Approaching Storm Page 12

  She started the car and pulled out onto the road. "You never wanted to leave?"

  "I don't know, this place has been home for the last five years. It's like everyone just molded to adapt to me being here, and I was never a stranger. It's the closest thing that I have to a home."

  She hesitated for a moment. "Does your amnesia bother you at all?"

  Most people avoided the topic unless we joked about it. I thought about my answer. "Not until recently, Normalcy is my normal, and now my past may be coming in to crash it to the ground. I don't know what to expect, or hell, who else might show up on my doorstep. I've been trying to push it on the back burner until we find out who killed Maverick."

  "I don't think you're going to be able to ignore it for much longer."

  Chapter Eleven

  Teal and I finished our drive in silence. I wasn't sure what to say after her semi-prediction of not being able to ignore my past anymore. We walked into my house and found it blissfully empty for the time being.

  I had no idea when Nokken would show up. "So this creature lives near you."

  "In one of the caves that's completely under the swamp, I've only caught glimpses of him before. He's not something to mess with, but hopefully, he has information for us."

  I swallowed. "Should we be worried?"

  "Not unless you've done anything recently to invoke his wrath." She looked at me with a small smile. "He'll be able to tell if you're guilty or not just by looking at you."

  I rolled my eyes. "I haven't done anything bad."

  "We'll see when we meet with him." She teased and leaned back on the couch. "For now, why don't we watch some movies?"

  There was a knock on the door, and I growled. "Why doesn't anyone use my doorbell?"

  We went to answer the door together, only to see Hamish there. "What do you want?" I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

  "I have someone at the station claiming that they know you, from before you showed up here."

  I locked my jaw. "You're a vampire, can't you tell if they are lying?" There was a sinking feeling in my stomach.

  "Zephyr says the man means you harm, Callister says otherwise. That you're his fiancé and the Zephyr has been planting false memories in your mind."

  I shook my head. "Callister drugged me and tried to kidnap me."

  "I'd still like you to come down to the station to speak with him."

  I shook my head. "I have no desire to do that. Thank you though. Don't you have a murder to be solving?"

  "I have a witness now, placing Zephyr at Maverick's house before the murder."

  "Let me guess, Callister." I didn't even put a question in my voice.

  "Yes."

  I shook my head. "They are brothers, Callister is out to make sure Zephyr stays away from me so that he can take me to his mother, but to his surprise, I'm not able to leave the city."

  "Not able to leave?" He raised a brow. "Do you realize how crazy all of this sounds?"

  "Sure do. Would you like me to prove it?" I held my arms out. "Take us to the edge of the city."

  Teal put a hand over her eyes. "I hate traveling by vampire ability. Can I just meet you there?"

  I nodded. "Fly over?"

  Hamish took my hand, and one moment we were standing in my kitchen, and the next we were standing just inside the city line. The sign stood there in the dusty ground, taunting me.

  He motioned for me to go. "Come on show me."

  "Not until Teal gets here."

  A few minutes later Teal came fluttering in her small sprite form. Her aqua colored wings beating fast against the air, her blue hair blowing away from her face as she sped towards us.

  In one smooth motion, she switched to her human form and put her hands on her hips. "Okay, let's see it." She motioned to the city line.

  I walked toward it and tried to pass through it again, but a shock went through me, and I jumped back, crying out. "See, there's no leaving."

  "You're just pretending." Hamish grabbed my wrist and tried to transport me over there. He went, and I stayed, just like when Zephyr tried it.

  "What the hell May, how long has it been like this?"

  I shrugged. "My guess is five years." Something moved out of the corner of my eye. Teal saw it too, but Hamish was too busy staring at me to notice anything going on.

  "Something strange is happening May." He stroked his chin.

  "No shit Sherlock. Now go back and tell Callister that I'm not falling for his stupid trap." I put my hands on my hips. "And while you're at it, let Zephyr free unless you have a credible witness."

  Violin music started to waft through the air, and I froze. I turned to Teal, and she nodded as if she had an answer to a question I hadn't even thought of yet. I moved closer to her. Hamish's eyes grew wide, and he disappeared, leaving Teal and me standing in the road, listening to a haunting melody.

  "What the hell?" I linked my arm with Teal's as I looked around.

  She clung tightly to me. "Nokken." She whispered. "He uses his music to draw people to the swamp."

  "And what does he do to them?"

  "Well, if you're guilty…"

  "Then I drag you down to the depths where no one shall ever find you." The voice was just as hypnotic as the violin playing was.

  Teal and I turned to see a tall, gangly man standing there. His black hair fell over his pointed ears and down his back, blending into the leather pants he wore. His white shirt had ruffles at the neck reminding me of an old Victorian blouse. He smiled and showed tiny pointed teeth.

  "Nokken, so nice of you to join us." Teal let out a breath. "But you seem to have scared the deputy off."

  He chuckled and lowered his bow and violin. My eyes followed the grayish instrument. It was nothing like I'd seen before. He caught my gaze and smiled. "Made from the bones of those I've judged."

