Destroyer Rising (26 page)

“What do you remember?” I asked. “You were saying
something about the river.”

Park nodded. “It was odd. Hell, what’s not odd these
days, really? We were on patrol down by the gazebo. There were
surges of water, you know? They seemed to go against the wake of a
boat that passed by. One of my men walked closer and the river … it
just rose up and swallowed him. It was one little part of the
river, though. It wasn’t a flood.”

Park shivered and fell silent.

“What happened?” Frank asked.

Bubbles trotted into the room, flopping onto the
floor next to Park’s chair.

“She will not let anything happen to you,” Aideen
said.

Park showed an uneasy smile as he looked down at the
cu sith. The man took a deep breath and his eyes met Frank’s. “Two
other soldiers tried to pull him out. The river took them too. The
rest of us tried to run. It was like there was a translucent woman
who rose up from the water. She cut Mitch’s head clean off. It was
…” He closed his eyes and shivered.

Aideen and I exchanged a glance. I didn’t dare say
anything. I didn’t want Nixie’s people to be at the center of
this.

“Come on,” Frank said, apparently noticing the unease
in the look between Aideen and me. “I’ll get you back to HQ.”

The sergeant slowly stood up. He looked at Aideen.
“Thank you for this. I know you didn’t have to do that. I won’t
forget it.”

“Go in peace,” Aideen said. “Remember there are good
Fae and terrible Fae, the same as humanity.”

Bubbles stepped aside when Frank slid up underneath
Park’s arm and helped him out the door.

The grandfather clock ticked ten times before any of
us said a word.

“Water witches,” Sam said. I turned to find her
standing in the doorway, Foster perched on her shoulder. “He was
talking about water witches.”

“Yes,” Aideen said. “But who and why? There has been
no hostility toward the undines.”

“The Queen,” I said, crossing my arms.

Aideen started to speak and then hesitated. She
sighed, watching Main Street and the river beyond.

“It makes sense,” Foster said.

Elizabeth leaned on the edge of the counter.
“Cornelius said he was surprised the Queen hadn’t attacked Damian
directly to get to Nixie and her people.”

Aideen nodded. “Nixie helped save the European
seaboard from that tidal wave. It was captured on film and in
photos, and those images are now known to the world at large.”

“What better way to discredit them?” I asked as I
slammed a fist into my palm. “Murdering soldiers, leaving one alive
enough to get back to his people?”

“He would not have survived that wound without a
healing,” Aideen said quietly. “It is a poison well known to the
water witches. They bathe their blades in that awful tincture when
they are at war.”

“What can we do?” Sam asked.

Aideen turned back to Sam. “Nothing. Warn Nixie, use
caution near the waters. If the Queen has learned of Cara’s death,
she may have decided to strike.

The words, so nonchalant in their delivery, cut
me.

“I’d like to go home now,” Elizabeth said.

I nodded. “You mind driving, Sam? We need to go see
Ashley.” I headed through the saloon-style doors to grab my
backpack. I could only stare at the wreckage on the Formica
table.

“What’s wrong?” Foster asked as he glided over my
shoulder and then burst into laughter.

A very bloated Jasper sat in the center of the table,
and there wasn’t a breakfast sandwich in sight, just a sad pile of
slobbery, empty wrappers.

“He ate them all,” Foster said.

“Well, he is a dragon.”

The gray furball belched, and I swear the walls
shook.

“A dragon with indigestion,” Sam said.

“Why don’t you stay here and sleep that off?”

The furball purred and then belched again.

“Don’t forget the amber,” Elizabeth said.

“Oh, yeah.”

“He already forgot,” Sam said. “You can see it in his
vacant expression.”

I smiled at my sister. I think she knew, with the
mention of Cara’s death, that I was starting to crack. Sometimes
she could read me like a book, and sometimes I wouldn’t have it any
other way.

***

We all piled into Sam’s black SUV. It made a heck of
a lot more sense than trying to shoehorn everyone into my ’32
Ford.

“Call Hugh,” Sam said as she steered onto Fifth
Street. Foster clung to the edge of the dashboard like his life
depended on it. It probably did.

I pulled out my phone. Every motion brought me closer
to the loss of Carter and Maggie, and by the time the line started
ringing, I was ready to crawl into a hole.

