Day 17 is when the words died. Long live the words!


Chapter 14: WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO CONVINCE YOU

They were staring at each other, neither one seeming able to start the conversation. Somehow, Aria wasn’t completely sure how, they were left alone out on the deck. One minute there had been hoards of people and a blink of the eyes later they were staring at each other because there was no one else to look at.

“I’m sorry,” she finally stammered out. It felt wrong not to say it. After all, she’d been completely out of line this afternoon. “I shouldn’t have walked away from you today. It was juvenile. I seem to act like a little kid around you.”

He lifted an eyebrow as if he questioned her apology. “I don’t think you were the only one in the wrong. I haven’t been honest with you from the start so I don’t blame you for getting angry.”

Something in her softened, as it often did within a few words from him. She had to quit letting him disarm her like this. A word, a glance and she was putty on the floor. “Honest about what?”

He gestured toward a path that led in a different direction than any she had explored. It was softly lit by strings of light hanging from some of the only trees on the property. Because she couldn’t help it, she began to pepper him with questions about what she was seeing.

“Why are there trees right here where this isn’t near water? And I’m not completely sure but I don’t think are even trees that are indigenous to the area. They look like they were planted because this is a pretty straight line of them. How old are they? Where does this path go?”

“Any more questions before I start to answer them?” He chuckled at her and she couldn’t decide if she liked the sound because she liked that she made him laugh or if it irritated her because he’d laughed at something she’d said. Deciding to stay mute for the time being since she didn’t want to ruin the moment with something sarcastic or mean, she shook her head. “These trees are the first things that Xander ever planted here. They remind him of home. Even though they’ve been some source of speculation from the local population, we let him keep them because they’ve proven to be great shade. There isn’t much of that around here except for what you’ve seen by the river. They call this Lover’s Lane.”

She blushed before she could stop herself. “So I suppose we’ll come across a lot of couples making out in the shadows?”

“Nope. There aren’t really any couples here. Alma and Constantine. That’s about it. It’s an ironic title for the place, I suppose.”

“There’s all these people and none of them have gotten together? I’ve hung out with ten or eleven people at the most and they’re always rearranging into pairs without any hardship at all. It’s what boys and girls do.”

“Not these boys and girls. It isn’t allowed, I suppose. Or maybe it’s discouraged strongly and everyone respects the reasoning behind the request. I don’t know.”

She decided not to follow up on this line of questioning anymore. What the household chose to allow or disallow wasn’t up to her to decide. They were all adults, as far as she could tell. That meant they could do what they wanted without having her interfere.

“What made you choose this particular path if hooking up isn’t allowed?” Den winced at her irritated tone and she tried to soften it with a smile.

“It’s one of the more private places around and I figure half the group figures we’ve already hooked up, what with you storming into the kitchen today only half-dressed and demanding your clothes back. I think they just assume I’m not very good in the romance department.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” she mumbled to herself. She had made quite the display of herself earlier today. The anger had been eating at her as she’d run away from him and she’d done things that hadn’t been all that smart now that she looked back on the situation with clearer hindsight. “So you brought me here so you can be more honest than you’ve been? Or you want to make the rumors true and seduce me properly?”

Once again her mouth ran away from her but he was the one to blush this time. “I thought I’d give you some truth. Unless you want to be seduced? No? Okay. It’s your call.”

“Is it?”

He nodded. “It is. I’m sorry if it doesn’t feel like it. After you hear me out, it will truly be up to you if you stay or go. The parts for your motorcycle won’t be in until tomorrow but I’ll get you the keys to something else and you can take it wherever you need to go. We’ll send someone after it when the motorcycle is ready.”

There was a definite ring of truth in his words. Whether that was just because he believed it or because it was really what had been decided, she couldn’t decide. It didn’t really matter. If he meant it, it would be good enough for her. “I’ll take your truth, then. We’ll talk about the rest when you’re done.”

He nodded, his smile wide as he followed her reasoning along to a result that pleased him. They came to a clearing and he stopped. She could see why he had wanted to bring her here. It was a wonderland of waterfalls and cascading rapids in miniature. The water feature was one of the best she’d ever seen.

“Did Xander do this, too?”