  I wasn't sure how to respond to that. I dug deep inside me and found the courage that I needed. "We were hoping you could tell us something about Maverick's death."

  "Maverick is one that I would have loved to get my hands on. That man had many secrets. He's better off dead, trust me." He tapped his bow against his leg. "But you don't know who killed him?"

  I shook my head. "I don't, and they're falsely holding someone on the charge."

  He stroked his chin. "That demigod that blew through here in the sports car?"

  "No, that'd be his brother, he's a different story."

  Teal growled. "How come most of us didn't know he was a demigod?"

  Nokken looked at her. "Maybe you should pay more attention. What did you think he was?"

  "I thought he was another kind of fae."

  "That's pretty damn close to a demigod." Nokken raised a brow. "Didn't he tell you what he was?"

  I crossed my arms. "He told me, but it doesn't matter. Can you help us?"

  "You have to do something for me in return." He met my gaze. His black eyes swirled making me shiver. "You bring me the criminal and allow me to deal with him."

  I thought about it. The other choice was to call the human authorities in with Hamish's help, assuming he didn't have anything to do with it. He seemed pretty adamant that Zephyr was the one who had done it. "If the person in question isn't human, then I agree."

  He gave a dark laugh. "How cute. You think a human would take Maverick out. There are no humans left in Normalcy. Whatever new spell is going on has chased all of them out of town." His bow and violin disappeared. "Come here, and I'll show you what I know."

  I glanced at Teal, and she nodded. "As long as you don't have a crime to pay for, it's safe."

  "I don't know about my past, so I don't know if there's anything there." I wasn't even sure how this works.

  "I'll learn only what you know and share what I wish." He shrugged a shoulder. "There's no danger to you. I can sense the good in your soul; it wouldn't do me much go
od to drag you down."

  I stepped up and took a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this then."

  Nokken put his hands around my head, his thumbs touching the middle of my forehead. I shivered as I felt the magic roll through me like pinpricks on the surface of my skin, raising goosebumps on my arms and making the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

  The world around me started to swirl as if a whirlpool of water was rising around me, yet I felt nothing.

  "Relax, little bird." Nokken's English use of Zephyr's nickname caught me off guard. "Watch."

  I watched the swirls and the waves, the blues and greens overlapping with whites of the crashing water. Images started to show through the water, and the waves calmed. A shadowed shape walked up behind Maverick, he turned with a smile on his face and greeted the person behind him like an old friend.

  Maverick waved him on and started forward, that's when the person slammed the stake into Maverick's back. I studied everything about the scene I could. The surrounding area was in the town, clean and neat sidewalks, a white picket fence, it was night time, and the wind seemed to be howling around them.

  I tried to drink in all the details I could as it faded away. I gasped as the waves disappeared and the world came back to me. "How do you know about this?"

  "I had a visitor that was a witness. She shared it with me asking for help to bring justice."

  I locked my jaw. "But she didn't see who actually did it?"

  "No. Everything you saw was exactly as she did."

  "Who was this witness?"

  He chuckled. "I can't tell you that, confidentiality."

  I nodded. "Thank you, Nokken, for what you have told me. I'll bring the person to you." That's the thing about small towns; we handled our own. Especially in a world of supernatural creatures.

  I looked at Teal. "Come on; we have a long walk back to the city."

  She let out a groan. "I could just fly."

  "Yes, but your tiny little fairy ass can't carry me."

  She put a finger to her chin and debated for a moment. "And I'm too good of a friend to leave you here."

  "Which I appreciate."

  We finally made it back to the city a couple hours later and dragged ourselves into the soda shop. "Why do we live in the desert?" I muttered.

  "Because there's no other place we could have our own town," Lee answered without missing a beat. "Where the hell have you two been? It's almost closing time."

  "Well, we had to test a theory. Turns out that May literally cannot leave the city."

  Lee looked hesitant at first. "Yeah, I know."

  "What?" we both screeched.

  I stared at her. "And you weren't going to share this information?"

  "It wasn't my idea. Look, talk to Davina, she has all the details on it. Something about it being the only way to save you." She shook her head. "I didn't expect it to take five years for you to figure it out."

  I slouched into one of the chairs. "That's a huge thing to keep hidden from me."

  "I'm sorry. Look, I figured the first thing you were going to do was try to leave and go back to wherever you were from. Then things got a bit confusing and complicated when you woke with amnesia, and then you seemed so comfortable here, I never found a good time to bring it up."

  I gave her a dull look. "For an alpha werewolf, you sure do avoid conflict well."

  She threw a foam cup at me, and I chuckled when it missed. "Okay, it's not like we can change it. I need to talk to Davina about it. Figure out who killed Maverick, and then I need to figure out how to deal with Callister."

  "Can't we just like run him out of the city with pitchforks and fire? There are more of us then there are him." Teal shrugged. "I mean, really he can't take all of us on can he?"

  "I have no idea. I don't know what his abilities are. Zephyr has barely shown much of what he's capable of." I stood and grabbed the cup. "So until he gets out, I don't think we should approach Callister."

