“I like dancing in this age,” he said.
“You’re a quick study.”
I stepped between his legs but left the last few inches open between us. He ran his hand up over my invisible knife, resting it on my right hip, but he didn’t tug me closer.
“I was supposed to take you to dinner before the dancing.” His face was deep in shadow, but I could see the glint of golden magic in his eyes.
“Supposed to?” I murmured. I reached up and tucked my fingers into the collar of his silk shirt to feel the warm, smooth skin where his neck met his shoulder. If there had been more light, I might have caught a glimpse of his tattoo, which I still hadn’t seen beyond the thick black edge that curved over his collarbone.
“Drake indicated that our third date should be dinner and dancing.”
“Drake is fourteen,” I said with a laugh, then sobered quickly. “Wait, this can’t be just our third date.”
“Fourteen years spent living in your century,” Warner said. “And having a fortress collapse on you, then almost drowning, might feel like a hell of a date, but it wasn’t.”
I leaned into him a little more, swaying forward to capture his lower lip in a kiss. Then I said, “Dragons aren’t immortal.”
Yeah, I was unfocused. I was slowly warming up from the imagined brain freeze of Kett sifting through my thoughts, and oh so ready to collapse into Warner’s arms. Yet I was exceedingly aware that the map — and Warner — were compromised, and that the world was full of secrets I suddenly needed to know to move forward. Secrets I’d needed to know three months ago but hadn’t been aware of — because no one, not even Pulou, had known of Warner’s or Shailaja’s existence. Even guardian dragons weren’t infallible.
“But guardians could be immortal,” Warner answered as he brushed a light kiss across my left cheek. “And some argument could be made for the children of guardians, I suppose.”
That piece of information cut through the comfort of the kisses. “Sorry?”
“It’s rare for a dragon to mate after taking on the mantle of a guardian. Often, the children of guardians become guardians themselves. As I believe is the case for Chi Wen, Baxia, and Haoxin.”
“And guardians relinquish their power every thousand years.”
“Give or take, but yes. Willingly.”
“But they don’t have to?”
“An argument could be made.”
“What’s the argument against?”
“The magic a guardian carries is taxing, even divided as it is between the nine. It can wear on the mind and physical body. And living that long is disorienting. Elder guardians tend to withdraw, like Baxia. And delegate their day-to-day responsibilities, as Chi Wen soon will with Drake. Haoxin and Qiuniu have already begun to walk the far seer’s territory upon request.”
“You think that Shailaja broke with the guardians because she believes in immortality.”
“If she is Shailaja, then the company she keeps is telling.”
“And the sacrifices made to create that company.” The shadow leeches were most definitely a product of the blackest sort of magic, whether or not the sorcerers had been willing participants in their own ‘evolution.’ “She was attempting to collect one of the three ways to kill a guardian.”
“Yes.” Warner sounded grim, and I didn’t much feel like hashing through it all again. I would rather have continued with the soft, intimate kisses. But I didn’t.
“Does it bother you that I’m slow?” I asked, abruptly changing the subject. “You assimilate so quickly —”
“No,” Warner interrupted. “You aren’t slow, Jade. You’re thoughtful … focused on what matters to you. Life is not so clearly defined for most of us.”
“Life isn’t so clear to me at all.”
He laughed. “Well, you make it seem that way.”
“You make it seem that way!”
“Another reason we are well matched,” Warner murmured.
And just like that, I was exceedingly interested in renewing the kissing session. Just with more vigor.
“What was the first reason we’re well matched?” I asked, flirting as I reached up to tease open the second button of his shirt.
The portal blew open behind us.
“Goddamn it all to hell,” Warner muttered, more viciously than I’d ever heard him.
I threw my head back and laughed. Why not? I was terrible at delaying gratification. I might as well enjoy it while it was being forced upon me.
Haoxin, the guardian of North America, stepped through the golden magic of the portal and offered us a sunny smile. The petite blond was wearing a pretty pink-and-white, long-sleeved, form-fitting dress that showcased her every smooth curve.
