Evading The Tempest (Tempest tales Book 1)

by Sandra Elsa

  "I do."

  "I'm glad. It's so little."

  "It's more than I gave you credit for. I'm sorry for that. Harrison is proof that I have been so very wrong in painting all mages in the same broad stroke."

  "Do you care for him?"

  "So much it hurts when he's in the next room."

  "Better be talking about me," Harrison said as he popped in the doorway.

  "Why would I talk about you like that, you arrogant damned Sevener?" I let my light tone tell both of them I was joking.

  "You’re the one who told me I was a god." His voice grew husky as he came over and sat beside me on the bed.

  "And you'll never let me forget that."

  My father said, "It sounds like the two of you are actually in love."

  "We are."

  "I'm glad for you. I wish I could see you again."

  "No reason why you can't. Drover has backed off. Promised us a year."

  "Remember that he is a politician. But it has been quiet around here since the two of you married."

  "We don't expect him to draw back entirely. I'm sure he's going to try to keep track of us, but if he ever wants to see his grandchildren, he'll give us breathing room."

  His voice broke as he asked, "You're planning children?"

  "It's been discussed. With the magic between us, how could it not be? Plans aren't immediate, but one of these years, you'll be a wonderful Grandpa."

  We agreed to meet him in District Seventeen, I decided one last trip to Romanelli's would be good. I was also interested to know if Stella's had been raided after I told Herm I'd be staying there. I wanted to be sure that Harrison's, Daniel Bromer ident wasn't compromised.

  I was about to close the phone when Mage Jallahan asked, "Would it be all right if I invited Nan along."

  It would be pushing the president to his limit not to follow such an obvious lead if they took off together. But after a brief hesitation I said, "Sure...He's as likely to follow one of you as both."

  "I'll try to make sure that doesn't happen. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Didn't get to be the head of research and development because the dean thought I had a pretty face." Happiness carried clearly over the phone.

  "You have gadgets?" I laughed. "Maybe you are my father after all."

  He chuckled. "We'll meet you at six o'clock."

  "See you then."

  Chapter 34

  I flipped the phone closed and briefed Harrison on the end of the conversation he couldn't hear. Most of which he already surmised. "We should probably ask Jerry if he wants to see his mother too."

  "I'm good," Jerry called from the couch in the living room. "Going on a date with Sara tonight."

  "All right then. Guess that means you don't need us to bring you any food back either."

  "Nope. Doing dinner and a movie."

  I dug out my shoulder holster and my nine-mil and laid them out on the bed along with a pair of the jeans with the ties and an off-white, silk blouse Harrison pulled out of the closet. He went to the bag I'd been packing and pulled out a golden necklace with a unicorn pendant, the charm had a sapphire spiral for a horn.

  I went to the bathroom and cleaned up, brushed my hair and returned to change, only to find the slinky black dress and a short jacket laying on the bed. Harrison sat beside them.

  "My mother's going to want to take pictures. I want her to have a picture of the sexiest woman alive, so when my friends stop over she can show them how well I've done for myself."

  "Trying to say I'm not sexy in jeans?"

  "Hell no. I would never suggest there was anything you couldn't make look good. Pleeeeease..."

  "That jacket will never hide my pistol."

  "So don't hide it. You have all the paperwork to carry it."

  "It tends to make other people nervous."

  "Might not be an altogether bad thing."

  "Let's see what it looks like."

  He leaped off the bed and undressed me then slid the black dress over my head. I put on the holster and then the jacket which bulged in all the wrong places. In the end I removed the holster and slid the pistol into my purse. "It occurs to me I've been letting you have your way entirely too often."

  "And you haven't threatened to kill or maim me since we got married. It must be love."

  I went to the closet and pulled out a black suit and a white shirt. "If you're going to make me dress up, I'm not going to be alone."

  "The difference being, I'm used to dressing like this. Minus the suit coat, this was my norm."

  "Good thing you loosened up. Don't know if I could be seen with a guy who always looked like he was going to a party. And the jeans just make your ass so...mmm-mmm-mmm."

  He came over and took the clothes from me. I stopped him as he reached past me for a tie. "Let's not do overkill."

  It was already four o'clock. As soon as he was dressed we headed out. It was only a forty-five minute drive to District Seventeen, but I wanted to be early enough to check out Stella's and watch who approached Romanelli's.

  We only passed six cars enroute and none of them were blue Tauruses. Inside Seventeen, my first stop was Stella’s where I asked the woman at the desk if there’d been anybody searching for me in the last week or so.

  As far as she knew there hadn’t been anybody busting down doors or even a phone call. It made me feel better about Herm, but there still might have been phone calls while somebody else was on duty. Anything as bold as a raid would probably be common knowledge.

  We returned to the lot next to Romanelli’s where we parked and waited, watching traffic as it flowed by, paying close attention to those entering Romanelli’s parking lot. Sitting still in a parked car with Harrison wasn't conducive to keeping my mind on task. His hands had a way of straying. His every touch a distraction, I finally told him, "Stop. Make yourself useful."

  He grinned. "I'm trying to."

