Freaky Deaky Tiki

by Amanda M. Lee

  “What’s that?” Aisling’s voice was barely a whisper when she realized what I was trying to attempt.

  “I just need to ... .” I pushed with everything I had, sending out a sharp tendril of fire that flew the distance between the pig and me. The magic slammed into the leash tethering the animal, and the second the pig realized it was free it took off.

  The cult members took a moment to realize what was happening, and then started exclaiming at once. Two men immediately gave chase, but the pig had a head start and wasn’t about to lose its chance for escape.

  The man on the throne started barking orders to the women, who scattered after the men, and then he very slowly shifted his eyes over the trees until they landed on us. My heart rolled when we locked gazes and I slowly got to my feet.

  “We really need to get out of here,” I said as I wiped my sweaty palms against the front of my pants.

  Aisling’s gaze was withering. “Oh, you think?” She leaned over and scooped up a huge rock.

  “What are you doing?” I was understandably confused. “You’re not going to throw that at the pig, are you?”

  “No, I’m going to throw it at the guys heading in our direction.”

  “What guys?” The question was barely out of my mouth before I heard a noise behind me. I turned to find two huge men pushing through the trees. They’d obviously seen us and were on their way to collect us.

  There was no way I could allow that to happen. “Move!” I attempted to prod Aisling to start running, but she had other plans. She firmly planted her feet, drew back her arm, and let the large rock fly. It hit the first man square in the middle of the forehead.

  His eyes widened at the impact and he dropped like a stone. The second man was caught in a moment of confusion, and that’s when Aisling grabbed my arm and tugged.

  “Now we need to run,” she hissed.

  I couldn’t agree more and scrambled after her.

  “Don’t look back,” she ordered. “Whatever you do, don’t look back.”

  WE MADE IT BACK to the golf cart without incident, and I didn’t put up a protest when Aisling jumped into the driver’s seat. That lead foot of hers was going to come in handy.

  “Head back to Wesley’s,” I ordered when we hit the road. “He’s closest, and they won’t dare attack on his property.”

  Aisling absently nodded as she glanced over her shoulder, her eyes going grim. “We have company.”

  I turned to stare and my stomach threatened to revolt when I realized that several men were following us on scooters.

  “What are we going to do?”

  Aisling didn’t look nearly as worried as I felt. “What other magic tricks do you have up your sleeve?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t even know I had that one until I tried. I’m new at this.”

  “Well, do you think you can try something on our friends back there?”

  She was calm but I knew she was just as worried as I was. “I can try.”

  “Good. I suggest trying something with fire.”

  “Why?”

  “Everyone is afraid of fire.”

  She had a point. I screwed my eyes shut, rubbed my hands over them, and focused on my breathing.

  In and out.

  In and out.

  There was a spark.

  I saw it out of the corner of my eye, a little orange ember.

  I breathed again and the spark grew.

  I continued the process until the ember was almost as big as my head. Then I debated how to deliver it.

  “Now!” Aisling snapped, causing me to lose control. The firebomb I was building rushed out and careened toward the men, who were gaining on us. I had a brief moment to marvel at the size of the magical burst before it slammed into the road between two of the riders, causing them to veer off into the trees.

  “Very good,” Aisling approved, tugging the steering wheel to the left. We were at Wesley’s driveway. She remembered the route — which was fairly impressive given the circumstances — and I was so relieved when I saw the house appear on the skyline that I almost cried.

  The feeling didn’t last long, because the second thing I saw when we crested the hill was Galen’s truck. He stood next to the porch talking to Wesley, and his eyes went to the size of saucers when he realized we were tearing up the driveway ... with several scooters giving chase.

  We skidded to a stop, allowing him and Wesley to stalk in our direction. When the scooters caught up, Galen turned his attention to the drivers and positioned himself between them and us.

  Galen greeted the leader, who had somehow jumped on a scooter and managed to catch up, with a nod as he planted his hands on his hips. “Taurus. Is something wrong?”

