Noomi gnawed on her bottom lip for a moment before asking, “Why are you so intent on helping? The archive thefts don’t have anything to do with you.”
“I don’t know…I guess I’m tired of being a bit player.” Loki popped a big piece of sushi into his mouth. It was so good he shoveled in a few more. “Plus, these guns are bad news all around. They’re trying to figure out how to kill lower fae, too. Those are my people.”
He leaned back in his seat. “Non-Seelie fae get stepped on all the time—the lower castes are the ones the Court would just as soon spit on than actual acknowledge them as members of the same species. Those are the guys who are going to feel this the most, not the members of the Court. Those assholes are protected by layers and layers of magic, not to mention the soldiers and warriors of the Great Hunt. But the rest of us are cannon-fodder waiting to happen “
Attaching to take his hand, Noomi squeezed it. “I understand. Our history is filled with many stories of the Seelie Court. It is both a wondrous and bloodthirsty place.”
Exactly. He was so glad she understood. “I have to do something before the shit hits the fan. It’ll still hit the fan anyway, but at least…at least I’ll have tried to stop it.”
“I didn’t think a Loki would have such a strong sense of responsibility,” Noomi marveled. She was starting to slur a teeny bit, too.
He pointed at her, realizing her prettiness was making him dizzy. “I don’t. This isn’t about that. It’s bigger than me. It’s bigger than you. It’s bigger than this damn island.”
Noomi scowled. “This island will be here when all other life on earth is rotting in the ground.”
She was definitely drunk now, no teeny bit about it.
“Okay, that’s a little dark,” he said, starting to refill. It was taking too long so he gave up and started swigging straight from the bottle. “But it’s cool. You’re right. This place is the alpha and omega, and we are going to defend it and get your artifacts back.”
Noomi slapped her hand down on the table, lifting her glass up in her other hand in a toast. “You know what? You are right. You and I are going to be a great team. And we’re not going to be caught unawares this time. I’m going back to the archives, and I’m going to get a few spell books. We’re going to do this!”
“Abso-fucking-lutely we are.”
Loki stood up too fast. The room spun, and he promptly fell on his ass.
There was a beat of silence.
“And we’re leaving just as soon as we sober up!” he cried.
Cheering, an unsteady Noomi helped him to his feet.
25
Serin could taste the salt in the air, the perfume of the islands many flowers carried on the breeze. There was only one place with this scent. She was home…and against all her expectations, she was still alive.
True, it still felt like her insides had been scraped up with a cheese grater. But the pain wasn’t as intense as before. She opened her eyes to transparent white curtains blowing gently in the breeze.
Serin relaxed her hands, smoothing her palms over the sky-blue coverlet of her childhood bed. Relief that she could feel the sensation of the fabric beneath her fingers coursed through her.
“Do you feel better?”
Gia appeared next to her. Her sister’s calm expression was a comfort. Serin was out of danger.
She licked her dry lips before rasping out, “I hope you didn’t kill Doyle.”
Gia poured her a glass of water from the bedside table. “No, but it was a near thing. His partner wasn’t happy about the condition I left him in. Fortunately, Romero didn’t start complaining until after the healers had seen you and decided you were on the mend.”
Serin sat up, leaning against the headboard. “How did they do it? I was dying. I could feel it. I was certain I was beyond their skill.”
Serin had been beyond hope. She’d accepted it, but she hadn’t been happy about it. And wasn’t that different…
“They didn’t cure you.”
Baffled, Serin gestured at herself. “But I feel fine.”
Gia nodded. “You are improving. I can feel it. You began to improve as soon as you arrived at the island, but the real turn came when Romero pushed you into your medium. I was able to flush the toxin away then. After you reformed, it was just a matter of time. We just had to let your body repair itself.”
Serin absorbed that in silence. Her sister didn’t appear as concerned as she should have been.
“It was a single bullet from a handgun. The men at the farmhouse had machine guns capable of leveling that building. If I had been shot with one of those, I don’t think I’d be speaking to you now.”
Gia’s chin firmed. “What about our deflection spells?”
Serin shook her head. “I had one in place at the farmhouse, but it would have protected only me. I had to get Romero out of there…but my charm was active when Doyle shot me. The ingredients to the toxin weren’t the only thing coating those bullets. They must have a counter-spell on them, something to neutralize basic deflection spells.”
“I was hoping you would say you hadn’t had time to cast one,” Gia said. “It was a friendly fire after all.”
“Doyle wasn’t that friendly at first, but he was standing down.” She took Gia’s hand. “My sister, this is bad.”
“Agreed. Someone with a lot of knowledge about us is involved.”
“Gia, I know what you’re thinking, but Jordan isn’t the one behind this. He’s gone.”
Gia winced. “That doesn’t mean he didn’t have a hand in this situation.”
“I don’t see it. Yes, he was a skilled practitioner, but this doesn’t mesh with his interests. You know the only spells he cared about were benign. It was all beatification and astral projection and whatever else sounded like fun to him. His interests weren’t dark.”
