After watching how Oberon had bluffed his way through that parley, Kathryn’s wings felt strengthless and watery. She felt relieved that all she had to do was coast down to the ground and shapeshift.
As soon as she appeared, Oberon said to her and Robin, “Mount up. He may change his mind, and even if he doesn’t, it’s going to take a while for his commands to spread over the countryside to all his troops. We’ve got to put distance between us and this place.”
Her body ached with exhaustion. All she wanted was to be done, to have a hot bath and good meal, and to go to bed. But if she felt that way, Robin and Oberon must feel ten times worse. Robin couldn’t walk without limping, and he moved as if every bone in his slim body hurt. And Oberon had a long raw streak down his neck and shoulder that she hadn’t had time to attend to yet.
She would be damned if she complained before either of them did.
Mounting, they rode in an odd zigzag pattern up hillsides. It had to be uncomfortable for their new mounts, but the horses were much better rested than the three of them were and took the challenging terrain steadily.
In the air, her sense of direction was almost as impeccable as her balance and coordination. On the ground and surrounded by trees, and enveloped in a growing haze of exhaustion, she quickly grew lost. But Oberon moved like he knew where he was going, so all she really need to do was stay on her horse and doze if she could.
At dusk he called a halt by a narrow stream of fresh running water, so they could set a fireless camp. By then they all moved as if every bone in their bodies hurt, but the horses needed attending to first. They needed to be fed a measure of the grain and given water and then hobbled so they could graze.
Only then did Kathryn turn her attention to Oberon and Robin. “Which one of you is worse off?”
“Robin,” Oberon said.
At the same time, Robin said, “Oberon.”
She snorted. “Never mind, I’ll check for myself.”
As bloody as Oberon was, she was surprised to find that Robin was worse off. He had taken deep tissue damage from a morningstar that impaired muscle and ligaments, and she found the break in his leg that had barely been patched together. Remembering how viciously the stallion had fought, she was surprised he hadn’t shattered the leg again.
She started by numbing the pain, and then she poured every kind of healing technique she had into him, repairing ligaments, urging muscle regeneration in strategic places and strengthening the bone, until his body couldn’t absorb any more magic. By the time she finished, he had long since fallen into a deep sleep. She tucked a cloak and blanket around him.
Oberon had washed at the stream and sat quietly, watching her work.
“He needs to sleep until he wakes on his own, if we can let him, and then he needs to keep doing that until he’s better,” she told Oberon as she moved to kneel beside him. She could feel the pain radiating from his body as soon as she laid her hands on him. It made her wince. “The same goes for you, by the way.”
“If we can,” he agreed. His voice was rough with exhaustion. He held steady while she worked on him.
As soon as she had completed her work, he pulled her to him, and she settled against his body. After all the stress and fear she had endured, she meant to only soak in the comfort of a hug before she washed and ate something, but the heavy, muscled weight of his arms acted faster than any drug. They fell asleep stretched out on the rocky ground near Robin.
The next morning, Kathryn woke first. She didn’t want to, but her neglected bodily needs were making themselves known. Easing away from Oberon’s long, lax form, she gnawed on jerky and hardtack until her empty stomach stopped hurting, and then she washed at the stream and took care of other personal functions away from the camp.
Afterward, she shapeshifted to scout around. As soon as she discovered there were no Arkadians in the area, she went hunting. After catching three good-sized rabbits, she hauled them to the camp one by one. Working briskly, she soon had them skinned, cut up, and cooking in their three small pots, along with salt, chickweed, and dandelion that she found growing all around.
While that cooked, she went hunting for herself. The land was rich with wildlife, so she caught enough for a satisfying breakfast easily enough.
The chores gave her plenty of time to think. After the stew was done cooking, she set the pots around the edge of the fire to keep them warm. When Oberon finally stirred and sat, his sharp gaze flew immediately to the fire.
