Thirty miles east of Seattle, Snoqualmie was nestled in the foothills of the Cascades, towering mountains of fire and ash. The Cascades were the home of Mount Rainier, a majestic volcano who was merely biding her time until she blew again. Her sister, Mount St. Helens, had lost her peak back in 1980 with a thunderous explosion that killed nearly sixty people. When Rainier went, if she blew big, so would a huge swath of the population who lived right in her path. The land around the Pacific Northwest was alive, all right. Alive and churning beneath the layers of rock and soil and forest.
Snoqualmie"s main claim to fame, other than a mountain pa.s.s by the same name and a ski resort, was that the city had played host to the filming of Twin Peaks Twin Peaks, an odd show I"d watched on reruns a few times and found disconcertingly spooky. Considering what we faced on an almost daily basis, I couldn"t explain what about the show creeped me out so much, but it was a good scare, unlike the kind in which we always seemed to get entangled.
We had to pa.s.s through the Eastside in order to get to Snoqualmie. A conglomeration of cities-Redmond, Bellevue, Woodinville, Kirkland, Issaquah-each had their unique charm. The Eastside was the heart of high-tech in the Northwest, with software companies dominating the area, led by Microsoft. And the area itself was developing at a rapid rate. Bellevue"s skysc.r.a.pers were giving Seattle"s tall towers a run for their money. As we drove through the glittering wash of lights and concrete, I held my breath, thinking how different this was from my home.
And yet . . . and yet . . . Otherworld had its own brilliance and towering palaces and marbled buildings that we seldom saw over Earthside. And the magical lights of the eye-catchers glittered as brilliantly, though not quite so neon, as the scattered lights within the gla.s.s-and-steel buildings. Just replace the hum of electric wires and cell phone towers with the buzz of magical energy, and the two realms weren"t so different after all.
As we sped down I-90 and then turned off on exit 25, the trees grew tall and thick on either side of the freeway. The towering firs loomed dark over the landscape, and the undergrowth was thick and full with burgeoning ferns and huckleberry and scrub holly and wild gra.s.ses.
The Cascade Mountain Range and its foothills, running the length of Washington down into Oregon, were a wild region. Mountain lions and bears and coyotes roamed the hills, occasionally venturing into the outskirts of the city, and the land felt rugged and tough. If you weren"t up to the challenge, you could die in the mountains in any number of ways, none comfortable to think about.
As the engine hummed, I inhaled deeply, then let out a long sigh. How many times had we raced off to quell a problem in the past six months? How many nights had we spent bashing heads and getting beat up in return?
The problem with rogue portals opening showed no signs of stopping. Cryptos and Fae were showing up everywhere, especially around the Northwest. Guarding the portals that opened into the Subterranean Realms was proving to be difficult, because the OIA had been absorbed into our Queen"s army and for now, we were working off the radar.
One thing we had to be grateful about, though, was that the new portals showed no signs of opening into the Sub Realms. The Netherworld, yes, but the Sub Realms-not so much. A blessing we couldn"t ignore.
I leaned forward and peeked over Roz"s shoulder. He was riding shotgun, while Morio drove, and considering he had the map, it was probably a good arrangement. "You"re sure that Karvanak hasn"t got wind of the seal yet?"
He shrugged. "As far as we could tell, no. Of course, there"s no guarantee, but I don"t think he"d be torturing that poor man if he already had the information. He"d just eat him. Rksasas do that, you know. They eat humans, along with other species."
Shuddering, I slipped back in my seat. "Yeah, I know, but thanks again for the visual. Just what I needed."
Smoky, who was sitting on my right, snorted. "I eat people, too."
"Not like that," I said. "You don"t just go devouring innocents, and we know it. Maybe some dragons do, but don"t pretend that you"re like them."
He narrowed his eyes. "You"ve got a mouth on you, girl," he said, and it wasn"t a compliment by the tone in which he spoke. But I noticed he didn"t contradict me.
I glanced over my shoulder at Camille, who was sprawled in the back, along with Menolly and Vanzir. "Did you bring the unicorn horn?"
She nodded. "We have no idea what we"ll be facing. I figured I might as well bring it, especially since my hand"s still sore, and it"s going to hurt like h.e.l.l to run energy through it."
Vanzir let out a huff of impatience. "We get the seal, then you take it wherever you need to take it. Then what?"
"We start searching for the fifth one, I guess." I shrugged. "That seems to be our current direction, don"t you think?"
