by Charley Case
Conversation was sparse, each of them enjoying the calm before the storm they knew was coming. Mila said that Danica should be home around noon from her shift at the hospital, and right on cue, the front door opened to reveal the tall blonde elf, looking as fresh as she had the day before when she had left.
“Hey, guys,” she shouted through the open balcony doors as she kicked her black heels off beside the front door and dropped her purse on the counter. She poured herself a cup of coffee and padded out to meet them. “You been lazing around all day?”
“Nope. We went to Toronto and got in a fight with, like, ten guys,” Finn said, smiling up at her.
“I chopped a guy’s hand off,” Mila added, making Danica snort coffee out of her nose.
Penny cocked a smile. “Shirirt shi chir chi.” She blew a little flame for emphasis.
“She says she melted a guy’s face. We’re not entirely sure on that one. There was a lot of smoke at the time,” Finn translated.
Danica sat in one of the empty chairs. “Holy shit. Did you at least get what you went for?”
Finn sucked in a slow breath. “Well, not exactly. We did get Mila a sword. Oh, that reminds me.” He pulled the chainmail from his pocket and handed it to Mila. “This might help if you’re going to keep hanging out with me.”
Mila took the small metal swatch and inspected it. “What is it?”
“Armor,” Finn said as if it were obvious. “Remember the power word for Gram? Well, just add ‘Ka’ to the beginning of it, and it will activate the armor.”
Danica leaned in and inspected the silver mail. “Oh, my God. Is that dwarven mithril?”
“Yeah. It’s a pretty basic piece, so it’ll only cover your torso, but it’s tough stuff. Give it a try.”
Mila put down her coffee and stood up, holding the swatch. She said the power word, almost mouthing it, and the links began to glow purple before the entire swatch melted and soaked into her hand. She gave a yelp of surprise and pulled the collar of her shirt forward, looking down it.
“Holy shit. It’s on my skin, even under my bra. Is it supposed to do that?”
“Yeah, that stuff is like dragon scales. It conforms to the wearer’s body for maximum movement while making you nearly impenetrable.” Finn held up his coffee in a toast. “Congratulations, you’re bulletproof.”
Mila pulled her shirt over her head, exposing the links that clung to her like a wet t-shirt, showing the lines of her tight abdomen and even the indentation of her belly button.
“The links are so close-knit, you can’t even see through them!” she exclaimed.
Before anyone could stop her, she reached back and unclasped her bra, letting it fall forward onto her arms, and exposing her chain-link-covered breasts in perfect detail.
Finn shot coffee out of his nose and turned crimson before looking away. Mila realized just how form-fitting the armor was just a little too late and quickly pulled her bra back up. Danica nearly spilled her coffee down her white blouse, she was laughing so hard.
“You should probably keep your clothes on, sweetie. This is more of an under-armor situation, I think.” The elf chuckled, wiping tears from her eyes, and glanced at Finn, which made her laugh even more.
Mila, red-faced but laughing along with Danica, fastened her bra again but didn’t put her t-shirt back on. “Where does it go when I take it off?”
She quietly said the activation word again, and the silver rings melted into her skin. She held out her hand, expecting the swatch to reappear, but nothing happened.
“Oh shit!” Danica’s eyebrows went up two inches in surprise. “That’s a bonded piece. I didn’t know there were any of those left.”
“A what? Where did it go?” Mila began feeling the skin of her stomach and hips as if the swatch were stuck to her somewhere.
“It’s part of you now,” Danica explained. “There’s a power word to remove it, but if you don’t say it, the armor is with you until you die. It’s incredibly powerful and expensive. I can’t even begin to guess what that is worth.”
Mila said the power word again and the armor formed on her in the blink of an eye. She said it a fourth time and it disappeared.
“It’s not going to, like, give me cancer or something, is it?” Once again, she activated the armor, this time leaving it exposed.
