by Lee French
She rubbed her eyes and wished this day could go away. “The most important thing is probably controlling it all so you don’t get corrupted or something.” The thought chasing on its heels hurt too much to think about, but she blurted it out anyway. “Which would make me have to kill you.”
“That would be bad, yeah.” Drew sat beside her without touching her. “What happened?”
The only person she could tell about her night gave her an opening she couldn’t refuse. She stared at the ground and started with explaining about Caius being the Heart of the Palace and how he had the ability to make objects fashioned there permanent and effective against magic. The story skipped over the things he knew about what had happened with Kurt. When she finished the tale of the Ordeal and Iulia, she looked up at him.
“I don’t know if she’s right, but I at least want to do the part with the crystal. Justin came so close to destroying the Palace. If some other tainted Knight does it…” She trailed off. He already knew the consequence.
Drew took her hand and squeezed it. “That’s a hell of a day you’ve had. No wonder you blew up at Justin. And I understand why you don’t want to talk to him about it.” He draped his arm over her shoulders. “Of course you can use my blood. And I’ll help you get the dirt. Anne probably has a crystal you can use. Just have to ask her. She’s got so much guilt on her back she won’t press for details.”
“Thanks.” She sagged with relief and leaned her head on his shoulder. Sleep beckoned. Her belly growled.
Drew chuckled. “You need to eat. Come on. Avoid Justin. Dog…do you have a name?”
“Kay!”
Claire snorted. “That won’t get confusing or anything.”
“I’m giving you a new name.” Drew tapped his chin and let go of Claire. “We’re going to call you Mutt. Mutt, there’s a minor ley line you can use near here. That’s how far you can go from the house in any direction unless I say otherwise. Understood?”
“Yes, master.”
“You’re naming a dog ‘Mutt’? Really?”
Drew smiled at the trees. “When I was a little kid, before my parents died, I always wanted a dog. We couldn’t have one because my mom was allergic. Instead, I had a stuffed dog. That’s what I called it. Mutt. I lost it somewhere between foster home number seven and eight. He looks kind of like that old toy.”
Claire touched the tender spot on her chest. With the locket lodged into her flesh now, she no longer had anything from her parents. She’d lost a treasured stuffed animal along the way too, only hers had been a unicorn.
“Hey.” Drew lifted his shoulder gently. “No falling asleep until you’ve eaten. Food first, then sleep.”
Grumbling about unfairness, Claire stood and stretched. An awkward dinner needed to be endured.
Chapter 12
Justin
Justin stared after Drew and the dog. “Congratulations, dumbass,” he said to the empty air. “Maybe, if you’re lucky, you can also find a way to anger your wife. Oh, wait. I forgot. I’ve already done that.” With a sigh, he turned to face the door. The sooner he went in there, the sooner he got all this over with. He took a deep breath and went inside. The door opened into the family room where Marie’s father, Jack, sat in a reclined armchair, watching football with a bottle of beer. Missy and Lisa drove toy cars over his slippers, the furniture, and the beige carpet.
Missy saw him first and squealed with joy. She dropped her two cars and ran to him, providing a much-needed buoy for his mood. He crouched and hugged her, then took Lisa into the hug when she ran to him too. He picked his girls up, one on each arm. Lisa would be too big for this soon. That realization spawned a wish to for time to slow down. Staying close to home for a few days sounded like heaven.
“You missed dinner, Daddy,” Lisa chided. “Mommy is mad.”
“I know. I’ll fix it.” He kissed each girl on the cheek and carried them to where Marie sat with Anne and their mother, Tammy, at the kitchen table. The three of them had the same thin frame, the same blue eyes, and the same high cheekbones. Marie’s platinum blonde hair shone brighter than Anne’s dirty blonde and Tammy’s gray. Anne liked jewelry the most, with rings on every finger and dangly blue earrings.
