah had heard it before.

  She finished, “The day I laid my mother to rest, it became my mission to find the people who had kidnapped my sister and to serve my vengeance upon them. Eleanor is the path to that vengeance. She will open the old paths and make them accessible again. She will bring down the barriers that protect the Fae from the families of those they’ve wronged.

  “She is my weapon.”

  Florence fell silent and twelve witches stared at her. Savannah had tears running down her face. I tried to keep my expression neutral. I knew that I was more than a weapon to Florence—at least I hoped I hadn’t made another monumentally poor judgment call regarding a person in my life—but it was a bit discombobulating to hear her call me that. She turned and winked.

  “So, my sisters and brothers, now you know my story and why I aid this Fae.”

  Savannah stood up, almost reluctantly, and stepped forward. “We hear your story, and accept that you have made these decisions on your own. A concern remains. Why would you risk this earth, your Mother, for the sake of a child gone these sixty years, a child who has likely long shuffled her mortal coil?”