by Nicole Kurtz
Prentice stood up too. The milk and its sweetness had soothed and strengthened her. The earth magic’s effects had waned. She’d been resting in the church study for the last hour.
She still hurt, and the knot throbbed, sending an ache along her body. She finished the drink in another long gulp. “Let’s go.”
“I don’t think you’re…” Balthazar started but then trailed off. His lips pressed into a line. “What’s the point? You’re stubborn and will just fly over there anyway.”
“You know me so well,” Prentice said. She adjusted her utility belt and the gun holster.
She and Balthazar walked out to the front in quiet. They waited several long minutes while James switched out the horse to pull the carriage. She didn’t know if the eagles would sit on the Finches all evening or not. The next steps would determine if she needed help from the Order or if the local nest could handle it.
The horse’s clops echoed in the empty twilight. The carriage arrived and Balthazar got the steps out and held the door while Prentice entered.
Once in the carriage, Balthazar said, “You need time to heal. You should’ve stayed behind. I can handle this.”
“They meant to kill me today. I don’t want them escaping or fleeing.”
“Where would they go? The Finches have deep roots here. Geraldine has nowhere else, and if you hurt Carno with one of those talons, he’s not going anywhere either,” Balthazar said.
“I want this resolved. Letting it go another day would be too long. I don’t want evidence to go missing. What if they decide to kill the rest of the Finch household? No, I need to get them captured,” Prentice said. “The eagles can prep for earth magic. Yes?”
“I did warn Jamison to be prepared for it,” Balthazar said with a solemn nod.
“You know, you could’ve trusted me with this sooner.” Balthazar looked dejected.
“I wanted to be sure before I came to you.” Prentice watched the landscape unfold.
Darkness had fallen, and a lot of the trees were dark, shadowy figures. She could smell the river as they drew closer to the Finch residential neighborhood.
“I understand that, but these are my nesters,” Balthazar said.
“That’s exactly why I waited to tell you.”
Balthazar crossed his arms and stared out the window.
Although Prentice had discovered who killed Gretchen and the other two women, the victory was bittersweet. She could still hear Bella’s anguished, blood-curling scream; Darlene’s grief, crying at her desk over the loss of Alicia; and the idea someone would have to tell Tammy Jo’s family that their wife and mother wasn’t coming home.
Emotionally raw, Prentice closed her eyes and tried to meditate, to center herself before confronting the Finches. It was no good.
She looked across to Balthazar. He sat with his legs crossed, and his folded hands rested on his knee. A tranquility had settled over him, despite the approaching confrontation. Was he trying to reconcile the two people he knew versus the two she described?
“It’s important to remember the person, not the tragedy,” Prentice said.
He nodded, numbly. “Hoot.”
“Hoot.”
As the carriage approached the Finch residence, Prentice made out two eagles standing at the mouth of the street with a wooden blockade. The street lanterns made little illuminated circles, but in front of the actual cul-de-sac, torches had been erected.
Eagle Jamison had taken their warning to be vigilant seriously. One of the eagles approached the carriage and peered inside.
“Hoot, Dove Balthazar,” greeted the eagle. Prentice didn’t recognize this one, a woman, with wide shoulders, shiny hair, and beautiful brown eyes.
“Hoot, Eagle Williamson. Let us through.” Balthazar spoke in a calm, smooth tone, one lacking urgency despite the situation. Doves had that quality to soothe ruffled feathers. Prentice didn’t know if it came from magic talent or a taught skill.
“Yes, Dove.” Eagle Williamson stepped back from the carriage and waved to the eagles at the blockade.
Once beyond the blockade, James parked the carriage next to the Finches’ front gate. To her surprise, it stood ajar, gaping open, and eagles walked in and out of it. Neighbors had emerged from their homes too and stood whispering about all the commotion. All the activity swirled around them. Ahead, she saw two covered carriages located in front of the Finches’ home.
Prentice and Balthazar walked up to the eagle standing guard at the gate.
Eagle Smith greeted them.
“Hoot, Dove Balthazar and Hawk Tasifa,” Eagle Smith said. He wore his usual uniform and stood with his hands on his hips. “Eagle Jamison is in the house. I have orders to take you to him.”
