Tapestry raised an eyebrow at him.
“A bonding activity?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “For us to get closer as, uh, partners. That makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Did you get enough sleep last night, Malcolm?”
“No, actually, I didn’t,” he said. “But you know what I mean. We haven’t exactly been on the same page all that consistently, lately.”
Tapestry sighed.
“I guess you’re right,” she said. “No promises, though. I don’t think the friction between us is of the variety that can be bonded out.”
Malcolm chuckled.
“We’ll see,” he said.
The meditation retreat was held in a building adjacent to the hotel. As soon as the other participants began to file in, Malcolm began regret his decision to tag along. The crowd was mostly female, and mostly young. He stood out like a sore thumb.
It began with a yoga class. Malcolm stumbled through it, not having a good sense of what the moves were or how to go into them. He had to rely on his wind manipulation to hold his body in place for a few of the movements, which was actually good practice.
A massage came next, and Malcolm enjoyed it far more. Tapestry was in the same room as him for hers, and he listened with a bit of ironic delight as her masseuse complimented her on her flawless skin and bemoaned the fact that youth was wasted on the young.
Feeling much, much more relaxed than he’d expected to, Malcolm headed with Tapestry toward the last activity. The brochure in their hotel room had listed it as a spirit sauna. Malcolm had only a vague idea of what that meant.
“I guess we both wear towels for it?” said Tapestry, as she examined the area outside their assigned sauna.
“Well thank god for that,” he said. “Otherwise I’d have to see you naked.”
She punched him playfully on the arm and scooped up one of the massive towels. The saunas were small, only large enough for two or three people each, and after ditching their clothes and donning their towels, Malcolm and Tapestry walked into theirs.
It was dimly lit inside, and the illumination that did come through came from lights that gave off the effect of a constellation in the night sky. Ambient music played softly in the background. The air was hot and dry, and smelled slightly of sweet smoke.
“Now what?” asked Malcolm. “Do we just… sit, chill out here, or something?”
“You’re so impatient,” said Tapestry. “It’s a spirit sauna. You just focus on your breathing, and try to find a place of peace.”
“You sound like you’ve done this before,” said Malcolm.
“A couple of things kind of like it,” said Tapestry. “Not this specifically.”
He went quiet. A minute or two passed by, and Malcolm saw what she meant. The heat made him sweat relentlessly, but there was something calming and cleansing about it. It was easy to lose track of his own thoughts and fall through to a deeper state of being.
“What was your life like before you became a champion?” asked Tapestry.
“Uh…” Malcolm frowned. “Is it question time, or something?”
“It can be, if you want,” she replied. “I just realized that you haven’t told me all that much about it. Now seemed as good a time as any to ask.”
What was my life like before I became a champion? Where do I even start…
“It was boring,” said Malcolm. “And really pointless.”
“Give me more than that,” said Tapestry. “I’m really asking. Boring and pointless can describe anyone’s life, at some point.”
“I guess that’s what I was getting at.”
“You mean…” Tapestry hesitated. “Because of your family?”
“Partially,” said Malcolm. “That was the seed. Losing mom and Danny… threw me off balance.”
Losing mom. But Danny is still out there, still a loose end looking to be tied up.
“Elaborate,” said Tapestry. “Threw you off balance? What does that mean?”
Malcolm sighed.
“I was fifteen when they died,” he said. “Think about that for a second. I didn’t have any real coping skills other than to keep my mouth shut about it and try not cry in front of people.”
“I’m sorry,” said Tapestry.
“When I say that I was lonely, I mean that I was alone,” said Malcolm. “It was just me. With all the usual teenage stuff going on, along with emotional trauma and a hole in my heart where my family used to be.”
Tapestry didn’t say anything.
“I think that’s why I… push so hard, now,” said Malcolm. “To try to lock in the people I do know. You look at the world a little differently when you’ve lost so much before. I feel like I’m in a race to get to know people, to care about them, before… I lose them.”
Malcolm took a breath.
