by A. H. Lee
Azrael finally laughed. “You’re lucky she didn’t eat you.”
“In a bad way,” offered Jessica and Jacob’s ears went even pinker. Jessica thought there was something particularly adorable about watching an older man blush.
“I still didn’t get it,” said Jacob. “I thought she’d found the dragon’s lair, and I admonished her about the danger, told her that the dragon was probably not dead and she must be vigilant. She listened to me solemnly and promised to be careful. She said her camp was in the cave. Sure enough, she had a tent pitched over a pile of gold, and I still didn’t get it…”
Azrael was laughing hard now.
“I assured her that, while she had been in terrible danger, she had me with her now, and I was prepared to take on the dragon with magic, so it was alright to stay there in her camp and stake out the cave.” Jacob stared at the ceiling. “Come to think of it, I see why she believes this story might damage my reputation.”
“So the dragon hunter got seduced by a dragon,” said Jessica with a grin.
“Not really, because she wasn’t a dragon. She was a bound demon who just happened to have the form of a dragon. Her master had been hired by the neighboring city to make life miserable for their rivals.
“In my defense, demons were less common than dragons back then. The spells for binding them were less well-known. Earth-born demons were in high demand, but you can’t get an earth-born demon without an astral entity, and the manuals on dealing with astral entities with optimal safety had not yet been written. We were still in the process of learning what we could do with the new magic, and I was fairly traditional in my methods.”
Azrael frowned. “Astral entities were mostly bound to objects before the Sundering…”
Jacob nodded. “Sorcerers in those days didn’t have magic that could control a walking, talking astral demon. Names were known, and astral demons were summoned, but they were always bound to objects. I possessed three such entities at the time I met Lucy, but they were under such tight restrictions that you couldn’t have a conversation with them. I truly believed they were automata.”
Jessica shuddered. What a horrible existence. “Please tell me they’ve been sent home.”
Jacob waved a hand. “Long ago.”
Jessica took a deep breath. “What happened? Did you wake up with a dragon?”
Jacob shook his head. “Her master came to the cave the next morning to have a word with her. Then she changed. There was a fight. We nearly killed each other. It all went… Well, it all went as depressingly wrong as you could expect. But we kept running into each other over the years. I never forgot the girl in the heather, who could hum an orchestral score in perfect pitch and make shrewd observations about local economics in the next breath. I like to think she never forgot the boy with the enchanted sword, who thought he could save her from herself.”
Jacob drew an aimless pattern with his finger on the table. “I had one good chance to steal her bottle, and I did not take it. That was a cruel mistake, as she has frequently reminded me. She served some vicious people. But I just couldn’t…be her master.” Now he wasn’t meeting anyone’s eyes.
“Somehow, you’ve managed this with Mal,” continued Jacob. “How, I still don’t understand. Even if you weren’t his summoner…even if he were an earth-born demon who did not have alien desires and impulses, even if he could be fully trusted…it is very hard to be friends with someone when you have all the power, impossible to be partners. At least, so it seems to me.”
Azrael said nothing.
Jessica wanted to say, Mal can be trusted. When you trust someone, you give them power over you. But she understood that Jacob was revealing things about himself that he almost never shared. This was his truth. She let him talk.
“Lucrecia and I have both done a great many things in our lives, known a great many people. We’ve parted more than once on such terrible terms that I thought we would never speak to one another again. And yet we always seem to circle back. I never thought either of us would last this long. I never thought we’d find a place where we could be…quiet.”
Chapter 10
Jessica
“The quiet will end in approximately twenty minutes, darling. Mal is coming back.”
Jessica turned to see Lucy leaning on the doorframe of the hallway that led to her room. She was wearing a gold sequined evening gown that Azrael had given her and a diamond necklace that Jessica suspected had come from Jacob, although Lucy had been coy on the subject. Her mink half-cape was draped around her bare shoulders—white this evening. It was made of magic.
