One Thousand Kisses

by One Thousand Kisses

  Perhaps Talista’s odd behavior was because Anisette had told her about the two of them becoming physical. The thought of their liaison going public gave him an unfamiliar feeling of—he could only describe it as pride.

  Anisette waved her sister out of the room and shut the door. Then she locked it. “What do you remember?”

  “We were in Key West.” He massaged his temples. If he asked for a healing globe, would that make him seem weak? He’d slept for twelve hours, yet still felt lousy. “I assume I contacted my assets with the information about the Torvals.”

  “Your assets, meaning the Drakhmores, all of whom are banned from Court. All of whom you’ve been scheming with, plus my sister and Jake, for over a year. At the same time you’ve been training Jake to use spirit magic. Spirit. Magic. And Jake, a onesie. Each one of those things is a banishment-level offense.” Anisette paced as she talked, ending up beside the bed. “I don’t know what to make of you, Embor. You aren’t the man I thought you were.”

  “Who should I be, Anisette? I seek justice. That’s generally regarded as a good thing.” Everything he’d done was in defense of the Realm. Had she assumed he was the kind of man who’d ignore his oath to protect his people, simply because there was opposition?

  “I don’t know who you should be.” She plaited strands of her hair, almost nervously. “Our leader. Our example.”

  He was imperfect. He’d explained that repeatedly. The downsurge in his gut as he considered her poor opinion of him had no bearing on this discussion. “Eliminating the Torval agents as a threat and using their testimony to break the AOC is essential to the Realm’s well-being. I still intend to pursue that.”

  “When you were only endangering yourself, that was one thing, but to involve so many people…” She rubbed her eyes, and he noticed her hand had a slight tremor. “My sister and Jake. You. All of you could be sevendusted and banished. I could too.”

  She wouldn’t be touched by this. No one would except the Torvals, Elders and agents alike.

  “We have a prepared explanation, and our success will outweigh the fact I went outside the system.” He sat up, the covers draping at his waist. “Skythia will be the only one to know all the details.” She’d never have approved his course of action, but if he presented it as a done deal? She wasn’t the most law-abiding Elder herself, though he had been until five years ago.

  “But you didn’t succeed.” Anisette leaned on the bed, her hair falling forward in a wash of auburn. He inhaled, grateful that her sweet presence cleared the vinegary funk from the air. “You only caught Milshadred.”

  “Then I have work to do.” He tried to swing his legs out of the bed, but her weight on the blankets pinned him in place. Not that he attempted to brush past her very strenuously.

  She pushed him against the headboard, and he trapped her hand against his bare chest. Sunshine spilled through the cracks in the blinds, highlighting a few freckles on her arm. “You’re not listening. You might not even be alive if I hadn’t found you. You’re in worse shape than the Drakhmores because you had withdrawals to start with. You don’t remember anything, do you?”

  “No.” He concentrated, but the only thing that came to mind was the sensation of the earth rumbling beneath his feet, dust in the air and salt in his mouth. Had the bedamned Torvals nearly murdered him again? His fate was inextricably tied to Anisette’s, or her involvement might have unmanned him.

  Instead it worried him. He’d instructed her to remain safely with the repository.

  He took her shoulders. “You put yourself in danger. Anisette, that’s not acceptable.”

  “I’m an adult, Embor, as are you.” She clasped his wrists, her hands soft. “If I choose to risk myself for the Primary of the Realm, I may do so.”

  “You may not,” he countered. “I forbid it.”

  “You’re more important than I am.” Her hands slid up his arms, fingertips lingering on each scar. “Would you like me to see what I can do about your headache?”

  “No one is more important than—” He stopped himself abruptly when her gaze dropped. Could she guess what he’d been about to say? “All right.”

  “I still can’t help the withdrawals,” she warned him. “From what I can tell, withdrawals are going to affect you like you’re acclimated. You won’t be able to use magic until we heal you.”

  “That explains a few things.” Many globes had gone awry since coming here.

