FINN DE MORISCO
I blinkedas her finger brushed across my eyelashes when she wiped away a tear. Her long hair fell around my face as she leaned over me. Through the nymph’s nearly transparent, cyan-tinted hair I could almost make out Caitlin’s scowl when I glanced in her direction.
“Lady Amalphia”—despite her desperation to leave San Diego, Caitlin’s tone was genuinely respectful and beseeching—“can you please just assure us that our sister will be spared? That she will live?”
Amalphia turned her head, her compassionate smile never wavering. “Dear daughter, you know it is neither the Creator’s nor nature’s way to flood before the falling of rain. I am but a servant of both. Therefore, I know no more than what flows before me.”
“But you’ve given prophecies before. You or one of the other nymphs. There must be something you know about Cynthia.” I searched her crystalline eyes. “Something that can let us know if she’ll be okay or what we need to do.”
She looked back at me as I spoke but let her hand fall from my cheek. “My child, if there were words that would give you what you seek, I would not hesitate to utter them.”
My gaze fell. Maybe if I worded the question differently she’d be able to answer it. Maybe we weren’t asking the right question at all, like with Hazel, and she was waiting to tell us when we figured out the right wording. I shook myself inwardly. The nymphs weren’t anything like Hazel, who loved nothing more than acting superior and taunting me like I was a stupid child. Nor were the nymphs a magic eight ball that would display the right answer if held at the right direction. That we were even here asking was a testament of Caitlin’s and my desperation, and of Mom’s, too, I suppose, since it was her idea we come here in the first place.
Unbidden, my gaze traveled the few feet to the base of the massive willow tree. The patch of irises was still there. It even looked like new flower buds were forming, the ivory of the petals gleaming through their fading green sepals. Maybe they were really here to stay. It had been a little over a month since I’d been here with Jordskote, she too wiping my tears and using them to give life to the small patch of irises. I’d thought she’d be the one to answer us, if any of the nymphs would at all. Maybe if she had, we’d be getting more of a direct response.
My disrespectful thoughts shocked me, and I looked back up, expecting to see anger in Amalphia’s face. If she was aware of my thoughts, she didn’t show it, only giving me a sad smile.
“The only thing of which we are certain is that you are on the right path. That by choosing to face your sister’s captors, you are taking steps that will lead to the purest outcome.”
Caitlin stepped closer. “So she will be okay. If we are taking the right steps, then she must be!”
Another sad smile curved Amalphia’s lips. “I hope that is so, that your sister returns to us and flourishes once more.”
For the first time since Amalphia’s appearance, Caitlin’s voice betrayed her typical irritability. “But you just said—”
“It is clear you are embarking on the right path. Down that path lies freedom and a righting of wrongs.”
“Exactly! Then Cynthia will be—”
Amalphia cut Caitlin off once more, her voice still soothing and full of love. “I cannot say your sister will be part of that exodus. I pray it will be so.”
Caitlin threw her arms out in exasperation, but Amalphia interjected before Cate could say anything we’d regret. “Know you are loved, dear children, you and your sister. Know your pains are our pain, your joys our joys.”
Without any further words, she sank like a mist into the ground. The earth around my hands and knees grew moist, then dried once more.
Caitlin glanced down at her feet when the dirt grew moist, then looked at me, eyes blazing.
“Don’t say anything, Caitlin. Not yet. Just hold your tongue, okay?”
To my surprise, she did—closing her mouth and whirling around. She began to make her way down the cliff. Maybe it was our ingrained and innate respect for our nymphs; maybe she was finally getting a hold of her temper. Or we were all going to act a little out of character until Cynthia was safely back home and Mom and Dad were out of the hospital and no longer in danger from the Vampire Cathedral’s attacks.
I shoved my hands against my knees, pushing up from my kneeling position. Looking away from Caitlin’s retreating form, I gazed out over the ocean. The sea was calm and glistened a deep gray blue under the warming blaze of midmorning.
While the nymphs don’t always appear when a witch comes to the willow, typically, the one that arrives is the nymph most closely connected to our greatest power, our strength. It would have made sense if Dad or Christina had come, since they both identified mostly with Amalphia and her affinity to water, but not me. I’d expected Jordskote. Her earth-toned skin and wild, mosslike hair always instantly began to put my soul at peace, and that was before she’d even spoken. I’d hoped to see her. Needed to. If anything, the fact that Amalphia had answered our call made me more ill at ease. I couldn’t make sense of it.
I looked over at the irises once more, and in so doing felt a part of Jordskote with me. While new buds were forming, there were still only the original five flowering stalks. I’d almost expected they’d be gone, that Jordskote had just provided them for a sense of comfort to me, to honor my relationship with Brett. That would have been enough—more than, actually. I felt my eyes grow moist once more as I stared at the fragile flowers. That she had continued to let them thrive was more than I could have hoped for.
To my surprise, I let out a laugh when I realized these five flowers had been a tribute to our love longer than our love had even lasted. Much longer. Well, that wasn’t true. Some part of me that I’d given away to Brett would always remain in love with him. It was a peaceful realization that such an understanding no longer caused me pain.
Caitlin yelling my name broke my reverie. I cast one more look out to the sea and then to the monument of flowers under the willow, and turned and followed Caitlin’s path down the cliff.
“Geesh, Finn!”Caitlin was leaning against the passenger side door of my truck, arms crossed, flushed face clashing with her cotton-candy hair. “What were you doing up there? Did another nymph show up to give you more useless advice?”
I whirled, looking over my shoulder, expecting Amalphia to be right behind me. “Fuck, Caitlin! Shut up! Disrespecting them isn’t going to accomplish anything.”
She waved me off. “Seriously!” She raised her fingers in air quotes. “It is neither the Creator’s nor nature’s way to flood before the falling of rain… What the fuck is that shit?”
“Caitlin! Really! Come on, save it for later, at least.” Picking up the pace, I darted toward the driver’s door as I fished my keys out of my pocket.
