Chapter 34
Wyatt
Breakfast on the back porch occurs more at lunchtime than breakfast; Alice calls it “brunch” as she sips her coffee, her plate of eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes practically licked clean. I love it that my girl can eat.
The air’s starting to turn, the golden warmth of autumn leaching off, winter lurking at its heels.
Snow’ll dust the hills before we know it.
My mind’s already torn ahead to Solstice, wondering if there’s childhood ornaments somewhere we can go pick up for the tree, and wondering when Alice’s parents will come home.
I have a conversation I need to have with her pops. The thought bounces around in my mind, no longer frightening or tinged with anxiety for the future that hasn’t arrived yet.
Alice will stay. We will fall in love properly, deeply, in all the ways that make the kind of marriage my parents never could’ve hoped for.
We’ll make a life they never would have dared dream about, and when the time is right, I know in my soul that I’m gonna ask for the hand of the woman next to me.
She wipes her lips with a gingham cloth napkin, smiling at me. “What’re you thinking about?”
I grin. “Guess.”
She waggles her eyebrows at me as Fern zips around the yard, enthusiasm and puppy bounciness returning to her body now that the Hunt’s passed us.
“Not that,” I laugh. “Well, not before…but now…”
Alice laughs too, setting her plate on the deck, snuggling into her chair, and pulling the thick quilt I keep in a basket by the door over her. Her eyes are a little sleepy as she smiles. “Well, I’ve gotta say, you look a lot like you love me.”
The words pierce my very soul, and I answer without hesitation. “Well, I do, sweet girl. Maybe it’s too soon to say, but I do love you.”
She smiles, warmth infusing every inch of her, but she doesn’t say it back. Instead, she takes my hand and squeezes. “Will you let me just luxuriate in that for a while?”
Her question is tentative, like I might be angry with her. But I know Alice Blythe like I know my own soul. She loves me too; that’s plain as day. But she’s never had enough love to go around for herself, the stress of not belonging chasing her like a pack of hungry hyenas.
I squeeze her hand back. “You luxuriate as long as you like, darlin’.”
She brings my hand to her lips and kisses my knuckles, whispering, “I knew you’d say that.”
Emotion chokes my throat. No one’s ever seen me quite as clearly as Alice does. I may have belonged with Fallon and Caden, and here in Blackbird Hollow, but now I’m seen. Known. And it’s the best thing I’ve ever felt.
Inside, the phone rings, and I’m tempted to let it go unanswered. But this soon after last night, I can’t.
Alice lets go of my hand and grins. “Better go get that.”
An hour later, Caden, Fallon, Fern, Alice, and myself are somehow all squeezed into the cab of my truck, bouncing along a dirt road, deep into the forest. Everyone’s talking at once, and I can’t make out the multiple threads of conversation and drive at the same time.
I catch snippets of gossip from last night’s celebration on the roof, theories on Fey anatomy, and something incomprehensible from Fallon about puffer vests being the avatar of the apocalypse. It’s fucking chaos, and I love it.
As I take a turn down what can only be described as a game trail, I spot flashing lights in the mist. We’ve crossed into tribal lands, and the guardians are here, just where Marion said they’d be. She’s sipping coffee out of an ancient insulated mug, which she raises to me as I slow the truck.
When the five of us spill out of the cab, Leonard Gill and Debbie Kingbird both rise out of crouches just beyond the SUV with the flashing lights. All three of them laugh at us. A couple of horses look up from where they’re grazing on the other side of the small clearing.
Debbie snorts. “Fuckin’ Hayes kids—what is this, a clown car?” The chief’s brown eyes sparkle with affection, despite the bark of her words. She extends a hand to Alice. “Good to meet you, Miss Blythe. Marion’s had a lot of interesting things to tell us about you.”
Alice returns the handshake, bowing her head slightly in deference as she notices the beaded badge embroidered on the chief’s barn jacket. “I hope some of them were good.”
Leonard chuckles, elbowing me as he comes to stand next to me. He’s got about four inches on me, and thirty years, silver threading through his braids. “Glad y’all could make it out. This is your area, for sure, not ours.”
Chief Kingbird nods. “You can take it from here, Marion.”
