29: Please

Evening brought a stilled, peaceful hush over the grim forest. Wind moved like a ghost through graves; the rounded lobes of oak leaves danced more from the flickering shadows of our fire than any natural air current. Smoke and the chary sear of cooked meat hung in the crackling air.  The buzz of insects, the distant trickle of a narrow stream, and quiet radiance of the stars made the forest, if only for a moment, seem to exhale and relax. Gnarled roots and darkened corners into which the women crawled held an earthen coziness; the soil was still warm from day's green vespers and their eyes were too exhausted to stay awake much longer.

Only a few of us were left awake to watch and listen and pray that the pervading gentility held steady through the long night. Only a few of us were awake to see Chiro's return. The man had padded forth from the darkness completely nude and without so much as a "Hello."

A beautiful Pakistani teen with haunted eyes—Yarah, she'd told us in broken English—gasped and turned away. Val didn't seem to know what to do with herself. Beside me, Dakota leaned forward on her perch of curled root, twisting her head with owlish curiosity as he moved past us; I pulled her back, my own gaze fixed on the flames until I'd heard him move to the far side of the stallion and locate his clothes. The steady dance of a happy wolf's paws and the furry thump of a few heavy-handed pets told me when to stop averting my eyes.

Somewhere nestled into the rocks, Dot stirred with a feeble cry. Another girl held her close as I stood from the ground and headed to address the demon who'd fetched our dinner.

Gabriel had twisted his body into a 'c' shape, leaning heartily into his master's legs. Chiro was bent over slightly, running his hands over the enormous wolf's shoulders. In a faintly luminescent flash, grey eyes regarded my approach.

"Saved you a piece," I said, nodding over my shoulder, "but you better hurry."

My apprehensive glance skipped toward Shail. As stars filled the twilight sky, the crag cat had gotten increasingly more playful and a good deal hungrier. He stretched and rolled along the forest floor, spanning out his claws to just barely clip the meat I'd had resting on a stone. One of the cat lovers in the bunch, Yarah, would gently push the cat's paw back with a stick. Shail would grumble a bit, then roll and stretch and flex those toes a liiiiitle closer, and the process would begin anew.

"Already ate," Chiro said, straightening. Gabe tilted his head back to stare up at him. When it became clear that no further pets were being offered, he swished his rump back to the warmth of the fire and settled beside Val, who obliged his nosy stares with a vigorous ear-rub.

The two of us watched the wolf half-purr at Val's attentions, and then my focus returned to the man.

"Did you find him?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"Further on, near the edge of the Oaks, that's where he'll be," Chiro said, brushing fur from his legs. "There's at least one other Lord waiting to pick you off there."

I looked back at all the sleeping woman, at Val and Yarah and Dakota. My stomach flipped through anxious thoughts. I had to get them to the castle, had to. "Will those two be a problem?"

"Akta," Chiro began with offhand concern, checking the horse's condition, "is worse than a problem."

"What do you mean?"

He rested a hand on the thick, equine neck. "He's been leaving a trail of bodies. I've examined a few. Akta is more than a Lord. He's one of the Witch's priests. There will be consequences for killing him. If you can kill him." His tone, like the night, was drenched in unsullied calm, but there was something uncertain in its depths that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

"If?" I combed my fingers through my hair. "Gotta admit, I'm not a fan of that word." Nor was I instinctively a fan of anything that prayed to a creature called the Marrow Witch. Maybe hunting down the Witch and finding a way out of the Mid wasn't the right idea after all, if It employed vile beasts like Akta.

"Me neither," came Dakota's unsolicited opinion. By now the woman had swaggered to my right. Hand on hip, she regarded Chiro in a way a part of me didn't feel comfortable with, but the moment passed and I had no voice to stop her as she reached out and tested his bicep in her hand. "How does this King of the Jungle," she said as he recoiled from her touch, "have trouble fighting anything in here?"

"The Malumbrian Oaks are part of the wild lands," Chiro said, making it clear with a disapproving scowl that he did not desire any kind of human contact. "From the distant mountains to the castle walls, he can channel the Witch's magic."

