14
Audrey looked at Nathan, who was pale as Prudence turned and walked back to where the strongbox was.
Nathan pulled Audrey around, studying her face closely. Whatever there had been, she was only Audrey now, he could see, her blue eyes focused on him, concerned.
"What did you see?" he asked.
"I don't know what you mean," Audrey said, puzzled.
"When she showed you that-thing, you-reverted, for a second," Nathan told her. "Audrey-what if she's not dead?" he whispered, holding her closely.
"She has to be, Nathan-because of what happened to Duke," Audrey protested. "Charlotte said-"
"Just because Charlotte said that, and that thing happened with Duke, that doesn't necessarily mean it's really true. Audrey, you remembered what that thing was she showed you, I saw it in your face. So did Prudence," Nathan uttered in a low voice. "And she wasn't happy about it, either."
"I can't say I'm too thrilled either," Audrey muttered.
She glanced at Prue and Duke, both deeply involved in a long conversation, with Duke glancing back at the cage from time to time, his face also mirroring concern.
"What do you mean, she remembered?" Duke was asking Prudence. "Mara's dead."
"The expression on her face was not that of a dead woman," Prudence said grimly. "It only confirmed my belief that Mara is not dead, but dormant, somehow. This Audrey she alleges herself to be may simply be a facade. The proverbial Trojan horse, if you will."
"You think Mara's still pretending to be Audrey, helping us, just until she could get what she's really after?" Duke asked. He didn't want to believe that Mara could be back. But at the same time, there was a tiny part of him that felt some sort of spark for her. "What is it you think she wants, or do you know?"
"She seems to have already achieved a great deal of what she wants, because of what was done to you," Prudence spoke.
"She made me release all those Troubles on Haven," Duke said. "But what does this totem have to do with all of that?"
"This is a key to the largest of the doorways between worlds," Prudence replied, turning the totem over in her hands.
"Well-where's that? Vince and Dave never had any record of a thinny here in this part of Haven."
"Here in these woods. Only I know of its location. Mara and William wanted me to tell them where it was, but I refused."
"They found out you were putting the Troubles you cured back through there," Duke observed.
Prudence nodded. "That is when they Troubled me. They told me that if I were to tell them its location, they would say that I was innocent in court, and I would be freed." Her face hardened. "But I knew better than to believe them."
"Just how big is this door?"
"Monstrously large," Prudence whispered. "I had only opened it a sliver when I used it, and it was all I could do to close even the smallest opening. Were it to be fully opened-"
Duke didn't want to think about the consequences of what could happen if that were to come to pass. The possibility of William returning would be the least of their worries.
"What can we do?" Duke asked softly.
Prudence gazed at him, her silvery eyes steady.
"I think that we should send her back to her own realm and seal the doorways between our worlds. Forever."
"Throw Audrey into the void, that's your solution," Duke said, his eyes flat. "Nathan will never let you do that. I won't help you do it either."
"If she returns, you will not have a choice in the matter," Prudence stated firmly. She relented. "But for now, this Audrey seems to be mostly in control. Whether or not she continues to be able to remains to be seen. I will be observing her closely. She and I have much work to do here in Haven," she continued.
Duke felt a chill run down his spine. He remembered Mara saying the same thing at the lighthouse when she'd first emerged, that she and William still had work to do in Haven, before it had collapsed, and he'd been teleported somewhere else, and Jennifer had died.
Prudence put a hand on Duke's cheek, her face sympathetic.
"I know it is difficult for you to believe. But later tonight-I will show you what happened back then," she promised softly. "But only you. You are my blood, my kin. I am asking for your help. If she is truly Audrey, then she will win out over Mara. There may be a way I can cast Mara out, and if I can, I will."
"You mean-exorcise Mara out of Audrey?" Duke said.
Prudence nodded. "It is dangerous, but it could be done. It will mean opening the door. And if I fail-" she trailed off, and looked at Duke. "Then it means that you must finish it."
"I don't know anything about it," Duke protested.
Prudence nodded again. "Then I will teach you what you need to know. Someone should have taught our line all along, instead of simply asking them to kill the afflicted to take their curses. How many might have still lived?" she finished, and headed back toward Nathan and Audrey.
"How many indeed," Duke grumbled, and followed over.
Nathan and Audrey looked at Prudence, who gestured once more, and this time the roots receded, worming themselves back down into the ground, leaving the pair freed from their primitive cage.
"What did you remember?" Prudence asked Audrey.
"It was just for a second. Maybe it's some sort of residual memory," Audrey said brightly. "Like finding an old piece of clothing in a new apartment or something."
"What did you remember Audrey, exactly?" Nathan asked. "We're all here, it's okay. Try to remember."
"We were in a house-Prudence, William and me," Audrey said. "That's all I remember. I wanted that-whatever, for some reason, and that's all I know, I swear." She peered at the strongbox. "What is it, exactly?"
"It's a key," Duke spoke up. "Prue says it's to a huge thinny that's not on any of the maps."
"That would be valuable to Mara," Nathan grumbled.
"I'm not her anymore!" Audrey protested vehemently. But then why would I have remembered arguing with Prudence about that key if she was really gone? she thought. Maybe it was time she and Charlotte had a sit-down again.
"Prudence-do you remember a woman called Charlotte?" Audrey asked. "She's Mara's mother."
Prudence looked shocked at the mention of her name.
