One Thousand Kisses (16 page)

It bowled the front line of gnomes over. The pack slowed, hesitated. Sniffed their comrade.

No agony spell he knew, no agony spell any Court healer knew, could render a gnome unconscious, much less kill one. What had she done?

And could she teach him?

She was magnificient. Power fluttered around her hands and arms in a visible miasma. A smear of blood—his, he thought—decorated her cheek. Her beautiful face contorted as the pain rebounded on her.

A weight landed on Embor’s midriff, claws ripping his belly. He cursed and fumbled, trying to keep the gnome from his throat. His hands encountered silky fur, small bones. It was the damned cat—who promptly bit him on the chin.

The pack’s heads lifted as one and focused on the cat before they bounded forward. As if on cue, all five agents burst from the guardhouse.

“Who goes there? Stop!”

Closure magic gathered around the ring. Constricted.

Now!
The cat yowled so loudly even Embor heard it.

Anisette, barely ahead of the pack, barely ahead of the tightening, skidded toward him. She fell across him and the cat, and then they were no longer in the Realm.

Chapter Eleven

She woke on a dark, deserted beach. Thousands of stars. Big moon. Sand cushioned her, but Ani felt like she’d belly flopped into granite. Her bones ached. She hovered near wakefulness, memories flickering like an old candle.

When she’d transported everyone, she hadn’t had time to sync her spell with the ring and hadn’t been sure how they’d land. But she wasn’t alone. The boom and crash of the surf couldn’t hide a familiar grumble.

She sat up, head muzzy. “Embor?”

His body sprawled nearby. When she spoke, he rolled onto his side. Sand coated his cheek. “I hate humanspace.”

Her mouth tasted foul, but any shakiness from her magical outlay was gone. They must have been asleep awhile. “How long have we been here?”

“No idea.” He crawled to her. Blood spattered his tunic. “It’s still night.”

“How are you feeling?” In humanspace, she had no magic to repair the damage done to him—or that he’d done to himself. Energy globe dependence had an ugly recovery phase.

“Surprisingly terrible.”

“I imagine so.” Of all the people in the Realm, she’d never have thought Embor Fiertag would have gotten himself hooked on globes. At the same time, he was so stubborn, she wasn’t that shocked. “Headache? Irritability? Intermittent tremors?”

Goodness, if he didn’t manifest any tremors, she’d never know the difference.

He raised an eyebrow. “I feel like a gnome chewed my leg and I crashed on a beach.”

“Wash your cuts in the ocean.” She’d do the same with the bite on her hand. “Salt water is a venom deterrent.”

He rolled to his feet. “We should go soon. It’s possible they’ll look for us.”

“The gnomes?” Ani tried to push herself up. Sand crunched under her body.

“The agents. It will take time to get authorization, but they’ll get it.” He helped her stand, his grip steady. He’d rebounded more than she would have thought, unless he was faking. In the Realm, a stiff upper lip couldn’t fool a healer.

Salty wind blew her hair into her mouth. His hair was queued. “Have you heard or seen Master Fey?” she asked.

“Over there.” Embor pointed toward the dunes. The stars and moon washed the landscape in greys and blacks. The lights of buildings lay in the distance. Odd. Tali had told her humans overdeveloped their beaches as tightly as kernels of corn on a cob.

“Let me check your leg.” Unthinkingly, she reached for magic to enhance her vision but came up against blankness. It was always a jolt to be cut off from her power.

“I’ll wash it.” He approached the surf gingerly, his form dark against the waves that raced up the sand. Instead of wading in, he scooped water onto his calf.

He’d said the ring was close to Key West—this must be Florida. Vegas was the only human location she’d been authorized to visit. The information she’d been exposed to five years ago meant normal policies had been bent so she could visit Tali.

The wind was unceasing. She trapped her annoying hair under her collar. “How far from Key West are we?”

“Several hours by car.”

She needed to shake awake. Soaking in the ring might help. She could fill what Tali called her magic battery and carry a tiny cushion of power into humanspace. There was a weak hum somewhere in the dunes.

“Why aren’t we in the circle?” Her booties scuffed the sand.

“You overshot.” When he returned, his countenance was severe in the bluish radiance of the moon. The tide rolled without pause, a hypnotic thunder and hiss. “That’s dangerous. Some rings are precariously located.”

