Cry Me a River Page 9

  * * *

  Jack

  After-freakin' noon

  Imagine meeting an alien in person

  * * *

  I could say that Tempe's father was… not what I'd expected. That would be like saying I could imagine meeting an extraterrestrial-being face to face.

  In his human form—scratch that—if he'd been human, he would be the biggest, most imposing man I'd ever seen. Except for the fact that he was all bronze and had thick bushy red hair sporting the same bright streaks as Tempe's, he could have been the Hulk. Now I knew why the motorcycle parked on the driveway looked like the 4XL model.

  Hearing the distant storm and suspecting it meant Tempe was in action, I'd taken off around the side of the house but the scene in the backyard of the stately mansion left me momentarily speechless.

  Full beast mode was my first thought as I watched Tempe's burgeoning power billow out in all its glory. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was taller, more… just… more, her colorful mane replaced by undulating… images? An illusion? It couldn't be real… huge crashing waves, as if all the disasters at sea over the centuries were being played out fresh in her rainbow tresses.

  I saw a ship sinking, another plummeting from atop a mighty foaming peak, and what looked like Poseidon leading a chariot of watery steeds through the waves. The churning waves extended down her arms and lightning flickered along her limbs and between her breasts.

  Wind whirled around her like the churning vortex of a tornado but only the things she directed with her eyes and her hand became ammunition.

  Dutch seemed to be operating purely on defense, allowing Tempe to throw everything at him without responding. At first the corded muscles in his legs had seemed to… plant themselves… like roots into the ground.

  But then the lower half of his body became indistinct like the figure on River's old amphora. A genie-in-a-bottle cartoon from an ancient commercial came to mind suddenly, and that image would be worth a chuckle… later, if I lived through this version.

  I turned my attention back to the Tempest, for she certainly deserved that name as she hurled an entire world of meteorological forces at Dutch, with no effect. That is, no effect on him. Her efforts were laying waste to the outside of the house and the expensively landscaped property, not to mention endangering the people in the backyard who had been getting ready for a cookout. Her frustration was evident and I feared she hadn't reached the peak of her power yet. Then I remembered what Dylan said, that Tempestaeries had been known to call down asteroids…

  Something moved near the house, some kind of thick green vines. I tilted my head back to see a tall rather handsome green giant looking down and smiling beneficently at me. I faltered at the sight but a rock the size of my head flew by narrowly missing me, and I was pulled back to the fight between the two Pomeroys.

  While my attention had been diverted, Dutch's Hulk sized body had become a waterspout spinning up water from the pond a hundred feet into the air. And Tempe was now a full-blown tornado, directing rocks, garden tools, anything but us spectators, with just her gaze. She no longer looked human. Her irises were like looking down the swirling eye of an F-5 tornado. And if that was what she was going to do with the debris in her control, she had to be stopped.

  I slugged my way, one wind ravaged step at a time, partially covering my face and eyes to protect them from the flying detritus, and forced myself between the father and my storm-mad virago.

  Chapter 13

  Tempe

  You haven't seen nuclear

  * * *

  Jack's concerned face looked down at me. Above him was clear blue sky, clearer than it had been twenty minutes ago since menori and I had sucked nearly all the moisture out of the atmosphere.

  One second I'd been watching Petre take the pig from the oven and the next… "What happened?" I asked, as more faces peered down at me, blocking the sky from my view. I shut my eyes and my head thunked against the ground. "I finally lost it, didn't I?"

  "Yep—" Jack.

  "Finally—" Dutch.

  My eyes popped open and I went from relaxed to ignition in a flash.

  Jack raised his hands. "Hey, how about we try some verbal crisis management for a change? It didn't look like the indiscriminate missile launching was getting either of you anywhere. Not towards finding River at any rate."

  That got through because he was right.

  My father's massive paw appeared in front of me and I took it. I wasn't sure where all that anger came from. He tugged me onto my feet and into his arms, his hold viselike in the brief seconds it took for me to give in to my eternal longing for him. I let loose the pent up grief, turmoil and relief, and absorbed the tender devotion I felt fully through the Qi'mele, the core of our Paramortal power.

