“Get out of my face.” Emma fixed the closest guard with a glare, but his flat black eyes gave her nothing back. “Seshua,” she said, turning to look at the jaguar king. “These are my friends.”
His voice thickened with a barely suppressed growl. “You are not to touch them. Especially not him.” Seshua jerked his chin at Telly, who peered around the shoulder of a guard, an amused expression on his face. The guard didn’t look like he thought it was all that funny.
Seshua started to stalk over to Emma, but stopped a ways from her. Maybe the look of fuming hatred she’d turned on him made him hesitate.
He spoke again before she could add words to that look. “He is not your friend, pequeña . The trickster has no friends. As for the other two, they aided and orchestrated your kidnapping. They ought to be punished.” Seshua’s gaze flicked past Telly, and his deep blue eyes held the promise of pain.
“My kidnapping? My kidnapping? ” Emma’s voice rose higher and heat climbed her cheeks. “They were protecting me from you! You ought to be punished!” She turned on Telly. “And why do they keep calling you trickster?”
Nicknames are a way of defusing the power of a god , said Fern in her mind. Largely superstition, but still.
Emma whipped around and stared at the Aranan. What?
“Don’t listen to him, babe,” Telly said. She looked over at him. She couldn’t tell if he meant Seshua or Fern. Wait — he shouldn’t even know Fern was talking to her to begin with. Right?
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t listen to who?”
If he planned to answer her, it was interrupted by the whistle of drawn steel, the sound cutting the air just as sure as the blade might cut flesh. A cold wind accompanied it, and every head turned to Alexi, who held a long, wicked sword at his side.
“My king,” he said hotly, somehow still managing to put a sneer into his voice. “These three are traitors. This fool freed himself and the brothers, breaking a truce that she,” he jerked his head at Emma, “bargained for. They should be dead right now.” He moved towards the guards that fenced Telly in, and they trembled. Their faces were stoic, but they trembled. Cold breathed out from him and hung in the air; he never raised his weapon, but his arm sang with tension. Emma could have sworn she heard the steel of the blade creak as the temperature around them plummeted. Her skin roughened with gooseflesh, her wounds ached fiercely. When Bruce padded up beside her and sat with a paw on her foot, she was grateful for the warmth.
Telly wasn’t fazed. “Emma bargained for safety in exchange for cooperation, and it was conditional upon her coming to no harm.” He looked pointedly at Emma’s ruined neck and shoulder. “She has come to harm, wouldn’t you say, eich Mawrhydi ?” He looked at Seshua, and it was not a friendly look.
Alexi fumed. “That is stretching things just a little too fucking far.”
“Is it?” Telly pushed his way between two guards, who put their swords up to block his path, but otherwise looked uncertain. “We put her safety and protection in your hands when we agreed to your conditions, Alexi. You failed her by letting Fern get away from you in the first place; you, the guards, everyone. Not to mention,” he added with a speculative glance at the giant tarantula at Emma’s back, “how the hell he got into the maidens’ chambers in the first place.”
“That is a good question,” said Seshua, his tone mild even though his eyes betrayed his annoyance. “One we will have an answer for when the Aranan returns to human shape.” At that, Fern sent an involuntary pulse of alarm into Emma’s mind.
She wasn’t at all sure Fern had any intention of changing back. His thoughts were vague and chaotic, and somewhere in there was the idea that if he stayed tarantula, he could protect her and be incapable of responding to interrogation. Shit. She’d have another fight on her hands.
Her attention moved to Seshua as he spoke again to Telly. “You’ve made your point, Telly, and it’s a point I made some time ago; all in my service have failed me tonight.” The king’s blue eyes darkened to midnight and fixed on Alexi. “Alexi, stand down. Emmalina’s people have earned themselves a reprieve, for the moment, if only by your incompetence.”
Alexi looked like he wanted to argue. Actually, he looked like he wanted to take the king’s head off with his sword if he couldn’t have Telly’s, but he kept his mouth shut and sheathed his weapon, his yellow eyes smoldering like liquid suns. He stepped away, raking Emma with a glance that tightened her throat and made her lungs ache.
