Chapter Twelve
Alicia tore through the brush in the summer moonlight, her paws hitting the ground in succession, claws tapping against the stones and leaving trails of dust in her wake. She traveled faster as a bear, and Tawodi’s home was at the far reaches of Deep Creek.
Must hurry.
Derek had promised to keep an eye on Marco and protect him from any bears that might try to hurt him—though with Elijah on her side, Marco was about as safe as he could be. Still, if something happened to Marco while she was gone, she’d never forgive herself.
She scampered up a steep hill, the dirt sticking under her claws, and tiny avalanches of pebbles and loose soil cascading down the embankment. Fresh flowers bloomed close to the ground, dotting the green landscape with spots of bright yellows and reds.
Her bear rejoiced at being set free. It had been too long. Though aware of the urgency of getting to Tawodi, Alicia couldn’t help but take in the forest of Deep Creek. Her soul sang, even as she ran.
She breathed in the night air, filled with summer greenery and the pungent tang of mating pheromones. Occasionally, a wafting scent of blooming flowers, honeysuckle or wisteria blew by and she breathed it in.
Summer was her favorite season. Warm nights, filled with calls of wolves and owls. Young rabbits leaving their dens to explore the world on their own. Long calls of katydids as evening overtook the forest. And mates calling to each other and the sweat of love in the air.
The stress of the past several days dissipated in the night air. Sure, she had a lot to face when she returned, but for now, running through the forest gave her a respite and recharged her spirit.
She had so much to learn about medicine that she hadn’t focused on the prospect of having her own mate. Then Marco appeared. As she ran, she thought about him and what he’d said.
Mate.
How could that be? On some level, deep in her gut, it made complete sense and felt as correct as her call to be a healer. On another level, it was the craziest thing she’d ever heard. A lion and a bear as mates? What would become of shifter politics if that were to happen, especially with Marco’s position in the Sen Pal?
Still, the potential excited her. Even in his worst moments, she wanted to be near him. Confident she could save him from the bacteria, she hurried to Tawodi’s. Maybe things in Deep Creek were about to take a drastic turn for the better.
For all the shifters.
She leapt over the small stream in her path, her back feet splashing in the cold water and slipping on the smooth rocks. The thought of Marco kissing her sent electric chills up her spine. The best kind of chills. Excitement and potential. Together, they could bring an end to the war in Deep Creek. She wasn’t exactly sure how, but tonight, everything seemed possible.
As long as Tawodi helped her with the cure. Marco had appeared stable when she left and she’d get back to the Cave of Whispers as quickly as possible.
She paused to catch her breath in a moonlit patch on the path. Panting, she shook her coat, fluffing up the long fine hairs. A mating between a bear and a lion would be the biggest news in Deep Creek in a century, though stories of old said it had happened often in the past. The children of such unions usually took on the form of the mother, but not always. The scenario was certainly possible, though rarer as time had gone by.
She walked, catching her breath. It’d been too long since her bear had run free, and her muscles burned with pleasurable exhaustion.
Many from both shifter worlds would be upset. She and Marco could be ostracized from Deep Creek altogether. Where would they live? With the bears or the lions? He was a leader of the lions—could she give up the bears to go live with his pride?
So much to think about and yet, everything was happening so quickly, she barely knew what to consider first.
Trust. She had to trust that everything would work out.
She took off running again. First, she had to find out what was wrong with Marco and how to save him. The rest of the things would fall into place after that.
The last stretch to Tawodi’s house wended through a stand of silver birch trees, their papery bark fluttering in the light breeze like a million butterfly wings alight on the trunks. Alicia loped around the trees, tall and thin, nearly white yet sparkling in the bright moonlight.
Sometimes the beauty of a summer night in Deep Creek squeezed her heart with its splendor.
What she wouldn’t give to run through the summer night with Marco, as lion, at her side. It would happen.
