by HP Mallory
“Dinner?” he repeated as he glared at me. He didn’t say anything more but took another step toward me as I retreated from him, which put me directly on the other side of his front door. He stopped and just stood there like a giant A, his legs spread wide and his enormous arms crossed over his equally ample chest. “An’ jist why the bludy hell are ye havin’ dinner with Alaire?”
“Well,” I started before exhaling the breath I’d been holding. I scoured my mind for a plausible explanation for why I would have agreed to be wined and dined by the equivalent of the devil. Tallis cleared his throat, which made me instantly lose my train of thought. I made the mistake of glancing up at him, only to behold his obvious anger. I tried to smile, but surprisingly, it felt more like a wince.
“Aye, ye were sayin’?” he demanded impatiently as it took me another few seconds to remember what we were even talking about.
“Oh, um,” I paused before remembering we were discussing Alaire’s dinner invitation. “Well,” I started again.
“Aye, ye’ve used yer fair share o’ that word, lass,” Tallis ground out. “Nae more stallin’.”
“I’m not stalling,” I barked and then figured this conversation was now inevitable so I’d better start spitting the words out. “I … I agreed to have, um, dinner with Alaire after he made it very clear that if I refused, I’d be sure to receive an infraction for killing one of his … ‘employees’ during my last trip to the Underground.” I huffed out a breath and crossed my arms over my chest, pleased with my response but still feeling defensive, all the same.
“Alaire has nae plans tae see ye receive that infraction,” Tallis replied, his eyebrows furrowing in the middle of his forehead as he continued to glare at me skeptically.
“What?” I started, sounding completely flustered. “Of course he’ll insist I get that infraction!” I shouted before swallowing hard. “Well, that is, if I refuse to have dinner with him.” I was en route to losing all the bravado I’d flaunted a few seconds earlier. In fact, I was more than sure I sounded more sheepish than a sheep itself could possibly sound.
“Alaire will see tae it that ye dinnae end oop in Shade, lass, ’cause if ye do, he loses.”
“He loses?” I repeated, eyeing him curiously.
“Aye.”
“How does he lose?”
Tallis sighed, shaking his head like I was a little dense or something. “’Tis ah difficult thing tae maintain ah fascination wif someone when the object o’ yer fascination exists in ah different world!”
“Oh,” I said, letting my shoulders fall as I realized that maybe Tallis did have a point. I mean, if I weren’t around, Alaire couldn’t exactly make dinner plans with me, could he? “Well, if I were out of commission, I’m sure Alaire would just find some other Retriever for his … muse.” The word “muse” actually paled in comparison to whatever odd relationship Alaire and I shared.
“Aye, he would,” Tallis agreed with a nod. “Boot he would have tae give oop on ye first, Besom, an’ Alaire is accoostomed tae gettin’ whit he wants.”
I already knew that much was true. But while I could see how it would benefit Alaire to keep me out of Shade if he wanted to maintain some sort of … relationship with me, I didn’t dare bank on it. Not where my future was concerned, anyway. “I’m not going to take the chance of pissing Alaire off just to prove you’re wrong.”
“Ye are puttin’ yerself at risk, lass,” Tallis ground out, his jaw set just as stubbornly as I’m sure mine must’ve been.
“Well, there’s even more risk if I don’t agree to meet him,” I rebutted. “If I so much as caught Alaire on a bad day, that infraction would probably have my name on it. And in case you’ve forgotten, let me remind you: two infractions equal one hundred years in Shade.”
“Ah know that!” Tallis yelled at me as he shook his head more vehemently and looked like he was rapidly losing his composure.
“Then you see my point?”
“Och aye,” he answered, nodding. I felt my eyes widening with surprise to find him in agreement with anything I had to say where Alaire was concerned. “Boot whetha o’ not Ah see yer point, Ah will nae allow ye tae go anywhere near Alaire or the Oonderground City,” he finished and held his chin up in such a way that warned me not to argue with him.
