Fire and Ice

  That wasn’t a look easily faked.

  “You’re into, what, that freaky stuff?” Lina asked.

  Daniel laughed. “Yeah, and having two dragon mates is totally vanilla. What we do is totally consensual. I wasn’t sure if I’d make it out alive from our first date. I only knew she was my mate and I loved her.” He looked down at her and stroked her hair. “I’d kill and die for her, believe me. Just like I’m sure your mates would for you.”

  Lina’s face reddened. “Okay, I got it. Touché. Sorry.”

  “No, it’s all right,” he said. “I appreciate that you feel protective of her like that. That’s the mark of a good friend.” He reached out a hand to Lina to shake with her.

  Lina accepted it. “I think she’s probably going to do more to save my bacon than the other way around, but thanks.”

  Daniel walked over to the sideboard to fill a plate. Callie smiled at Lina and leaned in close. In a low whisper, she said, “Besides, Sir is fucking hot in the sack.”

  “I heard that,” he playfully said from the sideboard. “Wolf ears, pet.”

  “Who says I didn’t mean for You to hear it, Sir?” she innocently shot back.

  His amused laugh vaguely reminded Lina of a wolf’s howl.

  * * * *

  The rest of the group, minus the attorney, made it into the dining room a few minutes later. Zack took point on the discussion after they sat down. “We figured you’d probably want to get some sleep first,” he said. “But after that, I’m guessing you want to start that search?”

  Lina nodded after glancing at the housekeeper, who silently stood inside the doorway, ready to refill drinks or food. She didn’t need him to hit her over the head with a sledgehammer. They would ixnay the alktay about the ablettay while the staff was around. “Yeah. After I’ve had a nap would be good.”

  Her men didn’t need to ask her if she was in the mood to fool around. They were asleep almost before their heads hit the pillows. She lay there for a moment staring at the ceiling. This felt surreal. A week ago, she was in Yellowstone. Now, she was in a house—her house—outside of Paris.

  Okay, their house, because even if it was hers, she considered it theirs.

  She closed her eyes. Immediately, she found herself standing along the side of a rural road. She got the distinct feeling from local trees and vegetation that she was in Florida, confirmed when she spotted the wrecked car on the other side of the road. The tag on the back was for the Sunshine State.

  It looked like the accident had just happened, from the way steam still rose up from the front end. As she approached, she realized there were two occupants in the front. Both appeared dead.

  The scene changed. She was still there at the wrecked car, but now there was a tow truck driver preparing to winch the demolished car onto the back of a flatbed wrecker. Three men who looked identical and distraught stood there, talking with a Florida Highway Patrol officer. The Lyall brothers…

  Lina opened her eyes. She was safe in bed between Rick and Jan.

  She was way too tired to think about it right then. What she wanted was sleep. Just good old dreamless, boring sleep. She closed her eyes again.

  By the time Lina awoke seven hours later, she felt reasonably human again. Jan and Rick were still softly snoring on either side of her. She carefully climbed out of the bed via the end and made her way into the bathroom. There, she drew herself a hot bath and settled in for a relaxing soak. She’d already finished and dressed when Rick and Jan dragged themselves out of bed.

  “I’m going down to Bertholde’s room,” she said.

  “Do you want us to come with you?” Rick asked.

  “No. If I’m not safe in this house, then I’m pretty much screwed. I want some alone time there.” She took her cell phone with her. Around her, the house felt quiet, no sounds of the others stirring yet. She made her way downstairs and found Bertholde’s room again.

  She shut the door behind her and threw the curtains open to let light into the room. She sat on the bed and called Lacey. The Seer answered immediately.

  “There you are. I was beginning to worry.”

  “Sorry. I had to sleep.”

  “Where are you?”

  Lina looked around. “I’m in Bertholde’s room. Sitting on her bed.”

  “Good. Get up and go to the back staircase.”

  Lina stood and walked out into the hall. She didn’t know where the back staircase was. She assumed it was in the opposite direction of the main staircase.

