Harlequin Nocturne May 2016 Box Set (36 page)

“You don't have to do this.”

“I really do.”

* * *

When they returned to the house, it was mercifully quiet. Once in his room, Lorcan began to throw his belongings into his backpack. For someone who must do it regularly, he seemed to be particularly disorganized at packing.

Tanzi sat cross-legged on his bed, watching him. “Look, I dragged you into my problems because I didn't know where else to turn when I left the palace. That doesn't make you responsible for me.”

He paused, looking directly at her. “You think I'm the sort of person who is going to abandon a friend just because things get tough?”

“Is that what we are? Friends?”

The word hung in the air between them. Then his smile, the one that made her want to clamber all over him like an overactive puppy, dawned. “I'd like to think so.”

The moment—if it existed at all—was lost. And was that a bad thing?
Where exactly did you want this conversation to go as you set off on your journey to leave the world behind?
She tried a different approach. “You have commitments here.”

“Not me. I never have commitments.”

“Why is that?”

He shrugged. “Just the way I like it.” He bent his head to fiddle with the zipper on his bag. The message was clear. It was another topic of conversation that wasn't going anywhere.

Tanzi ducked her head so that she could make eye contact with him. “Thank you.” She wasn't sure what the wobble in her voice signified, but she did her best to disguise it by turning it into a cough. “So how do we do this? Valhalla can only be reached by boat. And all my belongings are in that—” she pointed to the bag he had retrieved from the imps “—which doesn't even contain an inflatable dinghy.”

“I saw a map of the route to Asgard many years ago. It was fairly sketchy, and parts were uncharted, as it's not a way that's been taken very often. The truth is that the gods don't want anyone to know how to find them, so the exact geography is a closely guarded secret. And the route to Valhalla has been designed to withstand the onslaught of an army of giants. But that's a problem we'll deal with once we get there. Unless I'm mistaken, we're going to need something more substantial than a dinghy to navigate the Isles of the Aesir.”

“The Aesir are gods, is that right?”

Lorcan nodded. “The Aesir are the gods of the sky and of consciousness and the Vanir are the gods of the earth and biological life. Odin is the patriarch of all the gods.”

“Yet the Isles of the Aesir that lead to Valhalla are not inhabited by the gods themselves.”

“No. The name comes from the fact that the islands are the approach to Asgard, not from their inhabitants. All that is really known about them is that they are notoriously difficult to navigate.”

Tanzi swallowed the constriction in her throat. “Have you ever done any sailing?”

“A bit.” His voice was cheerful. “A long time ago, when I was a lad, I used to lend a hand when the fishermen took their boats out.” She wasn't entirely convinced they were the sort of credentials needed for the journey ahead of them. Grinning and hauling his backpack onto one shoulder, Lorcan held out a hand. “Ready?”

“Hold on a minute.” Tanzi scrambled to her feet. Things seemed to be moving very fast. “Don't you have things to organize here?”

“Aydan will step up while I'm gone. They're well used to me dropping in and out of this place. And we've not a minute to lose. Iago has been gone for a whole day. He could have reached Moncoya by now and yon bastard faerie feller—” He cast an apologetic grin her way. “Sorry, that's become my name for him. Your father will be plotting his next steps.”

“So we go. Just like that.” She shook her head. Reminding herself again that she had no choice, she picked up her bag. “Where will we start?”

“The place where all difficult journeys start... La Casa Oscura.”

Tanzi ground to a halt again. “I can't go back there.”

“I wasn't suggesting you stroll back in through the front door as though nothing had happened. You'll have to stay hidden. But we will have to get back to Otherworld to start our journey, and there's someone I need to talk to before we set off.” He held the door open so that she could go through it before him. “I have to see a friend about getting us a boat.”

CHAPTER 9

L
a Casa Oscura was an imposing mansion set high on the hillside above the city. Its rear aspect afforded spectacular views over the whole of Barcelona, but the other three sides were shrouded by trees. It was well-known as one of the most beautiful and quirky architectural features in the Catalan region. It was also the center of much recent press attention since its owner, billionaire electronics wizard Ezra Moncoya, had vanished without a trace a few months ago.

“I still don't understand why he wanted to be a celebrity in the mortal realm. Sure, wasn't being King of the Faeries enough for him?”

They had paused on the roadside a few hundred yards from the house. Half-hidden behind a laurel hedge, they could observe the entrance to the house without being seen. The afternoon sun was sinking behind the mountains and dusk was approaching, streaking the sky with ribbons of violet and rose. One or two cars wound their way slowly up the steep road, and Tanzi wondered what the occupants would say if they knew the house they had just passed was the portal to Otherworld. Enter its doors and from there you could access the faerie king's palace and the mystical realm that lay beyond. If you believed you could.

“I don't think anything would ever be enough for my father. He will always want more than he has. To be more than he is. And he wanted to find a way to attract the one who would become the necromancer star. He had to don a mortal disguise to do that.”

“Luckily Stella saw through him. She fell in love with Cal instead.”

“My father will never forgive that.” Tanzi felt obliged to warn him.

“Hell hath no fury like a faerie scorned?” He saw her wince at his use of the word
hell
and grimaced apologetically. “Sorry, I forgot. I think Cal and Stella know Moncoya holds a grudge, but I don't picture them spending the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders.”

“Is it Cal you need to talk to now?”

“Yes. I'm hoping the big feller will be able to help out in the boat department. What's the point of having Merlin as a friend if he can't conjure up a luxury yacht when you need one?”

Tanzi looked across at La Casa Oscura. Only its terra-cotta roof tiles were visible above the trees. A slight chill sent a prickle of anticipation down her spine. “While you confer with Cal, there is someone I must see.”

