Wayne takes off noiselessly to the right. Jen and Cecil follow me on our approach to the cabin. Even midday, under full summer sun, it’s dim and gloomy under the conifers. I point Cecil to the right corner and he approaches the sawn logs with trepidation. Jen takes the left corner with more aplomb and peers cautiously around it. When she sees me looking, she gives me a thumbs-up.
I give my attention to the door. We’re certainly in the right place—Drew’s distinctive gray lauvan are draped over the door handle. I listen carefully, but only the twittering of a lonesome bird disturbs the stillness. Time to face my nemesis.
I grasp the doorknob, turn it, and swing the door open all in one swift motion. My other hand is up and ready to wreak havoc with any lauvan that it might find. I whirl to the side of the doorjamb in case Drew still has his gun, then peek my head around the lintel when I hear no commotion. The single room is empty except for Alejandro, bound and gagged. Frightened eyes under tousled hair brighten with relief at my dramatic entrance, and he grunts through the duct tape at his mouth.
I hasten to his side and rip off the tape.
“Merlo! Thank god you’re here. Drew, he’s crazy, I didn’t know what he would do.”
“Where is he now?” I say while I rip away Alejandro’s bonds. He winces when the tape tears at hair and skin.
“He ran a few minutes ago. He’s unpredictable—one minute he boasts about his spirit powers, the next he’s terrified of you and what he guesses you can do. He’s ready to kill you, absolutely.”
“Alejandro! Are you okay?” Jen and Cecil are outlined in the doorway.
“Did I say you could leave your posts?” I snap. “What if Drew were behind you right now?”
They scuttle out of sight. I sigh and shake my head. Alejandro has a smile on his face.
“Jen came to rescue me?”
“Focus, Alejandro. We need to catch this maniac.” I help him out of his chair, and he stands with a groan. I say, “Perhaps you should wait in the car. You’ve been through enough today.”
“I’m fine.” Alejandro straightens his shirt and stretches his arms. “I want to help.”
Privately, I’d like Alejandro, Jen, and Cecil to all drive back down the mountain, but outwardly I say, “All right. Do exactly what I say at all times.”
“Of course.”
“Good man.” I pat him on the back, then give him a swift, spontaneous hug. “I’m happy to see you in one piece.”
Alejandro beams.
“I was so relieved to see you in the doorway, Merlo. Thank you for coming to get me.”
“Considering I’m the reason you were taken in the first place, it was the least I could do. Come on, let’s catch this hijueputa.”
Wayne jogs up when we exit the cabin.
“Alejandro, good to see you. Merry, there are signs of fresh passage down an old deer track, over here.”
“Let’s see it. Come on, everyone.” I follow Wayne. Jen’s muted greetings trail behind us.
Sure enough, freshly broken twigs at the entrance to a disused track are draped with gray lauvan. They wave gently.
“Drew went this way, for certain.”
“The coward didn’t want to confront you,” Wayne said contemptuously.
“Cowardly? Perhaps. Smart, certainly. Out in the open air he has the advantage. According to Alejandro, Drew is afraid of me, so it makes sense he’d want to confront me at his strongest.”
“His spirit-thing’s strength, you mean.”
“They’re currently one and the same, from what I understand. The spirit does Drew’s bidding.”
“Spirit?” Cecil says. “What are you talking about?”
Damn. How did it come to this? My list of those who know my secrets is expanding at an alarming rate. I know nothing about Cecil, and yet here he stands, learning far too much about my world. I could blame the hostage situation for clouding my mind, but I should have thought Cecil’s involvement through to its inevitable conclusion. I turn to Jen.
“Does he truly need to be here?”
She narrows her eyes.
“Yes.”
I sigh explosively.
“Fine. Cecil, there is more in this world than you know. Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open. Jen, he’s your responsibility.”
Cecil opens his mouth indignantly, and I hold up my index finger.
“Mouth shut. There’s too much at stake here. Questions will have to wait until later.” If all goes well, I can minimize any visible “magic” on my part. Cecil can chalk up the spirits to the religion of his choice.