Camille shook her head. "I hate to remind you of this, but the demons aren"t our only rivals for the spirit seals. I"d say it"s a good bet that Aeval, Morgaine, and t.i.tania are probably looking for them, too. And should they find one, I"ll lay odds they won"t be keen to turn it over to Queen Asteria. The pit of my gut tells me that Morgaine wants to give them to Aeval."
Morgaine. t.i.tania. Aeval. Three brilliant and terrible queens. We"d recently found out that Morgaine was a distant relative of ours, but she didn"t seem to put a lot of stock into blood ties unless it benefited her own agenda.
"Get real," Menolly said. "They played you like a Spanish guitar. I grant you that Grandmother Coyote had a hand in it, but I still maintain they somehow put her up to convincing you that it was your destiny to help them."
I gulped. I"d been wondering the same thing, but it never occurred to me to say it to Camille"s face. For one thing, no matter what had really happened, there was no changing the outcome. For another, the thought had flickered through my mind that perhaps Camille had been so desperate to believe we had allies that she"d allowed herself to be blindsided.
Whatever the case, with her help, the three n.o.bility of Earthside Fae had reestablished the fallen regime that had been, at one time, the Unseelie and Seelie Courts. Now, Morgaine, t.i.tania, and Aeval ruled over the Courts of the Three Queens. And they weren"t just sitting around looking pretty.
"Have you noticed just how many Earthside Fae have been flocking to the area? The Supe Community Council has been paying attention, and rumors are filtering out that there"s a growing unease rising between the Earthside and OW Fae. The FBHs are thrilled by the novelty, but they don"t see the potential dangers of the situation. We have enough on our plates without coping with yet another civil war between the Fae, this time one between the realms." I shook my head.
"Wonderful." Menolly sounded anything but thrilled. She flicked Camille on the head with her thumb and forefinger. "I still think you were off your rocker to help them."
"You"ve made that abundantly clear," Camille said quietly. "I"ve taken a lot of flack for my actions from a lot of people, so maybe, just maybe, my own family can lay off lay off?"
Her eyes narrowed. "You really really think that I acted on impulse? That I didn"t know what I was doing? I knew perfectly well. I also know that it will take a miracle for them to allow me to stay on should the OIA ever regroup and the death threat on our heads be removed. I"m as good as gone from the fold, no matter who wins the war in Y"Elestrial. Lethesanar . . . Tanaquar . . . doesn"t matter. I"m history to any government who had a hand in the Great Divide. And if you think I didn"t consider that think that I acted on impulse? That I didn"t know what I was doing? I knew perfectly well. I also know that it will take a miracle for them to allow me to stay on should the OIA ever regroup and the death threat on our heads be removed. I"m as good as gone from the fold, no matter who wins the war in Y"Elestrial. Lethesanar . . . Tanaquar . . . doesn"t matter. I"m history to any government who had a hand in the Great Divide. And if you think I didn"t consider that before before I helped Morgaine and t.i.tania free Aeval from the crystal, maybe you"re the ones who are blind. When the Hags of Fate tell me to do something, I I helped Morgaine and t.i.tania free Aeval from the crystal, maybe you"re the ones who are blind. When the Hags of Fate tell me to do something, I do do it. This is bigger than just us. Bigger than Otherworld." it. This is bigger than just us. Bigger than Otherworld."
Smoky let out something that sounded like a huff. He was glaring at me, and I had the feeling he was none too happy with Menolly, either. He kept quiet, but I could feel him tensing beside me.
I also felt my own inner equilibrium beginning to blur, and I took a deep breath, trying to avoid shifting. Family arguments always gave me the most stress, and I had a hard time keeping it together when we squabbled.
"The portals," I whispered. "You did it because the portals are breaking down."
Camille glanced at me, looking surprised. "Ten points for Kitten. The fabric that separates the three realms was never meant to be stretched so tightly. The Great Divide was a big, fat mistake, and the OW Fae who partic.i.p.ated in it are going to have to acknowledge their error sooner or later. And I don"t think we have until later later."
"Do you think any of them still exist? Beyond Queen Asteria and the Fae Queens?"
"I"m fairly certain there are a few of the forefathers still alive. But that doesn"t matter. What matters is that the system is collapsing, and we have no idea how this mess will affect our problems with the demons. Shadow Wing might be able to rip through the portals easier with the fabric dividing the realms breaking apart. We aren"t in this alone; the Earthside Fae can help us, but we need to give them a reason to. And not feeling second-cla.s.s to OW Fae might just be the start." Camille frowned, leaning her head against the side of the car.