“Alright, time for me to shut up,” he said, quickly. “Your turn.”
“No, I want to hear more from you,” protested Tapestry.
“Tell me about your husband,” said Malcolm.
“My… husband?” Tapestry sounded stunned. “Why would you want to know about my husband?”
“You said his name in your sleep last night,” Malcolm admitted. “If he’s on your mind anyway, you might as well open up to me.”
A couple of silent moments went by, and Malcolm started to think that Tapestry had closed herself off.
“Allen…” she said. “He was a good man in so many ways.”
“Like what?”
Tapestry made a pleased, nostalgic sounding noise.
“He used to volunteer at the local animal shelter,” she said. “He’d bring home animals every now and then that we’d keep at our house for a couple of days.”
Tapestry paused, taking a breath.
“He never missed a day of work,” said Tapestry. “Only ever let himself get sick on weekends. Until, well… the cancer.”
“Sorry,” said Malcolm. “You don’t have to keep going, if it’s painful.”
“No, it’s alright,” said Tapestry. “I want to get this out. I… loved Allen. We were together for almost forty years, long enough to love and hate each other. I was sick of him while simultaneously being unable to imagine anyone else.”
“Sounds complicated,” said Malcolm.
“Believe me, it was,” said Tapestry. “He was very old fashioned. That’s a polite way of saying boring. There’s so much I feel like I missed out on, so many things I wanted to try and experiment with…”
“And now, you have a second chance,” said Malcolm.
Tapestry sighed.
“I’m not sure if I want it,” she said. “I feel guilty… like I don’t deserve it. I don’t know, sometimes I think… maybe I’d trade it in for just another boring year with Allen.”
“That’s ridiculous,” said Malcolm.
“Hey!” said Tapestry. “I was a good listener for you. The least you can do is try for me.”
“Sorry,” said Malcolm.
A couple of seconds went by.
“I have the opposite kind of trust issue, I think,” said Tapestry. “I know that I’ll never get to lock anybody in for the long haul again. Not like I did with Allen.”
“That’s not true,” said Malcolm.
“I’m… relatively sure I can’t die from old age, Malcolm.” Tapestry’s voice took on an odd, almost nervous quality. “What’s the point of falling in love with somebody if I know that their life will just be a blip, compared to mine?”
Should I bring up the fact that if I held onto her power, I could live just as long as she could?
He didn’t. Instead, he reached over to her in the sauna and squeezed her hand.
“Just do what the rest of us do,” said Malcolm. “Try not to think about it.”
Tapestry laughed.
CHAPTER 18
They enjoyed the sauna for a while longer before heading back to their room. The meditation retreat had burned through most of the day, while also making the tw
o of them quite hungry. Tapestry ordered room service on Savior’s dime, and they ate prime rib with roasted potatoes and fancy baby carrots with their stems still on.
“Somebody dropped off the masks for us,” said Tapestry, holding up their disguises for the masquerade ball. They were fanciful looking eye masks, with enough glitter and sequins on them to push into gaudy territory. Malcolm’s was dark blue, while Tapestry’s was pink.
“It starts in less than an hour,” said Malcolm. “We should get dressed and get moving. This could be a good chance for us to grab Golden Joab.”
Tapestry shrugged.
“Sure,” she said. “I can’t help but think that this whole thing just feels like a wild goose chase.”
“It’s what Savior sent us to do,” said Malcolm.
And if we manage to do it… I might be able to earn a pardon for Rose.
The thought felt odd, almost foreign. He hadn’t thought much about Rose since coming to the hotel, and outside of their brief exchange near Terri’s Tavern, it had been a week since they’d really spoken. Was he wasting his time on something that she didn’t need, or even want?
He thought about the question while he pulled on his formal suit and bow tie. Tapestry came out of the bathroom, wearing a stunning red dress. It had a plunging v-line that exposed the edges of her breasts, and clung to every curve of her body as though it had been painted on.
