Weald Fae 02 - The Changeling

  “I have to go,” he said breathlessly. “Get Mitch back and then find me.”

  Fighting to catch my breath, I whispered, “Where will you be?”

  With an intense, smoldering expression, he said, “You’ll find me.”

  “I’ll do that…Adonis.”

  A devilish grin spread across his face. “I didn’t give myself that name, you know.”

  “I know, and by the way, you do look good in pink.”

  “No, I look great in pink,” he said, flashing a half smile. “I love you.” His smile broadened as he walked around the corner.

  I whispered, “I love you, too,” as he disappeared. I knew he heard me.

  I slid to the floor, pulling energy from the room around me. I traced his essence as far as I could until he finally slipped away. My body was still tingling when I got dressed, and the smile I couldn’t seem to find since the night of the prom refused to leave my face.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  UPPING THE ANTE

  Sara and Sherman met us at the airport, and after assuring Mom and Dad that Mitch’s condition hadn’t changed, they drove us home. On the way, Sara silently informed me that Ozara had called a meeting of the Council and wanted to meet with me afterwards. Immediately, I feared the Ohanzee interference with Smokey and Gusty was the catalyst for this meeting. Gavin had made his escape long before they showed back up, and after listening in to their conversations, I knew they had no idea he’d been there. Nevertheless, with the Ohanzee’s interference, Ozara would be furious and even more paranoid than before.

  The moment we got back to the cottage, I excused myself and went upstairs. A few minutes later I hovered in the clearing among the Council. They were debating as rigorously as I’d ever witnessed, and they weren’t alone. Eight additional Fae were there answering questions about the Second. I began to understand that they were trackers of some kind.

  The Council continued to debate whether there was a Second, and by a slim majority, led by Ozara, they agreed there simply wasn’t enough evidence. It seemed that my ability with all four elements was the only evidence. While I was comforted by their conviction, my gut told me they were wrong. Beyond that, I didn’t understand the significance of their decision until Ozara ordered the trackers to find the Ohanzee.

  She didn’t say what the Seelie intended to do when they found Tse-xo-be and the others, but I was afraid for them.

  Ozara said, “There is something I must do.” She left the Council, transforming into Naeshura and moving quickly to the north. I lingered in the clearing for only a moment before I felt it: she was in my room.

  My tether snapped me back into my body so quickly my head was spinning when I came to my senses. My body reacted and I sat up on my bed, gasping, my heart lurching in my chest. Ozara stood at the foot of my bed, bent over and grasping my left foot, staring intensely at me. Shock turned to panic as I locked onto her amber eyes.

  “You did it,” she said, a slight smile forming on her face.

  “What…I did…I uh…” I muttered, pulling my duvet up around my neck. My mind was screaming, she caught me, she caught me, and my lungs couldn’t remember how to fill, forcing each quick breath back out as quickly as it entered.

  A broad smile formed on her face, and I prepared myself for what would come next. Her kind expression unsettled me.

  “Congratulations on winning, of course. I didn’t mean to frighten you, Maggie. Forgive me. I would have waited had I known you’d gone to sleep so early.”

  Relief tingled through me when it became clear she had no idea what I’d just been doing. “No, that’s all right,” I said, taking a deep breath and finally allowing my clutched hands to drop from my chest. “Thank you. Sorry, I was just startled, that’s all.”

  “I’m afraid I have some bad news,” she said.

  Her words sucked the air out of the room and my nerves came racing back. Bad news? What could that mean? Had something happened to Mitch? Did she know about Gavin? The last thing in the world I wanted was more bad news.

  “I’ve been searching tirelessly for your brother and I’m afraid I am no closer to finding him now than I was in January.”

  The word “tirelessly” struck me—it was an odd choice. After having spent hours eavesdropping on the Council, I knew at best it was an exaggeration. My mind reeled with what she said next.

  “I think the time has come for you to consider the rogue’s terms.”

  “I don’t understand…you want me to agree to have my memory erased…to sell the Weald?”

