Weald Fae 02 - The Changeling Read online

  “Some people are worth saving—at any price.”

  I let go of her and stared into her face, swallowing another sob.

  “Your name is Tadewi?”

  She smiled broadly. “Indeed, that is what I’m called, and this is the eldest of my clan, Tse-xo-be.”

  “I’m pleased to meet you, even if I don’t know why you’d risk so much. Are you all right? Your hand…” I said, staring at it.

  She cut me off. “We heal quickly.”

  “But I…” It was all I managed before Tse-xo-be interrupted me.

  His voice was deep and resonated pleasantly in my head. Like hers, his accent was foreign but seductive. “We need to leave this place before Cassandra returns with reinforcements. We are stronger, but they are greater in number.”

  With that she transformed back into a Sasquatch and lifted me into her arms, cradling me like a baby. Even though I trusted her, it was completely unnerving and I couldn’t look at her. Tse-xo-be shifted into a giant boar and we headed further away, off the Weald and through the mountains. I shifted my connection from the rocks to the midday breeze so I would remain hidden.

  After ten minutes of cutting through the woods, circling around homes and gliding over dry streambeds, we crossed Highway 62. Five minutes later we were miles away standing in the woods above a parking lot. All eight of my stalkers, the Ohanzee, were there when Tadewi set me on my feet.

  “There are humans in the structure,” the Coy One said silently to the others.

  “Not for long,” the Fierce One replied as he drifted down the wooded path to the north. A few minutes later, two elderly women and a man climbed into a Buick with Kansas plates and quickly drove away.

  Rain began to fall as they led me down the path. The sound soothed my frayed nerves. Though I’d never seen it in person, I recognized the building as Thorncrown Chapel.

  FOURTEEN

  DOUG

  All of the Ohanzee changed into human form as we walked to the door of the chapel, all except the Cautious One. When Tse-xo-be insisted that she assume a shape less frightening to me, the Cautious One morphed into a white tail deer and bolted into the woods. Tadewi whispered in my ear, telling me that her name was Amadahy, a Water inclined Fae who’d never taken human form. Like all of the Water inclined Fae I’d encountered, Amadahy struck me as a deep thinker, but there was something else: she despised me. I guessed my being human was an unpardonable offense.

  Amadahy patrolled the outside of the chapel while the rest of the Ohanzee followed me inside. Even though two of these Fae had confronted me at the abandoned cabin, and one had thrown things, big things, and called me fragile, I wasn’t scared. It was probably a natural reaction, I thought. Anyone would find it easy to relax in front of seven Fae who looked like Native American supermodels. It was certainly less intimidating than having a snarling ten-foot-tall Bigfoot slinging old tires across a field.

  “Why did you protect me? Why risk your lives?”

  “Good question,” Amadahy said silently, unaware I was listening in.

  Tse-xo-be ignored her. “We were asked to keep an eye on you.” His tone was still formal. It struck me that of the Fae I’d met only Billy, Sara, Danny and Gavin used contractions.

  “By whom?” I asked pointedly.

  “A mutual friend and ally.”

  I exhaled loudly and crossed my arms, staring directly into Tse-xo-be’s handsome face, wondering whether any Fae was capable of giving a straight answer.

  “We will not linger here for long,” Tse-xo-be said, pointing toward the front of the room where nine stool-sized, stone seats grew out of the floor in a circle.

  Tadewi laughed quietly and sat down, looking up at Tse-xo-be. “He did say she would demand full-disclosure.”

  Tse-xo-be smiled, slightly, for the first time, and the rest of the Ohanzee took seats. The Fierce One sat opposite me. He stared without blinking or smiling, his lips pressed thin in a flat line. I sat when Tse-xo-be motioned to the stool at his right. Perhaps it was their dress, or maybe their erect postures, their reserved and solemn expressions, the way they sat in a circle—whatever it was, I felt very out of place. I felt like I was crashing a sacred council fire.

  It was obvious who was behind the Ohanzee being there. Billy’s reaction in the woods replayed in my head, and his reassurances that they posed no threat to me finally made sense.

  “Billy asked you to come, didn’t he?”

