by Elsa, Sandra
“Does Harrison know he’s dancing with a man?”
“Harrison is acquainted with Dee. And don’t you dare call her a man to her face.”
“I would never be so crass. Is she seeing anybody?”
I put him at arm’s length a moment to assess his expression, trying to see the question behind the question. “She works in District Eleven. As far as I know, she’s not seeing anybody special.”
“Does she know she has talent?”
“She didn’t know the extent of it until recently, but yeah, she knows.”
“Is she interested in dating? Or is it all sex and business with her?”
“You would have to ask her that. I know she’s living with another transgender, but I’m reasonably sure that’s just living arrangements.”
“Your mage phobia is already legendary. Do you think she feels the same?”
“I doubt it. But again, you’d have to ask her.”
He smiled down at me. “I think I will, if you don’t mind working our way toward your husband.”
We exchanged partners and I watched briefly as Teach’s hands slid down to Dee’s rear. Harrison watched with some consternation then asked, “Did you tell him she’s male?”
“Nope. He told me.”
He shook his head. “I guess that would explain why I’ve never seen him with a woman.”
I leaned my head on Harrison’s shoulder and gave myself over to the slow beat of the music, closing my eyes to pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist.
Jordan insisted on one dance, other than that he blessedly left me alone. The red-eyed man who’d sat near Annabel in the church introduced himself as Jeffrey Drover. Black gloves wrapped his fingers and I wondered if he thought himself too good to actually touch a common person. He danced in silence as though making up his mind on me without my input. He was unsettling. I’d have to ask Harrison about him tomorrow.
We cut the cake and the night finally wound down, most of the guests were staying in the Jonah Hotel. When only a few remained in the room, my father and Nan stood up to go and we took our cue from them. Rather than walk out the front, they beckoned us to follow them and waved to the elevator.
Once inside the car, Nan handed Harrison a room key. “Thought it’d be better if we stayed here tonight. More room, fewer people, and no wandering the District in the dark.”
“Our house will probably be empty tonight unless you invited others to stay there,” Harrison said. “I can’t imagine Father’s security allowing him to wander the streets after dark, and we’re all here.”
“Well we’ve run roughshod over you for the past week, so consider this our gift to you. The honeymoon suite is yours.”
“You’re the ones who just got married, you should take it,” Harrison offered. “We stayed up here the first couple days we were in the district.”
“No, Harrison. For once in your life, do as your mother tells you.”
He grinned as the elevator door opened. “I listened to you all the time when I was growing up.”
“Well, it’s been awhile. But I have to admit you’ve done well on your own. Even when you stayed near your father, you didn’t let him completely rule your life. I’ve never gotten the complete story out of anybody on how you met Frankie. But however it came about, it turned into a good thing for everybody.”
“I agree,” Harrison said, “it has turned into a good thing.” He wrapped his arms around me, hands sliding below the waist. “A very good thing.”
“Even though you nearly died a little more than a week ago?” his mother asked. Since she’d just said it was a good thing I figured she was checking his commitment and concern for recent events.
“At least with Frankie, dying would be respectable.”
“And he knows a lot more about protecting himself now than he did three months ago,” I added.
“You say that like it’s a good thing.”
“It is. I rather expect that once we settle somewhere, we’ll end up having to fight to keep it. And I don’t mean political machinations either.”
“Never thought of my magic as a weapon before I met Frankie,” Harrison said, “but it is.”
They stopped in front of a room door. My father asked, “So do we get to know how you netted the enemy with their own mage’s weapon?”
“Maybe,” Harrison said. “But not here. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“Good-night,” I said and dragged Harrison down the hallway.
#
Morning arrived before we closed our eyes. And with the sun, began a procession of people knocking on our door. All of whom we ignored.
The only clothing I had in the room was the dress and I’d suffered that monstrosity as long as I planned to. Harrison called the front desk and informed them we planned to be here another day. Then he called Jerry and asked him to stop by the house and bring clothing and my shoulder holster. No rush. Whenever he got moving.
The moment Harrison hung up the phone, another knock on the door made him roll his eyes. “How do they all know we’re here?”
“Jamison was still in the room when we left the party; probably some of his underlings as well. Not hard to watch us go up, then figure out which room we’re in. And for all you know, it’s the same person knocking over and over again.”
“No it’s not. Two were lighter, female…and four of them were male. One was my father. And another thought we should have leapt out of bed at his bidding even though we couldn’t possibly know who he was.”
I smiled at him. “Impressive. You’d make a good detective, and I agree with your assessment completely. Guess you’re even one step ahead of me, because I couldn’t begin to tell you which one was your father. Thought that was the demanding one.”
He kissed me, a smile tugging the corners of his lips. “He was the second.”
The knocking continued. Growing louder, once again demanding we respond. Harrison slid out of bed with a sigh, grabbed a towel from the bathroom and wrapped it around his hips. His eyes raked over me as I tugged the sheets up to my chin before he walked into the next room and peered through the peephole before opening the door. “What the hell do you want?” The crackle of magic drew me to my feet before I realized the energy was Harrison’s.
