by Sarah Makela
"Thanks. I didn't anticipate it doing that."
"It's mindful of who it allows to hold it." He looked down at his cousin. "Maybe that's one of the reasons Jacy succumbed to it. He must have used it far too much for his safety. He shouldn’t have done this. He should've known just how powerful the damn thing is." Cody shook his head and picked the talisman up. It seemed to glow a little in his grasp, and I blinked at it in amazement. "Let's get him to my grandmother's house so we can get back to dealing with those sorry bastards who hurt you."
I nodded, not knowing what else to say. Cody was feeling the pain of the situation as much as I was, and I hated seeing him hurt like this. I loved his silly, grinning coyote, and his college boy side, who was a little too eager to convince me to help him. I followed him, letting chirping birds and the morning breeze fill the silence alone.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cody
Jacy's body lay in my arms. I really regretted that I had to present my grandmother with the news that he was dead. It seemed like he'd been using way too much power too quickly. From the looks of it, he was trying to turn the boulder into another golden rock. While Morgana had mentioned that the golden stones had been getting purer and purer in quality, it seemed like an awful big leap to go from smaller chunks of rock to an honest-to-God boulder.
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered what had possessed him to do such a thing. Had he been coerced by the wizard who’d been responsible for ordering Morgana's kidnapping? That didn't quite make sense. I looked over my shoulder at her. She was watching our surroundings, her gaze scanning the forest as if expecting the enemy to jump out at us at any time.
I didn't blame her. I was keeping an eye out too. While I knew that the area near the forest where my grandmother lived was pretty secure—no one was stupid enough to cross her totems and the magical repellent she'd laid out—I knew these people were willing to do whatever it took to get what they wanted.
By the time we got to her house, the positioning of the sun told me it was nearly noon. My feet were kind of sore from stepping on all the little rocks and twigs on the forest floor. I caught the slightest bit of a limp from Morgana, but she kept her chin up and didn't say a word about it. She just soldiered on.
The door to the house opened, revealing my grandmother leaning against the doorframe. "I welcome the follower of the Raven back into the lands that once were. Welcome, daughter of the skies. I had hoped that we'd have a chance to meet at a different time, but adversities bring out who we really are, I suppose. Come over here so that I can have a better look at you," she said, her voice carrying easily across the distance between us.
Morgana didn’t seem fazed by her words as she made her way up the steps to the doorway. "Hello, Wise One. I think I'm somewhat responsible for what is going on," she began, but was quickly silenced by a wave of my grandmother’s hand.
"Don't fret. The spirits have been more than clear about it. Jacy is with them now, and he already knows what he’d brought upon us. There is no need for hostility, just acceptance. Do come in," Grandmother moved out of the way, deeper into the house. Not wanting to make her wait, I walked in after Morgana, closing the door behind us. The air felt different, heavy with emotion and isolation. It seemed that Jacy's passing, and how it had occurred, had hit my grandmother harder than I’d expected. There were whispers in the air, barely audible to my ears. I couldn’t pick any meaning out of them, but I could tell that the spirits were close to us.
"May I see it, Cody?" she asked, her voice tremulous with emotion.
I retrieved the talisman and let her have a good look at it. There was a glint of sadness, but also anger, in her eyes as she held the talisman at arm’s length, peering into it at something I couldn’t see. With a nod, she retrieved the pipe and blew a small portion of the smoke close to the talisman, appeasing whatever was trapped inside. Emotion left the surface of the magical figurine, and the air got slightly lighter afterward. Whatever the talisman was capable of in addition to changing materials to gold and spawning tornadoes, I didn’t want to know.
It had already brought ruin to someone in my family because of greed. The more I looked at the innocent-looking sculpture, the more I was certain that it was evil. And those who had been exposed to it in greed or lust for gold were more than likely to meet their untimely ends.
