Chase shifted gears as we exited off I-405, onto SR 167. "We're headed toward the Nisqually entrance to the park. Goat Creek is somewhere before there, and we'll be looking for a graveled path leading into a tangle of bushes."
"Road have a name?" Morio asked.
"Nope. Maybe a mailbox, though Mr. Lane may get his mail at the nearest post office. I did find out that mere are two giant holly trees on either side of the road. That shouldn't be too hard to spot."
I fished through my tote bag for Jocko's diary and opened it up. Delilah leaned over to get a better view, and we began thumbing through the pages. Most giants spoke in a guttural dialect of Faerie, and their writing was a phonetic version of their speech. Jocko was no exception. While translating took a little time, we could read the entries if we transposed some of the verbs and nouns. When we were able to decipher his handwriting, that is.
The first few months of entries were pretty standard fare for someone who was worlds away from his home. Jocko had been lonely, he'd missed the mountain air even though he didn't miss being picked on for his size. He missed his mother but was glad to be out of his father's reach. Apparently Jocko, Sr., had a tendency to violence. Jocko was loyal to the OIA, but even he seemed to notice the lack of support foreign-based operatives got.
And then, about midway through the diary, we came to the first mention of Louise.
She came in again today and I asked her for her name. Louise. What a strange name, but beautiful. She's so nice, and she told me that she likes hanging around with Faeries. I said, "I'm just a giant, and not a very good one at that," but then she said I was cute. She's going to take me to a movie this week. I've never been to one. I've heard of them, but was too nervous to go by myself. Everything still seems so strange.
Delilah gave me a broad smile. "He had a crush on her." "And it sounds like she might have returned the feeling." I glanced out the window. I was uncomfortable prying into Jocko's personal affairs. Even though he was dead, it went against my nature to snoop into thoughts that he had expected to remain private. But we had to know what went on and why Louise had been killed.
"We're almost at Puyallup," Chase said.
"This is where that big fair is, right?" In September, Chase had invited me to go to the Puyallup Fair with him, but I had declined. Now, as the highway raced beneath the wheels, I could see that the city had that just-passing-by feel to it. Automobile dealerships lined the highway, and the requisite convenience stores, gas stations, taverns, casinos—all the road stops that would beckon a weary traveler driving long stretches in the night.
"Right. And over there's Rainier," he said, nodding to the southeast. "We're about an hour or so away from the entrance to the park."
After staring at the glacier-covered mountain for a few minutes, I went back to Jocko's diary, skimming pages again until about a week before his death. There, I found an interesting entry.
Louise loved the ring and as soon as I can put away enough money, I'm going to sneak her through the portal. She spends just about every evening with me. I know my family won't accept her, so we'll strike out on our own when we get home. OIA will be pissed, but I don't care. They don't do nothing for me anyways.
Last night, Louise caught Wisteria in the basement. I warned Wisteria to quit going down there. She's not authorized to be around the portal. Neither is Louise, but I know she won't touch nothing. Wisteria said that she just wanted to check on some inventory she thought was down there so I guess it's okay.
I don't know what HQ was thinking sending her to me—she's not much help, and she's a bitch. Won't work nights when Menolly's around, says she hates vamps. I tried to tell her that Menolly isn't like the other vampires, she's good people, but Wisteria won't listen.
"So Jocko was planning on sneaking back through the portal with Louise, and they were going to vanish after that. And who the hell is Wisteria? Did you ever hear Menolly mention her?" I frowned as I thought back, trying to recall if I'd ever heard the name before.
Delilah squinted. "Not that I can remember, but then I never paid much attention to the goings-on at the Wayfarer. Do you think she's our leak?"
"Maybe. We have to look into it when we get home, that's for certain." I glanced at Jocko's last entry. He'd been planning on taking Louise out for takeout the night he died, and then going bowling. It was so routine, so daily-grind life, that my stomach knotted. Jocko hadn't a clue that his life was about to end. He hadn't realized that his presence put Louise in danger. If he would have known that he and Louise were about to die, they would have crossed through the portal and disappeared. Of that much, I was certain. So Jocko was clueless, and now he was dead.
