by Cat Adams
She shook her head with a small smile. “It’s not that. I was planning to do the same thing. But it’s so weird to watch you.” It seemed a strange thing to say, and his confusion must have showed in his body language, because she continued. “It’s just that … I mean, you seem totally comfortable with cars, knew how to fasten the shoulder belt and the hospital didn’t seem odd at all. But you have this sense of … otherworldness to you. Talking about spells and focuses and swearing by trees. They don’t really … mesh, y’know?”
Ah. Now he understood. While raising his other foot to the seat, he explained. “The O.P.A. has been monitoring the overworld for centuries, sending agents up from Agathia, which is miles below where we’re standing now. We’re all assigned periods when we must live up here, keeping watch for problems. Denver was my last station, about five years ago. It’s built up a lot since I left, and some technology has changed, but that’s normal and it’s easy to incorporate while we live here undercover. But after you’ve been back home for a while, you forget some of the social things—drop back into old slang, have the wrong body language. That sort of thing. It’ll pass. I’ll sound and act more modern each day that passes. Alexy just came back from being stationed in London, so he’s already comfortable. He even adopted a British accent just through osmosis. He didn’t used to have one. Mine’s natural, even though it’s mostly gone unless I’m chatting with someone from there. I was born in Brittania, before it was the UK.”
She tried not to think about the fact that he might be a lot older than he looked. She considered Baba to be really old because she’d experienced World War II. But hadn’t Baba said she didn’t remember Tal from when the Parask split from the other Guilders? That would make them both centuries and centuries old, which was too much for her to wrap her head around at the moment. “Oh. That makes sense, I guess. But what sort of problems would make you guys need to be here?” She was trying to raise up her leg to tuck in her jeans, but the steering wheel was in the way. Finally, she just opened the door and lifted her heel to the armrest. “I mean, you said there shouldn’t be any gates up here, so obviously not that many of you come here to get into trouble.”
He realized he was staring at her again, for the umpteenth time since they’d gotten into the car. There was just something about her thick, shining dark hair and delicate features that he couldn’t seem to get enough of. More than once he’d had to fight the urge to run his fingers through the strands or stroke that perfect skin. But now, with the door open and the dome light on, his attention was obvious enough that she noticed. He could feel the heat rise off her body from her embarrassment, warm enough for him to verify that she really did have some mage blood. “People like you are why we’re here.” That raised her brows and curiosity toned down the blush. “Frankly, I’m surprised nobody has approached you before now. The O.P.A. watches for the birth of guildercents like you. If they begin to show talent that could make officials here ask questions, we’ll coax them down to train in a guild—help them find an acceptable outlet for their magic. After a few years, they can return home and live their lives. But some decide to stay in Agathia and live there. If so, they’ll be deemed missing persons, or runaways. And if they later commit a crime with their magic, they’ll either serve a sentence in a guild, or be wiped of knowledge of their magic by one of the kings. We can’t really risk people discovering our world, so it’s just better to have them forget what they saw and what they can do.”
“So … what are you planning to do to me? When you said I’d just return to my life and forget this ever happened, what exactly did you mean by that?” He found himself nodding. Her mind was very analytical. She seemed to be able to take an idea to the next step, which said she had the promise of true talent.
“I’m thinking your mind would be too disciplined to forget your abilities. Criminal minds are easily swayed, but yours … I can see you have focus and determination. It would be a waste of my time, and magic, to even try. But I don’t have the power to make an offer to bring you down to train. All I could do would be to petition the mage guild and see if the guildmaster would offer you an apprenticeship. But with your conjurer abilities—” He left the thought unfinished, not sure how to approach the subject of the general opinion of the Parask within the guilds.
“Oh. No, I wouldn’t want to anyway. I like my life up here. I just wanted to hear you say that you don’t plan to try to erase my memory or anything like that. I don’t know tons of magic, but Baba did train me to defend myself. At the time, I didn’t realize that’s what she was doing, but I managed to fend off that Vegre when he tried to zap me. It was when I blocked his magic that it blasted the wall and made you guys come upstairs.”