"How?" Dakota asked.

Chiro took one look at the resting women, at Yarah and Val, Shail gnawing on the meaty leftovers, Gabe lounging nearby, and gestured for us to come closer. We moved in just enough to hear his low, dismal reply. "He eats the marrow of sacrificial victims, which the forest is rather flush with at the moment."

Dakota's hand slid into mine. Startled, I looked over at her. Through feverish cheeks and wide blue eyes the young woman stared straight ahead. "What kind of powers are we talking?" she continued. Her lips collapsed into a pale pink frown. Sweat beaded the fingers clenching  mine. I'd forgotten, I realized with a guilty twist of my gut, how much I'd put her through, how much I'd asked of her, and how scary this Hunt could be.

Chiro, despite noticing her jump to my hand, grimly carried on. "Depends on how many offerings he's made. He will heal nearly as fast as you cut him. He can command the trees and what waits in seeds to grow beneath your feet. That's what I've seen. That's all I know. Since this Hunt began I've scoured the forest in search of him." A deep breath moved his shoulders. The eyes he turned on us made Dakota squeeze my hand tighter. "There won't be many survivors this year."

"So," I said, with another cursory glance to Dakota, "how do we kill him?"

"Cut out the heart and crush it," he said. "In all my years, that's the only thing I've seen work."

Dakota was not too keen on such a challenge. "Why hasn't he come for Tay yet? If she's so special, why didn't he snag her right away?"

"He was running from me." Ire stiffened Chiro's posture. The hand he'd lain upon the horse started to change into formidable, half-human claws. The horse, sensing discomfort in his rider's shifting mood, stamped his hoof into the ground and kicked back a few rowdy steps. Gabriel's ears turned at the sound. Chiro worked on calming the steed as he spoke. "His strength comes from sacrifice, but I couldn't kill him and keep you alive at the same time. I had to make a choice; when I did, he ran."

Those words, that angry tone, confirmed my suspicions that the Prince had done more for me, for Dakota and every one else, than we might ever know. Smiling weakly at my partner, I broke away from her. Tentatively I reached out, laid my now free hand beside his, and asked the question I simply could not figure out.

"Why are you helping us, Chiro?"

The man who'd done little to explain himself thus far shrugged. "Freedom."

I tilted my head, searching his grey eyes for clues. "What kind of—" A sudden grip on my stomach forced a gasp from my lungs. My knees buckled. Chiro caught me by the elbow. He and Dakota helped ease onto the ground.

"I'm not watching you this time," he was saying, when Dakota whacked his shoulder.

"You're damn well watching her."

One hand on my stomach, I shut my eyes against a slowly spinning view of the campsite. "It's Mom," I explained. "Last time she called, I screamed at her I was dying. I've been expecting her to try again. Didn't realize it'd take so long." One hand on the ground to brace myself, I rubbed the arm the demon had grabbed. His claws had punctured the leather as if it were tissue paper. My elbow ached. Fire burned in a column that stretched from my skull to my toes.

Licking blood off his fingers, Chiro crouched beside me. He touched the other hand to my shoulder briefly. "Names have power here, Tay Wilson. I've told you this many times."

An idea prickled through the soft chanting in my mind. I took a steadying breath and glanced sideways at him. "Can this happen to you?"

His nod came almost reluctant.

"And Akta?"

"If you called him by his true name."

"Which of course you don't tell anyone, do you, Rumpelstiltskin?" I groaned. "You'd have to trust someone for that."

"Does anyone know?" Dakota asked, waving Val and Yarah off.

"The one who named you," he continued, seemingly fascinated by how pale and sickly I'd grown over the course of a few minutes. "But you humans write your names down on everything. It's very easy for a rider to figure out. Not so easy to figure out one of us." He pushed off the ground with a smug little grin.

"Wait!" I coughed, grabbing his arm. He had no idea how hard, beneath the sweat and pain, I was working to resist being summoned. "What about all that mumbo jumbo about giving a medium something of a dead person's belongings?"

