Dolmarehn - Book Two of the Otherworld Trilogy (19 page)

“Meghan,” he began, his voice clipped, “is there any way you could get away for more than two days?”

I had been expecting something completely different from him and this stiff, distant Cade reminded me too much of the time right before the Morrigan lured me into the Otherworld.

“Uh,” I answered nervously, “I’m not sure, why?”

“Would you be interested in meeting your mother?  Your Faelorehn mother?”

My heart stopped for a good minute.  My Faelorehn mother?  The woman who had sent me off to the mortal world, barely old enough to form memories?  The one I’d wondered about, in the back of my mind, since learning where I’d come from?  Did I want to meet her?  No.  Yes!

I must have stayed silent for too long.  Either that or the look on my face was a daunting one, because Cade shifted into a defensive stance.

“Y-you found her?” I finally managed before blurting, “Yes, yes I would like to meet her.”

A sudden, overwhelming thrill jolted through me, starting right beside my heart.  I forgot about Cade’s strange aura and focused on this new information.  To finally learn about my heritage . . .

Despite my joy, however, I was also terrified.  What if my mother had cast me aside after my birth because she had been appalled by me?  I rubbed the spot where my glamour warmed me, frowning.  Cade had told me I had a great deal of power and sometimes it took longer for such a sizeable amount of glamour to fully awaken.  But what if he was wrong?  What if she’d known this from the beginning?  What if the reason she hadn’t kept me had something to do with my lack of magic?

“There is a dolmarehn in a small town a few miles away from the castle that will cut the trip down to only an hour or so,” Cade said, breaking into my thoughts, “but I thought you might want to spend some time with her.”

“Sorry?” I said, still overwhelmed by his news.

He smiled, a cold, polite quirk of the lips.  “I think three or four nights should suffice, don’t you?”

“Oh, right, um . . .”

How was I going to disappear for three nights?  A sudden thought popped into my head.  Robyn’s parents were going on a camping trip to Yosemite with their church group over spring break and Robyn planned on going with them.  She had invited all of us: me, Tully, Thomas and Will, to go, but we had all declined for one reason or another.

I must have let my mind wander for a few minutes because Cade cleared his throat next to me.

“Sorry,” I muttered, “I was thinking.  Robyn invited me to go camping next week.  Do you think it’ll be enough time to inform my mother I’m coming to visit?”

It was so odd saying that word,
mother
, when not referring to my own mom.  But I’d always known I’d been adopted, and I knew someday I would like to meet my birth parents.  My skin prickled with goose bumps.  Apparently that someday had finally arrived.

“That would be perfect,” Cade said.  “I’ll meet you in front of the oak tree on the equestrian path next Monday morning?”

I started to nod my head before thinking everything through.

“No, wait,” I blurted.  “I need to talk to Robyn first, make sure she can cover for me since this is longer than usual.  And then we’ll have to make it look like I’m really going with her.”

I grimaced.  This would be tricky.  Not only did I have to persuade Robyn to lie for me again, but I had to convince my parents I was going on a camping trip.  I’d be packing a bag for my extended trip to Eilé, so perhaps that wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but either my Dad had to drive me to Robyn’s or Robyn would need to pick me up . . .  And worst of all, if Robyn agreed to this, she’d insist on a heavier price than the last few times.  I blanched again.  She would definitely be wanting more than the juicy details.

I sighed and glanced back up at Cade.  “I’ll talk to Robyn at school tomorrow and leave a message in the oak.”

He nodded and headed towards the dolmarehn.  I let my mind wander as I walked home.  My mother, my
real
mother.  Cade had finally found her, and like he promised, he was going to make sure I would know her as well.  Only when my happiness at the whole situation started to wear off did I remember there had been something very wrong with the way Cade had shared his news.

* * *

Dad dropped me, my duffle bag and my sleeping bag off at Robyn’s while the sky was still dark.

“Alright Meggy.”  He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.  “Have a wonderful trip.”

