Page 66 of Hex You

Jax and Emily disappeared into the cornfield. Mercy could see the stalks rippling like a green sea as the two of them made their way to the three willows grouped together—a tree oasis in the corn.

She, Hunter, and Khenti walked past the tree and into the cornfield that narrowed to just a few rows between the easement where the cherry tree was situated and the bend in Sugar Creek.

“There.” Khenti’s voice was hushed. “See the slime trail?”

Mercy shuddered. “Sooooonasty.”

Hunter nodded. “Yeah, and imagine how nasty the thing is to leave so much of that gooey crap wherever…” She paused and walked a few feet ahead of them and out of the cornfield to point down at something. “Yeah. It’s definitely a giant snake.”

Mercy and Khenti joined her by the creek. Discarded on the bank was an entire snakeskin.

Mercy kept her voice low. “Oh, Freya! That thing has to be at least ten feet long.” She turned to face her sister, speaking quickly. “Okay, you have to hear what Xena told us this morning. She saw Amphitrite last night when the Nure-Onna attacked her.”

Hunter blinked in shock and shook her head. “No! That’s impossible. I got rid of her.”

“You banished her body,” Khenti explained. “Xena said the goddess was insubstantial.”

“Shit! So, I got rid of her body but her spirit is still around here, causing…” Hunter’s voice trailed off as she worried her thumbnail and then her eyes widened and words burst from her. “It’s her not the damn snake! Amphitrite has been fucking floating around whispering crap to the townspeople!”

And that was when Xena began yowling. It was a sound that was definitely very infant-screaming-its-brains-out.

“She’s really good at that,” Mercy whispered as the three of them retreated back into the field and crouched down to hide behind a cluster of ragweed that mingled with the growing cornstalks.

“It’s creepy,” said Hunter, being careful to keep her voice low. “Like mixing a screaming baby with fingernails on a chalkboard.”

“Xena is doing an excellent job. It should work spectacularly,” said Khenti as he gripped his khopesh.

“That cat’s ego is going to be bigger than her hair after this,” said Mercy.

“I believe it already is,” whispered Khenti with a muffled laugh.

Together Mercy and Hunter said, “That cat!”

TWENTY-SEVEN

Nure-Onna slithered into the hole from which the delicious scents of life teased her sensitive nose. It was difficult to wriggle from the tunnel-like opening to the mortal world.I am bigger than before, when I was starved for blood. But I am also stronger. It is good my body is coated with ichor. That, with the undulations of my powerful form, enable me to move from world to world.

But Nure-Onna knew she must be careful. As she slithered from the hole in the sick tree to the creek, Nure-Onna reminded herself to remain submerged and near enough to the muddy bottom so that as she swam her mighty serpentine body stirred up the mud, which hid her from any too-curious eyes.

She longed to follow the creek around to the field where she had made her last meal, but the goddess’s disappointment with her when she hadn’t scented yuzu Kylie again—or any of the young morsels Amphitrite had commanded she kill—was still with her. No, the sea goddess had little patience, though she had been pleased by her attack on the feline the night before.

Nure-Onna turned onto her back and gazed down at her belly. Itssmoothness was marred by scarlet slashes, which were sore and wept watery blood. She grimaced and forced herself to ignore the pain. She would return to the lake. It was closer than the field in which she had killed the adult, and it was a bright, sunny day. Surely there would be delicious young people at the lake, enjoying the exquisite sunshine. Surely one of them would be an ally of the goddess’s enemy.

Nure-Onna was very disappointed. The lake was as quiet as a tomb. There was only one ancient man fishing from the dock. She swam under the dock and considered tasting of him, but his scent was not delicious, and she was unwilling to risk Amphitrite’s wrath on such a dried-up old man.

She would go to the field again. Perhaps the young ones had returned!

She swam from the lake, following the creek that wound past the sick tree that held the tunnel between worlds. She needed only to continue upstream of the tree to the place where the field met the grassy area where the young people had congregated.

Beginning at her neck, Nure-Onna’s body undulated in a lateral, wavelike movement that propelled her forward. Her smoothly scaled body lifted the mud again as, with renewed anticipation, she swam quickly, powerfully,eagerly.

Though Nure-Onna had to breathe air, she was able to hold her breath for many minutes. She was careful when she surfaced. Typically, she would only allow the top of her head and her nose to rise out of the water. If anyone happened to glance her way, all they would see was a young woman with dark hair swimming in the creek—though she was always quick about surfacing. As she neared the gentle curve in the creek that took it past the ailing cherry tree, Nure-Onna surfaced to fill her lungs.

At first she thought she imagined the citrus scent. It simply could not be yuzu Kylie! It was only Nure-Onna’s desire rising from her memory that she smelled. And then she heard it! The young mortal’sbreathing came in gasps, sending the alluring aroma of sweet, tangy yuzu fruit out on the warm breeze—which carried it to Nure-Onna.

She slowed. Nure-Onna submerged again and slithered beneath the water—silent and deadly—until she came to a part of the creek where the bank met the water with the gentle curve of a woman’s back. There Nure-Onna surfaced soundlessly.

And there, like a gift from the gods, was yuzu Kylie! It seemed as if the girl had emerged from the field, a willing sacrifice.I will honor you by never forgetting the taste of your blood and the scent of your citrus skin.After vowing to herself to savor every drop of yuzu Kylie, Nure-Onna surged from the creek.