  Devotion. The certainty of my parents' and other Paramortals' dedication to mine, and River's well being, hit like the force of a microburst. Our safety and longevity had to be assured before they could worry about our happiness—or our feelings. Tension drained out of me as I looked up at him. He wiped my tears away with his thumbs and waited.

  Except for the shoulder length streaked hair (so that's where it came from)… "You look the same."

  As first lines following a big fight and a nineteen-year separation went, it wasn't much, but I was trying for normalcy. There I went again, holding up my world to someone else's standards. My idea of normalcy ran completely counter to Jack's. I glanced at him.

  Jack Lang was a complete anomaly. After placing so much emphasis on his unrealistic expectations of Destiny, he'd landed unexpectedly and with some degree of comfort on the opposite side of the normal. Either he was on his way to accepting the way things were, or he was in a shock induced coma.

  While dear old 'dad' and I embraced, Jack took in the scene around him. No one was making any pains to hide their nature, so I watched him while Arabella and Petre magically righted the table and returned the roasted pig to its pre-storm state; while Neil, the resident ogre picked up the debris I'd flung about; and a myriad of other fantastical creatures scampered around as if he were invisible. He seemed to be taking it in stride. He hadn't so much as blinked. I decided he was in shock.

  "Jack, are you okay?"

  He faced me, eyes going from wide-eyed wonder to slant-eyed consideration. He directed that look at Dutch. "Was it necessary to let her go nearly nuclear?"

  Dutch's eyebrow disappeared into his hair. He wasn't questioned—ever. "It was, yes." His voice sounded as if it was set on megaphone low. "And you haven't seen nuclear. I've heard good things about you, Lang, you should be glad of it."

  It was Jack's turn to hike the brow. As human threats went it wasn't much, but coming from Dutch it was the only notice you'd get before you were annihilated. I put a hand on Jack's arm, causing Dutch's eyes to widen, then sharpen. So it's like that, is it, daughter?

  I gasped, and Jack nearly went for his gun. I grabbed his arm. "It's okay, Jack." I scrunched my eyes shut and thought as hard as I could in my father's direction, Is that what a mindlink sounds like? It had been so long.

  Dutch's chest rumbled with laughter. "There's no need to shout or make faces, Tempest. Simply open your mind to me and speak through it."

  Jack nodded, as if verifying some assumption. "I hate to break up this little reunion," he said, "but we have work to do if we're going to try this telepathy thing to find River." He held our gazes as he reached into his pocket. "We searched Crain's yesterday and found this." He held out the back door of River's original amphora to Dutch.

  Dutch plucked it from Jack's hand. "It's cracked! He can't use an amphora with a damaged door," he said, in a voice one decibel beneath a roar.

  I took the lid from Jack's hand. "Good thinking, Jack. The old amphora will make an excellent focal point for the gathering tonight, now that I have the replacement amphora ready." I gave Dutch a pointed look.

  A Djinn of Dutch's stature didn't know the meaning of 'contrite' so he settled for, "Hmm."


  Jack moved on. "I have some ideas about that. But we have things to do before we head to the swamp. Everyone will be gathering there to lend their, er, do whatever you do at these things."

  Dutch perked up, "What swamp? Big Morte?"

  I said, "Big Morte is no more, Dutch. We're going to try to get through to River tonight at the Forge, during full moon."

  Dutch went still. "This was Aurora's idea?"

  A frisson of unease passed over me. "Aurora's and Dylan's, why?"

  He shrugged. "Let's go."

  "What is it?" I pressed.

  He placed both of his large hands on my shoulders and his eyes went meaningfully to Jack's behind me. "It's… late, daughter, and I'm not sure your brother will have enough Qi'mele to transmit outside his body."

  I swallowed. "You mean we might be too late."

  "Don't give up yet, Tempest. They don't call me the most powerful Djinn for nothing." But the worried look he cast over my shoulder belied those words.

