The Treachery of Beautiful Things (14 page)

“Jenny, get back!” he yelled. “To the forest!”

A line of flames burst toward him, incinerating the grass and turning the earth into a scorched scar. Jack dived to one side, rolled over the burning branch, and came up again, thrusting the end at the dragon’s exposed belly. Jenny sucked in a breath, but the makeshift weapon only glanced off the glistening scales.

Squirming against Jenny’s chest, the baby began to scream, its awful keening cry rising above even the roar of the dragon. Jenny struggled to her knees in time to see the Leczi running toward her, her face distorted with a vicious hunger. The baby screeched again and this time the mother joined in, their voices intertwining at the top of Jenny’s hearing. Claws sprouted from the Leczi’s hands as she bore down on Jenny.

Jack staggered back, still brandishing the flaming branch.

“Run, Jenny!” He drove forward again, aiming for the wounded side and the dragon lumbered away, on the retreat.

The Leczi shrieked and Jenny froze, staring at her, at the murderous claws and the teeth twisting her once beautiful face. But the creature wasn’t looking at her. The piercing eyes were fixed on the baby alone.

“Wait,” Jenny whispered. “Wait, please…just wait…”

She fumbled with the baby, cursing her own hands as she did so. The child cried out mournfully as Jenny lifted it out and offered it to its mother, holding it at arm’s length.

The Leczi seemed to shrink down on itself, teeth and claws retracting. She edged forward, warily snapping her eyes up to Jenny, then back down to the baby. Jenny held firm, forcing herself to be calm and still so as not to frighten the mother.

In no more than a heartbeat, the Leczi snatched back the child, pulling it to her breast and crooning over it.

The roar of the dragon shook the world around them. Jack raced by Jenny and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her after him.

“I said run!”

Stumbling behind him, Jenny tried to catch both her breath and footing as they dodged into the trees. Jack pitched himself forward, rolling into the undergrowth and pulling her down behind him. She struggled through a tangle of limbs, fern, and bushes, and fell, finding
herself face-to-face with him, their mouths a finger’s length apart. His exhilarated grin faded, and his eyes widened, the pupils huge and dark. Her own face reflected there, mouth parted.

So much for her insistence that he never touch her again.

For a moment the insane thought that he would kiss her flickered across her mind. Jack stared. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. Her eyes followed its movement and then were drawn back to meet his gaze.

She’d been kissed before, once, by Peter Browning outside a school dance. It was rushed and disastrous, teeth clashing, wet. He’d tasted of beer and cigarettes and she’d frozen under the onslaught, then pulled away to find him laughing at her inexperience.

But this was different, wasn’t it?

Jack leaned closer, his face strained, as if he weren’t acting of his own free will. He reached out, his fingertips sliding into her hair, his palm cradling her cheek. Jenny’s eyelids fluttered down and her breath hitched.

The dragon let out an earth-trembling bellow and the spell shattered as danger reasserted itself. Its wings battered the trees overhead and a shower of leaves and twigs rained down all over them. Jack snapped to a protective crouch, every muscle poised.

Free of his hands, Jenny’s good sense slammed back into her head. The dragon whipped around in the air above the
clearing, a new gash running down its side, a murderous gleam in its multifaceted eyes.

The Leczi still knelt in the clearing, cradling her baby, singing to it.

“Oh God, it’s going to kill them!” Jenny started to get up, but Jack hauled her back down, pinning her there with his body.

“Don’t move. Not if you want to live. Cover your ears.”

She pushed at him ineffectively. “Get off me!”

He slapped his hands over the sides of her head, and she was surrounded by the scent of him—a combination of musk and forest leaves, of new growth and decay.

The dragon roared, then drew in a breath, the wind of its great wings sending a gale through the trees. Flames billowed from its mouth, boiling the air, making everything shimmer.

The Leczi lifted her head as if scenting the air. Her eyes were closed, and she smiled. She actually smiled. The flames enveloped her and she opened her mouth. Instead of a scream, she sang.

The fire transformed around her. It spread out like wings, billowing away in time with her song. The dragon recoiled, howling as it fell back, and the Leczi’s note rose again, higher this time. Jenny’s teeth ached with the sound. It pierced deep inside her brain. She winced. Jack’s hands tightened around her ears, muffling her hearing from the
full impact. Twisting her head, she caught just a glimpse of his grimace. He wasn’t immune to the sound either, but he kept his hands where they were. His eyes showed discomfort, then outright pain until he squeezed them tightly shut.