  “Let me find it.”

  “Okay, tell me when you do.”

  Lina made two more turns and found it. “I guess this is it.”

  “Is it anywhere near the kitchen?”

  “I don’t think so, but then again, I’m lost.”

  Lacey laughed. “What’s it look like?”

  “Stairs.”

  “No, dear. Carpeted, banister color, that type of thing.”

  “Oh. No carpet, just wood.”

  “That’s it, then. The service staircase by the kitchen is carpeted. Slowly ascend the stairs. One step at a time. Do not rush.”

  “Um, okay.” Lina took the stairs one at a time.

  “Anything?”

  “What am I looking for?” Various pictures and photographs lined the wall. Was it something hidden behind a picture?

  “Listening for, Lina. Listening.”

  Ten steps up, she heard it, a slight squeak. She continued on to the top of the staircase. It was the only step that squeaked. She returned to it and sat on the step below it. “I think I found it.”

  “Grab the step and pull out.”

  She did. With a little tugging, it gave way. Inside the riser she found a secret compartment containing an envelope sealed with Bertholde’s wax seal.

  Lina lifted it out and closed the step.

  “Well?” Lacey asked.

  Lina’s name was written on the envelope in Bertholde’s handwriting.

  “I found it,” Lina softly said. “How did you know?”

  “She must have planned it. She mentioned to me at least five different times the last several times we talked about that squeaky step. Obviously, she was leaving a clue for you and for me. Good luck, dear. Call me if you need me.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” Lina hung up and stared at the letter. Instead of opening it there, she found her way back to Bertholde’s room and locked herself in.

  She opened the letter. In it, a very short message.

  Put the animals back on their home. Carefully. And exactly.

  Lina sat there, thinking. Then her eyes fell on the gap on the shelf. That has to be it. She said “on” their home.

  She bolted upstairs for her room, ignoring Rick and Jan’s questions as she rummaged through her shoulder bag for the little figurines. Finding them, she ran back downstairs, nearly plowing over Zack in the process. He followed her back to Bertholde’s room and watched as she painstakingly put the little figurines back on their matching dust spots, exactly as they had been aligned.

  “What’s that supposed to do?” Zack asked.

  She shushed him and stood there, looking at them. They were, from left to right, the wolf, dragon, unidentified cat, and bear. Lina studied them from various angles.

  Nada.

  After ten minutes, and Jan and Rick arriving and silently watching after Zack shushed them, Lina sat, dejected, on the bed.

  “What, exactly,” Zack said, “are you doing?”

  She handed him the note she retrieved from the step.

  “Where did this come from?”

  “There was a secret compartment under a step. That’s what she meant by the squeak in the other letter. Lacey knew what the squeak meant and pointed me to it.”

  “Oh. That’s clear as mud.”

  “The step squeaked.”

  “Okay.”

  The four of them stared at the animals for another ten minutes. Lina felt close to tears. “I don’t understand what she’s trying to tell me!”

/>   “Calm down, lovely,” Jan soothed. “We’ll figure it out.” He studied the figurines, then turned, slowly looking around the room, his eyes scanning from floor to ceiling. He stopped, a wide smile breaking across his face. He looked back at the shelf, then at Lina.

  “I’ve got it.”

  “Well, explain it to me, please.”

  He walked over to a bookshelf on the far side of the room. On a shelf exactly across from the figurines sat several pictures. Jan reached over to one and picked it up. A group picture, it featured Bertholde and four older men, apparently taken at some sort of meeting, or maybe a past Gathering.

  Jan carried the picture over to Lina and handed it to her. “That’s Jim Aruks, Paul McThomas, Jayden Aslo, and Davis Cannady.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  Rick grinned and pointed at each man in turn again. “Wolf, dragon, panther, and bear shifters.”

  She stared at him, then turned the picture over and popped the back off the inexpensive frame. Behind the picture, she found a small piece of paper.

  “This is getting old.” She took it out and unfolded it.