“Just passing through,” she said, giving Warner a saucy grin as he slowly stepped away from me to offer the guardian a low bow.
I mimicked the movement.
Haoxin waved away the formality of our greeting. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“We have a lead, guardian,” I answered. “Peru.”
Haoxin snorted. “Qiuniu is going to love that.” Then without further comment, she crossed through the living room toward the kitchen. “The far seer awaits you,” she said as she glanced around. Then she added disappointedly, “You didn’t bake?”
“No, guardian,” I answered. “We’ve only been here —”
“Joking, warrior’s daughter,” Haoxin said as she pulled an expensive-looking espresso machine out from a lower cupboard. “The brownies are lovely, but they couldn’t make a great triple-shot, extra-foam latte if my life depended on it. And some mornings, it does.”
Warner winced, probably at the afore-forbidden dissing of brownies. Then he said, “Thank you for your hospitality, guardian,” as he turned toward the still-open portal.
I wasn’t in such a rush to see the far seer, but I also couldn’t just hang around Haoxin’s living room …
Sigh.
A shower would have been nice, too … with Warner washing my back. If by ‘back,’ you understand I meant everywhere, all over, upside and down. Yes, in the shower.
Double sigh.
“My employee Todd is a wizard with espresso. He makes a mean shot,” I said over my shoulder to Haoxin as I stepped into the magic of the portal. “Or so I’m told.”
“I shall hold you to this proclaimed wizardry, Jade Godfrey,” the pretty guardian called after me with a laugh. “And consider it an open invitation to visit you at your bakery.”
The thought of Haoxin — or any guardian — in the bakery gave me heart palpitations. I really, really had to work on connecting my brain to my mouth. Like, before I opened my mouth. I got into more tight spots just by being polite than doing any other thing … except for crossing paths with the far seer.
CHAPTER NINE
‘The far seer awaits you,’ was pretty much the worst thing anyone could ever say to me. Ever.
Just to make that statement even more soul-crushingly terrifying, I walked through the portal to find the far seer — as expected — waiting in the nexus, and decked out in his usual gold-trimmed white robes. He glanced at Warner, eyed me up and down, and said, ‘Ah. Not today.” Then he wandered off toward the dragon residences.
I looked at Warner, who shrugged.
“A shrug is not an appropriate response in this situation,” I said, then instantly regretted my tone. “I’m sorry …”
“Walking under the gaze of the far seer must be unsettling,” Warner said.
He didn’t step closer to me, though I couldn’t blame him. My father might walk in on us at any moment, and I wasn’t sure how the warrior of the guardians felt about his newly found mortal daughter dating the sentinel of the instruments of assassination. God, my blood ran cold every time I thought of my dad and the instruments at the same time.
What the hell was I doing standing around?
I turned toward the door that led to the territory of South America, looking at it closely to make sure
it was the correct one. It was constructed out of a smooth deep-red wood — bloodwood, I thought — and intricately carved like all the other doors of the nexus. I wasn’t sure of the nature of the design, though. Incan? Or Mayan? I knew those were cultures from South America’s history, but I wasn’t sure of the differences between the two.
The only good thing about walking through the portal into the nexus was that it somehow seared off all the dissolved foam that had dried on me, so I didn’t feel so sticky anymore. Though I steadfastly refused to acknowledge the crisply burnt shoulder of my pretty new sweater.
I reached for the door, pausing when I realized there was no visible handle. That was different … I hadn’t realized that certain territories could be closed. Or maybe I was reading too much into it and all it needed was a solid push —
“We should ask permission.” Warner’s tone was measured and slightly cautious, as if he thought I might explode for absolutely no reason. “And get supplies.”
“Supplies?” I said testily. I hated that walking-on-eggshells tone, especially from men, even if I was just imagining it now. I also hated being questioned as I was about to charge into battle. “You need supplies?”
“No,” he answered. “You need supplies.”
