Flight From Death
Tonya motioned to Ralph. “Throw several pinches of powder on the spirits.” He did, as Tonya aimed her wand again and began to whisper something beneath her breath. A moment later, the mother looked directly at us, formed the words thank you on her lips, and she and her daughter disappeared into the dark of the night. With another gust, the wind blew away their memories and they were long gone.
“That just leaves Lacy.” Tonya looked tired. “Let’s go.”
We made our way to the attic, where Tonya motioned for me to join her. “The rest of you can stay here.” She brought her wand but shook her head at the bell. “You won’t need that.”
We crossed to the back of the attic. There, sitting on the bed, we saw Lacy. I could tell it was her—she smelled like lilacs, and a soft smile lit up her face. We sat down opposite her on the bench by the vanity.
I wasn’t sure what to say, but Lacy said it for us. She rose, softly, and I could hear the swish of her dress as she knelt down in front of us. She laid a gentle hand on mine, and one on Tonya’s hand. The weight was almost imperceptible, but a faint tickle told me she was really there.
“Thank you.” The words rushed through on a breeze.
I felt like crying. She’d been trapped by her family, and killed, and then buried beneath a tree in the yard so nobody would know. It was then that I saw the matted blood on the back of her head. Yes, the skeleton had been Lacy’s all right, and though we might never prove it for sure, we could tell Toby we knew it was her.
She looked at me and reached up to softly touch my face. Her smile was like a beam of sun as she touched my nose and then laughed. As she turned to Tonya, her smile was just as bright and once again, she whispered, “Thank you.”
Then, standing, Lacy began to walk toward the window. At the window, she glanced back one last time, lifted a gloved hand to wave, and then vanished through the wall. A soft hush descended in the attic, as everything settled into place and the timbers fell silent.
Tonya and I returned to the others.
“The house and land are clear of spirits,” she said. “As soon as you have the repairs done, I’ll come over and ward it so nothing can get through.”
I stood at the edge of the wall leading back into the area in which the family had confined Lacy. Alex joined me. “What are you thinking about, Shimmer?”
My thoughts were running deep, and I turned to him. “Families. I have none, and I so long for one—it means so much to me. But then I see this . . . Lacy . . . her family locked her away and then killed her. I can’t imagine that.”
“Sometimes, family . . . some families are harder to bear than others. And that wight—we can pretty much be certain it was either him or one like him that caused them to do that to her.” Alex seemed at a loss for words. “Don’t build the concept of family up to be something it’s not. Sometimes, Shimmer, the most loving families are those you make for yourself. Sometimes, your friends are the best family you can have. I know . . . trust me.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and I rested my head on his shoulder for a moment. “Come on. Let’s go downstairs and celebrate a case closed and the fact that Patrick has his house back.”
“Not to mention that eight spirits were freed.” I let out a small sigh. “Still . . . this was one hell of a battle. You have a lot of cases like this that I can look forward to?”
He snorted, then kissed my nose. “Oh, at times, love. At times.”
Then we were with the others and trooping downstairs. There wasn’t room to celebrate in the remains of the house, so—tossing the body of the wolfen in the back of the Range Rover—we locked the door and headed back to Tonya’s.
CHAPTER 21
Early morning found us in the dark, in the cemetery, beneath a yew tree. Sunrise was still a long ways off, and a series of battery-operated candles surrounded the grave site. Real ones would have gone out in the wind that was blowing briskly. The cemetery had a lived-in feel, and I suspected a plethora of ghosts filled the fenced-in graveyard. Though it might be the resting place for the dead, it was also their coffee shop and community center.
Toby was there, and Officer Paris, and Patrick, Alex, Ralph, Chai, Degoba, and Tonya. The grave digger who stood beside the open grave was none other than Jack, the hearse driver. When I gave him a questioning look, he shrugged.
“Town this small, a man has to have two jobs sometimes.” He gave me a soft shrug as if to say, What are you going to do?