She smiled. “We’re safe. I scouted before I started it. There’s nobody around for miles. Are you ready for breakfast?”
Relaxing, he told her, “You’re a goddamn miracle.”
“I know.” She accepted his kiss with a murmur of pleasure. As he took one of the pots and inhaled appreciatively, she told him, “The chickweed is good for muscle and joint pain, and the dandelion is good for the blood. Remember that—both you and Robin need it, so I want you to eat lots while I’m gone.”
A fierce frown darkened his features. “What do you mean—while you’re gone?”
“I’ve been thinking, and no other option makes sense,” she replied. “Robin can’t transport us right now, and you and he both need to take things easy. In the meantime, we left everyone back in the city without a word of explanation and panicked about the Arkadian invasion.” She paused, remembering Annwyn’s severe composure. “Or if not panicked, severely worried.”
Oberon ate too as he listened. “You were right the first time. Most of them will be in a panic, just some will hide it better than others.”
“You and Robin need to take your time,” she pointed out. “But I’m not injured. I’ve slept well, and I’ve eaten, and I’m the fastest messenger we’ve got.”
“Put like that, it is rather obvious,” he said dryly. “I don’t suppose I need to ask if you can find your way back to the city.”
“If you like asking the kind of questions where you already know the answers, by all means, be my guest.” Her eyes laughed at him.
His gaze narrowed. “Your sarcasm can be very sexy, you know. Very irritating, but very sexy.”
As they stared intently at each other, heat thrummed through her body.
Robin sat, roused by their voices. His hair stood up in tufts around his thin face. She handed him one of the cookpots by way of greeting, and he gave her a look of surprised gratitude before bolting the contents down, crunching through bones and all.
“So, we’re agreed I should go?” she asked Oberon.
“We’re agreed.” He played with her fingers and switched to telepathy. I don’t like it.
I don’t either.
She hadn’t expected him to say anything else, but it was still remarkably difficult to tear herself away. She knew they were in no imminent danger, and now that they’d had some healing and a chance to rest, they could take care of themselves.
No, this difficulty was all about the mating. She put off moving, rubbing the ball of her thumb along his strong, broad palm.
“Be sure to tell them we’re directly east of the Tellemaire passageway and headed for the Plajette caravan route. They’ll understand what that means.”
“Okay.”
Suddenly he muttered, “I can’t fucking stand this.”
“Me neither,” she whispered.
Before she lost all ability to move, she shapeshifted and bolted skyward.
She thought it would get easier the more distance she put behind her, but it didn’t. With each passing mile, she felt like she was trailing something vital like entrails behind her.
What a bloody thought. It didn’t augur well for what she intended to do next.
They had been correct about the state of tightly controlled panic back in the city. Over the short time they had been gone, even more people had poured in. All the troops from Raven’s Craig had arrived, and every broken barracks and building was strained to overcapacity.
The members of Oberon’s inner counsel were both angry and relieved to see
her. Annwyn was incandescently furious and threatened to throw her in jail for her part in facilitating Oberon’s crackbrained plan, but her rage quickly shifted to fierce exultation on hearing the news of Isabeau’s death.
In short order, Annwyn herself, Rowan, and a party of a hundred and fifty troops rode out to meet Oberon and Robin. Some would provide a safe escort back while the majority would scour the landscape for any sign of a lingering Arkadian presence.
When they departed, Kathryn let herself into Oberon’s office, sat at his desk, and wrote a series of letters. She used his own wax and seal to seal them and left one on the clean surface of his desk while she took the rest.
She could neither rest nor settle, and she certainly couldn’t face eating anything, so she left directly afterward. Flying hard for the crossover passageway that would lead her back to the old manor house in England, she only stopped once, briefly, when she absolutely had to rest. Then she pushed onward.
The troops stationed at the passageway were overjoyed with her news. Keeping her report concise over a quick cup of hot sweet tea, she told them everything that the public back in the city knew, and then she insisted on crossing over.