“But!” I started, my voice cracking. I shook my head as plumes of anger began blossoming inside me. Just who did he think he was?! Forbidding me to go near Alaire? Granted, he’d taken it upon himself to become my protector, but that didn’t mean he was the boss of me! Oh, he and I were going to have a few words about this little arrangement of ours … Well, after I got back from my dinner with Alaire, anyway.
“Ah will hear nae more aboot it,” Tallis finished firmly.
“You will hear no more about it?” I railed back. “In case you weren’t aware, Tallis Black, I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions!”
“Apparently noot,” he answered. I saw a smirk appear temporarily on his mouth even though he still held his arms crossed rigidly against his chest.
“There’s no way I’m going to gamble over that infraction!” I yelled at him, shaking my head and throwing my arms in the air until I’m sure I looked like I’d lost my mind.
“Ah will take yer case tae Jason Streethorn mahself tae save ye from troublin’ yerself wif Alaire,” Tallis replied, any trace of his smile now gone.
“Yeah, and a whole lot of good that’s going to do me! Have you forgotten what happened the last time you approached Jason about keeping his end of the bargain after you retrieved your thousand souls?!” I took a deep breath before slamming him with the rest of what I had on my mind. “I know better than to trust Jason to do the right thing because he did absolutely nothing for you!”
Even though it was a low blow, Tallis’s expression didn’t change. He looked just as furious as he had right before I said anything. “Ye are bein’ ah foolish lass,” he managed between clenched teeth. “Ye are puttin’ yerself right where Alaire wants ye,” he continued. “Right in the middle o’ the lion’s den.”
“Don’t think I haven’t already thought this through,” I answered with as much confidence and authority as I could muster.
“Obviously, ye have nae, or ye would’ve made the right decision.”
“One hundred years in Shade isn’t an option for me,” I spat back, my shoulders rising and falling with my rapid breathing. Even I was a little surprised by how livid I was.
“An’ neither should be suppin’ wif the devil.”
“Alaire is hardly ‘the devil,’” I argued with a frown, trying to quell the argument within myself that I often referred to Alaire as exactly that. But, in this case, Lily divided against herself wasn’t going to stand, so I decided to ignore my own hypocrisy. Instead, I turned around to search the perimeter for any sign of Alaire’s shade, thinking now would have been a great time for her to show up.
“That’s what ye think,” Tallis replied while spearing me with another fierce glare. “Boot ye dinnae know Alaire like Ah do,” he finished, setting his jaw tight. “Ye dinnae know whit he’s capable oove.”
“Come on, Tallis,” I said with a slight laugh that suggested I thought he was overreacting. “What’s Alaire really going to do to me? You think he’s going to kill me and feed me to his legion of demons?”
“Nae.” Tallis’s lips pressed into a tight white line, making every muscle in his jaw look overworked. “He is warmin’ ye oop tae him,” he responded. “He wants ye tae think he is nae so bad in ordah tae drop yer defenses.”
“For what purpose?” I inquired, actually intrigued by what Tallis had to say because I had pondered the subject of why Alaire found me so interesting more than once and I always came up empty-handed.
“’Cause he seeks tae pervert ye, lass.”
“He seeks to pervert me?” I repeated facetiously. My eyebrows reached for the sky in disbelief as the visual of an innocent girl from Po-Dunk, USA, relocating to Hollywood before getting in
volved with the wrong crowd suddenly interrupted my thoughts like a bad Lifetime movie. “What does that even mean?”
Tallis shook his head as he released a breath filled with obvious frustration. “It means Alaire wants tae rip ye o’ yer innocence.”
“Ironic to hear there’s actually someone who doesn’t want to preserve my innocence,” I muttered mostly to myself. I couldn’t help thinking I wanted nothing more than for my innocence to be ripped right out of me. Well, not by Alaire, of course …
“Alaire is nae laughin’ matter,” Tallis said in a tone that failed to mask his annoyance.
“I never said he was,” I fired back. “And even if Alaire intends to strip me of my innocence, it’s not like he could accomplish that after one dinner!”