  Tse-xo-be had a deep timbre to his voice that resonated as he spoke, reminding me of the narrators in movie trailers. “Yes, we have been watching you for some time. Although, and you have my apology, we did not realize that you could sense us, and more surprising, that you could do so from such a distance. Your Treorai failed to mention that.”

  “He doesn’t know what my range is.”

  “Ah. It was not our intention to alarm you. Billy told me how much you detest the Seelie guards at the cottage.”

  He nodded to the Fierce One. He was the tallest of the group in human form and strikingly handsome despite the stern look consuming his face.

  “This is Wakinyan.”

  “Umm, nice to meet you?” My voice was more awkward than I’d hoped.

  “Do I frighten you?” he said, staring intensely into my eyes.

  “Honestly? Yes, a lot. Especially when you’re crushing kitchen appliances with your bare hands.”

  His face softened into a broad smile and he chuckled.

  “Oh-kay.” I said quietly. Playing dumb, I asked him a question to which I already knew the answer. “You were the one who took the form of the giant bird today, weren’t you?”

  “Yes,” he said, staring without blinking.

  “Was that like the Native American legend of the Thunderbird?”

  “I AM the legend,” he said slowly, his husky voice reverberating off the glass walls. Wakinyan’s expression remained stern for a moment, making me uncomfortable. When I felt my face blush, he loosed a raucous laugh. “By the way, nice choice of automobile. I find it flattering, even in pink.”

  He was having fun, testing me to see how I’d react. A smile stretched across my face, but I looked back to Tse-xo-be when Wakinyan’s expression grew stern again. I refused to play the game on his terms.

  “This is Sinopa,” Tse-so-be said, taking my cue.

  The Coy One, I thought. Her expression never changed, but she did nod to acknowledge me. I should have called her the poker face, because she gave me no clues as to her mood.

  Sinopa’s face was round with pronounced features. She was extremely attractive. Her eyes were the same light brown color as the rest of them, but her hair was braided into a thick, intricate rope that fell two feet down her back. Sinopa was Earth inclined, Tse-xo-be said, and I got the impression that she was quite old.

  “And these Fae are Enapay and Nodin.”

  The Strong One and the Playful One, with faces so similar they looked like brothers. They were both Air inclined, but Enapay was more muscular than Nodin—his shoulders were broader and more defined. Either could have been a fitness model, however.

  “You have met Tadewi, Amadahy and me—that leaves Pavati.”

  “Greetings, Maggie.”

  I’d named her the Fearless One because she exuded courage, more than any Fae or person I’d ever met. Pavati’s face was exquisite, perfectly symmetrical and angular—too perfect to be human. She was tall and chose a very slender physique for her human form. Her raven-black hair was the longest of the group, trailing loosely down her back below her waist. Pavati’s large eyes seemed almost doll-like, and I knew from sensing her on the beach that she was Water inclined.

  They stared and I felt awkward. “I’m happy to meet all of you.” The words came out of my mouth bright and silly. They exchanged looks—I sounded like an idiot and I knew it.

  “Even me?” Wakinyan asked loudly with an ornery grin spreading across his face.

  I composed myself. “Yes, even you—but take it easy with the tire throwing�
�please.” I felt the smile return to my face when Wakinyan grinned.

  He laughed and said, “I will consider that.”

  They simply looked at me, not speaking, so I assumed the floor was mine. I was curious why they’d brought me to Thorncrown. “I have a question. You’ll probably think it’s silly.”

  Wakinyan murmured, “Undoubtedly,” under his breath, raising an eyebrow.

  He was fierce and a smart ass.

  “Why bring me here?”

  Tse-xo-be spoke. “The Ohanzee are not fond of human structures—no Fae is. With the beauty of the world and so much to experience with your physical eyes, why humans spend their lives behind walls is confounding. This building is an unequivocal exception, and I thought you might prefer this to standing in the rain.”