  She laced her fingers through his hair. The pain faded instantly. Her soothing calmness reduced his headache as much as the magic. When she was finished, she withdrew her hands but didn’t move away.

  “Tell me what you know about last night,” he said.

  “It was a trap.” She addressed his chest, not his face. “The Torvals were ready for you.”

  Embor knew of only one way that could be true. Only one way the Torvals could have known, could have prepared, for the raid. “Someone betrayed me.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  There was no other way. Who amongst the Drakhmores would have allied with the Torvals? “It must be.”

  “Jake has spoken with everyone,” she said with a small twist of her lips.

  Which meant Jake would have used truth magic on them. But how had the Torval agents known to set a trap? Once he’d learned their location, the rest should have fallen into place. He should be at Court now, giving the truthseekers the proof they needed to break the AOC. He should be sentencing Milshadred, her sibs and her perfidious cousins to something as close to death as the law allowed.

  Yet he wasn’t. He was sitting here in humanspace, his memory and clothing missing, recovering from another Torval ambush, which he’d been led into by…

  “The cat,” he said with some heat. He’d never trusted that blasted feline. “He led us into the trap.”

  Anisette leaned across his lap, as if her slight weight could prevent him from finding the treacherous four-legger. “If that was his intention, would he have fetched me? Which he did most urgently, might I add.”

  “He might have hoped he’d be late. Where is the little beast?”

  “Guarding Milshadred.” Her thin shirt displayed the shape of her breasts better than the layers women wore in the Realm. “He said he’s not disappointed in last night’s performance and believes we can salvage it.”

  “I’m so pleased we didn’t disappoint the cat.” Her body was too close for him to concentrate. He’d put more distance between them momentarily, but he liked the press of her hip against his thigh, the tenderness of her touch on his disfigured skin.

  Her cheeks pinkened. “We didn’t disappoint him last night, anyway. He made other suggestions I didn’t feel were appropriate.”

  “Such as?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Then why bring it up?”

  “If he talks to you, you should know he has…odd ideas about how fairies should behave.” She thumbed one of the larger scars on his forearm. “Nevertheless, he did fetch me in time to save you all from yourselves, and I don’t find his behavior suspicious. There’s some other explanation for the ambush.”

  With his headache gone and Anisette’s body close, Embor’s attention strayed even further from the matter at hand. He wondered what she’d do if he kissed her, beginning with the delicious curve of her neck.

  “Embor?”

  He shook himself mentally. “What do you mean by saving us from ourselves?”

  “Milshadred placed a spell on you that caused you to behave erratically.”

  “How could she use magic? Acclimated fairies are lucky if they can use healing globes.”

  “The Drakhmores said the Torvals had Fey allies. You were all compelled to drink and…and cavort.” Her volume rose on the last word and her nostrils flared. “When I found you, you were kissing Gret Drakhmore.”

  He blinked. “Why would I do that? I’ve no desire to court Gret.”

  “You’ve no desire to…” Anisette opened her mouth and sh
ut it. A line appeared between her eyebrows. “Does that mean… No. That’s absurd.”

  “I hope I didn’t insult her.” He brushed Anisette’s hair off her neck, appreciating the silken texture. “She’s a fine warrior and loyal teammate.” Gret was attractive, but even under the influence of alcohol, he couldn’t imagine himself propositioning her. Anisette was the only woman he wanted.

  He wanted her right now, in fact, but wanting her had become so constant, this wasn’t a revelation.

  Anisette’s eyelashes fluttered before she met his gaze again. “You’re the only one with significant memory loss. Gret said it wasn’t a romantic sort of kiss.”

  “Then what danger were we in?” When had Anisette gone from sitting close to him to sitting in his lap? If he couldn’t control his response, she was bound to notice the direction of his thoughts. “Do people die from cavorting?”

  “If I hadn’t removed the spell, you’d have drunk yourselves into comas.”

  Embor frowned as her meaning became clear. “Is everyone all right?”