“Damian,” Hugh said, his voice crackling as we
crossed a dead zone.

“We’re headed to Ashley’s,” I said. “Do you have time
to meet us?”

The line was silent for a time until Hugh finally
said “Yes. There is much we must do to honor the Ghost Pack’s
sacrifice, but I can visit briefly. I am not far from the
priestess’ home.”

“We’ll be there in about ten minutes, maybe
less.”

“I will see you there.” Hugh clicked off the
line.

“He doesn’t sound too bad,” Sam said.

I frowned and nodded. “Carter and Maggie were a big
draw against the pack’s magic.” I ran a fingertip over my pack
marks. “I had no idea I was weakening the River Pack.”

“You think Hugh doesn’t appreciate the time you gave
to Maggie and Carter?” Foster asked from his perch on the
dashboard.

“Alan talks about it all the time,” Elizabeth said
from the back seat. “He’s going to miss his friends.”

I closed my eyes and tried to sink into the rhythm of
the road. We’d all miss them. It was going to be a rough
change.

After a while, I looked at Foster. “You sure you
don’t mind leaving Aideen to watch the shop?”

He nodded. “I need to get out and do things. I don’t
… I don’t need to be there right now.”

The small driveway in front of Ashley’s house was
empty. I remembered ambushing her here one morning to buy a gift
for Nixie. It had felt like dark times back then, but I’d had no
idea how bad things were going to get.

I rang the doorbell and we waited. Footsteps sounded
a short time later and the door cracked open.

“Damian?” Ashley said, pulling the door open
wider.

“ ‘Tis I, milady.”

Ashley scrunched up her forehead. “Isn’t it a bit
early for you? Isn’t it a bit early for me to have to deal with
you?”

“Ouch,” Sam said, exchanging a smile and a hug with
Ashley.

“It’s always too early to deal with him,” Foster said
as he glided over the priestess.

“Come in,” Ashley said, all of you. Her fingers
trailed across Beth’s forearm as the blood mage stepped inside.

I walked through the front door and my heart sank
when I saw Alexandra in the living room. Could it have been her?
Would she have attacked the sergeant?

“You are safe,” Alexandra said, flowing across the
room and embracing Elizabeth.

“Elizabeth was a huge help,” I said. “How are you?”
Well, that sounded awkward and unnatural. Way to play it cool.

“Her name is Beth,” Alexandra said flatly.

Beth grinned at the water witch.

“And I am well, Damian. You should call Nixie. She
has been very anxious about your trip into the Burning Lands. I
would lecture you on adding stress to our future queen’s life, but
you have done an honorable thing.”

“Yes, he has,” Hugh said, stepping into the room.
Before I could say a word, he opened his arms and embraced me.
“Welcome home, brother, very well done.”

I almost choked on the guilt rising up the back of my
throat.

“Beth,” Hugh said, turning to the blood mage. He
extended his hand in greeting. His skin was dark beside Beth’s pale
and scarred arm. “Alan has said many great things about you. I
believe you may be meeting his wife soon.”

Beth fidgeted a bit and her eyes flashed around the
room. “I don’t do great with a lot of people in small spaces.”

“Come over here,” Ashley said, dragging Beth to a
large club chair and squeezing in beside her. Beth kept her hand
locked around Ashley’s. “What are you all doing here?”

“Beth wanted to come home,” Sam said. “Apparently
sleeping on the floor at the Double D isn’t her thing.”

“I just wanted to get out,” Foster said.

Ashley looked at the fairy as he settled on Sam’s
shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Foster.”

Foster stared at nothing, and responded with only a
short nod.

Sam dragged one of the kitchen chairs into the living
room and sat down beside Hugh. I flopped onto the couch next to
Alexandra.

“Where is everybody?” I asked.

“Most of us have
real
jobs,” Ashley said as
she raised an eyebrow.

“Hey now, I own a store. That’s a real job.”

“The only person working a real job in that store is
Frank,” Sam said. “Don’t even try to argue it.”

I stopped on the verge of arguing, my finger in the
air. I blew out a breath and sank back into the couch. “Fine.”

“What was it like?” Alexandra asked. “The Burning
Lands? In all my years, I have never seen them.”