“Heather helped but, yes, it was Xander’s idea. It’s a pity it has to be completely dismantled in the winter and stored away but it’s a beautiful place in the summer. I have to admit that I don’t get here often enough as I’d like. He adds new things every couple of weeks so there’s always something interesting to look at. It’s a very restful place.” He indicated a pole between two trees and then another one across the clearing from them. “There’s also a perimeter around the whole place that makes it completely isolated from any power outside. No one can read any thoughts coming from in here or feel any emotions. What we say will be completely private here.”

She sat down on a wide, flat rock right next to the largest waterfall and put her hand out to catch the spray. It was recycled water but still more fresh than anything she was used to. The flavor on her skin was like spring when everything is growing and brand new. It tasted like green smelled. She smiled as she thought that through again. It was most definitely green. Warm and hardy with a faint tinge of mildew.

“Where would you like me to start?” he asked, surprising her with his openness. She’d figured this would be a long, drawn out monologue where she only had to sit and listen. Never had she figured she’d be able to ask questions. In fact, she didn’t have many just because she hadn’t thought she’d be allowed to ask any so she hadn’t given it much thought.

“Start with you.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

He smiled and sat down across the water feature so she could still watch the water and his face at the same time. “My true name is Dennali. I’ve been going by Den (the last name from earlier in the story that I can’t remember at this moment and am too lazy to go find it) for the last twenty years. The longer I stay here, the sooner I’ll need to find a new name.”

“How many names have you had?”

While he thought about this, adding up the number in his head, Aria watched him carefully. It was still possible that he was telling her a huge lie. That he had so many people telling her the same story made that possibility unlikely. Still, she could back away now. If she stayed for this whole conversation, she knew she would have to believe. More than that, she would have to discover her own story. That scared her.

“I’ve had twelve. There was an incident about ninety years ago where I got into a scrap of trouble and had to leave town about three weeks after I arrived. The resident bad guy didn’t like me coming onto his turf, telling him what to do and what not to do. I was still young and hadn’t figured out how to be subtle as I tried to make things right.”

“That sounds like it was dangerous.”

He chuckled and she tried to figure out what she had said wrong. “The birthright protects us. If you were doing something with water, you’d be nearly indestructible. No one I’ve known has tried to do anything that could get them killed while they weren’t covered by their birthright.”

Aria looked down at her hand covered by water. There were several rocks lining the bottom of the pool, several with sharp edges. She picked up one and pressed the edge against her skin where a line of red appeared and disappeared just as quickly. To check her hypothesis, she lifted her hand up and did the same thing. This time the red welt began to seep blood so that her whole finger was soon dripping with pink water.

Den took the rock from her and threw it back in the pool. As he dunked her wounded hand back under the water, he sighed. “Don’t you believe me? I’d say you already did some testing of the hypothesis yourself. If I’d known that I just had to throw you in a puddle when you were hurt, I would have run for the river instead of Greg’s house. Would have left me a little richer in the long run.”

“So while you’re putting things back into place for people, you’re indestructible? Wouldn’t that be all the time?”

He shook his head but she was having a hard time concentrating on him as he ran his finger up and down her palm. Between his soft touch and the water moving swiftly over her skin, she had to keep blinking her eyes to bring her vision back into focus on his face. Every nerve ending in her body was screaming out to be included in the sensual overload. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have him touching her while they were both underwater.

“Not all the time. If I’m careful, I can go days without getting swamped by the compulsion to help someone. Constantine speculated once that I could always be under the birthright by being part of a family like this. It might be less of a compulsion because I want to help all of them. They don’t need to ask for my help. That might lessen the strain on my mind and body.”

She barely registered when he stiffened and pulled away from her. It dawned on her that he wasn’t touching her anymore but she was still so swamped with desire that she tried to move closer to him again.

“No,” Den hissed. “Stay still.”

The harsh words were wrong in the situation but she couldn’t figure out exactly why as her senses were swamped with him. She stretched up as far as she could and her lips touched the scratchy skin of his chin. Her kisses snagged on his five o’clock shadow but it wasn’t stopping her.