I stopped, but not before I’d drawn the attention of the older dark haired man in the doorway. “Our invitation arrived a bit late, Harrison.”
Harrison’s voice was tight as he growled, “You know damn good and well, you weren’t invited.”
“Don’t want your wife to meet, your ex?” The other man’s voice was smug.
Harrison glanced at me, then back to the hallway. A second person stood behind the man. “Mr. Flanders, I don’t know what Susie told you, but we dated one time. I never even slept with her. Allowing her obsession to take free rein is not healthy for anybody.”
I tightened the sheet around myself—not like it was tucked in after last night—grabbed my pistol from the heap of wedding dress where I’d shed it the previous night, and strolled over to Harrison’s side. He draped an arm over my shoulder and pulled me up close against himself. I assessed the man in the door and the Fluffbunny behind him.
Blonde, cute, and vacuous, she looked like she’d rather be anywhere else in the world. I leaned into Harrison and said, “I think maybe your father should investigate Mr. Flanders. The obsession doesn’t belong to the Fluffbunny. It’s his. I’d say she was his attempt to entice you into his camp.”
The man in the hallway glanced at my pistol and gulped, but barged on. “My daughter is an innocent. He broke her heart.” Behind him the Fluffbunny rolled her eyes.
I ignored both of them and spoke to Harrison loudly. If this man wanted to fling accusations and cause a scene, I’d show him a little something about flinging accusations and causing a scene. “Whatever his ultimate goal is. It’s entirely possible he was the one behind the attack on you and Jerry. If he and his couldn’t use you, nobody would.”
Magical
energy grew in the hallway. The man’s expression darkened.
Before he could release the energy I pointed my pistol at his head and said, “Before you do that, I strongly suggest you back the fuck up, go down to the watch and see if they have any pictures of the last mage that tried to use his talent against us.”
The energy subsided a little but he didn’t ground it.
I lowered the pistol and reached out and turned the spell off at the source, snatching it from his control. He shrieked and dropped to the floor, flopping like a landed fish.
A door at the end of the hall opened and Roy Jamison stared at us less than a second before three men hurried down the hall. Two of them clasped Mr. Flanders under the arms while the other pushed Fluffbunny toward the room they’d come out of. The door closed behind the five of them with Roy Jamison standing on the outside staring apprehensively at the pair of us.
He raised his voice to carry down the hall without moving a foot. “Might I speak with you?”
“Perhaps when we have clothing to wear.”
“Fair enough. Would you like me to purchase some?”
“Jerry’s bringing it.”
He nodded and slid back through the door.
Harrison closed our door. “I suspect Jerry’s about to get a call telling him to move his ass. That man doesn’t like to wait, and what you just did has got to have him nervous.”
“I didn’t do anything more than turn off his spell.”
He wrapped me tight, his chest heaved and I pushed back to stare at his silent laughter.
“You don’t even know how amazing you are. You didn’t just turn his spell off. You stole his magic. I’m only guessing, but I’d say it’s probably the same thing you did to the mage the night we were attacked. Fortunately with a little less vengeance.”
“How can I steal his magic? And if I stole it, where did it go?”
“If I had to guess--and I do--I’d say into nullspace.”
“What the hell…so your saying I‘m a siphon?”
“Siphons are predators. Generally with very little magic of their own. They siphon magic slowly because they can‘t snatch it wholesale like you just did. And considering that you were a thirty year old virgin before I chased you down, I don’t believe you use lust to trap victims and drain them dry.”
“I didn’t intend to harm him permanently.”
“He’ll recover. Unless he gets a kiss from Dee, I doubt it will be anytime in the near future.”
“Why the hell would he come here? The Fluffbunny clearly didn’t want to be anywhere near us, so it was pretty obvious it wasn’t her that brought them here.”
He kissed me and started backing me toward the suite’s bedroom. “I’m glad you read people so well. We went on one date. She spent the evening apologizing for talking me into going out with her. Said it was her father’s attempt to get close to the president. She had someone she was interested in, but her father only saw her as a pawn to be used. I felt sorry for her, so I told her she could blame me for lack of interest.”
“Is it possible he sought to use you against your father?” We maneuvered through the bedroom door.
“Anything’s possible. I can’t see him coming here and trying to attack us if his motive was to curry favor. No matter how antagonistic you and Father are, I don’t think anybody who’s watched you together could think you’re mortal enemies. You both have entirely too much fun trying to get one up on the other.”
“But not too many people have seen that. He was fairly mellow yesterday except when the only people watching were Wally and Rollick, and nobody from Romanelli’s remembers how that evening started. I suppose it’s possible Flanders thought he’d be doing your father a favor by putting her out there as a wedge between us. All most people know is that all of a sudden he’s proclaimed you his son and you’ve disappeared from District Seven where you’ve had a working relationship with him, your entire life.” I slid my hands down to his ass and tugged him along faster, allowing the sheet to unravel between us.
