Tracking the Tempest (27 page)

Thin edge of the wedge,
I chanted to myself as I imagined slipping a slender needle of power into the seam of our trap. When it was in, I widened it, feeling the ocean respond like an eager lapdog to my beckoning. Power flooded through me, most of it directed toward the web's seam and the excess flowing out of me and through the barghest, where it dissipated into the wooden floor of the building.

Finally, the seam was wide enough for us to squeeze through. Camille and Julian were first, Ryu and Caleb second, and then Anyan pulled me forward by my ankle. I floated above the big man like a bizarre human-shaped helium balloon, trailing tendrils of writhing water as he tugged me to safety. When we were free, he pulled me down, hard, by my legs, till we were face-to-face. Then he did his power-cloak trick, only ten times stronger than before. It squeezed us together as close as Siamese twins, but it also severed me neatly from the ocean's grasp.

Without the Atlantic's force flooding through me, I drooped like a rag doll. My whole body ached, and my magical “nerves”—whatever the hell it was that let me feel my power—felt like they were on fire. I moaned piteously as Anyan passed me wordlessly to Caleb.

“… you were sick…” I mumbled to the satyr, who smiled grimly as he held me tight. We were walking
and
healing, no doubt in case Phaedra was waiting somewhere off in the wings.

“There was a healer right in the area, for Daoud. Then we could come help find you,” he said. “Brave lady Jane,” Caleb rumbled, stooping down to kiss me lightly on the forehead. It was the kiss of a proud parent, and it made me blush.

The warehouse was also beginning to creak ominously, and we picked up our pace when it started to sway. The ocean, as if pissed off that she didn't get to claim me as her reward, was still clawing at the walls and floor around us.

Ryu led the way, issuing commands to Camille and Julian as they sent out all sorts of probes and shields to check for more traps. But Phaedra must have had complete faith in her web, or she was busy tending to her wounded, for there was nothing between us and freedom. As we cleared the building, we heard an awful ripping sound, and we hotfooted it for the cars. We clustered around them, safe on solid land, watching as the entire dockyard slid groaning into the sea.

I blinked, wide-eyed, at the space where the huge warehouse had just stood. Until I realized that everyone else was looking at me. Everyone except for Anyan, who'd sat down on the hood of Ryu's little car as he stared out into the ocean.

“Jane, what did you
do
?” Ryu asked, frowning at me.

“I dunno,” I said, suddenly feeling woozy. I started to slide forward, but Ryu caught me and held me close.

“Take me home,” I murmured to my lover.

“Of course,” he said, as he kissed me. Then he picked me up and carried me to the passenger's seat of his car. Anyan was gone from the hood, and I craned my head around to look for him. But there was no sign of the barghest.

I felt dazed, empty, and annihilated as Ryu got in the car and we turned toward the city. Dawn was just breaking over the skyline. When I'd said “home,” I'd meant Rockabill. Although, right now, I'd take anywhere that had a bed. I was exhausted, physically and mentally, but I also felt unfinished somehow. Conleth was dead, yet there was no justice to be found in his murder. Meanwhile, Phaedra and her lot were still running free, despite all the atrocities they'd committed. It felt like everything was resolved, and nothing. I also felt about two decades older than when I'd stepped off that plane at Logan Airport. I curled up in my seat, facing my window, and tried to concentrate on the city lights flashing past my face. But the memory of Con's white face as he reached for me superimposed itself over the busy life of Boston.

So I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed for an oblivion that never came.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

R
yu yawned as I lolled against his chest. It was about five o'clock the following evening. After everything that had happened at the pier, none of us had been in any shape to chase after Phaedra. All of us were battered, bruised, and in need of both physical and magical recuperation.

Despite my exhaustion, I'd slept fitfully, finally giving up after I woke shouting, having dreamed something particularly horrible involving Graeme. I'd removed my traumatized ass to Ryu's wet room, using up most of the city's hot water before my lover awoke from his coma and came to join me. That's when I discovered that good sex with someone you trusted was the best cure for icky dreams involving rapist incubi. Not that I ever hoped to need such a remedy again.

“You were amazing,” Ryu said, nuzzling my neck.

“Thanks, but I gotta give credit to Iris. She's the one who told me the trick was to use two fingers
and
your big toe, unless you have a Gummi Worm handy. Or a Twizzler. Then you can just go ahead and—”

“Jane!” Ryu interrupted me, laughing. “I meant you were amazing yesterday.”

I snorted. “Yeah, amazingly stupid.”

“What?”

“Ryu, I drained myself escaping Conleth, which meant I was a sitting duck for Graeme. Then I nearly fried myself channeling the ocean, or whatever the hell I did. I'm lucky I survived. If it hadn't been for Anyan, I'd be dead ten times over.”

“You were the one who rescued
us
, Jane.”

“Anyway,” I said, changing the subject. What he called heroism, I called dumb luck, and we weren't going to see eye-to-eye on this one. “Where did Anyan go, anyway?”

