The Aetherfae (12 page)

Mom wrapped her arm over his shoulder. “Oh honey, it’s not our house anymore. We sold it.”

“I beg to differ,” Danny said.

Mom shot him a severe look.

“It’s true, Mrs. O’Shea, it still belongs to Maggie.”

“How?” I asked.

Danny pressed his lips together and shook his head, looking at me like I was an idiot. “Do you know nothing about me? And don’t worry about this,” he said looking around. “It can be restored soon enough. But you won’t be staying here, not until the conflict is resolved. I have a place for your family in Fayetteville.”

“Are you serious? We can move back?” Mom asked, tears in her eyes.

“If that is what you desire,” Danny said

“More than anything. More than anything,” she said, stifling a sob.

He didn’t tell her the obvious: if I failed, there would be no moving back. But the promise of living here again gave her hope. I let her have it. There was another problem, though. While I listened to Danny talk to my mother, I’d overheard bad news.

“We were ambushed south of Hai-tonsa, just below the river,”
Sinopa explained. “
Aiyana died instantly. Nodin held them off and allowed us to escape
.”

“
Who?”
Enapay asked.

“
Rogues, Dersha. Nodin killed four before he died. I destroyed five. There were simply too many. More than a hundred.”

My heart sank as the Ohanzee mourned Nodin and Aiyana’s loss. The rest of the Ohanzee, more than three hundred, gathered around Tse-xo-be and then disappeared when he cast Clóca. We didn’t linger in the spent garden for long. I wrapped Clóca around my party and we hiked up the path toward the bluffs. I followed my grandparents, Mitch and Mom. She carried Dad’s urn. Candace took my hand, while Gavin held the other.

At the top of the bluff, the tears began when I noticed a presence I hadn’t felt in a long time. Aunt May was there—she’d never left. The tears fell harder when Mom let Dad’s ashes pour out of the container and said, “Goodbye, my love.” The emotion I couldn’t seem to find in Vermont came rushing back in the Weald, along with memories of my father. I saw Aunt May’s face from a memory. In her withered hand was the old photo of Dad and Kyle. As the last ashes blew away, becoming permanent parts of the Weald, I realized he was home where he belonged. I also realized I would not see Aunt May again, at least not in this life. She didn’t actually say anything, but I felt her say goodbye.

“Goodbye,” I whispered.

After Gavin transformed the Lincoln into a black Jeep, Doug demanded to have all the physical features returned to normal. Tadewi warned him of the risk, but he was adamant. He swung the passenger door open for Candace and Ronnie. Just before he drove them away, he glanced up at me with sad eyes. “Good luck. I’ve gotta get back to Fayetteville, you know. I—“

“It’s okay, Doug. Goodbye.”

“Yeah, sure.”

My gut instinct was to punch him in the face, but instead, I tried to remember the pain he was in. I managed a smile as the Jeep disappeared up the drive. My gut told me I’d never see him again.

* * *

Justice and I walked down the lower garden path toward the lake edge, then along the rocky shore. I refused to look across the cove to where Sara’s cottage once stood. Instead, I focused on the lake and the flat-topped hills on the western shore. At the point, Tse-xo-be stood staring into the late afternoon sun, which peaked out from a gap in the clouds.

“I’m sorry about Nodin and Aiyana.”

Tse-xo-be turned, the tiny pebbles under his feet crunching in the motion. He gave me a rare smile and took my hand. “We have all suffered loss, Maggie, and none greater than you.”

I shifted my focus to the hills in the west. “I know how important Nodin was to you. He was an elder, one of your friends for, well, more time that I can really understand.”

“Nodin believed that you were important enough to protect at all costs—I share that belief. Nodin did not die in vain. You will bear witness to that truth as a Maebown. We will protect your family, as you asked.”

“Thank you. Any words of wisdom?” I tried to crack a smile, but the enormity of my task hung heavily on my mind.

“Yes, I do. Trust your intuition. It is a gift.”

“I always do.”

He smiled again. “We will be here when you return to take your place as Steward of the Weald. Now, walk with me,” he said. “Let us enjoy this place together.”

An hour later he led me back to the cottage garden and to my waiting family. At the driveway, I hugged Mom and Mitch, and said goodbye to my grandparents. They put on a brave face, but I didn’t have to be a Fae to sense their fear. Mom handed me a stack of journals, Pete’s and mine.

“You need to keep writing,” she said.

“Do you want to keep them for me?”

“No.” Her voice cracked. “I want you to finish them. Then bring them back to me.”

I rifled through my backpack and pulled out the garden journal. “Well, in that case, will you look after this for me? I can’t carry all of them.”

Mom smiled and embraced the book. Tse-xo-be ushered them to a waiting car, and a minute later they disappeared behind the cedars at the first bend. Danny smiled and shifted to Naeshura, following them up the hill. I said goodbye to the remaining Ohanzee before they took their natural form and disappeared into the mountain behind the Clóca barrier Wakinyan had created. Only two remained.

“Find Sara,” Billy said, “She’ll be waiting for you.”

Rather than answer, I embraced him. “Thank you, Billy,” I finally mustered.

