Gray Dawn, page 14
“And those charges will lead us straight to her.” Colby rubbed her hands together. “She’s going to make mistakes. We just have to be watching when she does.”
Given the maniacal glee in Colby’s eyes, I didn’t think the watching part would be an issue.
The package from Fergal arrived right on schedule, and I set it in Dad’s hands the next morning. He had a few things to prep before starting his spell, and Colby was assisting him by pulling up a map of the US on the tablet he had used for hunting Clay. She could narrow it down once he locked on to Bjorn until he hit on an area.
Bjorn hadn’t been free long enough to flee more than a state away. He faced the same airline woes as Clay. Bjorn was a large man. Hence frost giant. The blue thing worked against him too.
As I paced the hotel room, waiting for news, Asa walked in with drinks and food for everyone.
“Can we talk?” He handed the bags off to the wargs, guaranteeing we wouldn’t see them anytime soon. “Outside?”
“Yeah.” I ignored the foreboding twinge in my gut. “Sure.”
He and I exited the room, took the stairs, and found a bench in the empty lobby.
“You’re making me nervous.” I let him tug me down beside him as he sat. “What’s wrong?”
“The centuria needs me.” He kept our hands linked. “I have to go to Hael and put an end to this before we can’t walk it back.” He rolled his thumbs over my knuckles. “I’m sorry, Rue, but I have to think of my people.”
They weren’t his people anymore, not really, but he had been raised as the high prince of Hael. That didn’t just go away because he lost his title. Gave it away, really. For me.
Sending him off with my blessing and support was the least I could do. Even if it made me want to vomit thinking of him going alone.
“What’s your plan?” I steeled my spine to avoid wrapping myself around his leg and refusing to let him go unless he dragged me along with him. “How do you see this going?”
“Moran has arranged for a meeting between me and the rebels. I will listen to their concerns, draft a list of their demands, and present it to Calixta.”
“You’re going to do what now?” The spit dried in my mouth. “She’ll kill you for trespassing.”
“She needs to secure her kingdom. She believes these rebels are at fault for the unrest.” He exhaled. “The truth is, they wouldn’t have taken these steps if we hadn’t goaded them into it with our actions.”
“You know how you’re always telling me things aren’t my fault? Well, this isn’t yours. Not all of it. Carver told us there was a subset of daemons loyal to you. Would they have acted on their beliefs? Maybe. Maybe not. They might have chosen to sit back, give Calixta enough rope to hang herself, and then made their move to dethrone her using her mistakes as their justification.”
“I need to do this.” He cradled my cheek in his palm. “Our strategy has run its course.”
“I’m not going to stop you.” I wanted to, but I wouldn’t stand in his way. “But I would like you to avoid confronting Calixta until I can pave the way. With her rule under threat, she won’t leave Hael. With my ties to you, and my former position as her heir, I doubt she’ll let me go to her either. Using a messenger will make our conversation take twice as long, but I’m going to pitch an idea.”
“I’m listening.”
“To show there are no hard feelings, I could suggest she appoint you ambassador to Hael. Tell her you could bridge the gap between the people of Hael and their former Haelian Seas queen.” I rubbed my forehead. “I’ll clean up the pitch before I make it, but that’s the general idea. What do you think?”
“It’s brilliant.” His eyes warmed. “It’s a position I would be happy to hold indefinitely.”
To step back from the throne had given him a minor identity crisis, and I’d thought Black Hat might fill that void. At least for a time. The swiftness with which he accepted my suggestion confirmed his heart might not be set on the throne, but he did care for the denizens of Hael.
Sooner rather than later, I might have to name a new deputy director.
But that was a problem for another day.
“We’ll see how it goes.” I stood with him when he rose. “Are you leaving now?”
“I need to pack first, but yes. Tiago has offered to escort me.”
“Good.” I blinked to stop the room from going wobbly. “I’ll see if Dad can portal you there.”