Wayne crosses his beefy arms.
“What’s the plan?”
“We follow, and keep an eye out for traps.” A thought strikes me, born of my brief, frenzied reading of Braulio’s notebook before we left. “Hold on a moment. I have an idea for protection.”
I swing around a tree. Behind me, Jen calls out, “Where are you going, Merry?”
I ignore her and swiftly pull the appropriate lauvan to transform into a falcon. I mentally congratulate myself on my foresight—eating Jen’s granola bar made this transformation possible without distractions. I tuck my head down and snap my beak until it clasps around a feather. I yank, and release a tiny shriek of discomfort before I master myself. Perhaps I’ll avoid the torso. Wings next.
Once four feathers lie on the dirt before me, I let my lauvan reform and rejoin the others.
“Here.” I pass each person a feather. As I do so, I chant a short phrase from Braulio’s notebook. It’s an Aztec incantation from pre-Columbian Mexico, invoking protection from Ehecatl, god of wind. As I do so, I inwardly marvel at Braulio’s dedication to his work. Finding all this material about the spirit world was nothing short of miraculous. When the chant is complete, lauvan from the feathers twist tightly with each person’s lauvan in a protective shell. I have no idea how strong it is, but anything is better than nothing.
Alejandro receives his feather and chant with a solemn nod. Wayne tries to act nonchalant, and Cecil looks incredulous, although wisely refrains from interfering. Let him think me a priest or shaman of sorts—chanting is not proof of anything otherworldly. Jen frowns.
“Where did you find all these feathers?”
“I have my ways.” I smile at her impishly. “All right, everyone. Keep a lookout for anything unusual. And eyes to the skies—attacks are likely to come from that direction.”
The track is overgrown, so it’s easy to see where Drew barged through in his haste to get away. I have the charged feeling of a wolf on the hunt—ears and eyes are open and alert, lauvan are tight and ready, and my whole focus is on my quarry. I only hope I don’t turn from predator to prey.
Right on cue, wind rustles the boughs of fir and cedar above us. It starts as a breeze, but swiftly strengthens.
“Merry?” Jen’s voice is high. “Is that…”
“I expect so. Eyes peeled, everyone.”
The wind picks up further. Birds no longer trill from the canopy. A storm brews, and I know the source. How will Drew’s spirit strike first? Not for the first time, I wish I knew more about the spirit world.
Wayne catches up to me when the undergrowth clears slightly.
“I don’t want to sound yellow-bellied, but I feel like a third wheel. How can I fight something I can’t see? Aren’t I just in your way?”
“Don’t worry. I expect you’ll be useful before long.” In an undertone I add, “Probably more than some of my entourage.”
We look back at the others. Alejandro pushes along valiantly, but his confinement has taken a toll. Jen glances around nervously, and Cecil looks as if this forest is the last place he wants to be. Wayne shrugs.
“They’re here. That’s something.”
I turn around and immediately cringe. A huge cloud of wind funnels through the trees, visible only to me. The air lauvan writhe and twist, eager to reach us. This is our first trap, our first test.
“Everybody down!” I yell, and everyone drops to t
he forest floor. I gather what earth lauvan are within my reach and fling them up in a makeshift attempt at a barrier. I crouch down myself, and begin to recite the spell I put over each of my companions in the hope of strengthening their protection.
The wind arrives with the roar of a crashing wave. Branches crack and snap around us, and I am bowled off my feet from the force. Shrieks and curses erupt around me, which I take as a good sign—at least they are still here, and conscious enough to yell.
The gust dies as quickly as it came, but we are left panting in a stiff breeze that remains.
I am the first to stand.
“On your feet, everyone. The quicker we are, the less time Drew has to lay traps.”
They all look stunned, but Alejandro gamely pushes to his feet.
“Is everyone okay?” he says. He holds out a hand to Jen, who takes it and gets up shakily. Cecil stands beside her, his face a tableau of fear and outrage.
“Is everyone okay?” Cecil yells. “Am I the only one who felt that? A fucking gale just flattened us.” He points at fallen branches that now litter the undergrowth. “And you ask if we’re okay?”