  “No, I do not, but under the circumstances, I do not see that you have a choice. Your brother will not survive much longer,” she said in a sympathetic tone I didn’t believe.

  “As soon as we have him back, you’ll restore my memory and deal with the rogues?”

  She looked perplexed for an instant. I’d caught her off-guard.

  “That would not be my first choice, I am afraid.”

  “Why?” I said quietly, but firmly.

  Without missing a beat, she answered. “The last year has involved one tragedy after another. Why should more perish? The Council is unanimous. We believe it best if your family’s connection to the Weald is severed.”

  “Unanimous?”

  “Yes,” she said, nodding her head.

  That was not the case, I knew, but I let the comment go without a challenge.

  “And the Second Aetherfae?”

  She paused briefly, studying my face before she answered, “We do not believe there is a Second.”

  That also struck me as an exaggeration. I had just heard seven members of the Council disagree on that very point. There was no emotion on her face and I fought to keep any from showing on mine. I considered the possibility she was simply generalizing, but my intuition told me otherwise, so I pressed her.

  “Well, what if you’re wrong. What if I move back to Florida and the Second shows up, what are you going to do then?”

  “We have ways of knowing when there is a Second, Maggie, and I am confident there is no danger.”

  “I accept that, and trust me, I hope you’re right. But what if you’re not, hypothetically speaking? What will you do if another has evaded your detection? Isn’t the risk to you, the Seelie, and the human race, too great to chance not having a Maebown fighting alongside you? Ozara, I know the previous Maebown sacrificed himself to save not only the human race, but you as well. I am willing to do the same thing, and die if necessary.”

  “You scarcely know what that means,” she said. It was the wrong thing to say, and before I could reel my emotions back in, I lashed out.

  “Don’t lecture me on death,” I seethed.

  Her face softened. “Yes, of course. Under the circumstances it was a poor choice of words. Forgive me. One point remains, Maggie: you can postpone yours and your brother’s by leaving this place. You have a bright future away from the Fae, but among us…”

  She was right, of course. I stared out the window of my bedroom. The moon was full and remarkably bright in the eastern night sky. It cast everything in warm shades of blue, and staring at it, I found peace for a moment and allowed my shoulders to relax.

  Ozara studied me before she turned to face the window herself. “Maggie, I give you my word. If you go through with this and it turns out your fears are correct, that a Second Aetherfae exists, I will seek you out. I will restore your memories and I will show you the secret to Aether.”

  I stared at her lithe silhouette and didn’t say a word as I wondered whether she meant what she said.

  “If we’d found your brother in time, I’d never suggest it. The truth is, Maggie, I really do not want you or your family to leave the Weald. Relationships mean a great deal to me, but I see no alternative. The decision is up to you, of course.”

  Relationships? Really? Who was she trying to kid? I stared at my hands hoping I could hide my emotions from her. She was lying to me, and I knew it. She’d turned her back on the Ohanzee after thousands of millenn
ia. She’d started a war with Zarkus who, according to Tse-xo-be, had been her closest companion, and I’d just heard her order the trackers to hunt down the Ohanzee Clan. Keeping my anger at bay, momentarily, I realized she was trying to persuade me to leave the Weald without telling me to.

  There was something wrong, but I had no idea what it was. Wanting my family and me off the Weald didn’t make sense—she, personally, had kept us here in the first place. My mind was spinning and I wanted to solve the puzzle. For the moment, though, one thing was crystal clear: I wouldn’t find an answer with her staring at me from four feet away. Forcing a sad look on my face and projecting confusion, doubt, and desperation, I looked up into her blazing eyes.

  “I will think about what you’ve said and make a decision…tomorrow…tomorrow morning.”

  She studied me, and I could almost feel her probing my mind, so I let her read images of Drevek in the hospital. She maintained a passive, caring expression, and softly said, “If you think you can decide so quickly.”

  “I have to get Mitch back. I will get him back, right? You promise?” I studied her face, letting my desperation bubble to the surface.

  “I do.”

