Coral & Bone

by Tiffany Daune

  “Here. Eat these.”

  “No thanks.” Halen held up her hand.

  “A few hours of sleep won’t hurt.” He nudged the berries toward her. “Just take them.”

  A yawn escaped her lips. “I guess you’re right. I haven’t had much sleep.” Taking the berries, she then placed one in her mouth. She popped it open between her teeth. Instantly the juice puckered her lips. “Wow, you really don’t like me.”

  “Take them all.”

  She chewed the last three as fast as she could and swallowed. When she was done, she stuck out her tongue. “Are you happy?”

  “I’ll be happy when you are asleep.” He gathered the sand in a mound. “Not much of a pillow but it will have to do.”

  “It must be the berries because you’re turning into a real gentleman.”

  He laughed. “Lie down.”

  He remained sitting, with his arms around his legs. Her eyelids were already heavy, but now that he was sitting still, she could see a little more clearly through the loops of his shirt. Where the date of his birth should be, a tattooed bird took flight. She could make out the feathers and on one wing the letter E with the number three superscripted, so it looked like an element on a periodic table.

  “Halen,” he asked unexpectedly. “Why didn’t you stop the water in the records chamber?”

  Closing her eyes, she said, “I didn’t know how.” She felt his cool hand sweep her bangs from her eyes and nothing more.

  Darling, you are so close, yet so far away.

  Halen spun around but she was alone. She stood at the top of a hill overlooking a grass knolled valley. Below sat a village with stone cottages, and beyond, a field of crops springing with brilliant green husks of corn. A tall oak tree shaded her from the hot sun. Her heart paced like a race horse in the final lap. “Dax!” she called out. “Catch! Pepper!”

  Looking for someone? A boy’s voice brushed her ear, his words laced with an English accent.

  She peeked around the trunk of the tree but found no one.

  I’m over here.

  She looked out across the valley. Still she saw no one.

  I’m so glad you’ve joined me. I’ve been so lonely.

  “Come out!” she called. “Show your face.”

  A black mist swirled at her feet and she jumped aside.

  Have you come to watch them die, darling?

  The voice lingered in the mist. Halen followed the smoke up the knotted bark. Three pairs of pointed shoes jerked over her head. Choking back the fear, Halen looked farther up the tree. Three women, their long cotton dresses full around their limp bodies, hung from nooses. Their necks bent, bulging with black veins. Halen screamed and when she did the black mist spun. A shoe dangled from one woman’s toes. When the black mist swept around her, she rocked more violently, and her shoe slipped off. Without thinking, Halen caught the leather shoe her hands. The woman’s gray tongue lolled from her parted lips but she managed two words. Thank you.

  Halen screamed so hard her throat burned. Over her cries, a boy broke out in a sing-song voice.

  My lady love

  My lady love

  They hung her from an oak tree

  What shall I do?

  Oh, what shall I do?

  You caught my lady love’s shoe

  The black mist blinded Halen as long boney fingers pressed her shoulders.

  Why don’t you take my lady love’s place?

  Breaking free from the boney grip, Halen collapsed to her knees screaming. Her body trembled.

  “Halen, wake up!”

  “My lady love, my lady love.” Halen mumbled.

  “Halen, wake up.” She could hear Dax’s steady voice, feel his hands on her shoulders shaking her. “I shouldn’t have given you those damn berries. I’m sorry. I thought they would help you sleep.” His faced blurred in and out of her vision.

  “It’s him! It’s Asair, I know it! Even though I couldn’t see him, I could feel him. He was trying to show me something.”

  “You were dreaming.”

  She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled herself up to meet his gaze. “It was Asair.”

  “You were dreaming,” he said, his eyes never leaving hers. “You’ve been asleep for hours. I’ve been here the whole time.”

  She looked around and saw Catch and Pepper curled close to one another sound asleep. A tear rolled down her cheek, and the long overdue cry her mom had suggested shook her like a summer storm. Halen held nothing back, sobbing into her knees. She swiped the tears from her face. “The dream was so real. All the stress is making me nuts. I don’t even know who I am anymore.” She tugged her hair in her fist and her braid fell loose.