There was no reverend there, but Toby seemed to be waiting for someone. I looked over at the casket—it was simple, a pine box, but it had been painted with runes and designs that gave it the feel of age and tradition. The symbols had meaning and power behind them.
I moved forward to look at it. The coffin was sitting on a small stand, rather than on one of the devices used to lower caskets into the ground. The paints used to draw the symbols were vivid, and they almost seemed to swirl as I watched them. On the ground, next to the casket, two long ropes rested alongside a basket filled with white roses.
Toby stepped forward to stand beside me. “I want to thank you again.” He folded his hands in front of him, staring at the box, his voice solemn.
I glanced at his expression. He looked somber, though he wasn’t crying. And frankly, it made me sad that those who should be crying over Lacy were long gone. I let out a long sigh. The world was a harsh place at times.
“I’m just glad we found her—and found out what happened to her. Did you read through the papers we gave you?”
He nodded. “Yes, actually I think I know who did it. I think you were right. Her father killed her. Her diary is filled with concerns about his mental stability, and after he locked her up, she keeps talking about him being influenced by the spirits in this area. There’s no way to ever know for sure, I guess.”
“I suppose not.” I paused, then told him about freeing her spirit. I figured he’d believe us, given everything else that his family believed.
Toby smiled then. “Again, thank you. I wish I could have seen her, but I’m glad she’s free and gone to her peace.” He glanced over at the sidewalk. “There she is!”
I turned in the direction in which he was pointing, at first expecting to see Lacy. But instead, a flesh-and-blood woman was getting out of a taxi. She was dressed in a richly patterned dress, with a thick shawl pulled around her shoulders. Toby hurried off to greet her and escort her back, while I returned to stand beside Alex.
The woman turned out to be another one of Toby’s aunts. She didn’t have a fortune-teller feel to her, but there was something about her . . . Yes, Toby’s family carried a lot of magical energy with them. After introducing us—her name was Kendell—Toby motioned for her to go over to the casket. He asked the rest of us to join hands as Kendell began to speak.
“Lacy Buckland was imprisoned in her own home. She was forgotten, and then murdered and buried alone at the base of a tree. But her life has been brought to light, and her death, and now we join her to lay her bones to rest, and wish her farewell.”
Kendell paused, then placed both hands on the casket. She gave Toby a nod, and he did the same. “You were flesh of our family, blood of our family. We mourn your passing, mourn that death found you too soon. We abjure the one who did this to you and curse his memory. May our words reach out into death and drag him into fire for his act. May our words reach out into death and cleanse your passing, Lacy Buckland—we know and acknowledge you. We claim you, so that you may move on. Be at peace, even as your murderer finds his punishment.”
Startled a little—I hadn’t expected to witness a hexing at a funeral—I forced myself to stand still and not show surprise. Alex squeezed my right hand at the same time Tonya gave my left hand a little squeeze. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one taken aback by this turn of events.
Kendell began to sing in a language I didn’t understand, but the melody was lovely and it sounded like some sort of lullaby. At the end of the song, she and Toby removed their hands from the casket and move
d back. Toby turned to us and motioned for Patrick, Alex, and Ralph to help him. The four men picked up the ends of two ropes and ran them beneath the casket. They then lifted the pine box into the grave, using the ropes to lower it into the gaping hole. Once it was in place, they let the ropes fall on top of the casket.
Kendell picked up the basket of roses and stood by the head of the grave. Toby motioned for us to follow him in a line, and one by one we passed by the grave site, each taking a rose from the basket and dropping the flower into the grave.
As I stood there, rose in hand, I closed my eyes and wished Lacy an easy journey, and peace. I let go of the rose and looked up. There she was, standing opposite me, watching. She raised one hand, waved and smiled, and then vanished. Blinking, I looked around, but nobody else seemed to have seen her, and I moved out of the way. After the roses were scattered, Jack moved to fill in the grave as we walked away. Kendell and Toby thanked us and the service was over, and that was the end of Lacy Buckland.