Screaming broke through the murmurs of the spectators. Eagle Smith grimaced.
Balthazar frowned as he looked up to the house. “Is that Geraldine?”
Eagle Smith nodded. “Yes, Dove. She’s been screaming at us since we arrived.”
Prentice couldn’t make out the words, but it became apparent that Geraldine Finch was unraveling.
“Give me a lantern and take us up.” Prentice didn’t like the anxious moments unfolding. She had a feeling in her feathers about the daunting task ahead.
Geraldine Finch had proven herself to be a dangerous and crafty individual. Carno’s recklessness could be just as violent.
Eagle Smith handed a lantern over to her. He had another at his feet. An open carriage waited at the gate. Prentice and Balthazar climbed up into the carriage, and the eagle driver turned to greet them.
“Let’s go.” Prentice gestured toward the Finches’ home.
They traveled up the long pathway that led to the door. Like the gate, it too stood open. Voices poured out of the opening. One of them sounded like Carno. His ramblings were explosive, but none of the eagles stationed at the front door paid any attention.
Prentice entered and headed down the long hallway toward the rantings’ origin. They found Eagle Jamison standing in front of the fireplace and three more eagles positioned in strategic places in the grand living room. They all bore guns and stony expressions. It looked like Balthazar’s warning had been heeded, all disarray had been restrained, except Geraldine.
When she spied them coming into the room, she stopped talking.
“Hoot, Dove, Hawk Tasifa,” Eagle Jamison said, his arms crossed over his wide chest.
“Hoot,” Balthazar said in way of greeting.
Despite the confident looks and talk, Prentice could tell the doubts simmering under the surface. Nothing had been done to suppress Geraldine’s power, and that stunned Prentice.
Once he reached Jamison, Balthazar turned to face the adult Finches, all seated on various couches. The three younger children must have been sent to other sections of the house. Prentice stood off to the side, by one of the windows, watching.
Carno hadn’t died, but he had been patched up with bandages. Bruises decorated his face, and he didn’t have on a shirt. He made faces at the eagles, taunting them from his position beside his grandmother on the central couch.
“What is she doing here?” Geraldine shouted. “Get out of my home!”
“Sit down,” Eagle Jamison thundered.
“You’re not going to tell me how to behave in my own home, Jamison.” Geraldine lashed out at the eagles, at Balthazar, and at Prentice in a string of angry noise.
“Quiet!” Balthazar clapped his hands, and the boom reverberated throughout the house. It silenced everyone. It dawned on Prentice that Geraldine had decided to talk her way out of this.
James’s words came back to mind. Of course she would. That had worked on everyone her entire life. Why would this time be any different?
Prentice shook her head. Geraldine’s judgment was impaired.
Bella and Oliver sat across from Skylar and her husband.
“Dove, what is going on? Why are all these eagles in our house? Eagle Jamison won’t tell us anything except to wait for you to
arrive,” a bewildered Skylar asked.
Balthazar swept toward the central couch to Bella and Oliver. Alarm came over Bella. Alert, she stood up. Visibly shaking, she let go of Oliver’s hand.
“I can’t catch my breath, but I know why you’re here. Hawk Tasifa told me today. I…I can’t believe it. He’s my son.”
Balthazar invoked his soothing timbre. “If the hawk already informed you, then you know she sees what is unseen. You also know, in your heart, Bel, Carno hasn’t fulfilled the family’s expectations. He’s perverted the goddess’s guidelines and tenets.”
Bella choked back tears. “No.”
“He’s a killer,” Prentice interjected. “Every encounter he had with those who disagreed with him resulted in their deaths.”
Balthazar hissed at her to be quiet. When he turned back to Bella, he guided her to sit back down. He turned to the adjacent seats where Carno had crawled back, attempting to disappear into the cushions.
“Now. Carno Finch is hereby charged with the slaying of Gretchen Finch….”
“No! By the goddess, no!” Bella cried.
Oliver held her tight, but he too was shattered. Shaking and crying, he didn’t say a word.
