Luathara - Book Three of the Otherworld Trilogy (9 page)

He grinned, that grin that made my bones melt.

“Normally it takes a lot more out of me. 
But a
C
u
thra, in the mortal world, isn’t that tough to defeat.”

I blinked up at him.  He thought that had been easy?  Of course, I shouldn’t be that surprised.  After all, he had managed to take on ten of the Morrigan's giant hounds at once.

We headed back to our tent, staying alert in case any more faelah showed up.  It was when we were returning our weapons to Cade’s car that the glare of a flashlight fell on us.

“Meghan, what the hell?!”

I froze.  Robyn.  Of course.

“Is that, is that a sword?!  Crap, I thought you guys were just going out for a
make out session or something
.”

She gasped.  “Is that blood?!  What happened to Cade's clothes?  What have you two been doing?”

I sighed and started to turn around.
  Maybe I could make up some excuse . . .
But when I noticed Tully, Will and Thomas standing behind her, all three of them with looks of horror on their faces, I knew there was going to be no easy way out of this.

“What’s that smell?” Tully asked, crinkling her nose.

Oh no.

“Hey, what’s that over by the dumpster?”

Will adjusted his glasses and picked up a lantern, Thomas close behind.  Robyn cursed and started after them.

“Wait up!” she grumbled.

Oh no, oh no,
oh no
!

I twisted around and shot Cade a panicked look.  Would they be able to see the dead C
u
thra?  His face was grim.

In the next breath,
Cade’s words entered my mind:
Meghan, it hasn’t been dead long enough to turn to ash and it no longer
has control over its glamour. 
They are going to see it for what it truly is.

Crap!  What do we do?!
  I sent back.

Cade sighed,
then gave me a long steady look, his eyes appearing black in the pale moonlight.
 
We tell them the truth.

Could we?  Tell them the truth?  I mean, I'd wanted to tell them something about
my
true identity, but could I really do it?  After hiding it all these months, and would they believe me?  Was I really ready to tell them?

A panicked curse coming from Will and a blood-curdling scream that could only belong to Robyn was my answer.  I let my shoulders slump as Tully bolted towards our other friends.  Ready or not, my friends were about to learn what I'd been keeping secret for the past few years.  That I was from an entirely different world than they were, one that grew monsters like old bread sprouted fungus.  And I thought the worst part of the night was over . . .

* * *

Half an hour later, we were sitting around the inside of the tent.  Cade had changed into a new set of clothes and I had pushed back the screen that separated our small alcove from ev
eryone else.  And at the moment
we were being very closely scrutinized by my friends
, the light of the t
wo lanterns we
'd
switched on
illuminating four unreadable expressions
.

“So,” Robyn said, her voice sounding uncharacteristically subdued.

“So,” I repeated.

I had just finished telling them, in a rush, everything I had been withholding from them for the past two years.  I told them how I had always heard voices, how I had stumbled upon Cade in the middle of the swamp, how he had told me about
Eile and how I'
d been jumping back and forth between the two worlds for some time now.  I didn’t, however, tell them about the Morrigan, only that the creature they found by the dumpster had come from the Otherworld and that it was Cade’s job to take care of them.  Cade had held my hand the entire time and I was certain he was only being a gentleman by not complaining about my death grip.

Now we sat silently, Cade and I, facing my friends and waiting for the judgment, the questions
,
and the horror to come pouring out of them.

Next to Will I could hear Thomas muttering something about God and the devil in Spanish.  I couldn’t blame him.  The C
u
thra
had
looked like something straight out of hell.

“I must admit,” Robyn said, “that this all seems a bit far-fetched, and I would in no way shape or form believe you if it weren’t for that, that,”

She gave me a hard look.

I closed my eyes and released a deep breath.

“C
u
thra,” Cade offered, his voice a bit clipped and defensive.

Robyn cast him a quick
,
wary glance.  “Yeah, that, thing lying next to the trash bins
in plain sight
.  But, I mean, how is it even possible?  This is the stuff I’ve been telling you about for years Meghan!  It’s mostly mythology.  It isn’t real!”

I blinked in surprise.  It was the first time I had ever seen or heard Robyn doubt
her Wiccan beliefs
.

“But Robyn, I though
t you believed in this stuff
,
”
Will
sai
d, voi
cing my question
aloud.

“Well, yeah, some of it!” Robyn answered.  “There are spirits and ceremonies and the like that need to be observed, but nothing like this!”

She gestured towards Cade, and I sucked in a breath, suddenly feeling resentful.  Cade must have felt it too because I could have sworn he growled under his breath.

“What more proof do you need!?” I hissed, pulling my hand away from Cade’s so that I could throw my arms up in annoyance.

Robyn snorted and crossed her arms, turning her head to stare at the wall of our tent.

I gritted my teeth, trying not to grow angry.  This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell them.

Then Will surprised me by saying, “How the hell could you be keeping this from us Meghan?  I thought we were your friends.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but the emotion that had been building up got caught in my throat.

But Tully, who had remained calm and quiet this whole time, only nodded somberly.  “No Robyn, Will, you’re both wrong.  How could Meghan have told us something this big?  Think about it.  Would you have told anyone?”

And that was Tully.  Always level-headed, always coming up with the right answer to smooth out all of our problems.  She was probably life’s greatest gift to me simply because she knew that not every predicament could be solved by talking about it.