Dinner still covered the table, with the nice china and silverware. Justin guessed Drew had been the one sitting at the empty spot, where the dirty dishes must have been taken to the sink already. Based on his memory of previous Thanksgivings, the platters and bowls seemed more full than they should be. Neither he nor Claire had eaten anything yet, and it showed.
When Marie saw Justin, she gave him a stern glare. “Oh, you decided to grace us with your presence. What an honor that you’ve deigned to show yourself among the peasantry.”
“I told you,” Lisa whispered in his ear.
“I’m sorry.” Justin set both girls down and ruffled their hair. They ran back to Grandpa Jack without being asked. “It took longer than I expected.”
“I gathered that.” Marie stood and picked up dirty plates.
Anne covered her face and sighed. She’d been tainted right along with him and knew how his night had gone.
Tammy gave Justin a flat smile and waved at the table. “Don’t just stand there. Go ahead and eat. The more you shovel in, the less we have to put away.”
“I’ll do the dishes,” he offered as he sat in front of a clean plate.
“You’re damned right you will,” Marie snapped.
He winced at her tone.
Anne flashed him a sympathetic smile when no one else would see it.
Marie crossed her arms and glowered at him across the table. “Are you going to explain anything at all?”
Looking up from spearing turkey with a fork, he cast about for a way to blunt her anger instead of worsening it. Most important of all, though, he didn’t want to get into a shouting match with her. “It’s complicated.”
Tammy rolled her eyes and left the room. Marie set a hand on the table and leaned toward him to growl, “Complicated? That’s all you have to say? You said you needed to go get your head screwed on straight, which I assumed meant it would actually happen.”
He filled his plate and avoided looking her in the eye. “I made an effort to be here.”
“It wasn’t much of an effort, considering you missed dinner by an hour.”
“I had to…sort things out,” His answer sounded stupid to his ears and from the way her eyes narrowed, he assumed Marie felt the same.
“Sort things out.” She clenched her jaws and flicked her gaze to the doorway. He knew she hated yelling at him where the girls could hear. “Jay,” she snapped, “you promised this would stop. You looked me in the eye two days ago and promised. You know Thanksgiving is one the holiday we make a big deal over. You know that. And you still couldn’t manage to show up on time.”
Justin rubbed his eyes and suspected he should’ve delayed his ride in favor of dinner. Then, of course, he wouldn’t have encountered the dog or had a chance to discover Charlie also had been tainted recently, also heard the dissonance, and also avoided the Palace now. There seemed to have been a plague of corrupted Phasms lately, and he didn’t know what to think or do about it.
His wife, however, didn’t care about any of that. She cared about the possibility of losing her husband. “I’m sorry, Marie. Can we just call this the new most recent stupid thing I’ve done? There are things going on, and I’m starving, and can we talk later?”
The front door opened and shut. Drew walked into the kitchen with Claire. Both stopped when they saw him.
“Claire,” Marie said, rushing to the two teenagers. Her rage dropped away in an instant, replaced by concern. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so worried.” She wrapped her arms around Claire and squeezed.
Justin continued to fill his plate, half-watching Marie hug Claire. From across the table, Anne reached over and patted Justin’s hand. He hoped she intended it as a show of support.
“Some Knights were kind of obnoxious,”
Claire said. Her gaze flicked to Justin, but the glance lacked any heat. “Sorry I’m late for dinner.”
“It’s fine.” Marie definitely noticed where Claire looked and probably jumped to the wrong conclusion. “Sit. Eat. I can warm something up if you want. Drew, would you please go take a slice of pie out to Tariel? She loves apple pie with whipped cream.”
Claire sat opposite him and beside Anne at the other clean plate. She put Enion on the table and scooped some vegetables onto her bread plate for him.
“Sure,” Drew said.
“Are you done with the cranberry sauce, or are you going to hog the spoon all night?”
Justin blinked to see Claire staring at him, her gaze too weary to be angry. He dropped the spoon into the bowl for her and failed to come up with anything to say before Drew walked out with a slice of pie in a shallow bowl. Dropping his gaze to his plate, he speared a forkful of food and shoved it into his mouth, trying to figure out the best way to deal with all this. Words would probably help, he just wanted them to be the right ones.