“Calm down, Cecil.” Jen puts a hand on Cecil’s forearm. He doesn’t shake it off, but neither does he calm.
“How can I? Seriously, Jen? You’re following this freak,” finger outstretched in my direction. “With his feathers and spells, hunting a kidnapper? And what the hell are these spirits?” His voice rises a half-octave.
“I don’t have time for this,” I growl, then raise my voice and point back toward the parking lot. “Either shut up or get out.”
“Merlo.” Alejandro puts up a conciliatory hand. “Let me.”
I wave at Cecil with a dismissive gesture and pace over to a nearby tree to keep a watch for signs of trouble. While we bicker and waffle, my enemy plans and plots. And I don’t need to see Jen’s reproachful face.
“Cecil. I know it’s hard to understand what’s happening here. I don’t know what Jen told you—”
“Not a lot,” Jen interjects.
“A man named Drew Mordecai has control over the wind and air—”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means we are in danger from the skies. Merlo has abilities that can help us, luckily.”
And there it is. No more hiding from Cecil. I clench my fingernails into my palms. Alejandro is well-meaning, but he doesn’t yet understand the precarious nature of my hidden self. It doesn’t take much to unravel the veneer of my current life and expose the secrets that few want to know.
Too late now. There is a silver lining: I can perform my tricks out in the open.
“I recommend rolling with it,” Wayne says. “Don’t think too hard about it.”
“Drew won’t stop until Merlo is dead,” Alejandro continues. “I know you don’t really know him, and maybe would rather leave him to fight his own battles. But Jen will follow him because she is his friend. And if you stay for Jen, the best way to stay safe is to listen to Merlo.”
My back is to the rest of the group, and all I hear is silence. Then, a sigh.
“Fine. I’ll be quiet and follow orders. I want answers later, though.”
“And you’ll have them,” I say, turning back. “When we have more time. Now, however, I suggest we move. The next attack can’t be far away.” I beckon to Alejandro while I pace forward. He trots up and the others follow at a small distance.
“Thanks for talking Cecil around, Alejandro. I’m only diplomatic when I have to be.”
He smiles, then sobers.
“You never know, we might need him. Extra hands can’t hurt.”
“Usually.”
“Hey, Merry,” Jen calls from behind. “I found a feather. Should I keep it? What about collecting rocks?”
“The rocks are a good idea. Keep them in your hands—I don’t want anyone weighed down if we need to run.”
“Really? We’re carrying rocks now?” Cecil mutters, but quietly enough that I can ignore him. He does, however, bend to grab a rock in each hand.
“Is bigger better?” Wayne lifts a particularly hefty stone in his arms.
“Not in this case. I’d rather make good time than lug the heaviest rocks for their minor benefit.”
We continue along the track at a decent clip. It worries me that we haven’t been attacked in a while. What is Drew planning?
Two minutes later, my question is answered. Faint cawing reaches my ears.
“Dammit.” I whirl around to the others. “Brace yourselves. A murder of crows is on the way. Hopefully not literally.” I think for a moment of the best way to protect ourselves. “All right. Huddle together, everyone, and hold those rocks out in a circle around us.”
The cacophonous cawing grows ever louder as the group scrambles to follow my instructions. I notice with approval that Wayne has grabbed a sturdy branch and brandishes it in his free hand as a weapon.
“We’ve got this,” Wayne says to me. “This is old hat. Remember the roof? And there’s no fog to deal with.”
“True.” I scan the treetops. “Don’t get complacent, though.” I grab the rock lauvan from the stone Jen holds in her right hand and tease them upward. I do the same with Cecil’s, and twist the two bundles together.
“Can’t we put the rocks down?” Cecil eyes me with mistrust at my seemingly fruitless handwaving.
“Won’t work then. A little trust, please, Cecil. You’ll get answers later.”
“There they are!” Jen squeaks out. I don’t turn but hastily finish weaving my net over the heads of our group. I’ve always found earth lauvan to be the easiest to work with. My hands now free, I stand in the center of our dome and look up.
