Chapter 12
WE GOT BACK to the hotel just as Herne and Yutani pulled in. Herne wrapped his arm around my waist as the four of us headed to the dining room.
“Yutani, text Angel and Talia and have them meet us for dinner. It’s almost seven.” Herne brushed a stray strand of hair away from his face as the wind gusted past.
Clouds were starting to drift in, but the rain wouldn’t start until later and the evening was a balmy sixty-five degrees. With the breeze, it felt cooler, but the weather was still comfortable, and we decided to eat out on the patio. The waitress brought our drinks as we gathered around the table, and began to piece together what we had learned.
“You fared better than we did, at least at our first meeting,” Yutani said, after Viktor and I told them about Naomi Douglas and Robert Chance. He was already tapping away on the keyboard of his laptop. “Well, you’re right. There’s no such company as Spinosa Insurance. I can’t find any reference to there ever having been one. However, as Viktor indicated, prunus spinosa is Latin for blackthorn. That tallies with what we found out from our second meeting.”
I glanced over at Herne. “What happened?”
“Well, our first meeting, with the Roseland family, was a washout. They’re Fae, and they flatly refused to discuss the case. They have a very big dog, and he made a convincing argument that we should get off the porch.” Herne’s eyes twinkled. “I’m not sure if he sensed Yutani’s coyote nature or if he just didn’t like us, but any hopes we had of finding out anything vanished the minute Leticia Roseland called him out onto the porch. We barely made it out of there with everything intact.”
The thought of Herne and Yutani racing off the steps, followed by a very big dog, almost set me to laughing even though I knew it wasn’t funny.
“What about your second interview?”
“It went marginally better. The Smiths—a human family—lost their uncle and their story was similar to the ones you heard. They received a phone call, warning them to quit looking into the homicide. Shortly after that, an insurance settlement check arrived for $500,000. Apparently their uncle had been well placed in society.”
“Did they mention the insurance agency?”
“Yeah. Once again, Spinosa Insurance. Most of the family didn’t care for their uncle, and they didn’t question anything too deeply. The cops told them it had become a cold case a few months after the murder. None of them seemed interested when we explained why we were there. In fact, I doubt if we would have gotten any information out of them, except for one of the family members—Mike Smith. He actually cared about his uncle to some degree. He’s thirty-five, and he was fourteen when the murder happened. Mike did tell us something else.”
“What?” Viktor made room on the table for our appetizers when the waitress brought a massive platter of calamari and fried shrimp to the table. After she set it down and left, Herne answered.
“Mike saw his uncle’s body. In fact, he’s the one who discovered the corpse. Not only was his uncle covered with puncture wounds, but Mike happened to see a couple large thorns poking out of two of the puncture wounds. By his description, I would place them as blackthorn spikes.” Herne glanced at the sky. “It looks like the rain’s going to hold off until later this evening. I think after dinner we should take a look at the park.”
“What do we do with Blackthorn if he turns out to be the murderer? How do you arrest one of the Ante-Fae? Can you even do that?” It occurred to me that an ancient being who was almost as powerful as the gods wouldn’t respond well to being slapped in cuffs.
“I’m not sure. I’ll need to discuss this with my father, I think. But I want to find out as much as we can, as quickly as we can, because I have the nasty feeling that we’re going to be asked to leave the island. Probably sooner than later. If word gets out that we were inquiring about past homicides, you know that Astrana is going to be on our backs.”
“Yeah, about that. Viktor, tell them what we found out about her.”
Viktor told them about the loan from the vampires.
“Great. Well, this is getting thicker than shit, isn’t it?” Herne said. “The park, then, tonight.”
“Should we all go?” Yutani asked.
“No, I don’t think so. The more of us out there thrashing around, the more attention we’ll call to ourselves.” Herne was about to say something else when Yutani held up his hand.
“Hold that thought. I’ve got to go take a piss.” He headed away from the table, into the restaurant proper.
I loaded up my plate with calamari, which I preferred over the shrimp. Angel handed me the cocktail sauce. As we began to eat, my phone dinged. I glanced down at the text. It was from Ronnie. It was a picture of Mr. Rumblebutt, who was on his back playing with a toy. She had texted me: mr. rumblebutt loves the feathers, doesn’t he?
I texted back: every single time. how is he doing?
he’s doing fine, she answered. i just thought you might like to see a picture of him playing.