I suddenly felt like a heel. I"d been judging her actions as if she"d gone rogue, or-and I"d only admit this in my heart of hearts-a part of me had secretly wondered if she just wanted to get in good with the Fae Queens. Now I stared at my hands, not knowing what to say.
Menolly cleared her throat. "Gee, Sis, you might have told us all this back when it all went down. I thought . . . oh, never mind what I thought. Your heart"s in the right place, but I still don"t know about your head. But what matters is that we gather our allies and do our best to capture the spirit seals before anybody else does. Even then, I wonder what Queen Asteria is going to do with all of the seals. If they"re all in one place, it could spell big trouble if the Elfin city is ever under siege from a bigger foe."
"Oh joy," I mumbled. "Give us something new to worry about, why don"t you? Let"s just focus on one thing at a time, shall we? We capture the fourth seal, take it over to Queen Asteria, and talk to her about our concerns. Okay?" My head was spinning with all the debate. All I really wanted was to find a nice warm corner and curl up to sleep for a dozen hours or so.
Morio, who had been silent until now, said, "Delilah"s right. Everybody just calm down. Grandmother Coyote knew what she was doing, so drop it and quit hara.s.sing Camille. We"re almost to the exit. Once we take that, we"ve got another ten or fifteen miles to drive, and we"ll be headed up the hillside toward the cave. I suggest you all use the time to catch a little rest. Just close your eyes and doze or something." He sounded p.i.s.sed-the first time I"d really ever heard a testiness to his voice.
The fox demon was usually impa.s.sive, but apparently we"d managed to ruffle his feathers. I glanced at Smoky again, who looked grimly pleased at Morio"s words, and decided that the best defense was a quick catnap. I leaned my head on Zachary"s shoulder-he"d been listening silently to our debate-and closed my eyes, letting the rumbling of the wheels lull me into a light snooze.
Some twenty minutes later, I was rudely jogged out of my slumber to find that we were heading up a steep grade that was b.u.mpy as all get out. My guess, unpaved and covered by chunky, rough gravel.
As we jolted along, I turned around in my seat. Camille and Menolly looked quiet, both lost in thought. I reached over the backseat and lightly rested my hand on Camille"s shoulder.
"I"m sorry," I said softly. "I never meant to imply you didn"t know what you were doing. I admit that I thought you did what you did for different reasons, but I was wrong. I"ll never doubt your actions again. You"ve held us together for a long time, and I trust you."
Her eyes glistened. "Thanks, Kitten. I appreciate that."
Menolly rolled her eyes, but she nodded. "Double that from me, too. We"re a team, and we have to stick together. Let"s leave the infighting to the politicians."
That was as good as a tearful apology from our sister, the vampire, and Camille knew it. She sniffed and dashed her hand across her eyes. "Man, I"m tired. I just want to get tonight over and go home and sleep. I have so much to think about from today."
"Yeah, especially since you know that Trillian"s just playing undercover spy again and not really in danger. Pretty shabby of him not to tell you," Menolly said, then glanced at me. She"d gone too far, and she knew it. Menolly was great in a fight, but diplomacy was a long ways from being one of her strong suits.
Camille stared at her, then shook her head. "Don"t even go there. I"ll deal with Trillian later." Her voice said case closed case closed in no uncertain terms. in no uncertain terms.
I turned back around in my seat. What the h.e.l.l was going on? We"d never been at each other"s throats like this. Of course, we weren"t really arguing, I tried to tell myself. We were all tired, stressed out, and facing yet another night of battle against some undead fiends.
"Maybe we"ll get lucky, and they"ll just be a bunch of Caspers," I said, trying to lighten the mood.
Menolly laughed. "Ever the optimist, that"s our Kitten."
After a moment, Camille joined her. "Yeah, maybe. For once I"d like to see her optimism pay off. Maybe if we wish real hard . . ."
"And find some ruby slippers!" Menolly added.
"Oh stop it, you two!" But I wasn"t mad. At least I had them laughing, and that was a good sign. "Next you"ll be telling me to clap really hard or Tinkerbelle will die."
"Yeah, well, Tinkerbelle has it easy, the little slacker," Camille said, snorting. "All she has to do is fly around on TV and look cute. We"ve got the real world to deal with."
"Speaking of real world, ladies, get ready. We"re about to park and go for a little hike. I hope you all wore warm clothing," Roz said. He directed Morio to pull into a turnoff.
