The Maebown

  The moment I opened my eyes, I felt the intermingled presence of human and Fae in the woods below the cottage. Ozara was snooping around the Ohanzee. One by one, the energy wove through my allies. She drifted through the cottage—I hoped that meant she had not caught me projecting. My skin crawled with her mind being so close, but I concentrated on Sean, Ronnie, and Candace, making small talk about the nightscape around us. After locating each Fae in the cottage, she moved to the island. Wakinyan seemed to recognize what my startled expression meant. His eyes drifted to the expanse of windows on the back of the keeping room. His face was harder to read. He was typically emotionless, but his eyes grew a little bigger and they darted from pane to pane. The veins in his forearms popped along the surface of his skin and his nostrils flared. When the veins in his eyes swelled and reddened around the light brown irises, my own apprehension began to surface. What’s bothering him so much?

  The presence was moving slowly from Olympian to Olympian, almost like Ozara was cataloging each one. Oh god, that’s exactly what she’s doing—she’s seeing whether anyone is missing.

  When the presence moved eastward at breakneck speed, cool panic crashed through my mind like a tsunami. “Billy is in danger,” I whispered so only the Fae could hear me.

  “Go to him,” Wakinyan said telepathically.

  “The Fae in Yellowstone haven’t moved. They’re still under Clóca, and the entire area is much hotter.”

  “Magma plume,” Wakinyan replied. “Where is Ozara?”

  “Her physical body is with that little girl again—her mind is after Billy.” I whispered.

  “Can you warn him? We’ll go after the Fae at Yellowstone.”

  My gut twisted. I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that something was terribly wrong, that I’d missed something, but I answered, “Yes,” anyway.

  Back through the void, my mind raced after Ozara. She lingered close to Billy for a moment, but he didn’t seem to notice. She moved forward through a great expanse of black stormy night and emerged in some frozen place I’d never before seen. Under a pitch sky and atop a snow-shrouded mountain, two Fae were waiting like frozen sentinels. A male and a female donned in thick white tunics and hooded capes nodded when she spoke. “Sarin is on his way, I believe, to contact Caorann—she’s an hour south-east of here. Locate her, and when he leaves, kill him.”

  I remembered Billy telling me that Sarin was his original name.

  “Yes, my sister. We will find the Second.”

  “Track her,” Ozara said. “But stay hidden.”

  “The Maebown?” the woman said.

  “She is of no consequence. Are you ready here?”

  Something about what Ozara said struck me as odd. Did she mean ready for Billy, or something else? It was frustrating, but I had no idea where here was. This sucks.

  “Of course,” the female responded. “We are just waiting for your word.”

  “I’m going to Kapo’pi’i and Sekhmet…”

  Before she finished the sentence the tether yanked me halfway back to my body. I was in a conundrum. Did I warn Billy or warn Wakinyan? My heart told me to protect Billy, my gut told me if she caught Wakinyan and the clan coming after the Fae in Yellowstone, many would die. Too many. I decided to delay her and then get back to Billy. Think, Maggie, how do I delay her?

  A plan formed in my head and without giving it a second thought, I was streaking to a tiny bedroom in the middle of the desert. There, I found a longhaired white cat with its claws lightly embedded in the tiny girl’s temple—the poor thing was sweating profusely, and dark circles ringed her eyes. Ozara’s invasion was taking a toll on the girl’s fragile body. I projected as close to Ozara as possible and let out a psychic shriek, “What are you doing to her?”

  It worked. Ozara hissed and sprang from the little girls bed, transforming into her natural shape, fingernails dug into the wall. “Maggie, darling—I warned you—”

  “Oh shut up, Whiskers. You killed Candace’s family, I know you’re going to kill this one, too, so spare the warnings.”

  Ozara shook her head. “But I did not kill Candace’s family. Your friends did.”

  I decided to play along. “You must think I’m completely gullible. I know you did it when you got back to your desert hideaway and found it decimated.”

  Ozara floated to the floor, smiling. “Decimated? Interesting interpretation.”