I thanked her, and feeling oddly at ease, set my phone back on the table. Angel glanced at me quizzically. I motioned to the phone, and she picked it up, glancing at the text and laughing.
“Thank you very much for introducing me to Ronnie,” I told Talia. “She’s great, and Mr. Rumblebutt seems to like her a lot.”
“She has a way with animals, I’ll say that for her. And she prices her services reasonably. I trust her in my house, and I don’t trust many people.”
“It’s good to have somebody to check up on him. Mr. Rumblebutt’s been with me for several years now, and I can’t imagine trusting him to just anybody.” Mr. Rumblebutt was one of my closest friends, and even though we spoke entirely different languages, I had the feeling that we were meant for each other.
Yutani returned to the table, a worried look on his face. “I just had a vision.”
Herne set down his fork, glancing up at the coyote shifter with a concerned look. “From Great Coyote?”
Yutani nodded. “Yeah, it was from Coyote, all right. I don’t know what to think about it. It feels like it was a warning. I was standing on the shoreline, and the next moment I was being sucked under the water and I couldn’t kick my way free from the waves. I heard his voice and he told me to go home. But I can’t do that. We’re on a case.”
“What do you want to do?” Herne asked. He was taking Yutani’s vision seriously, and I had the feeling that this had happened before.
“I can’t just up and leave you guys here. I’m needed.” Yutani frowned at the table.
“Remember last time you ignored one of his warnings,” Talia said. “It wasn’t pretty.”
“I know, but I’m not sure if this was an actual warning or…what. Maybe I’m just not supposed to go down by the water.”
“You’re splitting hairs and you know it.” Talia sounded grumpy now. “Don’t come crying to us when something happens.”
I wanted to know what they were arguing about, but it really wasn’t my business.
“I’ll think about it. Meanwhile, can we just go on with the discussion?” Yutani set his lips, looking like he was spoiling for an argument.
Herne rubbed his forehead. “Fine. Don’t say we didn’t give you the chance. Now, I think that you and Ember and I should go prowling around the park.” He paused as his phone rang, and he pulled it out, frowning as he looked at the screen. He answered, stepping away from the table.
Angel didn’t seem to have my reticence, because she leaned forward, her elbows on the table, and asked, “So what happened last time you ignored Coyote’s warning?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Yutani said.
“That’s because you know we’re right,” Talia said. “You know what happens when you ignore Coyote. Bad things. Bad things happen to you and the people around you. It’s like a spillover effect. You know we’re all in this together, and if Coyote comes dogging your heels, chances are one or more of us are going to be in the direct line of fire.”
“Just let it be for now,” Yutani said. “You act like I don’t know what I’m doing. Coyote has been dogging my heels for over two hundred years. Give me some credit, won’t you?”
“Children, quiet.” Herne looked exasperated as he came back. “We can’t make you listen, Yutani, but please be careful. Meanwhile, I’ve decided that Viktor, Ember, and I will go explore the park. I have an unsettled feeling that we need to go as soon as possible. So finish dinner and let’s get moving.”
Yutani sulked all the way through the meal, although we let it drop. When we finished, he, Talia, and Angel headed up to their rooms, while Herne, Viktor, and I headed out to Herne’s car. I rode shotgun, and Viktor slipped into the back.
As we steered out of the parking lot, I asked, “How often does Yutani get warnings from Coyote?”
Herne didn’t say anything, but Viktor answered.
“Too often,” the half-ogre said. “Actually, he seems overdue, given the timing of the last few visions he’s had.”
“What is it with Yutani and Coyote? How are they bonded?” I still hadn’t figured that one out.
Herne let out a long sigh. “It’s complicated. I have my suspicions, but even Yutani doesn’t know what I’m thinking and I’d rather he not know.”
“Okay, I won’t say anything,” I said slowly, thinking that there were so many hidden secrets in the agency that even the secrets had secrets.
“Yutani’s father vanished shortly before he was born. All that Yutani seems to know about him is that the man had been new to the village and had taken up with Yutani’s mother shortly before she got pregnant. He vanished before Yutani’s birth. When he got older, Yutani looked for him but in those days, well…it would have been futile if the man had been an ordinary human. The only name he had for his father was the one his mother gave him. But my guess is that Yutani bears Coyote’s energy directly.”
I blinked. “You think Yutani is Coyote’s son?”