  “Hey, Asair can’t get you. The only way he can touch you is if you open the portal.”

  “You’re sure?” She sniffed back the tears.

  He nodded. “I’m sorry about the berries. I really didn’t mean to…”

  “It was just a dream.” She ran her finger across the sticky tentacles of an anemone star, and it recoiled at her touch. She wished she could have seen this place with a clear mind, without so much fear driving her. She was sure she would have loved to have grown up here.

  Dax ran his finger over the anemone beside the one she just folded. His finger brushed past hers and her breath hitched. No matter how many times he touched her, the sparks were there, hiding under her skin until he touched her the next time. The same feeling she had had when she was drawn to sketch him.

  “I used to come in here when I was a kid and poke them all shut. I still love the way they feel on my fingers,” he said.

  She imagined his fingertips brushing her wrist, her arm her shoulder, her neck, her lips. Would she recoil like the anemone or would she burst open? She stood up and stepped away from him. She kept her voice low so as not to wake Catch and Pepper. “It must be wonderful to grow up here.”

  “It is, but Earth is more exciting.”

  “How would you know?” She was happy they were off the subject of Asair, for now.

  “I’ve been plenty of times. All Elosians have to integrate. Some hate it. But me, I kind of wish I had more than a few hours.”

  “Is that all the time you’re allowed?”

  “Elosians’ lungs don’t work in your atmosphere the same way as a human’s. We have to rely on the oxygen absorbed in our muscles. After a few hours we dehydrate; doesn’t leave much time for a movie marathon.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  He shrugged. “What can I say? I love movies. I could spend the day in the theater, eating buttery popcorn.”

  “I can’t imagine you in a movie theater, especially dressed like that.” She laughed.

  He dug his toes in the soft sand. She tried to get a peek at the bird tattoo once more but when he caught her looking, he stood up. “Halen, you need to be careful,” he said, shifting the topic once more. He stepped toward her.

  “You think?” she said with a tone of sarcasm, but then frowned. “Look I get it—hunters, Elosians—everyone wants me dead.”

  “What I meant is you need to be careful of yourself. The temptation for darkness is great. You are not in control of your emotions. You admitted you don’t know how to stop it.”

  “I guess I’ll have to figure it out,” she said.

  “You’re not alone—you can do this.” He grabbed her shoulders and a charge pulsed through her like she had on rocket shoes. “With the right guidance you can learn to harness all that is inside you.”

  She was having serious doubts. Right now she couldn’t even gather her straying thoughts. They were running wild and, curiously, she was most focused on his lips. Those full lips. Lips she had drawn and shaded with her pencil, but were now right in front of her. For three months, almost one hundred days, she had imagined what it would be like kissing lips like his. He was now saying something about magick and still, she couldn’t listen to his words, only the motion of his mouth, moving open and shut, open and shut, and between each
breath, she suddenly wanted to place her lips on his. No, this wasn’t something she wanted, but something her insides were prodding her to try. Open and shut, open and… she leapt up on her tiptoes.

  Eighteen

  The kiss ignited a fire, running along each and every nerve ending. With his hands on her hips, he pulled her closer to him. His soft full lips pressed into hers. She slid her hands along his shoulders, wrapping her fingers in the woven threads of his shirt, brushing his skin where the tattooed bird flew. Her fingertips sparked, and she smiled between each kiss. Of all the fires under her skin, this one she wanted to let burn.

  As her fingertips ran along his neck, he suddenly tensed and pulled back. He pushed her away, his eyes wide. He shook his head furiously. “I have to get out of here,” he said under his breath. Without another word, he skidded across the kelp and dove into the river.

  She clasped her hand over her mouth. What had she done? She looked back. Thankfully Catch and Pepper were still asleep. She paced the sand. Holy crap. She kissed him. What the hell was she thinking? She wasn’t. That was the problem. Like everything else, she didn’t think. She just reacted. She shook her hands out, still rippling with Dax’s energy. This was ridiculous. She didn’t belong here. She couldn’t be who they wanted her to be—she would never be like Natalie. She wasn’t in control. She couldn’t even keep from kissing a boy.