When I looked up again, we were pulling to a stop at a convenience store in a small town named Elbe, whose main claim to fame was the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad Excursion, a one-and-a-half-hour, fourteen-mile round-trip train ride through the lower-lying foothills surrounding the mountain. It actually sounded fun, and I made a note to come back later, once things had calmed down, and take the ride. I could do with a bit more wild energy than was provided by the woodlands surrounding our home.
"Anybody need to use the restroom? Get a bite to eat?" Chase opened the door and went to fill the gas tank. Delilah and I hopped out and wandered around.
Set near Alder Lake, the little town managed to keep afloat, thanks to the numerous tourists on their way through to see Mount Rainier. The Ashland Market, the store at which we'd stopped, overlooked the lake, and I meandered over to the edge, staring at the wide expanse of water. The clouds were thick, threatening to break open with a deluge at any moment, and the wind whipped the waves on the surface of the lake into a nice froth.
Delilah joined me, though she hung back a few feet from the bank. Like the majority of catkin, she had a natural reluctance to go near the water, and though she bathed without a problem—thank the gods—she had only learned to swim through the insistence of the OIA. Since she received her certification, she hadn't set foot in a body of water bigger than a hot tub.
She tightened her jacket, stuffing her hands under her arms. "Damn, it's cold. I don't like it here. It's too wild, too old."
I stared at her. "Too old? We come from Otherworld, and you think this place is too old?"
With a shrug, she said, "Maybe not that… I guess… it's just that this area feels wild in a way Otherworld doesn't. The magic in Otherworld's forests makes the trees sparkle and brings them to life. Here, the trees don't talk to people. They grow in their own dark realms, and I can't hear what they're thinking."
What she said was true. In Otherworld the land was so linked to the inhabitants that it felt like a community. Even in the dark woods, there existed a sense of comprehension and understanding. Earthside, a great chasm divided the forest from the people, underscoring the sense of distrust that I felt from the majority of humans that I met. They didn't trust the wild, they feared the primal, and went out of their way to tame everything within reach. It was as if the wild places were at war with humanity. If only a compromise could be reached.
We watched as a hawk flew low over the lake, hunting. "Sometimes," I said, "I wonder what it would be like if Otherworld and Earth were freely linked once again, like they were in the past, with no rules or regulations about who came and went. How would that change things?"
"It would be death to both worlds." Morio had crept up behind us, so silent that neither one of us had heard him. Startled, I jumped, but he put his hand on my shoulder. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He glanced at Delilah, then back at me. "With the progression Earth has taken, it would be a huge mistake to open free movement between the worlds at this point. Maybe sometime in the future, when both sides are ready for the culture shock."
"Ready?" Chase called to us from beside the SUV, looking vaguely disconcerted. We hustled back to the car. He was holding a bag full of snacks, but a disturbed look told me that he had more on his mind than potato chips.
"What's wrong?" I glanced around, wondering what had happened in the past fifteen minutes.
"I was chatting up the clerk. There have been some pretty strange goings-on around here lately. Abandoned buildings burned to the ground, a few cows and sheep missing, and some blood splattered in the area. Strange UFO sightings being reported. What's that sound like to you?"
"Dragon on the loose, that's what." I glanced at Morio and Delilah. "I have the nasty feeling we're going to meet old smoky."
The prospect of battling a dragon made me queasy. And for that matter, what the hell was it doing around here? And how was it connected to Tom Lane? The photograph in Georgio Profeta's notebook seemed to indicate they were linked. And what was so special about Lane, anyway, that he possessed one of the spirit seals?
As we climbed back into the SUV, the clouds darkened, and the storm finally broke, sending sheets of rain to pound the pavement, the fat droplets bouncing as they hit the road. Chase navigated carefully. The highway was far narrower than the freeway as it curved through the rural area.
"Once more, tell me exactly what I should do if we run into the dragon," Chase said, glancing in the rearview mirror.