  On it, a single, hand-drawn symbol.

  %

  “What the fuck is that?”

  Zack took the paper, smiled, and walked over to the windows. He looked outside for a moment, then turned to them. With a fake, pompous British detective accent, he hooked a thumb under his armpit and said, “I do believe, Watson, that I have solved the mystery.”

  “I’m hungry and crampy, Zack,” she groused. “Don’t piss me off.”

  He laughed. “It’s the apothecary symbol for the ounce.”

  She blinked. “Huh?”

  “Ounce. You know, ‘O-Z. Oz.’”

  “Sorry, Zack,” Jan said. “I’m not following you, either.”

  He grinned and waved them over to the window. “‘Follow the yellow brick road,’” he chanted.

  Outside, a path of pale pavers with a yellow hue to them led the way to gardens behind the house.

  “No,” she said. “You really think she’d keep it that close to her?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe she moved it without anyone else knowing.”

  They all headed outside. The paving stones didn’t look big enough to be the tablet. And there were literally thousands of them.

  “This will take forever,” Lina said.

  “Look,” Zack interrupted, “let’s eat dinner first. Keep this to ourselves until we have a chance to fill in everyone else. Once our tummies are full, we’ll come back to it.”

  * * * *

  Before dinner, she had time to get Brodey alone for a few minutes. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

  He gave her an appraising look. “I’d hope so, sugar, after all we’ve been through.”

  “Feel free to tell me to go fuck myself, but how did your parents die?”

  His face clouded. “Car wreck. Highway Patrol declared it a one-car wreck.”

  “But you aren’t convinced?”

  “Nope. Why?”

  “I had a dream.”

  “Did you see who did it?”

  “No. I saw the immediate aftermath. But there’s got to be a reason I saw it in the first place. It was just a brief flash. I wanted to know if it was your parents.”

  “Okay. If you see anything else—”

  “Absolutely.”

  He nodded and gave her a strong hug, then hurried outside for some fresh air.

  She suspected he wanted to get himself under control.

  After dinner, they led the others outside to the pavers. Zack explained. “We’re not even one hundred percent sure this is the place she was pointing us to, but we’re going with it.” They spread out and took separate sections.

  It was nearly dark when Lina found it. At the edge of the walk, half concealed by a bush, lay one paver set a little differently than the others. Lina called for the rest of their group. Brodey knelt down and pulled it out of position, flipping it over.

  A roughly chiseled V had been embossed in the bottom.

  “What does that mean?” Lina asked. “What does ‘V’ stand for?”

  Zack shook his head. “Put it back exactly the way you found it, Brodey.”

  He did. “Now,” Zack instructed, “tip it up, toward the bush.”

  He did. Now the V pointed down the path. Lina set off ahead of the others. At the end of the walk was a gravel circle ringed by low bushes. In the middle of it, a sundial. On top of it sat a V-shaped pointer.

  “I don’t get it,” Lina said.

  Callie laughed and stepped over the bushes and into the circle with her. Carefully tipping the sundial over off its pedestal, she then moved the pedestal. Beneath it lay four pavers surrounding a fifth, which had totally been concealed by the sundial’s pedestal.

  Daniel joined them in the circle and pulled up the center stone. He turned it over and held it up. “Is this what you’re looking for?” He grinned.

  In his hands, he held the Tablet of Trammel.

  The entire events of its creation rushed back into Lina’s mind.

  Lina fainted.

  * * * *

  Lina awoke in a sitting room. Someone had carried her inside and laid her out on a comfortable sofa. Zack knelt next to her and placed a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. “What the hell was that about, sweetheart?”

  She felt woozy. “I don’t know.” She seemed to have developed an annoying habit of fainting unexpectedly. “I hope I’m not turning into one of them damn fainting goats,” she grumbled.

  Jan and Rick, standing nearby, both laughed. “No chance of that, sweetheart,” Rick said.

  She carefully sat up. “The tablet? Where is it?”