  "Talking about avoiding conflict," Lee muttered, and her gaze went to the window. Callister was walking across the street.

  I shot across the shop and jumped behind the counter, ducking into the corner so he couldn't see me. Lee stepped closer to me as if she could provide extra protection.

  The bell on the door rang when it opened. I closed my eyes and prayed he hadn't seen me through the window.

  "What can I do for you, sir?" Lee's voice was laced with so much fake enthusiasm, I'm pretty sure a god of sarcasm could have been born just from the sound.

  I opened my eyes again when the silence went on for too long.

  "I'm looking for someone, but I guess she isn't here."

  I could hear his shoes tapping against the ground as he walked further into the shop.

  "Just us, and it's just about closing time," Teal jumped in.

  Callister hmed for a moment. "Do you happen to know where I can find Amaya Corvidae?"

  "We don't give out people's locations," Lee said easily. "Especially to strangers."

  He growled. "I don't know why you people insist on protecting her from me. I'm her fiancé. I have searched and searched for her for five years, and yet no one is willing to give me any information on her or let me talk to her."

  There was a moment of dread filling me. What if he was telling the truth and it was Zephyr who was lying? No, Callister drugged me.

  "Well, until you show us some proof or May confirms it, we don't believe you." Lee shrugged. "Now, are you going to order?"

  There was another moment of silence, and I heard him chuckle. "So protective of her. Such a special town she's come to love. Tell me something?"

  "What?" Lee snapped.

  "Will you all miss her when I finally take her home?"

  Teal laughed this time. "This is her home, and if you can't see that, then you're blind."

  A rush of wind swept through the store, and I covered my mouth to keep from gasping. "Amaya belongs with me in the realm of gods and goddesses, presiding over the Fates, not in this shitty little town of paranormal creatures playing human."

  The bell above the door rang and the door shut. I imagined that he stormed back out of the store. I didn't move until Lee stepped away from me and held a hand to help me up from the ground.

  "He's changed his tune. Maybe he thinks I can only leave if I'm willing."

  "That may be how he thinks the spell works," Teal agreed. She looked at Lee. "I don't think there's truth to that, do you know?"

  Lee shook her head. "No, there's no leaving Normalcy as far as I know."

  "Had I been able to leave willingly, I would have been able to walk or drive out." I looked out the door. I could see Callister standing on my front porch. "Ugh."

  "Come stay with me for the night," Lee said. "We'll go out the back door, and he won't ever know you were here."

  I guess that's what I was going to have to do, but I was letting this guy scare me out of my own house. "Let's close up then."

  I leaned back on Lee's couch as she brought tea out of the kitchen for us to drink. "Do you believe him at all?" she asked, sitting down next to me.

  I shook my head. "When Zephyr kissed me, there was something in me that remembered the way his lips felt against mine. When he holds me, my body remembers his warmth and the feeling of him against me. When I see him, something in me basically floats. I don't even know how to explain it."

  "And Callister?"

  "Makes me want to run and hide." I cringed. "There's no fight in that instinct. It's all flight."

  She smiled over her tea.

  "What?" I put my cup down and crossed my arms. "You have this look of joy on your face."

  "I think Zephyr is your mate."

  "Humans don't have mates."

  "And you aren't human, May. I'm not sure what you are, but if you were human, you would have tried to leave Normalcy long ago. Tourists only stop her
e long enough to rest up, take in the tiny town, and leave. It's part of the wards and spells. It's what allows us to be so peaceful and live as supernaturals." She pegged me with a hard look.

  "Except Maverick." I frowned. "Holy shit, he wasn't actually human."

  "We've suspected that, but he hadn't caused any problems, so we didn't bother trying to figure out what he was. He smelt different, but with so many scents in the town, there's no telling where the scent actually came from."

  My mind raced. Why hadn't I thought about that before? I went through a mental checklist of things he could have been. "We need to know what he was, that might give us an idea of who would have killed him."

  Lee nodded. "Yes, it might. Some creatures have mortal enemies. Like the wolves and vampires."

  "How do you explain Joseph and the vampires in the outskirts?" I raised a brow.

  "Notice how none of them ever come into the soda shop, and the vampires in the outskirts stay in a certain section as do the outskirt wolves." She raised a brow. "Have you seriously never noticed that?"

  I shrugged. "I just assumed that it was because Joseph couldn't have soda."

  She opened her mouth, and the closed it. After a moment she finally spoke, "Huh, I guess that's a good point too."

  I chuckled. "I'm going to crash and start fresh tomorrow. I have some things I want to check out."

  "Shop's closed tomorrow so why don't I come with?"

  I nodded. "That'd probably be good. I need to find a house with a white picket fence-"

  She nearly choked on her tea. "In this town, that's like a dime a dozen."

  "I know, but that's where Maverick was murdered." I picked my tea back up and sipped it. "Maybe there'll be something else that will help me know where it was."

  "How do you know this?"

  "A witness went and saw Nokken."

  "Who?"

  "Um…think of him like the outskirt's boogie man. He lives near Teal."

  She blinked a few times. "I've lived here for twenty years, and I have never heard of him."