  The tone in her voice was genuine and the look on her face was the most caring I’d witnessed. I knew she was lying to me.

  I let tears form in my eyes, “I’ll let you know tomorrow morning, but how will I let the rogues know since Cassandra is gone?”

  Her expression didn’t change. “I will contact Zarkus, should you decide, and ask him to contact the rogues. I am confident we can get word to them. We will not proceed until I know Mitch is safe.”

  “Okay…can I please be alone for a while?”

  She smiled. “Certainly. Tomorrow then?”

  “Yes. And thank you, Ozara. You have no idea what a difference your words have made.” For the first time, I meant everything I said.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  RESOLUTE

  Subconsciously staring at the rough grain running through the beams in my ceiling, I worked out what I had to do. The first step was huge. The timeframe was my own doing, and I prayed that Gavin was right about finding Mitch. If he was wrong, I was in trouble. Gavin had to be right, I told myself, but finding Mitch and getting him back were two very different things. Unsure of what I would find, or who I’d have to face, I debated whether I should ask Billy and Sara for help. They would certainly be willing, but if I was right and Ozara wanted me off the Weald, aiding me would put both of them in terrible danger. I had to get Mitch back safely without bringing harm to anyone else. Then I could stand my ground and fight for my place here.

  My mind wandered off on Ozara and her motivations yet again. She was paranoid, and the danger stabbed me in the gut like a dull blade. Was she really so dead set on easing tensions with the Unseelie that she’d put everyone at risk? Her offer to bring me back in the event of problems made me angry. She wanted to treat me like a mindless weapon, an unloaded gun that stayed hidden in the back of a closet until the threat arose—hidden until the intruder came. I was afraid for her, for everyone actually, that the intruder would be in the house before she had a chance to get to me.

  “I’ll think about all of that later,” I whispered to my darkened room.

  At ten o’clock, Ozara was still out of my range. She’d been gone an hour. Smokey and Gusty were in their usual places, and so were the rest of the Seelie guards. Game on. A few moments later I was floating above my body.

  Concentrating on Mitch, I allowed nothing else into my mind but his face, his crazy mop of tawny hair, and his dimples. “I will find Mitch. I will find Mitch.” Almost immediately, an invisible tether gripped me, pulling me away from my room. The sensation of being hurled through the darkness was overwhelming and everything was a blur. It was exciting and terrifying at the same time, like falling from a great height in pure darkness, but I continued to focus on Mitch.

  The movement stopped and a familiar cloak of mist surrounded me. In the darkness, I was hovering in an unfamiliar grove of oak and hickory trees on the side of a hill. Mitch was not there, but I sensed five people down the hill and behind me. Along with them were three Fae. One seemed oddly familiar, but it wasn’t Cassandra. It was probably one of the Unseelie from the hotel. Mitch had to be close.

  Gliding forward in the dark woods and through thick, snarled underbrush, I saw a fluorescent yard light glowing faintly from atop a telephone pole. It illuminated an old barn with peeling red paint and a rusty metal roof. Beyond the barn, a filthy tractor and several large pieces of worn farm equipment were scattered next to a barbed wire fence in waist-high weeds. The people and the Fae were in the other direction, still hidden by the mist.

  I floated past the last trees and into the clearing. The hulking form of an old white farmhouse began to take shape as I drew closer. It wasn’t a pretty house, with stained and peeling paint, narrow windows with rusty screens and an uneven porch strewn with boxes and furniture. Two humans were downstairs with the Fae, and three were above them.

  A round-faced, middle-aged woman with stringy blonde hair, small eyes and splotchy skin cowered in the corner of the dark, dank living room, clutching the front of her housecoat with chubby hands. She watched a short, stocky, middle-aged man with thinning brown hair and tattoos as he spoke with one of the Unseelie, the only one I could see from my vantage.

  Typical of a Fae, she was tall, blonde and striking, but dressed oddly. The black pants and jacket looked completely out of place and did nothing to soften her angular features. She stared at the man as I caught the last part of his question. His drawl was excruciating to listen to—it was country, grating, and nothing like Aunt May’s. He didn’t sound like he was from Arkansas.