“I don’t know.” Herne turned on the windshield wipers to sweep away the gentle rain that had begun to fall. “Sometimes the gods mate with the mortals. My father did—he’s the one who raised Morgana to goddesshood. It also keeps the divine spark moving throughout humans. I don’t know if we’ll ever know about Yutani. I don’t even know if he suspects anything. I think he believes that Coyote cursed him, and a part of him seems to hate Coyote as much as he reveres him. In some ways, Yutani is still very young. And if Coyote is his father, I don’t think Yutani is ready to face it. So don’t mention this to him. He has to come to the conclusion himself.”
Herne took a right turn off of Smugglers Cove Road onto Park Road.
“We’re going to have to walk down to the beach. There isn’t a drivable road that leads to the water. At least, not that I know of.” He pulled into a parking lot and stopped at the northern end. “Over there,” he pointed to an opening in the trees. “The trail starts there.”
Viktor and I tumbled out of the car, stretching as we looked around in the evening air. The rain had already backed off again, and while we were still a ways from sunset, in the crowded growth of the forest the light had already started to wane. Herne led us to the trailhead and then, with him out in front, we plunged into the forest.
The trail down to the beach was narrow, winding through the forest proper. The birds were singing their evening songs, calling back to their nests that they would be home soon. Overhead, an owl glided by, fresh on the hunt. And from here, we could hear the gulls at the edge of the water, their haunting cries echoing through the forest.
Herne paused, turning back to Viktor and me. “You know, I think I’ll have a look through the woods while you head down to the shore. I can go faster in my stag form.”
Viktor and I stepped back, giving him room. I had never actually seen Herne turn into his stag form, and I wondered if he transformed like other shifters.
As we watched, he held out his arms, stretched wide, and arched back, as a silver light began to emanate from his chest.
Nope, not like other shifters.
The light grew so bright it was hard to look at, and I blinked. In a brief, brilliant flash that echoed on the inside of my eyelids, he shifted. I could feel the transformation even with my eyes shut. It was as though the air rippled around us. When I opened my eyes, there he stood, luminous and shining.
Herne looked like a red deer, large and imposing, with a magnificent rack. And yet his hair was a brilliant silver, illuminated against the darkening forest around us. Regal and haughty, he turned to stare at us, a puff of steam spiraling up from his nostrils. Without another sound, he raced off into the forest, a blur of movement.
I caught my breath. That was how I had first met Herne, when I was searching for Angel’s brother. I hadn’t known who he was at the time, but even then I knew there was something godlike about the stag, otherworldly and divine.
“He really does take your breath away,” Viktor said softly.
“Don’t I know it.” I tore my eyes away from the vanishing trail of the stag. “Let’s get down to the beach before it gets much darker.”
Viktor took the lead, following the trail as I kept close behind him. Somehow, everything seemed a little more nerve-wracking without Herne beside us.
The trail led north, passing by several ravines until we hit a bend where it abruptly turned south, curving back around the other side of the ravine. Here and there, Viktor pointed out roots and stones that were jutting out of the trail, waiting to trip us up. I was grateful. His eyesight was better than mine in the deepening dusk.
Finally, fifteen minutes later, the trail branched off toward the beach.
“If we continue straight, the trail will loop around. It also leads directly to the beach, but this is a shorter, if steeper, route.” Viktor looked back at me. “Which would you rather take? The longer loop, or the quicker path?”
“Let’s go for steep and quick.”
Viktor hadn’t been kidding. The trail bent into an abrupt decline. While it wasn’t straight up and down, I found myself wondering if we had made a mistake. The slope was rough going, even for someone who was as in shape as I was.
Viktor paused for a moment, bracing himself against a tree. He reached back for my hand, and steadied me over a five-foot drop from one part of the trail to the next. Another hundred yards and we broke through the tree line, finding ourselves at the edge of the beach.
Scattered driftwood littered the shore, the massive logs coming in on the tides. They were big enough to be dangerous while floating in the water, and made incredibly comfortable benches once they were beached. Once again, the power of the tides around here amazed me. They could toss hundred-foot logs around like toothpicks. The sun was hovering a hand’s width above the horizon. We would see sunset before we left the beach.
I looked around, watching the gulls that were hunting a last-minute meal before bedtime.
“Where were the bodies found? Did Herne tell you?”
Viktor nodded. He pointed over toward a large boulder that sat near the water. “There. They were all found by hikers.”
