by CD Coffelt
“Yeah, they’re home. I think they’re out back. Did you want me to get them?” she said. Her voice, after the initial pleasant tone, could break a rock.
“No. I’m coming out. Let them know, would you, please?”
“Of course. Bye.” And he heard the phone go dead.
Yeah, she was still pissed.
Twenty minutes later, the small dragon sat on the McIntyres’ coffee table and he was rubbing one finger under Zephyr’s chin. Her deep blue eyes closed in bliss, the strand of yarn he had been holding still between her teeth. He subtly tugged the maroon yarn, trying to sneak it from her, but one eye slivered open and a paw came up to yank it away. Tail straight up, she stalked away with as much dignity as a half-grown kitten could muster with its rear end tangled in yarn.
Justus had called his mom before he left the shop and explained his upcoming trip to her. She seemed happy enough, but didn’t ask questions. She seemed to accept his decision to leave for a few days. Sometimes, he wondered if she had some memory problems. She seemed so vague sometimes. He resolved to call her more often.
“So Seattle, huh?” Maggie said. She held the notice advertising the auction, her forehead wrinkled into furrows.
“Yep. Going on a road trip. I should be back in, oh, a couple weeks.” He rolled onto his side and twisted his fingers into the long loops of the ancient rug. Who had shag carpeting anymore? “I’ll hit the other place I heard about in that region. Get it all done at once.”
He heard the snort to his right, but ignored it. He kept his eyes on the rug. “I might take a little vacation. Might as well see the sights while I’m out there,” he said.
This time, Sable remained quiet, but he was very aware of her. He struggled to keep from looking for her reaction. Even glancing at her was enough to start the tener unus magic cooking again, and he had proven his lack of will power in that area. Where was his ward stone when he needed the shield magic? It had never failed him before. He dug his fingers into the carpet and tried to think of anything else. But he was weak. He lost the epic inner battle.
He looked up.
Yes, she was glaring at him, suspicious. Her mouth mashed into a hard line, and he wondered what she was thinking. Still mad? Doubting him? Ready to smack him? For a moment, he wanted to find out, test her resolve. But he savagely killed that feeling.
Justus stood up, stretched, and noted the darkening windows. The streetlights were beginning to come on. Evening had snuck up while he was playing with the kitten, and it was time to set things in motion. No matter what.
Emmett sat to one side, looking out the same windows. The older man had seemed distracted all evening. And most of the week since he had rushed home following that phone call. Maggie eyed her husband with a worried frown.
“I don’t want to interfere, but isn’t it about time you let me in on the big secret?” When no one answered, he continued. “That phone call you got, is there still a problem? Anything I can do to help before I go?”
Emmett shook his head. “No, not really. We heard from a relative wanting to get back into our lives. It’s been…unnerving to have a voice from the past ask for a favor.”
Maggie gave an irritated sound. “Oh, go ahead and tell him, Emmett. It’s not going to matter in the long run.”
Emmett looked at Maggie, then shrugged. Something in his face told Justus the two had discussed the matter at length already.
“It’s our nephew,” he blurted. “We haven’t seen him in a long time, and he wanted to ‘touch base,’ he said, talk to his auntie. It’s just that…” Emmett scrubbed his face with one callused hand, his stubbly chin sounding like sandpaper. “We haven’t heard from him since he asked for a loan, then skipped out. I figure he wants more dough, wants something, and it ain’t to mend fences. Now, I don’t know, I just don’t think we should let him get too close is all. But Maggie here…”
He stopped and looked at his wife fondly, a small smile on his face. He reached out and carefully took one of the gnarled hands and stroked it gently. “She thinks we should see him and give him a chance, to explain, at the least.”
“He’s family,” Maggie said simply. She smiled back at Emmett. “His folks, my brother and his wife, passed on several years ago, and we’re all he has.”
“And all he’s likely to get,” Emmett muttered.
