by Jocelyn Fox
“Didn’t doubt that for a second,” said Duke reassuringly.
But Ross did doubt it. Without his magic, Niall was…almost ordinary. Yes, he possessed inhuman strength, just like Luca; and she supposed his skills with a sword were handy, but who needed swords when they had pistols and a good amount of ammunition on hand?
“I should get back to my brother,” said Farin, her ferocious aura dimmed somewhat by her disappointment at outing Niall.
“Farin,” said Niall, taking a step forward. He nodded encouragingly to her. “Take heart, little sister. You did nothing wrong.”
She swept a hurried bow to him and then zipped away, her aura streaming a deep blue color that Ross had never seen before in the glows of the Glasidhe.
“I’m gonna go make myself some lunch,” announced Duke. “Sandwiches for everyone.”
“I’m not really hungry,” said Vivian faintly. She hadn’t stopped staring at Niall. Ross glanced at Vivian warily as she made her way back to the couch and picked up her book. After checking her phone to ensure she hadn’t missed a call from one of the police departments, she folded her legs underneath her and found her place in the paperback.
“Did you offer to train me just because you lost your taebramh?” Vivian asked in a low voice.
“I offered to train you because I thought that you had potential,” replied Niall evenly.
“Bullshit,” said Vivian. “How in the world would you know that I had potential? You’ve known me for less than a week.”
Ross didn’t even pretend to be reading. She watched the standoff from her vantage point on the couch. Vivian’s freckles stood out vividly against her cheekbones; rather than reddening when she was angry, Ross knew that the blood drained from her roommate’s face.
“As I said, most mortals could access their taebramh,” Niall said. “It’s the stuff your dreams are made of, after all, so all of you have it, to some degree. To use it though, that’s a matter of will and belief.” He sighed. “And why would it matter if I decided to train you because I had lost my own taebramh?”
Vivian pressed her lips together. “I don’t know, but it feels like it matters. It feels like you were just doing what you thought you had to do, rather than choosing it.”
“There are always choices,” said Niall.
“Maybe you should give him a break, V,” Ross suggested gently.
Vivian snorted. “This from the woman who thinks that magic isn’t real.”
“That viewpoint is continually being assaulted,” retorted Ross drily. “Not least of all by the sight of you with that little fireball in your hand. Didn’t you enjoy that?”
“Yes,” said Vivian grudgingly. “I understand what you’re trying to do…and it’s working. But only a little bit,” she added vehemently. She drew back her shoulders and adjusted her sling. “I’m going to go check on Tyr.”
“Jess is already there,” pointed out Ross.
“You don’t think I know that? Maybe he will have a logical opinion on this whole mess.” And with that, Vivian leveled one more hot glare at Niall and spun on her heel.
“Thank you for trying,” Niall said to Ross after the door to Vivian’s bedroom closed.
“Don’t worry, she’ll come around,” said Ross. “I think that she just feels a little like she doesn’t have anything to offer. She doesn’t like to be patronized.”
“I do not think that anyone likes to be patronized,” said Niall.
“Do you want to sit down? You look…”
“Terrible?” Niall finished Ross’ sentence for her with a ghost of a smile. He took a seat on the other half of the couch.
“So we really are stuck until the bone sorcerer makes a move that makes it out into the news reports,” said Ross.
“Perhaps,” said Niall, leaning his head back. Then he straightened and murmured something that sounded to Ross like an oath in another language. “Or perhaps not.” He turned to Ross. “I have overlooked someone. We all have.” And with that, he stood and disappeared down the hallway to the study. Ross frowned and then shrugged. She turned back to her book, read the same paragraph three times and absorbed none of it, and tossed it aside with a sigh.
“Need help with lunch?” she asked Duke as she walked into the kitchen.
“If you wanna pour some drinks, I’m just about done making the sandwiches,” said Duke. “Three turkey and bacon, and three egg salad. Think that’ll be enough?”
