by Sonya Clark
Judith said, “Will he be able to bring her out on his own?”
Sanngrid nodded. “There’s a warrior backing Eve because the dead queen has been holding his child hostage and he wants his kid safe. I think he can be trusted at least until he gets what he wants. Otherwise I wouldn’t have let Pete bring me first.”
“Everyone get back to the institute. Chet, I’d like you to stay and wait for them. As soon as he’s back in the building, I want Pete in my office.” Judith turned and headed back for the institute.
George followed first, then the others. Sanngrid lingered with Chet. “She knows something.”
Chet agreed. “She never would have let Pete stay if he hadn’t told her the truth.”
“The brother’s bad news. He’s a sorcerer and I think he may be the one behind what went down in Frankfurt.”
Shit. Chet hoped that wasn’t true, for Pete’s sake. “Go on. Get that arm looked at.”
She gave him a weak grin. “Stay warm, Kedrova.”
***
Eve raised her head from her knees at the sound of footsteps on the stone floor. She looked back to see Pete approaching. He’d fixed his shirt and armor, his black sword in one hand. His face was unreadable underneath the dried blood.
“Ready?”
She was very much ready to be home but something stopped her. Perhaps it was the coldness in his eyes that reminded her so much of his brother. “Why are you mad at me?”
He looked away. “I’m not mad at you. I’m just mad.” He sheathed the sword.
“It seems like you’re mad at me. I didn’t know what would happen, Pete. She was about to gut you with that knife.”
“It doesn’t matter now.”
“What was I supposed to do, let her kill you?”
“I can’t do this right now. Let’s just go.”
“We have to talk about this. All of it.” Meaning what she’d seen in the manacles as much as what happened when she killed the Bone Queen. He had to know she knew quite a bit of the truth now, enough to be shaken by it. Maybe she didn’t have a right to ask him to talk to her about it but no one else knew. Not even his closest friends, Sanngrid and Chet. Had he ever talked to anyone about what happened to him? Or had he held it inside, his own private nightmare?
“The longer we stay here, the more at risk you are. Let’s get back to Bradbury and let your steward take care of the fallout.” He extended a hand.
With reluctance Eve took it. She was afraid if she let him he would keep putting off having any meaningful conversation. They did need to leave though, so she allowed him to lead her out of the cave.
Kieran waited at the lake shore. The Long Night Moon hung heavy and low in the night sky, so large its silver light was almost as bright as day. The steward bowed as they approached. “Highness, I take my leave of you.”
“Okay.” Not sure what to say, Eve just stood there. She realized she was still holding Pete’s hand. His fingers were cold but tightly twined with hers. She squeezed his hand, heartened when he returned the small gesture.
“There is one thing.” Kieran held up a polished ring of bone with a ruby stone. “Whether you wear this or not is up to you, but as the Bone Queen you should have it. It is a symbol of your rule and it is also enchanted. Through it, I’ll be able to contact you when necessary.”
Eve shoved it in her pocket. “Thank you. Good luck, Kieran.”
Once again he seemed surprised at her use of his name. He nodded, then moved off to the temporary camp on the other side of the lake.
She turned to Pete. “Please take me home.” Hopefully it would be a long time before she ever had to come back to Sideways.
***
Pete stared out the window behind Judith’s desk at the falling snow. The first light of dawn shone a murky gray in the winter gloom. He’d told Judith and Chet everything and they’d shown him the black diamond found in the kitchen. So Agnar had been spying, but that didn’t mean it was because of Pete’s presence.
“If he was John Delafield’s secret buyer then he wants the Key of Darkness. My being here probably doesn’t mean that much to him.”
Judith said, “You really believe that? He went to a lot of trouble to get your attention. Tipped his hand, even. Before we had no idea who we were dealing with. Now we do.”
