by Ally Shields
“Sweet Mother Earth, look at your clothes. What happened to you? Have you been near that fire your father has gone to put out? Here, take that filthy thing off. Oh, how can you stand the smell?” She grabbed Esty’s cloak and threw it outside on the walkway, then drew her daughter toward the kitchen. “Let’s get you cleaned up, and you can tell me what happened.”
“I’d love to hear it too.” Sawyer Ryndel stood in the doorway, Esty’s cloak dangled from his hand, a deep scowl marred his normally pleasant features. He pierced Rhyden with an accusing look. “I never expected to see my youngest daughter and you sneaking away from a burning barn…and a secret meeting of the duchaen rebellion. Did you know people died in the fire? My daughter could have been one of them.”
Sawyer Ryndel’s volume rose with each word describing the fire scene, his shock at seeing his daughter there—a recurring theme, Rhyden’s irresponsible behavior, his growing outrage as he’d followed them through the woods. The veins stood out in his neck; his face turning red. Esty’s father was on the verge of losing it, and Rhyden wasn’t sure which of his accusations he should address first.
Rhyden swallowed hard at the reminder of those trapped inside. He attempted to respond twice, but his words were drowned out.
Sawyer paused to catch his breath and abruptly pointed toward the door. “On second thought, I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. Not tonight. Get out.”
“Father, that’s not fair.” Esty glared at him. “It was my fault.”
“Go to bed. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” His angry gaze returned to Rhyden. “Well? What are you waiting for? Go, before I say something I might regret.”
Rhyden thought he’d already done that, but he looked at Esty. “Will you be all right?”
“What? You think I’d hurt my own daughter?” Sawyer took a step toward him.
Rhyden lifted his hands, palms out in self-defense. “No, sir. That isn’t what I meant.”
“Just go,” Esty said wearily. “He’s not going to listen.” She turned away. “I’m taking a bath.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The morning after the interrupted promise party, Seth reached the office tired and irritable. He hated it when plans went awry, but that was only half the problem. The bigger issue was his great-uncle. Would the man never stop his lunatic schemes? Seth was on his second cup of coffee when Kam called, suggesting they visit the drug cartel’s compound in Mexico. He readily agreed, relieved to get out of the office and clear his head. They transported to El Paso, crossed the border, and hiked to the edge of Juarez.
The compound was exactly where Tad had reported, but it appeared almost deserted. Two thugs in combat fatigues with handguns and assault rifles lounged at the front entrance, smoking cigarettes. Another man dozed in a sniper tower. Using the invisibility magic, they checked the interior. The rooms were empty. As Tad had indicated, none of the elves were staying there. In fact, it looked like the cartel hadn’t been there for a few days. Jermon and Dreysel must have diverted everyone to the search for obsidian. Or they’d shifted their forces elsewhere after Tad’s escape. Either way, it was a dead end.
With nothing to keep them in Mexico, they returned to New Orleans and arranged to meet Trystan and Tad at the Healers’ Temple late that afternoon. Unless the spotters or Trystan’s scouts came up with something more urgent, the only thing they had to go on would be Tad’s list of potential targets and Kam’s research.
By 4:10, Kam, Seth, and Trystan leaned over the table in Tad’s infirmary room, reading the list. It was lengthy at twenty-two sites, including archeological digs, historic ruins, museums—large and small—and lava fields, primarily in the Middle East and Mexico.
She looked at Seth and Trystan, then back at Tad sitting on the edge of his cot. He would be released tomorrow, and no one had discussed where he’d go, but at the moment she was more concerned with locating the fugitives. “Where do we start?”
“There are some big museums on this list,” Seth said. “The Louvre, the British Museum. I’d normally eliminate those due to security, except they already hit the Smithsonian. By using magic, they can go damn near anywhere.”
“Start with the largest collections or the biggest pieces,” Trystan suggested.
