Deep Betrayal Page 0,74

“Jason can make his own happiness with his family.”

“So he’s spending his evenings with the family, playing Monopoly around the fire?” Pavati asked, stepping over a sun-bleached driftwood log.

“No,” I said, and Maris flinched at the sound of my voice. Pavati, on the other hand, showed no discomfort.

“Give me another theory,” Calder said. “One that makes sense.”

“There’s only one other option worth considering,” Maris said.

Calder waited impatiently while Maris feigned a sympathetic look. “Aw, see? Isn’t this so much harder, little brother? If you hadn’t left us, all this information would be at your disposal. You really didn’t think things through, did you?”

“I think you made it clear all the time I was growing up. Good instincts were never my strong suit.”

Maris almost cracked a smile, but then a cloud descended over her face. “Maighdean Mara,” she said as a sharp wind lashed around the point and sent sand stinging against my legs.

“What?” Calder asked, and his tone of incredulity dragged my focus from the possibility of my dad as hunter back to the conversation.

“Maighdean Mara,” Maris said again.

My hands shook by my sides, attracting Maris’s gaze. I couldn’t understand how guarded she was—so leery that my smallest movements did not escape her. She looked terrifyingly weak; if it came to a fight, I was pretty sure I’d be able to take her. At least on land.

“Maighdean Mara is a myth,” Calder said. “And it isn’t funny.”

“Therein lies the problem,” Maris said.

“Which is?” Calder asked.

“That you think I’m kidding. That we’ve always thought her to be a myth. That may be our problem.”

“What is she talking about?” I asked, interrupting their tête-à-tête.

Calder answered me without taking his eyes off Maris. “She’s blaming the attacks on the origin of our species, an ancient water spirit named Maighdean Mara.”

I looked back and forth between their faces; their glares only intensified with the passing seconds. “Oh, come on,” I cried. “You’re not serious.”

“You prefer the first option?” sneered Maris. “That your father is hunting this lake? Taking the most succulent morsels …?”

“If you want to learn the truth,” Pavati said, making us all turn in her direction, “go to Cornucopia. Someone there can tell you. I’ve tried to warn the boys myself, but …”

“But what?” asked Calder.

“Let’s just say I’m not welcome in that town anymore.” She twisted her long dark hair around one finger, the memory of earlier flirtations lingering on her face.

“Who’s this ‘someone’ we’re supposed to talk to?” I asked, clenching my toes in the sand.

Pavati’s eyes narrowed as she looked me up and down. The wind blew the tatters of her yellowed dress like feathers on a storm-mangled bird. “I don’t remember his name. He’s the woodcarver’s youngest son.”

“That’s all you have to go on?” Calder asked.

“Blue eyes,” said Pavati.

Maris said, “Calder, you do know what else you have to look for, don’t you?” There was something soft now around her eyes, something I hadn’t seen before. For a second, I thought she was worried about him.

“Seriously?” he asked. “Not all the legends can be true.”

“If one is true, the other is, too, and you have to make sure she recognizes you as one of her own. There’s no telling how she’d react if she sniffs out your human birthright. Don’t look at me like that. I’m too weak to do it myself. You must find the dagger. You can’t get to Maighdean Mara without it. Three green stones, Calder.” Then she sighed deeply, adding, “I do hope you discover the truth. I don’t think we’ll last much longer.”

Calder and I walked silently around the point and south toward the spot where Phillip’s boat was anchored. Neither of us wanted to admit the impossibility of Maris’s suggestions, but we didn’t have much time to discuss it. As we approached the boat, Jules stood on the bow, yelling and pointing at me.

“Are you okay?” I called, cupping my hands on the sides of my mouth.

“You! Where were you?”

“We swam to shore and took a walk,” I yelled back.

“A little private time,” Calder added, but Jules’s hysteria had her immune to whatever projections he was trying to make. Or maybe we were still too far away. Calder grabbed my hand and we jogged the rest of the way down the shore.

“Enough with this wandering off without saying where you’re going!” screamed Jules. “We got cold and realized you weren’t here. We thought you both drowned! None of us know how to start the boat.” Then she paused. “What the—? Oh, for