Null and Void

by Susan Copperfield

  “He didn’t want them in New York,” I reminded her.

  “He didn’t want a child who didn’t have the love of a mother and a father. While I can’t confirm this, as I haven’t actually talked to him about it, I suspect he wanted that night to be about you and him. A child does change things, as you know better than most.”

  A child changed everything. “And now she’s off to school.”

  “And you have a chance to do something entirely for you. No matter what choice you make, Mireya does have a father now, and she knows her father will come for her if the worst happens. And that bubble of hers? It’s been thoroughly burst, but she’s trying to hide that from you.”

  Damn it. “She had me fooled. Everyone did.”

  “Don’t be hard on yourself. William’s been hard enough on himself because your foot was broken. What pisses me off so much is that no one can find that damned photographer. It’s like he doesn’t exist. No pictures have shown up, either. Why hide in the bushes and scare you so much for a picture if he’s not trying to monetize on it? All it would’ve taken was one photograph of you on the ground for him to earn a fortune from a newspaper.”

  I hadn’t thought of it, and I hadn’t even thought to check the news for reports on the incident. “I haven’t been watching the news.”

  “That’s why I had Geoff assigned to you. There’s something fishy about that photographer. I worry it could be something more than a man with a camera. That fall could have been fatal.”

  “But it wasn’t.”

  “It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t, not to William. He believes someone hurt you on purpose. An accident would have been someone flashing the camera at you from the sidewalk and startling you. This man hid in the bushes and waited for you.”

  “I’m not disputing that, but why?”

  “I can think of a few reasons.”

  I could, too, and all of them involved my status as a null. “There are a lot of people who wouldn’t mind if I died just because of what I am. There are plenty who believe people like me shouldn’t be talking to congress at all.”

  “Princess Ambrose blames you for being blocked out of His Royal Majesty’s auction, too.”

  “He’s never liked her.”

  “She thinks she can offer him New York’s wealth and influence. She has no idea she’s met him before. No one does, except you, me, Pat, and a select few others. You’re in her way of accomplishing her goals. Then there’s that teacher who is going to lose her job for costing Huntington Academy their best student. It’s going to end up costing them a lot more than just Mireya. Since William can’t directly act, he’s getting the revenge he can using a pack of lawyers to do it.”

  Dylan on a mission meant trouble, of that I was certain. “Maybe I should tell him he needs to behave.”

  “That would be nice. Show him a little mercy, or give him something productive he can do to earn your forgiveness. Anything. I’ll beg.”

  “Was he really going to snatch me and Mireya in Montana?”

  “The last time I checked, he was trying to figure out how to make winter go away so you can live in Montana safely. On a global scale, everything’s fairly calm, so he doesn’t have a lot of extra work to do, and William’s a master of delegation, so only the really important things cross his desk. He’s active in ruling Montana, but he tries to spread the work around as much as possible in case something happens to him. His brothers and sisters help. He’s been very proactive preparing his younger brothers for the possibility of inheriting his magic upon his death—and their sons. Every single member of the family, even the girls, carry a mask in case they inherit his power. It’s never manifested in a woman, but he’s unwilling to trust the gender barrier. Should he die without a direct male heir, someone in his family is going to inherit his talents. It could be Mireya, it could be one of his siblings—no one knows what’ll happen.”

  “And Mireya? What about Mireya?”

  “She’s already been sent a mask. If she manifests any of his abilities, it’ll suppress them until she can get help. The school is aware it’s probable she’ll inherit some high-level talents. With your approval, Adam will be told so he can help her if needed. Frankly, I’m going to suggest you have one made for you, too. If Geoff’s right, you’re packing a punch with your talent, and you have zero control over it.”

  “I still don’t believe it.”

  “I think Geoff’s right. You hung up on William without hesitation. When he tells someone to wait, they wait. You didn’t. You hung up on him.”

  “He was using his talent on me?” I hissed.

  “I can’t answer that. I don’t know. It’s possible.”

  “Jerk.”

  “I know.”

  “He wouldn’t even have to kidnap me. All he’d have to do is talk and laugh. He could just lure me where he wanted to go. It’s not fair.”