  “More or less.” She blew out a breath that tickled his skin. “My arrival interrupted your celebration. You seemed pleased to see me. In fact you… I…” She coughed delicately. “You were very pleased.”

  “Anisette, I wish you’d speak plainly.”

  “What an odd thing for you, of all people, to say.” She almost smiled before she continued. “It wasn’t your fault. You’d had too much to drink.”

  “What did I do?” he asked with dawning horror. If his inhibitions had been dissolved, he knew exactly what he’d have done to Anisette.

  He’d have done what she’d begged him to do yesterday. He’d have done what he was imagining right now. He’d have done that and so much more.

  Great golden Ka. Had he bedded her and forgotten it?

  “You’re very ardent when you’ve been drinking,” she said.

  He closed his eyes. This hadn’t been the plan. He wanted to make love to her the first time in honesty, when both of them knew what it would mean. His fantasies about it bordered on pornographic. “Forgive me.”

  “It’s all right.” She touched his jaw, her fingers unsure. “You weren’t yourself. Just as I wasn’t myself after what happened with the Torval Elders.”

  The thin cotton of her shirt and his covers were the only things between them. She’d attacked him after her mindwipe, frightened, disoriented and unaware of who he was. “Are you saying I hurt you? Forced you? Anisette, I—”

  “Nothing like that.” She reddened and said in a very small voice, “I believe I indicated my willingness about certain things already.”

  “That doesn’t matter.” He stroked her back. “It should never have happened.”

  Hurt darkened her eyes and she pulled away from him. “You keep telling me you don’t want me. Your body doesn’t agree.”

  “It should never have happened that way,” he clarified. He wanted her so badly he was tempted to let this be the launch of their courtship. How easy would it be to proceed as if their union were settled? “That doesn’t mean I don’t want you.”

  She slipped to the floor. “It’s not as if we had sex. You kissed me in front of the Drakhmores, who think we’re courting.”

  “I see.” Joining with him was her fate, some might say, but it should also be her choice. She should be able to make that choice with the same information he had.

  This was as clumsy a time as any to tell her about the Seers, but he was tired of cat-footing around it. He wanted her to know. He wanted her, period.

  “I have a confession,” he began. “You may not like to hear it.”

  She sat back down on the bed, and he took her hand. Their fingers curled together like pieces of a puzzle. He’d never been this ill at ease in his life.

  “If it explains your behavior, I can handle it.”

  He hoped telling her now wasn’t idiotic. Talista wasn’t likely to give them privacy to work through it, however they were inspired to do so. “All Primaries, upon being elected, gain access to—”

  Someone rattled the locked knob, startling them both. Talista yelled through the thin wood, “I said no monkey business!”

  Anisette bounced off the bed, her elbow catching him in the ribs. With a yank, she opened the door. “Talista, not now.”

  She tried to close the door, but Talista pushed back. “My house, my rules. Unwed, I mean, two totally unconnected adults who’d never get married anyway need a chaperone. The children might get the wrong idea.”

  Anisette released the door and sighed. “The children won’t notice.”

  “If you have to say that, it’s a good thing I set a timer.” Talista barged into the room. Her shirt was splattered by water, and a puff of bubbles stuck to her curly hair. “The kids are clean, Jake’s back from the ring circuit and Mildred agreed to… Hello.”

  Embor caught Talista staring, with some degree of incredulity, at his torso. He resisted the urge to cover up. If she was impertinent about his scars, so be it. She’d seen him in worse shape when she and Jake had helped rescue him from the Torvals.

  “Do you work out?” she asked him.

  Anisette rubbed her forehead, hiding her eyes.

  “I work all the time,” he said blandly. “I’m the Primary.”

  “No, I mean—”

  “He likes to say that,” Anisette interrupted her sister. “If he doesn’t remind himself, he might start behaving like the rest of us.”

  Embor’s eyebrows rose at Anisette’s sharpness. She’d grown forthright with him in private, but to hear her heckle him to her sister was a surprise.