Kam pulled open a briefcase at her feet and drew out a stack of printed pages. “I spent the last two hours doing exactly that kind of Internet search. We can cross off the ones that aren’t on Tad’s list or at least put them in a second pile.” She shuffled through it and sorted them. “A few likely spots aren’t that far away. For instance, the St. Louis Science Center has a collection of obsidian blades, some thirty inches long, and the largest outcropping in the world of raw obsidian is in Oregon’s Squaw Bluffs. On the other hand, the extensive collection of small tools that came from a Minoan burial cave in Crete is likely to be older, as are the tools still being found in the caves and lava tubes of volcanic islands like Easter Island. But no one else knows it makes a difference.”
“What difference?” Tad asked. “Do you know why they’re looking for obsidian?”
“Does it matter?” Kam covered her blunder quickly. “We’re looking for your former buddies, and they seem to be looking for it. You’d have to ask them why.”
Tad frowned, clearly not satisfied with her answer.
Kam stood. “I’m going to e-mail this list to my spotters and ask them to watch these particular spots. Maybe we’ll get lucky and see some activity again.” She cocked her head at Tad. “If we need to talk to you, where will you be?”
“In Cyrilia,” Trystan answered for him. “Confined to the palace for now. I’ve already spoken with King Seliwyn. He’s releasing Tad to my custody.” He looked at his brother grimly. “We have a lot of talking to do, and I’m not yet sure what his future holds.”
“See that he stays there,” Seth said. “And keeps his mouth shut. I’d hate for our conversations to get back to Jermon and Dreysel.”
Tad grimaced. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
Both men ignored him.
“He’ll have a personal guard to ensure it,” Trystan said. “I anticipate he will spend most of his time with our ailing parent.”
Kam cast Tad a chilly look, but the effort was wasted. Following his protest, he’d dropped his gaze to the floor. He was getting off way too easy. Would he appreciate it? On a cold day in Hades.
“I’ll give the list to my scouts too,” Trystan continued. “We’ll stay alert for the fugitives, but catching them isn’t necessarily my top priority. Cyrilia is.”
She nodded, understanding he meant the search for obsidian. But she was relieved he’d exercised caution around Tad and not revealed the power of volcanic glass or its potential to restore Cyrilia. She turned to Seth. “I think we should check some of these spots ourselves.”
“I’m game. It could help us decide which are high on Jermon’s list.”
She looked at Trystan. “We’ll let you two talk, and check in later.” She took Seth’s hand, and they walked toward the door. “A little globe-trotting might be fun. Which way first? North, south, east, or west?”
* * *
Four hours later, Kam looked doubtfully at the dark blue waters along the shore of the Pacific island. “You really want to do this?”
In order to reach the remote obsidian cavern where ghostly sightings had been reported, they’d have to swim fifty yards through an underwater lava tunnel. Kam could easily swim the distance and the narrow quarters weren’t an issue, but the outdoor stand on the beach where they’d purchased their swimsuits—a cute little blue and white bikini for her and black trunks for him—had only had one diving light. She regretted not looking further. The dark tunnel would test their elven eyesight. What if they got turned around or off course? What if there was no breathable airspace at the other end?
“Is something wrong?” Seth asked.
“No. I guess not. I’ll go first, if I can have the light.”
“Afraid of the dark?” He grinned
and handed her the waterproof flashlight. “Don’t drop it.”
She shot him a look. “Aren’t you even a little uneasy about this?”
“No, but I can tell you are. Want me to go alone? I can check it out and report back.”
“Nope. I’m good.” She tested the water with her toe before wading out farther. Cool, but not bad. Refreshing, in fact. “OK, here goes nothing.”
The water was clearer and friendlier than it looked. Finding the entrance to the tunnel took no time at all. There was an hour of daylight left; the sun filtered through the ten-foot depth of water, and she could see Seth swimming on her left.
