“Where’s Allie?” Bleidd asked Jess, walking into the kitchen and looking around expecting to find her sitting at the table.
Jess handed him a plate with several slices of pizza on it, obviously what the household had eaten for dinner, and Bleidd smiled at the small intimacy, even though there was no one around to see it. In elven culture to prepare food for another person or to serve them food or drink was something only done by close family and servants. The action, however insignificant it would have been to a human, was a way for Jess to reinforce how close he felt to the other elf, and Bleidd was touched by the gesture. Jess waited until he was seated at the kitchen table, then brought Bleidd over a glass of milk and sat down as well before answering the question. “It has been a busy night. So you are aware, Shawn is at work, but Jason’s lover is staying the night; they are up in Jason’s room watching a movie. Allie did the spell work that her artist friend had suggested, and I believe it took more out of her than she had anticipated. As soon as she finished dinner she went to bed, and was asleep by the time I went to join her.”
Bleidd frowned as he chewed. “I would have thought all the emotions earlier would have had the opposite effect.”
Jess frowned as well, “You should know by now she does not allow herself to pull from those sorts of emotions. I had thought, if she needed it, she might seek out the emotional energy she needed to replenish herself but she either fell asleep first or is choosing not to.”
Bleidd took another bite, his frown morphing into a scowl. “That sounds just like Allie, to refuse to go to you when she needs to because she is feeling needlessly guilty over an understandable loss of control.”
Jess visibly relaxed. “I am glad you feel what happened was understandable. I must admit I was concerned that you might have some resentment towards her for what she did.”
Bleidd sighed, putting down his food. “I’d be lying to say that wasn’t a terrifying experience and one I have absolutely no desire to ever repeat. But I knew how upset she was and I pushed her anyway. I am not going to blame someone as young as Allie who has only just begun to train her abilities for losing control under such duress.”
“I think she blames herself.”
He picked up the second slice of pizza. “Of course she does. She always does.”
It was Jess’s turn to sigh. “Did you learn anything valuable from her teacher?”
Bleidd nodded then quickly re-capped what Amelia had told him as he ate. Jess nodded thoughtfully several times. “You may be more skilled in making use of this than I, since I am no mage, but surely this will help us find the person behind our current problems.”
“If Allie has already done any counter magic she’ll have severed any existing ties.”
“Hmmmm,” Jess murmured. “You don’t seem particularly concerned by that.”
Bleidd finished his meal, shrugging as he stood with the plate and glass. “I doubt whoever is doing this will stop now.”
“Ah, indeed. So now we wait for the next move they make and counter it then?”
“That is what I was thinking,” Bleidd agreed, quickly washing his dishes. “We can shore up our own defenses and come up with a strategy to handle a human within both our Law and theirs. And when they move against us again we will be ready.”
Jess nodded, walking with Bleidd to their room. “That is a good idea. I will start to subtly inquire about the legalities.”
Bleidd felt himself relaxing, reassured that Jess was his ally in this, wherever it went from here. It had been a long time since he had someone like Jess in his life, someone who understood elven culture implicitly but who was also emotionally close. It was unnerving how much he liked the feeling of dependability that he was coming to rely on from the other elf. He pushed all of that aside when he answered. “Excellent. I will talk with the kelpie about what can be done magically to best protect the house and grounds.”
Bleidd moved quietly into the dark bedroom, Jess following him, closing the door behind them. Allie was a motionless lump in the middle of their bed, the blankets pulled up almost over her head so that only a length of dark blond hair hung out above them. He felt his chest constricting slightly, afraid that she was still angry with him and longing for her in a terrible, consuming way. As he hesitated Jess moved past him, quickly shedding his clothes and sliding beneath the covers on the far side. Bleidd shook himself slightly and moved across to his dresser, averting his eyes from the silent reproach of the half-packed bags as he undressed and carefully folded his clothes, placing them with unnecessary precision on the chair next to the dresser. He slowly took his hair out of its accustomed ponytail, taking time to run his fingers through the dark length of it until it lay smooth. He was stalling and he knew it, but finally he crossed the short distance to the bed and joined the other two.
Jess was lying still on the opposite side of Allie, their soft breathing the only sound in the room. As soon as he had adjusted the blankets around himself however Allie shifted, rolling over to face him, her hand reaching out, clumsy with sleep. “Bleidd?”
“Shhhh,” he soothed, more than half hoping that she’d fall right back to sleep. “You need to rest.”
She curled herself into him, wrapping her body around his in a way that made him bite back a groan. She nuzzled into his neck, “I need this, you and Jess.”
“You could have had Jess earlier,” he said but he wasn’t about to seriously refuse her, and it pleased him that she seemed to have tried to wait for them both. He found as he slid his hands across her back, Jess moving up against her on the other side, that he wanted the reassurance that she truly wasn’t angry with him despite his own lingering guilt. He knew Allie well enough to know that there wasn’t enough deception in her to fake intimacy if her heart wasn’t in it; she was too genuine a person.
