by Sandra Elsa
I snatched my nightgown back up over my breasts and scrambled to the far side of the bed staring at Harrison. "What the hell?"
"He's a seer."
"With hardly any magic." I closed my eyes, then examined Jerry once again. His aura had gone from misty pale yellow to a bright shade of orange. "Well damn...that's a fast recovery."
"Maybe your friend's talent is restorative."
"Wow...that's not something I think she knows. Don't run into depleted mages very often." I turned away from Jerry, wrapping my arms across my breasts. "What were you thinking?"
He held out his hands, begging me to take them. "I wasn't. My intentions were honorable. I never expected you to be so willing. Figured I’d stop at the first sign you weren't comfortable."
I refused his touch. Far too dangerous. "I can see there's at least one more thing we need to take care of tomorrow."
"Birth control?" He asked hopefully.
"You betcha. For tonight though, I think you probably need to move over to the other bed."
"What if I promise to let you alone?"
"That didn't work out so good the first time."
He sat on the edge of the bed then closed his eyes and breathed deeply several times before standing up. He moved the single step between beds before twisting back to look at me. I pointed, and he moved Jerry to the far side of the bed then lay down on his side to stare at me. I plucked my forgotten handheld off the floor to find that when it fell it had apparently hit a button and turned the book I’d been reading off. I flipped through menus until I found it, but Harrison's attentive stare made it hard to concentrate. I tried turning my back but my awareness of him didn't fade. Finally I turned back and said, "Will you stop staring at me."
"I can't."
"If I pluck out both of your eyes you will."
He smiled. "You can't take away my memories. And I'd find you anywhere by your scent."
"You can give that one up. I used the same gel and shampoo you did."
"And yet your scent is intoxicating."
"You said divine earlier."
He laughed. "What could be more intoxicating than sleeping with divinity?"
"You've got me hooked now; you really don't need to keep flattering me."
"But it's the truth. I barely smell the jasmine. It's like nothing I've ever smelled before. I can't even begin to describe it. I can tell you what it does to me though."
"You need to stop. There's no guarantee Jerry will rouse himself from his enchanted sleep to warn us again."
He dug in a drawer in the nightstand between the beds and pulled out his handheld. I wasn't sure what he was doing but at least he stopped staring at me. It was a long time before I was able to read and remember what had just crossed in front of my eyes. My body, awakened to desire, wanted more, even if common sense said to stop playing with fire. Every nip, every kiss, lingered, burning with delightful reminiscence.
I finally focused back on my reading and twenty minutes after that put my handheld down before I dropped it again. I awoke the next morning with Harrison's arm draped over my side. I didn't move but he purred, "Good Morning," the tension through my frame a dead giveaway. He leaned forward to kiss the back of my neck.
"God, I must trust you a lot. I can't believe you got back in this bed without waking me up."
"Good Morning, Miss Leone." Jerry's voice sounded happy, relaxed.
I sat up and peered at him, over Harrison. "You look better this morning."
He was propped up on the pillows looking relaxed. "I feel better. Whatever your friend is, I guess it was worth being kissed by a man."
"If it makes you feel any better, she doesn't think of herself as a man."
"How long have I been out?"
I glanced at my handheld. "Not quite twenty-four hours."
Harrison laid a hand on my thigh and Jerry's gaze fastened on the motion. "Guess this means you agreed to help me?"
"Yep. Not that I've decided what to do with you yet besides get you a new ident kit.” I swatted at Harrison's hand as he rubbed higher up my leg. "I'm trying to have a conversation here." He grinned at me and I grabbed his hand and held it tight as I turned my attention back to Jerry. "Did you have plans on what you wanted to do?" "
"Not really. I've wanted to get away from Seven for so long, you'd think I'd have thought about the future. But that was my entire goal. Then a gorgeous woman walks up to me, sits down to have coffee, like I invited her, then asks me back to her place..."
"Gorgeous and deadly," I said.
"Think I don't know that?" His defensive tone took all the fun out of chiding him.
"I'm sorry, you're probably not up for being reminded about the whole thing, but I'm going to need to hear your whole story before long. We have some decisions to make in the very near future, and I don't believe anybody just because they tell me something."
He frowned then sat up, swinging his legs over the bed. "I'm not sure how much I can tell you. There are a lot of blank spots in the last couple of months. Most of the time, from when I met that--that--woman, until I woke up in the hospital holding the hand of an angel, is pretty much a blank." He jiggled his legs like a first grade student afraid to ask permission to go to the bathroom.
I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Damn, I'm on a roll, I've been called divine and an angel by two different men in less than twelve hours. Jerry...this is important. Where did you meet her?"
"I went down to District One to meet Uncle Jordan. She came up to me at a coffee shop."
I chewed my fingernails a moment, then asked, "Would that be a regular stop. On a regular appointment?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Just thinking. When I have answers, I'll let you know. Why don't you get a shower? We'll get dressed then head out to get some breakfast."
"Sounds like a plan." He nearly leaped to his feet to run in the only obvious direction for the bathroom.