"If you see it first, cautiously and quietly back away. Hide if possible. If it sees you, it may immediately attack—in which case you're toast. Or, it may try to talk to you. If it speaks, listen, and don't argue. Don't let your pride get in the way, don't threaten, and don't give it your real name. That's asking for trouble. Apologize for entering its territory, ask politely if you may leave. Whatever you do, don't draw your gun or that's all she wrote, folks." I picked through the snacks and found a Milky Way bar.
Chase coughed. "Sounds lovely. I take it that for humans, it's a lose-lose situation all the way around?"
"Actually," Morio said, clearing his throat, "I've met one dragon that was quite friendly."
I stared at him. "You've faced a dragon before?"
"A couple, but don't get your hopes up. I lucked out with the friendly one. He was looking for dinner, and I happened to know where a farmer with a herd of cows lived. The other time wasn't quite so bloodless." He grimaced. "I was traveling with a young priest who decided he was more powerful than the dragon. He wasn't."
"Oh Jesus, that's just what I needed to hear," Chase said, slowing as we came to a turnoff to the left. A graveled road led us through a tangle of undergrowth. Huckleberry and bracken, brambles and juniper encroached on the road, and giant Douglas firs rose out of the thicket, along with wild crab apple, vine maple, and red cedar. Here and there, patches of fireweed long gone to seed dappled the area. As we bumped along, the wild energy that Delilah had mentioned spread like mist rolling along the ground.
When we rounded a bend, to the left up ahead we saw an old house. The road ended in a circular driveway, where a couple of old trucks sat, rusted out from the looks of things. Further back, three outbuildings looked ready to tumble. I scanned the area, looking for any sign of the lumberjack. Chase was craning his neck, probably looking for the dragon.
The SUV coasted to a stop, and we piled out. Chase lightly tripped up the steps to the house, skirting a broken patch that threatened to cave in under him. He knocked on the door, but nobody answered.
I slipped around the side, veering toward the tenuous outbuildings, looking for any sign of life. As I approached the smallest one covered with moss, Chase screamed as an explosion rocked the area. Hell-and high water!
Racing back to the house, I saw that Chase had been thrown clear of the porch by some sort of blast, and the sparkles that indicated magic at play were flying everywhere. He was lying on the ground with Delilah kneeling beside him. Morio was cautiously approaching what had been the door. I dashed up the stairs, taking them two at a time, skidding to a halt beside the yokai-kitsune. He held his fingers to his lips.
"There's someone inside," he whispered.
Inhaling deeply, I mustered up as much energy as I could. Even though it was raining, lightning felt a long way off, but the Moon Mother—invisible as she was behind the cloud cover and daylight—ran strong and clear. I summoned her power, and it raced through my body, into my hands.
"Okay." I nodded at Morio. "I'm ready. Let's go see what we're up against."
As we rounded the archway, we found ourselves face-to-face with one of the Fae. She had pale mint-colored skin, and her eyes were the same color as mine, lilac and lavender. Tiny shoots, tendrils of some plant, emerged from various parts of her body, peeking from beneath a dress so sheer that she looked more naked than if she'd been nude.
Magnetic and lovely, she gave us a long look and then motioned to Morio, who took a step toward her. I grabbed his arm.
"No! I smell demon," I said. And then I knew who we were facing. It was Wisteria, from Jocko's journal. And as far as I was concerned, that meant Bad Ass Luke couldn't be far behind.
Wisteria shifted her attention to Morio. She held out a finger and again crooked it. I glanced at his glazed eyes and jabbed him in the arm.
"Snap out of it; she's using a glamour on you!" Morio shook his head and blinked. Wisteria gave me a dirty look and pulled her lips back, showing sharp little teeth. Oh yeah, she wasn't on our side; that much was obvious. Just then, Delilah and Chase pushed through the door.
Seeing the four of us standing there, Wisteria seemed to think the better of a fight and turned to run.
I was on her like snow on a mountain, sending a bolt of energy zinging in her direction. I hit her square in the small of the back, shoving her a good ten feet forward, but then to my horror, the bolt continued to ricochet off the walls. Before I could stop it, the energy slammed into Chase, knocking him off his feet.