Bleidd felt his spirit lift, an emotional weight he didn’t realize he was carrying evaporating, as she moved herself against him, her breath light on his chest, her leg hooked over his hip. Jess’s arm held them all tightly together as Allie opened the bond between them so that they could share in each other’s pleasure. In this moment at least everything in his world was perfect, and he knew that this love was worth fighting for.
Afterwards, when Allie and Jess had both fallen asleep, he lay awake for a long time, his hand resting on her abdomen, lost in thought.
Chapter 9 – Friday
“I don’t think this is a very good idea Allie,” Jason said nervously, his feet crunching through the leaves that had already begun to coat the ground. The sun was rapidly setting and she knew they’d need to be quick before full dark took over and someone called the police and reported them for trespassing, but this had been the first chance she’d had to run this particular errand.
Allie looked over her shoulder at Jason and smirked, trying to project more confidence than she really felt. “Déjà vu. I could swear we’ve had this conversation before.”
“We probably have every other time you talk me into doing something stupid that I should know better than to get sucked into,” he said, nervously shifting his cast clad arm in the sling that supported it. His other hand held a small flashlight, which he hadn’t turned on yet. She caught herself wondering if he even needed it, or if like her he could see fairly well in the dark, but she shoved the though away. It was dangerous to think too much about Jason as anything but an average human, especially as Jess and Bleidd became more and more adept at using the bond that connected them. The last thing she wanted was to betray Jason’s secret with a casual thought at the wrong time.
She shrugged, stepping around a headstone as she worked her way deeper into the cemetery. “Rose said graveyard dirt mixed with some herbs is one of the best protections against this kind of hexing. And I want to have things as safe as possible before Hannah gets here tomorrow.”
“I thought you fixed everything already,” he said following dutifully behind her.
“I did an unhexing and a return to sender spell, yeah.
And I set up witch bottles for everyone – that was the peeing in a jar thing – and it’s been quiet the past couple days. But I can’t believe whoever is doing this is just going to pack it in and give up because I reversed their magic.”
“I guess that would be too easy,” he sighed. “Don’t take this the wrong way but all things considered I kind of hope Bleidd does catch this guy and kick his ass.”
“Jason!”
“Hey if I had two good arms right now I’d help,” Jason said. “I loved that truck. And inanimate object adoration aside we could have been seriously hurt. We could have been killed. And not to get into a touchy subject but the baby…I mean with you being…that could have been bad, you know? You don’t jack people up like that and not expect to get your ass kicked when they catch you.”
“Well I understand the sentiment and I’m afraid Bleidd agrees with you, but I don’t think butt kicking is very legal,” Allie said, kneeling down in front of an old grave. She held her hand above the ground taking a moment to extend her senses and in return had a vague sense of stillness and peace. She tried to send a feeling of inquiry into the ground to get permission before she took anything from the gravesite and after another moment the feeling shifted to something warmer. She took that as approval and picked up a small rock to dig enough dirt to fill the little bag she’d brought.
When it was obvious her attention had turned outward again Jason continued the conversation. “So then why not call the police?”
“I want to,” Allie said, carefully scooping dirt. “But I was outvoted.”
“Alright,” he said. “But then isn’t the ass kicking inevitable? I mean if no one wants the police involved what exactly do you think they’re going to do when they finally track this guy down? Ask him nicely to please stop?”
Allie froze in mid-motion. Truthfully she hadn’t thought it through that far but as soon as Jason said it she felt her heart plummet. Because she remembered, not so very long ago, Bleidd and Jess taking the Law into their own hands, and that time had gone well beyond butt kicking. She couldn’t say even now that she was sorry that particular Dark court elf was dead but she realized that if they were willing to do that once there was the potential that they might do it again. Might kill to protect the life the three of them had together here. It was in its way a very elven response, and part of the reason that the elves frowned on embracing strong emotions. In retrospect she knew she should have seen it before, should have understood when they decided to keep the police out of it they were keeping their options open. All their options.
“Allie?” Jason prompted, his voice uncertain.
She forced herself to resume scooping dirt until the bag was full. “I guess I’ll have to have a talk with the police mage then.”
“I guess that depends on whether you think the police can help or not.”
She tied the bag shut and placed nine new pennies by the gravestone, taking a moment to silently thank the inhabitant for the soil before answering. “I think its more a matter of whether I’d rather have the two of them annoyed with me for a while or have the two of them arrested for vigilante justice.”
She stood up in time to see him wince. “Yeah I see your point.”
She led the way back out of the cemetery, towards the parking lot. When they reached her new car - finally legally registered – she tossed the pouch of dirt onto the seat but didn’t immediately get in.
“What’s up?” Jason asked glancing around nervously.
“Nothing,” Allie said pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. “I just figured I’d give Sam a call now rather than put it off.”
“Right,” Jason said smirking. “And the fact that we’re about as far as we can get from Bleidd and Jessilaen doesn’t hurt either.”
Allie couldn’t repress an answering smile. “Yeah, that too.”
She opened the phone and started to dial before looking at the screen and it took her a second to realize that the display was showing nothing but random symbols. “Oh crap.”
“What?”
“I forgot, my phone’s messed up.”
“What do you mean ‘messed up’?” Jason asked, amusement warring with worry in his voice.