“Wow,” said Malcolm. “I guess Wax knows his dresses.”
“Apparently so.” Tapestry frowned. “I’m not sure that I like it. I feel exposed, and it will be a pain to move around in during a fight.”
Malcolm shook his head slowly.
“You look amazing,” he said. “In that dress… A better strategy would be for you to just ask Golden Joab to leave with you.”
“Oh, stop!” she protested.
“Seriously,” said Malcolm. “You’re smoking hot, Tapestry.”
He grinned at her and took a step closer. Tapestry didn’t look away, but she did lift her finger and press it against Malcolm’s chest as he came within reach.
“Cool it, mister,” she said. “We’ve already had this conversation.”
“Sorry,” said Malcolm. “Sometimes my hormones prevent me from thinking straight. That’s not a joke, I’m being serious.”
Tapestry rolled her eyes. The two of them spent another few minutes in the hotel room gathering what they’d need for an evening out, and then headed off to the masquerade ball.
The Hawktail Hotel had several rooms designed for events and parties located just off the main entrance. One of them was a massive ballroom, with an enormous chandelier hanging overhead. People were already queuing at glass double doors, only being allowed in if they’d showed up with a mask, as instructed.
Malcolm and Tapestry were waved through the entrance. They meandered toward one of the corners of the ballroom, where they could see the entire floor easily. Malcolm felt more than a little out of place. He waved down one of the cocktail waitresses as she hurried past, grabbing a drink off her tray and thanking her.
I’ve done more drinking over the past few days than I have in most of the rest of my life put together.
“Alright,” said Tapestry. “This could be fun, even if Golden Joab doesn’t show up.”
Malcolm surveyed the room, feeling an odd thrill at how many beautiful, mask wearing women were in attendance. His own mask felt itchy strapped over his eyes, but it didn’t limit his vision, which was all he really cared about.
“I guess,” said Malcolm. “This isn’t really my sort of crowd, though.”
“Really?” asked Tapestry, in a teasing voice. “I had no idea.”
Malcolm rolled his eyes at her.
“I’m going to take a drink every time a guy looks down your dress,” he said. “Shouldn’t take more then, oh, ten minutes or so to get plastered.”
Tapestry flushed.
“Who did you see looking down my dress?” she demanded.
Soft piano music started playing from the overhead speakers. A few couples moved onto the dance floor, spinning and swirling with relaxed ease to the rhythm of the song. Malcolm raised an eyebrow at Tapestry expectantly.
“Well?” he asked. “We’re newlyweds, after all. It’s no good if we don’t at least try to do some dancing.”
“You know how to ballroom dance?” asked Tapestry, skeptically.
“It can’t be that hard, can it?”
As Malcolm soon discovered, it was that hard. Within the first few minutes of dancing, he gained a better understanding of where the phrase “two left feet” originated from. Tapestry was patient, slowing her pace until Malcolm was leading by default.
“Alright, you win,” he said.
“It’s not a contest.” Tapestry had a radiant smile on her face. “You know… I always wanted to go dancing like this.”
“I figured you did?” asked Malcolm. “How did you learn, otherwise?”
“Through lessons,” said Tapestry. “Lessons I went to alone. Allen wasn’t even willing to try, but I can’t blame him for it.”
She drew in closer to Malcolm, resting her head on his shoulder for a second. It was nice, and he let himself enjoy it. When the song ended, he walked over to a table with her, pulling out Tapestry’s chair for her so she could sit down first.
“Why don’t I go find us some more drinks?” asked Malcolm.
Tapestry grinned at him.
“That would be lovely,” she said.
Malcolm returned a couple of minutes later to see Tapestry being led onto the dance floor by another man. She had her back turned to him, and he just stared at her for a couple seconds, unsure of how to react.
Someone else asked her to dance. It’s not something to make a big deal out of, right?
He set the drinks down and tapped his fingers on the table. Sitting down and just waiting for Tapestry to get back felt a bit defeatist. He let his gaze scan the room, looking for an available woman who’d be interested in putting up with a clumsy dance partner.
