Page 47 of A Deeper Blue
“The humans want to kill us all,” piped up someone else in the crowd. “The Night of 1000 Deaths was proof of that.”
There was a general mutter of agreement from the crowd.
“The warlocks do want us all gone,” agreed Azure. It was true enough, and there was no point in pretending otherwise. The hard part was getting the Supernaturals not to paint all of humanity with the same brush. “But not all humans are warlocks.”
“Humans used to be our friends. We used to have human packmates. It wasn’t always like this.”
“Yes,” said Azure, pointing in the direction of the speaker, although she couldn’t see who it was, “So what has changed?”
“Plastic,” spat out one of the mermaids.
“Yes,” agreed Azure. She could feel the shift in the mood among the crowd. The energy had turned from pitchfork waving to thoughtfulness. She wanted that shift, but too quickly, it could lead to a loss in energy. “Their technology. It poisons us. It poisons them. And it poisons the planet.”
“They’ve been trying,” said Moira, hesitantly. “To clean it up, I mean.”
“They have been,” Azure said. “As well as my ancestral ties, I have a coven. That is our focus. To help bring this change about. We have gathered many human allies, but time and time again, we are pushed back. Why?”
“Money,” said one of the selkies, lifting a sardine from a tin. “Greed.” The sardine disappeared whole into his mouth.
“Organization,” said Albert, his voice rolling easily across the space and giving her just the answer she needed when she needed it. “The humans have turned their money and greed into power with laws and organization. We don’t have that.”
“We don’t,” said Azure. “But we could.”
There was quiet around the field, and the crackle of the fire could be heard.
There was a thump, and the blonde Viking shifter pounded on the bleacher with his fist. Azure made the countersign, hoping that Rafe wouldn’t notice that she hadn’t bothered to touch this man the way she had done to him. If he did, she would have to admit that she had simply wanted to touch Rafe, and he would be altogether too smug about that.
“We cannot condone such a thing,” he said firmly. “To enter into a pact with….” He gestured around the circle but seemed to come to rest on the sasquatch. The sasquatch didn’t look particularly perturbed by this, but it was hard to tell anything behind the hair. “That is not within the keeping of the old ways.”
“No?” asked Albert, stepping up to the pedestal. “Well, let’s see about that.”
He twisted open the flask and, holding his arm high, poured the contents in a silvery stream into the basin of clear water.
“Let’s see what?” demanded Henrik, looking around the circle for a laugh. Then the water began to bubble, and everyone gasped as the Lady rose in stately composure from the basin.
“Blessings on this place,” she said, and Azure let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. The Lady wasn’t going to spit on anyone. Around the circle of Supernaturals, Azure could see the eager expressions of awe. She wasn’t the only one to wish for some old-world, goddess-type magic.
“It is good,” said the Lady, turning to view the full assembly, “to see so many of our people gathered together as it was in the old days.”
Perhaps it was Azure’s imagination, but she thought the Lady looked a little pointedly at Henrik.
The mermaids had risen to their feet the moment the lady’s head had broken the surface, and they now approached the basin holding out their hands palms up, heads lowered.
“My sisters,” said the Lady, “blessings upon you.”
One by one, they came forward and took tiny sips from the lady’s watery robe. It didn’t appear to bother the Lady, and afterward, they sat down at the foot of her pedestal.
“My Lady,” said Albert, “it has been many years since you and I spoke, but it is good to see you again.”
“Albert,” said the Lady, inclining her head. “I am glad to see you also. I have recently had the pleasure of speaking with your son.” She turned to Rafe without having to scan the crowd for him, although the dusk had truly settled now. “I see that your endeavors against the Warlocks were successful.”
“Yes, thank you,” said Rafe. “I put your sword to good use. I killed eleven. I would return it to you.” He stood up and held out the sword that he’d kept covered and out of sight under the bleachers.
The Lady smiled. “No. You will have need of it again.”
There was a dismayed muttering around the bleachers.
“Azure,” said the Lady, “have you spoken with them? Do they understand what they must do?”
