The Urisk walked over and knelt beside them. “You mind if I join?”
“Zhuhai, you are welcome anytime by my side. At my hearth you are most welcome,” Gannon said.
“Thank you…Zhuhai thanks.” The Urisk settled down to watch the girl dance. “Gannon…you should ask the woman to stop. The Sprites need rest and so does she, even if she doesn’t yet feel it. The strain of the healing will take it out of her soon.”
“I was just about to. We need to head home and off to bed. Jubi, you should have the others rest for the night. There’s no need to do anything until tomorrow. You can spend the night at the cabin with us if you want, in case we need to leave.”
Jubi yawned and stretched his wings before taking off to tell the others. As Gannon watched him go, he felt a deep gratitude to the creature beside him.
“Zhuhai, I’ve a favor to ask. I need to go away for a few days, and I need to have someone look after the T’ween while we’re gone. Would you be willing to do this for me?”
“I would be honored,” the creature said.
“Thank you, my friend. Now I need to gather up a wayward woman.”
“I understand. Thank you for the moment of your companionship. May you go with light,” said the creature. He got to his hooves and headed into the waterfall.
Gannon watched the Urisk disappear. Shaking his head, he went to Kayla. The Sprites quit dancing and melted into the woods, their lights dimming as they found their various boughs and flowers to sleep the night away.
“Kayla, we must go,” Gannon said, saddened to break the spell. He touched her arm as she looked after them forlornly.
“Where are we going?”
“Back to the cottage to try and get some sleep.”
“But I’m not tired,” she whined. He knew she still rode the euphoric high from being healed; but her body was in shock. He had no doubt she’d crash once they got to the cabin, if not on the way there.
“Fine, stay out here by yourself, I’m tired and I’m going home.” He got less than ten steps away and smiled when he heard footsteps follow.
“Wait for me!” she hollered, catching up.
“I thought you were staying here?”
“Not on your life,” she mumbled under her breath. “I don’t even know where here is.”
* * *
Kayla woke to the smell of frying bacon, her mouth salivating. She stretched, smiling at the man standing over the small wood stove.
“Mmm, that smells wonderful.” Kayla felt like lounging in bed a few minutes more before an urgent call of nature propelled her into action.
Getting out of bed and dancing from foot to foot, she looked around for his bathroom until he glanced over his shoulder at her quirking up an eyebrow.
“Where’s your bathroom?” He pointed outside. She dashed out, expecting to see an outhouse or something, anything that wasn’t a bush.
“What kind of barbarian doesn’t have indoor plumbing?” she fussed, dashing back in to warm herself by the fire. She rubbed her bare arms, realizing she still didn’t have a shirt on. Though the sarong was comfortable, she wanted something guaranteed to cover her in a fight. “Where’s my stuff?” She looked around as he put the food on plates and set them on the table.
“I’m not quite sure,” he said. “We’ll look for it when we’re done eating.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” she snapped.
“Look, will you just sit down? We’ve a lot to discuss and not a lot of time,” he said, shoveling his food in while he talked.
Disgusted, she sat down. She’d almost finished her plate, when he called out.
“Jubi, get your ass in here.” He jumped up, going to the door.
She heard someone say, “Why are you forever waking me up?” The Sprite glared at Gannon. Kayla’s eyes widened in wonder; she’d thought they’d all been a dream.
“Because you wanted to come, and we need to leave now is why. Tell the others what they need to know, and tell that mangy cat we’re leaving, thought he probably already knows.”
The Sprite flew off.
“Roo, it’s time to go,” Gannon hollered.
“Now, wait just a minute,” she said, coming up behind him. “What gives you the right to call my dog?”
“Because I know what’s going on and you don’t.” He brushed past her.
Glaring daggers into his back, she wished she knew where her blades were.
11
The thumping at the Gate grew more insistent. With his idle morning blown to hell, Gannon felt irritable as he stuffed things into his pack. He noticed Jubi come in, followed by the dog. Gannon felt something brush against his legs. He turned to Kayla with a warning.
“Brace yourself.” Not pausing to see if she’d followed instructions. He closed his eyes to concentrate. Clearing everything out, he saw the workroom in sharp details. Willing it so, they stood in the center of a low lit room surrounded by books and scrolls.
“Whoa, boss,” he heard Jubi say from a distance.
When Kayla gasped, he opened his eyes to see her staring at the blood smeared floor. He didn’t know what was trying to get in, only that it was very old and very strong. Strengthening his wards, he opened his mind’s eye and tried to see what slammed into the other side of the Gate. A terrible darkness covered the alley and, past it, laid the dead MoonSkin returned to human form.
Time didn’t pass the same in the T’ween. What had been days in his world had only been moments in this one. Somebody wanted this girl dead, he thought.
* * *
Kayla sensed that something wasn’t right. She felt a constant pounding in her skull. She saw the floor soaked in blood and spotted her jacket and what must have been her shirt off to the side.
Her weapons lay jumbled together, her pack close to the table. Everything fell into place; she realized if her things were here, then that meant…the blood covering the floor must be theirs, hers and Roo’s. She felt grateful to Gannon that he’d found her, but that didn’t explain where they were now, nor how they’d gotten there.
