We retreated to the inn that had been paid for us, and when Rena turned and gave me that sad, edgy smile, I knew what she would say before she could get the words out. “I think I’m going to just stretch out for a minute.”
“Go ahead,” I encouraged softly. The bond tugged at me, sensing something unwell, and I stoutly ignored it. This was not a moment where a hug could make everything better, no matter what it urged me to do. “Yell if you need me.”
“Always.” Thankful, her smile turned more genuine for a moment before she trudged up the stairs.
Vee and Chi made an abortive movement to follow her, abortive because I flung up a hand to stop them. “Give her some time,” I requested quietly. “Stay out of your rooms for a while, give her some space.”
The partners exchanged looks that spoke volumes. I didn’t exactly have the cheat sheet or know the language, but I could infer a few things. Sighing, I shuffled a little to the side to keep the doorway clear and lowered my voice. “She’s never killed anyone. That’s my department. Rena’s paranoid about it because people wouldn’t just become dead when she unleashed her magic, they’d vanish like they had never been there at all. A little too spooky, even for her.”
Chi winced at this mental imagery, tugging the hair back from his face as if to pull it out of his head before he could dwell on it. “I have to agree with that.”
“So give her some space. She processes better if you leave her be for a little while.” As much as it sometimes hurt for me to give her that time, I knew better than to push. When she felt ready to talk about things and face them, then she’d come find me. Until then, I had to wait.
They nodded agreement before Chi offered, “Hit the baths with me?”
That actually sounded like a marvelous idea. Corcoran didn’t have public baths, not that I could find, and I missed being able to sink into an open aired bath and just soak. “Sure. Let me grab some clothes.”
Chi waved this away. “They provide robes here.”
As he said this, I saw two men wander by, dressed in dark blue yutas belted in place and sandals on their feet. Not robes, then, but post bath clothes, not that Chi recognized them for what they were. I smiled and shrugged. “Lead the way.”
He did easily, which meant that even though he hadn’t been here in years, he still remembered the layout. People with good directional sense impressed me. There were so few of them out there.
A locker room led into the actual pool, so we stripped everything off, locking things securely before heading out. The pool was a good size, easily large enough to hold twenty or thirty people without strain. It had been decorated along one edge of the wall with yuzu growing in the corners and decorative rocks where the water poured out. Soft lighting lined the wooden privacy fence, giving the area an ambient feel that I appreciated.
I sank into the hot water with a sigh of pure pleasure, feeling the knots and strains of the journey easing out. Being stuck sitting for a basically a week solid did nothing good for the back. I stretched out a little, enjoying the freedom and feel of water sliding over skin. Chi slunk in, making the water ripple gently, as he found a good spot to recline in.
“Ahhh,” he sighed happily. “I did miss the hot springs here.”
“No monkeys,” I pointed out lazily.
“Shh, don’t jinx it.”
Silence fell and we both let it, too wrapped up in the serenity of the area to worry about filling the air with words. I had to remind myself, several times, that falling asleep in a bath would lead to some random stranger having to resuscitate me. Mouth-to-mouth. Let’s avoid that future, shall we?
“I’m a little surprised,” Chi said some indeterminate time later.
Slitting my eyes open, I gave him a casual glance before sliding further in, right up to my chin. “About what?”
“You leaving Rena to her own devices on the other end of the hotel. You’re normally within arm’s reach of her.”
“We’ve been either in dangerous situations or insecure areas ever since you met us,” I observed, not bothered by this comment. “Of course I was. But Rena’s dangerous, you’ve seen that with your own eyes; she doesn’t need me to babysit her.”
“Hmm.”
I felt like he questioned me on some level, and I had a good suspicion about what. I could hide a lot behind a joke and a smile, but I didn’t underestimate the intelligence of the three agents with me. They’d had days, literally, to observe with and nothing to divert their attention. Chi didn’t seem interested in pushing, more natural curiosity and perhaps a need to understand the dynamics between Rena and me. I understood that.
That didn’t mean I would know how to respond to the inevitable questions.
Time to turn the tables.