Marion smiles. “Sure thing.”
The Chief and Leonard make their way across the clearing, avoiding a circle of mossy lumps in the center, and mount their horses. As they disappear into the forest, Caden stares at the circle. Alice goes to stand next to him, and they murmur to one another in nearly indecipherable tones.
Marion pours two more cups of coffee from a thermos on the hood of her SUV and hands them to me and Fallon. “Thought the two of you could use some decent coffee.”
Fallon nods, breathing deep as her eyes move around the clearing. “Two more hikers taken?”
Marion nods. “We tracked them to this location, and it’s like they just disappeared.”
Fallon points to the new moss growing on two trees, all the way across the clearing. “They disappeared into those trees.”
My heart thumps slow and heavy as I realize what’s happened. “Nymphs. The hikers that’ve gone missing. It’s the nymphs, not the Hunt.”
Marion nods as Caden makes his way over to the trees our sister’s already spotted, Alice right at his heels.
They’re so deep in conversation, I doubt either of them hears us.
Marion leans against her old blue SUV, using one hand to dig around in her big leather bag.
It’s something she tells me was once known as a “Birkin,” and she’s quite proud of having come across it at a flea market.
She pulls out an ID badge that pictures a handsome white man, just about my age, with a hard look in his eyes. The name reads “Brett Turner.” I swallow hard. “He’s dead?”
Marion nods toward the trees that Alice and Cade are giving a thorough going-over. “Or whatever happens to them in the tree.” She turns the ID over, and a notorious HBL logo is emblazoned on the back. HB Lumber used to be a fracking company pre-Reformation. I sneer at the ID.
Marion pushes a piece of paper toward Fallon, who glances over it, her eyes narrowing in rage. “It just never fucking ends with these people, does it?”
I glance down at the tribal document regarding Mr. Turner, who is apparently a lawyer for HBL. He’s got a record of harassment and worse, but HBL’s been buying him out of the trouble he’s made for himself time and time again.
Marion stares at the trees. “Whatever those nymphs have done,” she says in a steely voice, “you don’t stop them from continuing to do it, you hear?”
Fallon nods. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Marion puts a hand on my sister’s arm, sighing with relief. “I knew you’d understand, Fallon.” My stomach twists suddenly at the look that passes between them. There’s something I don’t know. Some hurt Fallon’s endured that I don’t know about.
My sister’s eyes lift to mine. “It was a long time ago, bub.” I want to hug her tight, but she just holds my gaze. “I don’t talk about it.”
“Alright,” I murmur. “But if you change your mind…”
“I know,” Fallon whispers. “Wyatt, I know. And I am alright.”
The funny thing is, I believe her. I glance at Marion, and from the way she’s looking at my sister, I know she’s the reason Fallon’s okay now. Fallon looks at the printout again, taking a sharp breath. “Every one of the ones that went missing were HBL?”
Marion nods. “Every single one over the past decade. And the Chief did a bit of digging of her own. HBL can’t get an accurate survey of the land, because everyone they send out disappears.”
Fallon chuckles. “Bet they wish it was legal to use those fucking satellites now, don’t they?”
Marion snorts. “No drones, no satellites… They’ll figure it out eventually, but the nymphs have given us time to sort out what to do next.”
Across the clearing, Cade’s got his hand pressed to one of the trees that ate the folk from the lumber company. A sound that’s somewhere between a giggle and a windchime tinkles through the clearing, and suddenly we’re surrounded.
The forest is full of nymphs, Their sharp teeth gleaming in the low autumn light of the afternoon. Alice gasps as one approaches her, touching her hair. “I know you.”
The nymph smiles dreamily. “You were in the parking lot at Three Ravens the other day. Such pretty hair.”
Another half-dozen or so surround Caden, Their eyes hungry. “You’re so beautiful,” one of Them says. Another chimes in, “Would you like to dance with us?” while yet another chirps, “We like to watch you bathe.”
“Hey,” I bark out. “That’s not polite.”
The one who made the comment about watching Cade in the bath frowns. “It’s not?”
“No,” Alice says gently. “You should ask before doing things like that.”
“Can I watch you bathe?” the nymph asks, her wide green eyes feverish with lust.
