One Thousand Kisses (30 page)

To die?

“I told you already,” Tali interjected, her voice shrill. “It wasn’t about Ani. It was about me—me and Jake.”

Horace shook his head. “Not everything’s about you, Red.”

They were close enough to the repository Ani could sense Tali’s denial through their sibling bond before she slammed Ani out. Why was she angry? She had humanspace, a bondmate, a fulfilling job, three wonderful children and as many adventures as she wanted. A family had never been part of Tali’s plan, but she’d confessed to Ani that Jake and the kids made her happier than she ever thought she could be.

So why was Tali furious, and what was she denying?

“It seems you all know something I don’t.” Ani tried to laugh. “Am I to die before I reach a hundred?”

“Fate worse than death, maybe.” Tali stomped up to Embor and glared at the Primary. Ani tamped down the impulse to insert herself between her sister and the man she—well, the man she wanted to kiss a thousand times. “I figured it out five years ago, and I think it’s gross.”

Embor raised an eyebrow. “Gross?”

“My sister,” she said fiercely, “is not a pawn. She’s not a government broodmare. I’ll see you gelded before you treat her like one.”

“By the spirits, Tali, what are you going on about?” A few days ago, Ani had wondered if she were a prize in a tug-of-war between Embor and Warran, but no more. Embor wouldn’t have rejected her if winning had been his goal. “Embor wasn’t the one who thought he could force a bond on me. That was Warran.”

“Why do you think Embor chased me around Vegas five years ago instead of sending flunkies?” Tali jabbed her finger at Embor, whose expression was pained. “Seriously. The Primary hunting down a trainee? Breaking laws and getting his ass handed to him by four deadhead agents?”

“I don’t know,” Ani said doubtfully. She’d assumed it was because of the sensitive information at risk, with the lost ones and the prophecy involving Jake. “Embor?”

Embor sighed. “Anisette, I understand how your sister has drawn her conclusion. It’s erroneous.”

“No, it’s not,” Tali yelled at Embor. “Female twins, Ani. Even when we don’t bond, we’re money in the bank for whoever marries us. The Torvals are single, the Fiertags are single, and they all need bank to win this election. He’s been trying to bag one of us for years. I told you he was an evil mastermind.”

“Bag one of…” Ani’s mouth temporarily ceased to function. The thought of Embor, chilly and disapproving of everything Serendipity, planning to marry either of them had to be Tali’s most wrongheaded notion ever.

The problem was, Tali’s notions were often flavored with accuracy.

“Talista,” Embor said tightly, “you’re speaking without full knowledge.”

While that was nothing new for Tali, Embor hadn’t denied the allegation. The Drakhmores had fallen silent.

Ani nipped her fingernail before she spoke. “If he intended to court either of us, I hardly think he’d…” She stopped before she blurted out what a cold fish he’d been.

“He’s been sniffing around you all year, you just didn’t notice.” Talista kicked at the gravel. “I mean, I don’t hate him—I don’t, Em, don’t look at me like that. But if you think he’s a saint, you’re more naive than I thought.”

“That’s enough, Tali.” If the Drakhmores hadn’t been listening, Ani would have said more to her hot-tempered sister. Whatever simmered between Tali and Embor—between Tali and Ani—would have to wait. Like Ani was, apparently, going to have to wait to find out about the Seers. “Embor isn’t perfect. He told me so himself. But I can and will make up my own mind.”

“Is it your mind?” Tali reached for her, and Ani dodged. “I’ve tried to be understanding, spirits know I’ve tried, but what you said yesterday really hit me. You don’t have to be at Court just because you can’t come up with anything better.”

Frustrations old and new threatened to burst out of Ani. Tali never considered how her choices affected others until it was too late. Before Tali had left, Ani had been content. The two of them were going to do great things. They’d been up-and-comers to be reckoned with.

Then Tali had ruined it all. Tali had never cared about power or influence or helping the Realm, only about secrets. She got her secrets, what she’d wanted all along.

What did Ani want?

For starters, she didn’t want this conversation. “This discussion is over.”