  “You’re hopeless, Mackenzie.”

  I was, so I nodded, sighed, and stared out the window. “He’s still a jerk.”

  “I’m sure he’s very sorry he’s a jerk.”

  “Good. He better be sorry.”

  Jessica parked my car behind four black RPS SUVs, and I recognized Geoff’s by the tag number. My agent showed up, hands on hips and disapproval etched in his expression. He directed his displeasure at Jessica, who grinned without any sign of being cowed by the older man.

  “You stole her,” he accused.

  “I did. This car’s great. It’s really fast. I had a tail, a gray family car. I shook it at the maze.”

  Someone had been following us? I turned and stared down the road, but there wasn’t any evidence of anyone behind us. I’d thought it’d been weird Jessica had darted on and off the expressway several times, but I’d assumed we had needed to go to an exit on the far side of junction, a ten-lane monstrosity designed to handle the traffic of three highways.

  “Wasn’t one of ours,” he replied. “Did you get a look at the driver?”

  “Tinted windows. With Mackenzie primed to blow, I wasn’t going to toy around with him. Since I lost him on the first try, I didn’t see a need to worry anyone.”

  “His Royal Majesty is fretting.”

  Jessica smirked, locked my car, and returned my keys. “Which one?”

  “Dr. Glaskow arrived five minutes ago.”

  “What a jerk,” I muttered.

  “She doesn’t need a doctor. She needs the tender, loving care of a pony and some cake. Since she’ll complain if she misses work tomorrow, there won’t be much wine.” Jessica pointed at a massive red building nearby. “That’s the primary barn, and your pony is in there.”

  “That’s huge.”

  “There are sixty ponies in that barn, plus tack, plus a small riding ring. The building behind it has the main ring, and you’ll have your first lesson there.”

  I scowled at my boot. “Wearing this thing?”

  “Yes, wearing that thing. Bareback pads don’t use stirrups, and while you’ll have reins, Pat’s going to insist on a lead line for your first ride. Even if you fall, it’ll be onto sand. Don’t be a worrywart. Any other news, Geoff?”

  “No. I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

  Jessica linked her arm with mine and dragged me towards the barn. “If you need to get Mackenzie out of a situation, take Baby. There’s no way one of those SUVs can keep up with it.”

  “It’s not plated.”

  “It wouldn’t take much to get the interior coated with something bulletproof and replace the glass. It’s not going to notice an extra hundred pounds, either. Put in an order to get it adjusted, and I’ll send the invoice to someone stupid enough to pay it.”

  Geoff scowled and breathed a resigned sigh. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “Placing the work order should keep you busy for at least ten minutes.” Smirking, Jessica herded me to the building and shoved me through the open door.

  Until coming nose to nose with one, I’d never realized how huge horses w
ere. The one staring at me had golden fur, and it snorted in my face. Not only did it snort, it stretched its floppy lips at me and showed its blunted teeth.

  The boot didn’t slow me down much, and I yanked free of Jessica, turned tail, and ran, plowing into Geoff so hard he fell against my car. I squirmed behind him, clutching at the back of his shirt.

  “You’re afraid of horses.”

  I closed my eyes, shivered, and willed my heart to slow its frantic beating. “It’s huge, and it’s going to eat me,” I whispered.

  “The horses aren’t going to eat you. Some bite, but their stalls are marked, and Jessica would never bring a green rider near a biter. The little lady in the first stall is Glory. She’s an old mare, pretty as a picture, and a dream to ride. Glory might slobber on you and nuzzle you to death, but she’d never bite.”

  “She showed me her teeth. All of them.” I gripped Geoff’s shirt tighter, shaking my head.

  Jessica strolled over, and because my first introduction to a horse hadn’t been sufficient, she led the golden horse out on a dinky piece of rope that couldn’t possibly contain such a large animal.

  “Well, if she’s going to run, straight to her detail’s a good start. Mackenzie, this is Glory. She’s thirty, the oldest horse we have, and a retired school horse. She’s the one who taught all my children to ride. She might cuddle you into submission, but she won’t hurt you. Glory’s going to spend the rest of her days at pasture, teaching those young spirited ponies how to behave themselves.” Jessica came within five feet, and the horse insisted on lipping at the queen’s hand.

