Acaw, wise as ever, stepped out of the way.
Bren approached me carefully, and I loved the way the sun gave his hair a rich, sparkling sheen. He had been a splendid hawk, but I rather liked him as a boy again. Well, more man than boy. That thought made me shiver again, but this time not from fear.
Was Bren going to hug me? Kiss me? I didn’t know. I wanted both. Didn’t care which. I just wanted to touch him.
My heart gave a leap as Bren swept me into his embrace. He pressed his stubbled cheek to mine, and for a long few moments, we simply stood together on the mountaintop and held one another tight.
“You can’t know how much I’ve missed you,” he said, his voice low in my ear. “I can’t believe you’re here. I can’t believe you’re real.”
Warm shivers gripped me, then turned me loose. “I missed you, too.”
My throat tightened, and tears gathered in my eyes. Where were all my wonderful words? All those things I longed to tell him? I had gone mute so fast after lamely echoing what he said to me. What kind of a greeting was that?
Bren was quiet, too. Unusually so, for him. When he pulled back to gaze into my eyes, I saw the same weight of emotion I was feeling, the same loss of words. At least I wasn’t alone.
As if following a silent command, we moved our heads at the same moment, pressing our lips together. The awkwardness I had felt so long ago was gone. This was blissful. This was right. His kiss was so soft, but firm at the same time. He smelled like leather and rose oil, and underneath that—
I broke the kiss and pushed him back, mouth agape. “A woman’s magic?”
“What?” Bren looked genuinely confused.
“Who touched you? When?” My belly twisted into knots. How could he? Where was she, anyway? Hidden down the trail in some cave or tree? “Her mark runs through you like a river!”
“I’m not following you.” Bren was such an excellent actor. He sounded oh-so-convincing, but I couldn’t deny what I had sensed. The unmistakable magical signature of another woman, deep in his essence. And he smelled of roses! The thought of any female other than me getting that close to him, literally under his skin—inside his very energy—I would kill him. I honestly thought I might.
“Who is she?” I asked through clenched teeth.
Acaw seemed to materialize from the forest floor, the tip of my peacock feather hovering over his head like a small blue halo. The elfling hurried forward and tapped Bren’s elbow with his staff.
Bren leaned down, and Acaw whispered something in his ear. That fast, the elfling was gone again, back to wherever elflings disappeared to.
Smiling, Bren straightened back up. “You’ve got it wrong, Jazz. It was nothing. I mean, not what you think.”
I glared at his sword and wondered if I could spell it to me before he stopped my magic.
He grabbed the hilt like he read my mind. “It was just the Erlking’s daughter. One of the enchantresses we had to get past on our way up here. She—”
“An enchantress?” Now my blood reached boiling point. I pointed my fingers at the nearest rock and sent my will crackling outward. Goddess, it felt good to cast a proper spell again.
Except nothing happened.
“An enchantress!” This time I fired as I shouted.
More nothing happened.
“Is—um, something wrong with your magic, Your Highness?”
The laughter in Bren’s tone made me want to slap him until his eyes crossed. “No! I mean, yes. I don’t know. I had none in Talamadden because I had given it to you. I thought when I escaped, it would…er, come back to me?”
The fact that it hadn’t returned bothered me to no end, especially because I couldn’t turn the faithless worm into a mouse-sized version of a reeking, squalling harpy.
Bren pointed at the nearest rock. “Allow me.” Again, nothing happened. Rock-boy looked at his fingers like they might be broken and tried again.
“Is something wrong with your magic, Your Highness?” I quipped. Couldn’t help it. Bren still had the ability to make me angrier than any living creature.
His look was one of genuine distress. When he wheeled on me, his teeth were clenched. “Look, you ungrateful witch. You have no idea what I went through to find you. I’ve been walking—no, running—for days. And I fought the Erlking and beat him—that girl you think I cheated with, I don’t even know which of the six it was who healed me, but she had to because I won, okay? I wasn’t even conscious.”