  With one glance around the peaceful room, I understood what he meant. Thorncrown was built with glass walls, and the wood used in the structure seemed to emulate the trees covering the hillside, almost disappearing into the surrounding forest. I thought of Aunt May telling Mom about this place more than a year ago, and I wish we’d stopped that day to experience it with her. The tiny chapel was singularly beautiful—the first building I’d ever experienced in which the surrounding landscape, trees densely dotting the sloped hillside and worn slabs of stone, melded seamlessly and uninterruptedly into the interior.

  Before I could continue asking questions, I sensed Billy approaching from the north. He transitioned into his familiar human form and I immediately felt more relaxed. He entered the door and smiled at me, his icy gray eyes full of relief. The Ohanzee all stood, so I did, too.

  “Where’s the attendant?” Billy said, looking at the empty seat near the door.

  “Bob, I believe is his name, is entertaining a couple of ladies from Kansas.” Wakinyan smirked.

  Billy grinned. He found it entertaining—I thought it was awful.

  “I bet you didn’t bother to ask them to leave. Will they be safe?”

  Wakinyan formed an exaggerated look of innocence on his face. “We do not always compel people to do bad things.” Wakinyan laughed again.

  “What did you do?”

  “I sent them away for the time being. They’ll be back in an hour. That’s all you need to know.” Wakinyan had a look of satisfaction on his face.

  He and Nodin laughed.

  Billy gave me a sympathetic look just before he gripped Wakinyan’s arm at the elbow, and vice versa, in a handshake of sorts. I’d never seen the Seelie or Unseelie make physical contact with one another, not even during battle. The Ohanzee were very different—they had physically grappled with the wolf-bear hybrids. They were also very tall. Wakinyan towered over Billy, at nearly seven feet in height. At six feet or above, all of them were taller than Billy.

  As they took seats again, I whispered, “Billy, where have you been?”

  “You know the answer already and I hope you’re still following my advice—all of it.”

  I nodded. He was right, of course. He was avoiding Ozara to protect me, and he was also telling me to keep my mouth shut. Not because he distrusted them, I figured, but because Ozara could compel the Ohanzee as well.

  Tse-xo-be nodded in my direction. “You have more questions?”

  Under his breath, Billy said, “Of course she does.”

  I ignored him, and looked directly at Tse-xo-be. “So, the Bigfoot thing, what’s the deal with that?”

  “I never use it. I prefer the wild boar, but the form, Bigfoot as you call it, is more rugged than these,” Tse-xo-be said, gesturing at his body. “The senses of sight and smell are stronger, and hearing more acute. The sense of taste is compromised, but the form is a unique way to experience the physical world.”

  “It’s terrifying, you know.”

  In the corner of my eye I saw Wakinyan nod. “Yes, we know.”

  When I laughed, so did he. I glanced over and briefly caught a genuine smile on his face.

  “It is a superior choice for physical combat,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “Okay, why physical battle? I mean you can attack with the elements.”

  “Physical contact is sometimes necessary. It is much easier to pierce an enemy’s barrier with direct contact.”

  Tse-xo-be raised his hands, palms down, and Wakinyan settled back.

  “We try to avoid human contact when we use that form, at least the eldest among us do,” Tse-xo-be said, looking beyond me to Pavati.

  They avoided human contact? Yeah, right. “I’m just lucky, I guess.”

  Tse-xo-be smiled. “Unique situation.”

  “So, I’ve always wanted to know: the video of the Bigfoot in the river bed, was that real?”

  They were all silent, but each turned to Pavati, who arched her eyebrows.

  “That was you?” I asked.

  She turned to me and nodded her head. “Call it a lapse of judgment. Two men on horses, a camera, I was bored. Tse-xo-be is still unhappy with me about that.” The look of satisfaction spread across her face.

  “Tse-xo-be, why do you choose the giant boar?” I asked.

  “Why not?” he replied.

  I laughed.

  “Who are all of you? The clan I mean—what does Ohanzee mean?”

  He looked at Billy, “You were correct, she asks many questions.”

  Billy sighed. “You don’t know the half of it.”

