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“Should we tell Feddrah-Dahns?” Morio asked.
The moment the words hit my ears I shook my head. “I don’t know. Ignorance may ensure our safety . . . maybe we shouldn’t. I feel it’s important we keep this under wraps and just get the fuck back home. The priestess was right. Help us get dressed and let’s get out of here now.”
“What about portal jumping? How will we manage it?”
“I suppose we should sneak back to Dahnsburg and jump from there. We aren’t that far away from the portal near the Deep. We’ll return the same route we came and pray they don’t catch us.”
I started to pull on my skirt, but stopped. All my clothes were soaked through with mud and grass and blood. “Lovely. I can’t wear this,” I said, looking at the sodden mess. “I’d look like a reject from Satan’s School for Girls. I was naked when I killed him but my clothes still caught the worst of it.”
Iris laughed. “I can take care of that. Both of you were a sight when we brought you in here. I washed you up the best I could,” she added, blushing as she glanced at Morio. “You, too.”
“Thanks, Iris,” he said, winking at her. “You’re a peach.”
She blushed again, then brought out a bag. “While you slept, I did a little shopping at the early market. I couldn’t find much but . . . here.” She drew out a simple robe in a brilliant blue shade and handed it to me, along with a finely made leather belt. And for Morio, she held out a pair of brown trousers and a green tunic. “I was able to clean your shoes, and they’re over there in the corner.”
We dressed quickly and shoved our filthy clothes in the bag, then—eating bread and cheese on the run—hurried downstairs.
Feddrah-Dahns and Mistletoe were waiting. The unicorn surprised me by motioning me aside with a wave of the head. “Priestess Camille, rest assured, my father will not find out what transpired from me. Revealing that information will be up to the new Lord of the Dahns Unicorns.”
Priestess? I stared at him. “You know what happened?”
He bobbed his head. “Of course. I felt his death. All of the Dahns Unicorns did—it rocked through every one of us. But none except for myself know exactly how it happened. Each time he is reborn, the herd feels the passing.”
“I should have known,” I said. “What will your people think? Will they hate me?”
Feddrah-Dahns shook his head. “No. At least not my people. Others may not see the matter so clearly.” He paused as if he were wondering how much to say. “Understand: The Black Beast chose you, Lady Camille. His command is sacred among the Dahns Unicorns.”
“Then is there a problem?”
“To some degree. There are rites and rituals my father would demand you undergo, and you do not have time. I have a premonition there are things afoot Earthside that you must take care of. So I will make sure you get back through the portals without any questions.”
Impulsively, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “You are a true friend, Feddrah-Dahns. Please, take care of yourself. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you. You’re the unicorn every little girl envisions walking by her side. You’re the unicorn of legends, and on the day you ascend to the throne, your people will have gained the most noble leader they could ever hope for.”
The morning flew by in a rush of portal jumping and avoiding the unicorns and elves. At noon, we stepped through the portal leading into Grandmother Coyote’s forest, and I took a deep breath. We were home, safely, but nothing would ever be the same. The marks on my back foretold that.
Grandmother Coyote was nowhere to be seen. For once, I was disappointed rather than relieved. I wanted to ask her advice about the spirit seals. The feeling in my gut was that Tanaquar and Asteria were going to make a mess of things, albeit unwittingly, and I was willing to pay the price to get some expert advice. But when we stepped out of the portal, she wasn’t there.
I glanced around, looking, but nada. After a moment, I sighed and pulled out my cell phone. Delilah answered.
“We’re back. Can you pick us up?”
“Thank the gods you’re home,” she said, her voice tense. “Chase has been asking where the hell you and Morio are. Apparently the Wedgewood Cemetery has become the liveliest place in town and there’s not much Menolly and I can do about it. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
As we made our way through the woods to the road, I closed my eyes, readjusting to the presence of power lines and airplane noises and passing traffic. It was so much noisier than Otherworld, but this time, I felt a sense of relief being back. And Trillian was with me. I glanced over at him and he gave me a soft smile, one of those that reminded me both just how passionate and just how dangerous he could be.
By the time we reached the road, the rain was pouring again. Seattle definitely had it all over most of Otherworld in terms of rain. Actually, now that I thought about it, Dahnsburg’s climate was surprisingly similar to that of western Washington’s. As I drifted into a comfortable silence, Delilah pulled up in Morio’s Subaru. He’d left the keys with her. Now, he got in the driver’s seat and I climbed in the back with Trillian and Delilah. Iris rode shotgun.
“Welcome home, Trillian,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
He stared at her, a smirk on his face. “Do tell? That’s a change.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, but instead of a come-back, said, “So, you guys have the energy to head out to the cemetery tonight? We’ve got a whole lot of shaking going on. You’d think it was near Samhain.”
Halloween and Samhain—the festival of the dead—were celebrated in Otherworld a bit differently than by the humans over Earthside.
For one thing, on Samhain Eve, our dead dropped in for a visit—visibly. They were loud, sometimes obnoxious, and left no room for speculation as to whether they were there or not. But Halloween itself was moot. In OW, we didn’t do the costume party dress-up thing, and candy might be dandy, except we left the big sweet bash until Yule. Santa Claus—aka the Holly King—was a big hit at parties because of his stash.
I shook my head. “We’re still over a month from the holiday, and the dead don’t usually walk on the equinox. At least not like this. Okay, let’s get our butts home so we can tell you all the crap going down back over in OW. You aren’t going to believe what happened.”