Once she left the trees, she came out into a meadow, the grass tall as her shoulders. Flower-topped grass bowed and crickets hummed in evening song. Dew had begun to form on the grass like tiny crystals, lit from within from the bits of moonlight they stole.
Pausing for a quick prayer to the gods for Marco’s health, and a prayer of gratitude and thankfulness for Deep Creek and its mysteries and beauty, she dipped her head. Without a sound, as soon as prayers were offered, she moved on.
She made it across the meadow quickly. Beyond the line of trees lay Grandmother Tawodi’s cabin. A tiny yellow light glowed from afar, assuring her Tawodi was home and likely awake. She burned oil lamps and would never go to bed and waste oil.
Alicia smiled as she came upon the small house. Outside, a dozen raised flowerbeds grew herbs and flowers, and new age statues and sculptures decorated the paths in between the gardens. Glass globes, rings of crystals, all part of Tawodi’s healing rituals. At least fifty wind chimes of all sorts decorated the trees and branches near the cabin, some of them made from the finest metals and bamboo and some merely discarded cans strung up to make music in the breeze. One bush was filled with bottles of all colors and sizes. When the sun struck them, they made rainbows throughout the grass.
The cabin always brought joy to her heart.
She trotted up the path. The cabin felt magical, as if it protected the spirit of an immortal fairy.
Maybe it did.
Some of the best days of Alicia’s life had been spent at the little cabin—sitting at her grandmother’s feet listening to tales about healing or working in the herb beds or even sweeping the front porch with a willow broom. Always sweeping to the west, to discard bad intentions with the setting sun. Everything Tawodi said and did seemed to carry a weight beyond the simplicity of the task, and Alicia’s gratitude for her instruction had no bounds.
Memories flooded her and she sighed. The happy times she’d spent with Tawodi brought her a contentment that would be hard to match. As she approached the cabin, her mood saddened and she grew somber. Her visit wasn’t for a celebration. She was here to save Marco’s life. Time to focus.
She reached the porch and began her shift to human form, her bear slipping away in protest. Tawodi must have heard her because the curtains opened, and she peeked out then dropped the curtains and the porch light flicked on just as Alicia transitioned back to fully human.
The front door opened and an arm stuck out, holding a robe. Alicia took it and slipped it on, then the door widened. Tawodi held out her arms for a hug.
“Grandmother!” Alicia fell into her arms, hugging the frail woman. “It seems like I’ve not been here in so long.”
Her grandmother squeezed her with more force than anyone would expect such a small creature to have.
“Too long. It’s good to have you visit, child. Seeing you at the cave or in the forest isn’t the same as at home.” The old woman’s eyes, black as coal, shone like shiny pools. “Come on inside before the night air gives you a chill.”
Alicia pulled the door shut behind her and moved into the cabin’s small living room. “Thank you, Grandmother.”
Tawodi stoked the remains of a fire. A large pot hung over the coals and a chair had been scooted up to the stone hearth. An earth witch in every sense of the word, the old woman was always making a concoction for someone. Even some of the humans in Oakwood came to Tawodi for herbal remedies to human ailments like rheumatism and colds. Only the wolves and some of the lions made fun of her, and it never seemed to bother her at all.
“Get some clothes on.” Tawodi pointed to the back room. “Your chest is still where it was. Then we’ll talk about this problem you have.”
“You know there’s a problem?”
“Of course I do. Get dressed. Time is short and the task is complex.”
Alicia bent and kissed her grandmother’s dry cheek and smiled. “Okay. We have a lot to talk about.” She paused.
Tawodi looked more frail than the last time she’d seen her, which wasn’t that long ago. Though her hair was gray with a deep black stripe down one side, usually causing her to look much younger, something about her carriage made Alicia wonder if something was wrong.
Her posture was bent, like she carried a huge weight on her back, and her movements were slower and more pronounced. Not a vision of the majestic hawk Tawodi shifted into before she took to the air. No, she looked old and human, like she didn’t have a lot of life left but was holding on to what she had with both hands, unwilling to let go.
