Traitor (24 page)

Every inch of the space was filled with clothes, shoes, necklaces, and every other imaginable piece of clothing or accessory that could be dreamed up. There were so many that Jamie had sorted them according to color. One shelf housed all purple hats, bracelets, necklaces, and rings, while the next one possessed only orange baubles. Sequin-laden and glittery purses and satchels hung on a coat rack that was longer than the length of my room. No wonder Jamie liked to accessorize as a human. She was used to it here in her own little slice of hell.

I laughed. “Seriously? You’re going to show me how many stores you’ve managed to shove into this closet of yours? I don’t really care, Jamie.”

Jamie snorted. “Oh, stop it. You know I’m not showing you clothes. We both know how badly you need a makeover and refuse to do it. I’ve given up on that front.”

She almost felt normal, but she was still in her natural Merrow form. Her quick, fluid movements kept reminding me that this wasn’t someone to turn my back on. She’d proven that when she had turned on me and nearly killed me in Ireland. I shuddered from the memory.

“I’m not going to beat you with a crowbar again, Ashlyn.”

How did she know what I was thinking about? Or was she just throwing out something that she knew was a bad memory? It bothered me, either way. She continued to pull me past shelf after shelf of clothes. Most of them still had tags, and the prices on them were exorbitant amounts. What a waste.

We finally stopped at a small, regular door at the very back left corner of her massive closet. Shadows nearly obscured the door, and I wouldn’t have known it was there had Jamie not pointed it out. “Here,” she said simply and gestured toward the door, indicating for me to lead the way.

I looked at her, incredulous. “You expect me to go through that door first? Do you really think I’m that stupid?”

Jamie huffed and pushed past me. “You have trust issues.”

I rolled my eyes, but thankfully she didn’t see. “I wonder why, Dr. Jamie.”

Towing me behind her, she entered into a pitch-black room. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face, which was a little disconcerting. The room felt damp, like standing water had at some point plagued the floor and it was never allowed to properly dry. I shuffled my feet, scared to move too quickly. Jamie yanked me along, apparently not bothered by the darkness at all. “Come on, come on,” she complained.

“Sorry for not being all gung-ho to go running through a dark room with someone who tried to kill me.”

“Oh, stop being dramatic. I haven’t tried to kill you yet, have I?”

“’Yet’ is the definitive word there, James.”

Jamie snorted, then stopped in her tracks. She let go of my hand, and there was silence. I got a little nervous. “Um, Jamie?”

No response.

“Jamie, come on, this isn’t funny.”

I should have known better than to follow her. What was I thinking? I started to panic. Then it hit me. I was wearing the committee’s jacket. I closed my eyes and focused. Putting my hands together, I slowly pulled them apart. My trademark purple light illuminated my palms and cast a dull, eerie glow in the room.

It also lit up Jamie’s yellow Merrow eyes, which were six inches from my face.

I jumped back and nearly lost all the light I’d conjured. Jamie laughed. “Looks like you’ve been practicing,” she gestured toward the jacket. “Agreed to be the committee’s puppet, yet?”

I wasn’t sure what to think of her comment, so I just hedged. “I don’t think that’s really any of your business, now is it?”

She shrugged and turned to leave. “Guess not.”

“Where are you going?”

Jamie snapped her fingers and lights overhead burst to life, spilling light onto everything in the room. The room was pure white. A white leather couch sat along the left wall, and two matching armchairs were on either side. A glass table sat in front of them, with a huge glass bowl in the middle of the table. The rest of the room was barren, save for one solid black, rectangular painting that hung above the couch. Jamie strode over to the couch and plopped down, then looked at me expectantly. “Well, do you want to know what’s going on with MaKenna, or not?”

The room seemed normal enough, albeit a bit surgical in its pristine condition. I decided Jamie couldn’t be too dangerous in this situation. I sighed and walked over to her. “Amaze me, Jamie, and convince me I shouldn’t take you out right here.”

Jamie laughed humorlessly. “You might technically have the ability to do that, but you couldn’t kill me.”

“I’ve changed quite a bit since we were friends.”