  “And how many died?” I hoped I sounded like a smart-ass.

  “Tse-xo-be died—the only thing that ill-conceived attack decimated was the resolve holding together that band of rabble. Now, run along and play or I’ll swat this insect.” She ran her slender white fingers through the little girl’s hair.

  Though it was a gamble, I knew Ozara wanted to project, and I needed to force her to waste as much time as I could to keep her from doing that. “What are you doing with this little girl?”

  Ozara’s eyes narrowed, and I feared she would crush the girl’s skull. “It’s late. Talking to you fatigues me.”

  “Oh, pity. Tell me what you’re doing and I’ll let you rest?”

  “I’ll be leaving.”

  “I’m back in the Weald, you know?”

  Her upper lip twitched. “I know exactly where you are.”

  “Does that mean you’re coming for a visit? I have something I’d really like to show you.”

  The muscles in her jaw flexed. She wasn’t about to project while I was watching her—it had to be infuriating. I rather enjoyed making her wait for me to leave, but Billy’s safety was at risk.

  I projected, “What? Cat got your tongue?”

  She rolled her eyes, shifted to Naeshura, and shot away. I followed her across the dark desert landscape—she headed north, and I knew she was going to Yellowstone. Time was ticking for Billy, but I had to warn Wakinyan. If she caught them without me there to counterbalance her ability with Aether, it would be a disaster.

  “She’s coming—physically,” I projected, when I found him a few miles away from Yellowstone.

  “We will wait for a little while to see if she leaves.”

  “And if she discovers you?”

  “It is a risk, but the situation demands it,” he said.

  “Are they going to force an eruption?”

  Sinopa nodded.

  “How soon?”

  “A couple of days, I suspect. The humans monitoring the area are in a state of panic—they have detected the change and are closing the park. So far, they have not revealed why, but it is only a matter of time before the public finds out.”

  “And then mass hysteria.”

  Before Sinopa could agree, Zeus slid through Wakinyan’s cloak and nodded. I didn’t need an explanation. Ozara had arrived in Yellowstone, but she wasn’t close to the Fae and she was far enough away that I couldn’t sense her. Why is she keeping a distance? Does she sense us? No, dummy, she’s trying to figure out whether I’m following her.

  I cleared my mind of anger and willed myself closer. A snowy white owl perched in the top of a spruce, she practically glowed in the blue moonlight. She picked a position about three miles south of the closest Alliance Fae. The distance was beyond the sensory range of most Fae. Still underestimating my abilities, Ozara? Of course, I had no idea why she waited where she did, but it gave me a lot of satisfaction to think it was because of me.

  Over the next fifteen or twenty minutes, Ozara seemed content to wait in the blue-green boughs. The tables turned, and I grew frustrated trying to patiently wait for her to make a move. As each agonizing second ticked by, my concern for Billy grew stronger.

  Time’s up. Warn Billy.

  * * *

  Billy shielded himself from a torrent of steam, ash, and intense heat. My senses told me he was close to where Ozara had met the two Fae, but everything was different. Like standing under the tailgate of a dump truck pouring out a fresh load of hell, smoldering earth raced past him.

  I didn’t sense any Fae, but that only meant one thing. They were
cloaked. I compelled myself to find the female, and moved only twenty feet away. She stalked him from behind. Panic gripped me. From somewhere deep in my mind a connection sparked, and the female flashed into nothing as Aether tore her apart. Billy spun and shifted to Naeshura. Through the pulsing ash I felt the male shift to Naeshura. A mistake, I thought, as Billy could sense him, too.

  The attacker followed Billy for several miles through the blinding, swirling cloud of ash. I tried to connect to Aether. All I needed to do was make that simple connection and I could eliminate the attacker. As excited as I felt at once again making Aether when I projected, I was twice as frustrated by not being able to consciously reproduce it.

  The air pressure changed—I could sense it with my mind, like a wave washing over me on the beach. An even denser wall of ash smashed past my mind, followed by a deep, horrible rumble unlike any I’d ever experienced. Billy raced ahead, covering another half-mile, but the pursuing Fae was faster.