"Akta's not from Alaska." Dakota frowned. "He's hellspawn. And I think it's pretty clear we don't have time to steal a trinket from him to pass off to your mother."

Almost too excited, too sick to speak, I kicked out my leg and slapped my thigh. "Akta jabbed his spear through me, just here," I rubbed the spot. The memory of that pain seemed to amplify beneath the stress of being called back to the land of the living. "I broke the spear. Threw a part at his horse"—I nodded at Chiro—"Other half was still in my leg when I died. As long as it didn't up and disappear..."

"It didn't," Chiro affirmed. "You broke it and whatever magic it contained."

"So," I said, and it took me another few seconds to find the will to speak, "if I were able to get the spear and Mom summons him, will his body stay here like mine does, or do you guys get special 'disappear from this world and reappear in the next one' privileges?"

"The Wild Hunt is something special," Chiro said before I'd finished, sensing perhaps how short on time I was. "Summonings are not."

"How are you gonna get the spear?" Dakota asked. "It's either ten feet below or locked up in evidence somewhere as part of an ongoing murder investigation."

"Lucas," I said simply.

"Lucas buried you," Dakota snapped. "Tay, the night's half gone. You've got a few hours until we find Akta or he finds us. That's not enough time to convince someone to break the law when he found your body."

"Mom can do it." I continued. "All we have to do is ward Akta off long enough for the summoning to kick in and we go in and take his heart. And if that doesn't happen, we still kick his ass to kingdom come. At least this way we've got a window of opportunity."

Dakota had a few choice words about my idea, but they were lost on my ears, which rang with the sound of a decrepit, masculine voice calling my name, dragging me through the black.

*

My eyes opened to the same dreary room as before. Several candles burned low against their wick. The elderly man with the ghastly visage and silvered eyes announced my presence to the room. And this time, I thought, raising my chin and turning to follow the hand that gripped his, this time I was ready.

"Mom," I said before my eyes fell on the aging, haggard face of Ajax. My step-father leaned back from the table with a gasp. Confused, I looked beyond him, but there were only the two men present in the somber darkness.

"Tay?" He started to speak.

"Can you see her?" the medium asked. There was an invisible, fiery grip along my spine, holding me in place. This time, I didn't struggle against him.

"Where's Mom?" I asked. "I need Mom."

Ajax ignored me. "Is this a trick?"

"Where's Mom?" Confusion slid into my voice. "Why isn't she here?"

"How do I know it's you? Can't you read my mind and know where she's gone?"

Surprised, I stepped back a pace. "What?"

"She said you're a demon. She told me all about this place, about your real father... Don't you get those kinds of powers?"

"Not that I'm aware," I said dubiously, glancing at the medium for confirmation.

"Some do," he croaked. I frowned.

"If you think I'm a mind-reader or have access to some creepy cosmic database about all human history, I don't know how you figure that out," I snipped, and then quickly apologized. "Look, Lucas followed me when I refused to leave one of the calves in the snow. He got attacked by the wolf, too. Right before that, I asked him how he catches crooks. He told me 'by surprise.' Ask him yourself. If you want something more personal to you, I dunno, I guess," I ran my hands through my hair and smiled faintly at the man. "You remember when I was little, how I painted some of the cows' hooves to have a tea party? You gave me the scare of my life, yelling at me about how close I could've come to being kicked in the head. I knew right then you really cared about me and Mom."

His smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "I remember," Ajax said, and then his head dipped toward the table. "Your mother left in the middle of the night. Not a letter, nothing. No idea where she went." His face raised high enough for me to glimpse a flash of tears.

Squatting on the table beside him, I reached out to him. My hand passed through his cheek. He shivered. I pushed myself back toward the center of the table and sat there cross legged, unsure what to do or say.

But there were things I had to say, and when Ajax carried on the silence I had no choice but to begin. "Ajax," I said slowly, "Dad. I need you to do something for me. It's not going to be easy. It's not going to be pleasant. It's going to sound insane but you've got to trust me. I don't have anyone else. I was hoping Mom..."