  "Right now, useful is watching for anybody you recognize. If they show up here, I doubt they'll be as obvious as they have been in the past."

  With a sigh, Harrison turned and watched the parking lot. "He said he'd give us a year."

  "As my father pointed out. The man's a politician; lies probably come as easily to his lips, as water from the source."

  "He wouldn't lie about this." Harrison clenched his jaw then forced himself to relax.

  "Wouldn't he? He has the power to change the laws about mages, but he doesn't. Why is that? In District Seven he has all those people at his fingertips, and there's nothing anybody can do about it, legally."

  "I don’t know why he doesn't change the law. But I know he won't drag us back there."

  My old suspicions arose as he spoke so confidently of his father's swift change of heart. Suddenly staying focused on the growing crowds at Romanelli's was easier. He, a lot less of a distraction.

  After several minutes of silence, he said, "You're mad at me?"

  I considered offering flip reassurance that, that wasn't the case, but instead I asked, "How can you know with such certainty he won't try to reclaim you?"

  "He didn't live in our house, but I've known him for thirty-three years. He can see the benefits of my absence from his plotting for a year if he thinks it will bring him a mage who is not only null but has the power to make it rain."

  I watched three more cars enter the lot across the way and two leave. "And if he imprisons us in District Seven, he'll also have that child."

  "Would he? My wife barely trusts me now. What chance she'd ever consent to produce a child with me if I got us imprisoned someplace I know she doesn't want to be?"

  "Wouldn't be the first time a woman was impregnated against her will."

  Anger burned across his face, quickly smothered, or extinguished. I wished I could tell which. "Do you honestly think I’d stoop to that?"

  "I'd like to believe you wouldn't. But I can’t throw a lifetime of caution out the window because I got married. Especially not when I married a guy I've known a little over a
week in what was meant to be a fake marriage. I'm sorry; your father raises my hackles." I glanced down at my watch; three minutes to six

  "There is one important thing you need to remember. You hold the cards. He can't lock you in a room for nine months without cause. And without physical restraint you can go anyplace you want to go. We've already seen how easy it is to get past gates, even with people watching specifically for you. Distrust him all you want, but please don't transfer it to me. You already have three powerful mages on your side and he has enemies who watch him. He couldn't pull that off. Please, trust me."

  Another car pulled into the parking lot. It wasn't Jallahan's Bug but it was burgundy. "I'll try. The sooner we get far away from him, the happier I'll be." I couldn’t see the passengers through the tinted windows.

  "That makes two of us," he said. "But I honestly don't think he'll try anything tonight. I love you. If he does show up and the world goes to hell, that's the one thing I want you to remember." He turned to look at the car I was staring at.

  The driver's-side door opened and illusion fell away revealing the VW bug. Mage Jallahan, wore a black suit, much like Harrison's. He examined the parking lot and with a somewhat frightening ease and accuracy, turned to stare at us across the busy road before leaning down in the car and speaking to the passenger. Nan opened the door and stood up. She wore a green dress with a large yellow floral pattern. Jallahan went around her side of the car and they walked hand in hand to the restaurant.

  Harrison's jaw snapped shut. His eyes tracked them until they were through the door. "What do you suppose that means?"

  "Hard to say. You're the one with the magic of a matchmaker. My first guess would be subterfuge, but it's always possible they bonded over their missing children. Your talent give you any hints one way or the other?"

  "Yeah…It's saying that could be the start of something good for both of them."

  I laughed. "Does it make us brother and sister if they get married?"

  "If it does, I'll disown my mother because I'm never letting go of you."

  We sat for another five minutes before getting out of the car. No other vehicles rolled into the parking lot. Two more cars left. Harrison began to get anxious, so after one final look around I opened the door. He pulled the wheelchair from the back of the car and pushed me across the streets, dodging cars, hurrying to the door of the restaurant.

  Romanelli's was someplace I always did lunch. It was the first time I’d been here near dark and I noted the floating balls of mage light over the outside tables with interest. I curiously pondered if they were the work of charms or if the restaurant employed a mage. Jallahan and Nan stood in the middle of the waiting area, watching the door.

  Harrison strode up to his mother and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "It's good to see you, Mom. Kinda figured the other day, out on the road would be the last time."

  Jallahan stared at me, stiffly erect, uncertainty filling his expression. I stood from the wheelchair and closed the distance between us, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Father."

  That was all it took, he assumed permission and wrapped his arms around me. Holding me tight, as though he would never let go.

  Just as I grew uncomfortable with the closeness, Harrison was there, pulling me backward. "Careful old man. That's my wife you're squeezing the life out of."

  "I take it you've worked out your differences?" Nan asked.

  "Most of them," Harrison responded. "At least now she only throws me around if she wants me to make love to her."

  My skin burned from my scalp to my abdomen. I elbowed him.

  He laughed and pinned my arms to my sides.

  The hostess asked, "Will anybody else be joining you?"

  Nan gave Harrison an indulgent smile then turned and said, "We hope not."

  She wasn't one of the waitresses I knew, so I said, "If there's something open, I’d prefer a table in the back."