I turned on him. “Yeah? Like a bathing suit?”
“No,” he answered calmly. “A bathing suit would be unwise at the top of the Andes in January … well, at any time of the year.”
I snapped my mouth shut to chew on that piece of information. I actually wasn’t too sure what the Andes were … mountains, from the sound of it.
“I’d hate to see you ruin that pretty dress further …”
“It’s a sweater,” I said petulantly, though I was amenable to him cajoling me out of my temper before it got out of hand.
“Sweater,” Warner corrected himself with a smile.
“You think my outfit was pretty?”
“No, but I think you look beautiful in it.”
Jesus, I wasn’t sure I’d ever been involved in a mating dance that took this long to seal the deal. It was screwing with my focus.
“We should just get it over with,” I blurted, instantly regretting my words even as I waited for Warner to respond.
He frowned. “This is not the Bahamas. And getting on the wrong side of the healer would be … well, unhealthy.”
“No,” I said, glancing around while I gestured between him and me. “Us. Together.”
Warner tilted his head, still not completely sure what I was talking about. “You wish to seal our bond, now? So quickly, and without your father’s blessing? Parents …” — he amended — “… without your parents’ approval?”
“Okay, let’s call it that, but skip the creepy part about my parents. And, yes. We can be slow the second time.”
“Slow the second time,” Warner repeated. Then a light went on somewhere in that quick mind of his. “Ah …” He shifted his shoulders. “Yes, I understand that … mating is different in this century.”
Jesus. He was going to say no. I could tell from the way he’d angled his body away from me. God, I didn’t think I’d ever had anyone say no to me before. Not that it was a question I asked often.
“I would prefer —”
“Forget it.” I interrupted him by doing a one-eighty toward the door that led to North America. “So I’ll need a ski jacket and hiking boots.”
“Jade,” Warner said.
“No,” I answered, yanking open the door. The magic of the portal whipped around me, and I desperately wanted it to instantly sweep me away. “You find the healer. I’m tired of dancing around the freaking instruments and the asshole map.” I stepped into the magic, hoping its golden light covered the shame I could feel spreading through my body. Then I remembered that Warner didn’t see magic in color anyway. No matter. If I couldn’t hide, I’d run away.
“I’ll find the healer,” Warner said behind me.
Wrapped tight in rejection, and in my anger at all the things I’d done wrong today, and yesterday, I stepped through into the bakery basement without looking back.
If Warner wanted arm’s-length, I could do arm’s-length. Jesus, he was the one who’d broken into my apartment to make me freaking pancakes!
He was also the one from the sixteenth century …
I tamped down on my need to counter my own irrational behavior, then slammed the portal shut behind me.
Well, I imagined slamming it closed. Because it didn’t actually work like an actual door.
Never freaking mind.
Where the hell were my hiking boots?
∞
Before I crossed back to the nexus, I slipped into the bakery to find it tidy and looking freshly renovated. The floor had been sanded and varnished. The windows sparkled. And, though they had been getting slightly worn around the edges, the bistro tables now shined. The bakery had been completely healed — maybe looking even better than it had before Shailaja knocked on my window.
The only evidence that remained of the rabid koala’s assault were the five broken trinkets that Blossom had placed on the desk in my office. And I could fix those myself.
Feeling blessed — and, though I was loath to admit it, thankful for Warner’s intervention — I pulled some day-old cupcakes out of the fridge and arranged them in a heart shape on the stainless steel workstation in the bakery. The daycare we usually donated them to hadn’t been open yesterday. I hoped that Blossom popped in to collect my thank you, but I vowed to leave a heart shaped in cupcakes behind every night until I knew she’d seen it.
Warner wasn’t in the nexus when I returned, swathed head to toe in a water-repellent, fleece-lined ski jacket and various pieces of knitwear. Yeah, not a great look. I’d owned the hiking boots for over seven years and maybe used them three times.