As we piled out of the car into the chill evening air, I noticed there was a fire pit nearby. It was rough, a small circular hole that had been lined with chunks of stone. There had been a blaze in it recently, but by the smell of the charcoal, it had rained since then, so it had to be a few days old.
I knelt down beside the ring of stones and examined the debris next to it. A couple of beer cans, a wrapper from a Whopper, a few cigarette b.u.t.ts. "I don"t think any demons or ghosts left this stuff lying around."
Roz shook his head. "Ten to one, this was where the prospectors made camp. This road is seldom used. The man we talked to said that it used to be an old logging road but that a new one had been built a decade ago, and now this one"s primarily used by hunters and hiking enthusiasts who don"t mind a rough jaunt into the wilderness."
Rough jaunt? Delightful. I stood, wiping my hands on my jeans. "What now? Which way?"
Vanzir pointed out a trail, barely discernible through the waist-high gra.s.s. We geared up and, following the incubus and the dream chaser, plunged into the undergrowth.
The path immediately began to descend, and at first I wondered if we were really heading the right way. Weren"t most caves supposed to be up on a cliff face rather than down in a ravine? But then the path opened out into a narrow walkway that ran alongside a deep gully. The gully overlooked a stream flowing a good fifty to sixty feet below. The drop-off was immediate and steep, with no shoulder to cushion the way should anyone fall. While the trail was wide enough for two to walk abreast, we fell into single file.
I glanced across the streambed. The cliff on the other side of the ravine was covered in timber. From where we were, I could see that the trail led to a narrow bridge that spanned the stream. The bridge was a wooden trestle, the supporting timbers weathered and old. I"d guess at least a hundred years, if not more. No doubt, it had been used by the prospectors and hunters who had wandered through the mountains. The loggers, however, would have had to use a different bridge. I couldn"t see any vehicle-accessible road from where I stood.
Zach, who was right behind me, gasped and stopped in his tracks. He pointed toward a ledge on the opposite side of the ravine. I followed his gaze and found myself staring at a magnificent puma. She was a lioness, that I knew by instinct, and she was no Were, just pure, primal feline. And she was watching us-Zach and me primarily. I could feel her stare etch itself all the way into my bones.
Zach leaned closer to me. "She"s lactating."
I knew. Somehow, I knew. The mother cat had kittens, and they were probably somewhere near, hidden from prying eyes. I scanned the cliff wall but could see nothing. My gaze wandering back to the mother puma, I took a deep breath and sent a wave of goodwill toward her.
Tears welled up as she leaned her head back and let out a roar. Longing rang in the call, and fear, and anger. Something was wrong. I knew it, and while I wasn"t sure what it was, she needed help.
Before I knew what I was doing, I"d pushed ahead of the pack and-with Zach right behind me-found myself racing across the bridge. Camille and Roz were shouting behind us, but my attention was totally caught up by the mother lion. She needed help, and she recognized that we could offer it to her.
As we jogged across the bridge, I saw that Zach had shifted into his puma form. Without a thought, without warning, I found myself shifting, too-this time not into Tabby but into Panther. What the-? The Autumn Lord controlled me in this form. What were his concerns with the puma?
And then I heard him, buried deep in my thoughts, deep in my heart. "She is under my protection, as are all of Einarr"s descendants. Her mother was a werepuma who chose to return to the wild and stay on four legs. The daughter cannot shift, but she can recognize shifters. Help her in what she needs. Just because you"re a Daughter of the Grave doesn"t mean you can"t help the living."
In the blink of an eye, his presence withdrew, but I remained in panther form. Zach and I loped along, side by side, in silence. There was no trail leading up to the lioness, but we didn"t let that stand in our way. I reveled in my strength and power as we leapt from rock to rock, forelegs touching down even as hind legs pushed off the boulders. We bounded up the cliff, and I felt like I could run forever, intoxicated by the cascade of scents and sounds that washed over me.
The lioness waited for us, unwavering in her gaze. We landed beside her, but she gave no sign of fear. I gently reached out, b.u.t.ting her with my head. A tabby gesture, but one that most cats responded to, big or small.
"What"s wrong?" The words weren"t in English, or Fae, but she understood them perfectly.
"My cub-she"s trapped, and I can"t get her out." A flicker of pain raced through the mother"s eyes, and I recognized the fear that filled her softly spoken vocalizations.
"Lead the way," Zach said. "We"re here to help."
