Her body stiffened, and a growl of frustration rumbled in her throat.
Meribah and the ghost wolf were circling each other; another blade, as thin and deadly-looking as the first, extended out of her other hand.
The wolf tensed to leap—I could read it in the way his joints bent, loading his tendons for power and height. Meribah must have read it too. She burst into a spiral, going from stillness to a blur of movement from one moment to the next, building force and momentum from her feet to the ends of her swords.
I had no counter-spell for that.
The wolf rolled to the edge of the grass, and by the time it reached the trio of massive fir trees, Tanner emerged naked, crouched and eyes fixed on Meribah the untouchable.
“Rocks, Calliope,” he yelled. “Get me rocks.”
I ran to the bottom of the porch steps, gathered two handfuls of gravel, and swerved toward Tanner.
“Throw them at her.” He had a larger rock in each hand and held them the way Malvyn held the spinning red wheels.
Ball-tossing was never my forte. I sent out an abbreviated plea for accuracy and threw one handful and then the other.
Tanner slammed his rocks together once, and again, setting up a rhythm. Each time his rocks met, the gravel flew at Meribah and away, toward and away, until she lost her momentum, absorbed her weapons, and ran for the nearest SUV.
“Adelaide, Douglas, Roger, come!” she called.
Footsteps thundered from around the backside of my house. Adelaide’s prone form shot across grass and slammed against the rear wheel of Meribah’s SUV.
Adelaide stood, shakily, the front of her shirt shredded and bloodied. I opened my mouth to use her name against her one more time and froze at the look of malice on her face. She pivoted, hopped into the front passenger seat, and slammed her door shut as her SUV and the one carrying Doug and Roger peeled away and sped down the road.
Whatever Malvyn used on Josiah and Garnet continued to hold. He’d added a collar around their necks, keeping the two mercifully silent even as their mouths moved and they fought against the restraints.
The house lights were blazing. Tanner, naked, disappeared through the front door. Below the deck, figures moved. I had to assume everyone I hadn’t kept track of during the fight was okay. Or would be.
I turned and ran to Abigail. She lay on her side, a bunched up man’s jacket tucked under the side of her head. Clifford was on his hands and knees beside her, weeping. Peasgood and his brother hadn’t been able to do much beyond use their bodies as a buffer between their grandparents and the irate Fae. I dropped onto my hands and knees on the other side of Abigail and gripped the grass with my fingertips and toes until the spaces in between my digits were jammed with soil.
These two elder folk had dedicated their lives to preserving the descendants of Idunn’s apples and so I called to the Apple Witch to show herself, to show me she could be something other than a greedy ex-lover. I called to her to drop whatever she had against me, look beyond whatever selfish needs motivated her pursuit of Tanner, and use her formidable strength to protect the very people who served as stewards of Idunn’s treasures.
Below me, the Apple Witch’s presence lit up the earth, running through the fissures and lighting them with liquid phosphorescence.
I sent one more pulse, one more request, into the ground, praying she would heed my call to protect Abigail and do no more than what I asked. I placed one hand on Abi’s shoulder and one on Cliff’s.
“It’s going to be okay,” I said. “Help is coming.”
Chapter 23
Abi was so still. She didn’t respond to my voice, but she had Cliff and their grandsons and I needed to see that my sons were safe.
I found them on the far side of my garden. My brilliant vines had taken a different tack than I’d envisioned. Instead of attacking Doug and Roger, they’d attached themselves to Thatch and Harper, weaving a protective cage that pinned the two to the ground. I grabbed fistfuls of vines, felt the adrenaline rush leave my body, making room for tears, shaking muscles, and a torrent of what ifs, and all I wanted was to make sure my boys were okay, that the vines hadn’t cut off their ability to breathe or—
“Mom, we’re okay, we’re okay. Where are Leilani and Sallie?” Harper asked.
Ivy, unbind; ivy unwind. Ivy, unbind; ivy unwind. And thank you.
The vines writhed in my clenched hands. I let go. They unwove themselves and whipped away, leaves waggling like round, green fingers, to the areas we designated as theirs. I grabbed Harper’s face and kissed his cheeks, and Thatch let me do the same.
“I think they’re with James and a couple of the other witches,” I said, as they came to their feet and shook dirt out of their hair. “Belle and Rowan set up a triage area in the living room. I’d appreciate it if you two would check in with them.”
They tried to protest.
I tried to wield the wand of parental authority, realized they’d been through enough, and waved them off. “Go,” I said. “Do what you need.”
Their hugs squished the air out of my lungs. They tore off, passing Wes as he trotted up from the back yard.
“I’m sorry they got away, Calliope,” Wes chuffed, coming to stand beside me. “But now we know who killed the wee trolls.”
“Do we know?” I asked. Because I had the sinking feeling Doug and Roger were in this mess more deeply than I wanted to imagine.
“Sallie, lass, come here.” Wes waved her over from where she’d been waiting under the deck and wrapped an arm around the distressed teen’s upper back. “Tell your cousins’ mum what you told me.”
“I’m so sorry.” Tears poured down Sallie’s cheeks, mingling with the bloody streaks
