Forest Moon Rising (50 page)

“How am I supposed to remember that?” the Nörglein replied. “They’re all alike.”

“But you stole my baby from me! Surely you remember that.”

“Why should I?”

Anger at the elf’s total lack of care for his children sent waves of fire through my blood. I raised the blade.

Loud applause stopped me. The con populace really didn’t need to see the execution of this guy. We weren’t play acting. My girls didn’t need to watch me murder the being who had raised them, even if he had abused them.

“We’ll do this.” Oak appeared at the edge of the crowd, Cedar close beside him.

“No. I will. This has been a long time coming.” Donovan hauled the bound Nörglein to his feet and slung him over his shoulder.

“Allow me.” Lady Lucia bared her fangs. “I thought I killed you once, you disgrace to decent timber. This time I will make sure. This time we dump the body in the river so you cannot regenerate in the soil. Tess, watch the baby.”

Before they could take two steps toward the rapidly clearing corridor to the gaming rooms, the Nörglein shuddered and spasmed.

Donovan dropped him unceremoniously. He landed with only a light wisp of sound. Smoke streamed upward from where the plastic strips bound his wrists and ankles. It smelled sweet, like burning pine, but with a bitterness of old and rotten wood beneath it.

The dark elf screamed, high and piercing.

“God, I’m sorry. I had no idea the plastic would do that to him.” Gollum bent to remove the lethal restraints.

Cedar beat him to it. The boy bit his lip and tears moistened his eyes.

“No.” Oak stayed his brother with a firm grip on his arm. “What will be, will be. We agreed. He’s no longer fit to maintain the forest. He needs to be culled.”

“If my forest dies, let it be on your head, Tess Noncoiré. You are responsible for the death of all the trees and the living things that depend upon them!” The dark elf fixed an angry, defiant gaze upon me. Smoke poured from his mouth.

His eyes remained open, accusing me as his body convulsed once more and lay still.

My girls fell on me, hugging me tightly, crying and shaking.

I wasn’t too steady myself. Gollum joined the family with Doug close on his heels. He pulled another handkerchief and a wet wipe from somewhere, taking care of my wounds even as he joined the family embrace.

Through the shimmering veil of my own tears of relief, I noted Doreen approaching Cedar and Oak with a tentative offer of her own embrace. As tall as she, the boys clung to her, silently burying their faces in her shoulders.

Donovan and Lucia made off with the smoldering body. “The river,” Lucia said quietly. “It’s the only way. Too bad he’s already dead. I looked forward to a long, slow, tortuous feed.”

Scrap dissolved and crept off to recover. I knew he’d find ample mold in the basement levels. But I’d make sure I provided him with beer and OJ in the café.

“Pretty good skit. The smoke was a nice touch. But the blood was too dark, not green enough,” Malcolm Levi laughed over the noise of the clapping crowd.

“
W
E NEED TO FIND SEAN,” E.T. whispered, still clinging to me.

“The binding will wear off . . .” I said hopefully.

“If Pete doesn’t return by midnight, the minions with demon tats will kill the man,” Doreen said. She and the boys joined our group. Cedar and Oak had withdrawn from her, mastering their emotions in stoic acceptance. She looked disappointed and lonely.

Gollum continued to fuss over my already healing wounds.

“A little imp spit would work faster than those wet wipes, but Scrap’s not around,” I whispered. My love for him grew and blossomed, threatening to choke me.

“The paths have been destroyed,” Oak said. “I don’t think either Cedar or I could find our way home again.”

“Is there a back door?” Gollum chimed in. He accepted a gold silk scarf from a fan’s costume to tie his makeshift bandage in place.

“Back door?” Oak’s face went blank.

“There is always a back door. Only a fool builds a secret lair with only one entrance,” Gollum replied. “First law of super villains.”

“The tunnels,” Phonetia said barely above a whisper.

“The what?” Cedar shot her a wicked glare.

“I don’t have to keep the old man’s secrets anymore,” she returned haughtily.

“I know an entrance three blocks from here,” E.T. said quietly. “It’s nearly blocked in places between there and the main passage. Hard going. But it’s not as heavily trafficked around the entrance. And it’s raining hard out. We’d get soaked before we found the trapdoor.”

“A rainy Saturday night in Old Town, the parking will be difficult at best. We’ll probably have to walk half a mile. Might as well take the more difficult but closer tunnel,” Gollum added.

“Let’s go.
”
I stepped back and nearly tripped over Sophia’s stroller. She woke up and wailed.

My heart flipped with the need to hold and comfort her. At the same time I sank within myself, knowing I’d have to wait for Lucia to return before I could go find Sean. At this point every moment of delay endangered him from the latest batch of men with demon tattoos.

More incompetents or had Pete held back the best of his minions?