“What a lovely way to get back to nature. Finding mutilated bodies.” I headed over toward the rock. I could sense the water elementals were playing, but several of them seemed agitated. As I neared the water’s edge, I found an area next to a small log. I could sit on the log and yet reach down to touch the water.
“I’m going to see if I can find out anything from the water spirits.”
Viktor was hunting around the boulder, searching through the sparse vegetation and dunes next to it. The beach wasn’t large, but it was big enough that we couldn’t just take it all in with one glance.
I realized that my feet were starting to get wet, so I swung my legs over the log and knelt in the sand behind it, leaning over the driftwood to place my fingers in the water. The shock of the icy waves ran through me. No matter what time of year, the water was almost always cold, except during the middle of the day on hot summer days. As I closed my eyes, I reached out. The water elementals suddenly froze as they noticed me.
I was pledged to Morgana, Herne’s mother. My own mother had been a member of the Water Fae, and her blood ran through me. I could work with some aspects of water magic, although I wasn’t terribly proficient, but my ability to contact the water spirits was growing. Now and then, they initiated the connection.
I brought up the image of the boulder, and superimposed it with images of dead bodies near it, inserting a question into the image.
Water elementals didn’t think in terms of words, not like we did. Instead, I received impressions and emotions from them. Sometimes I received warnings—either images or simply the feeling of danger.
The elementals here were cautious, but one of them seemed braver than the others. Or perhaps, it was simply more curious. As it moved forward, rolling in on a wave that splashed over my hand, I could feel the edge of its thoughts touch my own.
The image of Jona’s body sprang up in my mind, along with sorrow and a brief shudder. I waited, forming a question in my mind, seeking information.
And then, it came tumbling in. Visions of a dark shadow, of someone carrying a dead body and dropping it near the boulder. The shadow emerged from the edge of the embankment, like a spider creeping out of a trapdoor. Only this was humanoid—a man, although I couldn’t get a good look at him. He felt gnarled and tangled, like yarn that had been knotted up so tightly that you couldn’t unwind it. I could feel tension surrounding him, a sick sense of satiety as though a void had been filled. It was dark and ugly, bloated with blood and pain and joy. The energy was dragging me down and I began to fight it.
Abruptly, the elemental broke off the image, washing it away with a wave that splashed over me, breaking any cords that had formed. I almost fell backward on my butt, but I managed to hold onto the log, to keep my hand in the water.
Almost immediately, a wave of remorse came out, a hesitant apology from the elemental for immersing me into that energy. I reached out with gratitude, reassuring it that I had needed to see what it had shown me. And then, slowly, the elemental began to withdraw, with one last splash against my hands that felt like a graceful good-bye.
I opened my eyes, realizing that the sun had set while I was communing with the water. I turned around to find Viktor watching me, sitting on a nearby log.
“Well,” I said, still trying to unwind the puzzle in my mind. “There’s an entrance along the embankment somewhere here. I got a brief look at it, but I can’t pinpoint where it is now that I’m looking at the actual bank. But whoever the murderer is, that’s how he’s getting the bodies down here. He doesn’t carry them through the forest.”
“That would make sense,” Viktor said. He glanced up at the forest behind us. “I wish Herne would return. I don’t feel safe here.”
“Neither do I,” I said. “There’s something tainted in the forest around this area, and my guess is that it’s Blackthorn.”
“I think one thing we have to remember is that most of the great Fae—and I’m assuming this applies to the Ante-Fae as well—have courts surrounding them. It would behoove us not to assume we’re dealing with just a single individual.”
Viktor paused when a figure appeared out in the water. He stood, slowly drawing his blade. I followed suit. As we watched, it churned up a wave around it. I shaded my eyes, following its movements. And then, in the middle of the waves, I saw the brilliant head of a horse emerge. It was frolicking with the waves, playing with them. Then, as the sun was creeping toward the horizon, it turned toward shore and made a beeline toward us.
“A hippocampus,” I said softly.
“They are beautiful,” Viktor said, his gaze fastened on the stallion that rode the waves toward our little area of the cove. Within minutes, the horse emerged from the water, racing ashore, a brilliant white stallion with mane and feathers the color of sea foam. It was a male—that we could see—and his eyes were the color of coals with diamonds inset where pupils would normally be. He reared, his hooves slashing at the air, then settled down, eyeing us with curiosity.