  “Taurus? Like the bull in astrology?” Aisling scoffed. “That is so lame.”

  Taurus openly glared at her. “These ... women ... crossed the boundaries and stole our sacrifice.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Galen cocked an eyebrow. “What boundaries? You don’t own any land. Last time I checked, you were squatting on government land. So, technically, they weren’t on your land.”

  “The gods gave me that land,” Taurus challenged. “You can’t take it back.”

  “The DDA allows you to live on that land because it’s not being used for anything else right now,” Galen clarified, refusing to back down despite the dark looks the other riders gave him. “You don’t own that land. If you try to hurt people who visit the land — which is allowed — I’ll be forced to intervene and remove you. Is that what you want?”

  “The gods won’t smile on your efforts,” Taurus replied. “They’ll punish you.”

  “Oh, what a load of hogwash.” Aisling shook her head. “I don’t know how you managed to convince people to follow you, but you’re a nutball. We saw what you were going to do to that pig, which makes you a sick nutball.”

  Galen slid his eyes to me. “What pig?”

  “The tribute,” Taurus spat. “They used magic to free it.”

  “You used magic to save a pig?” Galen’s expression was unreadable, but I was almost certain I saw the hint of a smile.

  I nodded. “I couldn’t watch it die.”

  “She also tried to blow us off the road,” Taurus added. “The gods won’t smile upon that either.”

  “Oh, shut up, freakazoid,” Aisling ordered, shaking her head. “We know exactly what you’re doing out there, you pervert. There’s a reason the women vastly outnumber the men. Although, now that I think about it, where are the kids? If there’s a bunch of fornicating going on out there — which is obviously the number one thing on your mind — what happened to the kids?”

  Galen’s eyes briefly locked with mine. “That’s a good question, Taurus. I know you’re supposed to have a few kids living out there. Where are they?”

  “They’re not present for the rituals,” Taurus replied, disdain practically dripping from his tongue. “They’re all alive and accounted for, Sheriff Blackwood. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “Perhaps I’ll stop by tomorrow and check, just to be on the safe side,” Galen suggested.

  Taurus didn’t as much as flinch. “That’s certainly your prerogative. I’m assuming you’ll stop by after these two are punished.”

  “And what should I punish them for?”

  “Trespassing.”

  “We already covered that. They weren’t trespassing.”

  “One of them threw fireballs at us on the road,” Taurus snapped.

  “Really?” Galen’s eyes locked with mine. “Is that true?”

  “They were chasing us,” I explained. “We thought they were going to hurt us.”

  “I’ve got this.” Aisling held up her hands and strolled to a spot several feet in front of Taurus, her expression challenging. “Prove we threw fireballs at you.”

  “Excuse me?” Taurus’s eyebrows winged up. “We saw them.”

  “Do you have proof of these alleged fireballs?”

  “Of course not
. But we saw them.”

  “That means it’s your word against ours. You’ll have to come back with more proof if you expect us to be arrested.”

  “Who said anything about arresting anyone?” Galen challenged.

  Aisling ignored him. “Until then ... toodles.” She offered Taurus a small wave that was meant to antagonize. “See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya.”

  Galen sighed as he pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “I don’t understand how she hasn’t pissed off the wrong person and gotten herself killed yet.”

  I didn’t understand that either.

  “She’s going to give me an ulcer,” he muttered, shaking his head.

  I graced him with a wan smile. “The good news is that we’re okay. That’s the most important thing.”

  “You’re still in trouble.”

  Rats. I should’ve seen that coming. “You know, this is not my fault.”

  “That’s starting to be your refrain. You’re still in trouble.”

  15

  Fifteen

  Galen’s fury once the tribe members left was something to behold.

  He started out by pacing, gesturing wildly as he muttered to himself. Eventually that turned into barking out short, pithy sentences. Finally he started ranting ... and that’s when I grew incredibly uncomfortable.