“Git. We’ll talk after you change.” Tawodi interrupted Alicia’s thoughts and shooed her away with a brush of her hands.
Alicia scurried down the short hallway to the bedroom. The scent of drying herbs filled the tight space, and she looked up to the rafters in the hall where the ceiling went all the way to the roof.
Hanging by twisted cotton strings, from every pocked beam and rusty nail, was a sprig or bundled herb. Most were dried, browns or deep greens ready for use. None touching each other—that would be unlucky. The combined scents formed a mixture of leafy heaven with a few floral notes and an occasional pungent herb. She smiled and turned the brass doorknob into the bedroom.
The protective ceramic amulet that hung on the door clanked against the wood as she pushed the door open and moved into the bedroom. Moonlight streamed through the wavy glass in the one window, casting a water-like glow across the patchwork quilt on the bed and the wooden floor.
With no electricity, she’d have to find her trunk of personal supplies in the near dark, or light one of the oil lamps or candles that sat on the dressers and bookshelves in the bedroom. She knew the room well, though, and opted to find her things in the blue moonlight. Her trunk still sat in the corner, piled high with spare pillows. She moved the pillows aside to open the box and grab a spare set of clothing.
She tugged on her shirt, wondering how she’d broach the topic of Marco with her grandmother. Clearly Tawodi knew some things about the situation, but she certainly didn’t know Alicia was seeking a cure for a virus or infection that no one knew the name for.
Unless Shoshannah had already told her.
Did she know the cure could mean an escalation of war since she and Marco might be mates? Or was that part of the whole plan? As long as Marco lived, Alicia would be happy.
She finger-combed her hair then slipped on a pair of sneakers. How could healing become something so complicated so quickly? If the lions were already looking for Marco, they wouldn’t care if she was trying to help him or not. They’d kill anyone in the way of reaching him, and now that the whole bear clan knew he was in the cave, the chance the lions would find out had gone up exponentially.
She had to get him well before the lions came for him.
Time to talk to Tawodi.
As a hawk shifter, earth witch and healer, she was much more in touch with what was actually going on than many realized. On top of that, she’d tell it like it was—no sugar coating.
Alicia folded the robe her grandmother had loaned her and set it on the bed then piled the pillows back on her trunk. With a last deep breath, steeling herself for the choice Shoshannah said she’d face, she headed to the living room.
Tawodi sat by the fire, stirring whatever the concoction was in the pot. Steam rose off the fire-darkened container and wafted through the living room. She’d lit a few more oil lamps and had a candle grouping on a shelf, casting the room in a yellow glow with shadowy long fingers reaching from the fireplace to the window on the opposite wall.
The small cabin didn’t need much light and Tawodi had provided more than enough.
“How do you feel?” Tawodi smiled. “I thought your own clothing might be better than a robe.”
Alicia stared at her grandmother hunched over the pot, her long hair shadowed in the darkness behind her.
“Yes, Grandmother, much better.”
“I’m glad.” Tawodi didn’t turn to look at her. “Let’s talk. I understand that there’s serious trouble brewing.”
“I need your help. Someone I care about is very sick, and I need your wisdom and healing powers.”
Grandmother stirred more furiously and didn’t speak. Then she set the spoon down and looked at Alicia.
“Do you remember the stories I told you when you were a cub? Of bears and lions and wolves all living together and sharing the cave? Of helping one another and not fighting?”
“Of course. But many of those were allegorical, weren’t they?”
Tawodi sighed. “No, child. Those days were real. And the time is coming where Deep Creek has a chance to have that harmony again. I’d never have believed it would happen in my own lifetime, and yet it seems that it might occur sooner than I anticipated. If everything goes well.”
Alicia sat on the couch, facing her grandmother. She tucked her feet underneath her. “Why does this worry you?”
Tawodi stared off out the window into the moonlit woods then looked to Alicia. “That’s not what worries me. It’s everything that must happen to get to the balance point that makes me shake with stress. Yet, we are on the way and there’s nothing to come of worry but more worry. We need to address your problem. Let’s talk about your mate.”