He turned away again, aimed his fingers at a small rock, and grunted. Nothing. Not even a crackle.
A slow river of guilt trickled from my brain to my heart. Bren’s story made sense. I had never dealt with the Erlking or his famed wicked daughters, but I knew what the legends said. The Erlking was of the older oldeFolke. Wily, powerful, deceptive, and rumored to be a ruthless, vengeful fighter.
As I opened my mouth to apologize, he whirled back toward me and shouted, “What did you do to me?”
This caught me by surprise. “Pardon?”
“My magic was fine before you yanked me through that stupid black wall. And it was fine when I was fighting those smelly things you didn’t want to hurt. Then you get mad, and poof, all my magic’s gone. What did you do?”
“Nothing!”
“I swear, Jazz—”
He took a step toward me and instinct took over. I slapped him hard across the cheek, wishing I could blow up every rock on the mountaintop just to rain pebbles on his donkey-thick skull.
The second my fingers touched his flesh, the mountain seemed to shake. Tiny explosions went off in every direction, joining to make one chest-punching thunderclap.
Every rock on the mountaintop had blown up after all.
Bren and I stood there blinking at each other as tiny pebbles and rock dust tumbled over every inch of us.
“Were you—ah—thinking about the rocks, Jazz?” Bren sneezed and wiped his nose on his shirt sleeve.
“Yes,” I admitted.
“Yeah, well.” He sneezed again. “So was I.”
“Oh.” I looked down at my hand, which was still stinging from where I slapped him. “Oooooh. Bren.” A desperate misery overcame me then. “I’m afraid we have a major problem.”
***
Chapter Eight
By the look on Jazz’s face, I knew something had to be wrong. Very wrong. And it had nothing to do with enchantresses or the Erlking.
“What?” I said, not sure I wanted to hear the answer.
Jazz cleared her throat. “I believe our powers are bound together. Since I’m out of Talamadden now, back in the land of the living, we can’t perform magic without one another.”
I just stood there and looked at her, trying to digest what she said. My words came out slow. Measured. “I have no magic without you. And you have no magic without me.”
Jazz nodded, looking apologetic and angry at the same time. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to work together to perform any kind of magic. At least for now, until we figure out a way to get our own powers back.”
Frustration boiled up inside me and I wanted to pound something, anything. “Well, that’s just freaking great.” I kicked at one of the larger stones that had rained down around us. Then a thought occurred to me. “Maybe you’re wrong.”
I turned away from Jazz and focused hard on a spot in the snow, trying to conjure up a slither. Not a real one, but one that would look real enough to scare the crap out of someone. I focused…and focused…
Nothing.
I narrowed my eyes and concentrated so hard my head ached.
Nothing. Crap! Nothing happened!
I cut my gaze back to Jazz. “Try it with me. This time think about the image of a slither.”
She took my hand and we both stared at the same spot. Within seconds the air shimmered. Silver and gold flowed between Jazz and me.
A huge red slither appeared and flapped its massive wings. Snow spun and swirled in the gust it caused, and I felt the heat of its breath.
Jazz and I looked at each other.
The slither image vanished.
“No.” I shook my head. “I still don’t believe it.”
I pulled my hand away from Jazz’s. I drew my sword and held it high. “Stop!” I shouted, ordering all noise, all motion to come to a complete halt.
Just like before, nothing happened.
I clenched my fists and looked at Jazz. “You try.”
Jazz raised her chin and said in her loudest, most queenliest voice, “Cease!”
Birds still chirped and trees swayed in the breeze. Acaw was studying us with his impassive features, the charms on his staff making a soft tinkling sound when he moved his arm. The silly peacock feather lightly bobbed above his head. Acaw’s crow-brother gave us an irritated blink.
Jazz and I looked at each other. We grabbed hands and at the same time I shouted “Stop!” and Jazz called out “Cease!”
Everything, absolutely everything stopped moving, but Jazz and me. The softness of her breathing was the only sound I heard, and her glance around us the only movement. I lifted my face and saw the clouds had halted against the blue-green sky. When I turned my gaze to Acaw, he looked like a garden statue, and his crow-brother was frozen in mid feather-ruffle.
