Page 39 of Brought to Light
Lady Lisandra tapped a finger against her lips,hmming in thought. “I very much doubt they will be,” she said at last. “This assassin—the one you believe to have been from this realm?” I nodded. “He would have been an absolute last resort. We have laws prohibiting us from acting against one another while in other realms than our own. Those places are neutral ground. We conduct business meetings in your restaurants sometimes for that reason.” Well, that explained some of the weirder shit I’d seen in New York steakhouses. “The laws are strict. The High Court would have acted to subdue Evalt immediately had they discovered he’d sent one of our own to kill another one of our own in the human realm, and using human intermediaries, while possibly a gray area, would still have garnered him attention he didn’t want from the Queen.”
“That still doesn’t reassure me much. Okay, so your queen or your court would’ve killed Evalt before I had to if they’d known. But apparently they didn’t. That doesn’t help me.” Knowing this realm’s authorities had the power to put Evalt down like a dog, but hadn’t done it, actually pissed me off more than anything had in years. I didn’t say it, but my tone said it clearly enough.
Lady Lisandra nodded and sighed. “I don’t disagree, although the point is now moot. However, you know Evalt used compulsion on his servants. He had very little else in his arsenal, when it came to attracting followers.”
“You mean he couldn’t rely on his charming personality?”
She dimpled a smile. “Indeed. And his knowledge of the human realm was very limited, one reason why I chose to send Linden—I beg your pardon,LordLinden—there when I realized his life might be in imminent danger. Evalt would not have known how to extract assistance or obedience from someone in your world through any other means. And he wouldn’t have known whom to use, not exactly. He probably found one relatively powerful man, someone he could access without too much trouble. A politician, a wealthy businessman. Evalt would have compelled him, and then left the details to that man. Your…‘spooks’…were merely following orders from some superior, orders that will now be rescinded.”
I let out a long breath. “How sure are you about this? Your analysis of the situation?”
“Very nearly certain,” she said. “I’ve known Evalt for many, many years. And my understanding of the human realm far surpassed his.”
“I hope you’re right. I still need to go back and see for myself.”
“I understand.” She rose and went behind her desk, opening a small cabinet set against the wall. From it, she withdrew a green glass prism, that cast odd blue refractions even though I couldn’t see any direct light hitting it. She set it on her desk and beckoned me over.
Fucking great. More magic. “This won’t take me through that shitty labyrinth, will it?”
“No, the journey will be direct. You’ll go to the same place I sent Linden, unless you require a specific destination. Readjusting the focus will take time, however, if you need me to do so.”
I had a car in that crappy little town, if it hadn’t gotten towed. And I could always steal another, anyway. And a phone. I might even buy one if I arrived during the day. “Sure. That works.”
“Place your hands on it, then, and be ready.”
Right that second. Right that second, I was leaving. And all of a sudden, I couldn’t quite do it.
Unfinished business. Fuck.
“Will you tell your cousins goodbye for me? Kaspar and Oskar. And—” I swallowed hard. “And Linden—”
“You haven’t said your farewells to Linden?” she demanded sharply. “Where is he?”
I felt like pond scum under her cold gaze. “Asleep.”
Her lip curled. “I willnotpass a message to him. Do you know that I was there when he was born?” Fuck, she didn’t look old enough for that. I shook my head.Lowerthan pond scum. “I held him while his mother rested from her labor. He played under this desk as a child, hiding from Kaspar. I used to let him brush my hair while I sang to him. He is not my child, Callum, but near enough. And I will not be the messenger of your…I hesitate to use the word cowardice, after your other actions today. But.”
“But if the shoe fits,” I muttered.
“If I understand your idiom, yes,” she snapped. “If Linden is distressed by your abrupt departure, that is your responsibility alone. I will urge him to forget you, but I won’t speak for you. I will tell my cousins you have gone, and that you send your regards. You didn’t leavethemasleep and sneak out like a thief in the night.”
My throat felt too tight, but I forced myself to reply. “Thank you.” I couldn’t find anything else to say. She tilted her head, as if to tell me,Well, get on with it.I laid my hands on the crystal thing.
A gut-churning, time-twisting moment later, and Lady Lisandra’s magic spat me out hard. I landed on my hands and knees on something dark, damp, and chilly.
Sand. I sifted a handful through my fingers. And the sound of waves to my right. The cold caress of fog against my burning face.
Right back where I’d started.
Wearily, with something I couldn’t allow myself to recognize as bitter regret burning in the pit of my stomach, I got to my feet and headed for town to find a car, a phone, and a fucking drink.
Chapter Eighteen
Callum
Finding Jesse turned out to be a lot easier than convincing him I hadn’t had a psychotic break.
I stole a phone out of a purse—at the Cannibal Bean, of course, and seeing some guy who wasn’t Linden behind the counter nearly broke me—and headed down the alley to find a car to steal. I’d ditched the idea of going back for the rental car or for anything I’d left behind in the motel room. Too much chance of a trap there, if Evalt’s magic hadn’t burned out the way Lady Lisandra thought.
