The Maebown

Billy smiled for the first time. “You might have started with that bit of news first. That changes everything, but I don’t—” He stopped talking when I projected the name, “Caorann.”

  “But she…” he started and paused.

  “Is crazy because Ádhamh died?”

  “Well, yes,” he said.

  “Turns out you were wrong about our consciousness. When she learned Aether, she found him.”

  Wakinyan’s jaw went slack.

  “You didn’t believe either?”

  He shook his head.

  “It’s true. I’ve been talking to Aunt May since she died.”

  “You didn’t tell me?” Billy asked.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d believe me.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair and backed up several feet. “You haven’t seen him, have you?”

  That was the real reason I’d never mentioned Aunt May to Billy. I’d never encountered Patrick. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that.

  “I’m sorry, Billy.”

  His eyes dropped to the floor and he sat. “For a moment I thought there was hope.”

  I feared what he’d do if I told him the truth, what little I knew of it—that some, like my father, pass on to somewhere else when they die. So I told him what I did know. “Caorann found Ádhamh two hundred years after his death, Billy.”

  Billy looked up with tears streaming down his face. “Hope is all I need.” He regained his composure and whispered to himself, “He isn’t lost. I will find him.”

  “Find who?” Mom said from the doorway. “Why are you upset? Is Maggie…Oh god, tell me she isn’t…”

  Wakinyan smiled and I felt him compel calmness. “Maggie is projecting. She is here with us, and she is fine.”

  Mitch raced into the room, gawking behind Wakinyan. “She’s here?” Behind him Tadewi, Faye, and Drevek followed. Justice, laid at Wakinyan and Billy’s feet, focused on everybody like a wolf stalking a deer.

  “Not physically, but yes, she is right here.”

  “Can I talk to her?” Mom asked, choking on a sob.

  “Of course.”

  He compelled them, and for a moment I wasn’t sure what he was making them see. I realized when Mom clutched Mitch, and lurched forward that she was seeing an image of me. The illusion must have seemed real to them both, as both clung to empty air. As I projected the thoughts to Wakinyan, he compelled them to hear my voice.

  “I’m fine, really.”

  “Is it really you?”

  “Yes, it is. I’m in Germany, near Salzburg, Austria.”

  “But how…no, I don’t care how. I’m just so relieved to see you. Maggie, please forgive me,” Mom said.

  “For what?”

  “For being so upset with you. I could never forgive myself if something happened to you, and your last memories…” she began choking.

  “Mom, I will see you again, very soon. Nothing will happen to me until I do. Honestly, when I think of you, I only think of how much I love you. How are you holding up here?”

  Mom sniffled, and wiped her eyes. “Turns out you’re not the only one afraid of caves, but we’re holding up pretty well. Don’t worry about us.”

  “Who’s afraid of caves? You?”

  “No,” she laughed through the emotion, “Your grandfather. Wakinyan was good enough to create the illusion of being above ground. He’s doing better now.”

  “Mags, did you become a Maebown yet?” Mitch asked.

  “Yes, Mitch.”

  Dimples formed on Mitch’s face and his green eyes lit up. “Good. I want you to kill them.”

  “Mitch,” Mom snapped, “We don’t talk like that.”

  “And you don’t want them dead?” he said, scowling at her.

  “Well, that’s beside the point,” she said.

  Mitch shot me an ornery grin. I talked to them for half an hour before saying goodbye. Seeing them, having the first real conversation with Mom since before Dad died—even if it was a projection taking my place—steadied my nerves and steeled my resolve. I needed both at that moment.

  * * *

  Gavin woke me a few hours later. The whump, whump, whump sound of a helicopter had me disoriented when my eyes opened in the darkened bedroom.

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  “Yes,” he whispered. “Unless you’d like me to call Wakinyan for a lift?”

  “He’s busy, but I would give anything to see the look on Ronnie’s face.”

  “Too late for that—he’s already on board, keeping Volimar entertained.”

  “Volimar? He looks sixteen.”

  “He’s fifteen.”

  “Million?’