  I considered testing my luck and discovering if I could drive with the boot on. “She’s very big.”

  “She’s fourteen hands. Here’s the basic rules around horses, Mackenzie. Watch your feet. Horses weigh a lot, and you’re not wearing steel-toed boots. Everyone gets stepped on at least once, but good footwear will protect your feet. So, keep clear of their hooves.”

  “Don’t get stepped on, right.” I peeked around Geoff. The horse’s hooves didn’t seem large enough to support her bulk, and neither did her thin legs. “I think I can handle that.”

  “What’s the fuss now?” Pat hollered from the doorway, and like Jessica, he led a horse, which was blacker than sin and larger than Glory. The animal tossed its head, its long, flowing mane waving over its arched neck. Unlike Glory, the animal had thick, waving hair covering its hooves.

  “It’s wearing bellbottoms!” I blurted, pointing at the dark horse.

  The king and queen glared at me.

  “That’s called feathering,” Geoff informed me. “His breed is prized for their feathering.”

  “Horses have feathers?” I frowned, narrowing my eyes. “Those don’t look like feathers to me. Birds have feathers. That looks like hair.”

  The horse had nicer hair than I did.

  “It seems she’s afraid of horses, Your Majesty,” Geoff said. I appreciated he stayed still, serving as a living barrier between me and the pair of animals capable of squishing me to a pancake if they felt like it. “I haven’t seen her run that fast in years.”

  “It startled me.”

  Geoff sighed. “Glory’s a mare.”

  “She startled me.”

  “This here’s Runs Amok,” Pat declared, bringing the animal closer. “Come out of hiding and say hello, else you’ll break his heart. He wants to rub you with his nose, get the petting he’s owed, and lip you to check for treats. Runs Amok here has learned our pockets often have treats, so he looks for them. No pocket is safe from this big boy.”

  Big was an understatement. “But I don’t have any treats for him. He won’t get mad and think my hand is a treat, will he?”

  “Only time he’s bitten someone was when a handler at the auction stable got rough with him. After he was done biting the idiot, I cracked the idiot with a crop for hurting my horse.”

  “Pat, you didn’t,” Jessica complained.

  “I’d do it again. He cut my horse. No one’ll convict me. He cut my horse!”

  “It’s barely a scratch, Pat.”

  “He cut my horse.”

  “He’s not your horse, he’s Mackenzie’s. You can’t smack idiot stablehands with your crop, Pat. We’ve been over this before.”

  “Then he shouldn’t have cut my—”

  Jessica cleared her throat.

  “Mackenzie’s horse.”

  “Better. How hard did you hit the stablehand?”

  “I done called that pesky lawyer of yours. If my horse hadn’t been cut, I wouldn’t have had to hit the idiot to make him stop hurting my horse.”

  Jessica turned to the golden mare and leaned her forehead against the animal’s shoulder. “How much is the lawsuit going to cost me this time?”

  “I told the idiot if he tried something stupid, I’d dig through every animal abuse law on the books and charge him for hurting my horse.”

  “Mackenzie’s horse. I already told you you can’t keep him.”

  Geoff sighed. “They’re going to be fighting for hours now. Please, Mackenzie. Take the lead line, and confiscate that poor horse from His Majesty.”

  “But he’s huge,” I hissed.

  “I’ll be with you. Despite appearances, I know my way around a horse. In fact, I have a horse of my own in the barn. It’s a perk of being an RPS agent. We all have a horse, although most of our animals are at the main royal stables. I have two, and one lives here since I’m often asked to go on rides with them.”

  “You’re a Texan. I’m pretty sure you were born knowing your way around a horse.”

  While I hesitated, Jessica and Pat snarled and snapped at each other, and to all appearances, they ignored the horses, who waited patiently. “You sure they won’t bite me?”

  “Runs Amok did bite that stablehand, but it was provoked. From what I’ve heard, Runs Amok balked, and the stablehand decided to solve the problem with a crop, which His Majesty confiscated and used on the stablehand. Crops are useful, but if you hit a horse hard enough with one, you can make them bleed, which is what happened. The cut’s mostly healed, but you can still see it on his flank.”

