One Thousand Kisses (28 page)

“I have a confession,” he began. “You may not like to hear it.”

She sat back down on the bed, and he took her hand. Their fingers curled together like pieces of a puzzle. He’d never been this ill at ease in his life.

“If it explains your behavior, I can handle it.”

He hoped telling her now wasn’t idiotic. Talista wasn’t likely to give them privacy to work through it, however they were inspired to do so. “All Primaries, upon being elected, gain access to—”

Someone rattled the locked knob, startling them both. Talista yelled through the thin wood, “I said no monkey business!”

Anisette bounced off the bed, her elbow catching him in the ribs. With a yank, she opened the door. “Talista, not now.”

She tried to close the door, but Talista pushed back. “My house, my rules. Unwed, I mean, two totally unconnected adults who’d never get married anyway need a chaperone. The children might get the wrong idea.”

Anisette released the door and sighed. “The children won’t notice.”

“If you have to say that, it’s a good thing I set a timer.” Talista barged into the room. Her shirt was splattered by water, and a puff of bubbles stuck to her curly hair. “The kids are clean, Jake’s back from the ring circuit and Mildred agreed to… Hello.”

Embor caught Talista staring, with some degree of incredulity, at his torso. He resisted the urge to cover up. If she was impertinent about his scars, so be it. She’d seen him in worse shape when she and Jake had helped rescue him from the Torvals.

“Do you work out?” she asked him.

Anisette rubbed her forehead, hiding her eyes.

“I work all the time,” he said blandly. “I’m the Primary.”

“No, I mean—”

“He likes to say that,” Anisette interrupted her sister. “If he doesn’t remind himself, he might start behaving like the rest of us.”

Embor’s eyebrows rose at Anisette’s sharpness. She’d grown forthright with him in private, but to hear her heckle him to her sister was a surprise.

“Nice scars. Are those from you-know-when? Freakin’ Torvals. I have a bite mark too.” Talista showed him a white circle on her hand. “Once gnome venom soaks into the skin, even Ani can’t fix it.”

“Who told you that? Healers can negate venom. I kept the scars as a reminder.” Embor studied the familiar, mottled pattern with some distaste. More and more, it seemed inane to have carried the marks so long. “Internal injuries are harder to repair, but flesh wounds are simple.”

“Gnome bites can be healed?” Talista brandished her tiny patch at Anisette like an accusation. “You said I’d be scarred forever.”

Anisette spread her hands. “My skills have improved since then.”

“You probably thought it would teach me a lesson.” Talista made a face but had already calmed down. Her moods shifted like a feather on the wind, a fact Embor found exhausting. “Everyone’s always trying to teach me lessons.”

“I wonder why.” Jake entered the room and kissed his wife’s forehead. “Why are you two double-teaming a sick man?”

Finally. Someone rational, or at least not as distracting as Anisette, to fill Embor in on the details.

“I believe Talista intended to tell me something about Milshadred.” He shook hands with Jake, who clapped Embor’s arm before retreating to the doorway to lean against the jamb.

“Oh, right.” Talista plopped into the wingchair, leaving Anisette beside the bed. “Mildred wants to cut a deal.”

Talista and Jake had known Milshadred in her human guise before finding out she was Fey. Jake, in fact, had known her for years. Too bad it hadn’t helped locate her when she’d gone to ground.

“Another deal?” Anisette crossed her arms. “She offered me information to let her go.”

“Did you consider it?” he asked, curious. What would Anisette have wanted to know that Milshadred could tell her?

Her lips tightened. “She’s still in captivity, isn’t she?”

“We’ve got her at repository A,” Jake said. “Her sibs won’t be able to find her, and if they do, they won’t get past the Drakhmores.”

“You won’t believe what she offered,” Talista said. “She says she’s got the goods on those manky cousins of hers.”

“She offered to tell me how Embor can bring down the AOC,” Anisette said.

“She offered me information about using my powers.” Jake shrugged. “She obviously doesn’t realize I don’t need the information anymore.”