The crows are upon us, a black cloud of discordant, overwhelming noise. Wings flap and talons swipe, but all are held back by the net of earth lauvan. The flapping of black wings covers our dome in a feathery blanket and shadows our faces. I sigh in relief.
Until one crow wriggles through. A wing thrashes within the confines of our net. Then the writhing body, sharp beak, curved talons, and second wing slide through, directly above Alejandro’s head. He cringes when the bird plummets onto him like a bomb, but holds fast to his rocks. The crow bounces off his back and lands in the center of our circle, where it twists to launch itself into the air once more.
“Don’t let go of the rocks!” I yell, then dive toward the crow. My hands reach to its swirling, enraged lauvan, but they slip through my fingers when it pushes off the ground. It flies like a bullet to my face, cawing madly. I lift my hands to shield my eyes, but before talons reach them, Wayne’s club swings in a great arc from overhead and plummets to meet its mark. The crow drops to the forest floor, stunned.
There is no time to thank Wayne, because another crow is taking advantage of the breach. Then, above Jen’s head, wing feathers emerge through another gap. Our barrier is not dense enough. We need more stones.
I grasp the lauvan of the next crow and manage to entangle them enough to prevent it flying for a few minutes. Another crow immediately wriggles through. Wayne brains the next with his club. The following crow is immobilized by a surprise maneuver from Cecil, who grabs the crow with one hand around the bird’s back. The crow’s beak stabs cruelly at Cecil’s fingers, and he winces but doesn’t let go. I spring to his side and twist lauvan until the crow flops to the ground.
All at once, the black cloud of attacking birds lifts, and flies in the direction it came from.
“Why are they leaving?” Jen says, her pale face looking after the retreating birds. “Are they going to get more?”
“They’re being directed by another force. No, I think we’re finished with birds for the moment. There will be something else shortly, I have no doubt.”
“Maybe the crows didn’t want any more casualties on their end.” Cecil points to the birds between us, which feebly stir.
“Interesting. Perhaps the spirit can only push them against their natural inclinations for so long. All ri
ght, you can put down your rocks now. Let’s keep moving.”
I stride off without waiting, and the sounds of tromping feet and rustling branches follow me. With every passing moment, Drew could be getting further away or plotting his next attack. I need to find him and end this. I’m sorely tempted to transform into a falcon and swiftly pursue my quarry, but Drew’s spirit currently rules the skies.
The trees thin up ahead and the wind is growing stronger. After a small rise, we descend steeply onto a barren plateau. It’s a huge slab of speckled granite, flat on top with a hazardous cliff that falls sharply away to trees hundreds of feet below. An equally steep incline soars above us, craggy and impassible. The strait lies beyond our feet, grim and gray under threatening skies, and the usually glittering city is drab.
Wayne strides out confidently, but I grab his arm.
“Take care. We’re too exposed here. If I were attacking with wind, this would be the ideal ambush.” I look across the plateau, where the faint trace of a trail disappears through the brush a few dozen paces away. A pulsing lauvan cable crosses the plateau on its path down the mountain face, silvery-brown threads gleaming dully in the leaden light.
“We’re assuming Drew came this way,” says Jen. “Couldn’t he have doubled back by now? We could be on a wild goose chase.”
“What about this?” Cecil picks up a trucker cap, wedged between two rocks at our feet.
“He was wearing that,” Alejandro says. “When he tied me up.”
“It’s covered in his lauvan, too,” I say. “Good eye, Cecil. Yes, we’re on the right path. Nothing to do but push on, I’m afraid. Everyone still have their feathers? Good. Follow me, close as you can.”
I gather them together with a few waves of my hands and hustle them forward. Alejandro trips over a jagged edge of the great rock slab, but recovers his footing quickly with a nervous glance upward. I scan the skies, keenly aware that the only warning we might have would be from me. There are no rustling trees to listen to here, no falling branches to warn us.
Before we’ve traveled ten paces across the slab, clouds billow out of nowhere. Each one is the deep purple of an angry bruise. They pile on top of each other, mounting rapidly.
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