The Leczi got to her feet, her child opening its mouth and singing in counterpoint now. She turned, her hair flowing out behind her in golden green strands, unaffected by the flames and the heat. They advanced slowly, the music of their magic tying the struggling dragon to the earth, preventing its escape. She wanted revenge for the death of her mate, for the risk to her child. She wanted…

“Blood,” Jack whispered. The word ran from his body into Jenny’s. She could feel it vibrate through her head. “I’ve given her blood. What more does she—”

The Leczi reached out her hand and pressed her fingers into the throat of the flailing dragon. She smiled her enigmatic smile and her song reached its highest pitch. The dragon convulsed, limbs, tail, and wings lashing out but failing to strike her.

Then it fell still and the world turned silent.

Breathing hard, Jack released Jenny and rolled off her. She gasped for breath, relieved to have him gone but cold now where the weight of his body had covered hers. She sat up, her heart frantic. Without the warm solidity of him, she felt oddly exposed.

Jack stared at her, as if struggling through the same tangle of feelings.

The sounds of the forest returned to her and Jenny looked up. The Leczi had turned back to face them. Even through the trees her eyes picked them out.

“Come forth,” she said, and her voice seemed to ripple the air around them.

Jack got to his feet, wary as a cat. He spread his arms wide on either side, corralling Jenny amid the trees. He didn’t look back.

“Stay behind me,” he hissed. “And this time do as I say.”

She didn’t appreciate his tone, but she followed him, edging forward out of the trees.

The Leczi hummed to herself now, cradling her baby, rocking it back and forth. She swayed like a blade of grass, slender, elegant, nothing like a threat at all. Certainly not something that could destroy a fire-breathing dragon with just her voice.

“What’s a—what’s a Leczi, Jack?” Jenny whispered.

“Now you ask the right question,” he replied. “Nature spirits, but powerful, especially when crossed. As you saw. If she speaks to you, if she opens her mouth, cover your ears and be careful. Be very careful, understand?
Try
.”

Jenny couldn’t help it—she almost smiled. Ducking out of the shelter of the trees, she followed him into the clearing and stopped next to him. When they were still, the
Leczi looked up. Her eyes were green, even more vibrant than Jack’s green eye. They positively glowed.

The Leczi opened her mouth. Jack flinched, but Jenny didn’t move. She knew Jack wanted her to run, or at least cover her ears, but when she looked into the Leczi’s face, she couldn’t. It would have been an insult.

Jack let out a long, low hiss, but Jenny ignored him. Let him scold her later. And he would. But she didn’t care.

“You took my child.” There was no doubt the Leczi was talking to her. Jenny couldn’t look away. The music in the Leczi’s voice compelled attention, as did her child’s. Their magic, Jenny supposed. The same way the Leczi had repelled the flames, to defeat and kill the dragon.

“I couldn’t leave it alone.”

“Him,”
said the Leczi’s mother, lifting a hand to stroke her son’s hair. “When I found his father, my mate, I thought—” She broke off and held the baby closer still, stroking the long silken fur. “My thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

The Leczi took a step toward her, her free arm outstretched. Jack stepped between them. Every muscle in his back and neck tensed, his hands stretched out on either side, fingers splayed. The Leczi tilted her head to one side, examining him.

“I have no quarrel with you, Jack o’ the Forest. Nor with her. But I do have a question. Why would the queen send her dragon out where it could hear my call?”

Jack glanced at the Leczi, his eyes wary. “Why does she do anything?” he finally asked, raising one shoulder in a shrug. Jenny peered at him. If he hadn’t known the dragon was nearby, it was clear he had at least suspected something. The exchange baffled her.

The Leczi looked past him now, straight at Jenny. Jack remained between them, looking from one to the other. “Step aside, Jack,” the Leczi said.

Jack didn’t move. Whatever the Leczi saw in his face seemed to amuse her. She smiled, but sorrow tinged the corners of her lips.

“You’ll not hurt her,” Jack said finally.

