Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
As we left Ginty’s, I said, “We should head over to see how Wager’s doing.”
“I agree, although I doubt if he’s awake. Text Yutani and ask,” Herne said.
I texted Yutani as Herne unlocked the car and we all got in. hey, is wager awake yet? we were thinking we should drop by and check on him, but if he’s asleep, we might as well wait until later.
Yutani answered immediately. don’t bother right now.
the doctor said wager will be out for another hour or so, and when he wakes up, they’re putting him on some powerful pain meds.
also, they’re giving him a dose of medicine safe for the fae in case any bacteria had the chance to bleed into his system.
he’ll be loopy for a while. i was just about to head back to the office.
the doctor has my number and yours—he’ll have the nurse call when wager is coherent enough to talk to.
“I guess we should wait,” I said. “If he can’t even recognize us, it won’t make any difference. All the same, I wish we had someone who could stay with him.”
“Why don’t you call Raven?” Viktor asked. “They’re good friends.”
As Herne started the SUV, I called Raven. When she came on the line, I explained what had happened.
“We were thinking it would be nice if someone was there for when he wakes up, but we’re busy on a case,” I said. “Can you—”
“I’ll go. Wager doesn’t have any family to support him. He’s…”
“A tralaeth like me,” I finished for her.
“Right. I’ll head over there as soon as I give Raj some snacks and get him set up with his programs. There’s a marathon of Captain Quake right now—don’t even ask.
I don’t even understand the storyline, but it’s popular with the under-six set.
Text me the directions and room number, if you would.
” She paused, then added, “We’ll talk to you soon. ”
I hung up, then called Yutani to ask him to send the information to Raven. “Okay, someone will be there. I feel better now,” I added.
“Raven’s the best choice,” he said. “They’ve been friends for a long time.” He paused, then added, “He’ll be okay, Ember. Don’t worry. The doctors are more than capable, and Wager’s strong and healthy.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking a deep breath. “You’re all my family.”
“We know,” he said. “And we all consider you family, too. The fact that you agreed to work with Herne was the best thing that could happen for him. I wasn’t all that much of a fan at first, but that was a long time ago, and I’m grateful you’re in my life.”
I paused, wanting to beg him to work on letting go of Lyrical, but now wasn’t the time. But I did say, “I just want the best for you—for everyone.”
“See you back at the office,” Yutani said, then he hung up.
“All right, back to work. Let’s swing by a coffee shop on the way,” I said.
And, ever obliging, Herne headed for the nearest Starbucks.
Back at the shop, Talia had prepared the paperwork for Ash’s hiring.
“I sent the link to an article from the Seattle Updates site,” she said. “Read it to the others.” She gathered her things and followed us into the breakroom.
Yutani was there already, poring over some link on his laptop.
As we sat down, I opened the link and scanned the headline.
speed boat capsized. three dead and two missing read the headline.
“Holy cripes,” I muttered, before reading the article aloud to the others.
A speedboat belonging to John Wynters, the son of local tech mogul Abernathy Wynters III, was capsized in Elliot Bay this morning.
The boat was dragged under the water by what appears to be a massive octopus.
The bodies of two people—John Wynters and his girl friend, Miley Cranston—were found shortly after.
Three others that were aboard the boat are still missing.
Rescuers have been looking by air, and the Coast Guard has deployed a massive search via the water, but hopes are fading with every hour that passes.
Doctors estimate survival time in water that is fifty-seven degrees to be four hours on the outside.
More than that amount of time has already passed, and given the waves are rough today, authorities aren’t holding out much hope for the missing victims to be found alive.
At first, officials thought the creature was one of the North Pacific giant octopuses, but after consulting an expert in marine life, they now say that whatever capsized this boat was responsible for several similar cases over the past few weeks, and that it’s most likely some other creature.
“Well, that’s the last thing we need to hear,” I said. “Those creatures are still out there, and they’re not going away. The mayor can cave into demands from tourism, but at what cost?” I set my tablet on the table, grumbling.
“Ten to one, I’ll hear from her before tomorrow’s out. They seem to assume we can solve any problem they can’t,” Herne said. He looked as irritated as I felt.