Still feeling childish, I went through the door to South America without waiting or looking around for the healer or the sentinel. I figured that the gold-carved handle that had appeared on the door, where there had been none before, was invitation enough. I’d never walked through this portal before, so I didn’t actually know where I was going, but I’d learned that the door of a particular territory led naturally to that territory’s main grid point. If there was more than one in any given territory, the door was usually only actively connected to one grid point at a time.
Just in case I was wrong, which certainly wouldn’t be a rare event, I thought about the North Shore Mountains as I stepped through the portal. The mountains that I viewed every day from my apartment were my clearest frame of reference when it came to ranges. I assumed that the portal’s magic could sort out that I meant the Andes instead. So yeah, deep down I was still an idiot. Now I was just an asshole as well.
Warner and Qiuniu were waiting on the other side.
A wave of dizziness hit me the instant I stepped through the portal. And the lightheadedness wasn’t from the spectacular view — of the mountains, because I flat-out refused to ogle the men waiting for me. Yeah, I was that pissy. Nor was it from the way the natural magic of the area sparkled from every rock and patch of moss.
A massive body of water spread before Warner and Qiuniu, who had turned from their conversation to watch me appear. I would have assumed it was an ocean — a really still ocean — except I was fairly certain we were seriously high up. Way, way high. Like, fourteen thousand feet high, according to the quick googling I’d tried to do in between pulling on wool socks.
I inhaled deeply, not allowing myself to panic about the air being so thin up here. The dizziness I’d felt cleared enough that I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to faint from instant oxygen deprivation.
A second breath steadied me further, so that I remembered I should be glaring at Warner … and at the healer, because why not? He’d started it, after all. They were still staring at me.
“You were planning on skiing?” Qiuniu asked, his tone somewhere between mocking and flirting.
“It’s cold here, guardian,” Warn
er said, before I could take a bite out of the healer myself.
“Of course,” Qiuniu said. “I forget the warrior’s daughter is not wholly dragon.”
Well, that was the politest way anyone had ever called me a half-breed before.
“Even I, the son of Jiaotu, can feel this cold.”
Qiuniu inclined his head. Yeah, I wasn’t sure this conversation was about a ski jacket anymore.
Warner’s magic rolled around him, and I tried to ignore its insane deliciousness. Dark chocolate with a hint of smoke, alongside sweet cherry topped with whipped cream was a lot to ignore, but I persevered. As I watched, his clothing transformed to a toned-down male version of mine. He was missing a scarf, probably because mine was tucked into my zipped-up collar, which was so tight it compressed my chin uncomfortably into my neck. Since we didn’t appear to be in the middle of a blizzard, I could probably afford to unzip it an inch or two.
I tugged the extra scarf I’d brought — a navy, gray, and green-striped cashmere number knit by Gran — out of my bulging satchel as I crossed to join Warner and Qiuniu at the edge of the lake.
I wrapped the scarf around Warner’s neck, and he obligingly unzipped his navy-blue ski jacket to allow me to loop-knot it. I kept my eyes on my task — pulling the well-worn cashmere through my hands and gently tugging it to a snug-but-not-too-tight knot — but I could still see Warner’s slight smile without looking up.
“Where are we, then?” I asked as I zipped Warner’s jacket up against the scarf.
“The Coastal Highlands of Peru,” Qiuniu answered proudly. “At the shores of Lago Puarun.”
“Big lake,” I said.
“Very,” Qiuniu answered agreeably.
“I assume there isn’t an airport or a private airfield nearby?”
Qiuniu frowned at this question but didn’t ask me to elaborate. “Huanuco will be the closest. Follow the road and you will arrive at Cerro de Pasco at the tip of the Andes first. They are known for silver, not luxury accommodations.”
He had gestured into the sun so that I couldn’t see which road he referred to, and the ‘luxury accommodations’ comment chafed. Kandy had nearly died on our last treasure hunt — a fact well known to the healer, who’d practically refused to help her.
Maps, Artifacts, and Other Arcane Magic (Dowser Series Book 5) Page 14