“If it’s not, you can always make more.” Ross dropped ice cubes into glasses, pouring everyone a glass of water.
“You’re so practical,” said Duke with a smile. He squeezed her hip with his free hand as he passed by on the way to deliver the plate of sandwiches to the table.
“Well, someone around here has to be,” muttered Ross.
“Is that in reference to these magic lessons, or just a general statement?”
“Maybe both,” she said. “After everything that’s happened, I think common sense needs to be applied liberally around here.”
“What kind of common sense would you apply to magic lessons?” Duke tilted his head to one side.
“You look like a curious puppy when you do that,” said Ross with a chuckle.
“Ain’t it adorable?” Duke grinned.
“I guess that’s one word for it.” Ross finished ferrying the glasses of water to the table and wiped her hands on her thighs. “Should I let everyone know that lunch is on the table?”
“Look at you, bein’ all domestic and such,” murmured Duke, his eyes darkening as he pulled her close.
“I think we have far too much on our plate right now to waste the day in bed,” Ross said, raising an eyebrow. Even after all this time apart, even after he’d been to another world and back, she could still read him like a book. “Common sense, remember?”
Duke groaned. “You’re right.” He sighed dramatically. “I’m gonna eat and then I’ll relieve Jess for a spell. Care to join me?”
“Let me feed May first,” said Ross. She opened the fridge and pulled out the tin of wet dog food.
“You spoil her,” said Duke through a mouthful of turkey and bacon.
“She’s a retired working dog,” retorted Ross as she scooped out a portion of the gourmet dog food.
“I hope you feed me half as well when I’m retired,” said Duke.
“Well, you’re legally dead, remember, so technically you’ll never be retired.” Ross regretted the words almost as soon as she spoke them. Duke stopped chewing for a moment and then shrugged, feigning nonchalance as he turned back to his plate. But she could tell in the set of his shoulders that she’d stung him a little. She signaled Mayhem to sit, and the Malinois obeyed instantly, her amber eyes fixed on the scoop of food. Ross emptied the portion into Mayhem’s steel bowl, put the tin back into the fridge, and turned around to make sure that May was still patiently waiting for permission to eat…which, of course, she was. If only all her relationships were as simple as the bond between her and May, Ross thought with a hint of wistfulness as she signaled the dog that she was free to eat. Mayhem happily dove nose-first into her food, her hind legs stepping from side to side in her unique expression of satisfaction.
As she sat down, Niall joined them at the table. He didn’t elaborate on what he’d suddenly remembered as he sat on the couch. Ross supposed they’d find out soon enough. Duke finished his sandwich quickly and washed his plate with uncanny speed. Ross sighed. Why did her sharp tongue have to reappear so soon after he’d gotten back?
“It feels strange,” she said, half to fill the silence and half to see if she could get Niall to talk. “Sitting here and eating lunch like nothing is wrong.”
Niall regarded her for a moment with his unsettling eyes. “You have seen war. You know that there are always ordinary moments between the chaos.”
“How do you know so much about me?” Ross asked seriously.
“I listen,” Niall replied. “I observe. I put details together to see a larger picture.”
He raised his colorless eyebrows. “The same could be said for you. You see things that not everyone does.”
“Sometimes,” said Ross with a nod. “I’ll take that. But honestly, I feel like this is a whole new ballgame. I don’t know right from left in a world with magic and Fae and other worlds.”
“It is the same as the world you have always known,” said Niall. “Just with the addition of these new things.” He thought for a moment. “When you were a child, did it unsettle you when you realized you did not know something about the world?”
Ross blinked and frowned. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”
“I assume you did not always know how to cook food, or how to shoot a gun,” said Niall.
“When I was a kid? Of course not.”
Niall smiled. “So how is this any different? You did not think any less of yourself as a child when you realized how much you had to learn. I venture to guess that you still do not, when you discover something that is new to you in your world. I am simply saying that perhaps you should apply the same concept to this new knowledge about my world and taebramh and everything else.”