"I'm sorry, Grandson. I'll have to ask you to carry it a bit further. I must not touch it, for it would burn my hands. Your uncle will take care of it when he comes here tomorrow. Until then, you need to keep it close," my grandmother said, and locked her eyes onto mine.
Unable to refuse, I nodded, feeling displeasure grow from within the talisman. “Now, you two can't go out quite as you are. I may still have something of yours. Raven, could you help me?" She walked toward the back of the house without waiting for a reply from Morgana.
I waited out in the living room while Morgana and my grandmother talked quietly in the back room, searching for something. Occasionally I heard faint, half-contained laughter from the back, but with all the spirits pushing to break into our world, I wasn't sure if it was actually them. Ten minutes later Morgana returned wearing my old middle-school clothes. The band on the t-shirt had long ago broken up, and the colors on the jeans had faded. She carried a stack of other clothes with her, and I felt my heart sink a little. I knew that the only other clothes here that would fit me would be from when I was in high school. Sure enough, I found a black heavy-metal shirt I’d worn to school and a pair of ripped jeans among other similar ones. Ones I thought I’d given away.
"You've done well to ally yourself with the Raven, Grandson." My grandmother nodded at me. Sadness wrinkled her face even more, and her shoulders seemed more slumped as she walked back inside her home.
I wrapped my arms around Morgana, needing to feel her life and warmth. She held me gently, letting me lean forward to rest my chin on her shoulder. I wanted to cry and yell and fight, but I had to remain cool and calm. I had to let the coyote take his revenge for what happened to my cousin, and to Morgana. I slid my finger lightly over a bruise that marred her light complexion, and stood up straighter, pushing my shoulders back.
"Do you think you can find the place they took you again?"
She bit her lower lip doubtfully. "Um... I didn't really pay as much attention to where I was going as I should have. I think I can find my way back though. I was flying higher up in the air than I probably should've been at the time, but retracing my path is worth a shot. We'd have to go back to my house first, so I can go back to the last waypoint that I remember."
I nodded. "Yeah, that's not a problem." I looked at the keys to my grandmother's truck in my hand. "It'll probably be quicker for you to fly to where McGuire normally is, but maybe we could drive back to your place?"
She nodded quickly, and I could see the relief in her eyes. Morgana hadn't wanted to travel back like that any more than I did.
I opened the passenger door of the truck to let her in. I caught sight of her feet as the flip flops my grandmother had given her came away from the bottom of her foot. Her feet were bruised and red. It looked like they’d been bleeding. Her healing speed must've stopped them from getting worse, but it wasn’t enough to make the bruises go away.
She must've caught me looking, because she pulled her leg quickly into the truck and placed her feet flat on the floorboard.
"I'm fine. I swear." She leaned up to kiss me, and the feeling of it brought a level of relief that I hadn’t realized I'd needed. Her hand trailed over the thin shirt, snug on my skin now that I filled it out better than in high school. I couldn't believe my grandmother still had some of my clothes, but I guess she'd never gotten around to donating them.
I'd lived with her mostly in my high school years. Not only did she live closer to the high school, but after I'd shown signs of being more than human, she'd been more understanding than my own family. I'd already been different, and my being a Coyote shifter made me even more of an outcast
.
I brushed the thoughts away as Morgana's face filled with concern, and closed the door to head over to the driver's side. I didn't really want to talk about my childhood with Morgana, at least not yet. But from what I had seen of the files in her living room, I could tell that she'd done her research well. I hadn't had time to go through all of it, but she knew more about me than anyone I had ever met, maybe even as much as my closest family members.
I slid into the driver's seat and started the engine. We drove to her house with only the sound of older country music on the radio to break the silence. I knew not to change it away from the station. My grandmother had a way of knowing things. Besides, I didn't really mind it. The music filled the gap between us, so I didn't feel like I had to talk about what was bothering me.
Morgana didn't seem to feel the need to either, and I liked that about her. We could just be here in a companionable silence. There was no pressure to do anything else.