That made him pause. He hadn’t really considered what had attracted their attention while talking with Candy in the living room, but it had indeed been the sound, and sensation, of magic. “So, you can defend yourself. Excellent. While I could defend you if Vegre showed up, I’d rather not have to. Can you attack or disarm, as well?”
She shrugged and wrinkled her nose in a manner that struck him as cute. He nearly smiled, but the conversation was too serious. “Magically? I haven’t got a clue. I’ve taken plenty of self-defense courses, and I know I can kick butt on a mugger if one jumped me … even an armed one. And I suppose I might know some attack stuff. It’s all such ancient history in my head, y’know? I mean, when Vegre said ‘Moratay,’ the ‘Avatay’ just slipped out, totally unconsciously. It was an old game Baba taught all us kids that apparently was so ingrained that it defeated whatever spell was put on me. Of course, that’s the best time to teach stuff like that, I suppose. When it’ll stick and be instinctive.”
When he didn’t respond for a long moment, she put the car keys in her inside jacket pocket and got out of the car. Honestly, he couldn’t decide how to respond. Vegre, easily the most powerful mage in the world, had attempted a killing curse on her, and she blocked it? He’d had to fight back his initial reaction. The surge of undiluted pride nearly made him drop his jaw, let out a whoop of triumph, and give her a huge hug. Any Agathian she unknowingly told the story to would do the same. To avoid an intentional killing curse was reason to crow for weeks. But he didn’t want to give her too much false confidence by doing that, because it could easily have been a fluke.
So, he held his tongue until he’d exited the car, locked his door, and was standing beside her in the snow. He tried to sound casual as she stared into the distance with hands on hips, trying to get her bearings. “Did he … happen to give any reason why he attacked you? Did he have some sort of grudge against you?”
She nodded just as she apparently decided on their path. “Not me personally, I don’t think. I don’t think he knew who I was. But yeah, there was a reason. I wasn’t supposed to have known his name. He said I had to die for it.”
He tilted his head and then turned toward her. “You knew his name before we came upstairs? How? Did Sela say it?” Even then, how would Sela know? She was never assigned to prison duty.
“No, it wasn’t Sela. I just knew. It’s a long story, but the short version is I collapsed in a restaurant, had a weird dream, and when Candy brought me home and I woke up, I knew his face and kept thinking that his name was really important to say out loud. Sela was in the dream, and so was Alexy. I can only remember bits and pieces though. There was a waterfall, and some guy was oozing black goo from his skin and I was running and falling and couldn’t breathe—”
“My Tree spirit.” The whisper came out unbidden. Tal didn’t even realize he was thinking it, but there was no other explanation. If only Alexy and Sela were in the dream, and she could see Vegre, then he must have been the vehicle. She must have been the spirit of the Tree who had come to his call. A buzzing filled his mind as he tried to grasp the possibilities. His whole life had been built around having a link to the Tree spirit—to the essence of magic. What would it mean to his belief system to learn that it was all a lie? Mila was barely magical, nearl
y full human. How could he ask her for guidance on things she didn’t even understand? In fact, how could he know that the advice he’d taken to date was valid?
Her eyes opened wider and her lips parted to release a startled breath as the realization struck home with her, too. There was something about that pose, the tilt of her head in the bright moonlight, her body just inches from his. She seemed … regal, and far too familiar. It was as though he’d known her forever. Have I always had an image of what I imagined the spirit to look like? Is that why I’m so drawn to her? Because Tree help me … I can’t seem to resist this woman.
Before he even registered the movement, he was kissing her, eyes closed and heart pounding. Spirit of my heart, are you there? He said the words in his mind, not really expecting a response. But when he felt the doorway open and light and sound flood his brain, aching desire flowed through his body—as though a physical connection to the spirit was all that had been lacking from his life.