Embor mulled. Each piece of Milshadred’s knowledge was targeted to the individual she wanted to bribe. If any of it were true, this situation fell under the constraints he and Jake had decided were acceptable for Jake to use hypnotism. They could have it all out of her without any bargaining whatsoever.

“We’ll speak to her soon enough,” he decided. “How fares the Court?”

“Screwed up as ever,” Talista grumbled. “They’re worse than human politicians with the bickering, but at least they don’t preempt my TV with debates.”

Jake smiled. “They recalled Skythia from Xerode. She’s leading the search for you in the Realm. They even have the leprechauns looking for you.”

Embor hated to think what concessions Skythia had had to offer the antisocial leprechauns for their assistance. The damage control once he returned with the Torvals would be substantial, but so would the rewards. “And the rings?”

“Monitored on our side, lockdown on theirs. Nobody uses them without us sticking a tracer on them. But the hunt hasn’t spread to humanspace. Tali and I told Skythia we used the ring in Cragen when its agents reported an unauthorized entry. We said Tali wanted to look for her sister. Skythia wasn’t happy with us, but she let it pass.”

“You knew we’d transported to humanspace,” Embor guessed.

“We figured if you needed us, you’d let us know.” Jake crossed his arms. “I can’t say I’m thrilled about what you did. We had a bitch of a time covering up the mess in Key West.”

“You sure screwed that pooch,” Talista added. “Arf arf.”

Embor inclined his head. If he’d contacted Jake, this might be finished instead of muddled. Jake’s skills would have tipped any balance in their favor; Embor didn’t have to remember the trap to believe that.

“I fully admit I was in error,” he told them gravely. “I owe you an apology for complicating matters and for putting Anisette at risk.”

“Keeping me in the dark this whole time did no one any good.” Anisette paced to the window, her back to all of them. “I’d have been more understanding than you think.”

Unaccustomed heat tinged Embor’s cheekbones. How would things have been different if Anisette had been part of it all along? “I was wrong to try to make your decisions for you.”

Anisette glanced over her shoulder, her expression lighter. “I might have some ideas how you can make it up to me.”

Embor raised an eyebrow, and Ani smiled. Talista pulled a tin of candy from her pocket and rattled it in his face. “Want a mint?”

“No.” Embor settled back into the pillows. At some point, he needed to get out of bed and dress. This was the oddest strategic council he’d ever conducted.

Talista returned to her chair. “I don’t know why you’re being pissy about being left out, Ani. We did what was best for you. You puked out your guts when I went to Vegas the first time. I figured you’d be thankful you got to stay in your safe little world.”

Anisette whirled on her sister, all traces of lightness gone. “Safe little world? Is that where you think I live?”

“You’re a Court trainee. It’s what you’ve always wanted.” Talista popped candy into her mouth and spoke around it. “You can’t pretend you like to break the law and chase renegade agents.”

“I may not enjoy every aspect, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do what’s necessary.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” Talista said. “That’s what the rest of us are for.”

Talista never let Embor ask questions about Anisette or learn anything about her, but Court was no safehouse. Anisette’s abuse by the Torvals proved no one could be protected from ugliness. Yet she’d escaped the Elders and, as he understood it, saved everyone last night with a little help from a possibly duplicitous feline.

How could he realize this about Anisette, how could he see her resiliency, when her own sister seemed blind to anything but Aunt Ani’s suitability for childcare and healing?

Oblivious to Anisette’s change in mood, Talista rattled on. “We did you a favor keeping you out of it. If it went south, you wouldn’t get in trouble.”

“If you got yourselves banished, I’d have to come with you regardless,” Anisette pointed out in a scornful voice. Talista and Jake regarded her as if she’d turned into a different person, but Embor had heard her scorn before—directed at him. “Remember the Seers’ prediction? I have no chance of happiness if separated from my twin.”

“Five years ago,” Talista said. “Surely that’s not the case anymore.”

“Why not? We’re still twins.” Anisette shook her head. “I realize your life has moved on and you don’t need me, but I’m in the same place, Tali.”