I grinned and climbed out of his truck, waving goodbye as his tail lights disappeared around the corner.  Taking a deep breath, I crept up to the stoop and tapped on her door.  Robyn, groggy-eyed and mumbling, cracked the door open and stepped out into the cold morning wearing an old pair of sweats and a bathrobe.

I eyed her dubiously.  “Nice outfit,” I said with a smirk.

“Watch it sister,” she grumbled, “I didn’t want to get up two hours before everyone else so that you could engage in some week-long tryst with a boy I’m beginning to think is imaginary.”

I would have been annoyed at her, but one didn’t often get to enjoy observing Robyn out of her element.  She clearly wasn’t a morning person.  Besides, she was doing me a
huge
favor.

Our plan had been a brilliant one and, in my opinion, seemed to be working out beautifully so far.  Dad had already driven off, so now I just had to wait for Cade to pick me up before any of the other campers arrived.  My parents would think I was in Yosemite for most of the week, a place where cell phone reception sometimes didn’t exist, and Robyn’s mom and dad wouldn’t even know we had made the plans.  Since my parents and her parents never spoke to each other, I didn’t have to worry about Mom or Dad asking them if I’d been polite during the trip, either.  And Robyn’s demanded payment, though a bit terrifying, was something within my reach.

“So where’s this lover boy of yours?  It’s freezing!” Robyn said through a yawn as she pulled her robe tighter.

The deep rumble of a car engine broke the morning silence and I smiled as a familiar black Trans Am, almost blending in with the still dark sky, came rolling up the street.  I glanced at Robyn, only to laugh at the expression on her face.  Her eyes had widened and she stood absolutely rigid.

The sports car pulled up in front of her driveway and Cade killed the engine.  With the supernatural grace I always expected of him, he climbed out of the car and shut the door.  He wore what he normally did when in the mortal world: a pair of designer jeans and this time a hooded sweatshirt.  On any other guy the look wouldn’t be that flattering.  On Cade MacRoich, however . . .  And the quiet, strangled sound that left Robyn’s throat only proved my theory correct.

I turned my head and glanced down at her.  I almost burst out laughing.  She was standing there like some mushy preteen girl who had just seen her favorite movie star or musician walk by.  Robyn.  Speechless.  The world must have stopped turning.  I smirked.  I bet she was regretting her bed-head and shabby bath robe right about now.

Cade stepped up with his hands in his pockets, an easy smile on his face.  Robyn’s front porch light provided plenty of illumination to give her a full view.

“Hello,” he said once he was in front of us.  He turned his dark eyes to Robyn, pulling a hand out of his pocket and offering it to my friend.  “I’m Cade, you must be Robyn.  It’s nice to meet you.”

Robyn remained motionless a good twenty seconds before taking the hand suspended in front of her.  I half expected her to fall down in a faint when Cade’s fingers touched hers.

“Are these your bags Meghan?” Cade asked while Robyn continued her staring contest with Cade’s chest.

“Yes,” I answered.  My face was beginning to hurt from all the smiling I was doing.

As soon as Cade walked away carrying my stuff, I felt Robyn’s fingers grab on to my arm with a vice-like grip.

“Holy crap!” she hissed breathlessly.  “Meghan!  Where on earth did you find
him
?!  He’s so freaking hot!”

My grin only widened.  Perhaps this had been a good way to pay Robyn for her cover after all.

I picked up my small backpack and turned to head over to the passenger side door, kindly being held open by Cade.  Before I took a single step, however, I twisted around and gave Robyn an impish grin.

“Actually Robyn,” I said with a burst of smugness, “he found
me
.”

And with those final words, I slipped into my seat.  As we turned the car around in the cul-de-sac and headed back towards the Mesa, I imagined Robyn standing on her front porch, staring off into the early morning darkness like a ghost stuck in some other dimension.

“You’re friend isn’t much of a conversationalist, is she?”

Despite the growl of the Trans Am’s engine, I caught the slight humor in Cade’s voice.

“Actually, that’s the first time in my life I’ve ever seen her docile.”