“What will you say to her?” Viktor asked.
“That she needs to get those damned restrictions back up. We’ll only lose more lives the longer they’re down until somebody catches those damned things. I’ll call her tomorrow morning and have another talk with her. Maybe we should ask Ashera to go back out there.”
“I doubt if she would, not without backup. They almost dragged her down the first time she went,” I said. The dragons left over here were helpful, but they weren’t going to sacrifice themselves just for us.
“I suppose you’re right,” Herne said. “By the way, how are we going to manage having an Ash and an Ashera?”
“The same way we manage anything—we never call Ashera ‘Ash’ for short. I doubt she’d stand for it.
So…we shouldn’t have any problem,” I said.
“I’m looked forward to her working here, actually.
My father’s bloodline sparked with recognition.
Just like my mother’s side picks up on the water elementals and other water Fae…
the Autumn’s Bane resonates to Ash’s earth energy.
Only her blood runs deeper than most Fae from the earth.
Crystals have their own resonance and energy—each one is different but they all have that deep harmonic tremor that reverberates like the deepest bass voice in a choir. ”
“Okay, we can’t do anything about the boat,” Herne said.
“Let’s work a little late tonight and spend some time trying to figure out what those Whispering Lights actually are.
” As he proceeded to tell Yutani and Talia what we found out, I pulled another double shot on the espresso machine.
Today was a three-latte day, and I was grateful I could handle the caffeine.
Another hour later, I was no closer to finding out any information on what the Whispering Lights were or what that anteater-like creature was. I was ready to pack it up, when a “FOUND IT!” echoed down the hall. It sounded like Yutani.
I headed to the breakroom, Herne and Viktor joining me. At least in our new building, we all had our own offices and didn’t have to share. Yutani met us coming from the other direction. He was carrying his laptop.
We gathered around the table as he sent us links to our tablets.
“It occurred to me that just looking up the words ‘whispering lights’ was mostly going to point to a bunch of boutique shopping sites,” he said.
“So, I started doing alternate searches and finally found this when I looked up ‘forest light orbs.’ I also found a number of shopping sites for solar lights for your garden, but then I found this.”
The website belonged to that of a small group of paranormal investigators—purely amateur—who were seeking out information on oddities. The article was under the classification of swamp gas and glowing light orbs.
Another oddity that we’ve investigated is that of what the military calls ‘swamp gas’…
these are glowing orbs found in swamps. The authorities have tried to pass them off as gas rising from the marshes, but the phenomenon has been reported in forests as well, both out in the country as well as the thickets in the cities where no bogs are found.
While we first thought all of these reports involved will-o’-the-wisps, we’ve come to realize there are several distinct creatures that we’re dealing with.
The will-o’-the-wisps, or forest devas, are dangerous and have long been known by the name of ‘corpse candles’ as well.
They can be deadly, and it’s difficult to sort them out, until you have actual contact with them.
But we have discovered there are several other categories of light orbs.
One, seems to be merely dancing lights—mindless, oblivious to other beings—who simply hover through the forest without causing harm.
When touched, they give off a mild shock, but float away instead of engaging.
They don’t appear to have the ability to charm, like the will-o’-the-wisps.
We can find no record as to what these orbs are called or whether they’re even sentient.
And there is a third category. We’ve only ever encountered these twice, and we’ve made contact with them once.
They are similar to the will-o’-the-wisps in that they have a natural charm to them.
However, they don’t seem to drain energy off of those they lure in, nor do they seem inclined to harm anyone.
In fact, the one bit of contact we’ve had with them has produced a brief cry for help.
We tried to find out what they wanted but were unable to establish another connection.
We finally approached LOCK, and they provided what information they were willing to hand over.
It seems these are a rare form of sub-Fae, with rudimentary intelligence.
They’re generally gentle, and often called ‘Whispering Lights’ because they seem to whisper to people to connect with them.
They’re considered benign, and they feed off energy from trees rather than mammals.
They’re usually found in conjunction with their one natural predator—the gyanatar.