That much was true. Agnar and their mother always shared the same jealousy of Pete’s natural ability as well as the same possessiveness of him. If they couldn’t make him do their bidding, they would not allow him to be his own man. “I think it’s clear he wants me dead. He pretty much turned us over to…he turned us over.” He rubbed his face. The Bone Queen’s death hadn’t sunk in yet. Much less the fallout.
“Do you think this man Kieran can be trusted?”
“I don’t really care. I just wanted to get Eve out of there.”
Chet said, “I’ll have Rami consult with the gargoyles. We’ll need to be alerted if there’s any Sidhe presence detected.”
“Not just Sidhe,” Pete said. “They can send other creatures after her as well.”
“I’ll talk to Rami about new security spells.” Judith rose. “Pete, if you think of anything else we need to know, please tell Chet.”
“Yes, ma’am.” She placed a hand on his shoulder briefly as she left the room.
As soon as the door closed Chet spoke. “What happened between you and Eve? You wouldn’t look at each other when you brought her back.”
“Just pour me a drink and get off my back.”
“Pour your own damn drink! What the hell happened?”
“What happened is I just painted a target on that woman. Because of me, every mercenary in the Valley Below will be coming to kill her and take that crown.”
“Funny, I thought it was this brother of yours that kidnapped her and took her to Sideways. And turned you over to the Bone Queen. How is that your fault?”
“He took her because of me. You may not be a hundred percent sure Devin was a spy but I am. He knew institute gossip. He called her my woman. He targeted Eve because he knew that was the one thing that would make me cross into Sideways again.”
“That may be so, but come on. Don’t be stupid. The only thing Eve’s going to blame you for is if you’re not there for her when she needs you. Don’t shut her out now.”
“He put those manacles on her. I know she saw things.” Pete covered his face with his hands and leaned over. Nausea roiled in his gut as images flickered in his mind, things he’d gladly give years of his life to forget. But there would be no forgetting. No amount of booze or anything else could mask the memories. He’d lived a nightmare he never wanted to think of or speak of again, but now Eve had seen it. How much, he didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. She’d seen enough, that much he was sure of. How could he explain to Chet the humiliation he felt, the violation at those nightmare memories being dredged up and passed around like party gossip? He wanted to kill Agnar for that. He wanted to do to his brother what he’d accidently done to their mother. That sickened him. That made him afraid of himself.
Most of all, though, he didn’t know if he could look at Eve again. He didn’t know what he would do if he saw pity in her eyes.
Chet said, “Look, I don’t know what to tell you. I know you care about Eve and I think you want more than friendship with her. If that’s true then you can’t let this fester. You have to talk to her. I know you’re going through a lot right now but you gotta remember, she killed someone. For you.”
Pete hadn’t thought of it in quite those terms. He’d made her both a killer and a target. He owed her thanks, and a chance to scream at him if that’s what she needed.
“I’ll go talk to her. If she’ll see me.”
“Go clean up first.” Chet gestured at the red smears on Pete’s face and clothes. “I think she’s seen enough blood for one day.”
Pete nodded. “So have I.”
After letting Maura tend his wounds in the infirmary, Pete made his way home through the snow. H
e knew from experience how long the herbal remedies would take, so he boosted their power by drawing on the cold around him. He caught snowflakes in his hands and pulled Winter into his body with just a thought. Its restorative powers went to work immediately, soothing his aches and pains and healing the cuts from the Bone Queen’s poison blade.
When he was her prisoner, he’d fantasized about killing the Bone Queen himself. Dreams of his hands squeezing her neck got him through many a horrible night. He’d felt abandoned, lost to the world and even himself. Sometimes he didn’t know how he’d made it out of there sane, or even if he really had. He knew he was a different person now, but sometimes he felt glimmers of the young man he used to be trying to push to the surface.
He stood in a swirl of snow and realized it was of his making. The snowfall had ceased. This gentle spiral of ice and fluff that enveloped him was coming up from the ground, called by magic and his body’s need for healing.