“Ah, well, maybe things have changed. Maybe he has seen the light and is ready to make amends. Who knows?” Justus said.
Emmett lifted one dubious eyebrow.
The hall clock took that moment to issue a muffled chime, and Justus realized the evening was getting away from him. Visiting his friends always did that to him, made him forget about the passage of time. The McIntyres sat close together with their foreheads nearly touching, oblivious to their surroundings.
He glanced at Sable. Her wistful expression as she watched the older couple brought a well of sadness up into his consciousness; the absolute knowledge that, no matter what, he and Sable could never be free of the Imperium to live their days like the McIntyres. He tightened his mouth with that dangerous thought and stood.
It drew their eyes and broke the moment between the older couple. They began picking up the glasses, coffee cups, and Zephyr’s toys, badgering and teasing each other as they did. The obvious love they had for each other was something he would miss, and he was reluctant to let it end.
Maybe a few more days wouldn’t hurt. Maybe a week, even. He could stay that long. Just one more week. He hadn’t heard or felt anything from the Imperium since the hunters left. Maybe they weren’t watching for Sable or her signature after all.
Then he caught Sable staring at him, her eyes no longer angry, but confused. As if she was trying to work out a puzzle that eluded her. And he was the puzzle.
“Think I’ll take a turn in the garden, get a little fresh air,” Justus said.
And work a little magic while they were preoccupied.
Justus stepped through the back door and sat on a wrought iron bench. It cast a mottled shape on the flagstone patio, a pattern of moonlight through the metal. Many weeks ago, he had worked a bit of warding into the metal of the bench to keep Sable hidden from the hunters. Before he left for the west coast, he would refresh the Earth element to keep her safe, at least for a while.
After forming the guardian bubble around him, he carefully gathered the energies of the metal and ground from beneath the bench and, using his will, infused it with a covering spell. He started to drop the cover over the bench, when the kitchen door banged shut behind him and the bubble broke as Sable walked into it. The energies collapsed and disappeared.
He sighed and looked innocently at the waning moon.
“What’s going on?” she asked, a touch of anger in her voice.
“What?” Justus asked, startled. “What do you mean?”
“You damn well know what I mean.” The tone in her voice had an angry, suspicious sound. She stood looking down at him, the moonlight on one side of her face, the other side in shadow.
A small, kitten-shaped form jumped up to sit beside him. Zephyr looked at Sable, then back at Justus, almost as if watching a tennis match.
“No, I’m afraid I don’t know.” Justus stood and tried to concentrate. The shape of her mouth, the shadows under her soft cheekbones, and the glint in her eyes were distracting him. “I am leaving. End of story.”
“Leaving? You mean, go to those auctions?”
Startled, he quickly said, “Right. Auctions.”
He started to move past her, but the grip of her hand on his arm stopped him. She was so close; he almost could have touched her brow with his lips. He wondered how that would feel, the soft skin of her forehead under his mouth, the smooth cheek when he let his lips slide down…
Savagely, he pulled away from his prohibited thoughts and then away from her hand on his arm.
Without touching him again, she closed the distance, her eyes snapping. “You are leaving, aren’t you? Because of me,” she stated
.
How perceptive, he thought. She grasped that he was leaving, but thought it was because of her. Still, it gave him a good excuse to disappear for a while if she thought she was the reason. So why did the ache in his heart make him feel like it would tear him apart?
“I need to get away for a while, and, yes, you are one of the reasons.”
When the shadows on her face appeared, Justus felt something turn inside him. She’d flinched, as if struck.
The kitten trilled. Zephyr had her head cocked sideways, looking at the silent young woman.
Angrily, he snarled, “It really doesn’t matter.”
“Okay, then,” she said. Her face smoothed of all emotion as she stared at him.
The kitten’s narrowed eyes went back to Justus. She didn’t trill.