My brother’s cheeks go red as Marion snickers. “Um…no?”
The nymph looks crestfallen, but another speaks up. “What about an orgy? You’d like an orgy, wouldn’t you?”
Caden swallows as Marion, Fallon, and Alice all fall to pieces with laughter, and Fern sniffs the nymphs that have clustered around Caden. “I…” My brother looks at me, panic in his eyes.
I have to chuckle, setting my mug down on the hood of Marion’s SUV. “Good neighbors,” I say softly. The nymphs turn. “Caden is not of a persuasion to engage in the kinds of activities you describe at this time.”
“Would later be better?” one asks me eagerly.
It takes everything I have not to laugh. “No, I think this is a state that will last for all his natural life.”
“Oh,” They all say in unison, disappointment blooming over the clearing like azaleas in spring.
Most of Them disappear, fading into the forest, but the one who spoke to Alice lingers.
She wears a crown of willow on her brow, her hair the colors of autumn leaves and her eyes a deep well of concern.
“Do not worry,” she says with a smile as she searches all our faces.
“The tree-killers will never prosper here. This is now our home.”
Marion clears her throat, and the nymph’s eyebrows leap up.
“We have made the necessary arrangements with…” The words the nymph speaks next are not understandable to me.
She speaks in a Fey language that predates time itself, but Marion seems to comprehend her, nodding as the nymph explains herself.
Finally, Marion speaks. “That will be fine, then. None cut the trees here unless they’ve sickened or have already fallen.”
The nymph smiles. “We know you need fuel for your winters. We will gather wood in both your territories as tithe for our presence here.” She walks toward Fallon and takes her hands in her too-long fingers.
“Dear little sister, we mean your charges no ill will. Only those that do harm will be eaten.”
Fallon nods. “See that it stays that way.”
The willow-crowned nymph smiles, her razor-sharp teeth showing, before her eyes turn my way. “And you, Wyatt Hayes. Would you like to keep your forest Sight? Or would you prefer I remove it?”
The way she says “remove it” sends prickles down my spine, to the spot where the nymph dug into me. Miraculously, there’s no evidence on me that someone shoved nymphy fingers into me, but I can’t be sure the removal would be so kind.
Alice steps forward, her eyes narrowed with a kind of fierce concentration that makes me proud. “No deals. Your sister gave him the forest Sight to meet her own ends. Those ends were met. The bargain is closed.”
The willow-crowned nymph nods. “What a clever girl,” she says as she fades from sight. “Remember to set a watch for the forsaken.”
Her words echo through the clearing. Fallon spins toward me. “What’s that mean?”
I shrug. “Don’t know. The alpha hound said it too, though.”
Marion shakes her head as Caden, Alice, and Fern all gather around the hood of the SUV with us. “There’s something happening on your end of things that spells trouble. Too much activity down the ley lines, all going to and fro someplace out West. You have a problem brewing.”
Fallon sighs. “When’s it ever been any different?”
Marion shrugs, looping her arm through Fallon’s. “Never ever, girly. What’re you wearing to the Hallows tonight?”
Fallon grins as Alice looks helplessly at me. “Are the Hallows the big party Lizzie was talking about the other day?”
“Yes, sweet girl.” I smile, thinking that feels like ages ago. “We gotta find you a costume.”
“Not we,” Fallon insists, pushing between us. “You ruined girls’ night, and I haven’t had my essential debriefing yet.”
Marion smiles. “You two wanna ride back with me? I heard Widow Harkness has a chest of old dresses we might raid from her modeling days.”
And just like that, the three of them are piling into Marion’s SUV without so much as a fare-thee-well. Caden laughs as Marion maneuvers the vehicle around my truck and they speed off into the mist.
“Well,” he says. “What’re you wearing tonight?”
“Why?” I ask. “Are you actually gonna come?”
Cade smiles. “Yeah, big brother, I am. If we’ve got more trouble on the way, it’s time I get back to living life.”
I sling an arm around Caden and hug him. Despite the fact that closing this chapter of trouble has only meant opening another, I’m happy as can be. “Let’s go work out what to wear to the Hallows,” I say, whistling for Fern. “It’s gonna be a hell of a good night.”