Impulsively, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “You are a true friend, Feddrah-Dahns. Please, take care of yourself. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you. You’re the unicorn every little girl envisions walking by her side. You’re the unicorn of legends, and on the day you ascend to the throne, your people will have gained the most noble leader they could ever hope for.”
The morning flew by in a rush of portal jumping and avoiding the unicorns and elves. At noon, we stepped through the portal leading into Grandmother Coyote’s forest, and I took a deep breath. We were home, safely, but nothing would ever be the same. The marks on my back foretold that.
Grandmother Coyote was nowhere to be seen. For once, I was disappointed rather than relieved. I wanted to ask her advice about the spirit seals. The feeling in my gut was that Tanaquar and Asteria were going to make a mess of things, albeit unwittingly, and I was willing to pay the price to get some expert advice. But when we stepped out of the portal, she wasn’t there.
I glanced around, looking, but nada. After a moment, I sighed and pulled out my cell phone. Delilah answered.
“We’re back. Can you pick us up?”
“Thank the gods you’re home,” she said, her voice tense. “Chase has been asking where the hell you and Morio are. Apparently the Wedgewood Cemetery has become the liveliest place in town and there’s not much Menolly and I can do about it. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
As we made our way through the woods to the road, I closed my eyes, readjusting to the presence of power lines and airplane noises and passing traffic. It was so much noisier than Otherworld, but this time, I felt a sense of relief being back. And Trillian was with me. I glanced over at him and he gave me a soft smile, one of those that reminded me both just how passionate and just how dangerous he could be.
By the time we reached the road, the rain was pouring again. Seattle definitely had it all over most of Otherworld in terms of rain. Actually, now that I thought about it, Dahnsburg’s climate was surprisingly similar to that of western Washington’s. As I drifted into a comfortable silence, Delilah pulled up in Morio’s Subaru. He’d left the keys with her. Now, he got in the driver’s seat and I climbed in the back with Trillian and Delilah. Iris rode shotgun.
“Welcome home, Trillian,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
He stared at her, a smirk on his face. “Do tell? That’s a change.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, but instead of a come-back, said, “So, you guys have the energy to head out to the cemetery tonight? We’ve got a whole lot of shaking going on. You’d think it was near Samhain.”
Halloween and Samhain—the festival of the dead—were celebrated in Otherworld a bit differently than by the humans over Earthside.
For one thing, on Samhain Eve, our dead dropped in for a visit—visibly. They were loud, sometimes obnoxious, and left no room for speculation as to whether they were there or not. But Halloween itself was moot. In OW, we didn’t do the costume party dress-up thing, and candy might be dandy, except we left the big sweet bash until Yule. Santa Claus—aka the Holly King—was a big hit at parties because of his stash.
I shook my head. “We’re still over a month from the holiday, and the dead don’t usually walk on the equinox. At least not like this. Okay, let’s get our butts home so we can tell you all the crap going down back over in OW. You aren’t going to believe what happened.”
By the time we walked through the door, it was a little after one. I decided to wait to spill all the news until Menolly was awake. Iris headed to her room for a shower, and I aimed myself toward the stairs, also desperately in need of a shower and change of clothing. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say once I was alone with Trillian and Morio, but they saved me the trouble.
“I’m hungry for a big, thick sandwich with mustard and mayo,” Trillian said, his eyes lighting up when he glanced down the hall at the kitchen.
“Me, too,” Morio said. As I dashed up to my room, they were hauling out supplies for what threatened to be towering sandwiches.
I was toweling off when my phone rang. I spread my towel on the bed, sat down, and picked up the phone, once again appreciating my mother’s world. Earthside had its advantages and no way would I dispute them.
It was Henry Jeffries on the line. Henry had been a regular at the Indigo Crescent since the OIA first opened it as my Earthside cover. Once I took over the bookstore for real, we’d gotten to know each other better.