I pulled into her gravel driveway, right beside the garage, where tire tracks still gouged the driveway. When I cut the engine, I looked over at her, and she was staring out the front window. She didn’t look anxious to get out of the truck.
"Do you think that we'll be able to fight them all? I know you're also a big coyote, but the guy who attacked me and kidnapped me was huge, and strong. I... You saw my living room. I just don't know how we'll be able to take them on alone." She sighed and leaned her head back against the headrest. "I'm not saying we won't, but it'll be tough, and we're both already kind of tired from all the walking earlier."
"We'll do it. We...you...have what they want, and they won't know I'm there." I laid my hand on hers. "Let's play into what they think will happen. They know you're scared, and that you'll give them the talisman. They don't know you have help. If we can keep them believing that for a moment, then I can jump out when things start happening, and we'll have the element of surprise."
I held up another talisman my grandmother had slipped into the pocket of the jeans she'd given me. "You can give them this one and I'll hold onto the real talisman."
"What if they realize it's not the real one? I'm pretty sure a wizard would know the difference." Frowning, she turned to look at me, and drew in a breath before letting it out slowly. "I'm not doubting you. I just want to be prepared in case things go downhill. I don't want them to catch us off-guard."
She was right, of course. I didn't know if the wizard would be able to tell between the two. He obviously knew what the real talisman did, but could he sense the magic in one versus the lack of it in the other? It made sense that he might. If that was the case, then I didn't want to be throwing Morgana to the wolves. We needed to have a better plan than this. "You're right. I don't know if he'll be able to tell the difference. We should be prepared, just in case."
She rubbed the back of her neck and looked thoughtfully out the driver's side window beyond me. "Well, I guess it depends on where you're at. If you can try to take out one of the guards while I'm talking with the wizard, then we’ll only have to deal with the wizard and the other guard. He only has two that I saw, but both of them were pretty darn scary." She looked back to me. "But whatever you do, please...please be careful. I... I don't want you to be hurt. I care about you."
I slid over in the seat and wrapped my arms around her. "It'll be okay. I know it might be tough, but we'll get through it." However, from what she said, and what I knew about these people so far, I wasn't as confident on the inside as I showed her. I wanted to comfort her, but I was secretly scared that something might happen to one or both of us if we weren't careful.
Morgana nodded and rested her head against my shoulder. "I just wish I could believe that." She trailed her hand over my chest for a moment, then slid away and hopped out of the truck. She pulled off my old clothes and set them back in the truck, folding them neatly as she did. When she looked up at me, she had a faint smile on her face. "Guess we should get this done with, then."
I nodded and followed her lead. By the time I'd gotten my clothes off, she was already in raven form, and she’d strutted around the front of the truck to stand nearby. I leaned down to touch her midnight black feathers, but she lightly tapped my foot with her beak, as if in reproach.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm shifting." I shook my head at her and took a couple steps back to give myself enough room to change, and enough room between us so my coyote didn't do anything stupid in the time it took me to regain my senses after the shift.
Once I'd completed my change, I barked at her, and she threw herself into the air. I turned and let my coyote chase after her. If I had any chance of keeping up, the beast was going to be better at this than me. His instincts were more honed on the chase, even though we both knew she was not our prey.
We traveled like that for a while. Morgana's flight pattern seemed more erratic this time, likely because she was trying to figure out where she'd come from, and inspecting the surroundings from just above the trees. I was having a harder time tracking her than ever before, and my coyote snipped at me. He wanted me to fade back into the background while he took control of the situation, but I never wanted my animal to have more control of my body than I did.
My grandmother had warned me of such things, instructing me about people who had gone insane in Native American lore by turning more beast than human. They had cannibalized others because they had forgotten how to be human. She'd been my rock through learning about my new form, keeping me sane and grounded. Of course, life with her hadn't always been easy, but it'd been better than with living with my parents and siblings. She'd shown me true love, regardless of what I looked like.