  “Nice scars. Are those from you-know-when? Freakin’ Torvals. I have a bite mark too.” Talista showed him a white circle on her hand. “Once gnome venom soaks into the skin, even Ani can’t fix it.”

  “Who told you that? Healers can negate venom. I kept the scars as a reminder.” Embor studied the familiar, mottled pattern with some distaste. More and more, it seemed inane to have carried the marks so long. “Internal injuries are harder to repair, but flesh wounds are simple.”

  “Gnome bites can be healed?” Talista brandished her tiny patch at Anisette like an accusation. “You said I’d be scarred forever.”

  Anisette spread her hands. “My skills have improved since then.”

  “You probably thought it would teach me a lesson.” Talista made a face but had already calmed down. Her moods shifted like a feather on the wind, a fact Embor found exhausting. “Everyone’s always trying to teach me lessons.”

  “I wonder why.” Jake entered the room and kissed his wife’s forehead. “Why are you two double-teaming a sick man?”

  Finally. Someone rational, or at least not as distracting as Anisette, to fill Embor in on the details.

  “I believe Talista intended to tell me something about Milshadred.” He shook hands with Jake, who clapped Embor’s arm before retreating to the doorway to lean against the jamb.

  “Oh, right.” Talista plopped into the wingchair, leaving Anisette beside the bed. “Mildred wants to cut a deal.”

  Talista and Jake had known Milshadred in her human guise before finding out she was Fey. Jake, in fact, had known her for years. Too bad it hadn’t helped locate her when she’d gone to ground.

  “Another deal?” Anisette crossed her arms. “She offered me information to let her go.”

  “Did you consider it?” he asked, curious. What would Anisette have wanted to know that Milshadred could tell her?

  Her lips tightened. “She’s still in captivity, isn’t she?”

  “We’ve got her at repository A,” Jake said. “Her sibs won’t be able to find her, and if they do, they won’t get past the Drakhmores.”

  “You won’t believe what she offered,” Talista said. “She says she’s got the goods on those manky cousins of hers.”

  “She offered to tell me how Embor can bring down the AOC,” Anisette said.

  “She offered me information about using my powers.”
Jake shrugged. “She obviously doesn’t realize I don’t need the information anymore.”

  Embor mulled. Each piece of Milshadred’s knowledge was targeted to the individual she wanted to bribe. If any of it were true, this situation fell under the constraints he and Jake had decided were acceptable for Jake to use hypnotism. They could have it all out of her without any bargaining whatsoever.

  “We’ll speak to her soon enough,” he decided. “How fares the Court?”

  “Screwed up as ever,” Talista grumbled. “They’re worse than human politicians with the bickering, but at least they don’t preempt my TV with debates.”

  Jake smiled. “They recalled Skythia from Xerode. She’s leading the search for you in the Realm. They even have the leprechauns looking for you.”

  Embor hated to think what concessions Skythia had had to offer the antisocial leprechauns for their assistance. The damage control once he returned with the Torvals would be substantial, but so would the rewards. “And the rings?”

  “Monitored on our side, lockdown on theirs. Nobody uses them without us sticking a tracer on them. But the hunt hasn’t spread to humanspace. Tali and I told Skythia we used the ring in Cragen when its agents reported an unauthorized entry. We said Tali wanted to look for her sister. Skythia wasn’t happy with us, but she let it pass.”

  “You knew we’d transported to humanspace,” Embor guessed.

  “We figured if you needed us, you’d let us know.” Jake crossed his arms. “I can’t say I’m thrilled about what you did. We had a bitch of a time covering up the mess in Key West.”

  “You sure screwed that pooch,” Talista added. “Arf arf.”

  Embor inclined his head. If he’d contacted Jake, this might be finished instead of muddled. Jake’s skills would have tipped any balance in their favor; Embor didn’t have to remember the trap to believe that.

  “I fully admit I was in error,” he told them gravely. “I owe you an apology for complicating matters and for putting Anisette at risk.”

  “Keeping me in the dark this whole time did no one any good.” Anisette paced to the window, her back to all of them. “I’d have been more understanding than you think.”