San Francisco
Silver left the following day and made her way back to the City by the Bay. She had planned to spend more time with her father, but she’d felt the fierce call to come to the city to aid the D’Danann.
She had driven across the country in her beat-up little VW and made the 3,300 mile trek in five days. It was a wonder her poor Bug had made it.
The first thing she did was go to the beach where she’d practiced rituals so many times before. She didn’t stop to see any of her friends. No one. She wasn’t ready, not yet. She wasn’t even sure whether she’d be welcome.
Numb from more than mere cold, Silver sat with her arms around her knees in the small cove where she had first called upon the D’Danann—and Hawk had come. Just the thought of him made her heart ache all over again.
She’d left Polaris snuggled in a big blanket in the car, not even wanting her familiar for company. No, she needed to be alone.
The waning moon rose through the fog, and what light could filter through caressed Silver, as if to offer her some comfort.
The briny smell of the ocean, the feel of sand beneath her booted feet, and the sound of waves slapping the shore was reassuring. At least some things remained the same.
These past few weeks, she’d replayed over and over in her mind all that had happened, and couldn’t come to the conclusion that she would have done anything differently.
She had set out to do what she believed to be right, and had helped to stop an invasion of demons that would have overrun the city. Now, as far as she knew, relatively few remained.
And those demons needed to be sought out and sent back to Underworld.
Silver’s jaw tightened in determination. She had lost everything, everything but her magic, her sense of justice, and her ability to make at least some things right.
She was back, and she would help with the battle, with or without the force of the D’Anu behind her. She’d found her way home. She was now a solo practitioner, but she was home.
A chill rolled through her. But Darkwolf is here, too. What if he seeks me out again? What if this time I can’t fight him?
Her jacket fluttered in the breeze and sand shifted beneath her feet as she hugged her knees tighter. She pushed away those thoughts and at least some of the melancholy gripping her as best she could, but she couldn’t help the ache in her heart for all she had lost.
Her mother. Her sister. Her Coven. Her store.
The man she had fallen in love with.
A cold, cold tear rolled down her cheek, but it dried from the even colder breeze. She was a witch, able to withstand varying temperatures, but right now she wouldn’t be surprised if that failed her too, no matter that her father believed her magic was stronger than ever.
Whump. Whump. The sound jolted her from her thoughts. Whump.
Wings. Big wings.
She couldn’t move, but didn’t dare to hope.
A break in the fog revealed a being flying toward her. Could it be one of the D’Danann who had stayed to help find the rest of the Fomorii?
Could it be Hawk?
Silver’s heart raced as the being came closer. When she recognized the brilliant blue wings of Sher, that heart dropped right into the pit of her stomach.
Sher landed easily on the sand, her booted feet barely making an indentation. Her wheat-blonde hair swung at her shoulders and her smile met her blue eyes. “Mackenzie’s tarot cards told me I’d find you here.”
Silver tried to smile back, but faltered. “How is everyone?”
The D’Danann warrior folded away her wings and settled on the sand beside Silver. She smelled of clear night sky and jasmine. Her blue eyes looked dark and thoughtful. “Much has happened since you have been gone. More of the San Francisco D’Anu Coven fractured.”
Silver’s eyes widened. “But who? Why? What about the balance between Covens?”
With a slight shrug, Sher said, “There were enough apprentices in the other twelve Covens ready to step forward. The Coven will be fine.” She started to create a design in the sand with her fingertip. “Mackenzie, Hannah, Sydney, Alyssa, Cassia, and Rhiannon all left the Coven. They believed too strongly that you were right and the rest of the D’Anu were wrong. They think that gray magic is needed to rid this city of the Fomorii. They have started a new Coven. With you it will be seven.”
Seven. A good number.
Silver just shook her head. “What—how—where—”
Sher laughed. She had a beautiful laugh that rang through the cool night, above the roar of the ocean. “Jake owns an apartment complex in the Haight-Ashbury district by your Golden Gate Park. The area and the locals are a little odd, but all the D’Danann and the witches are using it as a HQ.”
“How is Jake?”
“Well.” She smiled. “He and the PSF are determined to aid us in the fight against the Fomorii.”
Silver almost didn’t dare to ask, but she had to. “And Hawk?”
Sher’s shoulders lifted and settled with a sigh. “Since he returned to Otherworld, none have heard from him. But then, he cannot cross over unless it is one of the nights when the membranes between worlds are thin enough.”
The D’Danann woman stared into the dark sky as she softly said, “Unless he is aided by one of Elvin blood,” she added.
Silver’s heart pounded a little more rapidly again. “But he hasn’t come back.”
Their gazes met again. “No,” Sher said, and continued to trace the design into the sand. “We have not seen him. I have not sensed him.”
That part of Silver holding on to her love for Hawk weakened. “He can’t leave his daughter, and I wouldn’t expect him to. And the Chieftains—they may have locked him in the cells.”
That thought made her so ill, she shuddered.
Sher just traced the design in the sand with her finger, and when she finished, Silver saw that the design was a Celtic love knot. Sher looked back up at Silver. “Where there is love, the heart will find a way.”
Silver could only shake her head again. “It’s not meant to be.”
With the grace of her species, Sher moved to her feet and unfurled her wings. She spread the beautiful blue feathers and lifted into the air. “When you are ready, we are waiting for you.”
Before Silver could say anything more, Sher darted into the night sky. She pumped her wings, waved, and flew back toward the city.
For a long time Silver just sat and stared at the ocean, and listened to the waves slap the shore. She had a home and friends to return to.
Others willing to fight the Fomorii—probably already seeking them out. Perhaps over the past weeks they had already located them and were ridding the city of the demons.
Silver’s thoughts turned back to the time with her father. They had come to an understanding, and she had hope again for her sister. That Copper would one day come back.
Another whump of wings startled Silver. This time the sound was stronger, more powerful. A dark shape closed in on her, moving faster and faster.
The winged figure drew closer. Silver’s heart started to pound so hard she almost couldn’t breathe. When he finally touched down on the sand she put a hand to her mouth, certain she was seeing things.
Hawk.