“Ah, I see. You request permanent sanctuary.”
Behind him, Anastasia whispered urgently. “Stop, Kevin. You’re asking too much.”
Kevin ignored her. He’d already thought about whether he was pushing his luck with the sprites, but he rationalized that he had two gifts to offer—so he might as well ask for two services.
“Yes. I’m requesting sanctuary—in the form of a new cave, and your protection—but not permanently. I only request it until we restore the balance of Light and Darkness in this world—then we will no longer need to hide.”
“And what do you offer as payment for these services?”
Kevin quickly lifted the medicine bag from around his neck, and then held it and its twin out to the sprite. She moved forward—not exactly floating, but her bare feet didn’t stir the ground over which they strode. She came so close to Kevin that he could smell her—she was all the scents of autumn: the cinnamon of falling leaves, the sharp freshness of the first cool day of fall after a long, hot summer, the richness of thick roots reaching far down into fertile earth. Realizing he was staring, he mentally shook himself as she took the bags from him.
The sprite lifted them to her face, sniffed them, and then her tongue flicked out, tasting each of them. She blinked in surprise.
“These are from two different worlds.”
“They are,” he said. “Two different world payments for two different services.”
“Your payment is more interesting than powerful. Let us see if interesting is enough.”
The tree sprite turned her back to him, facing the others who had gathered at his call in a loose semicircle around the front of the cave. She spoke quickly to them using the strange language that was more music than words.
In response one sprite stepped forward from each of the different groups, speaking a series of very similar-sounding whistles and clicks. When they’d all had their turn, the tree sprite bowed her head slightly before turning back to Kevin. When she spoke her voice fell into a sing-song rhythm that reminded him of the voices he’d heard when the other sprites accepted his blood earlier, only this time the power in this sprite’s voice pressed over his skin like the threat of a thunderstorm.
“We accept this payment—this magick from worlds numbered two
Formed from ancient wisdom and given with love to you
In return—
Earth shall be moved
Air shall listen
Water shall watch
And fire shall warm and protect
But heed my command, Redbird Boy
Not one living tree shall you destroy
Or our deal will forever be void
I seal this bargain between thee and me
So I have spoken—so mote it be!”
Then the tree sprite opened her mouth impossibly wide, giving Kevin a disconcerting view of white, pointed teeth, and she swallowed one of the bags whole. Next, with a movement so quick that for Kevin it was only a blur, she tossed the second bag in the air, where it exploded. Pieces of it began drifting down with the frozen rain, and time slowed as the sprites began flitting about, feeding on the remnants of Grandma Redbird’s medicine bag like a swarm of beautiful but deadly piranhas. All the while they chirped and whistled and sang a wordless but joy-filled song.
Time sped up again and the tree sprite looked past Kevin to where Grandma Redbird stood within the lip of the cave.
“Wise Woman, your essence is delicious. You wield your own type of earth power. I would come to you once, should you ever have need of me.”
Grandma Redbird bowed her head in respectful acknowledgment to the sprite before responding. “Should I ever have a need so great that I am willing to pay your price, I shall call you, lovely tree sprite.”
“You and this child of your blood may call me Oak.”
This time when his g-ma’s head bowed, Kevin mimicked her. “Thank you, Oak,” he said.
“You have already thanked me. And your payment was delicious. Now, your people should leave the cave while we work.”
Dragon and Grandma Redbird left the cave with Kevin, but Anastasia paused at the mouth of it to call within.
“Shadowfax, Guinevere! Come on, you two. I know it’s cold and wet out here, but you must leave the cave.
From deep inside, two cats emerged—a huge, disgruntled-looking Maine coon and a delicate, cream-colored cat Kevin was pretty sure was a Siamese. Both tucked their ears against their heads as they padded to Dragon to jump up into his arms.
“I’ve got them. Now, move back with us, Anastasia.”
Dragon’s mate joined them, and Kevin put his arm around his g-ma, trying to protect her as best he could from the bone-chilling rain, but he was still weak, and he found himself staggering unless he leaned heavily on her. Suddenly Dragon passed the two cats to his mate, and then he was beside Kevin, grabbing his other arm, steadying him enough so that he could climb up between two boulders, which almost shielded them from the wet. With Dragon on one side of him and his grandma on the other, Kevin watched as in less time than it had taken to run the Red Army from the ridge, the sprites worked a miracle, and then, without another word, they dissolved back into the trees and rocks and the dark, frigid night.
9
Zoey
“It’s only been a few days since Kevin left, but it feels like months. Please, Nyx, watch over him and don’t let him get into too much trouble.” I lit the purple candle and then placed it at the feet of the exquisite statue of Nyx that stood as the focal point of the courtyard between the school buildings and the Goddess’ temple. It flickered there, adding its happy little light to the other votive offerings, each representing a prayer that had been lifted to our Goddess. Then I stepped back to sit on the carved stone bench beside my BFF, Stevie Rae.
“Yes, Nyx, please keep an eye on Z’s brother in the Other World,” Stevie Rae said. “And I know what ya mean, Z. It’s this weather. Two days ago we were buried in snow, and today it was almost sixty degrees. That makes it seem like lots more time has passed. Hey, you know what’s even weirder than Oklahoma weather?”
“Nope, ’cause OK weather is the weirdest.”
“I know, right? But the even weirder thing is that I missed it. A lot. I mean, Chicago weather can be super cray too. But not Okie cray. I missed the ice and wind and how thunderstorms sweep in across the land like a stampede from above.”
“Uh-huh,” I replied automatically, my eyes trapped by the way the candlelight played across the marble skin of Nyx while my mind was far away … a world away, actually.
“You’d be surprised what all you miss when you’ve left your home.”