• • •
While Patrick and Alex went back to Tonya’s to sleep, Ralph, Chai, and I stood on the edge of the shore, near the lighthouse. Tonya handed me the pendant and, without a word, I headed to the water, wearing the sleek one-piece I’d brought. I couldn’t put the pendant on—I didn’t want to have to struggle with it in dragon form—so I clutched it tightly in my hand as I waded through the foaming waves crashing against the shore.
The sound of the water sang to me, and I dropped my head back and laughed, singing out to answer the waves. The sirens were out there, and the wild waves and the whales that came in from their time in the ocean. This was my territory, this was my joy.
By the time the water was waist deep, I struck out, swimming with the currents, letting them tug me out toward the open water. I dove deep as the water pulled me under, and then broke the surface again. My blood surged with life—the water knew me and I knew it—we were kin. I was part of the ocean and she was part of me and no matter whether it be a raindrop or a rogue wave, the same thread of the Ocean Mother ran through to connect them all to me and me to them.
Before I knew it, I was out far enough to transform and so I dove long and hard, deep, barrel rolling as I spiraled down, shifting form into my dragon self. The strength of my body overjoyed me, and the feel of the water became much more sensual as I drove through it, turning and spinning in joy. But then I remembered what I’d come for. The pendant was still in my hand and so I dove still deeper, down and down farther until I was at the bottom of the strait.
Once there, I rested on the silty floor. With the pendant in one front foot, I used the other to dig into the sand and rock littering the bottom of the strait. I dug quickly until I had a hole about ten feet deep. I stared at the glowing pendant. The forest wight king was trapped inside, and now, hopefully he’d be at the bottom of the strait forever. There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t ever go free, but there were no guarantees in life, period. And this . . . this should hold him for quite some time. I dropped the pendant into the hole and began to fill it in. Once it was set, I looked around and saw a rather large boulder sitting on the bottom. I rolled it over to cover where I’d dug the hole.
That was it. That was all I could do. It would have to be enough. Free from my task, I spent the next hour playing through the water, enjoying my freedom. I was home—more than the Dragon Reaches, more than Seattle . . . the water was my home.
• • •
That night, we opened the wights’ treasure chests. Inside, we found various treasures that spoke of the forest—beautifully polished river rocks, and polished pieces of wood. A curiously petrified bag of acorns . . . and we also found a beautiful sapphire ring in a platinum setting. Tonya and Degoba took the other items—they said they were good for magic—but Alex pressed the ring into my hand.
“It matches your eyes,” he said, smiling softly. “Consider it a bonus for a job well done. You held up so well for the first major case we took you out on.”
I stared at it, then slipped it on my finger, the metal cool against my skin. As I stared at it, I realized that it would help me never forget what we’d been through. What I’d learned about myself.
And then, it was time to say good-bye. We all gathered at Tonya’s. Degoba was there, and Toby. Chai had vanished—he said he’d meet me at my place in Seattle, and the party seemed oddly empty without him. But the kitchen was overflowing with snacks and drinks and bottled blood for the two vampires, and before we knew it, it was time to make our farewells.
Tonya and I vowed to keep in touch.
“I’ll be down in Seattle next month for a shopping trip, so maybe I can stay for the weekend.” She frowned. “You guys have totally disrupted my life, but I’m going to miss you so much.” She gave me a long hug. “You’re so much fun to have around, Shimmer. And now I know dragons exist!”
I hugged her back, already missing her. “You call me, okay? Remember, I’ve got a five-year sentence here. I need my friends!” But even as I said it, I realized that maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. There were places I could swim, and I could be who I was. And the fact was, Earthside people tended to be a lot more accepting than my own people. And, of course, there was Alex.
Degoba and I shook hands. I stared at his side. “I’m still so sorry about stabbing you—”
“You did what you had to. There is no blame, girl.” He paused, cocking his head. “Your journey’s just beginning, Shimmer. Whether you’ll end up going back to the Dragon Reaches, I cannot tell. But I will tell you this: No matter what happens, you won’t ever go back as the same dragon you were when you left there.” He leaned forward and whispered, “You don’t really need a family name, you know. You’re creating one, even now. I promise you that.” As he leaned away, his eyes flickered over to Tonya, and I caught a glimmer in them.