  I willed myself closer to it, hoping the spark would ignite another volley. I felt something. The pull grew stronger, more frightening. I realized instantly that my tether was yanking me back to my body. I was in physical danger.

  TWENTY-SIX

  REVERBERATIONS

  It was the most bizarre reaction I could imagine—the interior of the cottage was serene when I opened my eyes. I leapt to my feet and spun in the room trying to find the danger while pushing energy out in an expanding cocoon. Gavin looked confused for just an instant. He blurred across the keeping room to shield Mom and Mitch. Sara, who’d also stayed in the Weald, appeared behind Candace, Ronnie, and Sean. A wide-eyed Tadewi slid gracefully to my grandparents and Ronnie’s family in the dining room. Connecting with the electricity in the wiring, I killed the lights inside the cottage.

  “That was me,” I chirped when Mom and Ronnie gasped.

  Everyone shared startled looks with one another when they weren’t peering out the wavy glass at the darkened Weald. A waxing moon reflected on the lake down below, and nothing appeared to be moving through the trees as I pushed the energy out further. The gas lamp in the garden flickered, tricking my eyes with dancing shadows.

  The first flash drew our attention to the second island, well off the point of the peninsula. I pushed my senses further and made contact with the trailing patterns of Clóca, and whomever it was darted to the western horizon.

  They felt me coming. I can fix that. I changed the energy to mimic the breeze blowing across the lake. Innocuous, I thought, like a spider web in a dark room.

  “Hebe is dead,” Gavin whispered.

  “How did they get so close?” Tadewi asked.

  “They used one of Maggie’s tricks—they cloaked under a barrier of Air. We didn’t know they were here until it was too late,” Sara said, telepathically.

  “Water, Earth…” I whispered.

  The last syllable hadn’t fully left my lips when I felt the entire area vibrate. A great white column of water erupted from the center of the lake, reminding me of a waterspout. It collapsed into a ring on the surface, forcing roiling waves outward. Below it, I saw a flash that lit an area beneath the waves for a hundred feet, then several more in quick succession all along the second island. Like invisible giants fighting below the cottage, the lake stirred and crashed with impacts and swirls that sent waves crashing up the pebble beach. Nervous energy caused my body to shake. I readied Aether and headed out the door. With a leap, I wove my way past trees, over the lower bluff line, and landed just beyond the cedars. The moon didn’t provide much light, but my mind felt everything. Someone’s Clóca failed, and someone else lifted the first Fae forty feet above the lake in watery hands. Just before I lashed out, I felt Poseidon’s presence in the water—he must have been cloaked the entire time. The size of a hot air balloon, a bearded liquid face of turbulent white water rose from the surface. Reflecting blue moonlight, tubes of water holding a struggling Fae took the shape of arms.

  Poseidon’s psychic roar stunned me. “You dare challenge me?” From a quarter-mile away, two more Fae were yanked out of the water by liquid tentacles and dragged to their co-conspirator’s side. “I will allow you to survive, Shalel. Tell Zarkus of their fate—it’s the fate that awaits him.”

  The foaming face turned on the shrieking Fae suspended in human looking arms. “You, Tevis, you were there when Atlantis fell. I’ve waited very long to do this.” Poseidon slowly pulled the Fae into two pieces, and in a burst of light it disappeared. Then Poseidon mashed the second in his watery grip until he, too, briefly lighted the night sky. The third—Shalel I assumed—Poseidon slammed into the lake, driving him to the limestone bottom. The impact shook the peninsula. Poseidon pulled him from the water, and slung him across the surface, like a child skipping a rock. A half-mile past the second island, the Fae bounced one last time, leaving a brief tracer to mark his death.

  “Pity,” Poseidon grumbled. “Looks like I have to deliver the message personally.”

  The lake surface went flat and appeared calm and serene, reflecting the thinning moon. I pushed energy back out beyond the islands to make sure they were gone and ran back to the cottage.

  By the large windows overlooking the lake, Ronnie turned to Candace. “Did you see that?”