“You’ll be fine. I trained you, after all.”

I chuckled. “I love you, Billy.”

His gray eyes misted. “I love you, too.” Then he was gone.

“Don’t even think of saying goodbye to me,” Gavin said, grinning.

“I won’t, and it’s not like we won’t talk each day. I’ve gotten a lot better at projecting.”

He nodded. “I’ll be right here when you get back.”

I clung to him for several minutes, his kiss burning into my memory. When I finally let go, he held a familiar necklace. “I found it in your box, but I think it’s due for a change.”

The tiny gold bird swirled and transformed into a Celtic Knot—two triquetras intertwined, Gavin and me. He put it over my head, kissed me again, and then shifted forms. I followed him until he passed out of my range.
So, this is it.
I scanned the Weald one last time, committing it to memory, unsure whether I’d ever see it again, and climbed into the Green Shelby I’d given my father. It snarled to life and I pulled up the hill. At the gate, Candace and Ronnie blocked my exit.

“I’ve had all the goodbyes I can handle for one day.”

“Girl, this isn’t a goodbye,” Ronnie said, yanking open the passenger door.

“You’re not going with me.”

“Oh, whatever,” Candace said, crawling in the backseat with her bag.

“I’m serious, Candace, you can’t go with me.”

Ronnie slid in the passenger seat and fastened his seatbelt, slinging his bag into the backseat. He donned a pair of dark glasses and spiked his blond hair in the vanity mirror. “Maggie, you need us, and deep down you know it.”

“Guys, I don’t have any idea where I’m going yet.”

“Exactly, Mags. You
absolutely
need us. Well, me, at least,” Candace said, thumping Ronnie in the back of the head, a devilish smile plastered on her face.

“Well, Ozark Barbie, thanks for the vote of confidence,” Ronnie quipped, poking fun at her blonde hair once again.

“Shove it, Draco.”

I tried not to laugh, but snorted anyway.

Ronnie cocked his jaw to the side. Without looking down, he grabbed a pen out of the console and waved it over his shoulder at Candace. “Stupefy.”

Candace and I both cackled. I thought about ordering them out of the car, or taking them back to Candace’s house and blowing them out, but I really wanted company all of a sudden. I could protect them as well as the Ohanzee could, and with Clóca, I could protect them better than most.

Candace stopped chuckling. “Ahem. We’re going. The debate is over, Mags. We’ve already told our parents we’re off to Europe for a few weeks, your treat. Punch it.”

“Where’s Doug?” I asked.

Ronnie stammered, “He’s…he dropped us off…and left…sorry.”

“No, that’s best.”

“So, you’re waiting for what, exactly?” Candace asked.

My brain was telling me to let them out, but my gut wanted them to stay. Tse-xo-be did say to listen to my intuition. “Nothing.”

TWELVE

EXODUS

M
om and Mitch were on my mind when we parked the Shelby at the St. Louis airport. Using the identification cards Gavin gave us, we boarded a flight for Ireland with a connection in New York. Curiosity and fear got the best of me, so halfway into the flight I projected. It was a mistake. As soon as I made the connection, Mara began moving.
What did I just do?

I didn’t know whether to drop the connection and hope she couldn’t find me, or watch her as she closed. I chose the latter. She took physical form in a moonlit valley between two mountains and began moving quickly away into the air. In the darkness of night, I couldn’t tell what direction she was moving—whether she was closing on us or not—but fist forming in the pit of my stomach was impossible to ignore.

For forty-five minutes I tracked her as she streaked across the darkened landscape, slowly spiraling, then gaining altitude. Somewhere in the distance, my heart raced when the silhouette of a jet appeared below her reflecting moonlight on the fuselage and wings. She closed on the craft with such speed, it appeared as if it was parked on a runway. I watched as she descended until she hovered just over the tail. Panic tugged at my mind. It occurred to me that Mara wasn’t hidden behind Clóca, so I knew I’d be able to sense her from my seat. Candace was staring at me, wild-eyed, when I snapped back to my body. Extending my mind, I expected to find Mara on top of us. Nothing. She wasn’t anywhere I could sense her. Without hesitation, I projected again, just in time to see her slice a hole through the aluminum craft. I popped back into my body and spun around in my seat, ready to fight back. The cabin lights were dimmed over all but two passengers. One looked up from his book and smiled. There was no hole in the roof, no Mara.

“What is it?” Candace asked.

Slowly, I sank back into my seat. “Mara’s out of the ground. She’s looking for us—how long before we land?”

“Thirty minutes. Will we make it?” she asked in a breathless voice.

I nodded and smiled.

Candace studied my face, like she always did. She bit her lip and pushed her head back into the seat, unconvinced.

“Candace,” I whispered, “I don’t know where she is, except that she isn’t here.”

“Please check again.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. Somehow she can see me when I track her.”

She stared at me, nodding slightly.

“Okay, give me a minute,” I said.

The instant I made the connection with Mara, I felt disoriented. There were flames in the darkness, screeching, tearing sounds and things flying past her in a rush of buffeting wind. She clawed at something in the darkness, flinging it out of her way. It was man, a young man, and she was tossing him out of a gaping hole in the plane’s fuselage. She tore at another, then another. My tether pulled harder than it ever had and snapped me back.