Agnar had never been able to do anything like this. He needed the trappings, the spells and rituals and incantations. His mastery of those trappings made him powerful, to be sure. Pete recalled the hours and hours they both spent at lessons as boys. His brother worked diligently but for Pete it was as easy as breathing. He’d never fully understood how rare that was until coming to Bradbury, and it had helped seal his determination to suppress his natural magic.
Pete didn’t want to suppress his magic anymore. It might be dangerous, but so was the gun he now wore like a part of himself. If he could control the one, surely he could control the other. If it could do something as amazing as create this swirling, healing curtain of snow, surely it couldn’t be all bad.
After a while he moved on to his apartment and a hot shower. As he dressed in clean clothes he considered what to say to Eve. Sorry didn’t seem to be near enough. He would stay away from her if that’s what she wanted, but he could finally admit at least to himself that that wasn’t what he wanted. Right or wrong, fair or not, he wanted her in his life. Not just as a colleague or a friend, but as…whatever she was willing to be.
The thought of telling Eve how he felt sent a flurry of butterflies loose in his stomach and nervous magic itching in his fingertips. Facing an entire legion of Shadow Raiders armed with nothing but a paperclip seemed preferable.
Chapter 17
Eve took the cup of tea from Franny, grateful for the warmth. She’d taken the hottest shower she could stand and dressed in a warm track suit but the chill of that cave would not leave.
“I can make you an appointment tomorrow if you want. With my hairdresser. She’s really good.” Franny tucked an uneven lock behind Eve’s ear.
“I’ve never had it this short. It feels weird.” Eve ran a hand through her hair. It didn’t take long. Damn it. She didn’t want to be silly and vain but she hated the loss of her long hair.
“I bet it’ll look adorable once it’s shaped up and styled.” MacGuffin left Franny’s lap and ambled across the couch to Eve, dropping in a furry heap by her thigh.
Eve petted the dog, tucking him in closer. He was even warmer than the tea.
Franny said, “So what are you going to do about this queen business? I don’t think there’s ever been a human monarch in Sideways.”
“I have no idea. I’d like to forget the whole thing. Judith said we’d talk about it tomorrow with Captain Irvine.”
“Pete looked pretty rough.”
Eve didn’t answer. They hadn’t spoken since leaving the cave so she had no idea how Pete was doing. He’d walked away from her as soon as she opened the door to her apartment. She wanted so much to talk to him, at least make sure he was okay, but she didn’t know if he wanted to see her. “I’m sure Maura will patch him up.”
“That’s not really what I meant.”
“I know.”
A knock came from the door. Franny rose to answer it. “You feel like more company? If you’re too tired, I’ll run off whoever it is.”
“I’m okay. I mean, I’m tired but there’s no way I’m getting to sleep anytime soon.”
Her back was to the door so she didn’t see who Franny let in until he stood in front of her. It was Pete. Franny scooped up Mac and mumbled an excuse to leave. Eve set her cup on the end table and folded her hands in her lap.
“May I sit with you?” Formal and so polite. Yet another version of Pete.
She nodded. He sank into the couch, closer than she expected. Heat from his body radiated toward her and she had to fight the urge to scoot closer. He’d showered and changed, his hair still damp. The cuts on his face had been reduced to faint lines, Maura’s healing herbs doing an amazing job.
“I’m no good at small talk so I’m just going to say what I came here to say.” He shifted as if unsure whether to face her or not. Finally he settled on staring at the floor. “I’m sorry about what happened. I’m sorry my brother is a psychopath and drew you into our family crap. I’m sorry about what you had to do and what it caused.” He paused, then continued, sounding more sure of himself. “We’re already making arrangements for your security. People will come after you, trying to get the crown, but they won’t get to you. And we’ll find a way for you to abdicate. I promise you I’ll fix this.”
“This isn’t your fault and it’s not yours to fix. I made a decision that could have gotten us all killed but I didn’t have a choice. She was going to kill you! She was going to put that knife in you.” She choked back a sob, covering her mouth. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Pete exhaled slowly. “I’m no good with words, Evie. Not anymore. I used to be so good at so many things and I can’t do any of them anymore.”