Ani opened her mouth to apologize and closed it just as quickly. Embor’s criticisms usually cowed her. For twenty years, he, more than anyone at Court, had hawked over her and Tali’s every move. Disappointing the Primary of the Realm had never been her goal when she’d pursued a Court career. Most of the censure had been due to her sister, but it still stung.

Even with Tali out of the picture, Ani couldn’t do anything to please this man, and she wasn’t sure why she wanted to. He didn’t seem to care she’d just jeopardized what was left of her career to help him or appreciate that she’d saved their lives. So she did something she rarely did with anyone besides Tali.

She defended herself.

“In case you didn’t notice,” she said, her voice rising above the wind, “I was in a rush. Gnomes were eating you. The agents were closing the ring. The cat was yelling. The ring markers were out of alignment.” She paused to catch her breath. He stood silent and still. “I hadn’t recovered after making energy globes and infusing you—twice.”

She didn’t mention how the magic she’d used disposing of the gnomes had disrupted her equilibrium. The black fury possessing her had been unpleasant but exhilarating, beckoning to be tried again. Good thing there was no magic here.

“I didn’t ask for help,” he said.

“You, ask for help?” Ani gave him her best healer’s lecture, with interest. “Apparently you’d rather become dependent on energy globes. For spirits’ sake, I’ve never seen anyone as jagged as you. Do you have any idea how stupid that is? It’s a form of separation sickness that can cause permanent damage. Why did Skythia let this happen?”

“She didn’t know.”

“Of course she didn’t or she’d have had you in rehab. You’re our Primaries. You can’t lead the Realm if you can’t function. You don’t get to be a stubborn mule who refuses to sleep and pops globes to hide it.”

“We should—” he began, but she wasn’t finished.

“We
should
stay in the Realm and face Warran and Ophelia.” Her frustration was for herself as well as for him, but it felt too cathartic to stop. She’d wanted to bellow at Embor Fiertag for twenty years. “How is chasing four agents who haven’t been seen in years more important than what the Elders did? You have to clear their influence from the Court. You have to win the election. If Warran and Ophelia win, what will become of…of everything?”

Embor’s posture shifted, outlined against the luminous moon. She thought he’d put his hands behind his back but couldn’t be sure.

“Hm.”

“That’s not a legitimate response,” she yelled.

“I need time to consider—”

“Time? They could transport here any minute. It won’t take long to triangulate on you if they have Skythia’s help.” She whirled, tripped on the booties and kicked sand at him. “Tali’s right. You have a stick up your rear end.”

He stiffened. “I what?”

“You heard me.” She was shouting loud enough for humans a mile away to hear her. “Don’t pretend you didn’t because you don’t like what I said.”

“Is this a panic attack?”

Energy fizzed through her in a way that felt like magic. Her arms wanted to flail, and her fists to hit. The compulsion astonished her.

“No, you donkey, I’m attacking you. You’re overbearing. You dunked me in the mineral springs. You ordered me around. You torched my room. You dragged me all over the Realm. You won’t tell me what’s going on. Then I find out you’re a globe addict with no reserves.” She stooped by the water and scrubbed the bite on her hand with wet sand. “After all of this, you dare criticize my transporting skills?”

His shoulders hunched. “I’ll deal with it later. I don’t need magic here.”

He’d almost died right before her eyes. If he’d died, she’d… Goodness. She didn’t even know.

“Embor,” she said in a quieter voice, “if I hadn’t gotten us out of there, you’d have lost more than your magic.”

“But I didn’t.”

The moon’s rays glistened on the water and sand of the long, empty beach. Two of her favorite things in the world, shared beneath thousands of stars with Embor Fiertag, Primary of the Realm and Critic of All Things Serendipity.

“You do realize you’re going to have withdrawals, don’t you? That’s not going to help matters.” She threw up her hands. “I can’t believe you did this to yourself.”

“Withdrawals? I resorted to a few energy globes to—”

She cut him off. “I know what I saw.”

He grimaced. “Then I’ll manage.”

“Like you’ve been managing?”

He ducked his head. “I’ve heard caffeine helps.”

“What you need is sleep, pain relief and magical supersaturation.” She licked salty lips, suddenly reminded he’d kissed her during the infusion. “I can heal someone in the Realm, but I’m not sure I can treat it here. Which you’d best not criticize me for.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” He cleared his throat and said, somewhat tentatively, “My other criticism was poorly timed.”