Ryu frowned at me. “Who knows? He does whatever he wants. Always has. Why do you care so much?”

“I want to know he's okay.”

“Don't worry about the barghest. He takes care of himself. I'm here now.”

“I know, honey. I just want to make sure everyone is safe. I take it Phaedra went back to the Compound?”

“Yes. I talked to Wally first thing when I woke up, while you were boiling yourself in the shower. He sends his love. I wouldn't accept it, though, just to be on the safe side. Anyway, Wally told me Phaedra's already back at the Compound, covering her tracks and telling everyone we're heroes, killed in the line of duty. Won't she be excited to find out we all survived ‘Conleth's' attack.” Ryu chuckled, his eyes lighting up. “I told Wally to keep our survival to himself, for now. To let me tell her in person. It almost makes me look forward to seeing Phaedra again.”

I sighed. Ryu loved intrigue, and I knew that all the shit we'd experienced over the past week was just another roll of the dice in the game he called his life. But I wasn't like Ryu. I wasn't used to casual displays of violence or to watching lives thrown away as if they were holey socks. Okay, I'd survived and, because of Caleb, I didn't even have a scratch on me to testify to what I'd endured. But I still felt scarred, and I had a funny feeling I was going to need quite a bit of time to pick at the mental scabs I'd formed over the last few days.

The big thing haunting me was my feelings regarding the ifrit halfling. I still couldn't believe Con was dead, and I also couldn't believe how much it bothered me. He'd caused so much pain, committed so many barbarous acts. But I knew the terrible pity I felt for him would never go away, not after the way he'd died. Conleth would stay with me, for many reasons. Not least because I realized now that I was so lucky to have the life I'd been given. My mother had left, but I had finally realized she hadn't
abandoned
me. I could never compare my own experiences to Con's.

“So what happens now?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What happens to Phaedra? And to the others? We know damned well that she and her lot were committing the other murders. What Graeme and Fugwat did to Edie and Felicia…” I shivered, suddenly cold despite Ryu's generously shared body heat.

“Nothing happens. At least not right away.”

I sat upright when I heard that. I knew it was the case, but hearing it totally pissed me off. “What do you mean, Ryu? How can
nothing
happen?”

Ryu shrugged. “Phaedra's Alfar, and she's Jarl's second. To accuse her would be to accuse Jarl. And we have no proof besides our own testimony. Meanwhile, she's blaming everything on Conleth and she'll be believed.”

“But when you show up at the Compound, alive…”

“Jarl will throw us a party, apologize for assuming we were dead, and reward us for our heroism.”

I shook my head, mute with anger.

“Jane, nothing is going to happen. Accept that.”

We stared at each other for what felt like forever.

“I think I hate your world,” I snapped, leaning back against Ryu's black-leather headboard.

“I know, baby. I'm not any happier about it than you are. But look at it this way: Now we know for sure that Jarl is up to something, and we know who else is involved.”

“I knew Jarl was up to no good when he tried to fucking strangle me.”

Ryu went quiet at that, and I realized my mistake.

“Well, I didn't know he tried to strangle you until a few days ago. So I guess I'm playing catch-up.”

I swore at my own idiocy before turning my body toward Ryu.

“I'm sorry, Ryu. I was trying to protect you. It was stupid.”

Ryu cuddled me closer. “Yes, it was. I protect you, not vice versa.”

I almost made a joke about how letting me get kidnapped wasn't exactly my idea of protection, but I figured if I said that, I might as well go ahead and castrate him at the same time. So I held my tongue.

“Fine. Nothing happens, for now. But someday, I'm totally kicking Phaedra's ass for everything she did.”

“Brave Jane,” Ryu murmured, his hand stroking down my side as he found my mouth with his. Then his hand was between my legs, and we made love again, as if we were the last two people on earth. Afterward, we cleaned up, got dressed, and then went downstairs and ordered pizza.

It was so bizarre, after everything that had happened the night before, to be arguing with Ryu over whether to order the meat supreme or the regular supreme that I couldn't deal. I let him decide and then went upstairs to do what I'd been dying to do since I'd woken up.

I started packing.

I was just finished sorting through what was clean and what was dirty when Ryu came to investigate where I'd disappeared to.

“Jane, what are you doing?”

“I'm packing. Should I go online to order my ticket? Or should I call the airline directly? Is tomorrow too short notice? I don't want you to have to pay more for me to get home.”

“Jane, honey—”

“I just hope I can get a ticket for tomorrow. Otherwise I might rent a car. I can pay for it, though—”

“Jane, wait a second.”

“Sure…” I mumbled, mentally organizing my stuff. I'd already packed my makeup and most of my toiletries, except for what I needed the next morning. So I started shoving all of my dirty clothes into a clean garbage bag I'd brought from the kitchen, until I realized Ryu was trying to get my attention.

“Sorry, what is it?” I asked, as I finished shoving my stankies in the bag.

“Honey, we need to talk.”

“About what?”

“About us. About this week. About everything.”