“How long?” I asked.

“Fifteen minutes, we’re descending. Will we make it?”

“Yes, we will. She’s…busy.”

Candace’s pale face turned completely white, her brows pressed together. “It was that bad?”

Blinking threatened to bring the images back, so I fought to keep my eyes open well past the point of burning. “Yes. Horrible.”

Our plane landed, and gradually the groggy passengers filled the aisle to await disembarking. Mara still hadn’t found us, but I began feeling claustrophobic from being stuck on the plane at the terminal. When we finally made it past the gangway and into the terminal, the muscles in my chest relaxed.

Ronnie had been sitting two rows ahead of us and remained completely oblivious. “What do you want to do? Our next flight isn’t for four hours.”

“Are you guys hungry?” I asked, still trying to relax.

Ronnie looked over my shoulder and nodded. “There’s a restaurant over there.”

After sliding into a dark booth and ordering food, I tried to focus on what to do next. Ronnie studied Candace and me, shifting his gaze back and forth. “What’s going on? Did I miss something?”

“You were asleep, I didn’t want to wake you...”

He sat up a little straighter, twisting his head slightly to look around the green glass lamp shade between us. “Something bad happened, didn’t it?”

“Mara came out of hiding. She tried to find me—saw that we were flying.”

He sat back in the booth and looked down at his shaking hands. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did she do that?” he asked, pointing to the television.

Everyone in the restaurant watched the program. Lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t noticed.

CNN reported breaking news live from the scene of a disaster. I lowered the Air barrier and we all listened to the reporter discussing the wreckage from the second plane crash in an hour. The reporter said something about terrorism and no survivors.

Candace’s voice was excited, much higher pitched than normal, when she whispered, “Did she do that…both of them?”

“I…I only saw one, but yes, I think she did. Clearly, we can’t fly to Ireland.”

Saint Louis to New York was a short flight, but the one to Ireland wasn’t. If she figured out where we were going, even noticed that we were flying over the ocean, she’d have enough time to find us. We were too vulnerable in the air.

Candace looked off into the distance. “That’s not an option anyway—look at the board. All flights are cancelled. The feds must think it’s terrorism.”

I looked at her, “That’s exactly what it is, only her target is me, not them.”

“We can go by boat, can’t we?” Ronnie asked.

I shook my head. “What’s to stop her from sinking all the ships?”

Ronnie looked at me and hunched his shoulders. “Nothing, I guess.”

Candace whispered, “They’re talking about a third plane, now.”

My throat felt dry and sweat began to bead on my forehead. I drained a Diet Coke and switched to water. Neither helped. I couldn’t seem to keep moisture in my mouth. Ronnie pushed his water across the table to me, and I started in on it.

“You plan to face her, don’t you?” he asked.

I nodded. “If I don’t, she’ll keep killing. She’s sending me a message. It’s time I send her one.”

“If there’s a bright side,” Candace started, “Mara wasn’t able to find us. Her connection to you isn’t like a homing beacon.”

I thought about it, and she was right. Mara searched for me and destroyed everything in her path. When I connected with her, she only knew I was flying. It was some comfort, but not much.

“Maybe she only sees me when I connect to her. But if she’d been watching me all along, she saw us buy tickets to Ireland—I just don’t know. She sent two Arustari to the house in Washington the last night—she knew.”

Candace shook her head. “She may have figured it out, but she had nine days to find you in Washington. Nine days, and not until the last day did she send them? Think about it, she’s not as good at it as you are.”

I smiled. She was right again, but one fact remained: Mara did find me. “I need to find a big empty place, but that’s not going to be easy—this is New York.”

“Give me a minute.” Candace pulled an iPad out of her bag. “We’re here,” she said to herself, pointing to LaGuardia Airport on a map. “Big empty spaces…warehouse, commercial space…” she muttered. In five minutes, she had a list of warehouse spaces for lease. “No, no,” she said as she scanned each one. She pointed to an ad. “Let’s look at this one...where are you?” she muttered to herself, tapping the screen. “There, it’s a few miles from here…looks like a harbor of some kind. Two hundred and twelve thousand square feet.” She looked up, chewing on her lower lip. “I’m terrified. It looks…so creepy. Are you sure about this?”

Doubt clawed its way into my mind, but I focused on the television for a second—CNN was showing the third crash site from the air—it was just a long strip of small fires and debris in the night, surrounded by flashing red and blue lights.
People are dying
. “I have no choice.”

We booked a room in a boutique hotel a few miles from the airport, hoping to blend into the masses by avoiding one of the major chains. I dropped my bags on the bed and stared at the amazing view of Manhattan—all lit up at night, it was breathtaking. It was yet another place I had always wanted to visit, but like everywhere I’d been in the past three years, I didn’t have time to explore or enjoy it. I felt like a walking omen—like Cassandra in Greek mythology, I was a harbinger of death and destruction.
Oh shut the freak up,
my inner voice scolded.
You killed that cow, remember?

My courage returned and I noticed a smile appear in my reflection. “Yes. Yes I did.”