Havermouth, Present Time“Why in all that’s hellish?” Rhett complained into his pillow when Cameron crawled over him, seeking freedom from the bed.“Shhh,” Cameron whispered. “I’m just going to get some work done.”“Just go,” Rhett’s mutters were slurred as he slipped back into slumber.Aislen was warmly tucked into Talen’s chest and felt as if she registered the exchange from a deep, soft cocoon of sleep that was not yet ready to release her. She drifted off into dream. In it she watched from one side of the river as a young woman began to undress. The dream was so vivid that she could feel the bark of the tree that she leaned against under her palm, she could smell the leaves crushed beneath her boots and feel the wet heat of the afternoon on her skin.The woman removed the cap that covered her hair, and then unwound the coronet of braids, weaving her fingers through the strands until she was cloaked in gold. As she waded into the water, her hair spreading over the surface and the
Havermouth, Present TimeThe door to Heath’s office was open and Aislen paused, leaning against the door frame and watching as Heath busied himself with paperwork. He wore a creamy white knit jumper and grey slacks, and his slightly overgrown hair had been styled back from his face. He looked up and smiled at her.“What?” He asked. “Did you need help with your shoes?”“Yes, but also, you’re very casually a lawyer today,” she observed. “I don’t think I’ve seen you pulling off this look recently. It’s been more rolled in a ditch while someone was shooting at me, than generational wealth.”“I’m not sure which description is more insulting,” he chuckled and pushed back his chair. “Come here then and I’ll help you with your shoes.”She rounded the desk and wriggled her bum up onto the polished surface before placing a foot on the chair seat between the spread of his thighs. His hands stroked down her calf to her ankle lifting her foot and placing it on his thigh, almost on his cock. She wr
Havermouth, Present TimeNiarthen’s meeting took place within the vehicle that they had travelled in. A portion of the dashboard functioned as a screen, and showed an ornate meeting room, the walls curved and smooth but layered like the inside of a shell, and softly iridescent. The seats were stepped into the floor, and male and female Mer in beautifully draped cloth and elaborate jewellery, sat solemnly as Niarthen began to speak.Although she did not understand much of the conversation between Niarthen and the panel of serious-looking Mer that he spoke to, she could pick out the names of Aislen, her mates, and Leighton when they were spoken. From the frequency of their names, she guessed that Niarthen was relaying the events of the previous day, and the story regarding the origin of the water pollution.As the meeting progressed and the Mer on the other side of the screen began to speak more and more, and mostly amongst themselves, with Niarthen occasionally interjecting, Lyric coul
Havermouth, Present TimeAislen dragged her feet through the morning. Waking up had seemed too hard as if she were dragging herself to the surface of a very deep, dark, warm pool of aether. The men had left her to sleep, and she hadn’t even noticed them leave, though now that she was awake, the house seemed quiet and empty of scent.The second, she attributed to Meguitte and Connery ending their two-day spell brewing spree. Heath had been pleased with how clean they’d left the kitchen. Talen had been less pleased that Meguitte insisted on being nearby during the battle. He had spoken with Sigrid, who had concerns that Meguitte would lose control and set the town on fire, and he had hoped to avoid that by encouraging Meguitte to help at the hospital, or somewhere away from the main streets of the town.As she made her way down the hallway to the bedroom that she was sharing with Talen, her body felt heavy, most particularly her stomach, and the baby seemed determine to press down on he
Havermouth, Present TimeSigrid heard from Talen that he and his mates were making their way from the house by the river and steeled herself for her next move. She left Abigail and her mates attempting to prepare for the Mer arrival and went to begin their betrayal.To her surprise, as she reached the hospital, Greg caught up with her. “You did not think we would leave this to you alone?” He asked mildly as he fell into step, and they walked together to the doors. “We all know that he is dangerous.”“I am not sure yet how to play this,” she admitted. “I am hoping that inspiration will strike in the moment.”“I am sure that you will handle it magnificently,” he put his hand on her waist, connecting them, and preventing them from becoming separated as the hallway was busy with people preparing for the casualties of battle.They were greeted as they passed through, and Sigrid was stopped several times to give direction and updates.“Soon,” she answered when asked when the Mer would arriv
Havermouth, Present Time“This is going to be close,” Connery murmured as he painted the last lines of the rune. “And we’d better hope that this works.”“Just as a backup, though, right?” Meguitte watched through the window as Sigrid led Leighton and Verina across the street.“We’ll see what the Mer have in their magic bag, first,” Connery agreed. “This is just in case they fail to deliver. I’m reluctant to use it for multiple reasons, as you know.”She did. For starters, they weren’t confident at all about the runes used. Rather than replicate Leighton’s spell precisely, without knowing what the runes they weren’t familiar with did, they had decided to try to substitute the more commonly known runes that they believed shared commonalities with Leighton’s mysterious ones, and that would make sense in the usage.Secondly, in order to hide the runes from Leighton, they’d had to space them fairly wide and disguise them in the scenery. The bigger the circle, the more space between runes,
Havermouth, Present TimeThe Salem’s bunker was cunningly hidden behind a wine rack in the cellar. The stairs down to the cellar were a tight metal spiral designed to make the most of a space made tight due to the repurposing of the majority of it to safe accommodation for two during a war. Anne Mason struggled with the steep, tight, descent, but held onto her dignity as tightly as she did the handrail until she’d reached the ground, squeezing past Jules and through the opened door, to the reinforced space where Lauren and the two children were exploring the cupboards.“No, thanks, but if grandma can make it down, so can I,” Toby declined Harry’s offer of help. “The stomach muscles are on the mend,” he added as he took the descent one stair at a time. “It’s my head that’s the problem. My brain still thinks that there’s a major wound there and tells me I can’t move properly.”“It will take time to recover,” Jules said with empathy wriggling his fingers in demonstration. “And some wound
Havermouth, Present TimeAislen could hear people yelling and screaming above the ringing of her ears and the crackle of flame. There was a crash of something collapsing into rubble. She had been tossed like a ragdoll by the magical explosion of the combination of the Mer Sirens’ power and Leighton’s into the doorway of one of the shops, the solid bases of brick and tile sheltering her even though the bay windows had cracked and shattered inwards.The smoke was thick catching at the back of her throat so that she coughed, tears streaming down her face, her eyes stinging and her lungs straining for air. She could see through its drifts that the buildings closer to the bridge were all burning, the flames licking the sky.Everything ached. She had landed hard on her hip, knee, and elbow from the pain that radiated from each point. She sat up slowly and groaned as the baby within her reacted, the surface of her stomach tightening, and the sensation of pressure downward increasing. She lean