It didn’t feel like a transport spell — not that she knew much about magic. Magic users were hunted like dogs where she came from. She wondered how he’d escaped the Mage Hunters.
Then she remembered the pouch and how she was supposed to deliver it unopened, and how it had seared her mind when she’d opened it. A flash of pain dropped her to the floor. Maybe it wasn’t only the blood loss affecting her memories, she thought.
Crouching there for a moment, she looked at Gannon and noticed he seemed to have relaxed. The unbearable pounding had left her mind. She opened her mouth to ask, only to have him shush her.
His face went blank, “What did you want?” He rubbed his forehead.
She thought he looked worried. He headed towards a stove, putting a kettle on and sat down at the table.
“What was that pounding just now?”
He looked up at her, his expression wary. “You felt that? What did you feel?”
“It was like a pounding in my head,” she answered, walking to her pack, not caring for his excitement. She picked up her shirt and looked at it in disgust. Wrinkling up her nose, she tossed it aside. “I guess I won’t be wearing that again.” She picked up her pack, feeling dirty. “You got a bathroom in this dump?”
“No.” He poured a cup of tea. “Gather your things,” he said, holding his cup in both hands.
Something in his voice made her hurry. He had that same faraway look in his eyes, and she didn’t want to lose her things. She clenched her pack to her chest, the world shifted, and she stood in a beautiful apartment.
“What is this place?” Gawking, she made a slow circle.
“I live in a T’ween, a place between all worlds, a part of none.”
“That’s…interesting.”
“The bath is through here,” he said, leading the way. He pushed open a door, and revealed a floor level tub that took up half the room. Not knowing what to say and afra
id to get the place dirty, she placed her pack on the corner of the marble countertop. Maybe he wasn’t a barbarian after all. If he could will this into being, she wondered why he chose to be in that rustic cabin.
He went to the tub and turned on the faucets, then sprinkled into the water something from one of the various containers that lined the ledge. A bouquet of aroma mixed with the steam and filled the room. He got out thick lilac towels from a cupboard. Setting them onto the edge of the tub, he left without saying a word.
She wondered what he’d put into the water and picked up the bottle. The label read, “Healing Jasmine.” Not one to take luxurious baths, she shrugged and stripped off her filthy pants. If he wanted to put scent into the water, who was she to complain? She unwound the sarong, laid it in a pile next to the pack and slipped into the tub. Turning off the taps, she leaned back with a sigh and, feeling divine, she floated.
* * *
He leaned against the door, smiling as he heard her splash. He could use his own shower, maybe a cold one, he thought, heading off for the master bath.
He called Jubi as he went. “Settle in as best you can. There’re some flowers on the window and some honey in the larder, though I don’t want you stuffing yourself.” Taking a few steps, he stopped. “Oh and, Jubi, one more thing.”
“Yes, boss?”
“I need to see Kayla when she gets out.”
Jubi nodded and flew away in search of the promised treats.
12
Kayla stepped into the hallway and found Jubi floating in the air beside her door.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Waiting for you. Gannon wants to see you.”
“Oh.”
Jubi landed next to her ear, pushing her hair out of his way to do so.
“Where to?” she asked.
He pointed to the right.
She took a few steps, taking in her surroundings. “Hey, Jubi? How’d you and Gannon hook up? Why are you working for him?”
“I’m not working for him.”
Feeling him shift on her shoulder, she stopped. “I’m sorry. I just thought…”
“He and I are both charged with watching the Gate. Well, he’s in charge, but I am responsible, too, as the chief of my clan.”
“You’re the chief? I didn’t know that.” Reaching a crossway, she wiggled her thumb in both directions. “Which way?”
Kayla felt relaxed as she followed Jubi through the apartment, though it should have been called a house. Her musings got cut short by the sight of Gannon half naked, working out on a bag. His back muscles rippled in time with his jabbing fists.
He shifted positions and she could see a fine sheen covered his flexing biceps and chest. Damp hair ringed his strong face. With his total concentration focused on the bag, she didn’t think he’d seen her come in.
Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him work the bag. He became a thing of beauty as he completed a roundhouse, sending the bag rocking on its chain. He caught it when it swung back.
She smiled at him when he looked up and wiped the back of an arm across his brow.
“You wanted to see me?” she asked.
He grabbed the bag, stilling it as it bumped into him, then he approached her. “Aye, I did.” Picking up a towel, he dried his face and neck before continuing. “What do you know about an awakening?” His eyes broiling with emotion, he brushed her hair from her face, his powerful hands now gentle. With his gaze focused on her, she shifted from foot to foot, discomforted.
“Not much,” she replied. “There’re some myths floating around about bound children with latent magical talents. I don’t believe the claims,” she said, though a twinge of memory disturbed her. “The hunters always find the strong. Why?”
“I felt an awaking spell a few evenings ago right before a Guardian and a hurt woman burst into my solitude.”
She shifted against his unblinking gaze. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. What’s a Guardian?”