“It’s just, kind of hard to describe,” she said tossing him the phone. “I noticed it, ummmm, before, but sort of forgot to do anything about it.”
Jason peered intently at the screen pressing buttons and frowning. “What did you do to it?”
“I didn’t do anything!” she protested weakly. “At least I don’t think I did. I just went to use it one day and it was all…well, like that.”
“How long exactly has it been like this?”
“Ahhh, I don’t remember,” she said.
“Allie,” Jason gave her an exasperated look.
“Well, I don’t use it very much you know,” she said defensively, feeling guilty since Jason was the one who had bought her the phone. During the events in the spring when her life had been threatened he’d wanted her to have a way to call for help if she needed to. He was still looking at her expectantly so finally she mumbled an estimate for the phone that she thought seemed accurate. “I guess maybe a week?”
He rolled his eyes, stuffing her phone into his pocket and tossing her his phone instead. “I’ll have to take it back to the store and see if the warrantee covers random shenanigans. Use mine for now.”
She bit back a sarcastic response and instead opened his phone and dialed Sam’s number from memory. After a couple rings the mage’s ever cheerful voice answered, “Sam Kensington, best mage of the age, what can I do for you?”
Allie tried not to giggle at the inane greeting. “Hi Sam it’s Allie McCarthy, do you have a couple minutes to talk?”
“For my favorite half-elven bookshop owner, always,” Sam said. “Unless this is about my great-aunt in which case I don’t know you and I’m hanging up.”
Allie did giggle then. “Thanks. Actually it’s not about Miss Amelia. I’m having a bit of a problem and I’m not sure if I should make an official report to the police about it or not so I thought I’d ask your opinion.”
“Ah, then I’m safe in assuming this problem is of a magical nature?”
“It is,” she said, quickly debating how much to tell him. “Someone’s been hexing me.”
“Hexing?” Sam said, sounding genuinely surprised. “Tsk tsk. Someone’s being very naughty then. That’s a fine-able misdemeanor.”
“And I’m sure its one that doesn’t usually get reported” Allie said carefully.
“True,” Sam agreed. “Generally if that sort of thing is going on the people involved handle it themselves.”
“Yeah I figured,” Allie said, making a face so that Jason, who was trying to eavesdrop shamelessly raised his eyebrows. “But it’s a bit more complicated than that.”
“Oh do tell,” Sam said drily.
“Well first of all I have no idea who’s doing it or why. Second of all its already gotten violent-“
“Violent how?” he interrupted.
“I’ve been hurt, minor things mostly, but my friend and I were in a car accident that totaled his car, and we were both hurt, again just minor injuries, but it could easily have been worse. It’s pretty clear that things are escalating.”
Sam was silent for a moment and she could hear the distinct sound of paper being shuffled and the click of a pen. When he spoke again his voice was serious. “When did this start?”
“About two weeks ago now.”
“And what have you done about it?” he asked and she could hear the sound of him writing as they spoke.
“A basic unhexing and reversal, strengthened my protections, but nothing else,” she said.
“Nothing more…proactive?” he pressed.
“Not at this point, no,” she said. “But I’m…concerned about how the person will respond to the reversal.”
“Yeah, I would be too,” Sam muttered, then louder, “Tell me everything you can remember from the beginnin
g.”
Allie quickly ran through the events of the past few weeks that related to the hexing, leaving out the personal details and drama. When she finally wound down she heard him take a long breath before saying, “Okay. You’re sure this is human magic?”
“Positive.”
“Right. Then I’ll file a report on it. Right now it’s on the fine line between a misdemeanor and a felony, but either way someone’s in trouble when I catch them.”
“What’s the difference?” Allie asked, realizing that she really had no idea.
“Well a misdemeanor is less serious and around here usually means fines,” he said slowly. “A felony is a big deal and means jail time. The difference usually comes down to several factors, like intent, harm done, and so on. This also sounds like borderline stalking and that might push it over the felony line…or if it’s a hate crime, like someone targeting you because you’re part elf. Unless there’s some other factor here I don’t know about? Anything else you want to tell me?”
“Oh, I, ummm,” Allie stammered, thinking of Bleidd and knowing that she really shouldn’t mention him even if it probably was important.
“What? What is it?” Sam pressed.
“No, nothing, just…” she stammered, panicking.
“Allie if there’s anything else going on here you need to tell me,” he said, as forcefully as she’d ever heard the normally irreverent mage speak.
She blurted out the first thing that came into her mind, “I’m pregnant.”
Silence. Allie winced. Then, “Oh…dear. I see. Well, firstly congratulations. Secondly I imagine that this situation combined with that situation has not put your elven lovers in the best frame of mind.”
She relaxed slightly. “That would be a bit of an understatement. In fact I’m a bit concerned that things could get, ummm, unpleasant if the person behind this isn’t arrested, if you know what I mean?”
Sam inhaled sharply. “Unfortunately I know exactly what you mean. Yes. This is a complication. Well, we shall simply have to strive to catch this person first before there can be any, as you say, unpleasantness?”
Heart of Thorns: a Between the Worlds novel Page 20