A somewhat older gentleman—by FBH years—in his mid-sixties, he loved golden-age science fiction and fantasy. A few months back, I’d hired him on part-time. He made the perfect employee: He didn’t need the money, he loved the work, and he was polite and fun to talk to.
“Hey, Henry, what’s up?” I expected him to give me a rundown on what was going on at the bookstore.
“My mother died, Camille.” He didn’t sound choked up about it—his mother had been a harridan who ruled his life and kept him locked into his perpetual bachelor existence—but I could sense an underlying melancholy.
“I’m sorry. I imagine you need some time off to attend to affairs?”
Surprise number two.
“No, thank you. Mother wanted a simple service, and to be truthful, since she had no friends, there isn’t anybody to contact. I buried her this morning. The lawyers will attend to the will but it’s fairly straightforward. My mother was a wealthy woman, you know.”
“No, I didn’t know that.”
“In fact, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m her sole beneficiary. I’m going to be a rich man, Camille. Very rich. I’ve got nothing to occupy my time—I’m not a traveler. I don’t want to go adventuring. So I thought of buying the shop next to yours. You know, the bakery that went under?”
“Um-hmm,” I murmured, wondering where he was going with this. I was getting chilly sitting in my birthday suit. The second floor was drafty and we hadn’t gotten around to having the house insulated yet.
“I thought I’d turn it into a coffee shop and hire someone to manage it. Then I could focus on helping you run the bookstore more. We could put a door inside, between the two shops—really tie them together. That should bring in more business for you. Sort of like me buying into your business without really buying into it.” His words came out in a rush and I could hear the excitement behind them.
Touched that he cared so much about the bookstore and wanted to help increase sales, I said, “What a lovely idea. We’ll talk about it in a couple of days, but I’m interested. Are you sure you don’t need some time off?”
“No,” he said softly. “The work is good for me. My mother lived a long life. And you know what she was like. I’m not going to play hypocrite. She was overbearing and sharp-tongued. I’ll miss her, of course, but she never gave me the room to love her. She pushed everybody away.”
“Okay. Well, if you’re up to working this afternoon, that would be great. Iris and I just got back from Otherworld. We had to talk to my father for a bit. So we’re both a little tired.”
He laughed. “Now there’s one adventure I’d love to take. Someday, promise you’ll take me on a trip to your home-world?”
I smiled. Henry was a sweetheart and in his own, gentle way, he brought a grace and good manners into our lives. “Henry, I promise I will do my best to make sure you get to visit Y’Eírialiastar. You’d love it.”
As I hung up the phone, I thought that if anybody deserved to see their fantasies come true, it was Henry. Though he’d never see the fantasy of marrying Iris come to light. Our man had a bad case of unrequited love, but as much as Iris liked him, she didn’t return the affection. And there’s never been a way to force love where it won’t blossom.
I finished drying my hair and slid into clean, comfortable clothes, then headed downstairs to see if the boys had thought to leave me a sandwich, or if I’d have to lick the crumbs off their plates.
By the time I got downstairs, Chase was there. He had his arm draped around Delilah and they were snuggling in the living room. Trillian and Morio glanced up as I entered the room. I leaned down to plant a kiss on Trillian’s lips, then Morio’s, but drew the line at sitting between them.
“You both need showers. I’m not going to curl up with you now that I’m all squeaky clean.”
Trillian grumbled, but then laughed. “I’m not taking a bubble bath with Fox Boy, but I’ll head up for a shower now.”
Morio let out a snort. “I’ll use the shower in Iris’s bathroom. I think she’s done with her bath.”
“Just don’t barge in without knocking,” I said. As they both left the room, I claimed their spot on the sofa. “Chase, how’s it hanging?”
He let out a long sigh. “You be the judge. The Wedgewood Cemetery seems to be the place to hang out and party. At least, it is if you’re a ghoul or ghost or whatever those creatures are. Last night all hell broke loose. I’ve got the area cordoned off but pretty soon one of those creatures is going to wander off the green, so to speak. I wish you’d been here to help out.”