I … I mean, you? It’s been you all this time? All these years? Her voice was deeper, more resonant in his head than what reached air. No wonder he hadn’t recognized it when they met. She leaned into him, relaxed into the curve of his arm, and ground her mouth against his as she clutched at his back. Finally his fingers could skim along the silkiness of her hair, warm against her heated skin as his mouth ate against hers hard enough to pull a moan from her throat.
She was no stranger to kissing, this one. Her tongue flicked lightly, then wound around his, filling his mouth with the taste of mint and honey. When her nails grazed his neck, and her knee moved against his swollen groin, he felt he would go mad. He moved his mouth to her cheek and then to her neck, savoring the scent of lavender flowers that made him nip her skin just a bit. Magic rose from her then, heady with fire and some other power he couldn’t recognize. But his body recognized the mage magic and pulled, causing Mila to have a full body shudder. It apparently weakened her knees enough that she sagged. He had to tighten his grip to keep her standing. Her legs spread enough in the process that their hips met and the weight of her abruptly willing body made his erection leap against the fabric and zipper that kept it bound. The delicious pressure made him growl and find her mouth again. He ran his tongue slowly around her lips until they parted. He plunged it between her teeth, thrilling in the sensation of bone scraping against his flesh. Tal kissed her with something approaching desperation, and she did the same.
But there were too many layers of clothing, and his frantic hands couldn’t find a way through to her bare skin. Short of throwing her to the snow-covered ground, or crawling into the backseat of the frigid car, there would be no easy relief he could think of. No, it was better to let this go before they went much further. They had many things to accomplish this night and it would be too easy to spend it exploring every inch of her body … listening to her screams as he pleasured her.
She pushed back first. “We have to stop.” Her full lips, heaving breasts, and wild eyes said she didn’t want to any more than he. “This is too … I mean, I … I need to think.”
Tal nodded and took a deep breath. Only one thing would help at this point, so he grabbed a handful of snow from the hood of the car and held it to the back of his neck. His eyes squeezed shut automatically from the intensity of the cold against his superheated skin and it wasn’t but moments later that warm water trickled down his neck to join the sweat she’d induced.
“Not a bad idea.” She likewise grabbed some snow and rubbed it against her neck. She yelped and blew out several harsh breaths while blinking furiously. After a few moments, she made small helpless movements with her soaked gloves. “Um, that was … well, wow. You do that really good. So, Tree spirit, huh?”
He shrugged. “That’s what I always believed. Apparently, I was wrong.” He looked into those green eyes once more and realized it would take nothing at all for them to fall back into the same condition. He took a step back. Her face fell for a moment, but then a healthy dose of determination took its place and she nodded strongly.
“It’s not a long walk, but we should get moving. The path is pretty tight in some spots. Stay close so we don’t get separated.”
Those weren’t the best words for her to use while his body still wanted completion. His voice deepened slightly as he responded. “I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be right now than close and tight.”
He watched her hands clutch into fists as she fought against whatever she wanted to do. Her smile and laughter at the wording was shaky at best. “Okay, then. So, let’s go.”
Mila trained her flashlight on the rock wall, searching for the tiny spot of red paint that Baba had painted years before. She was breathing hard after the steep climb up the barely visible path near Castle Rock. Tal was right on her heels, and every time he brushed her, she remembered the kiss. Nobody had ever kissed her like that before. She’d been able to sense him in her mind, in her veins—like he was surrounding her and inside her all at once. It frankly scared the crap out of her to have such an intimate moment with someone she’d only known for a short time.
Or have I always known him? That was the part that was most frightening. The moment he’d mentioned the words Tree spirit, she’d remembered the voice in her head. Remembered asking questions he didn’t have answers to. She’d been looking at the dream through eyes, touching things with hands, and yet had never asked whose hands and eyes. If they were Tal’s, how did they come to be connected that way? She’d had episodes since childhood, but never remembered meeting anyone from the other place, except for Viktor.