“That…makes a strange sort of sense,” Ross said slowly. She took a contemplative bite of her sandwich.
“I can try to teach you,” Niall said. “Despite your disbelief, I think you have the strength of will.”
Ross shook her head. “Nope. Conjuring glowing balls of fire is where I draw the line. Thanks for the offer, though.” She washed down the last bite of her sandwich with a swallow of water. “Anything I can help with for Ramel or Tyr?” She didn’t know why, but she felt like checking on them herself would be intruding. She didn’t know Ramel or Molly, and Tyr was just another type of unknown.
“I do not believe so,” said Niall.
Ross nodded. “Okay then. I’m going to go for a run.”
“A run? To where?”
“Just down to the main road and back. It’s about four miles round trip.” She smiled at Niall’s concerned look. “Don’t worry, I’ll take May with me. She’s a good running buddy and I’m pretty sure she can handle almost anything if she can take down Corsica.”
“I don’t doubt her skills or your courage, but do you think it is wise, with the bone sorcerer and Corsica on the loose?”
Ross stood and collected her plate and glass. “Well, I’m going stir-crazy just sitting here in the house waiting for someone to call me back from the police. Trust me, it’s better for everyone if I go on a run.” She checked her watch. “If I’m not back in forty minutes, you can start thinking about sending out a search party.”
“What’s this about you going for a run?” Jess asked as he made his way to the table.
“How was the watch?” asked Ross.
“One of the easiest I’ve ever stood,” replied Jess. Then he leveled a no-nonsense look at her.
She sighed. “Yes, I was just telling Niall that I’m starting to feel a bit stir-crazy. I’m taking Mayhem with me, and I’ll have my phone.”
To her surprise, Jess nodded. “Okay. If you’re not back in forty-five, I’m gonna call the cops.”
She grinned. “If I’m not finished with that four mile loop in forty-five minutes, you have my permission to give me crap for the rest of the time you’re here at the house.”
“Bold words,” said Jess, shaking his head.
“You think I can’t deliver? Pretty sure I can run faster than you, old man.”
“Hey, there’s no need to run when you can stand your ground and fight,” said Jess as he stacked two sandwiches on his plate. “What’s the saying? Running breeds cowardice.”
“Actually, running is excellent conditioning for battle,” Niall said seriously.
“Okay, Spock,” chuckled Ross. “Come on May, wanna go for a run?”
Mayhem shook herself thoroughly and trotted over to the front door, her tail waving enthusiastically.
“You don’t leash her?” Jess asked.
“Don’t need to,” said Ross. “No neighbors to complain, and besides, she’s better trained than most men I know.”
Niall frowned and looked at Jess. “Was that an insult directed at you?”
“I think she was including you, too, buddy,” said Jess with a grin.
Ross slid on her running shoes and grabbed her sunglasses from the table in the entryway. “See you guys in a bit.”
“Maybe she’ll be less insulting when she returns,” said Jess in a low voice to Niall as she opened the front door.
“I heard that,” she called over her shoulder as she shut the door. Shaking her head, she set the timer on her watch, pushed her sunglasses up her nose and set off at a lope down the driveway, Mayhem trotting merrily alongside her in the bright sunlight of the Louisiana afternoon.
Chapter 8
For what felt to her like the hundredth time, Tess walked around the perimeter of her newly assigned quarters in the High Queen’s wing of the cathedral. Though outwardly it seemed as though everything was still housed in that cavernous tent, the interior had developed into something resembling Darkhill or their quarters at the Seelie Hall of the Outer Guard. Tess thought that perhaps the Seelie and Unseelie additions to the Vyldgard had assisted the High Queen in weaving the nuances of the rune-spells necessary to construct such complex, richly detailed lodgings. She could still see the aesthetic of the Wild Court in the jewel-like colors of the wall hangings and the rugs on the flagstone floor, but there was definite Seelie influence in the ethereal glass lights suspended in a delicate chain across the ceiling, and the long, low fireplace reminded Tess of her room back in Darkhill. It felt a bit strange to have a real, solid room of her own after the countless days spent journeying across Faeortalam, sleeping under the stars and under the canopy of the forests, staying a few nights in hospitable locations but then moving on, nomads of war. She vaguely missed the little draped compartment that she had shared with Calliea during the journey across the Deadlands and the immediate aftermath of the battle.