“How did you and Vee meet?” I prompted, sitting up enough that I wasn’t in danger of water spilling into my open mouth. “I know you said you had a temporary partnership, but what happened?”
Remembering, Chi let out a laugh. He twisted to put his back against a conveniently placed boulder, getting comfortable. “Now that is quite the story. Looking back on it, I’m honestly surprised that she agreed to partner with me at all.”
“That sounds foreboding.”
“Sounds worse than it was. For once, it was Vee being an idiot instead of me.” Chi sounded rather smug about that, too. “So this happened years ago, just after we both became senior agents, barely out of our probationary years. By then, Vee had a reputation as being some sort of unstoppable force and people had the bad habit of sending her out alone to do things.”
My eyes crossed at this idea. “I grant you she’s insanely strong, and Seton’s not something I’d cross, but….”
“She’s still just one person with a very unusual familiar to watch her back,” Chi finished knowingly. “I agree. I thought so then, too. No one can predict the future, or what might go wrong—why would you send anyone alone without backup? I thought it stupid then and my opinion hasn’t changed six years later. A mission came up where a group of mage-wanna-bes went rogue. No, they weren’t full mages, but they had most of the training; just not enough discipline to pass the Tests. Group of three and they were running around causing havoc. They sent Vee to deal with them.”
I stared at Chi like he had just announced the sun would go dark the next morning. I could imagine three Dereks running around loose, with nothing to check them, and the imagery made bile rise in my throat. “And no one thought that was a bad idea?”
“I certainly did. So I followed her.” Chi laughed again, eyes lost in memory. “My intentions were good, but it didn’t work out right. Vee had never had a partner, never had someone to watch her back. She didn’t understand why I was even worried. She kept forging ahead, and you know how fast she can move with those long legs of hers. Even sprinting, I had a hard time keeping up. She didn’t take it well, that I stuck with her. Thought it condescending that I thought she needed help.”
Knowing what I do of Vee’s personality, I could see that.
“So there we were on the trail of three stupid and dangerously half-trained mages, who were constantly trying to ambush us, with Vee stubbornly lurching ahead of me, in the dark woods of southern Sira. Did I mention it was fall, almost winter, and we had snow threatening? I couldn’t have planned a worse mission or a more terrible set of circumstances if I had tried. I was so cold my teeth constantly chattered, and if it wasn’t for the fact I was sprinting after that madwoman, I would have frozen solid. Seton, though, if I came within range of him, he’d heat up so I could warm my fingers up against him. Good thing, too, otherwise I might have lost them.”
Now that explained why those two got along so well. So their friendship started then, eh?
“We played cat and mouse with those three idiots for a full day. It was coming on dark, I had no intention of spending the night out there—we didn’t have the supplies for it anyway—and Vee came to the same conclusion that I did. But she didn’t react the way I thought. Instead of tryin
g to lure them in, she jumped right into one of their ambushes, Seton swinging as she went. Meanwhile, I’m five yards behind her and swearing, trying to at least get a line of sight on her, and failing because there’s too many sarding trees in the way. When I finally do manage it, Vee’s been hit in the shoulder and along her back, she’s got one of them down on the ground, but the other is giving her serious trouble and I could tell from the state of her personal shield that she hadn’t gotten it up right. It was flickering, on the verge of failing. I slid right, grabbed two arrows, and fired. Got both of them.”
I had a sense where this story was going and smirked. “She wasn’t happy.”
“Furious,” Chi admitted, chuckling. “Wouldn’t speak a word to me as we hauled our prey back to the first train station. She locked them up under mage chains, gave them to the constable on guard, and we finally got her some medical attention for that shoulder. Still wouldn’t speak to me. Then the next morning, she barges into my room while I’m still in bed, quiet and intense and asks me why I followed her. It never occurred to me that she thought I was being patronizing, not then, so I told her the truth: I don’t trust evil men, and I don’t think anyone should go into a fight alone. I added that it wasn’t fair of our superiors to send her out alone just because she’s stronger; it was an abuse of her good nature, and I didn’t like it.