Thinking of Viktor reminded her again of little Suzanne. Her mother must be terrified. Even with Tim going along, when Candy explained it, who knows how people were going to react? Part of her was furious with Baba for kidnaping a child, and part of her was very proud for risking her own freedom to save the girl. And what am I going to do when I find her? Take her back? Turn her in? Or even worse, go against everything about the legal system I believe in to simply ignore it?
But there was no ignoring the footprints that had suddenly appeared in the snow ahead. Baba must have come from a different direction, but there was no mistaking the three pairs of prints—two adults and one child, that disappeared into the seemingly solid rock. “There.” She pointed at what looked like just another boulder in a sea of boulders. The telltale bit of red dye was still vivid under the bright flashlight.
The moment she stepped behind the boulder and entered the darkness of the cave, old memories filled her. The sweet scent of spring blooms that shouldn’t exist here in the bone-chilling winter blended with the faint fragrance that Baba always wore. The shirtsleeve warmth that hit her face was like stepping out into the summer sunshine and she raised her face and closed her eyes to drink it in after the long walk in the cold.
“It smells like a field of wildflowers in here.” Tal’s voice held both confusion and disbelief—which seemed strange from someone who certainly believed in magic. “But considering the location from the nearest plotted gate, this cavern should lead to the outskirts of Rohm. But there aren’t any gardens left there. Everybody was evacuated to the second ring years ago. Even if someone managed to bribe an official to remain behind, there’s not enough magic left in this area to maintain a flower garden.”
She shrugged and started to unwrap the muffler from around her neck, shaking loose her hair as she did. “I don’t think you’re talking about Rome, Italy, which is the only one I know—although I’m sure there are plenty of towns in America with that name. And I don’t have any clue what a ring is or how you evacuate someone to it, so I’m afraid I’m no help.”
They walked in silence to the archway she remembered so well. Well, it was more that she was silent. Tal was muttering under his breath. But the words were too indistinct to understand and she got the impression they weren’t for her ears anyway. She played her light around the cave floor. It was surprisingly tidy after all these years. No small animal bones, creepy-crawlies or cobwebs …
just a smooth, uncluttered path, devoid of even stalagmites, even though their counterparts lined the ceiling.
“It’s just through here.” She pointed to the opening to their left which seemed to veer off the main passage, but ended abruptly with a rock wall. She reached back automatically. “Here, take my hand.”
He didn’t seem unwilling, but more curious. “Why?”
It was a logical question, and she didn’t have a good answer. “Um, I don’t know. It’s just the way it works.” Baba had always taken her hand, she’d taken Candy’s, and they’d walked to the garden together, like crossing a busy street when the walk light came on. But she’d been a child then, so maybe it wasn’t necessary. Still, there was magic involved. She knew that now, but in a different way than she’d known it as a child. Then it was just a source of wonder, no different than Santa Claus or the tooth fairy. Now it was a realization of reality that held as much danger as awe. All she could do was shrug and raise her brows. “I guess I’m not really sure how it works. We’d better stick with what I know.”
He held his hand up, palm forward and then shook his head. “I sense nothing ahead. If this were a sanctioned gate, I should. And even if an illicit gate, there should be some magical signature.”
If I shrug one more time, my muscles are going to cramp up. She wiggled her fingers with a bit of impatience. “It’s there, trust me. At worst, we’ll walk into the wall, and I’ll admit I’m an idiot, okay?”
That brought a small smile and a breath of a laugh. He reached out and wrapped his fingers around hers. Again she was startled by how warm his hand was and couldn’t help asking, “What’s your guys’ normal body temperature, anyway?”
He pursed his lips and tipped his head. “Same as you—ninety-eight-point-six. We’re not another species, Mila. Just an offshoot that can do magic.”