“Aria, stop.” This time she heard the fear in his voice. Her ardor cooled instantly and she would have stepped away from him in embarrassment but for his arms still keeping her close.

“What is it?”

“Leeches.” Smoothly, as if they were dancing to music only they could hear, he turned her so she was facing the opposite direction. “Over my shoulder.”

“I don’t see anyone.” She didn’t doubt him even if she couldn’t figure out what he’d been looking at. He was tense enough that she could tell this was important. When he wasn’t under this compulsion of his, she’d watched him being a normal, easy-going guy.

“Look for the darker shadows near the trees. Watch them long enough and they’ll move in ways that shadows shouldn’t.”

She tried not to blink as she picked one of the larger trees with plenty of shadows surrounding it. Sure enough, she saw a movement that wasn’t a branch swaying in the gentle breeze she could feel cooling her skin. It was as if the shadow had shifted into a better position as if the last one had become uncomfortable.

“What are they doing here? I thought you said we were safe here.”

“We should be. I know from first hand experience that it’s impossible to spy into this place. There are specific enchantments up to keep unexpected people out.”

Aria grinned. “This is the last place on earth that I would have ever expected to hear the world ‘enchantment’ come out of anyone’s mouth. Especially someone all big and tough like you.”

“Face it, kid. You’re living a fairy tale.”

“Are you the handsome prince? All fairy tales have one.” He shifted her again so they could both see what he had spotted out of the corner of his eye. “You dance divinely.”

A dull blush spread over his cheeks. “I’ll have you know I can do better than this. There are clubs in Portland that would love to have me back.”

“Having you around is probably really good for their business. If you’re able to keep a drunk lady around, waiting for her chance to dance with a cute guy, you’re going to sell her more to drink. I bet you burned up that dance floor.”

“I could take you there. Show you a good time. I’d even throw in dinner.”

“You don’t think we’re having a good time now? These leeches are a ton of excitement.”

“Wait until we start running away. It gets even more fun.”

“Running away? I thought we were going to fight them.” It was insulting to think of running for the house instead of standing up to them. Aria didn’t want her first real fight to turn into one of those stories that started out, “Well, we started running as fast as we could for the house when they cut us off and someone had to come save us.”

“You’re untried in a fight, Aria.” He tried to look down at her but she was able to keep away from his piercing glance by making sure she stayed as close to him as possible. Since he didn’t seem eager to let go of her even a little bit, it was easy for her to hide. “I’m not prepared for this. All I have are some of the defensive stuff I carry with me all the time. No one knows we’re here. It would be stupid for us to even try.”

“I’m not untried. Who defeated the leeches the other night? Me, that’s who!”

“Yes, it was you but you don’t even remember what you were doing. For all you know, you need to be doped up for it to even work.”

She tried not to take offense because everything he’d said was true but it was hard not to be hurt that he didn’t think she could redo her last triumph. “You don’t even know what I can do. Maybe I’m more powerful than you think.”

“I may not know who you are,” another pivot and she was facing a new part of the forest that was beginning to look menacing and strange, “but I know who you are. Maybe.”

“You do? Why didn’t you say anything to me?”

He shrugged, the movement making her shift in his arms. If anything, he’d suddenly found a way to hold her tighter without making it uncomfortable. “I was going to tell you. It’s one of the reasons I brought you here. Then the leeches showed up and now I’m dancing you around like an idiot so we can pretend that nothing strange is happening out there.”

“How did you find out so quickly?” She was more than interested to hear what he had to say about her past. The idea that something he might say would spark a memory and make her remember everything was making her giddy.

“Constantine called around to some of his old buddies. They tell stories and remember just about anything that happened in the old days. If they don’t know something, it could be because it didn’t happen.”

The idea that they might remember something about her past made Aria so excited she was getting nauseous. She tried to calm down by taking deep breaths but that just reminded her of how close they were which incited a different excitement. Either one wasn’t good right at the moment. “And they remember me?”

“They remember a story way back about a Water Witch in Nova Scotia. She was very young but had abilities similar to yours.”

“Nova Scotia? Do they have snow there?”

“I believe so. Seems like the right part of the world.”