“No, it’s perfectly safe,” Danica reassured her. “In fact, people who have an active magical artifact have a much lower chance of being sick. We think it’s a byproduct of having magic constantly flowing through you. If anything, your life span just increased.”
Mila pulled the waistband of her tights open to see how far down the armor went, and her eyes widened. She pulled the back of the tights away and twisted to get a view of her behind. “This thing goes all the way around like a bathing suit. I thought you said it only protected the torso?”
Finn cleared his throat, doing his best not to look at her as she inspected herself. “Well, some would argue that the crotch is the most important part of the torso. You would be surprised how often it gets hit during a fight.”
Mila chuckled and gave him a sly smile. “Know that from experience, do you?”
“Well, yes,” he admitted. “Usually, though, I’m doing the hitting. It’s like an off-switch to a fight. One good hit and they are not coming after you for a good long while.”
Penny chuckled at some memory, popped a mini into her mouth, and reclined on the table. “Squee shi grii.” She laughed at the look of betrayal on Finn’s face at her words.
“What?” Mila asked, a smile creeping across her lips.
Finn sighed. “She was reminding me of the last time that particular move was used on me. I may have thrown up.”
Mila laughed, then jumped when Danica touched a spot on her back. “Whoa, your fingers are cold.”
“Take the armor off again,” Danica said in her doctor’s voice.
Mila said the power word and the armor melted away, leaving her back exposed. Danica leaned in and blew on the spot. A small trail of bubbles shot out and popped on Mila’s skin, accompanied by a lavender smell.
“What’s this?” she asked Finn, grabbing Mila’s hips and turning her toward him. “Did you put this on her?”
Finn saw a set of marks that glowed faintly pink, now that Danica had used a little magic to brighten them. The spot was about the size of a fingerprint, located just above her right kidney.
“Oh, shit,” Finn groaned. “They weren’t tracking me. They were tracking you, Mila. It must have been that elf in the market. She probably touched you and transferred the mark as she walked past. No wonder I didn’t feel anything.”
Penny was up on his shoulder in an instant, leaning in to get a closer look. Her eyes flicked down and she pointed a talon at something poking over the hem of Mila’s tights at her lower back. “Chi gri?” she asked.
Finn looked to where Penny was pointing, and saw the top of a tattoo. It looked like the top of a blond person with spiky hair, and the top half of a cartoon tiger.
“Is that another spell?” he asked, poking a finger into the waistband of her tights and starting to pull it down.
Mila quickly grabbed his hand and pulled the waistband up until the tattoo was hidden completely. “No, that’s a really bad choice I made back in undergrad. No need to show that off.”
Finn was interested, but she obviously didn’t want to show him what it was. He focused on the tracking spell and looked at Penny. “Can you take care of it?”
Penny cocked her head and shrugged. “Chi chi.”
Finn rolled his eyes. “I know you can’t see it, but you can feel it, can’t you?”
Penny considered that while pressing a hand to the mark. She concentrated, then shook her head. “Shiri geri.”
“Shit.” Finn looked at Danica. “I’m crap when it comes to the fine kinds of magic. Can you do anything about it?”
Danica nodded. “I can remove it, but I’ll need to get some components. Wait here, I’ll be
right back.” She set her cup on the table and went to her room.
“A bad choice in undergrad, eh?” he teased.
Mila huffed and turned to face him, one of her eyebrows rising. “I don’t want to talk about it. Give me one of those chews.”
He laughed, fished a few of the chocolates from the box on the table, and handed them to her. She bit one in half and chewed slowly, looking out over the city.
“Why did you give me the armor? Danica said it was expensive. Aren’t you a treasure hunter for profit? You could have sold it.” She crossed her arms and looked at the mountains, avoiding eye contact.
Finn leaned back and retrieved his mug of coffee, taking a long pull before answering. “Because a trusted ally is worth all the Thul in the universe. Think of it as an investment. And it’ll go great with Gram.”
“You’re giving me the sword too?” she asked, turning to him with one eyebrow raised.