The inside of the lava tube was approximately four feet tall by five wide, bigger than she’d expected but darker and the sides rough enough to cut if you weren’t careful. She steered clear of the jagged surface and shone the light along the side. It curved and curled in some mysterious pattern determined by an outside landscape she couldn’t see. There were no side tunnels, no chance to go the wrong way. She finally relaxed and simply took in this interesting phenomenon of nature as she swam steadily forward. Upon reaching the end of the tunnel, Kam lifted her head into fresh air and pulled herself onto smoother stone.
Seth bobbed to the surface beside her and climbed out. “You OK?”
“Sure. It was kind of fun.” She shone the light around the cave. “It seems to go back a ways, or maybe there’s more than one cave. Do you see anything that might be obsidian?”
The rock walls around them were various shades of gray, light to dark. One corner had small clumps of black.
“That’s the only dark rock.”
“Not much. Maybe if we look deeper.” She walked toward the back of the cave, found an opening about three feet off the ground and climbed up. It widened into another open space, narrowed, and then widened again. Each new area appeared to have a larger deposit of the dark substance, and they spotted chip marks, as if someone had broken off small pieces. Not necessarily elves. Could have been one of the many tourists who visited every year. It wasn’t a well-known site, but anyone who did their research or asked the locals would hear about it.
Kam turned to go back when she noticed a shaded area at the bottom of the wall. Upon closer examination, it wasn’t dark rock this time but another small opening. She knelt and crawled through, then stood in what appeared to be a large crack in the lava flow. “Oh, wow, Seth. Come see this. It might help Trystan.” She stepped out of his way and placed her hands flat against the wall of jet-black material. Her palms tingled. Not as powerful as her silver wristband, but it held magic. She turned to make a face at Seth. “It’s not very strong. Maybe if they used a lot of it…”
“Better than none.” He ran his fingers over the surface. “So this is what all the fuss is about. I suppose it’s more impressive when it’s cut and polished.”
“We’re not looking for beauty.” She turned the flashlight to illumine the cave behind them, took a step in that direction, then frowned and peered ahead. “Let’s follow the fissure a little further. I sense something much stronger— What’s that slapping noise?”
She turned the light toward the entrance.
“Just water against the rocks. The tide must be coming in.”
“Why’s it suddenly so loud? They said it was safe to come in here, but I don’t remember hearing that sound before.”
“It wasn’t this noisy,” Seth admitted, looking at the dark behind them. “Could be rough water. An evening storm may have increased the waves. Maybe we should start back.”
Living in New Orleans, they knew ocean storms could turn deadly, but neither had grown up there or had much experience with ocean tides. After seeing the devastation left behind by Katrina, any storm made them uneasy.
They retraced their steps. As they approached the entrance to the first cave, the ocean sounds grew louder, more ominous. The water beat against the rock with a resounding smack, and Kam slid down into knee-high water at least twenty feet from its previous edge.
“Hey, this isn’t fun anymore. How high will this go? It’s come up two or three feet already.”
Seth studied the swirling water ahead. “Must be a big storm. The water’s rising, and I’m not sure we should try to swim through it. The other caves are a bit higher. We could go back and wait it out.”
Kam looked behind, then ahead of her. “I don’t like either choice. The top of this cave is barely over your head. What if it fills? If we go farther back, we’re trapped for sure.”
“Do you have a suggestion?”
The water was now waist-high. She wasn’t waiting around to drown. “I say we go.”
“Then we better hurry.” He leaned over, one hand on her back, and kissed her lips, pressing her body close for a hard hug. “Good luck, my love.”
“You too.” She gripped his shoulder and returned the kiss. Her pulse skipped a beat, but she refused to admit this could be anything worse than an uncomfortable swim in choppy waves. She released him and slid under the water.
The current was stronger than it looked, with undercurrents that dragged her in directions she didn’t want to go. Within the first ten yards she was thrown against the walls of the tube, its rough projections scraping her skin.
She fought the engulfing waters; the elven strength in her arms and legs kept her going. But the constant barrage quickly took a toll. The curves and corners were the worst. The rushing waves swept around the curves tumbling her over repeatedly, then crashed against the confining wall on corners, turning something as fragile as a mortal body into a missile. On the third curve, she hit so hard she felt a rib crack.