Prentice waited to see Carno’s explosive rage invoke his magic. Her hands inched down to her talons. A supercharged energy reverberated through the room. It shivered across her skin and her feathers.
Jamison nodded at one of the eagles, and she stalked over to Carno’s place on the couch.
“Stand,” the eagle commanded.
Whether from fear or defiance, Carno struggled to stand. The eagle snatched him by his non-injured arm and spun him around to confine his wrists. She tied his wrists together with a leather strap, making sure it was tight.
“No, Dove. This isn’t right. You’ll regret this. Hear me?” Geraldine said.
“...Alicia Redfern, and Tammy Jo Greer,” Balthazar finished. He looked over to Bella and Oliver. “I’m sorry. Hawk Tasifa has conclusive evidence of his guilt.”
Balthazar returned his attention to Carno.
“I did nothing! Nothing!” Carno shouted. “They made great fertilizer for the grounds!” He dissolved into tears. “Gretchen should’ve obeyed.”
“Shut up! Shut up!” Bella shot off the couch, ran up to her son and slapped him.
Carno started crying out, “Grandmother! Help! Help me! Wait.”
A second eagle raced up to Carno and fitted a white ball into his mouth.
Carno’s eyes grew to the size of saucers at the sight of the gag. He and the female eagle struggled, but she won out due to sheer size and strength. She handed the gag’s tie to the eagle behind Carno and he tied it tight.
Bella stood back; her hands covered her mouth. “Is this necessary?”
“It’s to prevent casting,” the female eagle said.
“He can’t cast,” Bella said, confusion forcing her to frown.
“He can,” Prentice said. “My face is proof. The dead bodies of Alicia and Tammy Jo are also evidence Carno can cast earth magic.”
“You really are a shallow human being, Carno,” Skylar said, disgust wrinkling her face.
“You’re a fragile woman,” Geraldine said to her daughter.
Skylar stood up, glared at her mother, and stalked from the room. Her husband followed.
Bella whirled to her mother. “Earth magic? You taught him? You went against my wishes? You didn’t have the right. He’s our son, not yours.”
“No right? I have every right. This is my family. As guardian, I will do everything in my power to protect it, and I did,” Geraldine said. “None of you had the strength Carno does.”
Carno’s muffled shrieks grew faint as the eagles moved him down the hallway and out of the room.
“I have never known you to be so toxic,” Bella said to her mother.
“I was following the goddess’s divine plan,” Geraldine said. “Gretchen was in great peril, Bel. You and Oliver failed her by letting her run off with that rooster and just ignore the teachings.”
“You yearned for control of her. Just like you did with me and Skylar. Just like you do with everything! Well, I’m not you, and neither was Gretchen,” Bella shot back.
“Even the goddess’s work contained tales of persecution!” Geraldine declared.
“That’s not on the goddess’s path. Children follow their parents’ direction, Geraldine. You subverted that bond and betrayed those to your daughters,” Balthazar said, shaking his head in disappointment.
Geraldine turned her attention to him. “I betrayed no one.”
“You slay your own granddaughter. That’s a staunch and clear betrayal of trust,” Eagle Jamison said.
The realization finally hit Bella and she groaned. “You knew?”
Balthazar said, “She did more than know, Bel.”
“What?” Bella gave a nervous giggle.
“She killed herself! Refusing to follow the goddess’s teachings, Gretchen would’ve died in the outer shell’s slimy membrane. She was untamed. I tried to save her,” Geraldine said to Balthazar.
“You and Carno subjected her to The Obirt, a ritual forbidden due to the fact people routinely died from it and it failed to bring about the desired obedience,” Prentice explained.
Oliver glared. “You used The Obirt on our daughter?”
Bella joined him, plopping down in the seat beside him and putting her head in her hands.
Balthazar gaped. He looked from Prentice to Geraldine.
The Finch matriarch smoothed her hair back. “I’ve already explained it, Oliver. I won’t repeat it because you can’t keep up.”
“Enough! Geraldine Finch, you are hereby charged with the slaying of Gretchen Finch, the attempted slaying of Hawk Prentice Tasifa, and the abuse of deceased persons,” Balthazar said. His tone remained strong and clear.