He shrugged. “You seem to know your way around it well enough, although I should probably start teaching you how to properly use it. Besides, I have Fragar. He suits me better.”
She turned and leaned her hip on the rail, her arms still crossed. “So, you expect me to keep on helping you for the long haul?”
“Not at all,” he clarified. “Even if you don’t want anything to do with me after this is all over, the armor and Gram are yours to do with as you like. They’re a gift. No strings attached.”
Penny was watching the two of them as if they were playing a rather interesting game of tennis, swiveling her head back and forth as each one talked.
“Okay, I can accept a gift.” She smiled. “It’s not like you need the money anyway. There’s a safe in there with a year’s salary, plus four more golden nuggets worth the same. What exactly is your plan here, anyway?”
Finn sucked in a deep breath, giving himself a second to think about that. “Well, first of all, I need to get my ship working so I can help you find your friend. Then I want to look into this Dark Star character. Back at Gregory’s office, I noticed there was a little red ooze leftover when the Kashgar’s minds were wiped.”
“What does that mean?” She frowned with sudden concern.
Finn frowned right along with her. “It means there’s some dark magic at play. And that could spell disaster for a lot of people. From the sound of it, this Dark Star has some huge plans, possibly world-changing plans. The wars they could wage would spell disaster for a large portion of the Peabrains that haven’t woken up yet.”
Danica came out with a small, black leather satchel in her hands. “Did I miss something? The party seems to have soured a bit.” She waved for Mila to come over while she sat back down.
Mila pushed off the rail with her hip and turned her back to Danica so she could see the mark. “We were just talking about this Dark Star character. Have you heard anything about her?”
Danica paused, a vial of viscous blue liquid tilted so she could dab a little on her finger. “The Dark Star? Yeah, pretty sure everyone’s heard of her. At least heard rumors. Supposedly, the Dark Star is trying to fight for Magicals’ rights or some such shit. There’s always talk of some group trying to come out into the open, but that’s all they end up being; talk.”
She touched the blue-covered finger to Mila’s back, making the woman suck in a breath.
“Oh, fuck. That’s really cold. What the hell is that?”
“Sorry, I should have warned you. It’s frost-elemental blood.”
Mila looked over her shoulder with wide eyes. “You’re rubbing blood into my back? Isn’t that dangerous from a medical point of view?”
Danica laughed. “Not really. Elementals aren’t the same species. Hell, they’re not even from the same dimension. There’s nothing bloodborne they can give you. It’s perfectly safe.”
She began to chant, drawing symbols in the air just above the mark on Mila’s back with her blue-stained finger.
Finn frowned, only half-watching Danica do her magic. He was more concerned with what she had said about the Dark Star. If there were rumors already flying, then that meant people were putting credence to what was being said, or they wouldn’t keep saying it. That meant there could be a lot of supporters behind the scenes.
Maybe this woman was further along with her plans than Finn had originally thought.
A flash of blue light and the sound of popping bubbles heralded the pleasant smell of lavender.
“Done,” Danica proclaimed, wiping the residual blue substance from Mila’s back with a small towel she had brought with her. “No one will be tracking your cute butt anytime soon.” She playfully smacked Mila’s ass, making the smaller woman yelp.
“What now?” Mila asked, rubbing her butt cheek with the palm of her hand as Danica packed up her bag.
Finn looked up into her large brown eyes and smiled. “Now we wait. We have something they want, and they have no way of finding us anymore. I’m betting we get a call by this afternoon.”
“But they don’t have my number.” Mila pulled her t-shirt on and sat back down in her chair, propping her bare feet back up on the railing.
Finn closed his eyes, soaking in the sun. “That won’t stop them. Let’s just enjoy the day until all hell breaks loose.”
“If we’re just lounging around, then I’m going to change into my lounging pants,” Danica declared, standing and walking back inside. “Who wants a beer? I need a beer.”
Mila and Finn said, “I do” at the same time.