  She scanned the cavern for a way out. The only possible way had to be the river. Of course, they were in a tidal garden; the water had to come from somewhere. Maybe there was a way out? She couldn’t wait any longer. She wasn’t going to wait for Pepper and Catch to wake up, and she certainly wasn’t going to face Dax again. Oh God, she really had kissed him. Stupid stupid stupid. This was horrible. And the way Dax looked at her afterward…. He looked like he was going to be sick, with his paled face and bewildered gaze. He looked more like she had stabbed him, not kissed him.

  I have to get out of here, were his words.

  So did she.

  Fearing another encounter with the mermaids, Halen decided she should take the coral and bone elixir, first. Pepper was sound asleep, so if she could just get the vial without waking her. Halen crouched down next to Pepper and Catch. They would hate her for leaving them, for not opening the portal to Asair—for being a coward. It didn’t matter. They were better without her. They would see. They would find another way.

  Halen’s hand trembled as she reached for the vial. The charms jingled when Pepper shifted. Halen snapped her hand back. Catch ground his teeth together like he was chewing gum. Reaching again, Halen’s fingers fumbled with the clasp. With one final tug the vial came loose, but when it was in her grip Catch’s eyes snapped open.

  He blinked, his twitchy eye finding her. “What are you doing?” he asked sleepily. Then he saw the vial in her hand. “Where’s Dax?” He bolted upright as he searched the cavern. “What have you done with him?”

  “What’s going on?” Pepper opened her eyes. She looked to Catch who was now pointing at Halen. “She has the elixir, and Dax is missing.”

  “Where is he?” Pepper asked her tone accusing.

  “He left,” Halen said as she stood.

  “He wouldn’t do that,” Pepper said, scrambling to her feet. Though she was much shorter than Halen, her wide stance was intimidating.

  “He did,” Halen said.

  “Why?” Catch asked.

  Halen’s cheeks flushed. She couldn’t tell them the truth. She wanted to forget it even happened. Out of all her out-of-control outbursts, kissing Dax was the most embarrassing. “I don’t know. He said he had to go.” This was true at least.

  Catch’s glance shifted to Pepper and hers to the vial. Catch nodded and Halen took another step back. They wouldn’t. Would they? Catch lunged for her. But Halen anticipated his move and she ran. But when she hit the slimy kelp she lost her footing and plunged into the river. She paddled up to the surface and inhaled a breath. Catch was already diving in, so she dove before he reached her. She swam, kicking water in his face. She didn’t want to hurt him, she already felt bad for slamming him against the wall, but she needed to get away. Catch reached for her, his fingertips brushing her skin. Without thinking, she made the water spiral in front of him, creating a barrier between the two of them. Looking around wildly, she noticed a long narrow crevice like the eye of a needle between two rocks. As she swam toward it, her bracelet started to spin and the rocks parted. A portal? A low hum vibrated around the opening and when she stuck her arm through, her bracelet spun faster. The water was freezing on the other side. She had found a portal! She had found a way out. Catch was struggling, trying to find a way around the spiral, and suddenly Pepper dove in.

  Sorry guys. Halen slid through to the other side, but as soon as she passed through she wanted to go back.

  Wispy black hair floated all around Halen; the tips wove together creating a net across her. At last. The mermaid’s chilling voice snaked its way through her thoughts. You belong with us.

  Nineteen

  Ezra had been right. they had no clue where Halen was. Of course Daspar tried using an egg to locate her, but found nothing. He said he had another idea, but first he wanted them out of Rockaway. They needed to get closer to a city if they were going to start casting spells. The hunters were thrown off by modern technology. The Wi-Fi and cellular towers and the buzz of a city scrambled their readings. But when Daspar drove right past Portland and went off-roading straight into the middle of Forest Park, Tage thought he had lost his mind. He drove deep into the forest, away from the tourist pathways, and stopped at a church which slanted to one side as if it might collapse at any moment. Tage thought they should be dead center of the city, but Daspar said they were close enough to Portland and besides, Tasar and Lina wouldn’t be able to sleep in the city. They needed natural surroundings. Too much technology had a similar effect on their systems as well. They couldn’t risk having them shift in the middle of Portland. Daspar thought since Portland and the park were neighbours, the church’s location was the perfect balance of city and forest.