I paused, my tired mind scrambling. Then I forced myself to throw my last pair of dirty socks in the bag and to tie it off before turning to face Ryu.

“Is this the talk where you tell me that it's been fun, but you're running off with the satyr?” I joked, not at all happy with this turn of events. I didn't want to have “talks,” not about anything serious. I felt so mixed up, and so tired, that any sort of “talk” would be a bad idea.

“No, it's not that talk,” Ryu said, smiling. “It's the talk where we cut to the chase and admit how we feel. Where we talk about our future. I want us to be together.”

“Ryu, we are together. If this is about being exclusive, I can assure you that I'm not running around behind your back with Stuart when I'm in Rockabill.”

“That's the whole point, honey. Exclusivity.”

“Huh?”

“I need you with me.”

“I
am
with you—”

“Baby, please. If this week has proven anything to me, it's how much I want you in my life. So I want you to give moving to Boston serious consideration. It doesn't have to be right this minute. But I want you to think about it.”

“Oh,” I said, staring down at my hands. My mind was racing. I couldn't even follow my own thoughts, but they centered around one giant negative emotion:
no
. There was no way I could move to Boston anytime soon. There was my training and my dad and my life in Rockabill and the fact that I didn't even know if I wanted to… .

“Is that all you have to say?”

“No, I just don't know where to begin… I don't think I'm ready for this.”

“That's not good enough. I think we
are
ready. I love you, Jane.”

I winced. Did he? Really?

“Ryu, we barely know each other—”

“What are you talking about? I've known you for months now. I know you're strong and smart and brave. I know you fit with me. We look good together, and we like the same things. We'd make each other even stronger.”

I thought about his words. We had gone through so much together and were so close in some ways. But, in other ways, we didn't know each other at all. And did I
really
fit with him?

I looked around the pristine, cold, expensive expanse of his bedroom and, again, unbidden came the thought:
no
.

“Okay, why?” I replied, trying to distract myself from that word. “Why now? Why can't we just stay as we are?”

“Do I really need to spell it out?”

“Considering that moving would mean leaving my life, my family and friends, and also my training, then yes. I don't see why we have to push this.”

Ryu knelt down next to where I sat by my suitcase.

“Jane, I want you here for so many reasons. But most of all, baby, I need you here because otherwise
I
can't be faithful. Don't tell me you haven't figured that out. And I hate it as much as you must hate it. I'm tired of random humans and having to worry about whom I'll be with to feed. I love you, Jane. I've never felt this way about someone, and you can be
everything
to me. I hate myself for being what I am, if it means I have to betray you.”

“Wow,” I grunted, taking deep breaths. I hadn't expected quite
that
much honesty.

“Yeah. It sucks.”

“It sucks to suck, says the vampire,” I quipped weakly. I was so not ready for this conversation.

Ryu harumphed humorlessly.

I turned back to my suitcase, fitting my dirty clothes bag over my shoes at the bottom. Then I started stacking the clean clothes at the top, shifting around what had never gotten unpacked to make room.

What he said was true, but I didn't know if it was entirely honest. I didn't know how much of his desire for me to be a bigger part of his life was because he didn't like cheating on me or because my being with him meant he had a constant food source handy. I'd wondered more than once if that hadn't been why he'd taken me to the Compound with him all that time ago. The other baobhan sith, Nyx, that we'd met had also brought a pet human, or a “sack lunch,” as she called him. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I thought Ryu was consciously using me, but at the same time he'd organized his life, as everyone does, around his needs. And imbibing essence was a huge need for him. So where did Ryu the man end and Ryu the baobhan sith begin?

And who liked me more? Man or vampire?

“Ryu, I really don't see how this can happen anytime soon. I've got my father and my job and my training. I'm not ready to move to Boston, especially when I have almost no offensive magics.”

“I can train you, baby. And we can get your father a nurse. Money isn't an issue.”

I snorted. “It's an issue for me, Ryu. I can't just live off of you. I would need a job and…” I shook my head, focusing myself on the real issues. “And I don't want some random person taking care of my father.
I
want to take care of him. He's my dad and I don't know how long he's got left.”

“Well, maybe we can move him here—”

“To Boston? Where he knows no one? Where he can't get around? That's not feasible.”

“I'm not saying it has to be right now, Jane. I'm just saying… I'm telling you that I love you.”

“Ryu…”

“Do you love me, or not? It's that simple.”

First of all, it wasn't that simple. I knew he was switching tactics, trying to make me admit I loved him so that he could use that in his negotiations with me. It also wasn't that simple because I couldn't answer the fucking question. I closed my eyes.

Do I love Ryu?

I adored him on so many levels. He made me laugh. I admired his bravery and his panache. He did things to my body that left me sobbing with pleasure. But did I
love
him?

No
… came that whispering voice in my head.

I realized that Ryu was waiting for me to agree with him. I also realized I was holding an enormous, purple dildo.
Damn it, Iris,
I thought as I stashed it in my suitcase, hurriedly covering it with the few remaining clothes still sitting next to me.