She shook her head. “You might be right. You have had two guys on the line who both want you. You’ve debated what you should do with them, but I think that deep down you enjoy their pursuit and that’s mean. You need to pick one. In between your time spent in a love triangle of you own creation and then you trying to track down your lost family members, you’ve tried to keep some human friends. The only thing that’s
really
changed though, is that little black jacket you’re wearing.” She nodded toward it without real interest. “Plus, if the rumors I hear are true, your little buddy Reese is immortal now, and Liam is still pitifully human. Yeah, it seems to me that you’re pretty much the same Ashlyn I remember from six months ago, you just have a few baby fireworks up your sleeve. Now shut up and let me show you what I know.”

Before I could argue or think of a good comeback, she waved her hand over the bowl and water rippled to the surface, then went still. It almost looked like the bowl was still empty, except the occasional ripple would break the surface from an invisible wind that I couldn’t feel. I looked at Jamie expectantly.

She had a somber look on her face. “Look, I have to warn you, you might not expect what you’re going to see.”

“What do you mean?”

“MaKenna isn’t…nice.”

“Well, no one is going to be nice after being holed up here. Look at you.”

Jamie gave me a dirty look. “I think you know what I mean.”

I shook my head. “MaKenna is one of us. I’m going to get her back for Memaw. I’m sure you already know that Aiden and Chris are back.”

“I’m not arguing with you, but I have a lot to tell you,” Jamie said. With a wave of her hand, the surface of the water broke, and water splashed onto the table. Mini waves crashed angrily over the bowl’s lip, and a maelstrom surfaced from the depths of the bowl. The lights in the room flickered from the surge of magic and when I stole a glance at Jamie, she was sweating. “Don’t look at me, look at the bowl!” she gasped between clenched teeth.

I looked back down at the bowl and saw that figures began to swirl and emerge from the center of the mini maelstrom. A young, blonde-haired woman who looked remarkably like Memaw stepped out of the swirling mass and stepped onto the table. Her figure shimmered like a ghost, and she turned back to the bowl to watch the next figure appear.

A young man fought his way out of the whirling storm. He was gorgeous. Touseled golden hair lay wet against his forehead. He whipped his head like a wet dog, and the hair flipped backward and out of his face, revealing amber eyes. His white t-shirt clung tightly to his chest, and his battered cargo pants dripped as he leapt off the edge of the bowl and onto the table. MaKenna beamed when he took her in his arms. “I thought you’d never come.”

The boy laughed, but while MaKenna seemed to swoon over him, I thought the laugh was cold. It sent chills all over my body and goose bumps emerged on my arms, but I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t evil; it just wasn’t…normal. There was no way to explain it. The boy wrapped a thick strand of MaKenna’s hair around his finger and placed it gently behind her ear. His very substance flickered like a bad TV channel. “MaKenna, do you really think I would allow anything to keep me away from you? It’s only a matter of time before the Trimulus is once again reunited. I can feel that the pieces are near one another. You’ll help me, I know it, and then we can be together for good.”

MaKenna leaned forward to place her forehead against his, and his shape flickered once more. “I want to feel you in my arms for good.”

The boy smiled. “You know what you need to do.”

MaKenna nodded. “I will make sure it happens.”

His smile grew, and he ran a hand gently along MaKenna’s cheek. “I love you, my princess.”

“I love you too, Ankou.”

With her last words, both of them went up in a puff of blue smoke, and the water in the bowl suddenly went still as glass once more. It was as though nothing had ever happened in the room.

I was numb.

Jamie sat there silently, waiting on me to break the silence. After about three minutes, though, she couldn’t stand it. “See? She’s not nice.”

It felt as though I had been doused with ice-cold water. There was no way Memaw’s daughter – my aunt – had fallen in love with Ankou. And Ankou? How in the world had he gotten so gorgeous? Crap. I chastised myself for even thinking he was handsome. There were many faces to Ankou. That was his gift – shifting to fit his needs. Part of me wondered what he really looked like.

“That’s his real body, Ash,” Jamie said sullenly.

I jumped. “How are you doing that?”

“Doing what?”

“Responding to my thoughts.”

Jamie laughed. “That’s what Merrows do. We can sense your feelings, and if we’re close to someone, we can get glimpses in your head. It’s not whole dialogues; it’s just enough to let me know how to respond. We control the waters, and we can woo those at sea with our extra senses.”