  "Certainly." We parked the chair in the waiting area and followed her to a table. She took our drink orders and handed us menus.

  The moment she walked away, Nan pulled a camera out of her purse.

  "Damn if you didn't call that," I muttered to Harrison.

  He smiled and pulled me over close to himself. "I know my mother."

  She took several pictures then motioned for Mage Jallahan to get in the frame. He shifted his chair over beside mine and I placed an arm over his shoulders. Nan continued snapping pictures and Jallahan leaned over and kissed my cheek. My smile was beginning to feel frozen when she said, "Just a few more," and turned to look around the room. She walked to the nearest table with people that hadn't yet gotten their food and asked the woman there if she would take some pictures. The woman agreed and Nan pulled a chair next to Harrison. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

  I was glad when the waitress returned. We hadn't yet cracked the menu but I knew what I wanted. Everybody else also ordered without looking at the menu. Nan and Jallahan slid their chairs back around the table, but Harrison held mine as I tried to move. His foot wrapped around my leg.

  Nan and Harrison carried the conversation as she caught him up on goings on at home. She asked about Jerry and Harrison told her he was out on a date which caught her interest. You'd have thought she was the matchmaker. But when Nan asked about the relationship Harrison shook his head. "They're compatible but she isn't his meant-to-be."

  "Not everybody finds their meant-to-be," she said.

  "But when they do, it's worth waiting for." Harrison's hand descended on my thigh just below the hem of the dress, under cover of the table his fingers stroked up the inside of my leg as I tried to remain composed.

  Jallahan looked at him and said, "That's my daughter you're feeling up young man."

  Harrison gave a bark of laughter and said, "Yeah, well it's my mother you want to be feeling up."

  Nan gasped at his boldness and Jallahan chuckled.

  "What did you expect Mom. If I'm going to embrace that blasted talent, I might as well tell it like it is."

  Conversation continued through the arrival of our food. We were nearly done eating when silence spread through the restaurant. I glanced up to discover the president of the world standing in the doorway, looking around the room.

  Chapter 35

  Jordan Drover was flanked on either side by members of the District Seven watch. Ahead and behind him, men in black suits, with the familiar bulges of pistols in shoulder holsters, coolly assessed the crowd. Their hands flew to their weapons as every second light lining the wall dimmed, then popped out of existence the gloom expanding from our table to encompass our corner of the restaurant. The increased shadows caught the president’s attention and he focused on our group. I grabbed my purse off the back of the my chair and dug for my pistol. After a brief reassessment of the number of innocent bystanders, I grabbed the taser.

  "How the hell did he find us?" Jallahan asked.

  "The man has more eyes and ears than anybody else in the world," Nan said. "This district is fairly close to home." The lights continued to fade in the room as my field of energy increased in size, wiping out the mage lights that augmented the solar lamps. My father watched with an amused expression. I had the feeling he was taking notes. Two-thirds of the restaurant fell as dark as a pub before the president took a step toward us. He held my eye and I set the taser on the table as the rest of the mage lights extinguished with an audible whoomph.

  The suits stayed, one to either side of the door. One of the troopers handed him a box wrapped in white paper with ribbons on it. He started across the room, the troopers trailed after, reluctantly stepping from the light of the doorway.

  When he was ten feet away, I said, "That's close enough," and raised the taser above the edge of the table. One of the suits by the door slid a thirty-eight halfway out of its holster. The president followed my glance and shook his head at his security detail. The man slid the weapon back in its holster but I didn’t miss the casual thumb motion as he released
the safety.

  Jordan Drover turned his attention back to Harrison and me. "I come bearing gifts. You did just get married, did you not?"

  I lowered the taser to the tabletop again. "What makes you think I’d trust a gift from you?" We had the attention of everybody in the restaurant.

  "I don't suppose someone of your particular talents has any reason to trust me. But I promised you a year, and so you shall have a year." He held out the box. "A peace offering."

  Nobody in the restaurant made a sound. I glanced around to see if a spell held them, wondering how that would be possible. If I just extinguished the mage lights null encompassed the restaurant. The onlookers were conscious, watching, in wide-eyed wonder.

  I nodded at the gift. "Open it."

  He gave a wry grin. "If I had thinner skin, you'd hurt my feelings."

  "Ask me if I care."

  The smile broadened. "You prove an interesting challenge, Mrs. Kendrel. I don't believe there's another person in the world who would treat me as you do."

  "Somebody has to, Sir." Threw the Sir in there as a bonus.

  A nervous shuffle arose from the next table as the diners seated there decided maybe they were sitting too close to the main event.

  "The fact remains," Harrison's father said, "the young man you married is very important to me and I would like to have peace between us."

  Somewhere off to my right near the kitchen, dishes clattered to the floor. I guessed a waitresses had just discovered who had come to visit. Either that or she stumbled in the dark. I didn’t allow it to distract me. One of the security team turned to the disruption the other remained focused. They seemed much more effective than the clowns who had been trying to catch Harrison and I for a week now.

  "The best way to achieve peace between us would be to abide by your agreement," I said.