“Maybe not then. But you have a point. He was skilled, but not this skilled. Not in my opinion. It takes a singular mind to combine toxins and spells with human artillery. We need more information.”
“Romero had a file with him. Perhaps there is something else of use in it or on the phone his colleagues still have.”
“He gave me the report. There was enough there to make out the basics of the toxin, but it was incomplete. Perhaps I can do more with the device than the tech geeks, as Romero refers to them.”
Wait. What her sister had said about Daniel belatedly registered in her sluggish mind. “Is… By the Mother, is Romero here on T’Kaieri?”
“Yes.”
Holy shit. “You brought him here?”
Gia sat on the bed, her ascetic face unreadable, but Serin could see the glint in her eyes. “He is your mate. It was his right. Not that he gave me much of a choice. He was holding you so tightly I had to take you both.”
Serin laughed aloud, immediately regretting it as her damaged body shook. They both knew Gia could have knocked Romero flat on his ass with a flick of her little pinky finger. There had been no reason for her to bring him, too. Except for the fact he was Serin’s mate…
All the air left her lungs. “Do Dalasini and Caimen know about him?”
One corner of Gia’s mouth turned up. “Serin, he wouldn’t leave you. He’s been staying here at your parents’ house.”
Oh, by the Mother. “And they know what he is?” Her mind didn’t seem to want to accept it.
“That he’s human or that he’s your mate?” Gia snickered.
Serin weakly smacked Gia on the arm. Logan’s snarkiness was rubbing off on their older sister. “Either…both.”
“Well, as for being human, they knew right away, of course. I believe Caimen knows all, but Dalasini hasn’t seen past the obvious to process the rest. I had to listen to the council lecture me for hours for bringing him here. They finally agreed your recovery was the priority. As for the other thing…I believe Daniel Romero made his claim on you clear, whether he realizes it or not.”
“And?” How were her parents taking it?
The island elders didn’t call it a selective breeding program. They used gentle euphemisms like ‘tradition’ and ‘matchmaking,’ though pretty words didn’t change what it was.
Serin’s arranged marriage had been inevitable, but her parents had pushed it on her decades too early. She had resented them for it…maybe even hated them a little because of it. Her job had been everything to her. Jordan had been a constant reminder that it would soon end.
Poor Jordan. She’d done her best by him. But that hadn’t been enough.
Her bonded had been handsome, talented, and romantic. Jordan was always planning extravagant weekend getaways and dinners. He was constantly buying or making her gifts. And he’d traveled all over the globe, trailing her on her cases, waiting for her at the end of every mission.
Jordan had been everything she could have ever asked for. Who wouldn’t love such a man?
Her unhappiness hadn’t been his fault. He’d been a devoted partner. In that respect, her parents had done everything they could for her. They had chosen a man who loved her. God knew love wasn’t a requirement in these types of arrangements. But being bonded to a man whose love she couldn’t return had torn little pieces of her soul.
Serin had thought something was wrong with her. She’d felt like a failure. Over time, she’d convinced herself she was the defective one. And Romero had been out there all that time…
She hadn’t been waiting for him. And now that they’d met…
“I don’t get to keep Daniel. It’s too soon.”
Gia’s immediately turned down. “I admit the timing is a little suspect for a few reasons. One being you are still in mourning for Jordan.”
Serin leaned back on the pillows. “A little suspect? First Diana, then Logan. Now Romero turns up. We both know it’s not normal.”
She met her sister’s eyes, reading the deep disquiet there. “Something is happening with Her.”
Gia took a bracing breath. “We’ve known that for a while. The Mother is falling asleep. It’s happened before. Things will be uncertain, and there will be more upheaval. Hate and destruction will have a stronger grip on the world. But She will awaken again. We just have to be patient.”
“Her slumber shouldn’t change anything about us or how we work. She’s slept for long periods before, but none of our predecessors met their mates in clusters then.”
“There’s no reason to panic,” Gia said. “If anything, we should be rejoicing. It warms my heart that all of my sisters will know the joy of a true mate. I still treasure the memories of my own.”
Tears stung Serin’s eyes. “Meeting our mates typically signals the end of our careers. She wouldn’t do that right before a period of slumber. That’s too much upheaval and strife. Something else is going on.”
Gia sighed, turning to study the sea beyond the window. “I know…but whatever it is may not necessarily be bad. Our Mother cares for us.”
Swiveling back, Gia took her hand. “We both know things are going to get much worse than this. We’ll be beset on all sides—the humans, the Supes, and the ones in between like your Agent Romero. It could be as simple as the Mother wanting to make us happy, or to reward us for our service given the difficult road ahead.”
“I hope so. But it doesn’t mean Romero and I will be able to make this work. Even if I wasn’t in mourning, he doesn’t fit in our world. He’s a law enforcement officer. He would classify what we do as vigilantism.”
Gia’s smile was gentle. “I wouldn’t discount the agent so quickly. I’ve spoken to him, answered some of his questions. He has an agile and flexible mind. I could feel the core of his integrity. He’s strong, capable, loyal… Men of his caliber aren’t thick on the ground in any species. We’ve both been around long enough to know that.”
