Page 29 of A Deeper Blue
“Huh?”
“What humans call a Political Action Committee—PAC. He’s decided that it’s time the Supernaturals got involved.”
Rafe felt his jaw swing open and hang there in disbelief. Somewhere in the back of his mind, there was also the note that she had used the word human as if she wasn’t one. This wasn’t the only time she’d done that. What was he missing?
“I’m on my way to a summit with the Oregon pack,” continued Azure, looking embarrassed. “I’m representing my family and my coven.”
“What the motherfucking hell?” he said at last.
“Not that I really wanted to come. Frankly, I think it’s about as likely to roll as a square wheel. But I screwed some stuff up for my sister, so this is me making amends. But like I said, you really need to talk to your father. Is it possible that he just called you as an attempt to… I don’t know, patch things up?”
“I will kill him,” said Rafe. “I will dropkick his ass into the Columbia. If he sent me all this way for a fucking maguffin, I will punch him in the face.”
“We don’t know that,” said Azure. “This could actually be a thing he needed.” She looked at the water bottle doubtfully.
“What does the second sight say?” he demanded. Azure stared at the flask in her hand and then shook her head.
“Nothing. Kind of suspiciously nothing? I don’t know.”
“I’m opening it,” he said, snatching it out of her hand.
He had barely twisted the top when two words in runic writing shimmered into existence, glimmering like fairy dust in the night sky just above their heads.
“Can you read that?” whispered Rafe to Azure.
“It says:requires water,” Azure whispered back.
Rafe looked around and then strode off in the direction of the pasture. He climbed over the fence and stomped toward the cow pond.
“Are we sure this is a good idea?” asked Azure hurrying after him. “Maybe we should take a minute. I can do some examining spells. What if it contains some sort of water demon or something? We should have a plan.”
“No. No plan. I’m doing this.”
He spun the lid, yanked the top off, and poured the entire silvery liquid contents into the cow pond. There was a second of foreboding silence as the frogs in the pond stopped ribbiting. Then… nothing.
“My dad is the world’s biggest asshole,” said Rafe.
Then the pond began to boil.
Episode 15
A Lady of the Lake
Azure
A woman rose from the bubbling water, sword first, silvery in the moonlight. Azure’s skin prickled with electric goosebumps, and beside her, she heard Rafe inhale in shock. The Lady’s skin and dress were iridescent and nearly transparent. As she rose, she became more solid and began to colorize like an old movie. When the Lady was standing on the surface of the water, she lowered her sword. Then the Lady did the last thing Azure expected—she coughed.
“Oh, Goddess!” the Lady wheezed, coughing again. “Sorry. That pond is gonna... fucking cows.” She leaned over and herked up a loogie into the pond. “Aye, that’s gonna stick with me. You couldn’t find a truck-stop puddle to put me in or anything?”
Her skin had settled into a dusky golden brown, and her hair was coiled into dark dreadlocks on top of her head, held in place with a silver pin of Celtic design, while her earrings were Egyptian in origin. Her long robe seemed in the general toga style, and she had black patterned tattoos around one forearm that looked Polynesian, but Azure wasn’t sure.
“Sorry,” said Azure, blinking rapidly and trying to reconcile reality with every story she’d ever heard about the Ladies of the Lake. “We were kind of out of options.”
The Ladies of the Lake were prophets—nearly goddesses in their own right—who had guided the Supernaturals since the beginning of time. No one knew where they came from, but to receive a visitation was considered a holy thing. No one knew where their Lake was anymore. Azure couldn’t even imagine how Albert had managed to get this one delivered. The Lady added one more glob of spit before standing upright and looking them over.
“Aye. We all do what we can. All right, what have I got?” The Lady was at least six-foot-five and built on Statue of Liberty lines. Getting surveyed critically by her was intimidating. “A furry Lancelot and a Morganna. Got it.”
“What?” yelped Rafe. “I am not a... I am no one’s shining knight.” He ground out the words like he hated the taste of them.