“Oh, man.” I dropped her hand and rubbed my face, the stubble scraping my palm. “We’re in deep.” Anger snapped through me and I glared at Jazz. “What did you do to us?”
She returned my glare. “Obviously something happened when we crossed over together. Maybe when your ba essence was still pulled apart from your ka. If you hadn’t come into Talamadden, I’m certain this wouldn’t have happened.”
“So you’re saying it’s my fault.” My anger swelled higher. “You ungrateful…” I started to continue when I noticed Jazz rubbing her arm where the Shadows had dug into her, and eventually killed her and sent her to Talamadden. A long, thick, pink scar was there, almost matching the one on my cheek.
The memory of her dying, of her being taken away from me, ripped through my gut, opening my heart, draining my anger. How could I be mad about anything right now? I had Jazz back. I really had her back.
She stopped rubbing her arm and gazed at me. The lines of her face relaxed. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I was wrong to speak so sharply. You did an amazing thing, opening the gateway from the living side, sending an aspect of your spirit through to defend me like that. You risked so much, just to save me.”
Jazz? Apologizing? Admitting she was wrong? Amazing. She seemed so real and vulnerable, so much… softer.
I stepped close to her and she looked like she wasn’t even breathing. I cupped her face in my hands and looked down at her beautiful features. Her golden eyes, her long black hair. She felt warm in my hands and I brushed one thumb across her cheek as I brought my face closer to hers. “I missed you,” was all I could think to say, but she smiled.
“I missed you, too.” Her words were just a whisper, but I could feel the warmth of her breath.
I kissed her then, hard. Still not believing she was real, not believing she was truly there. I slid my hands down her shoulders to her waist and brought her closer to me as we kissed. She felt real.
I realized then that our magic was melding, moving between us and around us. Silver twined with gold, and so strong I felt as if I could hold my hand out and grasp it.
When I raised my head, and we pulled away from one another, our magic continued to flow between us in a silvery gold ball of light. I reached out to touch it, but it faded away, seeping into each of us and connecting us.
I couldn’t help giving her a crooked smile. “At least we make good magic together.”
She smiled back. “That’s one way to think about it.”
I took her hand in mine and gripped it tight. “Come on. It’s time to go home.”
After we undid our ceasing spell, Acaw led us back down the endless mountain. The peacock feather bobbed above his head like a piece of seaweed on the ocean. Kind of a silly way to carry a peacock feather, if you ask me, but whatever worked for him. The elfling seemed nervous, which was strange for him, as we entered the main section of the Erlking’s realm and started back toward the Path.
I was none too happy about that, either. The sound of the Erlking’s laughter, the feel of his gnarled hand on my back as he shoved me into the land of the dead, the way blood dripped from his nasty fingertips as he pawed through my memories… If the freak dared show his ugly shapeshifting face around me again, I’d probably cut off his head.
Somehow I sensed I would have my chance.
“He frightens you,” Jazz said quietly. She took my hand in hers, and I gave her fingers a squeeze as I nodded.
The old me would have yelled about being scared of nothing, but the Erlking made my skin crawl. I remembered how Rol had reacted, and now I understood.
From somewhere in the back of my mind, the monster chuckled.
I grimaced. “Feels like he’s living in my head now. Some piece of him at least.”
Jazz’s hand felt so warm in mine. “My father said something like that once. He had to come here a long time ago, when I was little. The Erlking sent word to him, a protest, because Nire’s Shadows had invaded his realm. Father described his laugh—” She broke off, shuddering.
My sword had never felt so good against my leg. “If he shows up, I’ll handle him. Trust me.”
Jazz’s golden eyes lit up as she looked at me. “I do.”
The walk didn’t seem as long or as difficult now that Jazz was with us. I couldn’t believe she was really next to me, and that she was alive again.
“This place seems…questionable,” she murmured as we passed through a particularly dark, thick stretch of woods several days into the trek.