“Ask her out. Do it. I guarantee you, your interest won’t be unwelcome.” I pushed him toward her before he could start sputtering.
Patrick and Alex hugged, and Patrick offered us free lodgings anytime we were in town. “As soon as I’m good to open, you are welcome to come back whenever you want. I’ll never forget what you did for me.” He wrote out a check for our fees. Alex started to protest, but Patrick shook his head. “This is your job. I didn’t expect you to help me for free, and you earned it. You all earned it. Just take the damned money.”
“Well, seeing you owe me a thousand from that card game, sure thing.” Alex pocketed the check and then, it was six thirty and we had to make our good-byes before it got too late.
We gathered our gear and headed out to the Range Rover. This time, we actually had reservations on the ferry over to Coupeville, and I’d double-checked them before we left. The ride home would be a lot shorter, as long as we didn’t miss the sailing. As we drove to the ferry terminal, I glanced back at the town. I’d grown to both love it and hate it—the place was a freakshow of weirdness and yet . . . there was something that called to me here. I let out a long sigh as we drove aboard the ferry. Yes, this had been quite a learning experience and it would stick with me. But it was time to go home.
• • •
The trip went smoothly, and as the freeway guided us back into Seattle, the lights seemed almost blinding. Culture shock, I thought; even just five days away had taken me out of the city mind-set. We pulled into the agency headquarters around nine thirty. I blinked as I got out of the Range Rover to the tune of sirens playing in the street. Only these weren’t gentle songs, but whirring alarms. Somebody somewhere had done something wrong.
We trooped into the building. Bette was manning the desk and she jumped up, a grin a mile wide on her face as we pushed through the doors. Her ever-present cigarette was hanging off her lip as usual, and tonight she was wearing gold lamé stretch pants, a tiger-print V-neck shirt with ruffled sleeves, and a brilliant fuchsia pleather belt. Her four-inch stilettos were sparkling rhinestones and all in all, she looked like she’d stepped out of an ad for Frederick’s of Hollywood.
“Good trip?” She bustled us into the break room.
“Yes, you lovely old broad.” Alex gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and she smacked his butt. “Anything urgent go on while we were away?”
“Not exactly urgent, but I have two new clients wanting to talk to you. They’ll be in tomorrow night—I made appointments for them. Oh, and Glenda dropped off everything you ever gave her and said to fuck off and never call her again. She and I got into it, and I won’t repeat what she called me, but I don’t think she’ll be back. I warned her to steer clear of me or I’d give her a taste of what my fangs can do. And a water moccasin’s venom? Can affect a succubus.” Bette chuckled, and I could tell she’d just love an excuse to sink her teeth into Glenda.
Alex waved her protests away. “I know, love. Don’t worry. She won’t be back.” His gaze flickered over to me, just for a moment, but Bette caught it.
She snorted. “Well, finally . . . I’ve been waiting for you two to admit that there was an elephant in the room. Took you long enough!”
I blushed, but Alex just laughed.
“Hush, woman. Enough for now. We’ll fill out paperwork tomorrow. Bette, you wouldn’t believe what we went up against.”
She tamped out her cigarette and took a swig of her coffee. “You underestimate me, Alex. But then, you always did.” Laughing, she stood up. “Get your asses home now and relax. You all look exhausted.”
As we trooped out the door, she caught my arm and pulled me back. “I need to talk to Shimmer a second—she’ll be right out.”
“I’m dropping her off at home, so I’ll wait.” Alex headed for the parking lot.
Ralph waved. “See you tomorrow night, Shimmer!”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “Sure thing, Ralph.”
After we were alone, Bette turned to me. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask if you bagged him in the sheets. I can see by both your faces that you’re in that sex haze from the start of a new relationship. And I’m happy about it, before you ask. But what I do want to know is this: Did Patrick and Alex get things sorted out?” The concern was evident in her eyes.