With every mile, every decision, every minute, she was leaving pieces of herself behind.
When she emerged from the passageway into a cold, rainy English night, a guard escorted her over to Sophie and Nik’s cottage. The guard knocked on the door, and it only took a few moments before it was yanked open by a bare-chested, dangerous-looking Nik while a sleepy Sophie peered around his shoulder.
“Oberon is awake and healed, and Isabeau is dead,” Kathryn told them. By then her voice had turned hoarse with exhaustion. She had to pause while they reacted to the news. After they whooped jubilantly and hugged each other, she went on. “They need food badly, and a lot of it. The time slippage is a serious problem right now—we’ve got to get supplies back over that passageway as quickly as we can.” She looked at Nik. “The city has sustained serious damage, and the stores in the granaries are ruined. I don’t suppose you know any Djinn who owe you any favors?”
“Not a single one,” he said. “We’ve been buying food as fast as we can afford it.”
“Don’t worry about money,” she told him. “I’m contributing to the cause….”
Her voice trailed away as she looked around. They still stood on the doorstep, and spring flowers decorated the stoop.
Time slippage was the worst kind of jet lag ever.
Of course. It was no longer autumn in England. It was now spring. Months had passed since she had been gone. She had known this would happen from the beginning. She swayed.
“Come inside now, Kathryn,” Sophie said encouragingly. “You’ve clearly been through a lot, and you can barely stand upright.”
“I can’t!” Kathryn exclaimed. “I’ve got to get back.” She turned to go.
Sophie sprang forward and put her arms around her while Nik said, “No, you don’t.” His voice was patient. “Dr. Shaw, all the urgency is in Lyonesse. On this side, you’ve got a lot more time to figure things out….”
“You don’t understand!” she shouted, shaking. “I’ve come too far!”
Their expressions went blank with surprise. Sophie asked cautiously, “Honey, what do you mean?”
Belatedly, she realized how irrational she was acting—she hadn’t even finished what she had come so far to do, and she was already trying to get back. Gripping the doorpost, she forced her mind to work.
Deep inside, she knew there would never be another time to reevaluate all the choices she had made over the last week and a half.
She could still choose to go back to New York. Back to the life she knew so well, her friends, her medical practice. But it would be the worst kind of betrayal to Oberon. Her talons came out and she dug into the wood as she fought with her animal side to hold still so she could grapple with herself.
He would hate her forever, and she wouldn’t blame him. And they wouldn’t get a second chance. Wyr mating was not just based on sex—it was based on timing and personality as well as other life events.
But she had spoken the truth when she had said he was worth her life. The man who had surged out of the spell’s influence was strong, caring, clever and honest. He was honorable. No, he wasn’t perfect, but neither was she. They had a lot to learn about each other, and maybe their mating hadn’t turned to love yet, but there was every hope that it could.
And the glimpse of the future she could have in Lyonesse was alluring as anything else. Mating with Oberon might be intensely personal, but it was also a mission, and she needed a mission in her life. There was so much to do there, so much she could help with.
He was the most complete package she could ever hope to find. And despite how scary everything felt right now, she wanted that future. She truly wanted it. She truly wanted him.
Pulling the tatters of her self-control together, she told them as calmly as she could, “I’m mating with Oberon, and I’ve gone too far away from him. I’m only here to tell you how important it is to get as much food to us as quickly as you can and to give you access to my bank accounts, so you can pay for it.” Then she remembered and dug into her shirt to pull out the packet of signed and sealed letters she had brought with her. “These are for people back in New York. Will you deliver them for me?”
“Yes, of course!” Sophie said quickly.
“You still need to step inside for a few more minutes, Kathryn.” Nik backed up and held the door open wider. “How do you want us to access your accounts? Do you want to make an online transfer?”
Reluctantly, she stepped inside. “I don’t know how much to allocate for this, so I’m going to just give you the account information, and you can draw on it as you need.”