Talista scratched her head. “But it’s where you want to be.”

“Is it? I can’t be an Elder or a clan prime. I can’t… Oh, it doesn’t matter.” She rubbed her mouth as if wiping away her words.

Embor finally spoke up. “Anisette, your sister isn’t to blame.” For this particular situation. “This was my plan. I came to your sister and Jake. I contacted the Drakhmores.” He’d also dragged Anisette to humanspace without sharing the details, particularly the ones regarding their future. “The blame is mine.”

“I need a video of this,” Talista interjected. “Fairy Primary Admits Complete Culpability. News at ten. Jake, would you get me—”

“No,” Jake said. “Stay with us, honey. Big stuff going on here.”

Embor wondered how Jake, shrewd and down-to-earth, had fallen for a woman who was, in Embor’s opinion, the opposite of that, but Jake and Talista were happy. Neither seemed gloomy, dissatisfied or irate with one another, and he supposed that was something.

“What does the Court plan to do next?” he asked, returning them to the topic. Anisette stared out the window, her shoulders set.

Jake responded. “Skythia is playing it as amused. Even Primaries get vacations, she said. Her attitude has swayed a number of individuals to our side. I won’t lie. The political situation is a concern. Warran and Ophelia have criticized your behavior non-stop, and the AOC registered a fresh appeal to halt the Commission’s investigation in light of your supposed instability.”

“They’re saying you’re crazycakes.” Talista’s expression darkened. “They’re also saying stuff about you and Ani.”

“Like what?” Anisette asked.

“What you’d expect from those chuckleheads. You know, that you’re having a torrid affair. Skythia isn’t helping with her insinuations. Stupid, right?”

Embor glanced at Anisette, but she avoided his gaze. If he’d had three more minutes with her, she’d have known the truth about the Seers’ divination. Instead she only knew he’d exhibited a distinct reluctance to consummate their relationship.

“I was in the princess’s bedchamber during the confrontation, and we disappeared together. Our involvement is a logical conclusion,” Embor said. “It’s preferable to rumors I harmed her.”

“Those are flying around too,” Jake said. “There are pockets of Elders who feel you and Skythia should step down immediately. They aren’t the majority.”

“They aren’t the majority yet,” Talista corrected. “What has Artur got against you, Em? I thought he was a good guy.”

“He was compromised,” Embor said flatly, wondering if the Torvals had bespelled anyone else in his cabinet. “Have you heard about any testing for spirit magic?”

“No.” Jake shook his head. “I did hear Skythia punched Warran in the head, but not through official channels.”

“What is everyone’s opinion of how we should handle this? I have ideas, but a team effort might be wiser at this point.”

“Ya think?” Talista cracked.

“Wouldn’t hurt to call Horace and Gret in,” Jake said. “They won’t have much perspective on politics, but our initial objective should be our priority.”

“Right. We need to capture the Torvals if we’re going to get any traction at Court. After you hypnotize Milshadred, she’ll help.”

“Make her tell us more, Pa. Tell us where she’s been.” Talista threw the candy tin at her husband, who caught it deftly. “I’ve been at him all morning to hypno her.”

“It had to be discussed. I can’t just do it,” Jake said.

“The shadow arts.” Anisette regarded them with a dubious expression. “What about the Doctrine of Ethical Magic Use?”

“Only Jakey uses the magic,” Talista said. “And he only does when Embor, I mean, when we all agree it can’t be accomplished any other way. Somebody who isn’t me or Jake or the D-mores is squeamish about breaking the law.”

Anisette didn’t look approving but nor did she look as disturbed as Embor had feared. “How do you use magic without creating rings, Jake?”

“Tali keeps tabs on me to make sure I don’t overdraw. My reservoir is larger than a twin, and we use a lot of globes or work close to a ring,” Jake explained. “I never work in the Realm, always in humanspace. That limits the danger.”

“Could you channel a repository?” Anisette asked. “Whatever Milshadred did destroyed the stone in Skythia’s house.”