“I’m taking the girls home, Grandpa,” Marie said.
“Mommy, I want to stay with Daddy.”
“Daddy is being incompetent today. He needs some alone time to pull his head out of his…pocket.”
Claire sniggered into her mashed potatoes.
Justin propped an elbow on the table with a sigh and rubbed his forehead.
Marie herded the girls out the door, Tammy following along with them. Justin thought about a handful of gestures he could make to try to blunt Marie’s anger. When he finished here, he’d find some kind of flower for her, even if it had to be a dandelion. Tomorrow, he’d get up early and make sure she knew she could count on him to take care of the girls while she went to her seasonal job. A written apology smeared with Lisa’s glitter glue might amuse her.
Drew returned half a minute later, the bowl empty. After setting it in the sink, he sat at the table next to Claire and glared. “I gave the pie to Mutt.”
Justin dropped his fork. “Do you need me to apologize again?” he whispered, concerned about Jack overhearing. “I didn’t do any of that on purpose, and if I could go back and not get tainted and not get you possessed, I would.”
“That just makes everything all better, doesn’t it?”
“If you think this is easy to live with, you’re wrong.”
“Yeah, guilt must be rough compared to being possessed.”
“Stop it,” Anne snapped. “It was like being a different person. You’re angry, and that’s fine, but you don’t have to be obnoxious.”
“I guess having my life screwed up is just a—”
“Drew,” Claire said, her eyes and shoulders drooping enough to worry she might fall face first onto her plate. “It’s really not his fault. And you know that. I do too.”
Drew scowled and turned away.
Justin swallowed his frustration and let concern for Claire take over. “I heard what you went through. I’m sorry for not being there to prevent it.”
She gave him a sour smirk. “I doubt you could have. They were kind of off in zealot-land. I’m fine, just tired.”
He couldn’t put his finger on why, but Justin got the impression she hid something. Maybe they’d roughed her up. Or worse. Which happened because he wasn’t there. “If it makes you feel any better, I punched Djembe in the face and he didn’t get the chance to hit me back.”
Claire snorted into her mashed potatoes. “Actually, yeah. A little.”
Whatever she didn’t want to talk about, he hoped she’d open up to Drew or Marie. It could be a girl thing, or just something she didn’t know him well enough to feel comfortable telling him yet. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Standing, he picked up his empty plate. “Try to enjoy the rest of your vacation.” Marie and the girls needed him and Claire could clearly handle herself. She didn’t need him. At all.
Chapter 13
Claire
Too tired to watch Justin get up and start washing dishes, Claire shoveled food into her face. She wished Anne and Justin would both go away and take the oppressive layer of guilt hanging over the room with them. As soon as she emptied her plate, she picked up Enion and wished the room a good night.
She stumbled back to the cottage and fell into bed with her combat boots still on. When she woke, gray light bathed the small room with murky gloom. Someone had pulled off her boots and tucked her under the covers still wearing her armor. The clock on her wall read seven-fifteen, making it the next morning. That meant it was Black Friday. Hopefully, the madness would stick to the malls and leave her alone.
Rubbing her eyes, she heard muffled shrieks of joy from the family room. Even if she wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, Missy wouldn’t let her. She checked the old birdcage beside her bed and saw only an indent in the pillow lining the bottom, so Enion had found a way out. She shuffled down the hall to get a shower.
In the bathroom, she finally took a good look at her chest in the mirror. Caius had fused the locket’s face to her flesh, making it a part of her. Brushing her fingers over the heart-shaped collection of whorls and dots, she discovered smooth skin, hard and shiny enough to still be burnished gold but laced with red blood vessels. The colors stood out against her olive-toned skin and it would show if she wore anything more revealing than a T-shirt.