  Gavin nodded and I felt dizzy. Even though I was well aware of how old the Fae really were, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. That was probably good, all things considered.

  “Entertaining…oh god, please tell me Ronnie isn’t flirting with a Kobold elder?”

  “The Kobold elder—and of course he is.”

  “Oh my gosh, is he in danger?”

  Gavin’s eyebrows arched. “No more than usual. Volimar is just as narcissistic at the rest of us.”

  I climbed off the bed and studied the sparse room.

  “What’s wrong?” Gavin asked.

  “I was just thinking how much I’d give to have a week with you in a remote cottage like this.”

  Gavin stood and pulled me close. “You apparently learned how to read my mind. I was concerned about the abrupt goodbye in Ireland. You’re okay?”

  “Are you reading my emotions right now?” I asked.

  The seductive half-grin attached to a dimple gracing his face set the butterflies off in my stomach. He nodded.

  “It was the best night of my life, Gavin.”

  He closed his eyes and pressed his cheek against mine.

  THREE

  KEEPING ENEMIES CLOSE

  Ronnie turned to me, smiling. “This sure beats riding on the back of a giant bird, or driving across Germany in a stinky Mercedes.”

  I turned from the gray, rainy day and laughed. “It did smell bad, didn’t it?”

  Ronnie nodded. “I like it better as a Jag. Too bad you had to leave it back there.”

  “Oh, that wasn’t the Mercedes.”

  “What happened to it?”

  “Impounded in Fontainebleau.”

  Ronnie shook his head. “Man, you’ve lost five cars in a week. That has to be a record.”

  “Technically, I only lost three of them, but I’ll be sure to call Guinness.”

  Candace stared out the window ignoring us. She slowly turned and forced a smile when I put my hand on her shoulder.

  “You’re worried about your family?”

  She nodded. “It didn’t bother me as much when the Ohanzee were in the Weald.”

  My stomach knotted. I had been selfish again. I checked on my own family and had them hidden away from Ozara, but her family was sitting in the open. So was Ronnie’s. And there was nothing I could do about it now.

  “I’ll check on them.”

  “Please.”

  “Yeah, mine, too,” Ronnie asked.

  Volimar’s huge green eyes were fixed on me as I closed my eyes. While I couldn’t smell during astral projection, my memories told me exactly what Cloe Fontaine’s store smelled like—the heavy, spicy aroma of incense filled my thoughts. Being there again, I felt a tinge of nostalgia. The last time I visited was before Aunt May died. Candace and I were doing research on the elements—Air. The Fae. It was all such an exciting mystery to me at the time. It was evening in Arkansas, and Chloe was working behind the counter, her auburn hair pulled behind her left ear. She seemed happy there in the make-believe world of downtown Eureka. There were no Fae within miles.

  After making sure Candace’s little brother, Kyle, and her father were safe, I did the same with the Mashburns. Ronnie’s family was also safe, so I focused on Doug. My mind raced to Fayetteville. Doug was sitting in a classroom, takin
g notes as a professor rambled on in the front of a large screen with diagrams. Biology I think. He looked a little tired, but happier than the last time I saw him. I was satisfied watching him, but something tugged at me. When I pressed my mind out, I felt him. Chalen.

  I found him outside, sitting atop the roof of the Chemistry building, the same building Doug was in. In full predator mode, Chalen curled his black claws into the stone parapet. Being a Maebown did nothing to increase my skill with the elements while projecting, as I tried several times to create Aether. An idea came to me—scare the hell out of him.

  I hovered as close to Chalen as I could. “Wakinyan, Chalen is on top of the building. He hasn’t sensed us yet. Kill him.”

  Chalen flailed, sprawling backwards on the roof as he changed forms and shot to the north. Within seconds he was out of my range. The satisfaction I felt was short-lived. He would be back.

  * * *

  Candace seemed a little more relaxed when I told her about her family, but the pressure of being on the run was taking a toll on her. Ronnie was being extra nice, avoiding the verbal broadsides and turning his wit to self-deprecation—he noticed it, too. They’d both given up so much to help me, and I knew I’d never be able to repay them.