Alicia gulped as adrenaline shot through her. “My mate?”
“He is your mate, isn’t he?” Tawodi raised her eyebrows. “The lion you are here about.”
“I... I barely know him!” Alicia’s face flushed. “I like him, but I don’t know what it’s like to have a mate.”
“Shoshannah told me.”
Alicia opened her mouth then closed it. Shoshannah was pretty sure of herself, wasn’t she? The more Alicia let her heart feel, the more it felt right that Marco was her mate, but what a scary prospect. Sure, she’d reveled in the idea of it, but the reality would bring so many layers of complication.
“I know your species are enemies. But like I said, it hasn’t always been so.” Tawodi picked up the spoon and began to stir. “Why do you think you were compelled to help this lion in the first place?”
“Because you taught me that all life is precious and deserves to be healed.” Alicia leaned back on the couch and scanned the cabin. Nothing had changed since she last visited, with the exception of her grandmother. “May I get a drink of water?”
“There’s a bucketful on the counter.” Tawodi nodded toward the makeshift kitchen. “With all the rain we’ve had, it’s fresh. I cleansed it with crystals, too.”
Alicia headed to grab a glass from the cupboard. She ladled water into the glass and drank. The water slid down her throat like silk, quenching her thirst from the long run.
“I don’t think it was your will that caused you to help this lion, child. The lions had killed so many of your people, I find it hard to believe you’d be eager to help the lion without a further reason.”
Alicia returned to the living room. “Perhaps. Let’s assume that’s true. He and I were drawn together. That doesn’t mean he’s my mate. That’s a leap.”
“Leaps of faith are required for love.”
Alicia took a deep breath. Were Shoshannah and Tawodi playing matchmaker or was there a real shred of evidence here? “I do feel something when I touch him. But mate is a strong word. One I’d not really considered, given my training as an herbalist. I don’t have time to tend a mate.”
“It is a strong word, and one too many in this day take lightly. But you need to face the fact that destiny appears to have pushed the two of you together.”
“He’s hurting. Mate or not, if I don’t find the cure to his infection, he won’t be around for me to argue this discussion.”
“We need to talk about his illness. He’s very sick, and only you can save him.”
“So I’ve been told. What’s wrong with him?” Alicia leaned forward. “Why am I the one to save him?”
Tawodi stared into blankness, her eyes unfocussed. “He’s contracted a bacteria that once almost wiped out all the shifters. It grows in the depths of the caves. The bears are immune now because they’ve lived in the cave for so long. But the lion must’ve gotten infected.”
“You mean...” Alicia’s chest tightened. “The glowing bacteria on the cave walls?”
Tawodi turned to her and nodded. “You saw it, then? Like smashed fireflies on the rocks?”
“Yes, and some of it floated from the cave ceiling and landed on him when I was about to operate. Oh my gods, is this my fault?”
“No, child. It’s not your fault. It’s part of the greater plan. When the caves glow with a million stars, it’s time for the bears and lions to work together against a common enemy.”
Alicia gulped. “Something worse is coming?”
Tawodi nodded. “If we can fight it off, Deep Creek will be a near paradise again, as it was so long ago. The bacteria is a foreshadowing of what has already been set in motion. I didn’t know it had spread through the caves again or... Ah, it’s no matter. It’s time to prepare for the greatest fight Deep Creek has seen. First, we must heal the lion.”
“What can I do? And why is it me that must do it?” Alicia rubbed her eyes. How long had it been since she slept? She couldn’t miss out on the most important event of her life by taking a nap.
“Because you’re his mate. Deep Creek needs Marco. Are you prepared to help him, no matter what it takes?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Be careful how you answer. His illness is strong, and the sacrifice to heal it is deep and will affect you for a long time.” Tawodi’s tone, serious and firm, sent chills up Alicia’s back. Whatever it took, she would do it. For Marco and for Deep Creek.