“Let him work on tracking Bjorn. The sooner we get the director in hand, the quicker we can finish negotiations with Calixta for Aedan. She’ll be more tolerant of my interference if she’s convinced things are still firmly under her control.” He hesitated. “Also consider that if I’m awarded a permanent position in her court, it would allow me to check on him from time to time.” His tone softened. “Ten years is a long time to wonder if your cousin is safe.”
“Thank you.” I couldn’t let myself get excited about the idea. It was still a long shot. “You’re the best.”
When a smile stretched his lips, I couldn’t resist tasting it. Heat sparked in my middle when he rewarded me with a groan. But like everything else lately, there was no time.
“I’ll write to Calixta.” I kissed him again, soft and quick. “Keep your head down until we reach an agreement.” I set my hands on his shoulders. “Be ready to run if she refuses to play ball with us.”
“I can’t run.” His eyes held regret but also determination. “I will, however, be careful.”
“I’m liking this plan less and less the more you expound on it.”
A throat cleared behind me. “The spell is ready.”
I pivoted toward Dad, reluctant to release Asa, terrified of him venturing into Hael without an invitation.
“I’ll send word as soon as I have news to report.” Asa dragged me against his chest, wrapping his arms around me until I felt his heartbeat crushed against mine. “Take care of our girl.”
Our girl.
I would have loved him for that alone.
“I will.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Take care of you.”
With a tender smile, he released me, and I followed Dad, afraid I wouldn’t let Asa go if I didn’t leave fast.
“He’s going to Hael.”
“You heard that part, huh?”
“Do you think it’s wise?”
“I think it’s a terrible idea.” I joined him in the suite. “But I also know he needs to do this.”
The centuria would keep him safe. Any one of them would lay down their lives to protect him. I just hoped it didn’t come to that. I didn’t want him to carry that burden.
The kernel of conscience I had been growing over the last year was sprouting tiny little doubts. He wasn’t wrong that we caused this current crisis, but I wasn’t wrong either. The unrest brewing in Hael, the movement to place one of their own on the throne, was bound to bubble over when Calixta wasn’t making much of an effect to embrace Haelian culture.
It just might not have reached a boiling point quite so soon if I hadn’t lit a bonfire under it.
Things were so much easier back when I didn’t care about things like collateral damage. The life of a black witch was simple. They did what they wanted, when they wanted, to whomever they wanted. As long as they got their way, they didn’t worry about fallout. Lives were as disposable as used tissues.
The whole being a good person and doing the right thing gig was thankless, stressful, and complicated. It made me want to pull out my hair some days. Most days, really. I had grown a lot since I returned to the Bureau, but I still had a long way to go.
Because deep down, I still tipped the scales toward those I loved and away from the innocents I ought to protect.
“Do you think he’ll make a bid for the throne, if it comes down to it?”
The question jolted me out of my thoughts. “Goddess, I hope not.”
Unless the only way to restore the equilibrium in Hael was to undo everything we had done…
Nope.
I didn’t want to think about it.
In fact, I gave myself permission to ignore it as an early birthday present.
To hold on to my sanity, I pivoted the conversation. “You have a lock on Bjorn?”
“I do.” He allowed me the change in topic. “I thought you would want to be present when I begin in case things move quickly.” He shot a look behind me. “Are you sure you don’t want to go with him?”
Until he mentioned it, I hadn’t noticed I was locked in a staring contest with the door separating me from Asa. Asa, who was going to Hael. Where my crackpot grandmother reigned supreme.
“No.” I almost choked on the word. “He’s got this.”
Divide and conquer. That was how successful couples managed dual careers, right? Sure, ours might be a touch more exotic than average, but still. “Give me a minute, okay?”
Alone at the particleboard desk in my room, I cleared my mind of fears and worries as I wrote to Calixta. I took care with my phrasing, wishing Meg could check behind me but knowing I didn’t have the time for a consult. Plus, she and Mom already had their hands full. All I could do was pray my offer to loan Asa to her as an ambassador would pique her interest enough to prevent her from harming him if she learned I had let him go on ahead without her blessing.