Chapter 31
Harrison slid down to rest his head on my hip, an arm wrapped over my legs. I rested a hand on his head, running my fingers through the lush blond silk. He rubbed my leg, bringing back the sensations of the previous night. I slid out from under him. "We need to get dressed. Why do you insist on touching what you can't have?"
"Yet. One short trip to the doctor and one stop at a Justice of the Peace. Is there a doctor you trust here?"
"I'd rather go back to Fifty-Five. I know the guy that fixed my leg isn't that kind of doctor, but he does know I'm a null. He should at least be able to tell me what I can use. I often wondered how Mom had magical birth control. That's part of the reason I'm still a virgin. Not something I ever felt comfortable talking to Mom about."
"There are other ways--"
"I'm not having this discussion with anybody but a doctor."
"You must have had sex education in school." He just had a way of going deaf when I said things he didn't want to listen to.
"Yes. So I'm perfectly aware there are other options. They also made it abundantly clear that other options have a way of failing, while magical birth control is failsafe-- unless my father's anywhere near." Probably shouldn't have responded. Only encourage him next time.
"You could turn it off just as easily."
"Then that would make it one hundred percent my choice if I wanted to get pregnant. Wouldn't it?"
The stubbornness of argument grew in his eyes but he finally found enough wisdom to shut his mouth.
I stripped out of my nightgown and panties and slid into the clean panties and t-shirt, then pulled a knife out of my purse and sliced the left leg of the jeans up to the hip and wriggled into them, keenly aware of him watching every move.
He waited until I pulled on my shoe before getting dressed. I watched as lasciviously as he had. Not that I hadn't seen him naked before, I just hadn't bothered to examine his body all that closely. He was near perfect and he made sure I saw him from every angle, He paused as he buttoned his jeans. "Like what you see?"
"Always have."
"What are you, ten? Do I really have to admit I lied, and that I might appreciate what you have to offer?"
"You don't have to." He finished closing his jeans and strode over to wrap his arms around my hips and pull me tight against himself. "But damn you've been hard on my pride and ego."
"Fine. I lied. I wanted you out of my life. I didn't need distractions of the mage variety, so I tried like hell to drive you away. But from the moment you walked in front of my camera lens I thought maybe there was a guy I'd like to get to know as more than a friend." I leaned in and kissed him. "And this afternoon I'm going to marry him."
"You're going to what?" Jerry stood in the door of the bathroom drying his short dark hair with a towel.
Harrison grinned at Jerry. "We're getting married."
"How long have you known each other?"
"I took pictures of him nearly a month ago. But we only actually met...I've lost track, what’s it been? Four days?"
"Five since you took pity on me," Harrison said.
"What the hell are you doing Harrison? You've got the entire District out running around searching for you already. And you're going to do something stupid like marry a woman without talent. You know that will only upset him more."
I couldn't help but notice he said 'the entire District' as though there were only one District, and him as though there were only one man.
"Careful who you're calling talentless," Harrison said. "You're talking to Mage Jallahan's one and only daughter."
"Not the first time talent didn't carry through genetically. You know I see talent, Harrison."
"Do you now?" Harrison's voice held laughter.
I squeezed Harrison's ass. "Drop it. Let him think what he wants. I'm still not sure I trust him. Simple fact is, he came to us. We don't owe him any explanations."
"I want everybody to know what a catch you are. Father must at least suspect. Even if Jerry isn't on the up and up--" he held a hand out to Jerry. "I'm not saying I agree with her, I trust you, but with secrets like hers I understand why she doesn't trust easily. Father can't put any more effort into pursuing us so what does it matter who knows?"
I let go of him and pushed myself away. "I've lived my whole life hating mages. Knowing that I was one wrong step away from being trapped in that world both of you are running away from. The instincts my mother ingrained in me aren't going to go away because I find myself in a new situation. Maybe when we're far away from here I'll be able to let go."
"So are you saying you still don't trust me?" Harrison sounded hurt.
"I trust you more than I ever thought I'd trust a registered mage. Completely? I'm sorry, that will take more than five days, and a smokin' hot bod."
Jerry stood five feet away, his eyes shifting between us. He finally settled on Harrison. "How can you contemplate marrying somebody who can't even say she trusts you?"
Harrison stared at him a full ten seconds then turned and grabbed a t-shirt off the dresser. "Let's get some breakfast."
"That's it! You've never hesitated to tell me anything before. She's turning you on your own kin."
Harrison held his tongue as he gathered the few belongings we'd brought in.
"What about your mother. She's always dreamed of the day she'd plan your wedding."
"My mother actually liked her. She knew we planned to get married before she brought you to us. We have her blessing. I lived in that District for thirty-three years and have yet to find a woman worth marrying. Frankie's worth ten of any of them."
"But what about your fath--"
Harrison picked up my tote and tossed me my nine-mil putting effort into quelling anger. "Why are you so concerned with what my father might want? I begin to think Frankie may be right to doubt you. Personally I don't plan to ever see my father again. I'm done having people tell me what to do."