Grateful she’d chosen to make her armor high-necked, she slipped the flexible fabric on again and decided she needed to throw clothes over it to appear kind of normal. This time of year, no one would bat an eye at extra layers. More awake now that before, she padded back to her room. When she opened the door, cold air rushed out. Her first instinct had her checking the window, but Drew sat on her bed.
Claire ducked inside and shut the door. “What are you doing here?” she whispered. “If Justin finds out you’re here, he’ll—”
“He’ll what? Spank me and take away dessert?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of stabbing.”
Drew snorted. “As if. He feels so guilty he’d rather stab himself.”
“We shouldn’t take advantage of him for that.” She rifled through her drawers and found a white plaid miniskirt.
“I’m not taking advantage of him.” Drew watched her pull the skirt on, which seemed like it should feel strange, even in her armor. It didn’t. She liked having him here too much to worry about it. “I’m just…I don’t know. But it’s not about him. Anyway, we have things to do today. Did you want to see Anne first, or visit the graveyard first?”
Claire decided not to call him on his lame excuse and change of subject. They’d have plenty of time to talk later. “I’m hungry first.”
His lip curled. “I don’t want to deal with him right now.”
“Then I’ll meet you outside.” Claire pulled a long-sleeved shirt over her armor and sat beside Drew to tug her socks on. He needed to get over the thing with Justin. So did she. “We’ll go see Anne first.”
He nudged her shoulder with his. “Stuff will be better today.”
“Yeah.” She wished she could stay in here with him all day. Knowing she could potentially free herself of all worry over the locket made her leave Drew behind and pad through the living room to the kitchen.
Justin sat on the couch with Missy on his lap and Lisa curled against his side. He read aloud from a book about someone riding a horse. Claire tuned the story out as she fetched herself a bowl of cereal with milk and inhaled her breakfast without tasting it.
“Daddy, can we go for a ride on Tariel today?” Lisa asked.
Justin paused and Claire thought she heard him sigh. “Sorry, Pumpkin, no. Not today. Mommy asked me to stay home and get some things done here.”
Lisa and Missy both made unhappy, pouting noises.
Claire dumped her empty bowl in the sink and stepped to the couch. She cleared her throat as she leaned over the back so the girls could see her. “Maybe later, I can take you for a ride on Enion. I have to go do some stuff right now, but remind me
when I get back, okay?”
Lisa’s face brightened, but Missy stared up at her, small brow furrowed. “Too small.”
“Nah.” Claire tousled the girl’s hair and grinned. “We just have to use special dragon magic.”
Both girls sucked in a breath. Missy covered her mouth, her eyes wide with delight.
“I’ll be back later.”
Justin opened his mouth, shut it, and frowned. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” Claire patted him on the shoulder and waved to the girls as she left. Justin definitely wanted to know what she intended to do, and she definitely had no reason to tell him. Even though she’d just told Drew not to take advantage of Justin’s guilt, she gleefully did it herself. For this one thing. She’d feel bad about it later.
She rushed through lacing up her boots and raced outside. Light mist clung to the ground. Knowing the fog would lead her to Drew, she followed it into the trees. She found him leaning against a birch, arms crossed and facing away from her. Mutt sat at his feet.
When she reached him, she saw a bunch of tiny dragons rolling around on the forest floor, doing what could be either playing or fighting. They climbed the tree trunks, jumped on each other, and rooted in the dirt and dead leaves.
“The whole flight moved here yesterday, I think. Anne probably won’t be happy about that. Not that I care.”
Claire shoved his arm. “Don’t be a jerk. You do too care.”
Drew huffed and patted Mutt on the head. “Maybe a little.”
“You should scuff a shoe while you say that and hang your head. Then you’ll be a proper insincere brat.”
“They murdered my life.”
“They gave you superpowers.”
Scowling, Drew looked away. “Are you ready to go?”
Judging Drew to have been needled enough for now, Claire grinned. “As ready as I’m going to be. Enion! Let’s go, partner.”
One dragon leaped into the air and flew to her. “Quest!” Enion landed on her shoulder and draped himself around her neck.