“We’re not here to harm you,” I said, holding up my hands. “We’re investigators. We were hired by Rhiannon, the Matriarch of your encampment.”
That seemed to do the trick. There was a blur as the horse moved faster than we could follow, and the next moment, a tall man stepped out of the swirl of mist, naked as the day he was born. I averted my eyes, trying to maintain some decorum, though he was as magnificent in human form as he was in horse form. My mind went to clichés, namely, being hung like a horse, but I wisely kept that to myself.
“Well met, good people. What are your names?” He gave us a stately bow as though he didn’t even notice he was naked.
I cleared my throat. “I’m Ember Kearney and this is Viktor. We’re with the Wild Hunt Agency.”
“Ah yes. Rhiannon mentioned hiring you to look into Jona’s death. I’m Madrigal. I’m a music teacher at our encampment.” He positioned himself on the log, crossing his legs, which did nothing to hide his considerable assets.
I glanced at Viktor, who was blushing like a lobster. “Tell me, do you come to this area of the beach often?”
He tilted his head, looking around, then nodded. “I used to. I still do, on occasion, because it’s the easiest way to access the water around here. But…I’m cautious.” A wary look crept over his face. “You’d do well to watch yourselves in these woodlands. There are dangers here.”
Hmm, so he was aware of a problem. “What kind of dangers?”
“None that I know of by name. But…things…prowl the woods, and there have been unexplained deaths over the past years. I’m not blind. I know why Rhiannon called you in. She is thinking of Jona, of course, but there have been others. I’m strong. Very few would tangle with me and come out on the winning side. But others haven’t been so lucky. Just watch your footing in the forest. I’m not certain what lurks here, but whatever it is, it’s not conducive to good health.” Madrigal stood. “I’ve said more than I probably should, but I’m not one for keeping my mouth shut and watching others get hurt because I didn’t think to warn them. I must go now—it’s not safe to be here after dark. If you have any sense, you’ll follow me out.”
“We’re waiting on a friend,” I murmured. “But we’ll take your warning to heart.” I wanted to ask him more questions, but I had the feeling that Madrigal had told us everything he was going to for the moment.
“Then be safe, and may Poseidon watch over you.” With that, Madrigal darted into the forest, still naked, and vanished in the tangle of undergrowth.
“Cripes. If he’s braving the forest naked, then he must have a tough hide,” I said, watching the bushes shake in his wake.
“The hippocampi are a hardy people. They don’t injure easily. I think it would take one of the Ante-Fae to take down Jona,” Viktor said. He froze, his hand going to his weapon. “Shush.”
I drew my own dagger, waiting. A brilliant silver light flashed in the bushes, and then, a beautiful silver stag leapt down onto the sand. In another flash, Herne was standing there. I let out a sigh of relief.
“Dude, you scared the hell out of us.” I sheathed my dagger. “You just missed meeting one of the hippocampi—he came out of the water.”
“I found something in the forest,” he said. “I think it has to do with Blackthorn.” He paused, glancing over at the boulder. “One of the hippocampi was here? Who?”
“His name is Madrigal,” Viktor said.
I told Herne what the water elemental had shown me, and then about Madrigal’s visit. “I can’t figure out exactly where against the embankment the trapdoor is. But it’s somewhere around here. I think that’s what Madrigal was feeling.”
“Well, I think I found the touchstone leading to Blackthorn’s lair. I took a picture of it, and charted the location so we can come back to it. I don’t think it’s a good idea to infiltrate at this time of night.” Herne glanced around at the forest. “We’d better get back to the car. Madrigal was right. The forest isn’t safe after dark. Or in the daylight, I imagine.”
“Viktor and I were just talking about that. There’s a lot of unsettled energy here, and it feels like it’s growing as we close in on night.”
With Herne in the lead, and Viktor behind me, we headed back up the trail, Viktor giving me a boost up over the steepest areas. Oddly enough, the route back to the car felt much quicker than the way down to the beach. Perhaps it was that we had already traversed this route, but somehow it felt like time had shifted. I suspected Herne had some ability in that, but I decided to save my questions.
Once we were back at the car, we slid inside, and I locked my door, finally feeling more secure. I didn’t like feeling uneasy, especially when I didn’t know what was causing the sensation. But I had a feeling that it was because of Blackthorn.