I was betting on the latter and Scrap was in no condition to help.

“I’ll watch the baby for Lucia,” Doreen offered.

“Can I trust you to return Sophia to her mother, and only her mother? If Donovan comes back first . . .?” With her Damiri black hair, he might assume the obvious and claim her as his own.

I looked around at the assembly. Most of the crowd drifted off, or found seats in front of the stage waiting for Holly to begin her concert.

I needed my girls and their brothers with me, leading me through the tunnels. I wanted Gollum at my side.

Solemnly, I approached Squishy and Julia, hovering indecisively in the background. “Hi, I’m Tess,” I introduced myself to Julia. “I saw you playing with Sophia yesterday. Could I trouble you to watch her for a little while until her mother returns?”

“You trust me with her?”

“I trusted you with Gollum’s heart. Nothing is more precious to me. You gave that back to me. I trust you with my goddaughter as well.”

“Thank you,” she said graciously. “I never meant to hurt him.”

“I know. We’re all happier this way. And I know we all have to get along. So why not start now. Can you watch Sophia?”

“Yes. I’d be honored,” she said enthusiastically reaching for the little girl.

Sophia willingly went into her arms and immediately began playing with her expensive golden knot earrings.

I transferred the KIT sticker from my badge to hers.

“Well done, Tess,” Gollum said, kissing my temple. “I think we need to get a move on though. Phonetia says it will take us a least an hour to hike up to the hills.”

“Let’s get moving. Maybe Scrap will recover enough to help by then.”

Don’t bet on it
, I heard a disgruntled mumble in the back of my head.

“Squishy, why don’t you and Julia take Sophia to the café? Order a beer and an orange juice. Don’t be surprised if it disappears on its own.”

“Draft or bottle?” Squishy called back.

“Doesn’t matter.” A new thought wiggled forward in my mind. I fished my cell phone out of my fanny pack and tossed it to Squishy. “Call Raquel and JJ Jones. Tell them they can keep their baby! Spread the word to the entire support group.”

Squishy is a good baby-sitter for me. Julia is an attentive baby-sitter for Sophia. The two women make an interesting couple. Physical opposites. Emotional opposites. They’re kinda cute together. Maybe they really are in love.

They coo and fuss over Sophia with poignant joy, knowing they will never have a child together, but delighting in this little bundle of energy.

Sophia has decided a bottle is too tame. She wants a cup. And she wants it now. She makes a mess of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich Julia orders for her. But amazingly most of it ends up in her tummy.

Squishy takes a few moments to make the requested phone call. She’s smiling by the end of it. I can hear Raquel’s joyful tears through the tiny speaker.

I watch from the safety of the bank of ferns in a raised bed behind their table. The moment the beer and OJ arrive I creep out from my safe observatory and take a few sips. Then I creep back and wait a few minutes for the waters of life to work their magic. Another few sips and I’m up to making faces at Sophia.

She blinks at me, not certain she sees me. Then she sticks out her tongue, aping me. She’s so cute. I waggle my wart enhanced bum at her.

She stands in her high chair and flashes her ruffled panties at me.

Squishy coaxes her back to sitting with more PB&J.

Doreen joins us, gazing at Sophia with intense longing. Movement in her peripheral vision draws her attention to the side passage. She’s impatient for Donovan to return. At the same time, she wants to enjoy the baby as long as possible.

A couple more sips of beer and I can almost work up the energy to go find some mold.

You okay, Scrap? Tess asks from someplace dark and dank. Oh, I bet she’s got good mold all around her.

Working on it, I flash back to her. Where are you? I could find out if I just thought about her for a moment. But I don’t have the energy yet.

Deep in the tunnels. E.T. says we’re about a hundred yards from the main passage.

Careful. I think there’s a rockfall just ahead of you.

I see it. Gollum has the most amazing flashlight.

Of course he does. He’s Gollum.

And his backpack, of course.

He’s always prepared.

Lucia returned from her errand yet?

Nope.

Scrap, hurry and get your strength back. This place is really, really creepy. I feel like I’m being watched by a thousand ghosts and none of them want me here.

Working on it. Stay close to Gollum. Keep the girls from straying. I’ll be there as soon as I can.

She fades from my consciousness and I finish my beer and OJ. My skin glows a bit orange and my tummy bulges. Time for dessert.

Sophia reaches for my tail as I prepare to fly off. Oops, can’t allow that. There’s this special grip that only Tess is supposed to know about. When she tangles her fingers just above the barb, I can’t get away, even though I’m only partly in this dimension and should be able to slip through anything. This little lady is looking to learn the grip quite by accident. And she’s not yet a year old.

I sense a Warrior in the making. I’ll keep a look out for a likely imp to bond with her. Can’t let just anybody infect my Sophia with the imp flu.