“Can I have the next dance?” asked a woman, from behind him.
Malcolm flinched in surprise. He turned around and saw a beautiful black-haired woman wearing a purple sequined mask. She was attractive, at least a couple of years older than him, and very familiar looking.
Wait a second… That’s Rose!
His jaw dropped open when made the connection. Her skin was pale white, not its normal shade of purple, and her eyes were a soft brown instead of black, but it was her. She smirked at him, and he knew it without any doubt.
“What… are you doing here?” asked Malcolm. “How…?”
“I’m not sure what you mean?” said the woman. “Are you interested in dancing, mysterious masked stranger? Or should I move on to the next table?”
She extended her hand. Malcolm took it and led her onto the dance floor, his heart threatening to pound its way loose out of his chest.
CHAPTER 19
“You’re here for Golden Joab,” said Malcolm. After his initial shock had worn off, it had been easy to guess her motivation. He swirled Rose in a circle, letting her spin out along his arm before grabbing her hand and pulling her back in.
“Very perceptive,” said Rose. “Though I was hoping that you’d assume that I was just here to see you.”
“Rain Dancer sent you, then?” asked Malcolm. “You’re at his beck and call, now, running errands for him?”
“You say that as though you weren’t set by someone, yourself,” said Rose.
“How did you manage the disguise?” asked Malcolm.
“One of our new recruits,” said Rose. “A spryte by the name of Fantasy. I believe the two of you have met before.”
Malcolm frowned, remembering his first foray into Terri’s Tavern, and the hidden world of sprytes and demons in Vanderbrook. Fantasy had made a spirited attempt at seducing him, using her illusion power to create a vivid, and rather motivating, fantastical scene.
She’s using it to ma
ke Rose and herself look like normal humans. Clever.
“You should give up,” said Malcolm. “Go back to Rain Dancer. Tell him that you failed.”
“Why in the world would I do that?” Rose whispered the question into Malcolm’s ear, letting her lips brush across his neck.
“Because you can’t win,” said Malcolm. “I have backup, too.”
“Your champion girlfriend?” asked Rose. “She looks pretty distracted, at the moment.”
Malcolm glanced over his shoulder to see Tapestry dancing with the man from before, who was rather good at the ballroom style. It made Malcolm feel a little annoyed to see the look on her face, and how much fun she was having, but he pushed the emotion aside.
“Don’t play games with me, Rose,” said Malcolm. “I care about you… But I’ll fight against you, if I have to.”
“Oh, you sound so confident,” she said. “Haven’t we done this dance before, Malcolm? What makes you think you could handle me this time?”
“I absorbed Savior’s powers,” said Malcolm.
It wasn’t technically a lie. He had absorbed Savior’s powers, at one point. The fact that he hadn’t figured out how to use them and had since replaced them with Tapestry’s wasn’t something Rose needed to know. Her eyes widened slightly at his revelation.
“Wow,” she said. “I forgot how ambitious you could be, when you want to be.”
She spun along Malcolm’s arms, pressing herself tight against him.
“I think we have more fun when we’re friends, rather than enemies,” she whispered.
Malcolm couldn’t keep a small grin from spreading across his face.
“I know we do.” He let his hand slide across her soft butt for an instant. “But I’m here to do a job.”
“I guess the question is…” Rose breathed against the sensitive skin of his neck, planting a quick kiss there. “…Can you get the job done?”
Something was about to happen, but whether it was to be violence or passion, Malcolm had no idea. He took a strong, aggressive grip around Rose’s waist and brought his face in close to hers, his lips searching for hers.
In the same instant, the lights suddenly flicked off. Only a single spotlight in the center of the dance floor was left on. A man stood within its light, dressed in tight black leather pants and a garish white shirt that exposed a significant amount of chest hair. His head was topped with a blond, loosely twisted man bun, and the expression on his face was overly serious.
Wind Runner: The Complete Collection Page 43
