Key of Knowledge k-2
Page 30
He stared at her. “Honey, if I had the key,Idve given it to you long before this.”
“You always had it. You just didnt know it. Im the key, and youre mine. Write it for me, Jordan. Put it in my hand, and lets go home.”
“All right.” He tried to wrap his mind around it. Then he touched her face and let himself see. “She stood bathed in moonlight. Goddess and lover, with eyes deep and dark with truths. He might have been born loving her, he wasnt sure. But he knew, without question, that he would die loving her.”
“She smiled” he continued as Danas lips curved, “and held out her hand to him. It glittered in her palm, a small, simple thing. The key shed searched for, fought for. It was old, but bright with promise. A slim bar of gold topped with a swirl of connecting circles in a symbol as old as time.”
She felt the weight of it, and the shape against her palm. Closing her fist around it, she reached for him with her free hand. “Itll take us back,” she said, “for the epilogue.”
SHE opened her eyes, blinked at the sea of faces, then blinked at her brother. “AuntieEm .”
“Oh, Christ. Dana.” He grabbed her, hauled her up against him, and rocked them both.
“Ouch.” But she was laughing as he hugged her tight enough to crack ribs. “Take it easy. Ive already got more than enough bumps and bruises.”
“Youre hurt? Where are you hurt?”
“If you can bear to let her go a moment, Ill tend her.” Rowena touched Flynns shoulder. “I have the key.”
“Yes, I know. Will you trust me with it for now?”
“You bet.” Without hesitation, she put the key in Rowenas hand. Reaching back for Jordan, she grinned at her friends. “What a ride.”
“You scared the hell out of us.” Malory swallowed back tears. “Both of you.”
“Your face is bruised. Her face is bruised,”Zoe said, and moved in immediately. “Her arms bleeding. Oh, her poor throat. Where are the bandages?”
“She wont need them, little mother,”Pitte stated calmly.
“I cut my arm on some glass, breaking into the Peak, or the Watch, I should say. And my knee feels about the size of a watermelon. As scary and weird as the whole thing was, I have to admit, it was also very cool. I was…”
She trailed off, looking down in surprise at the knee that had throbbed until Rowena laid hands on it. “Wow, that feels good. Better than usual.”
“Maybe so, but I bet you can still use this.” Brad pushed a snifter into her hand. “I remembered where you keep the brandy,” he told her, then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. “Welcome back, baby.”
“Good to be back.” She downed a swallow of brandy, then passed the snifter to Jordan. “Theres a lot to tell.”
“Would you prefer to stay here and rest, or are you feeling well enough to come to the Peak tonight and use the key?”
Dana studied Rowena as the woman stroked her fingers over her bruised cheek. “Youd wait?”
“The choice is yours. It always has been.”
“Well, Im up for it.” She glanced at the clock, nearly goggled. “Nine? How can it be only nine oclock? I feel like I was out for days.”
“Sixty-eight of the longest minutes of my life,” Flynn told her. “If you want to do this tonight, well go with you.”
“I have to call the baby-sitter.”Zoe flushed as all heads turned toward her. “I know that sounds silly considering, but—”
“Theres nothing silly about making certain your child is safe and well tended.” Rowena rose. “Pitteand I will take the key, and wait for you.”
“If theres a problem with the sitter,” Brad began, “Ill go stay with Simon. You should be with the others for this.”
“Oh, well.” Flustered, she backed out of the room. “Im sure Mrs. Hanson wont mind staying a bit later. But thanks. Ill just go call.”
“Well start up as soon asZoes ready.” Dana turned back to look at Rowena, but she andPitte were gone. “Man, they sure do poof in and poof out, dont they?”
“Theyd have saved us an hours driving time round-trip if theydpoofed us with them.” Jordan danced his fingers lightly over her cheek, down the column of her throat. The bruise and scrapes were gone. “You sure youre up to this?”
