Chapter 26 #2
The water-watch sucked rain from the air, immediately transforming it into a massive ring of water around us. It thundered like waves, spinning like an aggressive mid-air moat.
Wow.
Cold air rushed my face, water spraying me, contributing to my currently soaked state. I didn’t care. I loved this.
The first zombie to collide with the water barrier got its face shredded, liquid ripping through its skull. Within seconds, there was no head left. The man fell forward, his upper torso meeting the same fate.
Yuck.
“Don’t worry,” the woman said over her shoulder. “We can get out of here before my watch takes a break.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Stars, I missed my wind-watch. Its yellow strap was still on my wrist seeing as only King Damien could remove it, but an encounter with some iron chains broke it.
Sigh.
Zombie after zombie threw themselves into the ring of water, shredding like pulled pork. I kept my eyes off the gore, focusing on the sparkly piercing on the back of my savior’s neck.
“Tilda.” She reached around to shake my hand.
I shook it. “Orion.”
“Nice to meet you. I had a vision about you.”
I swallowed heavy surprise. “Sorry?”
“A weird vision about syrup and zombies. Only, I came to realize it wasn’t syrup but honey. The replicating honey.” She pointed at the orbs still safely in the sack on my arm. “That stuff.”
My protective instincts kicked in. I reached in my pocket for Wendy, fingertips brushing her tiny body vibrating with slow, sleeping breaths.
“Don’t look so worried, Orion. Being water-affiliated gives me small psychic powers. They don’t always make sense or amount to anything, but this time was different.” She turned and started the bike again, speeding through the horde, obliterating the undead.
“By the stars…”
“I know. I know.”
“What is it about watery creatures?”
“It’s said the power comes from a lost underwater realm or city destroyed by some ignorant fuckers.
Those who didn’t like the idea of, well, creatures like me spying on the bigger picture.
At least, that’s what I’ve come to understand.
The details are hazy, coming in the odd dream. No one really knows.”
Something was in the water, for sure. And I wondered if that human who’d told Miko about the oracle had a splash of watery magic inside him. Because he had been magically touched, apparently.
Wow. This was more of the universe’s string pulling to help our journey, and maybe even the stars themselves had a hand in this.
I sent my thanks, keeping myself from spinning into overthinking.
Stay grateful.
Stay strong.
Clearing the last of the horde, Tilda zipped across the muddy green space of Finsbury Park, the wheels practically gliding across it.
“Where are we going?” she asked. “Haven’t see any details on that, I’m afraid.”
Should I tell her?
The answer was a resounding yes.
“Dunstable. Bedfordshire.”
“On it. Mind if I take you?”
“Not at all. Thanks so much.”
She turned into a street, navigating the overturned vehicles and slowies without a care in the world.
“Happy to help. I saw the king in my head this morning. Fragments of a plan to move Faery or something. I don’t know.
But I kept on seeing you, a voice whispering the plight of the fae and the queen of the replicating bees.
Blew my mind. Made me want to help. I couldn’t believe it when I saw you in the flesh. ”
It was incredible how the threads of destiny intertwined. You think you’re heading in one direction and then you discover a new, unexpected strand. The good kind.
“A lot to handle, right?” Tilda said, turning into a small side street.
“It’s fine. I’m lucky to have met you.”
“Sweet of you. Now, then. Let’s get out of this city.”
“Do you know the way?”
“I lived on Earth with my ex human girlfriend for ten years. Her family lived in Houghton Regis.”
“Where’s that?”
After a dicey maneuver to avoid a pack of speedies, my stomach somersaulting, she answered with, “A town neighboring Dunstable.”
“Oh.”
“You’re in good hands, Orion.”
“Thanks.”
We reached the M25 motorway in no time, which only made me more tense than before.
Vehicles choked the road, cracks everywhere, weeds sprouting from those gouges in the asphalt.
Overgrown fields lined the motorway, bodies and bones littering the spaces between the vehicles, rainwater sluicing past them.
Stars, what a downpour. I shivered in the cold, grateful for Tilda’s body heat. The ring of water still held strong, destroying any obstacles in our path.
I wondered how many other watery creatures and folk had seen me in my dreams. Miko didn’t have a water affinity but saw me because we were destined to be mates. A tweaking of the rules, you could say.
Just like our new mental connection.
I reached for him, picturing his handsome face, recalling the touch of his callused hands, drifting into a dreamy state, remembering all the fabulous things about him.
“Miko?” I said, my voice echoey.
I felt his heartbeat, a surge of panic.
“Orion? Oh my God!” he boomed in my skull.
My heart hiccupped. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
The connection fizzled, whatever he’d said now lost.
“Miko?”
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
“Miko? Please answer me…”