  “I don’t know what you were thinking,” he complained, hands fisted at his sides as he walked back and forth. “I simply don’t understand it. I mean ... what is wrong with you?”

  I realized he was staring at Aisling when he asked the question, which made me feel guilty. “I was in on it, too,” I offered lamely.

  “Oh, I know.” His tone was grave. “But something tells me she instigated this little outing.”

  Instead of being upset, or reacting out of contrition or fear, Aisling merely accepted the bottle of water Wesley supplied and propped her feet up in the shade of his front porch. She didn’t appear remotely sorry for what transpired, which was fairly impressive given Galen’s righteous anger.

  “Aisling just wanted to see the tribe,” I offered. “She thought it would be a learning experience.”

  “She wanted to stick her nose into an investigation she has nothing to do with,” Galen corrected. “She’s a busybody.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Aisling drawled, earning a sidelong look from Wesley, who clearly found her amusing.

  “It is a bad thing!”

  “From where I’m sitting it’s a good thing,” she countered. “Now you know exactly who you’re dealing with. And, if you have any questions, I can say without reservation that they’re psychos. They were going to kill a pig until Hadley let loose some of her mojo and freed it. That was impressive, by the way. Although not nearly as impressive as that ball of fire thing you did on the road.”

  “Now we’re talking.” Galen arched an eyebrow as he pushed some of my wayward hair from my face. “Your creepy new friends mentioned it, too. I’m dying to hear about this ball of fire.”

  “I don’t know how to explain it,” I shrugged. “It just sort of happened. They had scooters that were faster than my golf cart, and Aisling suggested I try magic. I’m still not sure how it happened.”

  He stroked his hand down the back of my head and flashed a smile. It wasn’t one of his “make my stomach go gooey” smiles, but it was legitimate all the same. “That’s pretty impressive. I’m proud of you.”

  “Really?” I went warm all over, which was mortifying. “Well, thanks.”

  “I’m still angry,” Galen said, giving the ends of my hair a light tug to get my attention. It didn’t hurt, but his eyes were serious. “You could’ve been hurt, Hadley. Do you have any idea what that tribe is capable of?”

  “No. Do you?”

  “Actually, no one knows much about them.” Galen heaved a sigh as he moved to the porch, giving Aisling a wide berth as he grabbed one of the bottles of water Wesley supplied. “Their origins are ... murky.”

  I took a bottle of water and cracked it open, drinking a third of it before continuing. “Do you know what’s going on up there? We only watched them for a little bit, but I can tell you it’s creepy.”

  “Speaking of that ... .” Galen trailed off and focused on Aisling.

  “What?” She held her hands palms out and shrugged.

  “Booker is bringing your husband out here. I called Wesley when I couldn’t find Hadley in town. He told me what was going on. I called Griffin, who happens to be with Booker, before leaving. They’re on their way.”

  Aisling scowled. “Thank you, Sheriff Tattletale.”

  “If you think that bothers me, think again. I have no problem being a tattletale.”

  “You wouldn’t have survived five minutes in my family,” Aisling grumbled, shaking her head. “Rats were locked in the basement ... with the snakes.”

  “I’m sure that means something to you, but it means absolutely nothing to me.”

  “It means ... .” Aisling must have realized she was about to go off on a tangent because she caught herself and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Griffin will yell for five minutes and get over it. It’s fine.”

  “He seemed pretty angry to me.”

  “Yes, but I’ve got an ace in the hole ... almost literally.”

  “And what’s that?”

  Aisling gestured toward her stomach. “I’m carrying his baby. He turned me into a human incubator before my wedding. He’ll let me slide.”

  “I don’t think you’re that charming.”

  “Care to place a wager on it?”

  “Absolutely.” Galen nodded his head without hesitation. “If I win and you’re in trouble, then you have to stop roping Hadley into your crazy schemes.”