She worried a bit of fabric on his jacket as she tried to remember snow. The leeches were forgotten for the moment as she concentrated on any stray memory from her past that might crop up. “I didn’t think I’d ever seen snow before. It’s one of the reasons I came to the northern coast instead of going south. How strange that I don’t remember it.”

“Maybe when you see it again, you’ll remember.”

“Do you think so?” She searched his face. In it, she saw a sadness she hadn’t thought she would find. He’d helped her find out who she might have been once but he didn’t seem happy about it. Even as he moved the two of them into different positions, she could see that he wasn’t really concentrated on the leeches anymore. It really was as if they were dancing.

“Sure.”

A shiver went through her, so deep it felt like it had started in her bones. He was lying. “You don’t think I will. Or would you rather I didn’t?”

“We don’t even know if it was you, Aria. For all you know, you really never have seen snow.”

She was now convinced it was her, though. Once she’d set her mind to it, she couldn’t back away from the idea that she’d once been a Water Witch in Canada. “You said it fit my abilities. What exactly does a Water Witch do that makes you think I could be one?”

“She talked to water. That’s what she told the villagers, at least. It was a simpler time then. They didn’t need to know much more than that to be in awe of her. One day the banks of the river overflowed and several villages were completely destroyed. There’s talk that those who did survive ran her off in disgrace. As far as anyone can tell, she never resurfaced or did anything worthy of stories, I suppose.”

A chill ran through her body at the idea of someone being held accountable for an act of God. “That’s horrible. And they think she… I did this? Flooded an area that was probably on a flood plain to being with. And it could have been at a time of year when the water was running high.”

“I didn’t say you did it so calm down. It was just what the stories say. Maybe she left out of remorse or she didn’t feel she fit in any longer. There are a lot of reasons the storytellers wouldn’t know.”

Another few steps and she was staring over his shoulder at the water feature and beyond where something was definitely moving around. They were starting to grow bold. This ruse of theirs wouldn’t last for much longer. What she couldn’t understand was why they were waiting to attack. This was the most vulnerable she and Den could possibly get.

Something clicked in her mind about something he’d said earlier. “These storytellers… they remember a long time ago. What exactly is a long time ago? I only remember thirty years. How many more did I have before that?”

“That story is from the early 1800s.” She studied his face. There was no way he was lying to her now. Never once had she thought that she’d really existed before the fire that was supposed to be her first memory. If he was right, she’d witnessed nearly two centuries. What probably hurt the worst was the fact that she only remembered a tiny fraction of that time.

“How is that possible? I barely look like I’m thirty and I know for sure I was alive during those years.”

“This is just speculation based on something Delaney told me earlier tonight. I haven’t been able to process the information and make sense of it in my own mind so you need to bear with me. From what I can gather, we age when we’re under the birthright. I’ve lived out in the middle of nowhere for years at a time and haven’t had to help anyone. When I’m around people, I’m almost constantly under the compulsion. While I’ve aged, it’s been slow enough that I don’t appear ancient.”

“How old are you?”

His lips twitched into a smile before disappearing. She could tell that he liked when she asked personal questions. “I’ve got you beat by a good century and a half. Of course, you might have been around before you showed up in Nova Scotia.”

“So what do you think I was doing for all those years? That’s a lot of time between the floods and the fire that started the life I remember.”

A shadow moved past the tree line; Aria tried not to flinch. Instead, she worked on controlling her breathing. When things did start happening, she would need to work fast if she was going to get any punches in.

“If you’d gone into hiding or decided you didn’t want to use the birthright for fear of something like that happening again, you might not have aged. Your gift isn’t one you need to use all the time. In fact, you might be one of the people who feel as comfortable using it as not using it. For some, they have to use it every so often or they can’t sleep at night. Like I said, this isn’t an exact science. No one talks about it. Tonight was the first time I’ve ever given it much thought.”

“I’m assuming the leeches follow the power that comes along with the birthright? Why did they finally attack me if I wasn’t using the birthright? And why did they just let me go?”

“I’m not so sure… I’m not sure.”

A ripple through the marrow in her bones gave her some warning before the anger pooled low in her stomach. She’d never thought of herself as being a lie detector before but she knew every time Den lied to her. While she was sure others had kept the truth from her or even outright lied, she didn’t notice like she did with him.