“Okay, then,” he repeated, but then he hesitated as she turned away. He wanted to reach for her, tell her he had changed his mind, and explain away all the mystery. But in the next instant, he let his hand fall. It was better this way. Cut the ties and move on. And do it quickly.
“Tell the McIntyres I’m heading home now.”
He heard her say something in acknowledgement, but it was inaudible, a quiet sound of distress. He strode quickly to the gate before the McIntyres were aware he was leaving. Justus didn’t want Maggie, with her shrewd eyes, to come looking for him and ask questions. He roared the engine into life and slammed it into gear.
He was halfway to the shop when he remembered the interrupted cloaking spell and knew he would have to return to the McIntyres’ garden and restore the magic before he left.
That was the moment he felt the first adept.
Chapter Thirteen
Justus stood on his brakes in front of his shop, the tires screeching. He ran to the door, fumbling the keys into the lock. He thought of the interrupted cloaking spell at the McIntyres’ house, but shook the regret away. Nothing he could do about it now.
Sable would be all right. They wouldn’t hurt her. They wouldn’t hurt her…
He opened the door just as another shiver crawled up his arm. The wizards were close, but still several blocks away. He just had time to gather his bag and leave.
Would Sable run again? After she realized the Imperium had found her again, would she give up her life with the McIntyres?
Well, no help for it now. He had to run too. They were here.
Justus pulled his large canvas bag from behind the desk and ran back to the bar area. He stood for a moment, looked around him one last time. So much gone, so much regret, but now was not the time to wallow.
Would they hurt her? Force her? For a moment, he stood indecisive, noticing the snarl of elemental rage that curled around him had nothing to do with the wilder magic swirling around him.
He shook it off and started for the door.
The approach of an adept made him slide to a stop, and a familiar car stopped outside the door.
Sable.
In that brief moment before the realization crashed down, Justus felt relief. Relieved she was okay, relieved she was here. With him. But then he gasped. The other adepts were close, moving quickly.
There were so many of them.
He jerked the door open. Her face was pale white and she whipped her head to either side, her wide eyes searching for the ones who hunted for her.
“I w-wanted to see you before you left,” she stuttered. “But I—”
“Goddamn it, get in here!” he yelled. He dragged her into the shop, slammed the door, and hazarded a quick peek through the glass. No one, not yet. When he turned, Sable had a strange look on her face. Angry or frightened? He really didn’t have time to find out. But her next words stopped his heart.
“Who are you?” she said softly.
That was when he noticed the crackle of energies around him and the swirl of magic. He had reached for his elements without thought, and now it was like a miniature maelstrom, whirling in jets of multicolored fire.
“Nobody you want to know,” he said. “Lookit, we’ve got to hide.” He put his hand on her arm.
She pulled away, the panic in her voice combining with her wild eyes. “No, lemme go.”
He enforced his grip and dragged her to a wall of shelves filled with china patterns and tea cups and flicked his fingers. The façade vanished and a door appeared. He opened it with a touch and pulled the struggling, shrieking woman onto the landing just inside. Steps led down into a darkened stairwell. She began flailing, and one punch caught his ribs.
He grunted. Damn, she had a lot of muscle for a girl.
In between curses and ducking her fists, he touched a brass knob set in the wall by the open doorway, and the door vanished behind the released magic, once again becoming a blank, wooden wall. With more luck than grace, he got her thrashing body down the flight of stairs, collecting five or six more bruises as he did.
“Will. You. Cut it out!” he yelled and somehow avoided a knee that searched for the primary target. “I am trying to protect you.”
He cursed when the roundhouse meant for his chin thumped his cheek instead.
“Oh, sure, yeah, that makes all kinds of sense,” she said sarcastically. “You and your stupid Imperium can go get f—”
Her next words were lost against his chest as he pulled her and she fell against him. He gave a yelp when her teeth found the skin of his chest.