“Scary,” Beth said. “I saw oceans of fire in the time
I was there, and a throne room for their devils. I don’t understand
how anything can survive it.”

“That about covers it,” I said, not mentioning the
trials, or the geryon, or the dark-touched. There were a few things
I didn’t feel like talking about yet. I raised my eyes to Alexandra
as she ran her fingers through a tangle of long black hair. “When
we got back, one of the Army patrols had been killed by
undines.”

“One of them bled green poison,” Foster said.

Alexandra froze. “What?”

“Any idea who could have done it?” Sam asked. She
managed to relay the question without making it an accusation. All
I said was ‘hi’ and it sounded like an accusation. Sam had much
better people skills in some things, but at least I didn’t eat
them.

Alexandra looked away. “There are not many undines
with the blades to poison a man.”

“I thought it was common,” I said.

The water witch shook her head. “The flower only
grows in Faerie, its roots bound in Magrasnetto ore. The last I
heard spoken of it, there were none left alive.”

“But there are already weapons out there,” Beth said.
“Do they lose their power, or is the poison always there?”

“It will be lost eventually, but it takes millennia
for it to be worked out of the blade. In a mortal’s eyes, the
poison would never leave.”

“Who has access to them?” Ashley asked. “Are they
common, like Damian thought?”

“They are rare. Most of them are known to be under
the guard of Nixie’s clan. Or so they were before she split from
the Queen.”

“So the queen has them?” I asked.

Alexandra nodded. If that were true, someone
could
be trying to set the Queen up. The only real fallout I
was concerned about was the assumption that the attack came from
Nixie’s people.

“They could be trying to frame you.”

Alexandra narrowed her eyes. “I do not understand
this term.”

“Blame you for someone else’s crime,” Beth said. “But
who would do that?”

Alexandra leaned back in her seat. “The Queen, I am
afraid.”

Ashley stood up and squeezed Beth’s shoulder. “Can I
get you all a drink?” Sam and Alexandra declined.

I jumped in my seat when something hammered at
Ashley’s door.

Foster hopped up from Sam’s shoulder with his sword
half-drawn.

“I will answer it,” Alexandra said as her graceful
steps carried her into the hall. “Calm yourself.”

Foster left his sword unsheathed.

The screen squeaked and I heard a deep voice.

“Jonathan?” Alexandra asked.

“Is Samantha here? Is she okay?”

“Yes,” the undine said.

Sam hopped up and walked toward the foyer, almost
running into Jonathan when the wisp-thin vampire zipped into the
room.

“What are you doing here?” Sam asked.

“Looking for you. You didn’t answer your phone.”

Sam patted her back pocket and a sheepish frown
crossed her face. “It must be in the car. What’s wrong?”

“We found him.”

“Who? Vassili?”

Jonathan nodded.

“Where?”

“You could at least introduce yourself,” Ashley said,
settling back into the chair beside Beth.

Jonathan stared at her. I watched his aura surge
toward Ashley, wrapped in green and yellow bursts of power amidst
the black and white ribbon. I almost laughed when I realized what
he was doing. Apparently I did laugh a little bit because
Jonathan’s gaze snapped to me.

“What is so humorous?”

“I don’t care how much mojo you put behind that
trance,” I said, tapping the edge of my glass. “She’s not going to
go on a date with you.”

“That is not what I …”

Elizabeth planted a kiss on Ashley’s lips before
sliding her arm through the other woman’s and staring at the
vampire.

“Oh.”

Sam sat up a little straighter. “Wait, he can’t turn
her into a thrall because she’s gay? But he’s gay too, so what
gives?”

“People of this time are obsessed with labels,”
Alexandra said. “Ashley is Ashley and Jonathan is Jonathan. Why do
they need more of a name than that?”

I tipped my glass to Alexandra.

“He could still enthrall her,” I said, “just not with
the sexy time vampire mojo.”

I looked at the room at large. They all stared at me.
“What?” I snapped. “I read it in a book somewhere.”

“Somehow I think the phrasing may have been
different,” Jonathan said. He turned to Ashley. “I do apologize,
Priestess. I am … I am not myself quite yet.”

“It’s fine,” Ashley said. “I take no insult. Please,
join us, would you?”