That was comforting. I had a mini-mind reader who also had the craziest mood swings I’d ever experienced in my entire life following me around. Jamie chuckled. “That’s not very nice, Ash.”

“Oh, stop it. Leave my mind alone.”

Jamie shrugged. “I’m just saying MaKenna’s not nice.”

“Why should I believe you? You murdered my father, and you tried to murder me.”

“Because Ankou is trying to destroy my family now, and I’m beginning to understand how evil he is. There’s nothing about what he’s doing to you – to your family – that is okay, even if he says it is. I believe that now.”

I knew better than to trust Jamie, even if she did express remorse. She was a mind reader. She could probably hear the thoughts going on in my head at the moment, but that was fine with me. She would have to earn trust, and to be perfectly honest, she probably never would. The only saving grace for her was the old slogan:
keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Jamie chuckled darkly. “Does that mean we’re BFFs again?”

I ignored her comment. “Does MaKenna know who Ankou really is?”

Jamie didn’t go any further with my thoughts, but answered my verbalized question. “As far as I know, she does. Ankou keeps me at bay. I can’t even feel many of his emotions. I think it’s because his soul is broken. He’s not really here, but he’s not dead, either. He’s beyond anything I can sense.”

I nodded. “And what’s this Trimulus thing?” Part of me had a sneaking suspicion of what it could be, but I wanted to hear if Jamie knew anything.

Jamie shook her head. “Beats me. That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

I bit my lip. “This isn’t good. Memaw isn’t going to believe me.”

“Nope, not at all.”

A million scenarios played out in my head. Finally, I spoke again. “I’m not telling her.”

The mischievous grin I’d come to know began to dance on Jamie’s lips. “That’s probably the dumbest and smartest thing you could do. Either way, you’re screwed.”

We sat there in silence for a moment, but watched me out of the corner of her eye the entire time. “Do you trust me now?”

“I don’t know. You really haven’t given me any reason to trust you. You made people pop out of water. That’s just a good magic trick.”

Jamie sighed and crossed her arms petulantly. “Whatever. You can just stay stuck in Neamar, then.”

That caught me. “What do you mean, stay stuck in Neamar?”

“Well, you’re not getting out of here now that you’ve lost Dalbach, so I’m thinking you’d appreciate my help in getting out. Ankou doesn’t let just anyone leave Neamar. He heard you were sneaking through, and he’s laid down magic that only allows the chosen few he gives permission to the ability to leave. That means you can get here, but you aren’t getting out on your own. Dalbach is actually one of the few Changelings that comes and goes. I’m not sure why he does, but Ankou trusts him and Dalbach gives good intel, I guess.”

“So what are you offering?”

“I’ll take you back to your realm.”

I nodded thoughtfully. “What do you want in return?”

“You help me get my brother back.”

I laughed. “Don’t you think I have enough on my plate?”

“Not as much as you’ll have if you stay stuck in here for much longer. I feel Tess trying to cross the realm. That won’t end well.”

I gasped. “How can you feel that?”

“Her presence is…large. You know that. She also can’t shift. Do you think the Changelings won’t notice a six-foot-three woman running around? They’re dumb, but they’re not
that
dumb.”

I laughed nervously. The thought of Tess coming to Neamar and causing more harm than help instilled a new wave of urgency. “Okay, take me to her. You’re going to get a nasty welcoming party when we get to the other side, though.”

Jamie rolled her eyes. “Nothing new. I can take care of myself.”

“I’m sure you can. With a crowbar. I remember that well and won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.”

A small grin played across her lips. “I don’t need a crowbar to deal with Reese. He’s a rookie, and he’s the one with Tess.”

Before I could say anything else, Jamie shoved a fist into the bowl of water, and grabbed the collar of my shirt with her other hand. The water hurled itself out of the bowl and covered us. Just as fast as the water had enveloped us, it was over. I sat on the forest floor, sopping wet, when I heard Reese yell. “Tess! It’s Ash and the psycho pixie!”

Tess was on both Jamie and me in a flash. It was an Ashlyn sandwich: Jamie was pinned underneath me, and Tess was pinning me to the ground. Jamie squirmed uncomfortably below me. “Um, can you get her to get off of us? I can’t breathe!”