“No. Never for a moment. You have my word. It’s just a gift, and a gift she deserves. Don’t deny her that, Jack. Guardian or not, you cannot refuse to let her take my gift freely offered.”

He breathed in, his shoulders contracting as he released the air in a long sigh. “Very well.” He turned his back on the Leczi, glaring at Jenny as he faced her. “Come,” he said, “take what’s yours, Jenny Wren.” He stalked behind her, but she had no doubt he was within reach.

Jenny took a step toward the Leczi, keeping her gaze lowered. When she glanced up, though, the Leczi’s smile gave her nothing to fear. She took Jenny’s hand and pulled her close. Warmth tingled in her palm and the Leczi leaned in to kiss her cheek.

“My gift is a spell that will work once only, little Wren. And it will choose the time. Kiss it, and bury it, and what you wish will be yours eventually.”

She drew back and Jenny found a small, polished green stone in her hand. The color swirled across the surface, like the Leczi’s eyes.

A stone. Jenny stared at it, then back at the Leczi. How was that a spell?

“Keep it safe,” the Leczi warned. “Use it well. And keep it secret. Thus is my debt to you paid.”

Jenny flushed, embarrassed by the gift, and her reaction to it. “I—I don’t need—”

“A debt is a debt. It’s our way, and always has been. Ask Jack. He knows all about debts. Especially debts of honor. Isn’t that right?”

She cast an arch look at Jack, and when Jenny turned to look at him—still scowling, standing sullenly amid the trees like a lost boy—the Leczi laughed, her voice joining the breeze in the trees. And then she and her child were gone.

J
enny was sure her legs were going to crumple beneath her. Blisters worried at her toes and heels. Each step burned. She didn’t know where they were going. Maybe back to the Edge. Maybe just round and round in circles until he decided what to do with her. She didn’t know what to say to Jack, wary of his answer. He pulled the cloak further around his body and stared off into the distance. Ever since Jenny had returned it to him, he’d had it wrapped around himself like a coat of armor.

“What’s wrong?” Jenny asked, not looking at him. He’d been ignoring her, his mood darkening as the sun sank lower in the sky.

Jack just grunted.

Charming.

“I couldn’t just leave the baby there to die, Jack.”

“No, you had to blunder in without thinking instead. What were you doing out in the forest at night anyway? Why did you leave Puck?”

“You know why! I have to find my brother. And you and Puck aren’t about to help.”

Jack picked his way off the path and through the brush. Jenny fell in step beside him.

“You wander in the Realm at your own peril,” he said, his eyes bright under the dark hair across his forehead. “That’s why I’m here.”

“Jack—”

“I have to leave soon.”

Of course he did. Couldn’t stick around and face an argument. “Why?”

“I can’t stay with you at night,” he told her, as if to do so would be somehow improper.

“Right. Of course, that explains everything. Where will you be?”

He hesitated, met her eyes for a second, and she sensed him biting back a short-tempered answer. “Elsewhere. Busy.” He turned to Puck, who’d been watching them, his grin growing wider. “This is fine for the night. Go find her some food.”

Puck didn’t move, though. He plonked himself down at the edge of the tree, pretending not to watch them.

The little hollow, not far from the stream, was peaceful and off the beaten track. She sat in the long grass, watching him. Waiting.

“I have no choice,” Jack said at last, stretching his arms
behind him, and then folding them behind his back. “It’s a duty.”

“What sort of duty?”

He looked at her, eyes metallic. “I don’t pry into your thoughts, Jenny Wren. Why can’t you leave me mine?”

“Because you never answer a question. You don’t want me to go after Tom, so tell me why.”

Jack sighed. But Jenny kept watching him. She ran her palms over the tips of the grass. Patience had always defeated her brother. Even when he had been in a bad mood, she always knew all she had to do was wait. Maybe it would work on Jack.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked at last. “It’s dangerous, difficult. That’s just ignoring the fact that you were probably lured over the Edge in the first place. Someone wanted to bring you here and they used your memories of Tom to do it. He’s been gone for seven years, Jenny. That’s a powerful long time, especially here.”

“How do you know all that?” she asked quickly.

Jack tilted his head at her, raising his eyebrows. “It’s common knowledge here. He’s the piper. He belongs to the queen, body and soul. He won’t go back. And you waited seven years. Why start this insane quest now?”