  Somewhere east of Paris, I sensed a Fae tracking us from a great distance. It seemed impossible, sensing a Fae from five or six miles—so far away I couldn’t pinpoint the exact distance, but seemingly within my range. Apparently achieving balance extended my range several times over.

  “Victoria?” I whispered, keeping my voice below the sound of the helicopter so Candace and Ronnie couldn’t hear.

  “Yes?” She answered silently, from about a hundred yards to the north.

  “Do you sense the Fae to the south?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “It’s paralleling us, about six miles out. Could it be that one from Strasbourg?”

  “Nerthus? Perhaps. Her range is extraordinary.”

  “You can sense her at that distance?” Volimar asked, still staring at me with a blank expression.

  “I can,” I said.

  Candace had noticed my lips moving and watched me.

  “That is problematic. Ozara has eyes everywhere,” he said.

  My mind stretched up to the clouds above us, and I found a connection immediately. With a little concentration, I arched lightning across the sky and directed it toward Nerthus. She felt it coming and transformed to Naeshura. She moved away a half mile. I directed several additional bolts in her direction until she disappeared in the distance.

  “Did you harm her?”

  “No, Volimar, I didn’t. I don’t have a fight with her. I only sent her away.”

  Volimar nodded, but continued to stare a hole in me with his huge grass-green eyes. The next forty minutes went the same way—rain streaking across the windows of the craft, Candace staring at the dreary weather, Volimar staring at me, and Ronnie at him. It all made me uncomfortable, except for Gavin, who continued to compel calmness.

  The moment we crossed into Sidhe territory, I felt them converge. Drust, the Sidhe I’d faced at the lake when Candace, Ronnie and I first arrived in Ireland, ordered the Kobold to retreat. He was quickly dissuaded when Bastien made his presence known before cloaking again. Miles ahead, I felt tremendous energy. As we drew closer, I realized the Fae weren’t fighting, but they were not far from it. The tension affected everyone on board, Fae and human alike.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “I can’t sense anything. What do you feel?”

  “There are about five hundred Fae channeling huge amounts of energy. Sidhe and Ohanzee.”

  Gavin exhaled in frustration. “The deal I brokered between the Sidhe and the Ohanzee has apparently hit a snag.”

  “Dana and Tse-xo-be are talking…she’s saying he should not have brought the clans here. He’s telling her to remain calm,” I said, eavesdropping.

  “You can hear that…at this distance?” Volimar asked.

  I met his intense stare and forced a smile. “Yes.”

  He continued to stare blankly, and under the circumstances, it unnerved me.

  “I’m sorry, have I done something to offend you?”

  “Pardon?”

  “You’re looking at me like you’ve never seen a human before.”

  He rolled his eyes. “My apologies. I am not accustomed to interacting with your species. Sometimes I forget to blink. I will try to work on that on the trip back to Berchtesgadan.”

  “Where?’

  “Our council area, south of where we held your friends.”

  “Go back?”

  “If what you say is true, this is what humans refer to as a lost cause. Compared to the Kobold, the Sidhe consider the Ohanzee old friends. What you are sensing is nothing compared to what will happen when Dana senses us—which should be about…now.”

  A smile spread across his smooth youthful face as the helicopter buffeted wildly and dropped several hundred feet in altitude. Candace closed her eyes tight and grabbed Ronnie. Both appeared to turn green. Bastien ripped control of the air from a Sidhe a quarter mile away and the helicopter settled down.

  When we set down and the rotors slowed, Volimar shook his head and opened the door, silently commanding the Kobold to fall in behind him. I stepped out ahead of Gavin. Dana glared at us. Silently, she barked, “Why are they here?”

  We stood on a rain soaked field in the middle of rolling hills at the shore of a small lake. A thousand feet away, the Ohanzee clustered inside a ring of gray, lichen and moss covered boulders. All except Tse-xo-be, who’s massive form stood out in the middle of the Sidhe, halfway across the field.