Tears burned my eyes.  I had lied to her all these years and she should be upset like Robyn and Will and Thomas.  But she wasn’t.  No, she understood.  Somehow, with all the hurt and anger and fear that was permeating the space around us, she understood.  I was going to miss her more than anything when I left for
Eile
.

“Oh Tully,” I cried, swiping at a wayward tear, “I’ve been such a horrible friend.”

She only smiled sadly and crawled over to give me a hug.  “No you haven’t Meghan.  I knew something must be bothering you all this time, but I knew you would tell us when you were ready.  Of course,” she added with a soft laugh and a smile, “I never imagined it could be anything like this.”

I sniffled and returned her hug.

Robyn, Will and Thomas had quieted down and were now donning looks of guilt.

“I’m sorry Meg,” Robyn finally said, the tone of her voice telling me she had let go of her anger, “I didn’t mean to yell at you, it’s just, well, this is a big shock is all.”

I nodded grimly.  I didn’t think I deserved such kindness.  Deep down, I thought what Robyn and Will had said was true.  They were my closest friends and I should have told them the truth.

“Well, now what?”
Will asked, crossing his arms after adjusting his glasses.

“There’s no way we’ll ever get back to sleep,” Thomas offered quietly as he eyed Cade suspiciously for what seemed like the hundredth time that
night
.

Or was he just checking him out again?

I bit back my amusement, glad to be distracted with silly thoughts instead of angry, hurtful ones.

“I don’t know about you guys,” Robyn said with her usual brusque confidence, “but I would kill to hear more about the Otherworld.”

I grinned again.  So, Robyn was finally going to admit this was real, huh?  And just like that, Cade started in with details and stories from
Eile
and my friends hung on his every word.  I relaxed and moved so that I was settled between his legs, my back leaning into his chest.  I sighed when he draped an arm around me as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  I added a few tidbits here and there as he retold some of our experiences in the Otherworld, but left most of the talking to him.

We stayed like that until dawn, exchanging stories like kids spending their first night with their cabin buddies at summer camp.  At some time during Cade’s regaling, it dawned upon me that I may have told my friends where I was from, but
I
hadn’t told them I was going back.

“Well,” Robyn said, yawning as Cade finished off another story, “anything else we should know?”

Cade looked at me and whispered in my mind,
Well?

I think I should tell them that I’m leaving.

I studied my fingers, folded together over the hand Cade had placed against my stomach.

Now would be a good time.

His thoughts were gentle, soothing.

Gathering my courage, I took a deep breath and let my eyes trail over Thomas, Will, Robyn and finally Tully.

“Yes, there is one more thing you should know.”  I took a deep breath and dropped my gaze.  “I’ll be leaving soon, with Cade.  I am going to go live in
Eile
.”

“What?” Tully asked, her voice quiet and slightly strained.

And that’s when the lump, which had snuck up on me in the last few seconds, lodged itself in my throat.

“I don’t belong here Tully,” I whispered.

I drew my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my knees.  Cade tightened the arm he had draped around me.  I felt somewhat comforted but not entirely.

“But, your family, your friends!” she said, a little louder but not shouting.  Tully never shouted.

The guilt was nearly overwhelming.  She had been so calm earlier, so ready to accept the fact that I was much more different than she had always thought.  Now it was Tully’s turn to let me know how upset she was.

“They know, and now you know,” I murmured.  “I’ll be living in
Eile
Tully, but it doesn’t mean I’ll never come back and visit you again.”

Tully made to say something else, but then closed her mouth and gave a short nod.

“Can we come visit you?” Robyn asked eagerly.

I grinned despite my sadness.  Yes, now that Robyn was willing to believe my crazy story, she would be the first one to hitch a ride through the dolmarehn.  If only she could . . .

I sighed.  “You can’t come visit me.  Humans can’t cross into the Otherworld.”

Her face fell and I could almost feel her disappointment weighing heavily in the air.

“But Meghan, what about that demon you guys killed,” Thomas said.
“There must be more of them in the Otherworld.”

I
regard
ed
him and gave a small smile.  H
e was worried about me.  It was a nice change from the distrustful anger.  I took a deep breath to answe
r him, but Cade beat me to it.

“I won’t let anything hurt her.”

His voice sounded determined, fierce even.  My smile broadened.  “Besides,” he continued, “Meghan is extremely strong.  She has more glamour than most Faelorehn and as soon as we get to
Eile
, her magic will grow even stronger.”

That caused everyone to pause and look at me with great awe.

“Magic?” Will practically breathed.  “Oh Meghan, can you show us?”

Cade shook his head.  “She’s been in the mortal world too long.  She needs to spend some time in the Otherworld in order for her magic to work properly.”

“Oh, darn.”  Will sounded so disappointed, but then Cade released a soft chuckle.

“She can’t,” he said, moving to stand up, “but I can.”

What followed was a modest, yet impressive, display of Faelorehn magic.  Cade simply gathered his glamour in the palm of one hand and proceeded to make a dark green flame flicker and dance and take on the shape of various images: a bird, a leaping fish and a raindrop splashing into a puddle to name a few.  I merely sat back and enjoyed the show alongside my friends.  I had seen Cade do so much more, but I appreciated this little offering.  It helped to ease the tense mood and took my mind off of what had passed earlier in the night.