“A Guardian is a guide sent to protect some bound children.” He kept his gaze locked on her. Unnerved, she turned away, unsure if she should tell him about the pouch.
“I don’t know anything about a Guardian, but I opened something I shouldn’t have a few days ago.”
Watching his eyes narrow in concerned interest, she felt the words of confession pouring out of her. “It was something I was told not to open, but couldn’t stop myself no matter how I tried.”
Her fingers touched his chest, then pulled away. “I don’t think it was an awaking spell at all. It was just a booby trapped pouch with a compulsion spell on it. Meant to weaken me enough so that MoonSkin could catch up with me, or signal him where I was,” she said, sure of herself. It was better than the alternative.
He stared at her in disbelief. “How did you come by this pouch?”
“Well, my boss… that’s the rotten liar who set me up,” she fumed. “He told me I had a run. He said to take the bag to some address in the Drifts before midnight, and he’d strike my debt clean.” Thinking back to the battle, she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, unable keep the realization from showing on her face. She’d used magic to kill the MoonSkin.
They would know how he died. The Hunter’s were already looking for her...an outlaw. In her panic, she almost bolted, jumping when she felt a warm hand on her arm.
“Kayla, look at me. It’s going to be all right. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She didn’t know which of them he tried to convince — her or himself — that he could keep her safe.
“No, it isn’t ok! Magic users are sought-after slaves, collared to render them powerless. How is that going to be ok?” Stepping back, she searched the room as if there were hunters hiding in the couch cushions.
“Maybe that had been his intention all along.”
Without hearing him, she ran towards her room, desperate to get to her weapons.
“Kayla! Stop!” Gannon spun her around to face him, shaking her, breaking through her panic.
Letting his presence steady her, she wondered if she might be safe in the T’ween. “You’re a magic user, unbound from the look of it. How did you manage that?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck. She leaned up, her mouth a breath from his.
“Kayla, what are you doing?”
“Nothing,” she said, nibbling on his lip. “This is what you want for our protection, isn’t it?”
He unwrapped her arms from his neck. “No, not like this. I don’t take payment from a woman in favors. And I can’t believe that you think I would.” Pausing for a moment to send her a hurtful glance, he added, “Come see me when you want to learn the truth about yourself.” Stalking off, he slammed the door behind him.
Kayla slumped against the doorway, sliding to the ground. She put her hand over her mouth, ashamed at what she’d done, what she’d been about to do if he hadn’t stopped her, something she’d vowed never to do, no matter how bad it got.
This place clouded her judgment. The jasmine scented bath. The protection Gannon offered. It was…too much. All her years of fighting, of being feared, being left alone, and of being lonely broke through her defenses. The truth stared at her, cold and unblinking. It had nothing to do with this house. She wasn’t paying Gannon for his help. She wanted his arms around her, his voice low in her ear. She wanted…him. Vulnerability wasn’t allowed, not for her, but she couldn’t find the balance between that and this crushing loneliness.
Tears slid down her cheeks. When Nyx brushed against her, she reached out and let her hands trail along his back. It amazed her that she could touch him and he felt warm even though he was gone and had been gone for more years than she cared to count. She gathered him up, burying her face in his soft fur, letting despair overwhelm her as sobs racked her body. She stiffened when she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Jubi settled down, patting her head.
“Shush now. He didn’t mean to hurt you,” Jubi said.
> She sniffled and peered at him through red, swollen eyes. She’d forgotten he was there. “You think so?” she asked.
“Sure, I do,” he said, now patting her cheek. “You should go talk to him. There is a lot he can teach you. He’s a fool, but an honest one. If he says he’ll do something to help you out, he will. Now go on. Try to make the most of the time you have, before reality breaks in and hurts you.”
Kayla stood, careful not to jar the Sprite. “Thanks for your advice.” She rubbed her face, wiping her nose on her sleeve.
Walking down the hall, she peeked in several rooms before she found Gannon stretched out on a bed, fresh from a shower. He stared at the ceiling. “Hey, Jubi, think you could give us a moment to talk?”
“Sure, no prob,” he said, flying off.
Shifting from foot to foot, she tried to decide what to say. When Gannon raised his head, his silent glower asking what the hell she wanted, she cleared her throat. “Um, I just wanted to say I’m sorry about before.”
“It’s alright,” he said, his voice flat.
“No, I mean it, Gannon. I don’t know what got into me. I’ve never done that before and I’ve never been so mortified with myself.”
His expression softened and he pushed himself up to a sitting position. “To tell you the truth, I’ve been laying here, thinking. I don’t blame you. If I were a woman in your situation, I might have done the same thing. However, that isn’t what I’m into.” He patted the bed beside him.
At his patronizing remarks, she thought about telling him to piss off, but remembered what Jubi had said and thought better of it.
Seeing the anger flash in her eyes, he decided to change the subject. “Do you know the history of the Mages?”
“Yes.” She sat beside him.
“Good… In some parts of the world, there are still bastions of survivors of the Great War, still fighting the good fight,” he said with a faraway look in his eye. He got up to stand near a window.
Unbound (Kayla Blackstone) Page 6