“Yeah. No kidding.” On this wide section of path, I walked shoulder to shoulder with her, not wanting her too open to sudden attack from the trees. We hadn’t seen the Erlking, but I swear, I felt his nastiness skulking around, or I imagined I did. I glanced at Jazz. “Nothing here is what it seems. Even the beautiful stuff—well, you know. You have to be careful.”
Jazz gave me a quirky, surprised sort of smile. I couldn’t tell, but she looked—I don’t know. Proud, maybe.
Later, I kept her between Acaw and me as we walked single file down the narrow, tree-crowded path. I took up the rear, sword in hand, because I was going to make sure that nothing hurt her again. To my surprise, Jazz didn’t argue with this. She didn’t even make smart remarks or try to joke about my decision. Instead, she flexed her hands as if to keep herself ready.
She’s letting me take the lead. She’s letting me protect her.
The feeling was enough to swell my head.
At night, when we made camp, Jazz and I experimented with joining our magic, practicing strategies until we could do simple spells without touching, so long as we were near each other to draw the energy we needed. Major spells were a lot harder, and lots of times, we had to have physical contact to make them work. That was just fine with me. I made a point to keep Jazz close, especially when she slept. Acaw’s crow-brother was on constant lookout, too, and I wondered if he even slept. He stayed close by, as if concerned about Jazz’s welfare. Maybe even mine. We were a jumpy little group, but we were making progress.
The next morning, I woke with that itch behind my ear again. Maybe I really did have fleas. When I got back to L.O.S.T., I planned to take a very long, very hot bath, and if I had to, I’d see the oldeFolke about some sort of powder to remove forgotten-lands-cooties. There had to be something.
As I finished scratching, my attention turned to where Jazz had bedded down for the night. She was there in the clearing, sitting on her knees, gazing at pine needles and grass, absently running her fingers across the drops of dew glistening in the early morning sun.
She was so beautiful like that, all distracted, her long hair flowing down her back and her golden eyes distant and misty. I got up quietly, so as not to disturb Acaw, who was actually
snoring for a second. Even his crow-brother had his crow eyes closed for once.
It only took me a few steps to reach the miracle that was Jazz on her knees in a clearing in the land of the living, breathing, smiling—real. Right there, beside me again.
I knelt next to her. “Good morning.”
She looked at me and smiled, holding up her damp fingers. When she touched them to the scar along my cheek, they were cool.
“It feels so good to be cold.” She giggled. I mean really—Jasmina Corey actually giggled. “To touch soft, wet forest grass, tough pine needles.” Another smile, this one bigger as she stroked my morning stubble. “Even your rough beard.”
“Almost beard.” I grinned and took her hand.
She looked so thrilled just to be alive. I think she was appreciating life in a way she never had before. Man, if I had died, I would probably feel the same way, especially after what she told me about Talamadden and the harpies and stuff. Just the thought of what she’d gone through made my flesh crawl. My five minutes with separate body and soul—that was nothing.
We got underway not long afterwards, the three of us walking and talking, getting a little more relaxed as we went. I toyed with the moonstone around my neck, appreciating it for stopping that arrow—and I think it helped hold me together when I passed in and out of Talamadden. Sherise was due a major thank-you from me once we got home.
The Path and L.O.S.T were drawing closer and closer, and the day seemed brighter than ever. The only hitch was having to use our magic together. That was frustrating every time I tried to do something I was used to doing alone and had to ask her to help me. Still, I tried not to get pissed off about it. Jazz said we’d figure something out. I hoped she was right.
As the morning passed slowly around us, I caught up to Jazz on a narrow section of trail and held her hand. “I can’t wait to get you home. Your mom and Rol—are they ever going to be glad to see you. And just wait until you see how much L.O.S.T. has grown. It’s unreal.”
Jazz smiled, but the radiance faded fast. She looked distant for a second or two. Her fingers even went slack in my hand.
L.O.S.T. Trilogy Box Set Page 34