Jacob turned in his chair, his eyes crinkling into a smile that made him look ten years younger. “Merry Yule, Lucy.”
“Merry Yule, Jacob.”
She strolled into the room as though she owned it, circled the table, and sat down at her chess board. “Care for a game while the quiet lasts?”
Jacob got up and came to sit across from her. “I feel as though you and I have been playing chess for centuries.”
“We have.”
Azrael went back to his dishes. Jessica went to the long window to watch the snow as it turned the garden into another world. Lucy and Jacob’s chess pieces went click, click, click. Presently Jacob said something too low for Jessica to hear and Lucy laughed. Jessica glanced at them out of the corners of her eyes. Will Azrael and Mal and I be so easy together when we are old? I wonder if we will live so long. It didn’t seem likely, what with the kind of trouble Azrael got himself into. However long it is, I’m happy we’re here right now.
Their front door banged open. Jessica winced. It had to be Mal. He was the only person not inside who could enter without permission.
He came bounding into the kitchen the next moment, still in panther form, dusted with snow and dripping. “We’re home! We caught a solstice goose! They were amazing; you should have come. They are definitely from the astral plane. And they taste like colors.”
“The quiet has ended,” said Lucy.
Jessica walked in from the dining room. Mal raced up to her. For one moment, she was afraid he would jump on her like a dog and possibly lick her face. “Mal, I’m dressed,” she pleaded.
He dissolved into smoke mid-stride and came into her arms as a man. He was shirtless, in rumpled trousers, with wild hair, his green eyes shining. To Jessica’s amusement, he took her in his arms and danced her around the room. “You should have come. Their hearts glow like fire. Tod thought they were too pretty to kill, but then he helped me anyway. Also, I can make his shifting easier with magic. Did you know that?”
Jessica was giggling. “Sounds like you had a good time. Where is this goose now?”
“With the cooks. They said it should be ready by dinner.”
“Where’s Tod?”
“He wanted to sleep for a while.”
“Did you shut the front door?”
“Yes. Ren?” He released Jessica to scoop Azrael into his arms. Mal dipped him, producing a startled laugh, then danced him around the room in his apron.
Azrael’s smile was almost a grin. “Someone is overexcited.”
“I am filled with the joy of the hunt!”
“Alright, but you’re indoors now, so be filled a little more quietly.”
“It is snowing,” said Mal in a stage whisper.
“I know,” said Azrael, matching his tone. “You have thoughtfully brought some in with you for us to enjoy.” The snow was now a spreading puddle on the kitchen floor.
“Sorry,” said Mal.
Azrael shrugged. “That’s what mops are for.” They were still slow dancing around the kitchen.
“Something smells really good,” said Mal.
“I made cookies,” said Azrael.
“Have you made these before?”
“Not exactly.”
Jessica scooted around them. “Here, Mal. Try.” She raised one of the cookies to his lips over Azrael’s shoulder.
Mal bit half the cookie, started to c
hew, then stopped dancing. “Oh!”
Jessica grinned. “They’re kind of special.”
“Wow!” Mal reached for the other half and she put it into his mouth. Mal chewed, swallowed, then caught her hand and licked her fingers.
“Wow!” he said again. “That must have been… That can’t have been easy. Gods, they’re good. What did you put the ambrosia in?”
Azrael pulled away from him, laughing. “The butter.” Mal tightened his arms around Azrael’s waist, not letting go. “Mal,” he pleaded, “I need to get a mop before someone slips.”
“Alright, but I need to tell you something first. You said you wanted me to make decisions, right?”
“Yes.”
“You said we’re partners, right?”
“Yes.”
“I invited someone for Yuletide dinner.”
“Oh?”
“Jessica will be happy, and I think you will, too, although you might be a little upset at first.”
Azrael was looking puzzled. “Who, Mal?”
Jessica caught movement in the entrance from the sitting room. A person was standing there, dressed in red velvet trimmed with white fur. For one moment, Jessica thought she was looking at a depiction of the jolly old elf of her childhood picture books. But this person was too short and too slim and too blond under her cap and too… Jessica gasped. “Ania?”