Jamison nodded, and another eagle walked over to Geraldine Finch. He gestured for her to stand. She refused, crossing her arms and clucking her tongue.
Balthazar sighed and bent down to Geraldine. Prentice watched as he leaned in and spoke in soft whispers to her. The eagle stood beside the couch with the leather restraints in hand. He kept his eyes ahead, giving the dove and his nester privacy.
After a few hot murmurs and angry mumbling, Balthazar stood and said to the eagle, “She’s ready.”
Geraldine stood up, marched around the couch, and put her hands behind her back.
Prentice had a wretched feeling in her heart and an uneasy one in her feathers. The woman’s calm demeanor didn’t sit right.
“Get out of my house!” Geraldine thundered.
Prentice spied the scarlet spark before Balthazar spoke. In a blink, both talons fired.
Geraldine’s magic managed to lift the flooring under Balthazar’s feet, sending him crashing to the ground before both talons’ bullets found their mark. Another section of the floor collided with some of the eagles, knocking them back into the corridor.
The Finch matriarch screamed and fell backward onto the eagle attempting to restrain her.
Shouts, screams, and crying melded into chaotic noise. More eagles spilled into the room. Prentice’s ears rang, but she realized almost too late that Geraldine had blocked Balthazar’s calming tongue and used a ruse of compliance. She scrambled over to Geraldine.
“Get the gag!” Jamison roared.
Hollering in pain, Geraldine rolled around the floor. The eagle managed to get her arms behind her in the ensuring chaos, but her constant moving and smearing of blood made her job more difficult.
Prentice snatched the gag from one of the eagles and pinched Geraldine’s nose until she opened her mouth. Once she did, Prentice shoved the small white gag ball into her mouth and released her nose. She passed the flaps back and the eagle secured them. Unable to strike Prentice, Geraldine thrust her body to hurt her.
Balthazar crawled over to Geraldine on his knees.
“Don’t worry, Dove. She’ll live,” Prentice said.
Geraldine ranted and cursed behind the gag. Balthazar leaned close to her and whispered until she went still and quiet. Unable to block him this time, the once powerful Finch woman became almost mute.
In the chaos of the arrest, Eagle Jamison had raced out, but now returned with a raven in tow. She wore a red headdress and a long, flowing dress. She crouched down beside Geraldine but spoke to all present.
“Who shot her?”
“Me.” Prentice raised her hand.
“What kind of ammunition?”
“Silver-plated.”
“I see.” The raven doctor raised both eyebrows and dug around Geraldine’s injuries, cutting through fabric as she did so. She moved swiftly, nimble fingers brushing across inflamed skin and torn muscle and tendons. “Move her to my clinic. I need to operate to pull these out. Get these restraints off.”
“No, they stay on. She’s a caster.” Jamison shook his head.
“Fine, but once she gets to surgery, those have to come off,” Dr. Little said.
“I can’t take any more of this! Get the children. We’re leaving.” Bella fled the room in tears.
“Ollie, as your dove, I am here to counsel your family during this difficult time,” Balthazar said. “Let me know when you return.”
Oliver, his eyes fixed and glazed, nodded, before following Bella without another word to anyone. Eagle Jamison watched them go.
Two vultures arrived and hoisted Geraldine onto the stretcher. Throughout all of this, Geraldine didn’t utter a word.
“Dove, what did you say to her?” Prentice asked.
Balthazar wiped his face and got to his feet. “I told her to be silent.”
Eagle Jamison joined them. “We’re taking Carno over to Bailey tonight. They’ve got secure holding for magic-users and mages. Williamson and Keyes will keep watch of Geraldine and bring her down once the doctor clears her.”
“Okay. I’ll head over there as well.” Balthazar took in the blood on his robes and sleeves.
Jamison clapped him on the back. “It’s been the kind of night you want to end but never seems to.”
Prentice followed Jamison across the expansive room and down the wrecked hallway. She climbed over the crevice and made her way to the front door, still ajar. The remaining eagles had followed the guilty out.