Page 16 of The Water Witch (Fairwick Chronicles 2)

As we made our way through the honeysuckle thicket, I told Liz and Diana everything that had transpired in Faerie—except for the part where I made love to Liam. I did tell them, however, how he’d twice saved my life.

“It does sound rather as if he’s trying to make amends,” Diana said in her usually generous manner.

“But it might be just a ploy to gain your sympathy, Callie,” Liz added in a sterner tone. “Incubi are extremely manipulative,” she whispered, presumably so Soheila wouldn’t hear. Soheila could probably hear the slightest whisper carried onthe wind, but she seemed preoccupied with the mayhem surrounding us. The storm had knocked down dozens of trees. The last time I’d seen this kind of destruction had been when I’d tried to banish the incubus and he’d retaliated by raising a tsunami-sized wind. Liam had been born that night out of my ambivalence and inability to wholeheartedly banish him.

I brushed away a tear and Diana patted my arm. I saw her exchange a concerned look with Liz, and the women lapsed into a silence that felt weighted by the disaster of my love affair with Liam. I wasn’t able to muster the will to speak until we were nearly back at my house.

“What are we going to do about the undines? Lorelei might be crazy, but they’re not all like her. The young one I helped—the one who called herself Raspberry—was very sweet. If the Grove convinces IMP to close the door, they’ll become extinct. Do you think there’s any chance at all that we could convince them the door needs to stay open?”

“I’m afraid that this stormy temper tantrum of Lorelei’s will just convince IMP that the door should be closed,” Liz said. “I’ll contact the other members of the governing board and see if I can get a feel for how they’ll vote, but I think we should concentrate on figuring out how to keep the door open should the Grove and IMP vote to close it.”

“I’m the doorkeeper. I should be able to keep the door open.”

I saw Liz and Diana exchange a look over my head.

“Yes, you should…” Liz began uneasily. “It’s just that your power seems rather…unstable…” Liz’s voice died away as we reached my backyard. I looked up to see what had made her pause. My house’s roof, which Brock had been coming to fix, was in even worse shape than before. A dozen more tiles were missing and the gutter had been dragged off. Damn that Lorelei! She’d probably cost me another thousand inhome repair and cost Brock a day’s work. His ladder lay on the ground…which was odd, because Brock took meticulous care of his equipment and tools. As I crossed the yard I tripped over something in the grass. A hammer. Brock’s hammer, hand-forged in the fires of Muspelheim and imbued with magical powers. He’d never leave it in the rain to rust…unless…

Soheila gasped just as I looked up. Around the corner of the house, she knelt beside Brock in the grass, searched for a pulse in his neck, and then shook her head. I wasn’t the only victim of Lorelei’s fury. Brock Olsen had been thrown from the roof and killed.

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