I glare around the perimeter. Very few dogs and their owners trot through the park, and most head toward their cars. Paranoia pulls at my gut. After headphones girl, I don’t trust the looks of anyone within our near vicinity.
“Do you see her?” I ask Max.
“No,” Max says, running a hand along his jaw as we approach the benches near the fountain.
It bubbles at the center of a wide lake. The wind scatters droplets of water from its spray across the rippling surface. A small group of ducks paddle quickly toward a cluster of bushes on the other side. Even these creatures put me on edge, my mind conjuring up images of them shifting into human form to attack.
I rub my bare arms as the wind kicks strands of hair across my face. “Do you think she lied to Brynn?”
“I don’t know.” Max shoves his hands into his pockets. “She is really good at that.”
A nearby voice — oddly musical in its tone and tempo — makes Max and me flinch. “What a way to speak of your mother.”
Out of pure instinct, I grip Max’s wrist as I look toward the source of the statement. The water a few feet off the bank lifts slowly. It arcs over us to form a shimmering orb, cutting off the wind and all other sound. I cringe as it then dissipates, leaving behind the same enclosed feeling, almost like we’re in a bubble.
Again, the water in front of us transforms, coalescing into the iridescent form of a woman. Thick, long hair floats around her, smooth like sea grass, and her smile reveals pearl-like teeth. Max inches closer to me, pressing his hand into mine. His mouth twists into a disgusted sneer as my own emotions catch up, now sprinting past the shock of this truly odd situation.
I look back at the woman made of water, fury and disappointment burning through my veins. “Aline Avila?”
The woman winks. “You requested a meeting. This is the best I can do under the circumstances.”
Max swears. “The best you can do? We haven’t seen each other in four years and you show up as a water projection?”
I dig into my memory, trying to come up with everything I know about water spirits taking this form, trying to remember if there’s any way to trap her. Unfortunately, unless I can get out of the neutralizing spell, none of my magic will work. Then again, I am pretty fast ...
Aline pouts. “I did send a gargoyle out to protect you.”
“To put me right back where I was before.” Max throws his free hand into the air. “Hiding and running might be fine for you, but it’s not for me.”
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I know it isn’t fair. That harpy shouldn’t be going after you at all. She wants justice, yet she does violence to it herself.”
Max spits out what sounds like a string of curses in Portuguese.
“Watch your language,” Aline says. “I didn’t raise you to speak in such a way.”
“You barely raised me at all.” Max scoffs.
“Hang on.” Tightening my grip on Max’s arm, I fight to keep my voice even in spite of my growing irritation. “You’re the one linked to the disappearance of Iris’ brother. If you clear a few things up it might solve this whole mess and save your son’s life. We know you didn’t kill him, so talking to Iris about what happened shouldn’t be a problem.”
Aline glides a little closer, her expression still smooth, almost serene. “Are you not a bounty hunter, young phoenix? You should know better than anyone how complicated truth is. Would you have me suffer for a decision he made himself?”
A new layer of musicality laces through her words. Warmth rolls out from the center of my chest and across my skin as the beauty of her features intensifies. All my frustration and anger fade, slipping below the surface as a deep desire to agree with everything she says swells above it.
“It is complicated,” I say in a breathy whisper.
Max pinches my arm so hard I yelp.
“Why...” That pleasant feeling from his mom’s magic evaporates and I scowl. She must have a unique neutralizing spell, one that only allows her magic through. “No. This isn’t a complicated question. Joel Smith committed suicide after you broke up with him. If you had nothing to do with that, then you should want to help his sister try to find closure.”
Aline glares at Max. “There are many unforgivable things in this world, filho, but going against your own mother...” She shakes her head. “I offered you a way out of all this. Go with Brynn back to your people or turn yourself in to Iris Smith. You’re grown now, so that is your choice, but do not expect me to do something against my own self-interest.”
In an instant, her form loses its shape, splashing back into the water before I can react, taking both her neutralizing spell, and our last hope, along with her.
18.
WITH A GROWL OF FRUSTRATION, Max tries to dive into the water after her. I claw at his arm, barely restraining him, my shoes sliding on the damp grass. As much as I want to do the same thing, there’s no way we’ll be able to follow her. At least not that way.
Max thrashes against me, but only for a moment before sinking into a crouch, elbows on his knees. “I don’t know why I’m surprised,” he says, hardly loud enough to even be called a mumble.
I shove my nails through my hair, digging them into my scalp, using this small amount of pain to try and ground myself. “I’m sorry, Max.”
Rage fogs my brain. Aline Avila works out of the same handbook my dad does; her solution is the only solution, take it or leave it.