“Aye, boot one dinner leads tae two, which leads tae three; an’ afore ye know it, ye troost him.”
“I will never trust Alaire,” I told Tallis, angry that he would ever think I could be so stupid. “So you can stop your pep talk. I’m more than aware of who and what Alaire is. And I’m also suspicious about what he wants from me. But I’m also not a stupid or naïve woman …”
“Ah never said ye were, Besom.”
“Maybe you haven’t actually said as much, but sometimes you imply things,” I corrected him. “Anyway, it’s not like I don’t realize I’m dealing with the Keeper of the Underground City, Tallis.” I heaved a sigh, now well beyond tired of arguing with him. My mind was already made up. Nothing could change it at this point. I would simply dine with Alaire and save myself the infraction that I was more than sure awaited me if I flaked. “My defenses are up,” I said before taking a deep breath. “But I have to play Alaire’s game to ensure that I avoid Shade.”
“Ye are tae stubborn fer yer own good,” Tallis ground out in reply.
“I could say the exact same thing of you.”
“Ah am nae the one suppin’ wif Alaire!” he yelled at me, shaking his head. “Ye should take heed o’ mah advice.”
“Thanks for everything,” I replied with a counterfeit smile. “But I’m not going to take my chances where Alaire and an infraction are concerned.”
“Lass,” he started, but I was quick to interrupt him.
“Everything will be fine, Tallis,” I said, trying to convince myself as well. “As soon as my dinner with Alaire is over, I’ll return to Edinburgh and wait for my next mission from Jason.”
Pretty soon this whole conversation will be no more than a thing of the past, just like my dinner with Alaire, I told myself, hoping and praying my words would prove to be correct.
“If ye insist oan goin’ tae meet Alaire,” Tallis persisted, clearly not interested in anymore debate, “then Ah am goin’ wif ye.”
I imagined Tallis showing up at my dinner with Alaire for a split second before deciding it would be a very, very bad idea. “You can’t do that,” I answered in a hushed tone. “You know how that well that would go over.”
“Ah dinnae care.”
I opened my mouth to argue why Tallis crashing my dinner with Alaire would be a terrible idea when I noticed his gaze moving to something behind me. I turned around and saw a whitish haze materializing in the trees just behind and to the right of me. I glanced back at Tallis in question, but he didn’t spare a glimpse at me. Instead, his attention remained riveted on the mist. I turned around again and watched the white fog morphing into the shape of a woman—at least, I could make out the details of her angular face and long, plaited hair. As to the rest of her body, it never quite revealed itself.
“She must be the shade,” I said in a quiet, albeit awestruck voice.
As soon as I uttered the words, I realized my mistake. Tallis would have absolutely known why this shade had appeared.
“Nae, lass!” I heard him yell. I immediately looked back at him only to find him lurching for me, his hands outstretched and fully intent on grabbing me. But the shade behind me must have rushed me at the same time because I was suddenly engulfed in freezing cold air. I felt a blast of wind on my face and instinctively closed my eyes.
When I opened them, I was no longer standing in front of Tallis’s cabin.
***
It wasn’t so much that the shade led me to a shortcut as it was that she was the shortcut, herself. By enveloping me in her cold mist, we both managed to travel ghost-fast, which was exactly that—fast. Every fifteen minutes or so, the shade released me from her vaporous embrace and allowed me to catch my breath. After a good five minutes, my respiration and heart rate returned to normal; and then, without a word, she again enclosed me in her ectoplasm and we’d be off again, traveling as quickly as the wind.
The shade never uttered one word, making it a quiet journey. But I was so enveloped in my own thoughts, which were mainly centered on Tallis, that I welcomed the silence. Unlike most of the creatures from the Underground City, the shade was not at all frightening. She looked like a reflection from a pool of water—constantly undulating. She was also the color of the sky—a light blue, almost appearing clear at times. The lines of her face and body weren’t precise, but well enough defined for me to imagine she was probably in her late twenties when she’d died. That is, if she’d died. I didn’t really know much about shades, so I wasn’t sure if she was actually alive at some point or not. She seemed nice enough—never becoming impatient despite the customary five minutes I needed to prevent our high-speed traveling from doing permanent damage to my heart.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this brand of traveling must have been pretty tough on my body in general. The shade probably knew that too, because she was the one who always made sure we rested between bursts of incredible speed.