She clamped down on the involuntary flare of panic and waited for it to pass. It did. Just magic, just an aura of power. Scary as hell, but it passed. Being bitten by a weretarantula had seriously upped her tolerance for kooky shit.
She turned to Seshua and when she spoke, her voice was steady. “So my friends are safe if I go with you?” Deja vu , anyone? How many more of these discussions could she have in one night? “And the dog?” Mustn’t forget the dog. Good dog . Emma swallowed a hysterical giggle.
Seshua inclined his head, holding her gaze from beneath his thick lashes. Thank God he couldn’t tell she was losing her grip. “Yes, Emmalina, for the moment.” He tensed, and his attention shifted to Telly. What he said to him next, he said with deliberate slowness. “I trust you will respect the liberty afforded a free guest of my sanctuary.” His eyes were wary as he looked at Telly. “Is my trust misplaced?”
The words held a formality Emma didn’t understand. They obviously meant more than what they said, and they were obviously offensive to Telly beyond the fact that up until recently, he’d been a prisoner and not a free guest.
He stiffened. His eyes narrowed down to two pale gray slits, and his face clouded with a shadow of some otherworldly thing beneath the human skin.
His voice dropped low and throbbed with menace. “You trust I won’t destroy half your guard and plunge your sanctuary into total fucking chaos, is what you mean. Right?” Telly’s hair lifted away from his face, moving in a wind that didn’t exist. His face was suddenly just sharper, eyes slanted and glinting.
The two guards flanking him paled, their eyes flicking to their king; it was one thing to offer your life to protect someone, and another to have somebody else talk about taking your life right in front of you. Right next to you.
Seshua looked Telly straight in the eyes, his face a neutral mask, more like marble than ever. “Yes,” he said softly but clearly. “That’s right. I offer you the respect and deference that one such as you deserves, and in return I expect peace in my kingdom. You may object to me taking the lady Emmalina into my keeping, but I don’t believe you would sacrifice so many this night merely to avenge some offense of your own. I do not believe you would do such a thing unless her life was threatened. And I do not threaten her life, trickster.”
“Aye,” Telly spat with sudden venom. “Just her free will.”
“Telly,” Emma interrupted, tongue feeling heavier than it should. “What’s going on? Can’t we just…” Telly turned his cool eyes on her, and she almost forgot the pain that had been steadily growing and spreading from her neck down through her body. Almost. “Can we get this over with? I need medical attention. I’ve already agreed to go with him.” She lowered her voice even though she knew everyone could still hear her. “No matter what you do, I have unfinished business here. I can’t run. As long as you guys are safe, the rest is…” She trailed off and shrugged, regretting it as pain lanced up her neck. She was really goddamn tired now. And cold. Aside from the fact that she was clothed in only a blood soaked bikini, she was probably going into shock.
“Emma,” said Telly, his fierce face softening for her. “He’ll try to make your power his own. He’ll try to take everything from you before it’s even really yours.” He glanced at Seshua, who looked like he wished he could throttle Telly, and talked faster. “He’ll invoke the ritual, awaken your abilities, and you will be his, no choice, no way to stand against him.”
“My abilities? But I’ve — aren’t they already awake?”
&n
bsp; No — what had the maidens said? That’s what Telly was talking about. Possession. She frowned, leaned heavily on the dog for support. “But all this crap with Fern, and Ricky before…” She trailed off again, frowning at him, trying to stay focused; she felt really woozy now. Please don’t let me pass out , she prayed — but it was Fern’s wordless mental touch that answered her.
“It’s not the same,” said Telly. “A shapechanger had to dig for your power, trigger it, and provide the metaphysical bridge. There’s more, and —”
“That’s enough,” growled Seshua, low but threatening. “I’ll not have you —”
“Telly, give it up,” said Emma flatly, interrupting Seshua with total disregard. “I’ve never had any control. This whole day has just been one long demonstration of how totally fucking powerless I really am here.” She felt Fern’s mind touch hers as if from a distance, the Aranan trying to send her warmth, trying to communicate something to her, but her exhaustion shut him down. She’d reached the end of her tether. Bruce whined and licked her bare thigh.