Serin’s answering smile was brittle. “I don’t understand how you do it. With all that we see and do, how do you hold onto that optimism?”
“I don’t always. It depends on what I’m looking at. And right now, all I’m seeing is you. I have good reason to believe our future is in capable hands.”
“But I’m at the end of my tenure,” Serin whispered. “My century is almost up.”
The Earth Elemental rose to her feet. “It’s over when you say it’s over,” she said firmly.
“Gia, you know it doesn’t work like that here.”
Her sister’s hand swept out. “Here is only a place. We are the ones She chose. Fate is ours to make.”
Except for thousands of centuries of tradition standing in my way. “Right.”
“I’m going to go see if your agent needs rescuing.”
“He’s staying with my parents. Of course he needs rescuing.”
Daniel paced around the living room, hopping over the stream running through the middle of the living room. This place was fucking amazing. The delicate rounded walls and tropical light were unreal, like something out of a magazine. But despite the warm sun, there was a distinct chill in the air. It was as if the heart of this place was ice.
He stopped in front of yet another seascape, checking out Dalasini from the corner of his eye. Like her daughter, she was stunning, ethereal and elegant. But unlike Serin, the older woman was a bit frigid. Caimen was less brittle than his wife, but he also had the same air of rigid control.
These people must have been a barrel of laughs to grow up with. It explained why Serin rarely smiled.
She smiles at you. Sometimes.
“Did you paint all of these?” he asked, wishing Caimen were still here, but Serin’s father had been called away on council business.
Dalasini nodded curtly, saying nothing. As usual.
“You’re very talented.”
“I’m glad you like them,” she said tightly.
“I didn’t say I liked them.”
Dalasini’s tone dropped to arctic levels. “I see.”
“Nothing personal.” He waved at the paintings. “It’s just that are a lot of them. All the sea. So many pictures of the sea…”
And not a single family portrait. No pictures of her or her husband. None of Serin. Not even a baby picture.
When he turned back, Dalasini was staring daggers at him. That was all right, though. There would be no pretenses between them. He’d gotten the picture the moment they’d met. A human wasn’t good enough for her daughter.
It’s like ‘Who’s Coming to Dinner,’ magic edition.
“These are not pictures of the sea,” Dalasini corrected. “Water talent has run in our bloodline for countless generations. All the pictures in this room are of Serin in her other form.”
Daniel spun on his heel to study the paintings again before focusing back on the woman. “They are?”
His potential mother-in-law—magic-in-law?—widened her eyes as if it should have been obvious. “My daughter is Water. Of all the candidates, she was chosen, anointed by the Mother herself. These pictures are merely snapshots of Serin’s other aspect. But this is not something I expect a mere human to understand.”
Stifling a laugh, he resumed pacing the room. “Oh, I think I understand a little. Gia was kind enough to explain some of how this works. But forgive me for saying I don’t really think you captured Serin’s essence,” he added, waving a hand toward the monotonous pictures.
“As I said, I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” She pointed to the nearest seascape. “This is my daughter’s true face.”
Daniel rocked back on his heels. “It looks like the ocean because it is the ocean. It’s not a picture of your daughter.”
Serin had a nose and ears and much cooler hair.
“Yes, it
is,” Dalasini said from behind gritted teeth.
“Does she know that?”
The woman appeared momentarily taken aback. “Obviously.”
A little snort escaped. She wasn’t sure anymore. He could tell. “Something tells me you shouldn’t put money on that,” he said, continuing his circuit.
Another step and he plowed into Gia, who’d popped up out of nowhere. Daniel rebounded, catching himself before he fell over.
“Damn, woman. It’s like running into a boulder.”
“That’s the idea,” the Earth Elemental said with that deceptively benign expression. “Serin is awake now.”
“Good,” he said, sighing in relief.
He started for Serin’s room when Gia caught his arm. “I think Dalasini should see her first.”
“Oh, yeah, of course.” Daniel nodded agreeably even though he wanted to protest, watching the woman sweep out the room.
How could a mother be so… What was the word he was searching for? Clueless? Disconnected?
Gia was amused. “You don’t have to be concerned. Dalasini is a caring mother.”
He glanced at the endlessly empty seascapes. “Yeah,” he said, drawing out the single word into two. “Of course she is…”
26
“You’re recovering faster now. The healers say it was the Mother, intervening on your behalf.”
Despite the traces of satisfaction in her tone, Serin could tell Dalasini was rattled.
It’s Daniel. Serin would have bet anything. Romero certainly had a way about him.
Serin studied her mother out of the corner of her eye. “I hope our houseguest isn’t giving you too much trouble.”
Dalasini’s mouth tightened. “That…man…seems to think he has a claim on you. It’s ridiculous. I don’t understand what possessed Gia to bring him here.”
“He does have a claim. I love him. Unfortunately…for his sake.”
It was the truth, one she couldn’t hide from her mother and father. Daniel, on the other hand, would stay in the dark until she was damn good and ready to say otherwise.
Water: The Elementals Book Three Page 19