“Tell me what I need to do.”
Tawodi leaned back. “Child, you’ve been a good healer. One of the best students I’ve ever had, always attentive and listening. Healing Marco will challenge your beliefs like nothing else has. Know this. I will not judge you for your decision. It’s yours alone to make.” She rose and used a potholder to pull the heated pot from the coals and set it on the hearth.
“I understand. Please help me help Marco. I need to hurry back to the cave.”
Tawodi clasped her hands together. “As I have said, the shifter families in Deep Creek used to share the caves and resources. No longer, of course. But one year, deep in the caves, there was an opportunistic bacteria that would enter through open wounds and kill shifters of all ilk. It feeds on shifting ability in the DNA and isn’t easy to cure. In fact, it takes quite a sacrifice to get rid of. The cure was discovered accidentally, as many of these things are. Desperation leads to many things.”
Alicia covered her hand with her mouth. “Marco might really die from this?”
“Yes, Shoshannah told me that Marco picked up the latent bacteria, but I didn’t really put it all together until you came. She knew the cycle was starting anew and this is the beginning of a potentially rough time for Deep Creek.”
“We have to give him the cure! Whatever it is, he must have it. Then we need to eradicate the threat.”
Outside, a lone wolf howled, and Tawodi cocked her head to listen then turned back to Alicia. “It’s not so simple, child.”
“There’s no cure? I thought you said—”
“Oh yes, there’s a cure. But as I also said, the cost is great. You need time to consider. I won’t let you rush into it.”
“When hasn’t it been a great cost with Marco? I’ve already estranged many of my kind because I helped him. How can this be worse than feeling like a traitor?” Alicia stood up and walked to the window. The forest was dark, as the moon had set. In the trees and on the ground were every type of animal imaginable. She sensed them, hearts beating, lungs breathing, eyes ever watchful for predators. She was always more aware when she was at Tawodi’s cabin, or maybe it was when she was in her aura. Deep Creek never felt as real as it did in the little house in the woods.
“He needs an elixir made from the blood of a bear or wolf shifter. From a species other than his own. Preferable from his mate because that will provide the strongest antibodies. The elixir will help counter the bacteria that are preying on his shifting abilities. He needs a boost of immunity from a shifter who’s not susceptible.”
“Like me.”
“Like you. The bacteria almost have a consciousness. Frightening and opportunistic, there’s a chance the cure won’t work.”
“Are my people at risk? The bears around Marco?”
“No. As I said, the bears are immune, at least we think most are. I’m going to the cave as soon as I can to check out the growth myself. I’ll collect samples and see if I can’t figure out what can be done to prevent this from ever happening again. I know I’m immune but I want to make sure we beat this back before it grows all over the cave.”
“I can help.”
“You have other, important things to do, Alicia. Once Marco is better, maybe you can help. I’ll admit, I’m eager to see the bacteria in person.”
“If anyone can find a way to get rid of it, it will be you.”
“I’ll give it my best shot. I can at least study it and maybe pass down the knowledge of what I find.”
“Why him? Why is it preying on him?” Alicia tried to keep the panic out of her voice, though she was sure Tawodi sensed it.
“The germ is opportunistic and picks a weak host. I’m pretty sure Marco is the weakest susceptible creature in the cave right now.”
“He is.”
“So, a mate’s blood, especially if the mate is from another species, is even more powerful than anything against this infection. A mate’s blood has the components of immunity and also is a mirror image in many ways. It will help diffuse the infection and overpower the bacteria growing inside. Sort of like the positive and negative charges, the antibodies will cancel each other out.”
Alicia turned to Tawodi. “Take my blood. That’s no problem. Make the elixir and I’ll take it to him.”
“There’s one more thing.” Tawodi looked down at her hands.
“What?”
“I’ll take your blood. But I must warn you, when the elixir is made, and the magic is performed to prepare it, because it takes from your shifter powers, you’ll lose your ability to shift.”