Sophie gave her a sober look. “That’s a lot of trust in us.”
Kathryn managed a twisted smile. “We’ve been in quite a scramble. In a couple of weeks or so—in Lyonesse—I should be able to come up with some more solid plans, but in the meanwhile, I know you’ll make the right decisions.”
Pressing a hand to her forearm, he gave her a grave smile. “You’ve done so much for us. Thank you for all your service, and welcome to the family.”
“It hasn’t really sunk in,” Sophie murmured. She and Nik looked at each other. She told him, “Now that Isabeau’s dead, we can finally make that trip to Lyonesse for you, like we always said we would.”
“Yes,” he said, his voice tight with emotion. “I need to see Oberon for myself, and I would love to see home again.”
“That settles it—we’re going,” Sophie said to Kathryn, “We’ll bring the first shipment of food over ourselves, and I’m going to see if we can find a Djinn who will bargain with us for a favor we can live with, so we get it transported to the city quickly.”
“That would be simply amazing.” Kathryn sighed. A little bit of the tension between her shoulders eased. “I’ve met many wonderful people in Lyonesse and I know I’m going to love them, but they are all so new to me. It will be really good to have you there, for as long as you want to visit.”
Nik and Sophie looked at each other again and laughed. Sophie confessed to Kathryn, “It may not be just for a visit. We’ve talked about not coming back.”
“One step at a time,” Nik said. “For now, let me take down your account information.” He wrote down what she told him, then asked, “Do you want me to do anything else?”
Belatedly, she remembered from Sophie’s stories that Nik was a financial wizard. “Buy a lot of food, and don’t skimp. Make sure there’s a good, healthy variety for a lot of people, for several months. A spring thaw has begun, but we’ve got to get through the growing season. Get the first shipment to the city fast, and don’t worry about the cost—I expect it to be quite expensive. That should do for now.”
“Excellent,” he said, fierce satisfaction evident in every line of his body.
His kind of intensity was sexy, Kathryn realized, but she saw it f
rom a long emotional distance, as if admiring a beautiful painting. Then Oberon’s lion gaze flashed through her mind. It was followed by a hollow physical ache so bad she almost sank to the floor to curl in a ball.
But she had come this far. She just had to get through the rest of it.
When they had finished, she felt fifty pounds lighter. “I’ve got to go,” she told them again.
“Are you sure you won’t stay for a quick shower and a bite to eat?” Sophie asked.
That would be the rational, healthy thing to do, but…
“I’m sorry, I just can’t.”
“We’ll walk you back to the passageway.” Nik shrugged into a sweater while Sophie pulled a wrap over her short nightdress.
This was agonizing. Kathryn shifted from foot to foot until they walked out the door, and then she couldn’t merely walk anymore. She started running, and they kept pace with her, all the way through the jigsaw puzzle manor house.
When they reached the oubliette, she paused only for a moment. Smiling, Sophie said, “Go—go on! We will see you soon!”
“Goodbye! Hurry!” She bolted down the passageway tunnel and emerged into Lyonesse’s pristine air. No exhaust. No electric lights. No fuselage trails or satellites overhead. Thank the gods.
By that point, she was in a frenzy. What to do, what to do? How could she get back to him as quickly as possible? The sun had set once or twice… hadn’t it? It had to have set at least once. She remembered dozing in darkness with her eyes slit.
Should she head directly to where she had last left Oberon and Robin and track them from there? Or should she head back to the city first?
She had just completed a marathon, and now she needed to fly another, but she didn’t know how to calculate everything she had just done. The long hours and distance soul-searching and tasks and time slippage blurred together into one big, confused heartache.
She had no idea how to estimate where they might be. How far could they travel in the amount of time she had been gone?
Feeling crazed, she flung herself into the air and flew madly toward the city. Exhaustion bore her down. Raging at her own weakness, she found a place to roost and fell into a black pit. Then with a start, her eyes popped open and she launched into another mad flight.
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