  I balked. “Hey. I wasn’t roped in. We went to the site of the new hotel, looked for Jacob’s soul, and then Aisling suggested we see if we could track down the tribe. It was harmless. She couldn’t possibly know it would go the way it did.”

  “And I think you’re making excuses because you find her entertaining,” Galen shot back. “That tribe is not to be trifled with. There are horror stories about them.”

  “I want to hear those horror stories.” Aisling leaned forward. “Seriously. Do they involve ritual sacrifice and sex games?”

  Galen narrowed his eyes. Even though he found Aisling beyond annoying, he was clearly intrigued by her words. “What did you see out there? That was going to be my question before we got derailed by a bet we didn’t finish.”

  “Oh, you’re such a whiner.” Aisling made a face as Wesley snickered into his water bottle. “If I get in trouble I won’t tap Hadley for any more adventures.”

  “Thank you.”

  I was about to ask where my desires fit into the equation, but Aisling barreled forward.

  “If I win, you have to back off and stop acting like a teenaged girl who just missed curfew,” she said. “Hadley is an adult and can make her own decisions.”

  “I was just going to say that,” I pointed out. “You can’t control my actions, Galen. I wanted to go with her.”

  He stared at me for a long beat. “I still want to beat her.”

  I couldn’t contain my laughter. “Fair enough.”

  Aisling didn’t act bothered by his tone. “You won’t beat me. Trust me. I know what I’m doing. As for what we saw up there, it was odd. We saw only two or three men and then that Taurus guy. That’s not his real name, right?”

  “His real name is Barry Wentworth,” Galen replied, drawing me into the shade so I could sit between him and Aisling. “He grew up on the island. In fact, he was ahead of Booker and me in school. He was a senior when we were sophomores, and even then he showed cult leader tendencies.”

  “He clearly has that charisma thing going for him,” Aisling agreed. “Most cult leaders have enough charisma that they convince their followers that they’re geniuses. I’m sure your buddy Taurus did that. When did he change his name?”

  “You seem aw
fully interested,” Galen noted. “Why? What do you know about cults?”

  “I don’t know if you would call it a cult, but when my mother came back she amassed an army of wraiths and rogue reapers to help her.” Aisling was calm as she wiped the palms of her hands against her knees. “I started learning things about behavior even if I wasn’t in the mood for a lesson. I understand about warning signs.”

  Galen furrowed his brow. “Hadley told me about your mother, and I read a little bit about it in the file I requested on you from the reaper council.”

  “You requested a file on me?” Aisling’s eyes flashed with annoyance. “Why?”

  “I wanted to make sure you weren’t a suspect.”

  “Oh, whatever!” She waved her hand and flicked her eyes to the driveway at the sound of a vehicle. Booker’s ancient van sped into view, and the nerve that worked in Aisling’s jaw told me she was preparing for another round of fighting. “You knew I wasn’t a suspect in Dorsey’s death. You’re just as much of a busybody as me.”

  “I most certainly am not.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Aisling slowly got to her feet as Griffin jumped out of the passenger side of the van. His brown hair was tousled — my guess was from the multiple times he swiped his hands through his hair during the ride — and he looked frustrated as he strolled toward the porch.

  “Are you okay?” He pulled Aisling in for an extended hug before releasing her. He didn’t sound angry as much as relieved. Of course, the anger could very well be a secondary emotion and the explosion might still be coming.

  “I’m fine.” Aisling flashed a tight smile. “Whatever stories you’ve heard have been exaggerated.”

  “I only know that you were missing.” Griffin moved his hands up and down her slim back as he rubbed his cheek against her face. “I figured you were out for a ride on the golf cart because you seem to love that thing so much.”

  “I do! I’m making Dad buy me one when we get home.”

  “And where will you drive it?”

  “I’ll figure out a place.”

  “Well, there are worse things for your father to spend his money on.” Griffin pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m glad you were just out here for a visit. Next time, though, text me.”