“It’s not over until you—”

Ani tapped the reservoir stone and yanked their bond open. Her attack was so sudden Tali didn’t struggle. A forced connection caused pain, and Ani did it anyway.

Stop it at once
, she ordered at full mental volume.

Tali shrieked. Ani closed her eyes and leaned against Embor’s shoulder, the faint spice and smoke scent that permeated his clothing more soothing than she cared to admit. When she felt his hand on her back, supporting her quietly, it was as open a declaration as he seemed capable of making.

There was something between them that went beyond politics. There had to be.

A deep silence, broken only by the calls of birds and the scuff of Tali’s boots in the gravel, dropped over the group. Tali’s footsteps faded as she stalked away.

Jake exited the building with a clang of metal that jerked them out of their trance. “I’m done. Everybody ready?”

When no one responded, Jake raised his brows. Then he noticed his wife near the trucks, kicking rocks. “What happened?”

“Nothing a boot in Tali’s butt won’t fix,” Gret said. “How did it go with Mildred?”

Jake stared at his wife before responding. “She’s as cooperative as I can make her without changing her personality.”

“Can you do that?” Gret asked. “Because you need to give my Dad and your wife a clue.”

“It’s a figure of speech.” Jake held the door open. “Don’t think I haven’t tried to give my wife a clue.”

“Don’t go without me.” Tali jogged back to the group. “I’ve got tons of questions for that old bat.”

“As long as you don’t have any more for Embor,” Gret said.

“Shut up, you. I get it eventually.” Tali, with a wink at Ani, sailed into the protected building.

Ani sighed, her emotions in turmoil. No feud was too intense Tali couldn’t whisk herself out of it at a moment’s notice, all harsh words forgotten.

If only Ani could forget as easily.

The building was a single area with a cramped restroom and a storage closet. The Drakhmores arranged themselves on the various chairs and ratty couches. The repository, a smaller stone than the one from Skythia’s house, was enshrined atop a pot-bellied stove.

Embor didn’t sit. He stared at Ani significantly before he paced to the stove with his hands clasped behind him.

Milshadred lounged near an open window, blowing cigarette smoke out of the building. She greeted them with a scowl. “I’ve been waiting for you half the day, Primary. You’d think somebody you’ve been trying to catch for five years decides to go Deep Throat, you’d be all over it like dentures on corn. Where’s your bitch of a sister?”

“Skythia has other matters to attend, Agent Torval.” Embor studied her from the stove, his posture stiff. Next to him, Master Fey echoed his stance.

Jake didn’t seem surprised by Milshadred’s tone, so he must feel his cooperation spell had worked. He slung his arm around Tali and led her to a couch. “We’re here now, Mil.”

“If we’re all ready, let’s get started.” Gret punched a button on a recording device and set it on the repository. “Try to speak in the direction of the mike.”

Ani perched on the chair nearest Milshadred and reached for her hand to begin a follow-up health check.

“If it’s all right,” she told Milshadred, unsure what the old woman remembered, “I’d like to give you a physical examination. I’m a healer. My name is Anisette.”

“Good Christ, girlie, I know who you are. You were in here ten minutes ago, poking and prodding me.”

The ashy smell of cigarettes clung to the old fairy. Ani wrinkled her nose. “Sorry. May I anyway?”

“Fine.” Milshadred stuck out her age-spotted hand, and Ani withdrew a healing globe from her pocket.

Jake opened the floor for discussion. “Mildred, tell them about your change of heart. She’s going to help us take down the AOC.”

Milshadred grunted. “You’re a bunch of morons. That’s been my goddamned goal all along. Are you ready to listen this time, Embor?”

Embor didn’t leave his position near the repository. “I feel more secure listening to you in this environment than in our previous ones.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Milshadred scratched her nose. “Didn’t work anyway, did it?”

“No.” Embor’s face tightened before the emotion smoothed out of it.

“You can be proud of your man, Princess,” Milshadred told her. “We couldn’t break him. Sure as hell tried. I thought after the waterboarding he’d be a blubbering mess, but everything we did, he just gave us that glare. You know the one.”

