Between Light and Dark (32 page)

Tears pricked Laurell's eyes at this thought and all of its
implications. She steeled her spine and lifted her chin. She
couldn't remember the last time she'd given in to tears. She
wouldn't waste them now on Axiom. Not on the man who
had broken her heart. The man who had told her that her
child was doomed to live in a single-parent household, just
as she had experienced growing up. I'll be a better parent,
though, than my mother was.

She had spent the last two weeks avoiding him, just as he
wanted. He seemed to be avoiding her, too. That evening, though, he'd taken his dinner in the main house with the
rest of the group.

Still, she'd managed to keep her distance, refusing to look
at him, save for a few sideways glances. She'd noticed the
circles under his eyes and his worn appearance. It seemed
she wasn't the only one not sleeping well of late. Good, she
thought. Let him suffer.

True, he'd never said he was staying on Earth after the
child was born. She'd assumed that part. Wishful thinking. Foolish thinking. But the way he'd looked at her, held
her, made love to her, told an entirely different story than
that of a god eager to depart for the heavenly realms.
Damn him for making me believe it was safe to need him. To
love him.

Laurell clenched her teeth and forced herself to focus on
the task at hand. She sucked in the crisp winter air, and it
stung. She shivered, glad for her thick coat, earmuffs, and
gloves. A movement to the right caught her eye. She
twisted her neck and glanced toward the trees on the east
side of the property. What she saw stopped her in her tracks.
She slowly made a full circle, finding the same disturbing vision at each turn.

"Uh, guys?"

The coven members chatted merrily, their voices carrying loudly on the wind.

"Guys!" she cried, her voice higher pitched this time as
panic set in.

A hush fell over the group as all heads turned to where
Laurell pointed with outstretched arm. There, in the trees,
amidst blackness so thick she could barely make out the tiny
forms attached to them, hundreds of pairs of eyes watched
them. The eyes glowed, luminescent against the inky backdrop.

"What the hell is that?" Reese was the first to find his
voice.

A shiver crawled up Laurell's spine. "I think they're
birds." Axiom walked from the back of the group to the
front and stood next to Laurell, his brow furrowed as his
keen eyes scanned the trees.

"Yes," he confirmed. "Birds."

Her pulse sped and without thinking, Laurell shifted
closer to Axiom, so close their bodies touched. She felt him
stiffen in surprise, but he didn't move away. His nearness
gave her comfort. She felt a little better, but only a little.

Hillary moved forward a few steps, and Laurell could
make out the whites of her enlarged eyes. "Why are they
here ?"

"And what do they want?" Fiona asked, stepping behind Hillary and resting one hand on the other woman's
shoulder.

Someone cleared her throat. Slowly the group turned as
though they were one body.

Dawna stood with hands on hips, tapping one foot nonchalantly. She smiled, and her eyes took on a strange gleam.
The shadows beneath them stood out even in the dim light.

"It was Poe's idea," she said.

"This better be one hell of an explanation," Fiona said,
hands on hips, eyes narrowed on Dawna, who sat on the
couch sipping a glass of water. Dawna smiled as though
nothing strange were going on, as if they weren't experiencing their very own live version of an Alfred Hitchcock film.
The group had returned to the main house.

Laurell was glad to get inside; all those eyes watching
her made her skin crawl. She was grateful for Axiom's
solid presence behind her. His body framed hers, and he stood close enough that the scent of sandalwood enveloped her.

"You guys wouldn't listen to me and Poe, so we came up
with a plan," Dawna said. Hillary, Thumper, and Lynn all
sat around her, wearing various expressions of shock, disbelief, and anxiety.

"What sort of plan?" This from Reese, who paced the
floor and ran one hand through his thick, honey-colored
waves over and over again. He then seemed to realize what
he was doing and forcibly shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Well, I called all the birds so when you guys leave, they
can be a diversion," Dawna said.

"A diversion for what?" Fiona asked.

"Who's leaving?" Laurell questioned at the same time.

Dawna glanced from one woman to the other and rolled
her eyes as though they were missing a very obvious point.
"You and Axiom are leaving. Or at least, you should be."
This to Laurell. "And I'm talking about a diversion to distract the Umbrae." That to Fiona.

"Have you completely lost your mind, girl?" Hillary demanded. Lynn shot her a warning glance. Hillary clamped
her mouth shut, but folded her arms over her ample bosom
and glared at Dawna.

"You guys don't need to be afraid. I called the birds.
They're on our side," Dawna insisted, taking another swallow of water.

Lynn leaned forward, shrugging out of her jacket. "If
what she says is true, we're worrying for nothing, right? I
mean, Dawna says the birds won't hurt us."

"Dawna's been acting like a nut for days, and she's got
crazy eyes right now," Thumper burst out. Dawna glared at
him, and he blushed. "Sorry, Dawna, but it's true. You're
not yourself."

"I'm perfectly fine," she insisted. "You're the crazy ones.
The Umbrae are practically breathing down our necks, and
none of you want to do anything about it but sit here waiting for them to find a way in."

Fiona let out an exasperated groan. "How many times do
we have to go over this? Even if you were right, and the Umbrae were somehow here and undetected by Wayne and the
Council, they couldn't get in. They-" Her words broke off.
"Oh shit. Someone needs to go get Wayne and let him know
what's going on."

"He's probably still at the ritual circle working on the
fire," Reese said.

"I was supposed to be there by now," Thumper said. "I'll
go get him."

"No need," Wayne's voice called from the kitchen. A
moment later, the man himself appeared in the doorway,
shaking snow from his boots. He swiped at his cowboy hat,
dusting the white powder from its brim. "Oh, sorry," he said
to Fiona, who harrumphed her disapproval when the snow
hit her carpet.

