Page 43 of The Water Witch (Fairwick Chronicles 2)

“Liam told me that they had been destroyed for trying to take over Faerie.”

“Some believe that they became monsters in their banishment—creatures who hate the fey and humans alike.”

“Nephilim.”Liz and Soheila whispered the word together.

“I thought Nephilim were fallen angels,” I said.

“My people believed that the legend of the fallen angels came from the expulsion of the elves from Faerie,” Soheila said.

“But those are only stories,” Liz said nervously. “No one knows if the Nephilim exist. And if they did exist, surely not even the Grove would have anything to do with them.”

“Unless they were offered an unlimited supply of Aelvesgold,” I said.

Liz and Soheila exchanged a worried look. “That would indeed be a strong inducement. Nephilim and witches working together would make a powerful combination.” Liz shuddered. “We must stop them. You must gain enough power to keep the door open. Will you transform again tonight?”

“Yes,” I said, shivering with anticipation at the thought. “Duncan said he thought there was another shape that might be more effective. It will also give us a chance to look out for Lorelei. We’ll have to do something about her, but we have to find her first.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Liz said. “It’s possible she’s sought sanctuary with her daughter.”

“Her daughter? Aren’t all her children in Faerie …?” But then I realized who she meant. “Lura?”

Liz and Soheila nodded.

“We were all surprised when Lorelei, after laying her eggs, gave birth to a human child,” Liz told me. “It may have been because Sullivan Trask was a witch. But witch or no, Sullivan wasn’t able to keep Lorelei from going back to Faerie, and then we all felt bad for Lura when Lorelei abandoned her. Lura was an awkward child, clumsy as a fish on dry land. We were happy for her, though, when she got engaged. During the Depression she rented out rooms to fishermen to make ends meet—the house was still presentable then—and one of them that summer was a painter from over in Ulster County named Quincy Morris, here sketching the woods. We were all glad Lura had found someone and thought maybe someone with an artistic temperament might do all right by her. The wedding was planned for the first weekend in September. It was to be held in the old Fairwick Hotel on Main Street. People got to talking that it wasn’t in a church, but we figured that was because the Church hasn’t always been friendly to undines.”

“Or succubi,” Soheila added.

Liz nodded and continued her story. “On the day of the wedding, we all arrived at the hotel. It was done up in blues and greens like an underwater paradise. Lura’s dress was cut from a moiré silk that shimmered like water and was embroidered with a thousand seed pearls. I was there when the message came from Quincy Morris’s best man. He’d seen Quincy heading into the woods at dawn that morning and he hadn’t heard from him since. Lura insisted the townspeople search the woods for Quincy, convinced that he’d had an accident, but it was clear to most of us that he’d gotten cold feet and cleared out.”

“Poor Lura,” Soheila said with a sigh that rippled through the room. “First she was abandoned by her mother, then she was left at the altar. She’d always been a bit moody, but she went crazy after that. Shut herself up in that old house and refused to let anyone in. She doesn’t even come into town for food. She grows her own vegetables and fishes in the stream. Cuts her own wood and heats the whole house with a wood-burning stove. The Women’s Club volunteers drop off packages of secondhand clothing and other essentials—sugar, coffee, flour—and one of us drives by regularly to make sure the packages get taken inside and there’s smoke coming out of the chimney.”

“She looked pretty fit when I saw her.” I told them about finding the Aelvestone and how Lura dragged me out of the river and then lifted the back of my car.

“That much Aelvesgold would confer a tremendous amount of strength and power!” Liz gave me a curious look but refrained from asking why it had taken me this long to tell her about the stone. “I’ve heard that undines laid eggs of Aelvesgold with their young but I thought they always were absorbed by the time the young were fingerlings. Now we canhave another circle for Brock. Can you bring the Aelvestone tomorrow?”

“Of course,” I said. “I’ll bring it today if you want. Right now. Why should we wait until tomorrow?”

Liz shook her head. “The circle is still recovering from the surge of power they experienced two days ago. Bring the stone tomorrow. That will impress the group. But remember, keep it carefully wrapped. In the long run, using too much Aelvesgold can deplete your power.”

“And what about Lura?” I asked, anxious to deflect the conversation from the use I’d already made of the Aelvestone. “Do you think she’s harboring Lorelei?”

Soheila and Liz looked at each other. “It’s hard to say,” Liz said. “Lorelei never seemed to have much maternal affection for the girl.”

“And Lura would have ample reason to resent Lorelei abandoning her,” Soheila added. “But still, we should check.” The two women looked at each other again. I imagined neither of them relished the idea of approaching surly, inhospitable Lura, but Soheila finally heaved a gusty sigh. “I’ll go,” she said with a rueful smile. “At least I know what it feels like to be neither fish nor fowl.”

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