“That’s not true,” said Telly, holding her gaze with his own pale one. “You have power, more than Seshua, more than Alexi. More than I. But you’ll never learn how to use it if people keep trying to take it away from you.” His features became hard and anguished, and he seemed to slump where he stood. The guards flanking him moved off, an inch, maybe two.
Telly shook his head, sandy hair falling into his eyes, hiding them. “I should have protected you. I’m as much to blame for this as anyone else. But,” his voice dropped low, so low Emma had to strain to hear it. “I’m going to put it right.”
His head came up, and a familiar wind kicked up out of nowhere, lifting his hair from his face. His eyes were a cloudy, luminous white behind all that blond hair. The guards took an involuntary step back. Somewhere far away, Emma heard Seshua’s rippling growl, but her world had narrowed to Telly and his white, white eyes, his face thinning down, bones rolling beneath skin.
“I have something to give you,” he said, voice too deep, and then he leapt for her.
Telly exploded from between the two guards as though he’d been shot from a cannon. The steel of their blades raked his bare arms. Blood arced in twin red fans, but Telly was gone before the splatters hit the stones.
To Emma he was a blur, a blond blur of motion to match the cobalt one that rushed at her from her left. For one breathless moment she felt sure they would both hit her and smash her flat between them. Not a bad way to go, all things considered, but it wasn’t meant to be, Telly was smaller, faster, surer.
He smacked into her and sent them both flying as Seshua hurtled through the space she’d just occupied. Bruce barked; Fern screamed in her mind, a blind cry of fear and anger. Telly rolled to cushion her as they both slammed into the ground and her teeth rattled in her skull and the breath slammed out of her belly in a hard shove. Shouts rose around them. Emma sucked a breath in and tried to lift herself from where she lay sprawled across Telly’s chest, and her arm gave out, too weak.
The dog reached her side and whirled, barking madly, tail whipping her in the face. Telly laughed, short and fierce. Crazy sonofa —
Questions died in her throat as she caught sight of Seshua marching towards them, Fern rearing hugely behind him and stabbing the air with his front legs. Confusion and alarm exploded into her mind like static. Fern’s thoughts were total chaos, and he was going to run at her, crush anyone in his path.
No Fern! No! What would they do to the Aranan if he truly threatened the king? Trust me, please don’t hurt anybody, keep yourself safe for me! She thrust the thought at him with as much force as she could muster, unknowing and uncaring of why it mattered. It just did.
Seshua’s face was indigo with rage, his black mane flying behind him, lips bared over white, wicked teeth, fingers bent into talons. He was going to kill Telly. Whatever kind of warped respect thing they had going on between them, Seshua would kill him now regardless.
Emma threw out a hand to stop him. “NO!” she cried, her throat hoarse from being winded. But there was no stopping him. Oh God, no —
Telly tugged her hand down and he rolled them both over, spun them and landed atop her this time. Seshua roared. Telly ignored him. He captured Emma’s gaze with his pale eyes, like moonlight on water, and there was an ocean of sorrow and knowledge and ruthless survival held in the lights of his irises.
Emma’s skin flared to life with a now familiar sensation, that cold prickling feeling engulfing her, from the top of her skull to the backs of her knees. She sucked in air as Telly opened the call. Whether he called his own beast or something else, she had no idea, she just felt it, like somebody threw open a door on an arctic winter night and she was standing right in the path of the storm.
Seshua froze in his tracks as if he’d hit an invisible wall. Telly loomed over her, his weight pinning her down. She struggled to breathe past the feel of the call and the crushing weight of him against her chest. His face thinned down to a terrible mask, eyes blazing white, and the air around his body shimmered and warped. Emma began to be afraid.
“What are you doing?” Her voice came out thin and breathless, lips moving mere inches from his. She shook as magic marched over her skin in cold, skin-crawling waves, and Telly’s own aura of power was a furnace wind against it. He stared down into her face for a moment as though he wouldn’t answer, as though he didn’t recognize her, as though the thing beneath his skin had pushed away the memory of her.
