Page 48 of A Deeper Blue
“There has been some resistance to the idea of working together,” said Azure. She could feel a trickle of sweat run down her back. The Lady had said she would back Azure, but Azure still wasn’t sure she was doing what the Lady expected her to do.
The Lady’s gaze raked the crowd.
“Why?”
“Well, probably ‘cuz they think they’re better than us,” said one of the selkies, who didn’t have his mouth full.
“You are equal,” said Lady. “Your differences are superficial. And you do not have time for pettiness. Your ancestors knew this. Why have you forgotten?” There was an awkward silence, and everyone avoided eye contact like chastised children. “The Warlocks are rising, and a darkness is coming,” said the Lady, as if trying to drive the point home.
“Darkness?” repeated the blond shifter. “Darker than it already is? How much can we be expected to take?”
“No more,” said the Lady. “Take no more. It is time to make changes.”
“Good!” said the shifter. “We will arm ourselves and draw up battle plans.”
“That is not what she said,” commented Rafe.
“She said change,” seconded Azure. “Not battle. There are more ways to cause change than blood.”
“Back to working together,” Henrik barked, throwing up his hands.
“And the humans,” said the Lady. “You will need them.”
There was an angry mutter from the crowd.
“The humans have the potential to save you. Don’t discount them.” There was silence, and the Lady shook her head. “Don’t worry,” she added a condescending smile. “There will also be blood.”
“Oh, good,” piped up one of the gnomes. Then he looked around with a worried expression. “She didn’t say whose blood, though, did she?”
“No, I did not,” the Lady said. “Ladies, gentlemen, souls, spirits, kindred, friends, and all who are more than what they seem,” she paused, and Azure admired how she held their attention. “The humans have been fighting to change their destiny, but the forces of evil are about to push back. You cannot stay on the sidelines. You cannot let this moment go by because if you do, then our time has truly passed, and you may as well slit the throats of your children and lay down in your graves right now. Listen to Azure.”
Azure felt the concentrated attention of every Supernatural on her as the Lady singled her out, but the Lady continued.
“Find those who can work with humans. Look to those who can organize. Look to those who can fight. You will need all of these skills. Do not be distracted by old thinking. Do not be bound by what has been done in the past. Join together. Join in common purpose. Join in love. Do it now. Do it now, or we, humanity and Supernatural, are all doomed.”
With that final pronouncement, the Lady lost cohesion and fountained back into the Hydro Flask. Albert replaced the lid. The sun was finally down now, and the firelight gilded the edges of everything a hot gold.
“Any questions?” asked Azure, looking around the circle.
Episode 22
Upstairs
Azure
Azure lay naked on top of the bedspread, staring out the window at the moon, while she waited for Rafe to come back from the bathroom down the hall. It was her impression that with all the extra people in the house, there might have been a line for the facilities.
“Damn,” Rafe said, opening the door. He was wearing a ratty green bathrobe that looked decades old and a pair of plastic flip-flops. He looked her over, his gaze covering her naked body. “I think this is my teenage fantasy come to life.”
Azure laughed. “I was too hot. I couldn’t face getting under the covers yet.”
“Don’t rush on my account,” he said, hanging up the bathrobe on a hook behind the door and kicking the flip-flops under a chair by the dresser. Each movement had the ease of long habit. She wondered how it must have felt to be suddenly removed from those rituals. Or how it must feel to come back to them.
“Well,” he said, flopping down next to her, “I wish I could say that went well, but I’m not entirely sure. The Lady kind of went full prophecy of doom on us there.”
“I was just thinking that I finally got my wish—she went full old-time goddess, and now I wish she hadn’t.”
“Do you believe her?” asked Rafe, hesitantly. “How much of that was show for the crowd?”