Jerry pointed at me with his chin. "Except her."
"I've paid her a good amount of money to keep me alive and free, as have you." He picked up a box of my weapons and headed for the door, Jerry tailing along behind him.
"It's not like you to do something as spontaneous as marry somebody you've only known for five days." Jerry seemed hell-bent on pissing me off.
"You don't know me half as well as you think you do,” Harrison said. “Going down to the bar to moan to each other about how meaningless our lives are every other week doesn't mean you know me. I quite thoroughly intend my life to have meaning and it all starts with the woman I’m going to marry."
The door closed behind them and I scouted the room for items we may have unpacked and missed then made sure the key was in plain sight on the nightstand and headed for the door. Harrison entered the room again and picked up the other box. On my way past Jerry, I asked, "Do you have your handheld?"
They stopped arguing as he said, "I did when I got in the car. Doesn't seem to be here."
"How about your chip?"
He followed me out the door, leaving Harrison to carry everything. "That's in my pocket."
"Let me see it."
"Why?"
"Because I've decided what I'm going to do with you." I hopped two steps down the hall and Harrison put a shoulder under mine. I leaned on him, not because I really needed to, but because he felt good.
"What?"
"I'm going to leave you here with twenty-five thousand dollars to do whatever you damn well feel like doing. The other five thousand I'm going to send to Dee as a fee for restoring your magic to you. I saved your ass once already and you still think I'm not good enough to marry a mage. How do you suppose I woke you up? I didn't ask you to be here. I didn't want you to be here, and I'm not going to tolerate any holier-than-thou crap from a two-bit seer. Didn't see that coming, did you?"
Harrison frowned, but he didn't interrupt.
Jerry opened the outside door. "What am I supposed to do?"
"I don't give a shit what you do. You have your talent back. They probably won't kill you if you go home. You'll have value to them again. Or, you can sit around somewhere until the next siphon spots that bright orange glow of yours."
"You see magic?"
"I thought Harrison listened poorly when he first showed up. You beat him hands down."
"You can't have magic."
"I don't."
"Then how do you know what color my magic is?"
"Harrison told me."
"He doesn't see magic." His doubt and suspicion near rivaled mine.
"And what? The color of your aura is a national secret?"
"Most people outside District Seven don't even know magic creates an aura."
Harrison pushed a button and unlocked the car doors, then carried the bag around the back.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten before grabbing the handle on the passenger door. Wasn't going to argue. I'd already decided to wash my hands of him.
Harrison closed the rear door and turned to face Jerry. "Give her your chip."
Jerry's mouth opened and closed as he stared at his cousin. "You mean to go along with her? Just leave me?"
"Mom brought you so she could help you. If she doesn't want to, I'm not going to change her mind. She already made me see the arrogance in myself. And I don't think I was as bad as you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jerry wasn't reaching for his chip. He seemed dismayed that anybody found fault with him.
"What rock have you been living under? You've been nearly killed by a siphon and your magic was restored to you by a hooker from District Eleven. Neither of whom are registered anywhere. What makes you think everybody outside District Seven is ignorant about magic?" Anger punctuated Harrison's speech.
I held my hand across the roof of the car. "Your chip? Or would you rather I left you destitute."
Jerry turned to Harrison. "Please...Look… I'm sorry--"
"You're apologizing to the wrong person. You know how many times she threatened to shoot me before I knew her twenty-four hours?"
"Mom made it sound like you were out of options. If the return of your magic has you so confident you can stand in a room we rented and tell us she's not good enough to marry me, then you must not need her help. You acknowledge she saved your life. How can she not be good enough? Christ, I begged her to marry me and I won't let you get between us."
Jerry hung his head. I felt him probe for magic. Rather than let him reach the blank wall of a null, I reached out and shut down his search. His head whipped up, eyes open wide. "That's not possible!"
"But she just did it. How is it not possible?"
Jerry ground his teeth together. "She doesn't have any magic."
"Or maybe she can stop you from seeing her magic. You never took a class from Mage Jallahan. He could turn off just about anybody's spells."
"Spells maybe...the ability to see magic isn't a spell it's innate. It can't be turned off."
"Neither can my ability to persuade someone, but I arrogantly tried that route. The very first words my lady ever said to me were, 'Give me a fucking break.'"
I grinned at him. "Actually I think it was more like 'Whoever you are, don't move.'"
He returned the grin. "Right, that was just after she trained a pistol on me while I used night and shadows as a cloak. There's so much we haven't been told about the real world I'm humbled by my ignorance."
"So what's it gonna be, am I leaving you broke or leaving you with twenty-five thousand dollars."
He stood without speaking and I slid in the front seat of the car.
Jerry raced around to my side of the car. "No... wait...I'm sorry. Can I change your mind?"
"People who want my help don't think they're better than me."
"I'm sorry. It's how I was raised."
"And according to Harrison, you didn't like being caged. If you didn't like the lifestyle, why adopt a superiority complex."