“Don’t lie to me. Not about this, Den.” She clutched at his upper arms, wishing she could free herself from his grip and get some distance. There was no way that was going to happen but it didn’t stop her from squirming.

He looked resigned to his fate but he wasn’t happy with her. “Stop fighting me. I’ll talk. Damn it, Aria. This isn’t the time to get mad at me. I was trying to protect your feelings.”

“You don’t have to protect me. Don’t you get that? I can protect myself.”

To prove the truth to him, she flexed her fingers out so she was no longer gripping him. Just as she felt his body calm down, she shot her palms out to either side of his head. The water feature sprang into life, spraying up geysers instead the sedate waterfall. It distracted Den long enough for her to pull away from him. Whether it distracted any of the leeches was hard to tell. The shadows were just as thick as they’d been last time she’d looked at them.

“Don’t you understand?” She was pleading with her eyes as much as her words. It was time to quit dancing around and time to get to work. While she thought she understood what he’d been trying to do for the last twenty minutes, she couldn’t be sure. She also didn’t know if he could see her unspoken message. Now that she’d begun, she couldn’t stop the water. Not that she wanted to. He might not think that she could fight but she knew better. She could feel the birthright that everyone had been talking about. It washed over her like a cool shower on a hot day. “I don’t want you thinking that you can turn me around and keep me from harm. I know there are bad things out there. If I go to the left, they’ll be hounding me to the right. I get it.”

It was a long shot but she thought she could see understanding in his eyes for a second before he hunched over, pushing his hands deep into his pockets as if she’d just kicked him in the gut. “Protecting is what I do. Whatever I need to do, I do. It’s not something I can stop. Not even if you want me to.”

Now that the time for fighting was almost upon them, Aria felt the fear for the first time. She nearly gagged on the taste of fear. While she wanted to push it away, she knew it would be smarter to use it. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she let it overwhelm her. The shadows seethed forward as if they could smell it. Den looked like he wanted to pull her into a hug once again but she shook her head. He stood his ground and allowed her to stand hers.

While the leeches began to pick their battle positions, Aria began to mass her forces. The water in the underground chamber started to boil in anticipation of being used. What she hadn’t expected, and what scared her a bit, was the ground water. It was closer to the surface than she’d expected and there was a lot of it. She should have thought about this problem seeing as the river wasn’t far away and everything was green in this area. No matter if Xander was able to raise up a plant from a seed in a matter of hours, he would need natural water to assist him.

“Do what you need to do, Aria. Just promise you’ll come back to me when it’s over.”

She opened her eyes, feeling his despair so keenly it pushed away the fear. Could he really mean it? Was it part of the play they were putting on for the leeches? “I don’t know what you’ve done to me over the past couple of days. What magic spell you’ve woven to make me want to stay here. I need an ocean, Den.”

“I’ve got water. Rivers and lakes and all matter of places I can show you that are more beautiful than your oceans.”

“I can’t deny that. But it’s not the same.”

Before he could try to dissuade her and win, she pushed her hands down to her sides and pulled them up over her head. It had begun. The base of the water feature exploded into the air as the force of the water ripped it away from its moorings. It landed near Den and he shied away from it before realizing the potential it held. He picked it up and got something out of his pockets. The only thing she could see for sure was the small flame of a lighter setting something on fire.

The elements, she reasoned. The leeches clearly weren’t made from any of the four elements she knew about. Any earth, fire, air or water could be used to battle them. With a broad smile, she realized they had three of the four at their disposal. While she didn’t want to turn her back on him, she needed to trust Den to protect her back with whatever he had available. She would be doing the same for him. It was time to quit concentrating on him and get to work.

As the leeches advanced toward her, she tried in vain to pick out a weak spot. They were nearly massed into a complete wall but she could detect tiny fissures where their forms hadn’t met together well. Those were the spots she started aiming for.

The first attack was just a tiny bit of what she knew she could do. Water from the underground chamber began to shoot out in spurts, a gun made out of moisture and simple desire. She directed the ‘bullets’ with flicks of one hand so that they hit the advancing army, tearing them apart so they were soon a ragged bunch instead of a solid unit. It was effective in a two hundred degree radius. Any further back than that and she threatened what Den was doing with his fire so she concentrated on those that she could see both in front of her and from her periphery vision.

