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The path led on, past the turnoff to where Morgaine had made camp. A fire flickered in the distance, no doubt next to their caravan. Smoky motioned for us to stop once more as he raced down the path. After a moment, the flames disappeared, and the darkness pulled in around us again. I shivered unaccountably. I wasn't cold, but the Fae energy—Grandmother Water's magic—was growing stronger by the minute, and I could barely think, it was so thick.
Looking back at Morio, I whispered, "Can you feel it, too?"
He nodded. "Oh yes, though I think not so strong as you. But it's calling to me, too, and I'm having a hard time ignoring it."
Delilah leaned forward. "This is a wild land here. Smoky has kept it that way on purpose, but I wonder if he hasn't let it get out of hand."
"Let what get out of hand?" Smoky asked, reappearing as quickly as he'd vanished.
She stammered. "The… the land. It's wild and primal—"
"And that is the nature of wilderness," he said, giving her a cool smile. "Girl, do you realize how old these forests are? Your forests in Otherworld were born during the Great Divide. The forests here were born in the distant memories of the planet. They are entities with their own worlds. The woodlands have no need for humans, because humans have become a blight on the face of the world. Dragons, too, and all things that walk the paths of the forests. We all trample and devour and destroy. It's in our nature; we can't help it. But that doesn't mean the forests accept it and look the other way."
"In OW, we've found other ways to interact with the trees," I interjected. "There are primeval forests there, to be sure, that don't care for the touch of the two-legged creatures, but none are quite so intimidating as the ancient groves here."
"None except Darkynwyrd and her shadowy cousins," Menolly said, joining the conversation. "It doesn't matter where you go. There will be forests and wild places with welcome mats out, and then there will be the kind this woodland hearkens from—the kind which prefers to be left alone."
"Enough talk," Smoky said. "Their caravan is there, but Morgaine is not. Arturo and that impatient beast she calls Mordred are there. Mordred stinks of soot and fire. He's likely your arsonist."
Mordred? That made sense. It would seem that Morgaine was already starting her campaign against the demons on her own.
We took off again, following Smoky as he took an abrupt right turn and began to hike up a road with a steep incline. I could hear Chase puffing away behind us. The three of us girls and Morio had far more stamina than he did. And then the puffing stopped.
Concerned, I turned to look. Menolly's eyes gleamed in the night, and I could see that she'd hoisted Chase on her back. He looked scared spitless but was hanging on for dear life as she gave him a piggyback ride to the top. Delilah glanced at him, but when he scowled, she turned away, careful to keep a straight face.
Smoky stopped so suddenly that I plowed into his back. He reached behind with one hand and grabbed my wrist, dragging me to the front with him.
"Look," he said, turning me so I was facing west. There, against the hillside, a brilliant light filtered out from a cleft in the rock. The light, a cerulean blue with sparkles dancing in it, shone like a soft mist in the night.
"The cave," I whispered.
"The cave," Smoky said.
We slipped down the path leading across the meadow that buttressed the cave entrance. I didn't ask Smoky if he'd seen the cavern before. I knew this was as new to him as it was to us. As we stole across the lea in single file under the silver crescent of moon, I could feel the pull of the cavern even stronger. The energy was dizzy with the lifeblood of the Moon Mother and swirled with the currents of Grandmother Water.
The magic dipped and swayed, spiraling like a labyrinthine dance, leading us on. Will-o'-the-wisps dappled the meadow, the dangerous Fae of wild moors and heather-clad hills singing siren songs. I fell back to Menolly's side. Chase was behind her, and I glanced into his eyes, worried. Orbs of light, entities without form, will-o'-the-wisps—or corpse candles as they were commonly called—beckoned to humans like sirens in the night. Usually to their death.
Chase's eyes were glazed, and his nostrils flared. I tapped Menolly on the shoulder, not wanting to speak lest our words be captured by the wind and carried on ahead. She stopped, watching as I motioned to the detective, then to the corpse candles. Understanding dawned in her eyes, and she dropped back by his side, taking him firmly by the wrist to lead him on.
Satisfied that he wouldn't go wandering off to his death, I slipped silently through the knee-high grass to Smoky's side again. Morio joined us, as Delilah fell back beside Menolly and Chase.
I looked up at the moon. Her newborn crescent glittered like the blade of a scythe, and a cold wash of fear and lust ran through my blood. She was my Lady, my Huntress, my goddess.
"Will you live for her? Will you die for her? Will you kiss her lips on your wedding day, and accept her kiss on your brow at the edge of your grave? "
Nigel's voice echoed in the back of my mind. He'd tried to dissuade me from joining the Coterie of the Moon Mother, as he did every acolyte. To court the Moon when you weren't summoned invited insanity at best, a chill and dire death at worst. But she'd been with me since I first held my hands up to her as a child, desperate to touch her, to hear her words in my heart, to answer the call that echoed through my soul.
"Come. We can waste no time." Smoky's voice startled me out of my reverie. I realized I'd been standing in the middle of the field, lost in her passion. As the scent of soil and damp moss hit my nostrils, I shook my head to clear my thoughts and jogged along behind him.
We were almost to the cave when I heard the first call, deep within my heart. "Camille, we need you. Come to us, girl. You are as much a part of this as we are."
"What? Who?" I stopped short, looking around.
"Who are you talking to?" Delilah asked, staring at me, a worried expression on her face.
"I don't know. I heard a command to go to the cave. The magic has been calling me since we first arrived on the land, and it's grown stronger with every passing step." I bit my lip. "I need to go. I need to go into the cave."
"We all need to go into the cave," Menolly said, still holding Chase firmly by the wrist. He was off in la-la land, that much was obvious, and I had my doubts he'd be any use at all to us until the charm of the meadow was broken or until we got him far enough away from the meadow to negate it. We should have left him home.