Kam caught brief glimpses of Seth. He was being tossed almost as much as she was. Too bad his family ring couldn’t teleport them through obstacles like rock and water.
The next crash knocked the breath from her. They’d been in the water so long her lungs were protesting. She had no reserve left. Forcing herself not to gulp in water, she turned her head, frantically searching for Seth, needing to see him. A wall of water swept him past, and he smashed headfirst against the rocks. His body sagged. She lunged forward to grasp his hand…missed…tried again. This time she successfully closed her fingers around his wrist, but they were both caught by the next wave and bashed against the lava wall.
I love you, she thought as consciousness faded.
* * *
Kam woke on an island beach bathed in moonlight. Everything hurt. She rolled her head. Seth lay beside her. Frightened, but not remembering why, she placed a hand on his chest and felt its gentle rise. He was breathing.
She squeezed her eyes shut trying to force the memories, and after a moment of bewildering blankness, it came rushing back. The lava tunnel, the storm. She pushed herself up on her arms; her head swam. How did they get here?
Was that another figure on the beach? She rubbed her eyes with one hand, the other supporting her. A slender child with long silvery hair walked barefoot in the sand toward the water.
“Wait,” Kam called. Or thought she did, but she didn’t hear a sound. The child-like figure kept moving toward the waves that were calm now. “Who are you? Did you save us?” This time she heard her words carried on the hushed air, but the young girl vanished into the ocean mist.
Kam fell back on the sand. Was this a dream? An illusion? A result of trauma or near drowning? Or had she really seen a water sprite? She’d never met a fairy before. Never even seen one except the tiny variety that visited her mother’s butterfly garden.
She wasn’t sure she’d seen one now.
She rolled over, rested her head on Seth’s warm chest, and fell asleep.
Kam woke when Seth stirred. She sat up and looked around. They were alone on the beach this time. It was a starry, cloudless night; the mild ocean breeze cooled her skin, but the sand was still warm from the day’s sun. Her bikini was dry.
Seth sat up beside her. “Are you OK?”
“A little worse for wear,” she said, showing him the cuts and scrapes on her
arms and legs. “My ribs hurt. What about you?”
“Pretty much the same.” He rubbed the top of his head. “Someone hit me with a sledge hammer. How’d we get out of the tunnel? What happened to the storm?”
“It’s over, I guess. The rest I don’t know. I thought we were both going to drown…and then I woke up here…and saw her. We might have been saved by a water fairy.” She met his gaze and told him what she remembered.
When she shivered, Seth drew her against his shoulder. “Perhaps she’s the guardian of this island or of the lava caves. Whoever she is, we owe her for deciding to spare us.”
She looked up at him. “Then you think she also caused the storm?”
“Don’t you?”
“I guess we were trespassing.” Kam sighed. “We’d better thank her. Let’s find our clothes and arrange an offering. The local village should have something.”
They dressed and cleaned up at the public beach house. Fortunately, most of their injuries and bruises were covered by their jeans and lightweight jackets. When they set out to collect an offering, it took a while to find a shop still open. The gift boutique at a tourist hotel finally produced a handful of selections: a large, flat-bottomed basket, a white candle, a bag of pink and green soaps shaped like fish, and several colored ribbons. Seth purchased two bottles of champagne and a couple of glasses from the bar.
“Having a private party?” The bartender winked at him.
“Celebrating our escape from the storm,” Seth said.
“What storm? It hasn’t rained around here for more than a week.”
Kam and Seth looked at one another.
Seth recovered. “Just our little joke.”
The barkeep blinked in confusion, clearly puzzled but not curious enough to pursue it. He was probably used to tourists saying all kinds of bizarre things, especially after an evening of drinking.
When they returned to the beach, Seth carried the basket decorated with bows made from the ribbons. Inside, Kam’s purchases and a bottle of the champagne sat on a bed of dry seaweed, surrounded by shells and pretty stones they’d collected along the beach.