“Well, that shut her up for a good minute. Long enough to shove her out of my room and for me to get dressed. By the time I got downstairs, she had breakfast waiting for me, and a list of rules about what it meant to be her partner.”
I held up a hand. “Wait, wait, wait, she never asked? Just assumed you were now her partner?”
“I was just as confused, trust me, but apparently this is a giant thing. In their culture, if you go to that kind of length to safeguard someone, it means you like them, that you want to be something to them. And she’s not wrong, I do like her, she’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had. So by following her, protecting her, I made myself into her partner.” Chi shook his head, a fond smile on his face. “Also, I think, she was lonely. There’s not many fighters that can keep up with her. She wanted a partner, she just didn’t expect to get one, not until I came along.”
It made all sorts of sense. “And your superiors agreed?”
“You think anyone dared to argue with Vee? With that stubborn look on her face? Most senior agents have work partners anyway, they weren’t going to fight us on it if we decided we liked working with each other. Anyway, that’s our story.” Curious, he leaned a little forward. “Tell me yours. How exactly does it feel to be summoned?”
I’d told him parts of this, or at least the gist of it, but I didn’t mind telling him the full tale. Obligingly, I let the story spin out, filling it in with details.
By the time I was done, we were both steaming and red from the heat of the water and unanimously decided to get out. Chi kept an eagle eye out for any monkeys, but they were blessedly absent tonight. Toweling off, I found a yuta, belt, and sandals in one of the open baskets that were my size and put them on. I had to help Chi with the belt, as tying it took a certain amount of practice.
I threw my clothes into my room and stepped out again, just catching Rena as she entered her room. She too had apparently been in the baths, wrapped up in a yuta, hair wet and trailing over one shoulder. Something about her in that moment tugged hard at my heartstrings. She looked infinitely soft and touchable, so much so that my fingers twitched with the urge.
“I like the baths,” she told me with a small smile, nothing more than a curve of the lips.
Steady, heart. Breathe. Talk normally. It took a second longer to respond because I needed that second to control my voice. “They’re relaxing, aren’t they?”
“Very much so,” she agreed. “I think I’ll eat up here in my room.”
I nodded, understanding. Rena’s naturally shyer, she needs alone time every once in a while, just a space for her to breathe in. “I’ll have someone send up a tray.”
“Thanks.” Smiling, she ducked into her room and closed the door quietly behind her.
It felt like the strings were cut when she went in and I gasped in a breath, leaning against the wall for a moment. Renata Rocci was a woman that warranted warning labels. Many warning labels. Also, apparently I was susceptible to her with wet hair and in a yuta, which was news to me. I’d have to somehow guard myself from that in the future.
Deep breaths. There, better. I looked up and found Chi on the stairs looking at me, obviously on his way up to put something in his room. I could tell from the look on his face that he knew something was off. I managed a smile, somehow, and asked, “You want to grab some dinner?”
“Sure. Let me throw this into my room.”
Vee had already commandeered a table, so I sat with her, idly wondering where Maksohm had gotten off to. I ordered whatever tonight’s special was, including a tray to be sent up to Rena’s room. I found myself pleased to have company. These two were rather fun. “So tell me, is this the worst or strangest case you’ve ever worked?”
“Not even close. That would be what happened here—”
“Rule six, Chinna,” Vee growled at him.
“—which I cannot discuss,” Chi finished smoothly, a too bright smile pinned to his face.
It occurred to me that I had not, obviously, gotten the full story of their disastrous mission here in Njorage. They’d only talked about after the mission, come to think of it, not the mission itself. I’d have to weasel it out of Chi later. “Your pacts have numbers to them?”
“Eh,” Chi shrugged, tossing a hand in the air. “Some of them are pacts, some of them are just general rules we live by. Like Rule 4: Never, ever say that a situation could get worse.”
“It inevitably does,” Vee muttered in aggravation.
I found myself nodding in agreement. “More often than not. I find myself strangely fascinated; what other rules do you two have, and how many, for that matter?”