With that done to the best of my abilities, which wasn’t saying much, I called a courier and waited with a stone in my stomach until he arrived to accept his parcel with a guarantee of next day(s) delivery.
For messages crossing realms, that was about as good as it got.
After I tipped the courier, I sought out the others, eager to get moving to block out my fears for Asa.
“I’ve got the map on standby.” Colby stood over the tablet, ready to pinch the screen. “We should be able to narrow it down quicker using this app. There’s a better overview of streets too.”
While Dad prepped his crystal and began his spell, I hoped this thing with Isiforos was about to turn into a blessing. I didn’t want to square off against Bjorn again, but there was no doubt in my mind he could lead us right to the director. Just like last time.
As the crystal swept over the screen, Colby panned out, watching for the first hint of a location.
Within seconds, the point stuck to an area south of here, and Colby used her hands to zoom in until the magic wobbled with uncertainty from the exactness she was attempting to extract from it.
“They’re in Sweetwater. Near D Bar D Ranch.” Dad kept his hand fisted above the screen. “Three hours or so away.”
Derry and Marita had done the bulk of their packing last night, and Colby hadn’t been far behind. She didn’t have much, just her blanket, the laptop, her phone, her tablet, and…okay. So, the girl didn’t travel light. She was a one-woman IT department, so I didn’t complain as I shoved my clothes into a duffle.
“Dad?” I waited until he put away his crystal. “Can I talk to you outside?”
A hint of wariness crept into his features. I was certain he could guess what I wanted to ask him.
“You want me to remove another anchor.”
Yep.
Right to the point.
“I do.” I worried a fingernail. “If something goes wrong for Asa in Hael, I won’t wait and hope. I will go to him, and I’ll need to be able to protect him. Against Calixta and anyone or thing else.” I quit before I tore a nail. “Magic would be a big help in that department.”
“We don’t know for sure what this process is doing to you.”
“It’s freeing me.”
“But at what cost?” He speared me with doubt. “Each time, you require healing.”
“I’m aware.” I could still taste a faint char in the back of my throat. “I’m also more than willing.”
“What about Colby?” His concern tipped over into mine. “Does she experience your pain too?”
“Goddess, no.” I barked out a laugh. “I would have never left my house in Samford if she did.”
As much as I missed my magic, I didn’t need it enough to put Colby through the suffering I had chosen.
“Your mother and I have a lot to learn about the loinnir bond.”
“You’ve had familiars.” I thought someone had mentioned a cat Mom gave to a friend after the wargs chased it up one too many trees and it scratched out someone’s eye. “The bond is like that but more.”
“And if you die,” he said, eyes boring into me, “the loinnir bonded to you also dies.”
“Think of this as a controlled burn.” I wasn’t thrilled with risking her either, but this was bigger than Asa. I was coming unraveled as my magic sought its own way free. “The only way to prevent the wildfire that will sweep through me when your binding fails is to start digging trenches to slow the spread.”
“I assume you want me to remove another before we depart?”
“We have a few hours. Marita or Derry can drive to Sweetwater while I recover.”
Chin dipping to his chest, Dad gave it a moment of thought. It made me wonder if he struggled for the right answer as often as me. He was a better man because of Mom’s influence, but it wasn’t the same for people like us. She was innately good, like Colby, while he and I had to stop and think first. Always.
The more I did the right thing, the easier it got. Well. Sort of. More like I was training my brain to react a certain way to a series of stimuli. It would become instinct, eventually. I hoped. If you considered a thing that had to be taught instinctual.
Resolve lined his face when he lifted his gaze to mine. “Where do you want to do it?”
“Somewhere folks won’t hear the screams and call the police.”
“All right.” He didn’t ask me if I was sure, and I appreciated it. “Let the Mayhews know.”