But then he spoke, and his voice was half his own. “I want to give you something,” he said, the words carrying an echo that seemed to come from inside. “Will you let me?”
Was that supposed to be a rhetorical question? “What is it?” Would he really let her choose?
He lowered his face to hers, slowly, until their noses touched and his eyes were all she could see. She sucked in a breath and tasted his scent; dust, engine oil, something like dying grass in the sun. Something that made her think of lonely roads that stretched forever.
“I’ll show you,” he whispered, his breath hot on her mouth, “but you’ll have to open your mind to me. We have to go somewhere else, and I can’t take you if you don’t want to go, I can’t keep you with me. And you have to decide, because I can’t hold them like this for much longer.”
Emma glanced sideways and found every single member of the guard had crowded around them, with Seshua and Alexi fuming alongside them, seeming to strain at some invisible barrier. They were a mere yard or two away, but they couldn’t come any closer. Bruce shook beside her, watching them all with wide, blazing eyes, hackles reaching for the sky.
Emma had no idea what Telly meant, about any of it, and she almost didn’t care; she trusted Telly for no good reason, and either it would work out, or it wouldn’t. What did she have to lose?
“How. Tell me how.” She blinked up into his face, and could have sworn the light of his eyes felt warm like sunshine.
“There’s a door inside, a wall,” he murmured as he circled his arms about her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. “You don’t know it’s there, but you can open it. Just think of it. Just bring it down for me.” Just think of it, sure, right. Emma took a deep breath and let it out, thinking of doors, reaching out to reassure the dog with her touch. Just open it , she thought, just bring it down . Ha ha, no problem. Just —
Telly pressed his mouth to hers, and the wall inside burst apart.
Seshua stumbled as the invisible barrier of energy restraining him collapsed, sucking in on itself like a vacuum and sending Alexi and the guards sprawling into the space which Telly and Emma had occupied — until they disappeared. They simply winked out of existence. Even the dog.
Anton caught Ricky a split second before he tried to rush past the guards and go — where? After Emma? With Anton’s hand clapped over his mouth and another digging into his arm, Ricky rolled amber eyes to his brother and didn’t need to speak. Anton gave a sharp shake of his head. Emma was in T
elly’s hands now.
24
For a moment Emma felt insubstantial as air, as though a wind had blown all the molecules of her body apart, and then she came back together just in time to hit the ground with a forceful whump .
She opened her eyes, no light. She blinked into the black.
“Telly?” Her voice echoed.
“I’m here,” he said, right beside her. She swallowed a scream. She put her hand out and patted it around, feeling her way, trying to find him, and jerked away when she touched fur. Bruce? She reached out with her other hand, to her other side, and touched — Oh boy. Dear Lord. Fur again.
“I’m going to make light for us,” Telly said to her left. “Cover your eyes.” Emma shaded her eyes with one hand, but kept them open. Firelight leapt to life and for a second it was so dazzling, Emma couldn’t tell where it came from. Then her eyes adjusted.
She took in the sight of a massive natural stone cavern, the walls and floor and sloping roof dripping fantastic lime and rock formations, mineral deposits that must have taken thousands of years to form. Small stone lamps flared in crevices in the walls, and more were set on top of squat pillars of limestone that had built up naturally from the drip from the ceiling. The air smelled of rock and warm oil and sand, and the cavern was ancient and beautiful, and Emma had no idea how they’d gotten there.
She turned to look at Telly and almost screamed again. He was still Telly, but…he glowed as though filled with firelight. His hair was longer and all the colors of autumn leaves. His face held the sharpness of his beast without looking like a poor mask, but his eyes weren’t human — still pale blue like harsh summer skies, but they now tilted up and his pupils were permanent vertical slits. And russet fur crept down from his hairline, circled his pointed ears, dusting his jaw, fanning the nape of his neck. It thinned out over his shoulders, but gradually thickened down the length of his arms, until his forearms were completely covered in a dark red pelt that lightened to cream on his inner arms and wrists.
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