  “Ohanzee is a Sioux word meaning shadow.” Tse-xo-be’s voice took on a story telling tone. “For millennia we took no name, as there was no need. Several centuries ago, a Sioux warrior, with the ability to sense me in my natural form, gave me the name because, to him, I was a shadow cast without a physical body. I thought it interesting and not completely inaccurate. But we have been called many things by many different tribes of first people. Some Cherokee used the word Adahy, a name that means lives in the woods. In the Algonquin tongue, we are Chepi, and the Omaha called us Nadawi. Both are names that translate, roughly, into fairy.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I clearly saw Billy wince.

  Tse-xo-be continued. “We prefer Ohanzee.”

  “So, the Ohanzee are a clan of independent Fae in North America?”

  “Maggie, the Ohanzee are the original clan. I was the second Fae to achieve existence and the second to take physical form. Only Bastien is older. You know of Bastien?”

  “Yes, Billy and Sara told me.”

  He continued. “I dwelled here for thousands of millennia before the next came along.” He looked to Wakinyan. “Then there were others, among them Ozara and Zarkus, as well as many around you now.”

  “Are there only eight of you?”

  “No, there are many more Ohanzee, but we were the first ten, the elders. The other two, Ozara and Zarkus as they now call themselves, were once on this council.”

  “If you were the second Fae ever, couldn’t you have destroyed Cassandra today?”

  Tse-xo-be grinned, his huge brown eyes locked on my face. “With less effort than it takes for you to breathe, I could have extinguished her. She is young, foolish. Today was not her day to die.”

  His voice was so calm, so confident, that I shuddered and decided to change the subject.

  “So when you say you were here first, do you actually mean here? Arkansas?”

  “Yes. Although there are many places in the physical world I appreciate, this is my place. All Fae find a place, Amadahy the east coast, Wakinyan the plains, and Pavati, the rivers of the northwest. Each a place. All have experienced the world, but each Fae develops a preference. As more Fae learned of the physical world, the Ohanzee formed this Clan to protect talemn álainn, the beautiful land in our language, North America in yours. We were Ohanzee long before there was a Seelie clan, before the Sidhe, the Olympians, the Jinn, the Ancient Ones, before any clan,” he explained proudly.

  “North America was our region, our land, just as Sidhe, Sara and Devon’s original clan, claimed what is now known as Ireland. Sherman, Victoria, and Billy are all from clans
of ancient Europe. There are clans in every corner of the physical world and each existed before the Seelie and Unseelie clans formed.”

  “What about Gavin, what clan did he belong to?”

  “Gavin, as he is known now, was an Olympian, a powerful clan that claimed the Mediterranean.”

  “Olympian?” I felt my mouth go slack after I said it. I was insanely curious about his former name. I knew Billy once went by Sarin—he changed his name after the last Fae war. Gavin was more of a mystery. He told me he’d taken other names, but never told me what they were. “What name did he use before Gavin?”

  Tadewi laughed and the rest exchanged amused looks. Billy was staring at the floor, shaking his head, also trying to keep from laughing.

  “What? What’s so funny? Gavin told me about them, the Olympians, and said they were incredibly narcissistic.”

  Tse-xo-be maintained his composure, but the rest of them burst into laughter.

  “What?” I protested.

  “Narcissistic, you say?” Nodin choked the words out amidst their laughter.

  “Yes. What am I missing?”

  Pavati looked at Billy. “This is rich. She actually does not know?” He returned her look and shook his head, avoiding eye contact with me.

  “Tell me?” I asked, triggering another round of laughter.

  Wakinyan cleared his throat. “Allow me.”

  Great.

  He managed to wipe the smile off his face for a moment, but began laughing between words when he said, “Adonis…perhaps you have heard of him.”

  “What? No, really, what was his name?” I asked, growing perturbed that I didn’t get the joke.

  Laughter erupted again, and even Tse-xo-be laughed this time. “It is true, Maggie. He was known as Adonis.”

  I’m sure I looked silly, standing there with my mouth open, because all of them were laughing louder now than they had before.

  “He told me—the way he looks—that was his natural human form,” I protested.

  They laughed again. “Oh, but of course,” Wakinyan said rolling his eyes.

  “Oh my god, I fell for Adonis?”

  Their laughter continued and I felt my face blush.