Penny was only a heartbeat behind with a “Chi!” and a smoke ring from her nostril before biting into her last Charleston Chew.
Chapter Nineteen
Mila reclined into the corner of the large, gray, L-shaped sofa, Danica laying across the short side, her head in Mila’s lap as they watched True Grit. Not the new one, but the old one with John Wayne. Finn had convinced them to turn it on when Danica had told him they could stream anything he wanted on the TV. Mila had never seen it, but she was enjoying it so far. She had propped her feet on Finn’s lap. He was sitting next to her, and practically mouthing the words along with the Duke, completely lost in the movie.
Mila smiled at the big, bearded man and his completely genuine engrossment in the movie. He was such an odd character, even before she factored in that he was actually a dwarf. Halfway through the movie, he had started rubbing the soles of her feet with a thumb. It was absentminded, and in no way did she feel like he was coming on to her. He just did it because it was a nice thing for her. She wasn’t even sure he knew he was doing it; it seemed more like his subconscious just made him do thoughtful things without his knowledge.
She had noticed he did that a lot. Unconscious favors or niceties, like helping Penny get a better purchase on his shoulder, or moving to put himself in the more dangerous position, like walking on the street-side of the sidewalk, or holding doors for strangers. The small things that most people didn’t even notice, but that added up over time. Not like some men she had met, who would do nice things expecting something in return, or to build up “points,” like they were playing some game where trading the most valuable favors was the objective.
She caught Penny staring at her from Finn’s shoulder and turned a little red from the scrutiny, not that she had anything to be embarrassed about. When Penny saw her glance, smiled, and puffed a little smoke ring from her nostril. Mila smiled back, understanding that meant Penny approved.
Hopping off Finn’s shoulder and onto the back of the couch, Penny came around to rest her head on Mila’s shoulder while lying down on the pillow behind her head. She hummed with satisfaction and closed her eyes, resting.
Mila didn’t quite know what to make of that. Penny was by all rights just as sentient as the rest of them, maybe even more so, from what Finn had told her, but sometimes, the small dragon acted like a pet. It was a weird combination of mannerisms that confused Mila a bit. In the end, she decided it was best practice to just treat Penny like anyone else she would talk to. She was like a very affecti
onate person, but she was still a person.
Looking down, she saw Danica gazing at her with her blue eyes twinkling and a smile plastered on her face.
“What?” Mila whispered, not wanting to interrupt the movie for Finn.
Danica just shook her head, but kept the knowing smile on her face, and turned back to the screen. She reached up and patted Mila’s leg in a pandering sort of way, but one full of affection at the same time.
“I need to hit the head and grab another beer. You three okay? Want anything?” Finn asked, gently moving Mila’s thoroughly massaged feet to the couch and getting up.
“I’m all good.” Mila smiled at him.
“I’m good too, thanks,” Danica said.
Penny just flicked her tail but he seemed to know exactly what that meant.
Mila watched as he bent over and picked up the four empty bottles of their previous round, and headed into the kitchen to drop them in the recycling before going into the bathroom and closing the door.
She liked that. She didn’t think he was a very tidy person naturally, from the small things she’d observed, like how he had just dropped his clothes beside the couch when he went to sleep the other night. That meant he was being tidy for her sake. Just another of the little niceties adding up in her mind.
As soon as the bathroom door closed, Danica was on her knees, looming over Mila, her face about to split in half with a smile. “Okay, what the hell is going on with you two?”
“Chi chi!” Penny agreed, her eyes now wide open and staring at Mila, her own teeth showing in a huge smile.
“Oh my god.” Mila sank deeper into the couch to get away from them, but it just trapped her all the more between their creepy smiling faces. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, don’t give me that, Mi. I’ve known you for ten years, and have only seen you look at a guy that way once. And he was holding a priceless Mayan artifact at the time.” Danica leaned in even closer. “You are so into Finn.”
Penny leaned in too, nodding and puffing a smoke ring in agreement.