  “Right here,” Brodey said. Someone had brushed the dirt off of it. It now sat on a towel in the middle of a table.

  Lina stood, wobbled on her feet for only a moment before she felt steady again, and made her way over to the tablet.

  It seemed hard to believe that just a few days earlier, she’d taken part in the creation of it. It looked weathered, some of the engravings a little smoother than they’d originally been, but in good shape overall. Running her fingers over it, she felt none of the power present at its creation.

  It was just a rock.

  The giggles started deep in her throat, bubbling and rising up until she had to lean on the table for support she was laughing so hard.

  “Um, you okay?” Zack asked.

  She nodded even as she continued laughing. It was several minutes before she was able to regain her senses. “We’ve been worried…about…that!” She broke out into another giggle fit.

  She realized everyone was exchanging worried looks. She waved them away. “I’m not crazy, I swear.” She took a deep breath, let out one final round of snickers, then turned to face everyone. “It’s just a rock now. At the time, it was a powerful spell, yes. After the battle ended, it became meaningless.” She ran her hands over it again.

  Nope, nothing. She could get more sensation from concrete block. Still…

  “We need to take it back to America with us,” she said. “We can hide it in the Pack compound in Maine.”

  “Are you sure that’s wise?” Zack asked. “You want to hold on to it that long?”

  She nodded. “What are they going to do, steal it and break it?” She picked it up. Part of her wanted to drop the damn thing on the floor and watch it shatter. The other part of her wanted to honor the memory of the three lovers who’d given their lives to save their people.

  Even if she was one of the three lovers.

  She handed it to Zack. “Please keep it safe for me until we get it back to the States.”

  “Do we tell people we found it?”

  She smiled. “Found what?”

  “I hope you have a plan,” Jan said.

  “I do.”

  Later that night, before heading to bed, she found Zack. “Bring the tablet,” she told him. He went back into his room. She heard him briefly speak to Kael, then he
returned with the tablet.

  “What are we doing?”

  “Come on and I’ll show you.” She led him downstairs and outside to the garden, to the path of pavers. She pulled one up a few yards down from where they’d found the paver with the ‘V’ etched on it. She flipped it over so she could see the dirty side.

  “What are you doing?” Zack said.

  She knelt down, smiling as she ran her hands over the smooth stone. “Looks pretty close to the original, doesn’t it?”

  He looked puzzled. “Um, well, not really. It’s larger, it’s a slightly different color, and has no writing on it.”

  “Ignore the color. What if it had the same writing on it?”

  He snorted. “Fine. Do you know someone handy with a chisel who can do rock forgeries?”

  She grinned. “I don’t need a chisel.” She stood, grabbed the real tablet from him, and laid it on top of the other paver.

  “What are you doing? Or do I even want to know?”

  “Watch and learn, grasshopper. Watch and learn.” She closed her eyes and ran her hands around the edge of the tablet. This felt right. Really right.

  Baba Yaga told me to follow my instincts.

  She traced the edges of the tablet with her fingers, touching the stone beneath it as she moved her hands. Then she ran her fingers over the surface of the tablet, smoothing them over the etchings and envisioning the rock below taking on the same appearance.

  She knew even if the cockatrice did manage to find and destroy the real tablet, it wouldn’t render the spell obsolete. It would take the spell being reversed.

  And the people it had affected being not dead.

  Since she had no desire to reverse the spell, and even if there was a way to resurrect the dead she wouldn’t do it, there was little to no chance of that happening. The tablet itself, however, no longer contained any power even though the cockatrice believed it did.

  The power was in her, the Goddess, and in her men.

  Lina, however, didn’t like to take chances. Maybe, just maybe, there was a slim chance of the cockatrice stopping their slaughter of innocent people in search of this hunk of rock if they got their hands on it. Well, on the forgery. Which they wouldn’t know was a forgery.

  Lifting the original tablet, she returned it to Zack. Then she examined her handiwork. It looked nearly identical to the original. All anyone who wanted it would be interested in was if the runes and symbols matched.