"No," he said.

Almost nervously I glanced at the old man. How much longer did we have? "I need you to summon someone else," I continued.

"No."

"Please," I said, willing him to look at me, to see in my eyes how desperately I needed his help. "Mom was trying, is trying, to help me. Where I am, it's hell, dad. Almost. Purgatory, maybe. I don't know for sure. They call it the Mid."

"And you want me to summon something awful from there?"

I knew there had to be risks on his end, but I couldn't stop myself from nodding. "He's hunting me. He's hunting the girls I'm with. Dakota—"

His attention snapped up. He brushed the tears off his cheeks. "Dakota's there?"

"Please don't tell her father," I said quickly, covering my mouth too late to stop my mistake. "She wants him thinking she's up in heaven somewhere." I detailed what trouble we were in, until the medium's grip loosened and the wallpaper flickered with the outlines of trees. My own hands started to snap in and out of existence before my very eyes, like rapidly changing television channels.

"And this will help you?" Ajax was saying with no small amount of disbelief. His arms were folded across his chest, his mouth stern, his eyes narrowed on the apparition before him.

I nodded.

"But you're already dead."

"Afterlife's still some type of life," I said grimly. "Summoning people sort of knocks 'em out until you send us back. We just need him KO'd long enough to kill him before he kills us."

"And this'll what, save you?"

"For now." The ceiling took on a dusky, verdant look. Even the medium was shifting in his seat. Time was definitely counting down now. Feeling panic rise into my chest, I spoke over his questions. "His name is Akta, at least, that's what he's called in the Mid. That's not his real name, so we need something stronger to use, something that belonged to him."

"Tay..."

"He killed me once, Ajax. I'm not going to let him do it again." And now I was angry. Angry and panicked. Great. I patted my leg fervently. "He shoved his spear straight through my leg. I had to walk to my death with a spear in my leg. And then he pushed me down and made me get back up. I don't know what he plans on doing next time, but I'm in his world now. It's going to be worse."

A funny expression crossed onto my step-father's face. He tensed up- for a second I thought he was about to sneeze, but then he started to cry. Cried with his shoulders and body, sobbing beside a stranger and his dead step-daughter. And I didn't have time to comfort him. My world was changing, rapidly rearranging back into the ancient forest.

"I need you to go to Lucas, convince him to let you borrow the spear. Better yet, take grandpa here with you so you don't even have to leave the station. Summon Akta and that's it. I'll take care of things on the other side."

"Travel costs extra," the old man barked.

"Whatever," I replied. "I've got money in the purse I was going to take with me to New York. It was on top of my luggage. Use some of that, or all of that. Clearly I don't need the cash."

Ajax wouldn't look at me. "Don't go, Tay," he said.

I put my hand on top of his, watched the hair rise along his forearms. "You've got to convince Lucas. Right now. Every second counts. We're losing time. We've only got hours. This thing's going to find us and kill us. For me and Dakota. You have to do this. Please."

"Additional spirits are extra. Dangerous spirits even more."

"Take it from my savings," I said, rolling my eyes.

With white knuckles Ajax pushed himself from the table. He snatched his coat off the back of the chair, threw it over his shoulders and walked out.

"Please!" I shouted after him. The candles sputtered all around me. The medium began to chant. "Please, Ajax! Right now!"

*

"Will he do it?" Dakota asked after I'd explained to several worried people what had happened to me. The topic of conversation, however, I left for Chiro and Dakota after they'd sent everyone back to their uncomfortable sleeping spaces. People were a lot more difficult to control if they panicked; and they were exponentially more difficult to keep alive if they thought you didn't know what the hell you were doing.

"He'll do it," I said, ignoring the swell of doubt in my chest. "And if he doesn't, we'll do it on our own."

Unconvinced, she settled back on her original perch for the evening. "So what happens now?"

Rubbing my temple, I gave her the most confident grin I could muster. "I have a plan."

"You're an idiot," came Chiro's immediate reply from across the flames.

I frowned. "You haven't even heard it."

"Don't need to."