  “Because I invited them—I don’t intend to leave them in our territory,” Volimar said.

  Dana glared. “They were warned what would happen should they return to mine.”

  “Do not escalate this, Dana,” Tse-xo-be pleaded.

  “Would you risk your clan over a Fae and his pet.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vanna turn to me and cross her arms.

  “It will not come to that,” Tse-xo-be said.

  Dana glared at him and channeled Air energy with a force I’d never witnessed. She was awe inspiring, but my temper was beginning to flare. I concentrated on keeping it in check, but even with Gavin compelling calmness, I heard her voice in my head from the last time we were here—when she threatened Gavin.

  “No, it will not,” I growled.

  Dana turned her face to me, contempt written all over it. Before she could react, I slammed a lightning bolt into the ground between us, and kept it sizzling in place before turning it to Quint, then Plasma, and finally Aether. Gavin stepped back from me as I shrouded myself in Clóca, and split the Aether into a hundred streams and spun them around in a vortex. I dropped the Clóca when I’d moved ten feet from her, and collapsed the Aether into a ball of energy the size of a marble in my outstretched palm.

  Her anger disappeared, and with wide eyes she slowly exhaled.

  “I am no one’s pet,” I growled.

  It was deathly quiet for several seconds—just long enough for my anger to turn to remorse. “I’m here to help you, and…I would like your permission to remain.”

  Dana’s eyebrows pressed together as she seemed to recognize my best attempt to show deference. “You made your point, Maebown—I cannot force you to leave. But you terrify me.”

  “I don’t mean to,” I said.

  “No, you may not mean to, but to have such power at…what is your age?”

  “Eighteen.”

  “It is reckless—terrifying.”

  “Dana, I trust Maggie,” Tse-xo-be said in a whisper.

  “How? She is just as Ozara described—emotionally unstable, driven by nature knows what. Would you trust an eighteen-year-old Fae with so much power?”

  “I would not, but Maggie is no Fae,” came Caorann’s disembodied voice.

  Some Sidhe gasped, some stood frozen, but Dana put
her hands over her mouth and eked out the word, “Impossible.”

  Caorann materialized in white ethereal robes. She placed her hands on my shoulder and at once I felt at peace. She glided to Dana who was still covering her mouth.

  “My Sister, it has been too long.”

  With Caorann’s words, Dana stretched out her arms, like a two-year-old wanting a ball, and embraced Caorann in a display of emotion that I thought her incapable of making. Tse-xo-be studied them.

  “You trust her?” Dana asked.

  Caorann turned to me with a warm expression and answered her. “Of course, I taught her.”

  “You?”

  Caorann nodded, pulling the marble-sized ball Aether out of my palm with her mind. She flared it into the shape of a shamrock and then with a puff of breath, blew a thousand glowing particles into the dark sky.

  Bastien took form on my right side. The simultaneous gasp from five hundred Ohanzee and Sidhe drowned out the chuckles of two hundred Kobold.

  With everyone’s attention, Bastien said, “We need to talk—and perhaps you might consider keeping your end of the deal with the Ohanzee. They could take you by force, you know.”

  Thunderstruck, Dana turned and nodded uncomfortably at Tse-xo-be.

  Crisis averted. Now the hard part begins.

  FOUR

  PHANTOMS

  Bastien and Caorann led the elders of the three clans to the edge of the placid lake, splitting the Kobold into two huge groups as they passed in between. At the same time, Candace and Ronnie cut a wide berth around the Fae as they made their way to me. Two-dozen blonde-haired Sidhe in silver-green robes stoically watched them pass before fixing their attention on the Kobold.

  “Wow, they really don’t like one another, do they?” Ronnie whispered.

  Candace elbowed him in the ribs. “Why are you whispering? They can hear everything you say.”

  The instant I willed it, an Air barrier circled us. “There, now they can’t,” I said, as a hundred eyes temporarily focused on us.

  Candace squirmed. “Ever felt like you were some place you didn’t belong?”

  Ronnie nodded. “This is more like farting during communion.”