“Not only up for it, raring. Well fill you guys in on everything when we get to the Peak. Ill feel better once the keys in the lock.”
IN the portrait room they were served good, rich coffee and small sugary cakes while Dana and Jordan took turns filling in those sixty-eight minutes.
“You were so smart,”Zoe commented. “I dont know how you kept your head.”
“There were moments when I lost it. Id get confused, or Id get scared, or hed change the plot on me. It helped a lot when I realized that Jordan was either there or manipulating things, too. Getting rid of that maze Kane had created, pointing me toward the right door, made a big difference.”
“I didnt care for his editorial input.” Jordan took her hand, kissed it just above the ruby. “And, in this case, I decided the hero should take a more active role in the denouement.”
“No complaints here.”
“Do you think you killed him?” Malory wanted to know. “When you pushed him over the wall of the parapet?”
“No, I dont think so. He went, you know.” Dana wagged a thumb toward Rowena andPitte . “Poof.”
“But we hurt him,” Jordan put in. “And not just his pride. He felt it when I punched him, just like he felt it when Dana tried to rip his face off. He bled. If he can bleed, he can be killed.”
“Not completely.” Rings sparkled on Rowenas hands as she poured more coffee. “Death is different for us, and some part of what we are remains. In the trees, in the stones, in the earth or the water or wind.”
“But he can be defeated,” Jordan insisted. “He can be… vanquished.”
“It could be done,” she said quietly. “Perhaps it will be.”
“He retreated.” Brad lifted his coffee cup. “He ran because he wasnt prepared to take you both on at once.”
“He mightve done us both in with that sword he pulled out of thin air. I think we owe Rowena for that one,” Dana said.
“He was not to shed mortal blood, not to take mortal life. It should never have been allowed. We dont know why it has been, but since it has, well do whatever we can to prevent him from doing so again.”
“At what cost to you?” Brad wondered. “The responsibility is ours,”Pitte said simply. “As is the cost.”
“You may not get back now, isnt that it?” Hed worked it out while trying to keep his mind off his own fears for his friends. “You broke your vow, so even if all three keys are found and used, even if the souls of the Daughters of Glass are freed, you may not be able to go back. Youll be trapped here, in this dimension. Forever.”
“Thats not fair.” Seeing the truth of it on Rowenas face,Zoe stood up. “Thats not justice. Thats not right.”
“Gods are not always just, and often far from fair.” Touched byZoes defense, Rowena rose. “This was our choice. One might say our moment of truth. And now, will you finish yours?”
She held out a hand, offering the key to Dana.
Odd, Dana thought, that she was wobbly in the knees now. But she stood, walked to Rowena. “Whatever promise or rule you broke, you did it to save lives. If youre punished for that, if thats the way your world works, maybe youre better off in ours.”
“There would be no lock if we had guarded them more closely. They are the innocents, Dana, and they suffer because I was weak.”
“How long do you have to pay for that?”
“As long as they do, and longer if that is the law. Take this and open the second lock. Youll give them hope, and give it to me as well.”
Pittelifted the glass box, dancing with blue lights, out of the chest. He placed the Box of Souls with great care on a table, then stood at one side, warrior-straight, while Rowena stood on the other.
Watching those lights, Dana felt her heart ache.
There were two locks left, and she slid the key into the first, felt the gold heat against her skin, watched light shoot along the bar, along her fingers as she turned her wrist.
She heard the quiet click, a kind of sigh, then saw the frantic leap of those three lights. With a flash, both key and lock melted away.
And there was one lock remaining on the glass prison.
Rowena stepped forward and kissed Dana on each cheek. “Thank you, for your vision.” Turning, she smiled atZoe .
“Looks like Im up.” Because her cup rattled in her saucer, she set it aside.
“Will you come, all of you, at seven on the night before the new moon?”
“The night before the new moon?”Zoe repeated.
“Friday, seven oclock,” Brad supplied.
