Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
That night, we smashed the statue that had shown up on our doorstep. Then, Menolly offered to go hunting through the thicket.
“But we have five acres. You can’t possible manage to search through all that land in one night,” Camille said.
“You’d be surprised at what I can do. I just don’t think Kitten should go hunting for them while she’s hurt,” Menolly said.
We were sitting in the living room, lights off.
Everything looked so beautiful, like out of a postcard.
The garlands draping over the fireplace mantel were dripping with soft multicolored lights that cast a comforting glow through the room.
Camille was curled in the rocking chair.
I was stretched out on the sofa. And Menolly was lying on the floor, hands under her head, staring up at the tree.
“Are you sure you want to go alone?” Camille asked. “I can go with you.”
“No, it’s all right. I can just levitate out of their reach, if I find them,” she said.
“Should we visit Grandmother Coyote tomorrow night to tell her what’s happened?” Camille asked. “I like her, I think. I have a feeling she’s going to become an integral part of our lives, though I don’t know how, yet.”
“I don’t know. She makes me nervous,” I said. “But then, I’m skittish around strangers, anyway. I hope Lukia’s all right. I hope we found all the redcaps on her land.”
“She doesn’t have much land to begin with.
But we can’t take care of whatever might be hiding in the forest behind her fence,” Menolly said, rolling to a sitting position and yawning.
“All right. I’m heading out. I’ll see you in a while.
If you’re asleep by the time I get back in, then I’ll talk to you tomorrow night.
” She shrugged into a denim jacket. Menolly didn’t need protection from the cold, but she liked clothes and so she dressed according to the weather—mostly. It helped her fit into society better.
As she headed out the door, Iris brought in cocoa and cookies. “Here—a little bite before bed.” She glanced at the clock. “You should get to sleep, soon. Remember, Chase is going to show you more of the hotspots in Seattle and he wants to take you down into the Underground tomorrow afternoon.”
I sipped my cocoa and gazed up at the tree. It was so bright, so sparkling, and I didn’t want to think about meeting a bunch of vampires. But we wound the evening down and, with Menolly patrolling outside, Camille and I retired to our rooms, still uneasy about the redcaps.
I was running through the woods—our woods by our house—bounding along.
But I wasn’t in my Tabby form, nor in my human form.
Instead, I caught a glimpse of myself and I was a massive black leopard—a black panther.
I grunted, raising my nose to the sky, and I could smell bonfire smoke in the distance, and I could hear the rustle of autumn leaves as they swirled around me.
The world was swathed in a filter of autumn light—and I was part of it.
I leapt into one of the trees, climbing up to survey our land.
What I was looking for, I didn’t know, but whatever it was, I knew they were dangerous, and I knew that we were on our guards, waiting for them.
And then…just as I thought I caught a glimpse of something creeping out from behind a tree…the image faded, and I woke, springing to a sitting position, my stomach filled with butterflies.
By morning, Menolly had left us a note. She had found two redcaps on our land and made them talk. Apparently, they were the first two scouts here, and she quickly dispatched them. She left directions to their nest for Camille and me to clear out.
As we hiked through the thicket, I sighed. “I thought we were going to have a peaceful vacation here. Apparently, I was wrong.”
Camille didn’t answer at first, but then she stopped, leaned against a tree, and said, “Will you be okay if we end up here for good? I don’t mean that we’ll never see our home again, but I truly have the feeling this is it.
That we’ve found our place. I don’t know how it will work out, but it feels like we’re at the beginning of some massive adventure.
That we’re here for a reason. I was angry at Lathe for orchestrating this, but you know what?
I’m glad we’re here, regardless of how it happened. ”
I crouched down in the snow, thinking. “You might be right. I dreamed something odd last night.” For some reason I didn’t want to talk about the dream, other than to say, “I think we’re standing at the beginning of what might prove a long and dangerous journey.
But…I also feel that we’re going to find rewards and joys in our lives that we can’t even begin to imagine yet. ”
Camille nodded, but said nothing. We silently continued till we found the redcaps’ lair, and dismantled it.
On the way home, I looked around, staring up at the treetops.
Yes, there was something calling me from this forest, something that felt like it had unlocked a destiny that I wasn’t prepared for, but that I was going to have to face.
As long as I had my sisters with me, I thought I could manage it, whatever might come. Because the three of us were bound together by blood and by heart. We had faced Menolly’s death and rebirth together, and we’d face whatever was coming our way with courage and love.
I hope you enjoyed Delilah’s new prequel novella—Bonfire Dreams.