The faery raised one hand, her fingers fanning in a wave that seemed both a little smug and a little uncertain. “Merry Yule, Jessica.”
Chapter 11
Jessica
Azrael and Jacob both reacted at once. Azrael shoved Mal away from him and shouted a word that boomed in the air like a thunder clap. Jessica’s feet locked to the floor. No one in the room would take another step unless Azrael wanted them to. Except Jacob, apparently. He sprang away from the table and drew a sword, seemingly out of thin air. It glowed silver-white. He took another step back, glancing between Ania and Azrael. He moved laboriously, as though through mud, but he did move.
Ania didn’t try to go anywhere. She gave Mal an arch look, as though to say, I told you so.
“How did you get in here?” hissed Azrael to Ania. “Speak, or I swear I will lock you in another spirit vessel, and this time I will find a way to keep you there for all eternity!”
“I was invited,” said Ania.
“By whom?!” roared Azrael.
Ania looked at Mal. “By your…husband.”
Azrael turned to Mal. Confusion, hurt, and betrayal flashed across his face.
Jessica couldn’t blame him. She liked Ania. She enjoyed talking to her and she found her sexually appealing. But Jessica knew as well as anyone that Ania was dangerous. She’d set a shadow knight on Jessica to kill her when they’d met in Faerie the first time. Ania respected skill and wit. She respected bravery. But her ideas about friendship and fair play were profoundly inhuman, and she was terribly dangerous.
Jessica looked at Azrael, standing there in his apron, in his own rooms, in the sanctuary of his kitchen, on a day when he had chosen not to work, and her heart hurt. Of course, he felt betrayed.
Mal leaned against the counter, where he’d stumbled when Azrael pushed him. He looked a little surprised. “The horned hare came to the corn.”
Azrael blinked. “The Wild Hunt?” he whispered.
Mal nodded.
Azrael took a deep breath, let it out again. “This was the price of your life?” he said with a measure of returning composure. “You and Tod were caught, and she made you—”
“No,” interrupted Mal. “She let us go. She didn’t make me do anything. I invited her because I wanted to.”
Azrael turned to stare at him. The wounded look was back on his face. “Why?”
“The two of you control most of the magical world. I thought you should get to know each other.”
Azrael took another slow breath, and now Jessica saw the storm of anger building, “You thought…we should…get to know each other?”
“Yes.” Mal did not back down. Jessica wasn’t sure whether it was because he was brave or because he didn’t read social cues well. She doubted she would have been able to maintain her own composure with that expression on Azrael’s face.
Azrael’s voice turned clipped and savage. “Mal, she steals children. She hunts people for sport. She manipulates the politics of a human world she does not understand, often causing immeasurable harm.”
Mal tried to say something, but Azrael kept talking.
“She infests and controls and corrupts everything she can get her roots into. She’s tried to kill us both more than once. She turned us into horses!”
Mal tried to talk again and Azrael barked out, “You called her a meddling parasite!”
Mal shouted over his next sentence, “She is! But she’s no worse than the others!”
Azrael’s jaw was working. He started to speak again, but Mal got there first. “The Desert States wouldn’t let Jessica or Lucy hold property just because they’re women. The Emerald Isles would kill Tod because he’s a werewolf. In some parts of Bethsaria, they still hang people like you who sleep with men. The magicians of Zolsestron think I’m an abomination that should be killed. Aspiria is full of hateful religious sects who murder each other constantly. The Provincial governors are utterly corrupt. Solaria treats its separatist peasants like trash. Kotos has a problem with forced prostitution—”
“What is your point?” snarled Azrael.
“You work with all of these rulers!” exclaimed Mal. “Some of them are bad people who do bad things, but you take them as you find them, and you do your best to protect their subjects. You don’t turn them away because they’re not nice. You don’t take responsibility for all their problems. You keep peace! That’s hard enough! You haven’t shut Mab out because she’s a bad person, Azrael. You’ve shut her out because she’s not human!”