“Or poor in general,” she corrected, the urge to attack him gone. She’d screeched at the Primary of the Realm like a harpy and he’d allowed it. Warmth bubbled inside her. One of the reasons she never spoke her mind to anyone but Tali was fear of the aftermath.

He half-turned, his profile etched against the whitecaps. “Upon reflection, the fact we didn’t land in the ring works in our favor.”

His stilted admission squeezed her heart even more than the bumpy apology. From wanting to hit him, now she wanted to hug him. She’d taken two steps forward before she realized what she was doing.

“How so?” she asked. Her impulse had nothing to do with feelings. It had nothing to do with that kiss. She was insecure. She needed to know her harangue was forgiven.

“When the agents get permission to transport here, they’ll have difficulty tracing us.” He gestured up the beach. “We should leave this area regardless.”

“Not without the cat.” She inspected the dunes. The mysterious heaps near the hillocks could be anything. She walked toward them, wind whipping tiny grains into her skin. “Master Fey, where are you?”

A large black lump Ani assumed was a rock suddenly heaved.

The cat ambled around the lump. “Mrow.”

Starlight glinted on the lump’s leathery shell as flippers propelled the ungainly body across the sand. Ani kept a respectful distance.

“Master Fey, you’ve found a sea turtle.”

The cat trotted to her side. Could he communicate in humanspace?

“This is a nesting beach for several species of turtle. They’re attracted to rings.” Embor strapped on the backpack, grimacing slightly. “Well, cat, we’re here. Do we travel to Key West tonight?”

“Shouldn’t we go to a deadspace so they can’t locate us?”

“Key West will suffice.”

She hoped he was right. When the withdrawals worsened, he wouldn’t be in any condition to run from Skythia or pursue the Torvals.

The cat trotted down the beach. Embor and Ani followed. After a hundred yards, the cat swerved into the dunes, along a faint path through the sea grass. They soon reached a wooden boardwalk between two human habitations.

As soon as they were out of the wind, the heat of the night smacked Ani like a wave. She hoped the cat didn’t intend for them to walk to Key West.

“Do we have money?” she asked. Murky houses rose on stilts, vehicles parked underneath. Along the road, street lamps and porch lights blazed. Sword-leaved plants and gravel decorated the tiny yards.

“Yes.” Embor paused on the sidewalk while she caught up. The cat batted a palmetto bug.

It was late enough that few cars traveled the thoroughfare. This area appeared to be family dwellings, but several blocks away she saw neon banners and other indicators of a commercial district.

The bug destroyed, the cat sauntered in that direction. Ani paced beside Embor, her head bowed. She began to sweat beneath the layers of fabric that had been insufficient in Cragen. What would the humans think of she and Embor? Blood dotted his shirt, and an angry scratch sliced his neck. His trousers were ripped and grisly. As for herself, she wore men’s clothing four sizes too large and had tooth marks on her hand. She’d visited Tali enough to know humans judged appearances on a routine basis.

“We need to clean up before we… What are we doing?”

With the street lamps and porch lights, she could see Embor better. Not that it helped. His expression was as impassive as ever. “Following the cat.”

“What if they search for us?”

“They’ll assume we used transport globes to leave the area.”

Disappearing did seem wise. “One of us could use our escape tooth and transport us to Key West.”

“Mine is gone. Yours should be preserved,” he said.

“This is kind of an emergency, don’t you think?” She licked the tooth in question, a back molar. Her tongue couldn’t distinguish it as different. “It’s not as if they’re difficult to replace.”

“No,” he repeated.

“Master Fey,” Ani begged, “were are we going?” The farther they trudged in this muggy heat, the more she wanted to strip to her gown. Human females often wore dresses that resembled sleepwear. Hers was dirty, but it would be better than drowning in sweat.

The cat pirruped, like a mother cat at a kitten. He clearly wanted them to follow.

“This is your plan? To follow the cat?” she asked Embor. She yanked her itchy hair out of her collar where it stuck to her damp neck.

“I, for one, don’t want to trap him again. So we follow.” He had to be as hot as she was. His bites and scratches needed tending, and his withdrawals could vary from a twelve-hour migraine to days of misery. “I presume the cat is leading us to… Cat, come back here.”