Nicole Peeler - [Jane True 01] (41 page)

There was no doubt in my mind: What he was saying was ridiculous.

“Anyan,” I heard myself say. “That’s not true. Jason’s death, it was…”

My voice trailed off. I was about to say that his death had been an
accident.

My entire world wobbled, and I took a few deep breaths.

“So I would visit you,” he persisted. “You were so… broken. And you
should never have been in that hospital. We should have intervened. But I
probably made things worse, didn’t I?” His voice was so low I could barely make
out what he was saying.

“No,” I said, automatically, not realizing that I felt that way before
I’d said it. “You’re the reason I got through. I mean, I didn’t know you were
real, and I did think you were proof I was crazy at times. But when things got
really bad, when I thought I couldn’t get through another day, you’d be there
and I didn’t feel so alone.”

With those words we were both struck dumb. Tonight had been way too
intense—too many revelations, too much violence, too many painful memories.
Too
much pain, period,
I thought wryly, rubbing a hand over my throat.

“Were you the one by the pool that day, with Jimmu?” I asked, finally
breaking the silence. He only nodded.

“Thank you,” I said. “You saved my life, twice.” I took a deep breath. “And
I apologize for calling you dog breath. Your breath actually smells like
toothpaste. Which makes a lot more sense now that I know you have thumbs.” He
gave me a slow smile that I returned, although my brain was still agitated.
“So, why did Jarl attack me?”

Beside me, Anyan sighed. “I think Jarl knew what Jimmu was doing and I
believe that Jimmu was working on his orders. But perhaps Jarl was telling the
truth and he knew nothing.” I felt Anyan’s powerful shoulders shift as he
shrugged. “Who knows what motivates the Alfar in general, and Jarl in
particular. But he’s always despised half-humans.”

“Well,” I said, “Ryu will definitely have something to say about the
fact that I was attacked…” My voice trailed off as Anyan turned to look at me.
He made a little gesture and a tiny mage light flickered into life next to our
heads.

He stared into my eyes so intently I thought he was going to fall
forward and head butt me. “Jane,” he said, his harsh voice choked with emotion.
“There are forces at work here that neither of us can understand. You are new
to this world and I have been out of the loop for too long.” He shook his
shaggy head, angrily. “I have let us both down, and I am sorry. But you must
listen to me. You must tell
no one
about what passed here tonight
between you and Jarl. Not even Ryu.” I started to protest, but he placed a
single finger over my lips.

“Ryu cares for you, I know that,” he said, reluctantly. “But you must
understand that his position and his ambition make him…” He paused. “Not untrustworthy,
in the sense that he would intentionally harm you. But dangerous, nonetheless.
Until we know what Jarl’s attack means, we must keep it to ourselves. Please,
you
must
trust me.”

Our faces were inches apart, and his eyes were so earnest that I paused.
Mentally, however, I was scrambling, ready to come to my man’s defense. Of
course
I had to tell Ryu what had happened here, tonight. He was
Ryu
,
fercrissakes.

But before I could articulate my feelings, we were interrupted.

“Oh my gods, Jane,” barked a familiar voice, and my heart lurched. I
pushed myself up against the wall, rising painfully to my feet. “Thank heavens
you’re all right,” Ryu babbled happily, till his eyes lit on Anyan. He stopped
dead in his tracks.

“Ryu,” I sobbed, suddenly more than ready to have that good cry I’d been
verging on earlier. I managed to stand and made my way over to him, where he
folded me in his arms.

I buried my face in his chest and breathed him in, clinging to him like
a barnacle. He did smell a bit foul, actually—but underneath the blood and the
sweat was the familiar scent of Ryu.

He caressed the back of my neck and his lips pressed against my
forehead. “What happened?” he asked. “Why is Anyan Barghest here?”

I opened my mouth, ready to tell him everything. About Wally and his
arm, about the spriggans and their possible treachery, about Nyx and the
eyeball, and, most important, about Jarl and his attack on me.

But for some reason I paused, just for a moment, and looked back. Anyan
had stood up and moved away from us. He was nearly out of the little gate that
led to the pool. I met his eyes, recalling the sound of human body parts
hitting the floor as they were dumped from a sack. I shuddered, finally
understanding what he’d been trying to tell me. I trusted Ryu, I really did.
And I knew that he wouldn’t stand to see me hurt.

I turned back to my lover, who was watching the barghest with a
decidedly unfriendly expression. I noticed Ryu’s cheek was already healed. “I
don’t really know,” I said, finally. “I must have gotten hit on the head, or
something. When I woke up I was out here, with Anyan. He healed me,” I added,
lamely, as I heard the soft
snick
of a gate closing behind me.

Ryu looked into my eyes, frowning. At long last, he shook his head and
said, “Okay, Jane. As long as you’re safe, I’m happy.” His arms were back
around me and I relaxed into his hard embrace. Better late than never, I
understood Anyan’s words. Ryu cared for me, and he took his job seriously. If I
told him what Jarl had done, he’d investigate.
And right now, with no
evidence beside a half-human’s testimony, Jarl would squash Ryu like a bug
,
I thought, as I wiped my nose on his shirt. I was snotty from crying and he was
already filthy. It wasn’t ideal but he was holding me so tight I couldn’t move
my arms.

“Did you just wipe your nose on me?” he asked, finally. His voice was
tight with various emotions, but “oh no you didn’t” had clawed its way to the
top of the list.

“Maybe,” I mumbled, peering up at him.

