And then he was rubbing my shoulders, stroking my skin, and I became aware that he was soothing my aura somehow, calming the stressed parts, feeding energy into the places where I was drained dry. I started to ask him a question, but found my tongue refusing to work, and I suddenly realized that I was in trance. Had he hypnotized me? Had he cast some sort of dragon or Stradolan magic on me? Whatever the case, I decided to give in and just go with it.
Another moment and I felt my breathing deepen, and then the blissful arms of Morpheus dragged me down and took me under in a wave so murky and frothing that there was no denial, no retreat. Only the blessed oblivion of darkness and sleep.
When I opened my eyes, it was close to noon. I wearily pushed myself to a sitting position. Shade was nowhere to be seen, and pale gray rain splattered in drops against the window. I slipped out from under the covers and shivered. The room was chilly, and I pulled a robe over my PJs and padded over to look outside. The sky shimmered, silver interspersed with thick black clouds. But this storm, it was natural, and I could feel the difference. It didn’t frighten me, this Seattle gloom. I pushed the window up to let the scent of rain-soaked cedar seep through the room as I quickly dressed. Olive-colored cargo pants, a V-neck sweater in mustard, and a wide brown leather belt, and a matching pair of brown leather boots finished the outfit. By the time I brushed my hair and teeth, I was starting to feel like I might make it through the afternoon in one piece, without having another meltdown.
As I headed down the stairs, Camille came out of her room. She was wearing a purple satin low-cut vintage dress and over it, a black waist cincher. A pair of black chunky-heeled granny boots paired nicely with the outfit, but one glance at her and I knew we’d both changed. There was a haunted look in her eyes that mirrored the way I felt.
We headed downstairs, saying little. Hanna met us at the foot of the stairs. “Sharah, she has had her baby. She’s asking that you come to the station as soon as possible. She says it’s very important. And Mr. Chase, he’s very upset. He’s waiting for you in the living room.”
Chase was here instead of by Sharah’s side? Fuck. What had happened now? Before we even thought of food, Camille and I turned toward the living room. There, we saw Chase pacing.
“What’s going on, dude? How are Sharah and the baby?” I slipped over to his side and gave him a quick hug, but it was obvious how tense he was—his back was stiff and he looked pissed out of his mind.
“I need your help! I can’t stop them, can I? They said I have no choice—and that she has no choice. Like fucking hell!” He was babbling.
Camille held up her hand. “Slow down and tell us what happened. Start at the beginning, and first things first: are Sharah and the baby all right?”
He stood there, clenching and unclenching his fists. “Sharah is all right—it was a hard labor, but she’s okay. And our daughter is fine.” He paused, and the look that crossed his face was priceless. But the next minute, it was replaced by a black cloud. “But that fucking Trenyth—I’d like to wring his neck.”
“What the hell happened?” And then, I knew—or at least I suspected. “She’s . . . they want her to return to Elqaneve, don’t they?”
“Like hell she’s going to. After what went down there yesterday?” He seemed to lose steam and dropped onto the sofa, hands on his knees as he stared ahead with a bleak look. “Trenyth came to the hospital this morning. He said she must return. She’s the only living heir and she has to take the throne.”
“Sharah is going to become Queen of Kelvashan? What about the baby? And you?” I had thought this might happen.
“They won’t let me come with her. And . . . they won’t let her bring the baby. They said that she’ll have to leave her with me, here. Because the Elfin Queen cannot have a half-breed child at the Court.” His voice was thick with rage and I thought he was about to burst a blood vessel. “Even though she’s a newborn, they’re intent on separating our family.”
“Fuck. The. Elves.” Camille whirled and marched toward the table. She grabbed her keys and purse. “We’ll grab lunch when we’re out. Meet you at headquarters, dude. And we’ll do everything we can to put a stop to this.”
Although I didn’t share her optimism, I followed her to the door, stopping long enough to snag a jacket and my backpack. Chase, a grateful look in his eyes, followed us out to his car. As he headed out of the driveway, Camille and I followed him.
“Fuck, we didn’t get a chance to check in on Iris,” she said, glaring at the rain. The water ran down in sheets, glazing the window as the wipers washed it to the side. “I can’t believe we didn’t stop in to say hi to her. She’s going to think we forgot all about her!” She slapped the steering wheel with one hand.
She sounded so upset that I knew she was triggering off last night. “Iris won’t think anything of the sort. You know Hanna will have told her about what’s happening—she’s a smart cookie.”
Camille let out a short sigh. “I know. I know. I’m just . . . this is so fucked. I know we have to focus on what’s going on here, on what we’ve promised to do, but all I can see is the heart of that storm. It was evil . . . purely maleficent, and the feeling—the energy of it got under my skin. I can’t shake it. Somehow, it hooked into my aura and I can feel it with me, around me, even though I know it’s not.”
There was nothing I could say to that. Instead, I stared at Chase’s car in front of us. “Did he say what they named their daughter?”
“I don’t think so. I think he was so upset he couldn’t think about anything except protecting Sharah. And what the fuck, anyway? Not letting Sharah take her baby with her? I guess I can see how they would forbid Sharah to bring Chase as her consort, though that’s going over like a lead balloon, I can imagine. But to abandon her child? What the hell is she supposed to do?”
“You tell me. Elqaneve . . . Kelvashan as a whole . . . they are steeped in antiquity. They are far more proper than the Fae, and they change only in slow, slow stages. I can’t imagine Trenyth being happy to deliver this news. Maybe we can talk some sense into him.”
The road sped by in a watery blur as the rain pounded down. Neither Camille nor I felt much like talking, though I did mention briefly to her that we might want to interview Violet’s boyfriend—Tanne Baum. She giggled then, and I couldn’t help but join her. Our mother had sung “O Tannebaum” to us over and over when we were little, and even though I knew it was juvenile, the thought of a grown man—one of the woodland Fae at that— being named after a Christmas tree seemed to spark off a much needed tension release.
As we came to the FH-CSI and pulled into the parking lot, Chase was already bounding up to the doors. We followed him through, for once hurrying to keep up with
I leaped forward, grabbing Chase by the arm and swinging him around. “Dude, if you engage them in this mood, they won’t think twice about taking you down, and if they take you down, all the Nectar of Life in the world won’t help you. You’ll be dead and gone. You capiche?”
He glared at me, but stopped in his tracks. “You’d better do something, then, before I do.”
“We’ll do what we can. No promises. We have no control over the Elfin government, you know. We have a treaty with them—Y’Elestrial does, but there’s nothing covering this sort of mess. That, I can guarantee you.” I pointed to the doors. “Go now. Sit in your office and talk to Yugi while we try to sort out this matter.”
He grumbled, cursing a blue streak under his breath, but then he turned and stomped out to go talk to his second-in-command. As the door closed behind him, I turned around to find Camille already in an argument with Trenyth.
“How the fuck can you do this?” Her hands on her hips, she leaned toward him. “Sharah just had a baby.
Trenyth folded his arms. No need to read body language on that stance. “While I value and appreciate your input, and your loyalty for your friend, there’s nothing you can say to change this matter. Understand: by morning light, the entire land of Kelvashan lies in ruins. Elqaneve has been flattened, and still the storm moves on, crossing our land as it strikes village after village. The forests are burning. The dead number in the tens of thousands. We are desolate—and there is a good chance that, unless enough soldiers from other lands arrive, the goblins who are on the march to our city gates will take our lands. Within one night, we have become a dying race.”
Camille fell silent.