“Full Moon,” I said. “I was running with the Hunt to the point of madness. I’d have been less help to you than Delilah was in her kitty-cat form. So, have the papers gotten wind of the undead brigade yet?”
Chase jerked his head in a short, grim nod. “Yeah, oh yeah. Andy Gambit’s all over it.”
Gambit reported for the Seattle Tattler, a rag that thrived on ignorance, bigotry, and yellow journalism. “What the hell is he saying now?”
“He’s trying to blame the FH-CSI for the problem. And he’s inciting that damned Brotherhood of the EarthBorn—the new church that the Freedom’s Angels group and the Guardian Watchdogs are forming? He’s inciting them to haul their asses out to the various cemeteries and pray for the souls of the dead. He’s going to get a lot of people hurt if he doesn’t watch it.”
Delilah’s eyes narrowed. “Prayers won’t do any good. Not unless they contain the right spells to calm the dead. And then only if you’ve got a powerful enough mage or witch to cast them.”
“I know that, and you know that, but Gambit doesn’t believe it.” Chase leaned back against the cushion and rubbed his eyes. “I’m so tired. Last night Delilah decided to play chase—and I’m not talking about me—all night long. She was going nuts, tearing around the room, knocking stuff off the nightstand, pouncing on my toes. I had to kick her outside the bedroom so I could sleep.”
“I can’t help it if that catnip mouse you gave me was so strong,” she said, laughing.
“Sure, blame me.” He gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Seriously, Camille, I wish there had been somebody around to help me last night. Menolly couldn’t go out with me. She had to watch over the house.”
“Next month we’ll make certain you aren’t alone without backup during the full Moon.” I shook my head. “The trip home was insane. I’ll go into detail once Menolly’s awake, but last night the Moon Mother . . . she promoted me, so to speak. I’m now a priestess.” I pulled down my top to show them the new tattoo.
Delilah gasped. “Oh great gods! Congratulations!” She flew out of her chair and pulled me to my feet, hugging me tightly. “I know how much you’ve always hoped this would happen! But how? Why?”
I glanced around the room. “Are the wards up?”
“Still tight and active,” she said.
“Okay, here’s the short story. I’ll tell you more tonight, so no questions till then. Talking about this is . . . difficult.” The words came harder than I thought they would. They felt so harsh on my tongue. “Last night I sacrificed the Black Unicorn with his own horn. With my horn.” And for the first time since I’d woken up, I burst into tears.
Delilah stumbled back. Even Chase looked appalled, but neither of them said a word, for which I was grateful. After a moment, Iris came out of the kitchen, holding Maggie propped against one hip. The gargoyle reached out to me and I took her in my arms. Her wide eyes glowed softly and she gently licked the tears rolling down my face.
“No sad, Camey . . . no sad . . .”
“Somebody misses her Camille.” Iris gave me a long look. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, just overemotional.”
“Well, then. Delilah,” Iris said, holding up a roll of toilet paper that had been ripped to shreds. “I see you discovered a new toy last night.”
Delilah blushed. “Oh . . . uh . . . yeah. Where did you find it?”
“The guest bathroom. I hope you had fun because you knocked everything off the counter, ripped up the toilet paper, and climbed the shower curtain.”
“Camey! Camey!” Maggie interrupted.
I cooed softly as her wispy fur tickled my nose. She snuggled against me, moophing gently. She clutched my hair and closed her eyes, resting her head on my shoulder. I kissed her forehead and settled into the rocking chair, gently rocking back and forth as she fell asleep. My tears began to recede.
“She had a busy morning,” Delilah said, a guilty look crossing her face. “I left her alone in the kitchen while I bathed, and she tipped over her new playpen, managed to get out, and opened the cupboard under the sink. She dumped the garbage and was eating stale pizza when I found her, though she was wearing more of it than she got in her mouth.”