“Oh Jane,” he said, pulling a handkerchief from his back pocket. With
which he wiped his already filthy shirt and
then
my nose. “What am I
going to do with you?”

“Take me home?” I suggested, hopefully.

“Of course,” he said, although his eyes were sad. “I promised, didn’t I?
But first, I’ll take you to bed.” After wiping my nose again to be on the safe
side, he picked me up to carry me inside. Holding me tight to his chest, he
covered my face with butterfly kisses. He was still limping slightly but I
figured if he could handle my weight I’d let him. I wasn’t in too good shape at
this point, either. “I was so scared when I couldn’t find you,” he said,
eventually.

“I was scared, too,” I said, very truthfully.

“I’m sorry everything turned out the way it has. This was
not
how
I imagined introducing you to Alfar society.”

“I know, Ryu. I know.” Then I remembered something. “Did you kill
Jimmu?” I asked, rather surprised at how matter of fact I sounded.

“Oh, yes,” Ryu said, grinning at me fang-tastically. “But he was being
very obstreperous about it,” he added. “He just wouldn’t cooperate and die.”

“Hmm. Well, that’s good. That Jimmu’s dead, I mean. Oh, and you should
have seen what I saw Wally do,” I added, starting in on an edited version of my
evening’s surprises. Just because I couldn’t tell him
everything
didn’t
mean I couldn’t tell him some things.

When I was done telling him about Wally’s arm, and what I’d seen Nyx do
to the naga, we were back at our room. I had to give Nyx credit. She might be a
bitch, but she was definitely hard-core.

We didn’t talk much after that, at least not verbally. Despite
everything that had happened, or probably
because
of everything that had
happened, I found my body had a lot more to say than I thought it would.
Despite its exhaustion, it wanted to converse about life, and mortality, and
fear, and pain, and love, and pleasure. Especially pleasure.

Luckily for me, Ryu’s body was more than happy to join with mine in a
dialogue that lasted until we were both too tired to speak, either literally or
figuratively.

If I’d known discourse could be this fun
, I thought, as I
fell asleep in Ryu’s arms,
I would have joined the debate team
…

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

D
addy!”
I shouted, racing to hug him.

That he was surprised to see me getting out of the back of a Mercedes
was an understatement. Equally surprising was the vehemence with which I
greeted him.

“Are you all right, Jane?” he asked, his voice concerned. “What
happened?”

I choked back my overwhelming sense of relief at seeing my dad, and my
home, setting a bright smile in its place. “Oh, everything is fine, Dad,” I
said, when I could finally trust myself to speak. The driver had removed my
bags from the back of the car, setting them on our front porch, before quietly
motoring off.

“Why didn’t Ryu drive you back?” he asked, his voice suspicious.

“Oh, something came up. But don’t worry, Ryu was great. The trip was
great.” I paused, collecting myself. “Seriously, Dad, everything was fine and
Ryu could not have treated me any better, honestly. But he had to stay in
Québec for business so he sent me home in a car. This ride was more comfortable
than his, anyway.”

My father kept staring at me, as if he wanted to ask me more, until it
was my turn to grow suspicious.
How much did he know about my mother and her
world?
I wondered. He must have known
something
was up, but I didn’t
know just how much
something
entailed.

“Dad?” I asked, gently. “Is there anything you want to ask me?”

He started, drawing away from me. He began to say something, and his jaw
worked helplessly for a few seconds before he stopped. This happened again a
few moments later.

Then he shook his head. “No, Jane,” he said, finally. “There’s nothing I
want to ask you.”

I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. I certainly hadn’t planned on
confronting my father with the truth of my mother’s existence, but now that I
had the chance I realized I wished that I could tell him. But if he didn’t want
to know, I didn’t want to force the truth upon him. My father had already
suffered his share of betrayal.

I rummaged around and eventually found a smile for him. He returned it,
relieved. “So, what did I miss?” I asked, changing the subject. He took the
bait, and started telling me what had happened while I was away. Which wasn’t
much. But, being my dad and me, we made it into enough to get us through.

After we’d caught up and had an early dinner, I went upstairs to unpack.
But first I lay down on my childhood bed, never so happy to be home in my life.
I love you, Rockabill
, I thought, surprised at how profoundly I meant
it. Stuart and Linda would never look so scary again, ever. Not after
twenty-foot snake people, minotaurs, and everything else I’d seen that weekend.

The morning after the battle had been horrible. Luckily, everyone I’d
come to know in the Compound—except for Jimmu, obviously—was safe. Wally was
apparently impervious to most forms of death, so he was fine. And Orin and
Morrigan had never been in any real danger, as none of their people had let
anything get close to them. As for Elspeth, she’d not even been in the main
hall at the time—she’d absconded with one of the nahual acrobats that had
performed at the previous evening’s dinner. They’d all been exceptionally
bendy, and I reckoned she was a lucky woman—or tree—on a number of levels.
Then
again,
I thought, thinking of Elspeth’s strange suppleness,
maybe the
nahual was the lucky one—she is awfully limber for timber.
Then I laughed
at my own joke, because I’m a dork.

But my friends’ safety was about the only good news. The death toll was
frighteningly high, especially considering how there were so few young ones to
take their parents’ places in the community. Besides the nine nagas, there had
been twenty-three creatures hurt too badly to be saved. I gathered from
people’s reactions that it was a tremendous blow to the Territory, and it
obviously took a huge personal toll on the loved ones of those who died.