Morgana slid through the trees in a descent that made me worry she'd hit a branch or tree trunk, but she deftly navigated the forest with grace. I pushed harder to keep up with her, carrying the small red duffel bag with our borrowed clothes in it, and took care to slow as she did. I wanted to keep pace with her, but not get too close in case she made any quick stops.
She shifted into human form as her feet touched the ground, and I stopped suddenly, nearly mowing her down from the high momentum I'd built up. My paws no longer hurt, probably due to my enhanced healing in my coyote form.
I dropped the bag and joined her in human form.
"Ready for this?" she asked, worrying her lower lip. I could definitely relate to her anxiety.
"Let's get this over with." I gave her a quick kiss, then dropped down to the bag to get our clothes out. We dressed quickly, made a few last-minute plans with our new knowledge of the building’s layout, then we parted ways.
I only hoped I'd be able to keep with it and take out the guard she'd mentioned without making too much noise. If I didn't get to him before he shouted his alarm, then we might be screwed. Particularly since they had us outgunned. From the wreck they’d made of her home, I didn't doubt their capabilities.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Morgana
As I walked to the front door, I felt my shoulders slouch further forward. I rolled them back a time or two, easing some of the radiating tension. My nerves were fraying, but I had to keep calm, and stay on track with what I knew we were doing. It'd be fine. It really would, right? I shook the negativity from me, and knocked.
No one answered for the longest time, and I almost wondered if I'd come to the wrong cabin. They did look pretty similar. I glanced around, catching a few familiar sights. Then again, I'd been pretty dazed when I'd been here, and when I'd left.
The door opened behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. The man—Jasper, I thought—leaned against the doorframe, staring at me intently.
"So, you did as you said you would, eh?" He looked up at the sun, which was out in force. It was probably two o'clock in the afternoon now. I didn't have a watch, since I was always afraid I'd lose it when I needed to shift forms quickly. Sometimes I carried one when I was with big clients, but it was more an accessory than a staple of my wardrobe. "Quicker than I'd guessed you would be. Not bad, girlie." He reac
hed out to grab my shoulder, but I ducked out of the way. "Stop that shit. Get inside, so we can pay you for your trouble."
"Why can't you just pay me here?" I looked inside the house, but the windows were all covered in dark blackout curtains, and my eyes were used to the sun outside, not the darker room. I couldn’t see what they had in store for me.
"Because we don't like to do business on the doorstep. Now, come on." He grabbed me this time since I'd been too busy trying to focus inside. He squeezed my upper arm hard enough that I thought it might bruise later, and I bit back a cry. In the distance, I thought I heard a soft growl, but Jasper didn't seem to have heard it.
I looked back out the door a moment before he closed it in my face, but I didn't see Cody. Maybe it had just been the wind, but I kind of doubted it. I'd heard his growl a few times now, and... My heart pounded in my chest. All thoughts were cut off when I caught sight of Kevin. His face was bloody, his mouth gagged, and he was tied to a sturdy-looking chair. When he saw me, he let out a soft whimper.
I tried to jerk away from Jasper to go to Kevin, but he held onto me too hard. Even if I tried to fight him, he wouldn't let me go. "What did you do to him?" My throat tightened, and I struggled for a little bit longer, until I realized it just wasn't going to happen.
"We did what we had to do to get information out of him. You know how that goes, right?" Jasper chuckled, and he shoved me down to the floor. I grunted from the impact, and he pulled my hands behind my back, pressed his knee into my spine, and tied my hands. I jerked and wriggled again. I'd learned a few lessons when it came to making people struggle to tie you up, things that had worked before. When they couldn't tie you their best, they made mistakes. Mistakes meant more slack, which meant an easier time slipping from them later.
What I hadn't intended was for Jasper to smack me in the back of the head with his fist. Darkness dimmed my vision for a few moments, and I sunk into unconsciousness. When I woke up again, what seemed like only minutes later, McGuire and Jasper were in the room. They were paying attention to Kevin, and not really bothering me.