“What?” Ani lost her grip on the healing globe, and it bounced across the floor.

“He’s tough,” Milshadred continued. “Ulster kept burning him, Mick has this thing about spiders, and I’m sure you all know what Euri did, but I got tired of spending our healing globes on small stuff when it wasn’t working. I decided we’d—”

“This is a waste of time.” Air whistled through Embor’s nose, and the skin around his lips whitened. “Skip the nostalgia and tell us everything.”

Milshadred regarded him with an unholy glee Ani didn’t trust. Tapping the repository, she read a flux in Milshadred’s hormones that corresponded to positive excitement. The woman was surrounded by hostiles and enjoying herself? “Everything? There’s a lot of shit stuffed in this bone box, Primary. Should I start with the names of the seven dwarves or the periodic table?”

Gret kicked the healing globe back to Ani. Master Fey caught it en route, batting it between his paws.

“Who were the people helping you last night?” Gret asked.

“Our associates.” Milshadred waved a careless hand. “We needed help with the magic part of the equation.”

“And they were?”

“Onesies,” Milshadred said with a straight face. “We do know a lot of them.”

Embor said a very foul word while everyone else gawped. Even Master Fey paused to stare, allowing the globe to roll to a stop at Ani’s feet.

Burly crowed, “I win! Pay up, everybody.”

Exclamations broke out through the room. Ani could hardly make any of it out. Everyone’s hormone levels fluctuated like stormy skies, while Embor’s aura darkened to pitch. Her own stomach rolled with all the stress. She shut off her connection to the repository with a snap.

Horace groaned. “I figured you’d inked a deal with Clan Atlantis the same way Em did with us.”

“Atlantis doesn’t exist, Dad.” Gret tugged her collar away from her neck. “Is it hot in here or is it just me?”

“This is an atrocity,” Embor thundered, stalking up to Milshadred and Ani. She could feel heat exuding from the furious Primary. “How could you awaken other lost ones? How could you put the Realm at risk for your petty schemes, Agent Torval?”

“Do you see any big fat rings opening up all over the world?” Milshadred asked. “Jake’s the only one who did that. Speaking of which, I gather he hasn’t been reluctant to use the evil voodoo himself. Checked with your precious Seers lately to make sure that’s okay?”

“There’s no need.” Embor’s chest heaved. “They would alert me.”

“The Seers do exist,” Horace said, barely audible over the babble. “I thought I dreamed that part.”

“Bet your bippy they do,” the agent agreed. The Drakhmores quieted down. Milshadred stared straight at Ani and winked. “Trouble is, they don’t see everything, even if they know a thing or two about princesses.”

There it was again—the fact everyone knew but Ani.

Embor stiffened. “Using lost ones to work magic was idiotic. No revenge is worth jeopardizing the Realm. There’s a reason lost ones are sent to humanspace, and it isn’t because we’re cruel.”

“Even I agree with that,” Jake chimed in.

“Hey, don’t yell at me.” Milshadred held up her hands. “I did as I was told. Do you think nobody besides you ever had the idea to train onesies, genius? The AOC’s been trying to crack that nut for years. When Jake woke up, they finally started making progress. You should have hidden his existence from them.”

“The AOC is responsible for this?” Embor’s brows crumpled into a thick scowl. “Did they cause the Incident with one of these perverse experiments?”

“Onesies aren’t perverse,” Tali argued. “Except when you want them to be. Crikey, it’s hot in here.”

Jake shushed her. Gret, fanning herself with a folded map, stifled a laugh.

“Cool your jets, Primary.” Milshadred stubbed her cigarette on the windowsill and flicked the butt out the crack. “All of this started because of the Incident, not before it. The head honchos at the AOC you love so much wanted to create a power base in humanspace. Like the Elders didn’t do the same thing.”

“We did not do the same thing.” Embor glowered at Milshadred so darkly it scorched Ani in passing. How much power would she have to draw from the repository to quench the flames likely to spring up at any moment? “We work to protect the Realm, not destroy it.”