"Did you see the birds?" Laurell asked him.

He nodded. "Oh, I saw 'em alright. I think we've got a
mighty big problem on our hands."

"Dawna says the birds are on our side," Lynn protested.

"It was Poe's idea," Dawna said for the second time that
night, eyes bright with glee over her familiar's fabulous
plan.

"Well, I think that's the problem," Wayne said.

"What do you mean?" Fiona asked.

Wayne bent and placed a rolled-up blanket on the floor.
Fiona looked at it suspiciously. "I'm almost afraid to ask."

"You should be." And with that Wayne unrolled the blanket. Something dark lay amidst the folds covered in ice. Lautell blinked. It took several moments for her to realize a black bird lay there, dead and partially decomposed. No
doubt the ice had delayed the process. That wasn't so upsetting. No. What was so upsetting was the purple string tied to
its left foot.

Dawna sobbed into Lynn's shirt while the other woman
rubbed reassuring circles over her back. In between sniffles,
Dawna muttered, "I thought he'd lost his string. He's lost it
before." She clearly realized she'd been duped. The raven
that had been following her around and communing with
her of late was not her familiar. Her familiar was dead.

Laurell's chest ached for the girl. Wayne had covered the
bird back up and taken it from the room once Dawna identified it as Poe. Now Wayne perched on one of the wingback chairs, his broad faced creased with concern.

"I don't understand it," Wayne said. "Somehow, the Umbrae must have tapped into the bird."

"Would you not have sensed their presence if that was
true?" Axiom asked, stepping from his place behind Laurell
and leaving her feeling suddenly alone, bereft.

Wayne shook his head. "I don't think they're in the bird.
Not in the sense they enter Finders. I think they must be
controlling it somehow from afar. That's something I
wouldn't be able to detect and quite frankly, not something
they've ever done before."

"How did they find us here?" Fiona asked. "I thought they
could only trace Laurell through the yearning, and only if
the yearning happened outside of protected space."

"That is true," Axiom said, scratching his chin in thought.

A memory drifted back to Laurell. "I think I know."

All eyes turned to her.

"The night I tried to escape, I was in the woods and I remember this black bird, a raven, sitting on a branch above me and sort of following me through the woods. I'll bet it's
the same bird."

Fiona nodded. "And they used Dawna's connection with
birds to initiate a bond with the imposter Poe."

"No doubt that bird's been hovering around here, listening to our conversations and giving all sorts of information
to the Umbrae," Thumper remarked, pushing his glasses up
his nose.

Laurell shuddered.

"But what do they hope to accomplish with all these
birds?" Hillary asked.

"I think I know," Axiom stated. All eyes turned to him
for an explanation. "If indeed the Umbrae control these
birds, and I believe that they do, then during those brief
moments between the death of one protection circle and
the birth of the next, as many of them as possible will
swarm the coven."

A horrible realization dawned. Laurell shook her head,
trying to will the truth away, but it lingered like a rotten
smell. "We can fight them, but they could distract one of us
long enough to keep that person from casting his or her
part of the circle. The birds aren't a problem once the circle is cast, but if the circle isn't complete, it will be an Umbrae free-for-all."

"What if we paired up at each quarter? We've got enough
people to do it," Thumper offered.

Axiom shook his head. "If we send Laurell out, she and
the child are easy targets. And Dawna is in no condition to
cast circle. It is too risky."

Laurell groaned. He was right, of course, but it didn't
make it any easier for her to accept that once again she
would have to be tucked away and hidden for her own
good. She placed her hands on her round belly and rubbed it absently. You'll be born soon, little one, and this nightmare
will be over. Couldn't you come a little faster, though?

"This is getting worse by the minute," Reese murmured.
"Does anyone else have any ideas?"

Fiona stepped forward, bright green eyes flashing, lips
curved in a half smile. "I think I might. Dawna, I'll need
your help. Are you up for it?"

Dawna jerked her head off Lynn's shoulder and wiped
moisture from her cheeks. For the first time in weeks, she
almost looked like herself. "I got us in this mess. I'll get us
out of it."

The bird peered inside the kitchen window. They'd told it
to keep close watch, but it could not obtain a clear view of
the people inside. It had already attempted a view from the
living area windows, but the curtains there were drawn. Periodically, one of the humans walked past the kitchen
doorway, face scrunched, mouth twisted, hands flailing animatedly.

They are arguing, the bird reported.

About what do they argue? They asked.

I do not know.

Several of the humans burst through the kitchen doorway, grabbed jackets from the backs of chairs, and emerged
from the house. The raven swooped away from the window
and dropped to the ground behind a bush. It remained close
enough to hear their words. The black-haired witch stood
in the snow along with the ones called Lynn, Thumper, and
Reese.

"I think Fiona's plan is stupid," Dawna said. "She'll get
us all killed."

Thumper nodded his agreement. "No kidding. I don't
think we should stay here a minute longer."

"The birds will distract the Umbrae," Dawna said. "That
should help us get away."

Lynn shrugged. "What does it matter? It's not us the Umbrae want. It's Laurell and the baby."

Reese stepped forward and sighed. "I don't think I can
get Fiona to leave. She's insistent on staying here to help
Laurell and Axiom."

"I can't believe they're going to attempt to recast circle,"
Thumper remarked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Maybe they stand a chance. Who knows? Maybe the
birds will be able to help. I'll talk to Poe and see what he
can do," Dawna told them.

"I don't see how they can do it without our assistance,"
Reese muttered. His face was twisted with worry. "I just
wish I could convince Fiona to come with us."

Dawna touched Reese's arm. "You know she won't go,
Reese. Neither will Wayne or Hillary. We're divided on this
one. We all just have to do what we think is best."