“Son of a…will you cut it out? Listen, listen to me.” He managed to stop her flailing and avoid her teeth by clenching one hand around her cheek, holding her head against him. “I am not a part of the Imperium, and stop biting.” Her teeth snapped next to his fingers. “Look, they are close and we need to lay low. Be quiet for a bit.”
For a moment, she stilled, and he heard her panting and felt the quiver of her chest as she sucked in air. “Then who are you?” she asked low and vicious.
Justus found he needed air also and his chest heaved in time with hers. “I am who I said I was. No lie. Now look, I am going to let you go. Okay? Don’t kick me anymore.”
“No promises,” she hissed.
He growled. She nodded against his chest. Slowly, he released her until she stood at arm’s length. Sable stared at him with hard eyes. While he watched, she firmed her mouth.
“So, you are a mage,” she said.
He nodded and remained silent. It was taking all his concentration to hold his fierce emotions in check. Magic called to him as he breathed heavily, interfering with his ability to answer.
“Well, this changes things.”
“Not much. The only thing it changes is, you know my secret. That I am trying to avoid the Imperium, just the same as you.”
She eyed him. “So the Imperium wants you too. But you aren’t a…you have your magic. Why are they looking for you?”
Justus looked away from her, ignoring her question. Slowly, he extended his feel for the adepts, attempting to find out how close they were to his shop. Closer, he decided. They were almost here.
“Why did you come here tonight?” he asked absently. There were several very powerful adepts here.
She hesitated and he dropped the magic to look at her pink face. Sable scuffed a foot along the floor. “I wanted to tell you to stay. This was your home way before it was mine. I decided I would leave.”
“Yeah, and how’s that working out for you?”
Her teeth bared into a soundless snarl.
He combed his fingers through his hair. “So, what then? You got here. And?”
“And I felt the hunter, somewhere close. I panicked.” She stopped. “One thing... If they break into the store, won’t they find us?”
“Nope. I closed the door to the cellar. They won’t see it.”
“But won’t they see the traces of the Earth magic or Air magic, or whatever you used?”
“No, it was fixed magic, something I did a long time ago. Like a ‘break this glass in case of emergency’ kind of thing.”
When she seemed confused, he sighed. “Fixed magic fastens the
energies to an object, and when they are released, it can’t be felt. It’s only when the original magic is worked, gathered magic, that a mage can feel the elements.”
“Gee, is that so.” Sable had a sour look. “Why are they searching for you?”
Justus looked at her, but couldn’t gauge her emotions now. Her steady eyes waited. Then they both heard them. He could sense the other adepts, could hear their footsteps.
“Don’t worry.” When she shuddered, Justus held out his hand and touched the back of her hand. She didn’t jerk it away. “You are warded, and they won’t know either of us is here.”
She nodded absently, her face still pale. But in the next moment, her mouth quirked. Upstairs, he could hear floorboards creak.
“You were a little too grabby with me,” she breathed, trying not smile.
He looked at her, his mouth open. “Seriously? That’s what you are worried about, that I might have copped a feel a moment ago?”
Sable grinned and started to reply. He stopped her with his finger across her lips.
He tried to listen to the voices. Something about losing her and “that’s her car, isn’t it?” followed by a snort of disgust. “Let’s get out of here before we lose her again.” Footsteps and the front door closing.
He smiled and looked at her, relieved. Sable returned his smile with a small one of her own.
“Gone?”
“Yes,” he said. Justus sat on an old antique storage locker without brushing the dust off the lid. “The Imperium is looking for me or someone like me because I was never bonded.” He grinned humorlessly at her open mouth. “You were bonded, and they are waiting, um, for you to come into your magic. Me, they never caught, and I am the splinter under their skin, an irritant.”
“So, she never…bonded…with you,” Sable said slowly.
He grimaced and felt the fire start inside him. Absently, he rubbed his throat.
“No,” he said simply.
“But your magic…I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Justus shrugged and smiled. “Ah, well.” He stood and briskly began to make plans, how to leave the cellar and somehow take her. Or leave her. Let her choose.