The sadness in his voice tugged at her. She reached for his hand, half expecting him to refuse her touch. To her surprise he didn’t, folding her hand into his.
“I wanted to try with you, to be the way I used to be. I wanted to charm you and make you laugh and get you to date me. I don’t have that in me anymore. I’m sorry for that.”
She took a deep shuddering breath, vowing not to cry in front of him. “It’s okay. I understand.”
He shifted to face her, their eyes finally meeting. He stared for a long moment, the dark blue of his eyes ringed with a faint silver. “Good. That’s good.”
Eve pulled her hand from his and stood. “Look, I’m really tired, so if you don’t mind.” She stopped. What could she say to him? Please leave so I can cry myself to sleep? If he wanted to push her away, she didn’t know what to do about that. He’d been pushing her away from the start. Any tentative steps toward each other hadn’t changed that. They weren’t really involved. They weren’t even friends, strictly speaking. All that existed between them was attraction and possibility. So why did her heart hurt so much at the thought of him walking out her door?
“Just do one thing for me,” she said.
“Anything.” He rose and reached for her hand.
Eve took a step back. “Give me some space. I know this isn’t a break-up. We never dated, so it’s not like this is a break-up. But it still feels bad and I just want a little space from you for a while because I don’t want to leave here and I don’t want you to leave because of me. We have to work together, and everything will be fine, and I’ll feel better soon.” She realized she’d been speaking in a rush, as if it was the only way to get the words out. She took a breath and looked at him, just one quick glance before dropping her eyes back to the floor. His expression was unreadable.
“Just a little space, for a few days. Then everything will be fine.” She turned on her heel abruptly and hurried into the bedroom. Dealing with his rejection was one thing. Watching him walk away…from her, from all of that possibility that ran like an underground river beneath the surface between them…she didn’t have the stomach for that right then. She sat on the foot of the bed, elbows on her knees, and covered her face with her hands. Determined not to cry until she heard the front door close.
***
It took Pete a few moments to wade through
his confusion and figure out what the hell just happened. He’d spoken so badly that she thought he was walking away from her. He cursed himself for being so lousy at this. He’d been so good with girls once, always knew just what to say and when to say it. But he wasn’t that same person anymore and Eve wasn’t just another pretty girl he wanted to sweet talk into bed. She was a grown woman, and she’d put everything on the line for him tonight. He had to find a way to tell her how he felt. She deserved nothing less than him putting himself on the line, too.
He ran his hands through his hair, smoothing it in place. Then he adjusted his jacket before taking it off, leaving it draped over the back of the sofa. If he worked at it he could have found other ways to delay, probably even excuses to leave. Instead, he shook his head and strode to the bedroom door.
“Eve.” He placed one hand flat against the door, the other resting on the knob. “May I come in?”
Nearly a full minute of silence chipped away at his resolve second by second. He stepped away from the door, half turned to leave, when it opened.
“What do you want?” Eve used the door as a shield, tilting her head so that her short, ragged hair partly covered her face.
Pete tried to put everything he wanted to tell her in some kind of coherent order. That she’d misunderstood what he’d been trying to say. That he was so desperately sorry his brother had dragged her into their old family dysfunction. That he was amazed as always at her courage and strength. That her dead aim impressed the hell out of him. That her full lips drove him crazy with the desire to taste them and her eyes had the ability to cut straight through to the deepest part of him.
But the words got all jumbled up in his head and all he could do was give her a simple answer to her question. “You.”
Gently but quickly, Pete pushed the door out of the way and reached for her. He held nothing back as he took her mouth with his, folding her into his arms. Eve held herself aloof for a heartbeat, then another. Then she opened her lips under his and twined her arms around his neck, pulling him lower to bridge the gap between their height difference. Her touch lit up his senses in ways even magic couldn’t compare with.