Or perhaps it was the companionship that she was missing, she thought to herself as she picked up the silver poker by the fire and prodded at one of the logs idly. The Sword hadn’t been very vocal since the battle with the bone sorcerer, and Luca had gone with Kianryk to meet Chael and Rialla and Beryk outside the city after the council. She supposed it was only natural that the wolves wished to reunite and she couldn’t begrudge Luca time with Chael. After all, they and Vell were the last survivors of their people. She touched the side of her throat, where she knew the silver scars from the White Wolf’s teeth were still visible on her skin. Why had the White Wolf marked her? There had been three ulfdrengr, the true survivors, and then her. She looped a finger thoughtfully through Gwyneth’s pendant at her throat.
A knock sounded on the wall of her chamber. Like the High Queen’s room, the entrance was through a tapestry. Tess’s tapestry depicted a stylized rendering of the river tree with the Sword in its trunk. She supposed it could be her coat of arms at this point.
“Come in,” she called, reaching out with her taebramh to touch the tapestry. It recognized her touch and wouldn’t let anyone into her quarters without her permission, a fact of which Gray seemed particularly proud. Tess suspected that the golden-haired warrior had crafted that specific feature herself.
Liam walked through the tapestry, smiling at her and then surveying her quarters with a nod.
“You seem much less impressed than I was,” said Tess with a smile, “though I suppose you’re in Vell’s rooms enough that you’re desensitized.”
“I’m not desensitized,” her brother replied. “I just think that you finally have a room that’s fitting for your station.”
“My station?” Tess repeated, arching an eyebrow.
“Bug, you’re the Bearer of the Iron Sword. As far as I’m concerned, you’re supposed to have rooms reflecting the fact that you saved this entire world.” He held up a plain cloth sack. “And it helps when you tell the cooks that you’re bringing food to
the Bearer.”
“First of all, I had help saving this entire world,” Tess pointed out. “And second, I think that being one of the High Queen’s Three also helps when you’re begging food from the cooks.”
“I wasn’t begging,” her brother replied, setting out his spoils on the table. “I always ask very nicely.”
“Oh, and I’m sure that the particular cook you talked to was a woman, and she appreciated you asking very nicely in a very particular way,” Tess teased.
“I can’t help it if the ladies appreciate my courtesy,” said Liam with a grin, “but you know I don’t look twice at anyone else at this point.”
“I don’t really know whether Vell is the ‘settling down’ type,” Tess said.
“Oh, she’s not,” her brother said, shaking his head, “but I mean, after her, I don’t really think any other woman would measure up…”
“All right, all right, I don’t want to hear any more,” Tess protested, putting up one hand.
“Come on and eat,” said Liam, taking a seat at the table.
“It’s weird,” said Tess. “This is basically my first apartment. I lived in the dorms right before I came through into Faeortalam…”
“And the rest is history,” pronounced Liam. “Or legend. Whichever way you want to look at it.”
“Don’t you start with the whole legend nonsense too,” groaned Tess.
“Dude, I never thought that I’d see my little sister ride to my rescue up a mountain wielding a sword on horseback,” said Liam. “In armor. If that isn’t legendary, I don’t know what is.”
Tess could only chuckle as she took her seat and sorted through the bounty that Liam had brought from the kitchens. Her stomach rumbled hungrily as she filled her plate. “You know, I didn’t realize how hungry I was. Thanks.”
“Figured that might have happened, with you being amped up from creating the Gate and then going right into that showdown with Mab,” said Liam as he industriously built a sandwich out of roasted meat, cheese and a flaky sort of pastry that he sawed in half with his pocket knife.