  “He abused the horse.”

  “Unfortunately. Runs Amok is crop shy now, but a gentle hand and some patience should cure him of it. You won’t need a crop to ride him. He loves having a rider more than life itself. Glory’s the same way. Sometimes, we just get a horse that needs a rider. Since you need a horse that you can ride often, it’s a perfect match.”

  “Why do I need a horse I can ride often?”

  “Did you really think you’d be able to escape running a Texan auction without horses getting involved somehow?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “I did.”

  “Keep dreaming, Mackenzie. Every single delegation that comes to Texas for the auction’s going to want to go on a ride, and that means you’ll be riding, too.”

  “I quit.”

  Geoff laughed. “You can’t quit, Mackenzie. You’re a congressional appointee. You can propose a resignation, but the congress has to approve it.”

  “That’s not fair. I was coerced.” I loosened my grip on Geoff’s shirt and slid along my car, contemplating if I could get in, dive behind the wheel, and escape. I doubted I’d get far before Geoff caught me, so I clenched my teeth and crept forward a step.

  The horses watched me, their delicate ears pricked forward.

  “Look here, you!” Pat stomped his foot and pointed at his wife. “You can’t bully me this time. The lass is scared, and Runs Amok here needs a loving hand.”

  I contemplated a career in regicide. Did he really think I couldn’t love a horse because I hadn’t anticipated how big they were? Clenching my teeth, I crept forward.

  “Like hell I can’t. You don’t have time for another horse, not until you sell a few. I want you sleeping in my bed. You hear me? I refuse to sleep in a stall outside of foaling season.”

  I reached out, and Runs Amok stretched his head, his warm breath blowing over m
y fingers. Soft lips closed on my fingers, and I froze.

  Runs Amok drooled on me but left my fingers intact.

  With my other hand, I snatched the rope and yanked it out of Pat’s hand, backpedaling. Tossing his head, the horse followed me, and he whinnied.

  Geoff chuckled. “Gather up the line so Runs Amok can’t trip over it.”

  I obeyed, coiling the rope in my hand. The horse followed me all the way to the car, and when I had nowhere else to go, he thrust his nose against my stomach. Uncertain of what to do, I stared at Geoff.

  “Pet him,” he suggested, stepping closer and pressing his hand to the horse’s chest. Runs Amok took a single step backward but refused to move his head. “Most horses don’t like when people are upset, and someone is sensitive today.”

  The people in question kept glaring at each other.

  “Are they always like that?”

  “When it comes to horses? You bet. Only reason His Majesty got away with bringing Runs Amok home is because he’s so young. Normally, Her Majesty makes him sell the horse to someone else immediately.”

  I started with Runs Amok’s nose and stroked my way up to the thick hair falling over his eyes. “He has such pretty hair.”

  “That’s his forelock. Think of them as bangs, and they’re a part of his mane. Most breeds don’t have so much hair. Runs Amok is a looker, and not a single white hair on him. I’m going with His Majesty on this one. This is far too gorgeous a horse to send for slaughter. He should be entered into shows.”

  “He’s too tall,” Jessica declared. “He’s at least half a hand over the breed ideal.”

  Pat stomped his foot again. “I refuse to accept that. Look at him. He’s living beauty. He’s a perfect example of breed. His feathering is unmatched, he has a full mane, and his tail! Look at that tail. He’s perfect. How can you hate perfection?”

  “That perfection drags on the ground, and it’s a pain in the ass to groom,” the queen hissed.

  Geoff grinned and patted Runs Amok’s shoulder. “She’s mad because he was several hours late coming home yesterday because he was grooming Runs Amok’s tail. While grooming is a part of horse ownership, one of the perks of having a horse in the royal stables is that they hire people to make sure they’re groomed. Runs Amok’s rather gorgeous tail will be properly tended daily, you won’t have to do most of the work, and Her Majesty will have her husband sleeping in bed where he belongs instead of combing feathers, mane, and tail for hours. See? He’s not so scary, is he?”