  “…but ya told us we’d be movin’ six months ago, an’ that ain’t happened yet.”

  The blonde Unseelie glared at him, and the round woman flinched. Enough of this. I have to find Mitch. Then a voice filtered through my senses—a familiar voice that shook me so hard I felt the connection to my body come alive.

  “Are you displeased with our arrangement?” Chalen barked.

  It can’t be. Maggie, you’ve got to calm down. I willed myself further down the hall until Chalen came into view. It was really him, in his younger, vicious form, leering at the humans who stood behind a tattered and lumpy plaid sofa in a futile attempt to shield themselves. Without thinking, I screamed “Bastard.” The invisible tether to my body yanked hard as rage consumed me. Seeing him standing there in physical form reawakened the homicidal feelings I’d felt on the island.

  The Unseelie and the humans flinched and looked around the room. Crap. Just relax, you can’t do anything about Chalen right now.

  “There! Did ya hear that, that moanin’?” The man cowered. “We ain’t complainin’, it’s just we wanna get tha hell outta this place.”

  “You chose it,” the blonde Fae said, clearly annoyed.

  The man looked down at the floor and exhaled, his round stomach pooching out over his belt.

  “What’s wrong with it, other than the filth?” she snapped.

  “There’s somethin’ here. I know ya heard it, too,” the frightened man protested, his wide-eyed expression pathetic and annoying.

  “You are as bad as he is.” She shot a quick glare at Chalen. “There is nothing here.”

  Chalen shook his head and glared back at the blonde. She was clearly in charge. The man raised his dirty white undershirt to reveal long scratches on his stomach and back. Some appeared fresh. The blonde Fae looked repulsed as she scanned his flabby, hairy belly.

  “This got’dang place is haunted. Ain’t no other way ta say it.”

  The blonde Fae rolled her eyes, her patience obviously growing thin. The woman, the man’s wife I assumed, backed up a step and whimpered.

  “There’s somethin’ here, and it come after me ever’time I get close ta that boy,” he continued his protest.

  Mitch!

  “ENOUGH!” She snapped. “Other than t
he two of you, there are three people in this house.”

  I knew in my gut that Mitch was one of them.

  “I’m tellin’ ya, there’s somethin’ else,” the man whispered. “It showed up a month ago, started movin’ things, hollerin’ at me, and a few days ago it started scratchin’ me.”

  “That is when you showed up. Echo! How long have you been in physical form?” the blonde silently asked Chalen. He returned her gaze, but she didn’t let him answer. “It does not matter. You should not be here. Leave. Now.”

  To my surprise, Chalen obeyed. He walked out the filthy front door and I felt him transform into his natural form and move away. Wasting no more time, I willed myself to the second floor. I had to find Mitch, and I needed to know who else stood in my way.

  In a small bedroom at the front of the house, a tiny blonde-haired girl lay awake with her covers pulled up around her face. She couldn’t have been more than six or seven, and she looked terrified. Listening to the conversation between the Unseelie and humans in the room below, her eyes darted back and forth each time a voice pierced the darkened room. The poor thing had heard every word and I felt sorry for her. Were the Unseelie keeping other children in the farmhouse?

  At the back of the second floor, I found an older boy, maybe Mitch’s age, who was sound asleep in a room strewn with clothes and toys. They’d been keeping a third child? It didn’t make sense.

  The children looked like the woman downstairs. The sad reality hit me. The kids were caught up in a mess that would probably end in tragedy because their naïve parents were dealing with the Unseelie.

  Two seconds after entering the boy’s room, I willed myself to the third presence, up in the attic. Terrified of what I might find, I fought with my tether as I moved through the floor. There were no lights on, but I could clearly see cardboard boxes, old suitcases, and trunks scattered under the bare rafters. Several inches of dust caked everything. Toward the back corner, I noticed a doorway and drifted to it.