  Tage tossed her sleeping bag onto the floor. She rocked from side to side releasing a symphony of creaks and squeaks. Sitting down on a church pew, she leaned back. She looked at the chipped plaster walls, pitted with little holes. She was sure mice were nesting inside each and every one. Grime covered the windows, so even though there was still a bit of daylight left, they had to keep the front doors open to see. She moaned. “I can’t believe we’re actually going to sleep here.”

  “At least you don’t have to sleep out in the cold,” Ezra said as he spread his sleeping bag along one of the church pews.

  “Tasar and Lina are sleeping out there,” Tage said.

  “They’re animals. They’re supposed to sleep in the forest.”

  “We choose to sleep in the forest for your own safety.” Tasar leaned against the open door frame of the church.

  Tage hadn’t even heard him come in. For someone so large, he had a way of sneaking up on you without being noticed. Wolf. She busied herself with spreading her sleeping bag out.

  “As long as you don’t go all wolf on me, I don’t care where you sleep.” Ezra shrugged.

  Alarmed, Tage looked up, had she said the word out loud? No, she couldn’t have.

  “What makes you think I’m a wolf?” Tasar’s lips spread over long canine-like teeth.

  Whatever animal he shifted into, he was a meat eater for sure, Tage thought.

  Ezra balanced along the pews, jumping from one to the next. “Isn’t that what most shifters are, wolves?”

  Tasar laughed loudly. In the emptiness of the church the sound carried up to the rafters, disturbing a roost of crows. His eyes gleamed as he watched them flutter overhead. “Shifters occupy the land and the air. What the ocean and seas have not claimed belong to Etlis.”

  “And Earth,” Ezra said. “My cat is not a shifter.”

  “You have a cat?” The words blurted from Tage’s lips.

&n
bsp; Ezra hopped to another row, closer to her. “Don’t look so shocked. She’s staying with my grandmother.”

  “You have a grandmother?” Tasar laughed again.

  Ezra shook his head. “There’s a lot you two don’t know about me.”

  “Well, you haven’t given us a very good impression.” Tage folded her arms across her chest. She still couldn’t believe Daspar let him come along. As far as she was concerned, Ezra couldn’t be trusted. She doubted Natalie had contacted him at all.

  “I’m not here to impress you, princess.”

  “Don’t call me that.” Tage clenched her fist against her ribcage.

  “I’m going to check on Lina while you two work things out.” Tasar turned to leave, passing Daspar and Halen’s mom, Corinne, as they waded through the church doors with armloads of camping gear.

  Daspar could have been the spokes-model for glamping with his polished boots and his sleek leather pants. He’s too pretty for the bugs to chew, Tage thought. Corinne didn’t look as good. Her hair was pulled back off her face in a tight ponytail to match the tight line of her lips. Rims of purple lined her eyes. They should have left her back in Rockaway, but she insisted on coming. Tage hadn’t been able to find the right words to say to Corinne since she had lost Halen in the ocean. Even though Daspar had told her it wasn’t her fault, Corinne might not see it that way. Tage had a hard time forgiving herself; she didn’t think Corinne would be any different. It had been a long silent drive.

  “Well, I think we should get settled for the night,” Daspar said. He set down his pile of gear on the front altar and lifted up a lantern. “We can sort all this out in the morning.”

  Corinne set her bag down on a pew in the first row. Tage knew this is where they put the families of the dead. She had sat in the front row of a church, while acquaintances mumbled niceties about her parents. They hadn’t been close to anyone, but listening to the baker recall how her father loved danishes somehow brought comfort to Tage. Thinking of her father eating lemony danishes was better than picturing him covered with blood.