His hands started wandering but somehow we managed to hold a coherent conversation as he said, “I’m inclined to go with your first thought. I see him and father more as enemies than friends, and this was a last ditch effort. Be nice if I knew exactly what he thought he was going to do with his talent.”
I drew the null field tight around myself. “Can’t you pull the spell back out?”
“I don’t even know what color of the hundreds in null it would be.”
“Beige,” I told him. Suddenly noticing that I had seen the color with my eyes open.
“Fantastic.” He leaned his forehead against mine. I could feel him searching. Finally he drew back with a look of horror on his face. “I think we’ll leave that right where it is until we’re outside the dome and can release it somewhere harmless.”
“What was it?”
“A spear of malevolence.”
“A what?” My thighs bumped against the bed and we stopped moving. A shiver ran down my spine. Not so much because of the name—people were fond of naming things to sound more fierce than they were—but because of the expression Harrison had yet to school down to calm.
“It’s energy, shaped into a spear. Throw it at somebody and it pierces their magic--tears them at the seams. Unlike what you did, nobody recovers from a spear of malevolence because once it rips into your magic it entwines itself so thoroughly you never stand a chance to recover. It constantly bleeds your energy.”
“Then he was aiming at you.”
“So it would seem.”
“Why bring Fluffbunny at all?”
“Hoping to get past our defenses?” He shrugged. “Who arms against offensive magic, if a father brings his little princess to accuse someone of doing her wrong? I only feel magic when it’s actually in play. Not while it builds, the way you can. And thanks to the registration, it’s easy for anybody to tell you exactly what I can and can’t do.”
“Can you create one of those spears?”
“No. As far as I know, only about five mages can.”
“I’d like to give it back to him.”
“I think Mr. Jamison would prefer to question him in one piece.”
“Thought you said it affected magic.”
“A mage with his magic twisted and draining is a mage who has a fractured mind.”
“So it’s better to rip the energy out wholesale than let it drain?”
“Not necessarily. What you did to the mage on the beach…that was also the result of snatching his magic away. I rather suspect he had a half formed net when you pulled it. The nets contain flesh and suppress magic, so quite likely you ripped it right through his flesh when you tore his magic away. Thus, the slice and dice aspect.”
“So does it stay in null? I mean can you sense the different energies that I’ve absorbed?”
“In null I not only sense them, but I see colors. I can find individual spells when you catch them without a problem. And there’s a stockpile in there, I’d guess you’ve been collecting your entire life without knowing. Net guy’s emerald huddles in a corner and Flander’s beige sits next to it. There are others. Most in small amounts, but a huge stash of teal energy. I suspect you could use the energy if you knew who they belonged to and what they could do, but I don’t think I can draw on it.”
“So show me the registry.” I couldn’t believe I was asking to see something I’d spent my life avoiding. “Teach me.”
“It’s strictly private net. Nobody outside District Seven sees it anymore. Not even those within the district have access unless they work in the registry or fill out the proper requests. And even then they’re closely monitored and only shown specifically what they requested…providing of course their request gets approved.”
“So you’re telling me I have all this energy and no way to use it.”
“Well we know net-guy made nets, and we know he suppressed magic. You should be able to use that. I don’t recommend trying a spear of malevole
nce, but maybe if we talk to Susie, that’d be the Fluffbunny to you, we can convince her to tell us what else her father is capable of doing. Unfortunately I suspect that once you use it, the magic won’t regenerate so it’s a finite resource.”
“Better a finite resource than no resource. A weapon’s a weapon whether you can reload and keep firing or if you have to go search for the purest silver to make new bullets.”
“I’m glad I’m on your side. Wouldn’t want to be in my father’s shoes if you decided to get ticked at him.”
“Yeah, well I think I better talk to my father before we talk to Mr. Jamison. He seems the sort who might just piss me off, and I’d hate to accidentally kill the president’s head of security.”
“Talking to your father is probably not a bad idea.” Harrison pushed me down on the bed. “But I have a better one before they convince Jerry to get here.”
I grinned up at him and pulled him down with me. “I like the way your mind works, Harrison Kendrel.”
His return grin was wicked. “I like the way your body works, Mrs Kendrel.”
Chapter 17
Jerry’s knock was timorous, but there wasn’t any doubt in either of our minds that it was he who tapped at the door. Harrison recovered his towel and went to open it.
“We need to speak, Harrison.” It wasn’t Jerry’s voice but that of Mr. Jamison.
“Sorry, Harrison.” That was Jerry.
He grabbed my tote from Jerry’s hands. “It’s all right. We knew they were waiting. Thanks for bringing these.”
I heard Jerry’s sigh of relief all the way in the bedroom. “I’ll just be going down to find some breakfast, then.” I had no problem imagining nothing but ass and elbows as Jerry raced for the elevator. Harrison put a hand up in the doorway. “We’ll be out shortly. Frankie thought maybe we ought to talk to her father, before you piss her off.”
“That was her then?”
“I know you’re well acquainted with what I can do.”
I mentally applauded Harrison for giving an evasive answer. There was complete silence for about fifteen seconds then Jamison said, “I’ll have mage Jallahan at the door in five minutes.”