  * * *

  Jack

  * * *

  I looked at my watch. A little less than three hours before we were due at Lightning Bayou, or the Forge as the Paramortals called it. My cell vibrated. "Yeah, Ryan."

  "Jack, Crain wouldn't give Paige up. He stuck to that story about her setting him up, planting the 'green stopper'. He lawyered up and we had to let him go. He said he had to go to work, but I checked. He didn't show. Thought you'd want to know he's on the way home, or more likely… he's in the wind."

  "That's a stroke of bad luck," I said as Dutch's eyes narrowed. "Basile's at the Wasted Turtle. Peggy is searching the records down at the courthouse to see if there's anything that can help us locate them. Keep hitting those back roads and monitoring the scanner." I looked at Tempe and Dutch. "Our luck is going to turn. I just know it."

  A Djinn eye roll followed that statement. Someone's cell phone went off and we all looked around. A slender young boy stooped to pick up a piece of debris and with his purple tinted hand reached toward Tempe. She thanked him and took the phone. Her cell phone brand should be worth a fortune if a storm like hers couldn't kill it.

  "What is it, Dylan?" Her frustration was evident. Time was not on River's side. She listened for a couple minutes shaking her head. Ending the call, she looked at me then Dutch. "He was calling from Aladdin's Rub." She clarified for Dutch, "That's where Paige, the woman we think took River, works as a housekeeper." She looked back at me. "He was going to influence the manager to give him Paige's address. The manager heard about the trouble she's in and she hasn't shown up to work since Sunday, so he gladly gave Dylan the information. Unfortunately, her place is empty. Dylan said no sign of her being there in days."

  She sighed, her shoulders dropping. She looked frazzled which one would expect after becoming a wind driven mini-hurricane. I yearned to put my arm around her and give her a hug, but her giant copper papa was giving me the eye and I couldn't quite bring myself to test him.

  Maybe another time.

  Chapter 14

  Tempe

  "Here, hold that tree."

  * * *

  Fred called—once again at a most inconvenient time—to tell me he'd decided to take down the tree next to the house, which had been damaged over the winter, even though we'd discussed it and I'd told him to wait until River could be there.

  Then he dropped the second little bomb, "I found a text from River from last Sunday night. I'm sorry, Tempe, I must have missed it."

  "I'll be there as soon as I can, Freddie. Don't cut that tree until I get there," I said, but had a feeling he couldn't hear me over the sound of the chain saw. It was highly likely that Freddie, our unhandy handyman was about to destroy my new roof and take out the picture window for the third time. I called Jack and told him about the text and where I was headed. He said he'd meet me there.

  I drove up in the yard beside Harmony. The chain saw was running but Freddie wasn't holding it. He was looping a rope around the thick sixty-foot tall pine. I assessed the situation quickly and saw several problems. The chainsaw sat wobbling near Freddie's foot. He'd made a sizable cut in the base of the tree, on the wrong side, and the breeze was making it sway in the direction of the house. I ran to him, leaning over to hit the kill switch on the chain saw first. As I rose, Freddie shoved the rope into my hands and said, "Here, hold that tree."

  I took the rope automatically, wondering what in the hell he was thinking. Scratch that. He wasn't thinking. He's Toolman.

  I looked up, and up, at the old pine which was swaying a bit more in the wrong direction. A woman my size wasn't about to keep a tree this big from toppling like it was fixin' to. Strong hands gripped mine and I looked over to see Jack, the corded muscles in his arms straining as the tree started to fall inexorably toward the house.

  "Can't you do something?" Jack asked quickly, his boots starting to skid on the grass and loose dirt.

  "Do something?" I put every one of my hundred and twenty pounds into pulling with him. Freddie had pulled the truck around and was backing up to us.

  Jack said, "Fred, hurry. Wind that end around the trailer hitch." But it wasn't going to happen fast enough. "Tempe, how about using that wind power of yours to right this tree where we can send it in the other direction before it destroys your house."

