Shadows of the Redwood - By Gillian Summers Page 0,82

in horrified wonder as he seemed to melt into the forest floor.

He was gone. Relief washed over Keelie. She knew he’d spoken the truth. She would meet him again—it was a certainty that seemed as real as anything her new life had brought her.

Knot meowed angrily and hissed, tail bushed out. Next to him was Coyote, hunched and snarling. They did not like the jester, and for once Keelie agreed with them.

Keelie heard Risa coming closer. “Oh Knotsie Wotsie. My love, I hear you. Where are you?”

“Risa, over here.” Keelie called. She held the flashlight up to act as a beacon for the lost elf girl.

Knot sniffed at the spot where the jester had vanished, then scratched at the soil and squatted over it. A moment later, Coyote sniffed where Knot had been and lifted his leg.

“No kidding. I kind of understand the urge,” Keelie muttered. She was still shaking a little. Coyote just looked at her, then bolted into the forest.

There was a crackle of sticks and the movement of bushes on the ground. Risa stumbled into the clearing. She was covered in mud and had sticks poking up at odd angles in her hair. Her eyes immediately focused on Knot. She dropped to her knees. “Oh my love, I thought you were in danger.”

“What the hell happened to you?” Keelie felt a rush of adrenaline and fear. “You look like Zombie Apocalypse Barbie.”

Risa ignored her and rubbed Knot’s ears. Knot drooled.

Keelie squatted and stared at Risa. “Tell me what happened.”

“Sir Davey came by to check on your grandmother,” Risa said distractedly. “He said he had something that might help her with the tree magic. When I went to tell her, she wasn’t in her room. Sir Davey told me to stay because he was going to contact the ranger elves to help search for Lady Keliatiel, but I had to find Knot. I knew he was in danger.”

“Search? You mean you didn’t find her?”

“She’s missing, but don’t worry. Lady Keliatiel can take care of herself.” Risa rubbed Knot’s tummy. “I was frantic to find Knot. I couldn’t stay in the house knowing he was in danger.” Risa’s face shone with love as she gazed at the cat.

Keelie gritted her teeth in frustration. “So who exactly is looking for my grandmother?”

Knot turned his head to look at Keelie, and for a moment Keelie thought she saw a flash of tenderness in the cat’s eyes. He immediately wrapped his paws around her jean-clad legs and bit her.

Keelie shook her leg and lifted it, sending the cat flying toward the bushes.

Risa rose. “What did you do?” she shrieked.

“He’s fine. See?”

A purring Knot strode back to Keelie and rubbed up against her ankle. Risa’s face looked haunted. Tears streamed down her face.

“Knot and I have a complicated relationship,” Keelie said. “I’ll explain later, but now I need for you to tell me what happened before Grandmother disappeared. Did you hear any strange noises?”

Risa straightened her shoulders, her face stiff with concentration as she thought back. “The night was windy, and I heard the tapping of the branches at the window and this beautiful music.”

“Harp music?”

“No, a song. It was lovely.”

Keelie’s skin grew clammy with fear. Now she knew who had her grandmother. Bella Matera. But why? Closing her eyes, Keelie opened up her telepathic communication.

Bella Matera.

Nothing.

Where is my grandmother?

Her head exploded with a sound that seemed to come from the trees. Keelie placed her hands over her ears, attempting to stop the spine-shattering noise. She stumbled, her equilibrium became distorted, and the world began to spin.

Risa reached out to steady her. “What’s wrong?”

“The trees,” Keelie gasped. “They’re screaming, and I can’t get them out of my head.”

Risa held onto her. “Focus. Concentrate. Call upon your Earth magic.”

Keelie sent a tendril of power into the Earth and touched cold, oily darkness. She yanked backed her power, nauseous. “I can’t use it. The soil is polluted with dark magic.”

“Here?” Risa stared at the ground, and at the normal-looking silhouettes of the ferns and bushes. “I knew there was something creepy about this place. But wait—you’ve used dark magic before. Why can’t you use it now? Turn it to your purpose.”

Yes. The dark magic within Keelie pulsed like a beating heart, a wild animal that had been caged and was waiting for its moment of sweet freedom. What would happen if she loosed it?

“I can’t.” Keelie said. There were consequences to using dark magic.

“You can. You can control it.” Suddenly Risa fell to her knees.