A big part of me wanted to text Marita instead and then jump into Dad’s arms so he could zip me away from her temper. I didn’t want to subject myself to what came next, but no one else had any bright ideas on how to remove the Hunk. And I wanted more than to remove it.
I wanted to destroy it. I wanted the Maudit Grimoire to cease existing. I wanted to ruin it the same way it had tried to ruin me.
But first, I had to pay for every drop of magic it had lent me with the pain of revoking its hold over me.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Thanks to my Tinkkit engagement ring, whose gift was sending me off to sleep with a twist of the band, I didn’t so much as twitch until we arrived in Sweetwater. I can’t say that I woke refreshed and ready to face the day, but I was determined and eager to kick frost giant butt.
“I hope you enjoyed your nap.” Marita, with Colby on her head, turned in her seat to look at me. “Colby and I could have used another backup singer, but we let you sleep out of the kindness of our hearts.”
“Thanks?” I shoved into an upright position. “Has Dad narrowed things down for us?”
“The hair he was using melted.” Derry pulled onto the side of the road. “It was ice, I guess?”
The intensity of Dad’s focus, paired with the multiple attempts required to track as Bjorn moved, meant he had forced a lot of magic through it. There was nothing for it. We would have to find another way if Dad struck out.
“I’m not sure.” I hadn’t gotten close enough to Bjorn to tell. “Dad might have zapped it too hard.”
The soles of my shoes sank into soggy grass when I stepped out to join Dad, who set his hands on my shoulders to hold me still while he scanned me for any aftereffects from the third and fourth anchors he ripped out of me prior to us leaving Dallas.
I was halfway to the finish line. More than. Closer to freedom from the Hunk than I had been since the day the book fell into my hands. But I knew better than to think the rest would come easily. The price of such magic was never cheap, and I had run up quite the tab.
“Well, Doc?” I forced a smile for him. “Will I live?”
“Yes.” His expression cleared, but he didn’t smile back. “How do you feel?”
“Sore and weirdly tingly.” I shook out my hands. “I’m not sure if it’s from Colby healing me—” which she had insisted on doing afterward, “—or if it’s a side effect of expelling dark magic from my soul.”
No matter how you sliced it, that was what the Hunk had done. Gone straight for the core of my magic. I should have noticed quicker, should have stopped sooner, but looking back I had no idea what I could have done differently.
Sometimes life throws so much at you all at once the only thing you can do is hunker down and pray you survive it.
On the other hand, even though life gave you no pointers ahead of time, you got hit with the guilt, the remorse, the wishing things had gone differently.
Life was kind of a dick.
“The ranch is about a mile ahead.” Marita rolled her shoulders, then twisted her torso from left to right, loosening up for the shift after a long ride. She pivoted, sniffing the air, then pointed. “That way.”
“Are we driving or walking?” I was stiff from lying boneless across the backseat. “I’m good either way.”
“Walking.” Derry cracked his neck. “Your dad told us to stop when you woke, so it worked out well.”
“I can fly ahead and scout,” Colby volunteered, rocketing into the air to burn off her pent-up energy.
“No,” we all yelled at once, the volume startling a squeak out of her.
“We don’t know for certain the director doesn’t know about you.” I had a gut feeling Clay had kept his mouth shut, but I couldn’t risk it. “The director knows Dad can fly. There might be traps if he’s trying to protect himself against an aerial attack. I’m guessing anything that would catch a black witch would work well on magic moths too.”
“Oh.” She spun into a tight circle, landing on my shoulder. “That would be bad.”
“Very bad.” I kissed the top of her head. “You can be my parrot, though.”
“I’m a captain, not a parrot.”
“A captain?” Dad’s interest perked. “What sort of captain?”
Ditching me, Colby leapt to Dad’s shoulder and began filling his head with stories of the Mystic Seas. The way his eyes lit up when she moved on to the original Mystic Realms, with battles and orcs and strategy, made me think I had lost another person to what I was fast beginning to think of as the Mystic Cult.