“There’s quite a few.” Chi paused as our food arrived. He beamed at the serving girl. “Why, thank you, gorgeous, that smells delightful.” He dug in a spoonful and sighed in bliss. “I do love hearty stew.”
“You get absolutely nothing useful out of him the minute food arrives,” Vee mock-complained to me. “The rules started out practical, actually. The first one is ‘always bring food’ and I made that one mostly because Chi’s metabolism is insane. He can eat his weight in groceries. He can eat my weight in groceries. You’ve heard of those people that have a hollow leg? He has a hollow body. I will swear to this in a court of law.”
I had noticed that Chi ate more than the average amount, but I’d assumed they’d come off a rough mission where food was scarce and he was trying to make up for it. It never occurred to me that was normal. I studied the man and couldn’t help my brows from climbing up into my hairline. Chi’s not small, but he has a taut, well-built body with little fat on him. Anywhere. How did he eat like that and not gain anything to show for it?
“You and Rena have rules of your own,” Vee observed. It was clearly not a question.
Opening my mouth, I started with a denial before I thought better of it. “Not really rules, per se, more like signals? Understandings hammered through painful experiences? Mostly my pain. For instance, there are times when I need her to stay exactly where she is, there are times that I need her to move. I don’t always want to make it obvious what she’s going to do or have time to explain the situation. So if I want her to stay, I put a hand on top of her head. If I want her to get out of the area, immediately, I tap her once between the shoulder blades.” I shrugged, as it wasn’t mad science or anything. “Easy signals, keeps us from getting mixed up or confusing each other.”
“Are these signals we can use with her too?” Chi asked around a mouthful of bread.
“Sure. I mean, warn her first, otherwise it will confuse her, but you can use them too. Rena doesn’t have a lot of experience working with other fighte
rs, but she’s adaptable. I don’t think it’s going to cause problems if you do.”
“So what else?” Vee prompted.
I explained things to her, listed them all out, which somehow segued into telling them about the first two shards Rena and I had ever dealt with, as they were the most recent experiences we had in working with other groups of people prior to joining up with Vee and Chi. Most of the time Rena’s magic made it better for her to work solo.
Eventually we all got full and Vee and Chi wandered off to get ready for bed. I didn’t feel like bed yet, so I stayed planted where I was.
Of course, without a distraction, my treacherous brain went off on the tangent I didn’t want it to. Namely Rena fresh out of a bath. And how I couldn’t touch her.
I hate my brain.
Growling out a curse to myself, I planted my forehead into my palm and just stared blindly down at the tabletop. The situation couldn’t continue much longer. I recognized that. We were fast reaching a breaking point after two years of living in each other’s spaces. I had to wonder if those ancient Void Mages had decided to marry their human familiars because of the inevitability of it all. When you lived so close as to be basically in each other’s skin, with such irrevocable trust, of course you learned how to love that person.
Not that I had needed much time to fall for Rena, but still.
I ordered another glass of the admittedly excellent mulled cider and brooded. Turransky had ruined me, and I hadn’t realized how badly until the trip here. While at Mary’s, it was understood that Rena was mine. As much mine as I was hers. It was never questioned, although Rena never took it seriously, but it gave me leeway. Too much leeway, perhaps, because part of me had grown accustomed to acting like she was my fiancée and my heart couldn’t draw firm lines anymore. While in Turransky, I felt like I had a chance with her, that I had made some sort of progress.
But the moment we’d left, it’d become very clear that it had all been in my head. Rena went right back into the role of mage/familiar without so much as a flick of the eyelid. She used to sit on me as readily as a chair. She used to have me do her hair every morning like clockwork. She never thought anything of it before reaching for me, but now I saw her hesitate. Sometimes she couldn’t seem to decide if she should reach for me at all, settling for something else entirely. I hated her hesitation more than anything. It didn’t completely surprise me, but it hurt. Not crippling pain, but more than owie. Worse, I couldn’t let on, as Rena would feel terrible about it, and that would make the situation awwwwwkward which I really, truly didn’t want.
The Void Mage (The Familiar and Mage Book 2) Page 9