“Oh no, no you don’t. You have no part of this,” she said, and when the wolf lunged, nipping at the air, it forced Meribah backward, step by step, all the while pushing her closer to Maritza, her thread, and the gaping mouth of the underland.
Bear dropped all of her weight onto me. I heard the click of her claws as they met at my chest, felt the rough pads on her paws as she patted my face and shoulder and urged me to turn around.
As I did, with the silver wolf still worrying at Meribah’s legs, Bear manifested.
The towering Kodiak I had sensed her to be stood on her hind legs, massive shoulders rounding, and shook her head. Her muzzle pressed against my chest, snuffled the side of my neck, urging my arms to find comfort in her fur.
I know, I know. You loved me, and I know that now. You kept me alive. You kept me safe. I love you, Auntie Noé.
Bear poured one last, love-filled breath into my chest, and then she lumbered away, melding with the growing darkness.
And I was back in my body, my shirt sticking to my sweaty back, dirt in the cuts on my feet and between my fingers, the sour taste of Fae blood on my tongue. I spat out the remnants of Meribah and wiped my mouth.
“Turn around, Calliope.” Meribah’s blades rested on the silver wolf’s exposed belly. The other wolf howled from farther away.
“Let him go,” I said.
“I want safe passage out of here. Then I will send him back.”
The wolf’s displeasure rumbled low in its throat. Meribah poked, pulled, and drew a thin line of blood up the wolf’s belly. Behind her, too far away for her magic to make a difference, Maritza stood still, her arms no longer raised, the blanket of memories gone.
And off to my right, a familiar apple tree stalked across the short bit of field separating us.
“Jessamyne, now would be a very good time for you to redeem yourself,” I yelled, “or I’m going after you when I finish with this bitch.”
I didn’t know I had it in me to lunge at Meribah barehanded, no weapons, no claws. Jack had Doug cornered, if the all too familiar voice was to be believed. Kaz and my sons were en route to the safety of House and the knowledge of my grandfather. And the Apple Witch’s branches were naked, not a single leaf or flower bud in sight.
The audacity of my actions caught Meribah off guard, and when the apple tree at her back wrapped a branch around her waist, hauled her off the ground, and flung her to the side, I laughed.
I ran to my ex-mother-in-law, kneeled on her legs, and pulled her arms up in the air.
Ivy bind. Knock yourself out.
Vines, forest green, punctuated with glistening black thorns, slithered across the dried grass and wound around Meribah’s wrists, drawing more blood. Jessamyne and the silver wolf were behind me. Maritza had disappeared. I stood, grabbed the loop an invasive had left at Meribah’s crossed wrists, and hauled her across what was left of the distance between me and the underland.
“I’m not exactly sure what this place does,” I said, “but we’re going in and only one of us is coming out.”
I dragged Meribah toward the arbor and veered to the left. The entrance was shrouded with long, wide strips of faded and assorted black fabrics. Maritza’s signature stitching held each seam together.
“Maritza?” I called. “You in there?”
I recognized the bright blue nail polish and the arm that followed.
“Come in,” she said, drawing aside one curtain, “and bring your friend.” She stuck her head out, spotted the silver wolf and the Apple Witch, and tapped me on the shoulder. “Those friends too. Someone wants to meet you.”
I hauled Meribah across the threshold of the underland. Small breaks in the impermeable arch of blackened grapevines allowed for patches of the starry sky to show. Light from a hidden source bathed Maritza and not much else beyond her.
“Don’t let her escape,” I said, handing Maritza the vine. “I’ll be right back.”
Tanner was bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath, and naked. Jessamyne had discarded the Apple Witch for her human form, complete with the cleavage-enhancing dress, and I was not in the mood. I walked over to where she was ogling Tanner while wiping blood off the side of his belly with the end of her sleeve.
“You. Jessamyne. I have something to say,” I said.
She kept her back to me.
Tanner’s eyes were transitioning from wolf to man—at least, that was my assumption. Because if the fiery glow had anything to do with Jessamyne’s proximity, he and I were done, our earlier encounter notwithstanding.
After yesterday’s activities, in my bed and in the bathtub, I felt like I could have any boyfriend in the Magical realm that I damn well desired.
Tanner pushed Jessamyne to the side. “Calliope?”
The only Magical I really wanted strode toward me, muscles flexing. He slid his fingers through my hair, lifted my mouth to his, and claimed me.
“What do you want?” I asked, when he finally let go of my mouth.
“We need to talk. But first, we have to face Ni’eve. C’mon.” He found my hand, interlaced his fingers through mine, and tried to bring me to the curtained entrance.
“Um, I need her too.” I tugged him toward Jessamyne, who was threatening to break into a run in the opposite direction. “No, you don’t,” I said, letting a bear-like growl underline my words as I grabbed the back of her dress. “You’re coming too.”
Tanner pulled aside the curtain, and I marched Jessamyne ahead of me, never loosening my grip. Entering the underland the second time, I expected the same murky interior, not the round table, draped in gold cloth and set for high tea, nor the ornate, oversized birdcage. Meribah was bound and gagged inside. Her restraints bore signs of Maritza’s touch.
A woman stepped forward from the darkness. Garbed in