The room had gone dead silent. Jessica hardly dared to breathe.
“You tell me to stop calling you boss,” continued Mal. “You tell me we’re partners. You tell me to make decisions. Did you mean real decisions that matter? Or am I only allowed to pick out my clothes and my meals?” Mal’s voice dropped to a growl. “I’m not your property anymore, Azrael. Either I’m your partner or I’m a pet. I don’t mind being your pet. But don’t tell me one thing when you mean the other.”
Azrael’s face looked like a marble mask. Jessica had no idea what he was thinking. At last, he walked over and touched her shoulder. Jessica’s feet unlocked from the floor, and she took a grateful step back. Azrael walked briskly to Jacob and Lucy, touching them as well.
He stayed well away from Ania. “Jacob, please watch her. Mal, with me.”
“You haven’t let me move,” complained Mal.
Azrael murmured a word as he strode past, and Mal was able to turn and follow. Azrael did not touch him. Jessica watched them disappear towards the bedroom with a sinking feeling. Why does it feel like the world just ended?
Chapter 12
Mal
Mal followed Azrael. He’d expected an argument, but he hadn’t expected this. “I know you’re going to say that I should have asked you first,” he began as they entered the bedroom. “But there wasn’t time! She let us go without asking anything in return, so I knew she was in the right mood. I saw a chance and I took it. If I had come back here to ask you, the opportunity would have been lost. You make important decisions without me every day of the week!”
Azrael walked to the middle of the bedroom, peeling off his apron with quick, angry jerks. He flung it away and turned to face Mal.
Mal stood there in his trousers, not sure what else to say. A light still shone inside the washroom and the air smelled pleasantly of soap and shaving cream and Jessica’s perfume. These familiar scents mingled with the clean, exotic smell of pine from the garlands overhead. Azrael’s dress clothes hung over the back of a chair, and Mal saw his own alongside them. The window beside the reading nook showed rolling horse pastures,
covered in snow. Everything felt peaceful and festive.
“Malcharius Thardarian Vi’aesha Charn, I bind you to my will.” Azrael spoke the words without inflection, finishing the spell with a clipped version of the usual incantation.
Mal felt as though he’d dropped forty feet into ice water. His ears rang. He couldn’t breathe. This is not happening. “Ren?” His voice came out high and panicky. “Ren, what you are doing to me?”
“Don’t speak,” said Azrael.
Mal’s ability to speak ended as though he’d had his throat cut. He was on his knees without realizing how he’d gotten there.
Azrael fished a piece of chalk out of his pocket. He walked around Mal, drawing a circle and then a number of runes. Mal reached for him, but Azrael said, “Stay in the circle.”
And Mal did. He could no more have left the circle than he could have turned into a solstice goose and flown away. Mal’s vision blurred.
Azrael pulled the silver collar over his own head and tossed it onto the floor beside Mal. “Put that on.”
Mal obeyed. Mal had to.
He felt the tug on his magic as Azrael activated the spell he was weaving. It was something big. Mal tried to brace himself, but he felt as though he were in pieces. He’d fractured into a million jagged shards, and there was no way to put them back together.
The circle and runes lit. Magic seared through Mal’s essence, scalding him, ripping through every fiber of his being. Dimly, Mal realized what Azrael was doing. He thinks I’ve been corrupted by faeries. He’s trying to burn it out of me.
Azrael could have done this gently, the way he’d examined Jessica on her return. But that would mean walking Mal through half the palace to either the magical airlock or Azrael’s tower. Obviously, he didn’t think he could take the risk.
The spell he was using now was not gentle. It was as caustic as an acid bath, and it would have killed a human or a lesser demon. But not me, thought Mal bitterly. You can be as rough as you like with me.
At least this sort of examination was quick. The pain ceased all at once. Mal opened his eyes. The floor inside the circle was smoking. Mal was smoking.