Kings and Sirens (The Blood Falls Book 2)

Leena

We traveled down the Line the next morning. As we passed the unmanned stations I felt an eerie vibration. The air was colder and wetter, the hair on my arm stood up. No one else seemed affected. Normally I’d tap my tether to the Plane so I could see what else was happening, but since we were actively trying to stay off the Plane so the Salishan didn’t notice us, I didn’t.

It was like walking around blindfolded, banging into everything, when you could simply peek out and see where you were, but instead keeping your eyes closed and running into a table.

And that analogy sat really wrong with me. Why hit a table when you can simply open your eyes? Why wander around guessing when you can gather all the information? It was like the Heida wanted to make things as hard as possible.

So when we stopped at the next nearly identical station so Atsila could go through their routines and procedures, I pulled Daisy aside. “Hey. So…the Plane.”

“Yes?” She shrank back just a little. Like even mentioning it would summon the Salishan.

“They are Plane sensitive. They can sense when we tap it, they know when we shift, as long as we’re nearby. They might have psychic abilities.”

She nodded along as I ticked off my points. “That’s right.”

“I also have psychic abilities. My connection to the Plane is different than yours. Maybe…maybe if I reach out, I can learn something useful. Or even communicate with them.”

She chewed on her lip as she shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Or you could lead them right to us and we could all be slaughtered.”

That…was possible.

“Atsila will be hours up in the trees. I can hike out, far away from here and then shift outside the Line. To them. A scouting party of one.”

Daisy went pale. “We’ve lost two parties already.”

“But they weren’t me.”

“No, they were fucking bears, Leena. Giant, ferocious, deadly bears. And not one of them returned. None. You go out there alone and you won’t come back.”

“You don’t know that. If they’re psychic maybe we can have a conversation that you simply cannot. What you’re all lacking right now is communication. They attack you, you kill them, or they kill you. Period. No one knows why they attack.”

“Because they’re Salishan! They’re wild fucking animals!” Her worry had turned to fury. Where Atsila simply told me no, Daisy was fighting me tooth and nail. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes bright, her hand flailing through the air. It was a sign she kind of wanted me to be right, and it pissed her off.

“Maybe they’re not. Maybe they’re just trying to survive.”

She spun away, fingers massaging her forehead as she paced. “I wish the Doctor was done with his report. It would be nice to know what they are.”

“I agree. But it could be days until he’s done running tests. We’re here now. So close.” I had no idea what drove me, other than a bone-deep conviction that opportunity sat at our feet and kicking it away was a loss we’d never get back.

“No,” she said. “We wait for the Doctor. We gather tracking information. And then…if we decide it’s worth it, we’ll put together another party—possibly including you—to try and make contact.”

It was reasonable. Maybe even practical. Definitely safer. And yet I didn’t agree. But I pretended I did. “You’re right. That’s the smart play. But please, mention it to the Queen. I’m here and I want to help.” What I didn’t say was that they should have asked for help a long time ago. They should have told the rest of us what was going on. They should have acted like Samhain instead of some separate species altogether.

“I will. I’ll tell her and I think she’ll be open to it. Now, I have inventories to check and rations to distribute.” Daisy hurried away while I stood rooted to the ground. A magnetic pull demanded I go ahead with my plan. It was the kind of pull I felt whenever the Plane wanted something. It overwhelmed until it got its way. I mostly heard stories of fated mates finding each other. The Plane pulling them together until they met. Sometimes I heard stories of Destiny. For myself, I usually only felt it in relation to my own family.

What I experienced now was tenfold. Maybe more. I couldn’t ignore it.

So as soon as I was sure I’d been forgotten, I dashed into the woods.

It was hard to tell with such rugged terrain, but I was fairly certain I’d covered at least five miles before I stopped. I was sweaty as hell and a little tired, so I rested near a creek, using the water to cool my skin. With some distance from the others I tapped the Plane. Just a little. Just enough to see where I was and what that looked like in relation to the Line and everything north of it.

It appeared to me as a muted blue shimmer. Lots of flat wilderness, oscillating between forest and tundra. I felt the presence of large animals: bears, caribou, moose.

And then a different glimmer. A sparkle.

A Salishan.

I pulled away almost as fast as I spotted it. It could have been one or a dozen. I pulled back, back, back, taking in the grander scheme of the metaphysical environment. The blackness—the Dark—was still there on the edge, always to my right it seemed, but it remained in the distance, as it had since the battle at the House of Axl. The danger was still there and nothing we did could stop it. All we’d done was buy some time.

A part of me wondered if the Salishan had anything to do with the shifting boundaries of our world. Or were they just another fact of life evolving and sometimes going wrong? There really was only one way to find out.

I shifted to the glimmer, also changing my form in the process. When I arrived near the Salishan I was nothing more than a very small house cat. I chose a tawny brown coat to hopefully blend in with the foliage. I waited a few minutes as I got my bearing and adjusted to the lighter forest coverage. The smell was more organic and the air was much colder.

No one came for me, so if they detected me they were playing it cool. I began my exploration, taking my time as I stepped under leaves and wove through tree trunks. In the distance I heard noises. Not voices exactly, but similar. More like vocalizations than words. In my cat form I was able to pick up on more scents—almost all of them coming from one direction. I crept closer and closer until I saw what appeared to be the outside of a crude hut.

It was made of fallen trees and brush, draped with animal skins. A fire was lit on the opposite side. Two Salishan stopped beside it. Their strange mix of samhain and bear features the same as I remembered. Their bodies covered in long hair. Like Bigfoot or Sasquatch, but altogether different. I took my time simply cataloguing information at first. Everything from the sounds I heard to the configuration of their home or settlement. Whatever it was. The two Salishan put more wood on the fire and made some noises that sounded like bears communicating, then a scent filled the air and stung my sensitive nose.

When they wandered away I tapped the Plane. The first thing I noticed was the connection between the two retreating Salishan. Like a warm bubble surrounded them with a tether between them. Every so often I saw a vibration shoot out from one of them and fly off into the distance. It had psychic energy attached to it, but wasn’t anything I recognized. It wasn’t words or pictures or even feelings. I’m not sure what it was except that it was sent on the same frequency I would use to see the timeline.

I could try to explore their camp, get inside their hut, but alone with no backup that seemed like a terrible idea. Even more terrible than coming here in the first place. So I took what I had and shifted back to my secret spot behind the Line. I remained in cat form as I shook off the experience, prowling through the much denser foliage and licking up some water from a leaf.

It was fun toying with Atsila, changing from cat to panther and teasing him. But beyond the game, I truly wondered what he thought of me. It was clear he was confused but also very attracted to me. Did he enjoy or hate that I could shift into a cat? Was he as attracted to the idea of it as I was of him?

Because there was something damn sexy that happened when he grew three times in size and muscle. Furious and powerful and unmistakably male.

But those were thoughts I could have alone in my hammock tonight. For now I needed to get back and showered before anyone noticed I was gone. I didn’t know what I’d do with my new information except hold onto it for now.

And wait for the right time to use it.