“Oh. Yes. Okay.”
“Will you bring your son? I enjoy children, and Id like to meet him.”
“Simon? I dont want to take any chances with Simon.”
“Neither do I,” Rowena assured her. “Id like to meet him, and do what I can to see him safe. Whatever I can do, I will do to see that no harm comes to him. I promise you this.”
Zoenodded. “Hell get a big kick out of this place. Hes never seen anything like it.”
“I look forward to it. Dana? Could I have a word with you, in private?”
“Sure.”
Rowena stretched out a hand, and took Danas to lead her out of the room.
“Did I ever tell you I like what youve done with the place?” Dana scanned the colorful mosaics on the floor, the silky walls, the gleaming furniture. “I especially like it now that Ive seen what it could look like under less hospitable circumstances.”
“It will be yours soon.”
“Still hard to imagine that.” “I keep meaning to show you this particular room.” Rowena stopped in front of a double pocket door, swept it open.
And ushered Dana into a book lovers version of heaven.
It was a two-level library, with a lovely ornate rail encircling the second level. A fire was snapping away in a hearth of rosy granite, its light, and the light from a dozen lamps, glittering on the polished wood of the floor.
High above, a mural was painted on the domed ceiling. She saw dozens of figures from the most romantic of faerie tales.Rapunzel , spilling her golden hair out of a tower, Sleeping Beauty just wakened by a kiss, Cinderella slipping her foot into a delicate glass slipper.
“Its incredible,” Dana whispered. “Beyond incredible.”
Wide, deep chairs, long, deep sofas were done in leather the color of good port. There were other small treasures in tables, in rugs, in art, but Dana was dazzled by the books. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of books.
“I knew you would enjoy it,” Rowena said on a peal of laughter. “You look as though youre about to be well pleasured by a particularly skillful lover.”
“You know, I have to be impressed by your being a god and all that sort of thing. But this goes way over the top. I bow to you.”
Delighted, Rowena perched on the arm of a chair. “When Malory completed her quest, I offered her a gift of her choosing. Any boon that was in my power to grant. I offer you the same now.”
“We made a deal. We both kept our part of it.”
“So she said, or something close enough to the same. I gave her the portrait shed painted while Kane held her. It seemed to please her. Id like to offer you these books, all thats in this room. I hope that will please you when youre mistress of this place.”
“All of them?”
“Yes, all,” she said with another laugh. “And all inside this room. Will you accept?”
“You dont have to twist my arm. Thank you.” She moved toward one of the shelves, then stopped herself. “No, if I get started, I wont get out of here for the next two or three years. Ill take very good care of them. Ill treasure this room,” Dana told her. “And everything in it.”
“I know you will. Now, let your man take you home. Let him cherish you tonight, as he wants to.”
“I can do that. You already gave me a gift,” she said as they walked out of the room. “You gave him back to me.”
“You took him back. Thats entirely different.” She paused when they reached the door to the portrait room. “Hes very handsome, your warrior.”
“Yeah.” She studied him, watched the way he turned his head, the way his eyes met hers, held hers while he slowly smiled.
“See that look there?” she murmured to Rowena.
“Thats the one that turns me to jelly. If he knew that, hed use it on me every time he wanted his way.”
“WHAT were you and Rowena grinning about when you came back in?” Jordan asked.
“Thats our little secret.” Instead of opening the car door, she walked past it, then turned to look back at the Peak. “Its going to be ours. Im still trying to get my head around that. Were going to live here, Jordan.”
He moved behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her to him. “Well be happy here. The house wants happiness.”
On a sigh, she tilted her head, pressed her lips to his cheek. “Im already happy.”
They drove away from the Peak, and neither saw the cloaked figure standing on the parapet under the thin light of the crescent moon.
She watched them go. She wished them well.
And turned when her warrior touched her shoulder. Pressing her cheek to his heart, she wept a little for what was, and for what might be.
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