“Yutani should be able to figure out the markings on the touchstone,” Herne started to say as his phone rang. He pulled it out, frowning as he looked at the Caller ID. “It’s Rhiannon,” he said as he answered. “Hey, Rhiannon—what’s up?” He paused, a somber look crossing his face. “Are you all right?” Another pause. And then, “We’ll see you at the hospital. Yes, we are going to come to the hospital. I don’t care, we’ll see you in a little while.”
As he pocketed his phone and started the car, Viktor and I waited. Edging out of the parking lot, we returned to Park Road, and then to Smugglers Cove Road before Herne spoke again.
“Rhiannon’s in the hospital. Someone ran her off the road.”
“Is she all right?” Viktor leaned forward.
“No, she’s pretty bruised up and has a broken leg. If someone hadn’t been coming in the opposite direction and stopped, I’m not sure what would have happened. Whoever it was that ran her off the road took off as soon as the other car slowed down. She told us not to come, but I think we should head out there right now. She’ll be in the hospital till at least tomorrow, that’s for sure.” He glanced at me. “Can you let the others know?”
“Sure,” I said. “Do you want them to meet us there?”
“That might be overwhelming.” He paused as his phone rang again. “Can you answer that?”
I reached over and slipped the phone out of his jacket pocket. The Caller ID read “Talia.”
“This is Ember. We’re on the road headed back to the hotel.”
“Well, turn around and get your asses up to the hospital.”
“Oh, did Rhiannon call you, too?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?” Talia said.
“Rhiannon—she got run off the road and she’s in the hospital right now.”
“Well, hell. I guess we’ll have a nice big reunion when we get there. No, she didn’t call. Yutani is hurt. He went out for a run, and damned if he didn’t land in a trap. Luckily it was his front paw, not one of his back ones. But he’s hurting pretty bad and I suspect there may be a broken bone, as well as some nasty cuts and gashes. We haven’t been able to get the trap off, and I’m afraid to wait for the paramedics, given the situation with Astrana. We have no clue if she has her fingers in the emergency services around here. Yutani had to shift back into his human form so he could dig out the peg holding the trap in the ground.”
I close my eyes, trying to calm myself. This was the last thing we needed. I glanced over at Herne.
“What the hell’s going on?” he asked. “I can feel something’s wrong—it’s emanating off you like garlic off of spaghetti.”
“Yutani’s hurt. He went for a run and got caught in a trap. It’s on his arm.”
“Fucking hell. And he wouldn’t listen to Coyote… Where are they?”
“On the way to the hospital. I guess Angel’s driving because Talia is on the phone. What should I tell her?”
“We’re headed there now. Tell them we’ll meet them there.”
“Herne says we’re on the way, we’ll meet you there. Be careful, the night feels dangerous and it would be really good if we could avoid any more accidents.”
As I hung up, putting Herne’s phone in the cubbyhole by the gearshift, I realized I was craving caffeine. But now was not the time to stop at a coffee shop. I’d get a cup of coffee when we got to the hospital.
“This is not shaping up to be an ideal day, is it?” He paused, then punched the button on the dashboard. “How far to the nearest hospital?”
The GPS answered. “The Whidbey Island Medical Center is approximately fourteen miles away.”
“Lovely. At least it’s not on a different island.” Herne glanced over at me. “I need some coffee. There’s a drive-thru right up ahead.”
I nodded, grateful. We took our place in line at the drive-thru to get triple-shot mochas. We were back on the road in under five minutes. We didn’t speak much on the way to the hospital, mostly so that Herne could focus on driving. He sped along, going as fast as he dared. The road wound along, and while it was well paved, it was still a two-lane highway and we were traveling in the dark. Most of the way, the road was forested on both sides until we reached Coupeville.
Coupeville was a small town that had once been a farming community and was now an artist’s retreat. While there were still farms on Whidbey Island, the town had turned into something of a tourist town, and here the ferry traveled across the sound to Port Townsend. Unfortunately, it was one of the few runs where reservations were necessary as a matter of course. To the north lay another state park and Oak Harbor. And farther north, at the end of the island, was Deception Pass, with the bridge that led over to Anacortes.
As we pulled into Coupeville, it was obvious that most of the town had rolled up for the night and gone to sleep. Although, to be fair, we weren’t near the waterfront. Maybe downtown Coupeville was more active. We pulled into the parking lot of the medical center and headed for the ER. While fairly small compared to big-city hospitals, it was a full-scale health care unit.
