Nicole Peeler - [Jane True 01] (33 page)

Morrigan frowned, and for a moment the air around us crackled with that
signature of power I couldn’t quite get used to. But then her smooth features
settled back into her usual bland expression.

“There are five Territories dividing what humans would call North and
Central America. The rest of the world is divided up into similar proportions.
Each Territory supports a variety of beings, all of whom are ruled by an Alfar
monarchy, which leads from its own Compound. As for population, it depends on
the location of the Territory as to how many and what sorts of beings it can
support. Some areas are more populated than others and the variety of different
factions differ from place to place. Succubae and incubi no longer fare very
well in the Middle East, for example, and the ifrit don’t enjoy rain forests.
But exact numbers are unknown, not least because our border lands—the areas
between Territories—tend to be wild, uncontrolled places that resist Alfar
intervention. We do know, however, that our numbers are most assuredly
shrinking.”

Morrigan looked at me questioningly, as if to ascertain whether or not I
was following her. I nodded, and she continued. “I’m sure you have heard that
our birth rates are dropping.” I nodded again. “Procreation has never been easy
for us—we cannot breed without intention.” Ryu had said the same thing, the
first time we’d made love, and I’d never asked him for details, although I’d
understood the gist. But I was more than a little intrigued when Morrigan
explained. “We do not have natural cycles the way humans and other animals do.
We do not produce an egg or sperm automatically; we have to consciously create
the capacity for life within ourselves. It takes months of concentration and
large amounts of energy. So it has always been a challenge, but one that could
be met.” Here, Morrigan frowned, again. “In the last few hundred years,
however, it has become increasingly difficult, at least when both partners are
elemental. For some reason, our ability to procreate with humans has been less
troubled, although that issue is, in itself, a contentious one.”

What the queen was saying was fascinating on a number of levels, and I
had so many questions I wanted to ask. To my horror, however, my libido muscled
its way to the front of the queue, demanding answers.

“So,” I heard myself say, “when someone, um, let’s say a baobhan sith, tells
you that they can’t get you pregnant or give you any… umm, other gifts, they’re
telling the truth?”

For a split second, Morrigan grinned, and it was the first really
human
response I’d seen from her. But a second later the grin was gone, and her face
had settled back into her usual flat expression.

“Yes, child, all of what you have been told is true. Our elemental
powers purge us of disease, and we are infertile unless we choose to be
otherwise. And that choice is a difficult process to embark upon. So we are
safe to breed with humans, even when they are half-breeds.”

Morrigan fell into an awkward silence, as if remembering to whom she was
talking. I gave her a benign smile, to tell her that I wasn’t offended.

We’d emerged back into a main hallway of the Compound, and I was
beginning to recognize things. I think the queen was taking me back to my
rooms.

“But we are not like humans,” Morrigan continued, her smooth features
radiating calm once more. “We do not throw teams of, what do you call them? Scientists?”
I nodded. “We do not throw teams of scientists to vex nature and solve our
problems. We are as long-lived as mountains, and we have faith that our
problems will work themselves out. A few hundred years in the life of an Alfar
is but a blink of an eye. Soon, we will wake up to a new dawn in which all of
our concerns have resolved themselves.”

She smiled beatifically as I worked hard to keep my eyebrows from
shaking follicles with my hair line.
What is she
talking
about?
I
wondered.
She acts like the Alfar are all that’s out there. What about the
nahuals? Ryu said that Russ was old, at four-hundred-something years. He, for
one, doesn’t have the lifespan of mountain ranges to wait around hoping for
offspring.

Besides which, even if they do live forever, that just gives them more
time to obsess. Look at what short-lived human couples are willing to do to
have a baby. And while I get it that the Alfar aren’t exactly brimming with
emotion, Ryu, for one, is passionate and Iris is
definitely
emotional.
Even Morrigan betrayed a hint of feeling when she started talking about this
subject, before she got all weird and Vulcan about it. Not everybody can be as
cool with not having babies as the Alfar make out to be—if they really are
themselves.

We’d walked the last few minutes in silence—I had no idea where to begin
after what Morrigan had just told me, and she seemed content to be quiet. When
we got to my door, she stopped to say good-bye.

“Take care, Jane,” she said, her eyes expressionless. “We will see you
at tonight’s feast.”

I attempted another bow, this time with a bit more refinement. “Thank
you, Queen, er, Lady,” I finished.
I really gotta ask Ryu what to call these
folks,
I thought. My “royal etiquette” was really not up to snuff.

She smiled, unfazed by my discombobulation, and I slipped into our room.

I shook Ryu like a can of whipping cream but he was out like a light.
So—after checking, double-checking, then triple-checking that both our outer
door and our bedroom door were locked—I decided to take another shower. I felt
gross after my encounter with Jimmu; his eyes had been like clammy hands all
over my skin. I shed my swimsuit and started the water.

I had so much to think about that I barely knew where to start. First of
all, my run-in with the queen had meant that I hadn’t really processed what had
happened beside the pool. And there’d been no way I was going to tell
her
about it, considering Jimmu was the foster son of the guy who was both her
brother-in-law
and
her own second-in-command. Despite the fact I knew
damned well that even if Jimmu hadn’t actually been intending to kill me, he
was definitely going to do
something
unpleasant. But who would believe
me besides Ryu?