"Charlotte Cross," she replied. "I remember her. She tried to help me-she was the only woman who spoke in my favor in court, not against me. Little good it did me, however." Her eyes misted. "The morning I was shut into the box, she came to see me at the jail, her and her servant, Byron," she went on. "She told me, 'We are going to make things right again, Prudence. Starting tonight."
"What did she mean by that?" Nathan questioned.
"I do not know," Prudence answered. "After she left, I was brought on board a ship, and we sailed out into Nanagasset Bay. I think you know what followed."
"I think it's time you and Charlotte and Prudence all had a talk," Nathan told Audrey, who nodded agreement.
"I was thinking the exact same thing," she said.
"Charlotte still lives?" Prudence asked. "She must be terribly old by now."
"Well, whatever she uses on her face must work wonders, because I bet she looks the same now as she did back then," Duke quipped.
He took the box from Prudence, and the three of them made their way back out of the woods. It was going on late afternoon, the shadows stretching themselves along the ground, but thankfully, there was no more rustling from the roots.
No one spoke much on the way back to Duke's truck, each involved with his or her own thoughts.
"You two gonna be okay?" Nathan questioned Duke.
"I think the question is more are you two going to be okay," Duke half-smiled.
"What did you two talk about out there anyway?" Nate said softly, waiting until Prue had gotten into Duke's truck. "It looked like a pretty heavy conversation."
"It was," Duke exhaled. Right now, the last thing Nathan needed to hear was Prudence's idea of a solution, so he chose not to elaborate further.
"Duke-what if Mara does come back?" Nathan whispered.
Duke could see the uncertainty and fear in Nathan's eyes at the possibility of losing Audrey again, maybe forever this time, and if that happened, then he didn't know what he or Nathan would do.
"We'll cross that bridge if we ever come to it," Duke answered, hoping he sounded reassuring. "But she's all Audrey now, right? Maybe it was like she said, just a lingering memory."
"Maybe," Nathan muttered vaguely. "I'll see you tomorrow, Duke," he finished, climbing up into the Bronco.
"I hope so," Duke sighed, glancing back at Prue, who was steadily watching him. "I sure as hell hope so."
They drove back into Haven, reaching the marina just as the sun was setting into the sea, a bright orange ball set against a deepening purple sky.
Any other night, Duke would have appreciated the beauty of the sunset, but his mind was too full of the events of the day.
He was half-aware that Prudence had been bustling about all evening, fetching things here and there, setting up something in the room where he'd kept Mara prisoner.
At length, she came and found him nursing a drink up on deck.
"I am ready," she said from the doorway. "Are you?"
Duke swallowed the last of his whiskey.
"Ready as I'll ever be," he replied, and ducked inside.
At Audrey's apartment, she and Nathan huddled close together on the couch, watching the fire Nathan had lit.
Neither spoke much; Nathan just held her close, bestowing small kisses on her head, her face.
"I love you, Audrey," he whispered. "I'll never let you go. I'll keep you safe, I promise."
"Or die trying to," Audrey finished. "I love you too, Nathan," she choked. The thought of losing him too was crushing down on her and tears leaked from her eyes. "I won't give up, Nathan. Even if she's not dead, I won't let her win. I won't," she finished, her tone fierce.
"That's my Parker," Nathan smiled tenderly, gently wiping her tears away as they began to kiss passionately.
On board the Rouge, Prue offered Duke a small bowl of liquid, and took one for herself.
Duke grinned at it. He could see the thin dried slice of psyilocybe coprophila, or psychedelic mushroom, floating on the top.
"It is to help you to relax," Prue said.
"I never took these for relaxation," Duke answered wryly. "Recreation, yes, but not relaxation."
"There is not enough of it to cause you to experience visions," Prue told him. "But you must be able to relax yourself to experience what I will show you."
She lifted her cup to her lips and Duke followed suit, both of them downing the tea in one gulp.
Prue motioned for him to sit down with her in the midst of the candles lit all around them.
She picked up a small knife, and inflicted a small cut on her palm.
"Do likewise," she instructed.
Duke took the blade, and did as she asked.
Prue placed her bloodied palm on top of Duke's. Almost immediately, he felt the charge of her blood, his eyes turning to same color as his great-grandmother's.
The high was more intense than any he'd experienced before and Duke felt like he was about to levitate out of his body, and Prue seemed to be experiencing it also.
"They made this curse addictive," she gasped. "In order to ensure that your ancestors would wish to kill in order to achieve it."
"I've tried not to give in to it," Duke uttered. "But it's really hard. I lost my father and my brother to it."
"I know," Prue assured him. "As we are kin, your blood is reacting to mine more intensely than you would normally experience from touching Troubled blood," she went on, her voice soft and dreamlike. "You will see what I saw. There is nothing to fear-they are only shadows from the past, and cannot be changed, nor can they affect us," she finished. "Close your eyes. Focus on my hands, my voice."
Duke did as she asked, and felt the pull between them growing stronger, as Prue's mind linked with his. He felt as though they were going down a long dark tunnel, twisting and turning. He felt a little scared, but he could feel Prue's reassuring grasp on his hands, and he relaxed. They had stopped moving, and he detected light through his closed eyelids.
"Open your eyes," Prue whispered. "We are there."
Duke slowly opened his eyes, and gasped at what he saw. It was Haven; but it was a Haven that was utterly foreign to him.