I wondered whether Talia and the others had already made it here. Herne had driven like a bat out of hell, but I knew Angel could give him a run for his money. I paused, seeing my car parked in the unloading zone.
“They made it.” I made a beeline for the car, where I saw Angel starting to pull away from the curb. She paused, unrolling the window.
“Talia and Yutani are inside. I was just about to go park.”
Viktor glanced around at the darkened lot. “I’ll walk you back to the building. There have been too many things going on tonight to take any chances.” He slid inside the passenger side of the car and, relieved, I slapped the hood and rejoined Herne. As they headed over toward the main parking lot, we hurried into the building.
There, filling out forms, was Talia. Yutani was nowhere in sight. We hustled over to her side and she looked up as we approached.
“They took him right back. The trap is a nasty one. He’s lucky he had the forethought to pry it open enough to take a little of the pressure off, though he couldn’t get it all the way open. He’s going to be hurting like a son of a bitch.”
“Fucking hell.” Herne sat down beside her, and I sat next to him.
“What happened?” I asked, leaning around him so that I could see her.
“Yutani decided he needed a run in his coyote form. I was worried, given we aren’t near the Shifter-Run, but he was pretty jarred up by that vision. I guess he needed some time alone. About twenty-five minutes later, he dragged himself back into the hotel, that damned trap caught on his arm. He was almost passing out from the pain. All he could tell me that he had landed in the trap somewhere in a nearby patch of woods.”
“Did you call the paramedics?” Herne asked.
Talia shook her head. “No. Angel called the hospital and they told her it would be better if we headed straight here, rather than wait for the paramedics. They asked if he was losing blood, and while he was, it wasn’t like he was bleeding out. Given the state of the authorities around the area, I made the decision that we should bring him here. I don’t trust any of the emergency services down near Seacrest Cove. Not with Astrana watching over the area so tightly.”
“I would have made the same decision,” Herne said, reassuring her.
As Viktor and Angel entered the building, a doctor hustled out, looking around until he saw us. He hurried over.
“You’re Yutani’s friends?”
Herne nodded. “We are. How is he? Can we see him?”
“He’ll live. But he’s got a nasty break in his arm, and he’s going to need at least seventy-five stitches to close all of the gashes made by the trap. He’s a coyote shifter?”
Herne nodded. “Yeah. Do you have a specialist for SubCult injuries?”
“Actually, it’s one of my specialties. We always have a doctor on duty here at the hospital who can handle SubCult medical issues. At least the break is clean, so we’ll just have to splint it up and then he’ll need a cast as soon as the swelling goes down. The nurse is prepping him for stitches now. I’ll have her come get you when we’re done.” And with that, he turned and hustled off again.
Talia finished filling out the forms and took them up to the desk, handing them to the receptionist along with Yutani’s insurance card. That was one of the great perks we got with the Wild Hunt—fantastic insurance and a retirement savings plan.
We moved over to one of the corner seating areas, where we couldn’t be overheard.
“We need to go see Rhiannon while we’re here,” Herne said. “It’ll probably take a little time to sew up Yutani’s arm, so the rest of you wait here while Ember and I go visit her. Viktor, please fill in Angel and Talia on what happened at the park.”
As we headed over to the reception desk, I wondered at the timing. Had the trap been set deliberately? It seemed odd to have both Yutani and Rhiannon end up in the hospital at the same time. But then, if whoever had run Rhiannon off the road had their way, they probably would have killed her. As far as the trap went, nobody could know that Yutani was going out for a run. We swept our rooms every night now for listening devices, so they couldn’t have overheard him tell Talia that he wanted to go out, or have time to set the trap, even if they had followed him to find out where he was going. It had to be a coincidence, albeit a nasty one.
“We’re here to see Rhiannon of the Foam Born,” Herne said, giving the receptionist with a bedazzling smile.
She glanced at her roster, then at the clock. “It’s a little late for visiting hours.”
“We just found out she was in an accident.”
“All right, wait for a moment and I’ll call someone to take you back to her.”
Sure enough, a moment later a nurse appeared and motioned for us to follow her. As we headed down the hall, through a pair of swinging doors, I wondered if Blackthorn had orchestrated the attack. Had he seen us down on the shore talking to Madrigal? If so, we were all in danger. With that thought, we entered the room where Rhiannon was confined to a bed, her leg in traction. When she saw us, she didn’t look happy.