The puma led us back along the ledge to a den. We followed her inside, and I could hear the mewing of a kit. Another kitten sat in the corner, looking confused and hungry. My instinct was to run over and pick it up, but one look at Mama Puma told me that wasn"t the best idea. We wound through a small tunnel until we came to the back wall. There was a narrow fissure near the edge, a foot wide and a good four or five feet deep. The mewing came from within the crack.
I leaned my head down, and in the dark, could make out the other kitten. Somehow, she"d gotten herself down into the crack, and there wasn"t room enough for Mama to reach in and pull the baby out. The cougar would get stuck if she tried to rescue her baby. Unless we helped, the kit would starve to death.
Glancing back at the lioness, I said, "I need to change into my two-legged form. Please don"t worry. I won"t hurt your baby. But it"s the only way I can pull her out."
She gave me a bob of the head, as if she were nodding. "My mother was a Were," she said. "I"ve seen the change happen before."
With her approval, I moved away and focused on shifting back. After a moment, my body began to twist and shift, and within seconds, I was Delilah again, standing on two legs. I cast a quick look at the mother puma, but she seemed good to her word, so I knelt down beside the fissure and leaned in. I scrambled to reach the kitten, who was leaning up against the wall, reaching for me with her paws, but I couldn"t quite reach that far down.
Zach sensed my difficulty, and he, too, shifted back into human form. Silently, he caught my legs and lowered me so that I was hanging over the edge of the fissure. The kitten struggled to reach my hands, and then I managed to catch hold of her under the forepaws, and while I held on for dear life, Zach dragged me back out of the crack. The kitten came with me, and as soon as I let go, waddled over to its mother and began searching for a teat to suckle on. The kits were still in that confused, awkward stage: terribly cute and terribly vulnerable.
I looked around for loose stones to fill the fissure, but there weren"t enough.
As the mother puma anxiously groomed her baby, I crept forward, slowly, wondering if she"d accept me near her when I was in human form, too. She huffed slightly, but then her eyes met mine, and we were no longer big cat and human, or big cat and Were, but two souls, bound by all things feline, gazing into each other"s heart.
"She"s beautiful," I whispered in cat. "May I pet her? May I touch you?"
With another soft huff, the mother moved ever so slightly, opening the way for me to reach the baby. I gently laid one hand on the kit"s side and shivered as the soft fur ruffled under my fingers. A low trill told me the girl was purring, and I bit my lip, leaning forward to gently kiss the side of the kitten. The mother let out an anxious mew, and I moved my hand to her side, resting my fingers lightly against her fur for a moment as we connected, our auras blending for a brief moment.
Then I backed away.
"We should go," Zach said. "The others will be worried."
Nodding, I slowly backed away, my eyes never leaving the mother"s face. She dipped her head again and-carrying her kit by the scruff of the neck-followed us to the front of the cavern.
"You should find another place to stay, Mama," I said softly in cat. "I couldn"t make the crack in the ground safe for you. So you"d best find another den that won"t swallow your babies."
She blinked, and I knew she"d gotten my message. As we left the cave, I heard her grunt, then settle down as the cubs set to nursing. I glanced at Zach, and he beamed.
"You want one, don"t you?" he said.
"Want one what?"
"A kit-a baby." He laughed when he said it, but the look in his eyes told me he wasn"t joking.
I stared at him, thinking he was out of his mind, but once it took hold, the idea wouldn"t go away. It was true. Seeing the mother with her kittens had resonated inside. I wanted a family. But I didn"t just want a baby, I wanted Were babies. Kittens who would understand my feline nature as well as my half-human, half-Fae side. And that was bound to be a problem. Because half-Fae Weres were sterile, as far as producing Were children. I could have a baby, all right, but there was no guarantee that she-or he-would have any chance of coming out Were except by a random roll of the dice.
I let out a soft sigh as we emerged from the cave and began cautiously lowering ourselves down the cliff face to the path below, where the others now waited. I didn"t have time to think about this. Not now.
"Well, one thing"s for sure," I said to Zach as we joined the others. "Children-of any kind-are going to have to wait. Don"t tell the others, please. My sisters don"t need to know that my biological clock is ticking. They"d just worry themselves sick for no reason. It"s not like I can get pregnant, anyway. We had long-term treatments before we left home, and the antidote is only found in Otherworld. For now, the baby-making factory is closed."
Zach just nodded, but a bright light flickered in his eyes, and he gave me a soft smile. As we began to tell the others what had happened, I wondered what the h.e.l.l he was thinking.
CHAPTER 15.