  “No,” she replied, “I had my eyes closed—still having nightmares about werewolves.”

  “Poseidon really has some aggression issues.”

  “He can hear you…” Candace whispered.

  “Duh. Maggie, what—”

  “Sorry, Ronnie,” I cut him off. “I have to get back to Billy.”

  Gavin frowned. “We’ve got this—now that we know what to look for.”

  I plopped on the couch, smiled at Mitch and Mom. Their expressions eased as I closed my eyes. “Check the Internet. Something big is happening in…well, someplace cold.”

  “I’m on it,” Candace said as I focused.

  * * *

  Billy moved across an expanse of water in Naeshura. A cake-like film coated the surface. His essence weakened as a pursuing Fae pulled energy from him. Anger yanked at my tether, as I tried to close on the pursuing Fae. When Billy slowed, the connection formed and the male Fae disintegrated in a web of Aether. Two more Fae, just at the edge of my senses, abruptly changed directions. Without thinking or trying to conjure it, Aether ripped through the Fae, sending both into oblivion.

  I sensed Billy channeling energy, but he was struggling. “Billy, what can I do?”

  His essence shrank before me, and the tether yanked me away, miles away. I struggled to calm my mind and return to him, hoping, praying he was still there. I couldn’t shake the panic, and slipped further from him.

  Get control, you twit. I didn’t overcome the terror, but I willed myself forward, resisting the pull of my terror for the first time. Billy hadn’t moved, but he was stronger.

  “Billy, are you okay?”

  “I am now…how did you do that—create Aether while projecting?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve done it before, but I don’t have any control over it.”

  “We need to change that—very handy. Wow.”

  “Wow, what?”

  “I’m alive because of an accident.”

  “How were they doing that—drawing your energy?”

  “They weren’t doing it, he was. His name…well, that doesn’t matter. Suffice it to say that he’s much older than I am. We’re protected in Naeshura, but not invulnerable.”

  “Speaking of invulnerable, what’s happening here—and where is this?”

  “This is the north Atlantic, and what you’re witnessing is a volcanic eruption—a precursor to what may happen in Yellowstone.”

  “Volcano? Where?”

  “Iceland,” he said, growing strong enough to take physical form.

  “Iceland? Why Iceland?”

  He spoke aloud, “I don’t know, Maggie. I don’t know. But I do need to rendezvous with Wakinyan.”

  “You’ve already met with Caorann?”
/>
  “Yes, I met with her and the Sidhe. They found me afterwards. I sensed a problem in the north and tracked it. I ended up in Iceland and they found me.”

  “Need an escort?”

  Billy laughed, and then in a mocking voice, he said, “No, I think I’ll go to the island by myself and just hope Chalen wants to talk.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Almost two years ago, when our roles were reversed—I was just poking fun at how much things have changed. I can make it back, but stay vigilant. The Alliance has eyes and ears everywhere.”

  “It’s too bad you can’t wrap yourself in Air—the Alliance Fae have been learning some of my tricks—they snuck into the Weald unseen—”

  “Unseen?” he blurted.

  “Yes, Hebe died.”

  Billy shifted his gaze. “We were about the same age, she and I. Tragedy. I liked her—she was a kind being.” He gathered his composure. “How did Zeus and Wakinyan fare?” he said, shooting across the ocean.

  “I’m not sure—I’m heading back there next, after you’re safe.”

  “Not necessary. If I go to ground, I’ll be nearly impossible to track. Tell them I’m coming, but it will take longer. A word to the wise—keep your new talent between us. Tell no one, Maggie.”

  “And why not?”

  “If Ozara knows you can produce Aether while projecting, her focus will shift to you.”

  “Well, that’s what I want.”

  He shook his head. “Only use it when it is to your complete advantage—that is not the case now.”

  “I wasn’t planning to take out a full-page ad.”

  “I’m serious, Maggie. Can you control it, right here, right now?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know how I’m doing it.”

  “Until you do, say nothing. On this one thing, you need to listen to me. Trust me on this, please?”