Page 53 of A Deeper Blue
“I really have,” said Azure. “Fallen for him, I mean.”
“Uh-huh,” said Scarlet, still looking puzzled.
“What if… What if it doesn’t… The second sight doesn’t say anything about us. Why is it so quiet? Why can’t I see what we’re doing?”
Scarlet chuckled.
“Scarlet!”
“I’m sorry,” said Scarlet, not looking at all sorry. “I guess you are just going to have to figure out what you’re doing just like everyone else.”
“I don’t like that answer,” said Azure.
“Tough luck. But if it’s any consolation, I think you’re going to be OK. I think you two can make it. Of course, this does mean you will have to shut the hell up about Liam and me moving too fast.”
Azure exhaled in irritation, then reached over and hugged Scarlet, pulling her close.
“Thanks,” Azure said with a sniff, leaning her head against Scarlet’s.
“Of course. And thank you for giving me your lip-gloss in high school,” Scarlet whispered.
“I did not give you the damn lip-gloss and you know it,” Azure whispered back, and Scarlet cackled.
Episode 24
A Deeper Blue
Rafe
Rafe walked into the main hall. The afternoon had been a trip down memory lane, visiting all the old spots, some with Liam and Scarlet in tow. Azure had mostly napped. This was the last important place—the most important one—and he’d left it until last. The hall was a tall vaulted room walled in thick cedar planks that had been hand-hewn by Albert and his brother when they’d first come to the United States. The light shone through the stained glass on the ceiling, casting a patchwork quilt of colors on the floor. Albert was standing behind the large chair of woven branches where he usually sat for pack meetings, his hands gripping the finials.
“Dad,” said Rafe. “It is none of my business, I suppose, but it’s kind of killing me.”
Albert made an inquiring noise.
“How the hell did you get a Lady of the Lake to be delivered, let alone delivered in a canteen?”
Albert laughed. “There is a pool—a sacred pool in the mountains somewhere between Finland and Russia where the Ladies have been known to congregate—and once when I was young and dumb and wandering around a bit before I met your mother, I went looking for it.”
“You found it?” Rafe grinned at the idea of his father off an adventure.
“Well,foundis a bit of a strong word choice. To be more accurate, I fell into it.”
“You fell into the sacred pool? Dad!” Rafe couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
“Fortunately for me, that is the reaction that the ladies had. Although, it is a bit hard on the ego to have a near-goddess call you a waterlogged puppy while giggling.”
“Oooh.” Rafe winced in sympathy.
“Indeed. But, after having plucked me out of the water, they had a good deal of discussion about me while I shivered on a tiny little iceberg and tried not to embarrass myself further. And at last, they told me that for being so bold as to fall off a mountain on them, I would be expected to do certain tasks for them. Sometimes messengers arrive with instructions. I do as I am told. This one said that a canteen would arrive and I would need to procure a safe delivery person. You were the safest one I could think of. Now that her work here is done, the mermaids will be taking her with them when they leave.”
“You know, Liam told me some hilarious story about you eating a peacock and having to shift in front of a nun. I wish you had told me some of these stories when I was here,” said Rafe.
“I didn’t want you getting any ideas,” said Albert. “You were trouble enough as it was. And now….”
“What?” asked Rafe when his father didn’t continue.
“I’m getting old, Rafe.”