Jimmu really does hate you,
my brain reminded
me, unhelpfully. And I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d seen him
before. But it was
impossible
—how many six-foot-tall men with blue
Mohawks and steel tusks had I seen that I failed to notice one more?
Unless
he glamoured you,
I thought, suddenly.
But then why would I remember not
remembering?
My brain ached at that thought—going down that path was like
watching one of those shows about time traveling where you knew if you
concentrated on the plot for even a second it would rip to shreds.
Let’s
just say you would remember not remembering, and leave it at that
, I
thought, clinging to my sanity with an iron grip.

And what the hell is up with the Alfar?
The other half of
my brain interrupted.
They are so powerful, but so
complacent
.
There’s no way everybody else is fine with not procreating. Otherwise, they
wouldn’t be so scared of halflings. You only hate what you secretly envy or
desire
, I thought, with a nod to freshman psych.

If they’re having problems procreating, why not
do
something
about it? I get it that humans “vex” nature and what not—you don’t have to
quote Bacon to make me realize we have some fundamental flaws as a species. But
not to do
anything
, and especially when you have such power?
I
snorted, lathering up a wash cloth to scrub away all vestigial Jimmu eye-traces.

I get it that they cultivate this cool façade, but it’s gotta be pissing
off members of their community. Who I bet wouldn’t mind if the Alfar invested
their copious resources on some “teams of scientists” of their own.

Teams of scientists
, I thought.
Teams of scientists…

That’s it
, I thought, as my wash cloth dropped with
a
splat
.

Teams of
scientists
…

I turned off the water, calmly, although I was roiling on the inside.

I wasn’t crazy; I
had
seen Jimmu before. And now I remembered
where.

CHAPTER TWENTY

W
ake up,
wake up, wake up, wake up
, I thought at Ryu, trying to bore a hole
in his forehead with my brain waves.

I’d tickled him, shaken him, scratched him, pinched him, thrown a glass
of water on him, kissed him—I’d even flicked his testicles with a fair amount
of force. He hadn’t budged.

So now I was lying with my face right above his, trying to wake him
through the power of my focused will. I didn’t think it was working.

Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up
, I thought,
getting so frustrated I was ready to scream.
Did his eyelid just flicker?
I thought, not daring to hope.
WAKE UP!

Ryu’s eyes flickered again; he was definitely switching on. Suddenly, he
was fully awake, staring at me with a fair amount of surprise registering on
his face.

“Good morning, Jane,” he mumbled. “What the hell are you doing?”

I had so much to tell him that it got jumbled on the way out, and all
that emerged from my mouth was an inarticulate “aaaaargh” sound.

“Oh, really? That’s great. Is there coffee?” Ryu pushed me gently away
so he could sit up. He made a funny face and his hand went to his crotch. “Ow,
must have slept funny.” He eyed me suspiciously. “Why is my pillow wet?”

“Ryu,” I said, swiftly changing the subject. “Jimmu was at the bookstore
the day you came, and was at the Sty the first night we were there. He was with
all these academics so I didn’t recognize him at first but I
know
it was
him.”

Ryu was looking at me like I was speaking in tongues. “Jane, what are
you talking about?”

“I know you’re going to say it’s impossible but it’s not. He was totally
going to kill me this morning but something was in the bushes and he like
hypnotized
me, so I couldn’t move, and he had a
sword
…” I was definitely babbling
at this point, so I tried to rein it in. “But I got away, and then I saw
Morrigan, and she mentioned ‘teams of scientists,’ and I
knew
I’d seen
Jimmu and then I realized where.” I took a deep breath. “At Read It and Weep.”

“Why would Jimmu be with a bunch of academics?” he asked, rubbing his
eyes.

“Well, he must not have actually been
with
them, but just used
them as cover, or something. I don’t know. I didn’t ask him, obviously.”

Ryu was unconvinced. He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.
“I’ll be back in a minute, honey, and then we’ll talk about it.”

He went to the bathroom and I took the opportunity to organize my
thoughts. I needed to tell him exactly what had happened, from the beginning
and in a way that actually made sense. I knew I was
not
crazy—I could
see that greasy academic sitting there staring at me, and I knew that without
his piercings, and with his hair combed back, and with those big glasses on,
Jimmu
was that academic
.

Ryu emerged, now dressed in pajama bottoms. He gestured for me to follow
him into the sitting room, and then he called down for coffee and food to be
brought up while I settled myself into our little sofa.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but you’ve got to hear me out,” I started,
before he had even put down the phone. I kept talking while he sat down next to
me. “The day you first came to Rockabill, that morning a bunch of academics
came in on a bus to see the Old Sow. One of them totally gave me the willies
because he was staring at me. Then we saw him again, that night at the Sty.
After the thing with Stuart, when you went out to check that the parking lot
was clear, I was waiting by the door and I saw him hidden in the far corner. He
was watching me again.”

Ryu was listening, as I’d asked him to, but he didn’t look convinced.