About the time the leeches figured out what she was doing, she changed tactics. This was a bit harder for her and she could feel herself being drained by the motion she had to make with her arms. Sharp upward thrusts of her arms and stabbing motions with her hands made the ground rumble and sway.

“Hold on,” she yelled over her shoulder. “I don’t know what this is going to produce.”

“Try to reign it in, if you can. Remember the trees. They could fall in on us or fall over the path. If we can’t get out of here eventually, we’re screwed. This is only the first wave. There will be others.”

She nodded even though she knew he couldn’t see her. Putting every bit of strength she had in keeping hold of the natural groundwater at bay, she raised her arms slowly this time. The muscles in her fingers strained as the appendages grew straight and rigid in the air.

The geysers this time were made up of mostly muddy earth. Fissures streaked over the ground, rock and sand fighting each other for superiority. Whatever lost was flung up into the air. The leeches began to wail as clods of dirt rained down on them. While some were merely injured and could continue forward, there were some true casualties that dwindled down to wisps of dark that wafted through on the breeze out of her sight. She hated to think they might be able to go somewhere and regenerate to fight another day but there was nothing she could do about that now.

It was out of her hands now. The earth’s crust would shake and shiver until it had settled the disputes she had riled up. She was dealing with something she didn’t understand and had no dominion over. The water, tasting her withdrawal, grew angry. A mist began to rise from the openings in the earth as the ground water began to boil and seethe, simmering with an anger that scared Aria almost as much as the leeches did.

“I can’t control it, Den. We’ll have to run for it.”

“Why couldn’t we have done that when it was my idea?” she heard him mutter as he backed up into her. “We’ll have to run for the house. They’ll have figured out something is wrong by now. Heather must be plotting your demise over the destruction here.”

“She’ll have to wait for the leeches to get done with me. I’m kind of busy right now. Where do we need to head for?”

“To your right. The path is still intact. It’s the shortest way to the Manor House. With these kinds of numbers, I don’t dare have them attack us anywhere else. This the most I’ve ever seen on this property before.”

“Will you be able to get us both there?” She felt the question in the silence. It wasn’t one she wanted to answer just yet. He wasn’t going to like what she was going to do. “Be ready to run, okay? I’m only going to get one chance to do this. I don’t think I can handle more than one go at this. You were right. I’m not that strong.”

He laughed, a hard, gritty sound full of sarcasm. “Are you kidding me? You’re stronger than anyone else I’ve fought with and I’m including Delaney. Don’t short change yourself. Do what you need to do. I’ll get us to the house.”

Instead of controlling the ground water, she directed it to flow to the spot Den had pointed out. She could see the path now that he’d mentioned it but she wanted to give them a wide berth so that Den wouldn’t have to deal with a gauntlet as he ran through to safety. The trouble would be only making an incision that wide and no wider. There was so much water just under the surface that Aria was afraid that the whole river might be coming to her call. For a moment, she understood how she might have flooded a village at one time.

Holding her arms out to the approximate diameters of the hole she wanted made, she screamed at the top of her lungs. The sound wasn’t part of the control. It was caused by the pain her arms and chest were suddenly in as the water fought for superiority. Pushing every muscle to the max, she told the water where to go. It erupted out of the ground and surged toward the leeches. In a move she hadn’t expected, the leeches began to melt into a thick, globby mess instead of incinerating into wisps. There was no way Den could get them through this.

There was one more chance. There was still water in the underground cistern. She called it up and sent it sweeping toward the bubbling mass. With a little force, it swept the mess further into the trees and out of their way.

Her breath came in quick gasps now as her lungs fought to pull in enough air to function. Her heart hurt from the exertion. Very soon, her body was going to shut down out of sheer survival.

“Now!” She didn’t need to shout but it helped her feel that Den would hear her better that way, regardless of the fact that he was right behind her. The only thing she was certain of was that he would get them out of this mess. As she grasped her last conscious breath, she felt him sweep her up into his arms. Her hero would save her once again.