“Huh, I wonder why.”

Oh, I
know
why
. . . I thought while Cade downshifted as we pulled out onto the highway.  Best to keep that little tidbit to myself, though.

The warm, fuzzy delight of basking in Robyn’s shock soon faded when I gave my companion a sidelong glance.  His voice had held a little more of his usual easy humor this morning, but something still seemed off about his stance; a slight dullness to his eyes and a hint of sadness to his smile.  The anxiety tugged at my stomach like an angler’s fishhook.  What was wrong with him?

We drove until we reached the last road leading down into the swamp.  Cade pulled off onto the wide, dirt shoulder and turned the key in the ignition.  I took a deep, shuddering breath as he got out of the car and walked over to open my door.  I had forgotten our purpose for visiting Eilé this time, what with Robyn’s reaction and Cade’s odd behavior taking up most of the space in my mind, but now it hit me: I was going to Eilé to meet my mother.  I had so many questions for her, questions I needed to know the answers to, questions I considered too terrifying to ask.  Why had she sent me to the mortal world so long ago?  Was it because she didn’t want me?  Because I was flawed?  Did she cast me aside in order to protect me?  And if that was the case, why had she not tried to find me herself after all these years?  Why was Cade the one to set this all up?

I almost twisted my ankle on my climb out of the car.  Luckily Cade managed to catch me.

“Are you alright?” he asked as he lifted me up by the elbow.

“Yeah, sorry,” I grumbled, “just thinking.”

“A dangerous activity, apparently.”

I glared at him, but his grin warmed me and some of the rigidness finally left him.

Nevertheless, I crossed my arms and scowled.  “It is when your thoughts are focused on meeting your real mother for the first time in your life.”

Cade’s grin faded, his eyes returning to a distant place once again.

He sighed and said in a voice almost too low for me to hear, “At least you haven’t had the time to learn your only value to her is that of a tool to be used and disposed of.”

“What?” I asked, losing a bit of my chagrin.

Cade cast me an apologetic look.  “I’m sorry Meghan, don’t pay any attention to me.”

I took a breath.  “Your mother has disappointed you?”

Ah, so this explained his behavior.  I had never truly asked him about his real parents because the one time they’d been brought up in the Weald, Cade and his sister had clammed up and I didn’t want to pry.  Now I wondered if I should have asked him about his real parents long ago.  In fact, I suddenly felt pretty selfish.  Despite his perpetual silence on the matter, perhaps what he really needed was someone to talk to.

Cade took a deep breath, then his eyes darkened and his face adopted a frightening expression.  I took a small step back.

“Yes.  My mother’s disappointed me on many occasions.”

I forgot the slight fear his sudden dark mood created in me and, gathering up my courage, reached out to take his hand.  He didn’t pull away, but he didn’t look up either.  Cade didn’t want to talk about it, not yet at least, so I smiled and squeezed the hand I held.  He squeezed back with less enthusiasm than usual.  My questions could wait for another day.

Cade released my hand and gave me a reassuring grin before he got my bags out of the trunk.  We descended into the swamp, turning right when we found the wide dirt path leading to the dolmarehn.  The sky gradually turned gray with dawn, but a thick blanket of fog kept everything relatively quiet.

As we approached the small crevasse, I sent a mental call out to Meridian.  I had let her out earlier, before Dad took me to Robyn’s.  Fergus waited for us at the cave’s entrance, panting contentedly and giving us his usual canine grin.

We waited for Meridian, and when she arrived we all stepped through the dolmarehn.  I had one last thought before becoming swept up by the magic of the Otherworld:
What will I do if my mother is disappointed in me
?

* * *

Once in Eilé, we made our way to the castle to gather Speirling, and this time a brown mare for me, before we headed out.  Cade led the way over the drawbridge, turning south on the road leading towards the ponds I had spied from the hills those few months ago.  The land remained dormant, but the snow had gone and the weather seemed a bit warmer, as if spring was only waiting for the right signal before stepping forth.