  Why didn't I think of that? Because every time I tried to use my powers on purpose it didn't turn out like I imagined or planned? I closed my eyes, called menori and gathered the wind. It came… easily, surprising me with its obedience? It felt alive, responsive, and I reveled in the tactile sensation of collaboration and control.

  "Tempe… what are you waiting for?" Jack's voice was strained.

  "Oh, right." It took no eye scrunching, grunting or wishing. My inherited wind, menori, simply embraced the trunk and eased it in the opposite direction, until Jack realized what was happening and let go of the rope. He looked over his shoulder and pointed toward a vacant spot between my house and the neighbors. I aimed—that's the only way I can describe it—the tree in that direction. We heard a crack when the saw-cut widened across the trunk and Jack pulled Freddie out of the path of the tree as it toppled to the ground.

  Jack brushed his hands off. "Unorthodox, but effective, Storm Lady." Jack gave me an enthusiastic kiss then turned to Freddie. "Fred, Ms. Tempe says you got a text from River. Can I see it?"

  Freddie looked at me and I nodded. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and scrolled down. It had been sent on the Sunday evening River disappeared.

  F. have to meet an old girlfriend, about a friend of my mother's. Will give you a list of projects when I see you tomorrow or the next day.

  "Is this the only one, Fred?"

  "Yes, sir. I'm sorry I didn't see it until today, Tempe."

  "It's all right, Freddie, why don't you clean things up, or if you want to, start cutting the trunk. But when we leave, you need to go home as well. From now on, when I say wait, you wait until either River or I can supervise."

  "Yes, Ms. Tempe," his shoulders slumping as he nodded and turned away.

  I shook my head. "I haven't been making my instructions to Freddie clear enough."

  Jack said, "That's the thing about confidence, sweetheart. What you gain in one area of your life naturally spreads to others. It'll work out. At least Freddie's heart is in the right place. You have to admire his work ethic." He grinned.

  "Do you think it would have made a difference if we'd seen that text last week?" I asked.

  "You never know, Tempe. We were going in that general direction anyway thanks to your instincts about Paige."

  "River mentioned one of mother's 'friends'. I wonder what River was thinking."

  "We'll ask Paige and River when we find them. Come on. You have an appointment to keep and I need to check in with Jordie."

  Tempe

  Thur 5:53pm A full Tempest moon in the house of family

  * * *

  "When are you going to sign me up for the derby?"

  I turned. We'd
gathered at the eastern most edge of Lightning Bayou behind Harmony with about fifteen of our closest friends and family. The troublesome Imp—yes, that's redundant but it bears repeating when it comes to Marty—had just spoken to me and he was nowhere in sight.

  "Marty…" I hissed, "where are you?"

  Aurora explained quietly to Jack, "The name, Forge, comes from Lei Vis meaning light force, given not to this shallow marsh that runs throughout Destiny, but to the super pulse of leylines that lies beneath it. For Paramortals it's akin to the most elite health spa for restoring and re-energizing one's Qi."

  Jack scratched his head. You had to give him credit for trying to soak up everything. I wasn't sure how much more he could take in. Then Aurora continued about how the full moon this month was in a good position for our mindlink since it was in the fourth house of family opposite the tenth for the mother's influence.

  Jack said, "I don't believe in Astrology." He paused, probably realizing he hadn't believed in fairies either until last week. "So when will the moons be colliding?" he asked Aurora.

  Aurora smiled, "Clever, Jack. It's called coinciding and it's not as predictable as with the celestial moons. But to answer your question right now I estimate the coincidence between Sunday and Tuesday."

  Dutch arrived and Aurora embraced him, but Dylan merely nodded. What was that about?

  "I know what it was about," Marty's voice came again and this time I heard it in my head.

  The mindlink? I stared at the ground where the sound had come from. "Marty, where are you?" Milling around and keeping their voices low as Aurora had instructed, were Montana, Kat, Bailey, even Arabella, though Petre had remained at the Inn. I did not see the Imp.

  "I'm sitting in front of you," he said. "I'm invisible."

  Duh. "You can do that?"