While we traveled, I could still see the scenery around us, although it disappeared into a blur of color. It was like looking out a car window when you’re driving ridiculously fast. And speaking of fast, it took us mere seconds to get out of Tallis’s section of the Dark Wood which boasted of sunshine and verdant foliage. Then we were ensconced in the dead section of the Dark Wood, which consisted only of darkness. Whenever we rested in that part of the Dark Wood, the shade placed herself as close to me as possible while swirling around me like a ghostly tornado. I figured that was because she worried the creatures in the haunted forest might decide to make a meal of me. Not to say that subject didn’t worry me too …
After what felt like our twentieth rest stop, the shade snaked around me for the umpteenth time. I caught my breath before she dissolved into me again, surrounding me with icy coldness. I closed my eyes, shutting out the darkness of the woods. I preferred the privacy of my own thoughts because they were much less dark and foreboding than the forest, itself.
A few seconds later, I felt cold air rushing past my face, which meant we were airborne again. I could never tell if we were actually flying. The darkness obscured any chance to see exactly what our, er, my feet were doing. But it felt like flying so I was happy to go with it.
As soon as I closed my eyes, my thoughts again returned to Tallis. I recalled the memory of him standing in his home with his arms crossed over his chest, looking, for all intents and purposes, like a terribly upset Zeus. It was a good comparison, since everything about Tallis evoked the King of the Gods, including his temper. And I was more than sure that if Tallis had gotten the chance, he would have gladly snatched a thunderbolt from the nearest cloud and driven it right through Alaire’s heart.
The wind on my face began to abate, which meant the shade was about to give me another rest break. Since we hadn’t been traveling for very long, I opened my eyes, but only found darkness all around me again. Then the shade turned us both to the right, and I found myself facing the gates of the Underground City.
“Wow, that was fast,” I said, shock evident in my tone.
The shade, as usual, didn’t respond. Instead, she extended her hand toward me. It looked like she was wearing some sort of long-sleeved dress or robe. I could clearly see the outlines of the cuffs, which hung all th
e way down to her fingers. One hand was clutched around some sort of a vial. The vial appeared to be real rather than part of her ectoplasm because I couldn’t see through it. I could clearly make out that it was constructed from some sort of black material, maybe plastic. There was a red band around the middle. I didn’t take the vial right away, so the shade nudged me with her hand.
I eventually accepted the vial and glanced down at it quizzically because I’d never seen it before. With no idea as to why she gave the vial to me in the first place, much less what its contents were, I looked up at her and shrugged. The shade pointed to the Gates of the Underground City, her fingers the color of crystal and nearly transparent. Then she pointed to the vial in my hand and made the motion of drinking it. The purpose of the vial only dawned on me then.
“Do I need to drink it in order to walk into the Underground City?” I continued, guessing the answer as she nodded at me, to let me know I was right on the money. “And Alaire told you to give me this?” I double-checked as she nodded again. “Okay,” I finished as I eyed the vial again. The Underground City was basically constructed of pure evil, so if I so much as touched anything in it, I’d start to wither and die since nothing innocent could exist there for long. I knew as much from past experience. “Well, guess there’s no time like the present,” I finished as I sighed and then uncorked the top of the vial.
The shade nodded in response, her translucent hair fanning out around her as if she were floating in a pool. I said a silent prayer that Alaire hadn’t gotten his potions mixed up, and then downed the contents. It tasted strangely like sweet cough syrup—like Dimetapp or something. When I turned around to thank the shade for transporting me, she was gone. Her vanishing act startled me temporarily, considering she’d been standing there only moments earlier, but I steeled my courage and headed for the Gates of the Underground, figuring there was no point in putting off the inevitable.