“I've been thinking about that. It might be better if we hide you away somewhere while I go inside. You'll be recognized as soon as you enter the palace. I can get everything ready for the journey and then we can enter Otherworld a different way.”

Tanzi gave him a mischievous smile. “I won't be recognized if I'm in disguise.”

Her smile was echoed in the blue velvet depths of his eyes. “Ah, yes. I was forgetting about your inner cat.”

She cast him a sidelong glance. “I think you like my inner cat a little too much to completely forget her.”

The smile reached his lips at that. “True. I've grown quite fond of her. Whom do you want to see?”

“My sister.” She sighed, struggling slightly to find the words to explain the mystery that was her relationship with Vashti. “We have a strange connection. Often we are antagonistic, even combative—I have the scars to prove it—but she is the only person who understands me, and I her. She was badly injured in the battle. I want to make sure she continues to heal...and I want to warn her.”

“Warn her?” Lorcan raised his brows.

“With me out of the way, my father may turn his ambitions for this pact with the devil to her.”

“You mean he will force Vashti into marriage with the devil in your place?”

Tanzi's amusement was genuine. “No one forces Vashti to do anything. I would just like her to be prepared. She is very like my father.”

Lorcan whistled. “So she's evil, too?”

“No!” Tanzi was shocked that he would think such a thing. Then she remembered that he had only ever seen Vashti's public face. The belligerent, swaggering, street-fighting facade she showed the world. “My sister is not a bad person. Impulsive and misguided, yes. Inflexible, arrogant, headstrong—” Tanzi broke off, realizing she was probably not doing a great job of convincing him of Vashti's good points. “She and my father are both so stubborn they will lock horns like a pair of mountain goats. And Vashti cannot waste time feuding with him. I need her to take my place on the council. She must be the faerie voice within the Alliance from now on.”

“It matters to you, doesn't it? That the faeries get the representation they need.”

She nodded. “I wish I could see that through. The least I can do is make sure there is someone I trust to take my place.” Her throat tightened inexplicably. It must be the culmination of the day just gone. An overwhelming tiredness brought on by the physical exertion at the farmhouse and the lake, the discovery about Iago and the finality of her decision to join the Valkyrie. Lorcan's expression was sympathetic, and that somehow made the feeling worse. Hiding her confusion at the discomfort caused by the sensations, she became brisk, nodding toward the house. “How do we get in?”

“Well, we can't just march up to the front door. The one time I tried that, it got messy.” His expression was reminiscent and, if they'd had time, she'd have asked him to tell her the story. “The house itself is a front. It's used by Moncoya Enterprises as its head office. Mortal employees come and go every day without knowing what it is, but it's also closely guarded. The cover story is that rival companies are always trying to steal Moncoya's secrets. And to be fair, that's true. Stella tells me the little shit's a genius when it comes to games design.” He ran a hand through his hair, his expression rueful. “Ah, I'm so used to calling him names, I keep forgetting he's your father.”

“Don't mind your tongue because of me. For what it's worth, I think he's a little shit, too.”

He studied her expression thoughtfully. “And you have more reason than any of us. Okay, back to the breaking-and-entering problem. We need to get to the rear of the house, to the terrace that overlooks the gardens. That's where the portal from this side into the palace is. And, in theory, it shouldn't be
too
difficult at this time of day because—” he glanced at his wristwatch “—at any minute now, those gates will open, the day shift will start leaving and the night shift will take over.”

“Won't the employees have to show identification in order to get in?”

Reaching into his pocket, he gave her one of his impudent grins. “You mean like this?” Lorcan held up a white plastic card that bore his photograph alongside the Moncoya Enterprises logo. According to the heading on the card, his name was Rodrigo Martinez and he was a software engineer. “It's got me—or rather, it's got Rodrigo—in a few times. The thing that I was puzzling over was how we were going get you in, but you've solved the problem for me. As a cat, you can be over that wall or through the gate faster than I can say ‘Here, kitty.'”

“It looks like the gates are opening.” Tanzi pointed across at the great iron structure.

“No time to waste. See you on the terrace in five, my feline friend.”

* * *

Entering Otherworld had never been a problem for Tanzi.
Because, until now, I have never really left it.
The only times she had ventured into the mortal realm in the past, she had been escorted there and back by her father's bodyguards and had given no thought to the transition between worlds. When she met Lorcan on the terrace at the rear of La Casa Oscura and looked out at the dusk-laden city of Barcelona, she thought, for the first time, of the legends surrounding entry into her homeland. Otherworld was hidden from mortal eyes by the strongest magic, woven by the gods in a time beyond memory. Mortal rules could not be applied to Otherworld. A year might go by there while at the same time in the real world centuries may have passed. Or the opposite might be true. Time could stand still in the place known to the ancient Celts as the “delightful plain.” Those who dwelt in Otherworld did not age like mortals. Instead, they remained forever young.

Ancient scholars speculated about its location. Was Otherworld a vast underground palace? A series of enchanted, shimmering islands, visible only at dusk and dawn? Was it set in some distant planetary dimension beyond the stars? Was it underwater? Had Niniane, the sorceress known as the Lady of the Lake, created an illusion, disguising the entrance to Otherworld as an earthly lake? Did Otherworld move from one location to another according to the mood and whim of the gods?

The truth was simpler and yet more complex. Otherworld existed everywhere. It was right there, alongside the mortal realm, just out of sight but easily within reach. All that was needed was a knowledge of the location of the nearest portal, a belief in the existence of Otherworld and a desire to go there. The belief and desire had to be strong enough to overcome any doubts, fears or suspicion.

“Mortals don't have the ability to open their minds.” That was what Rina had told Tanzi and Vashti many years ago. “That is why Otherworld remains closed to them.”

“Ready,
Searc
?” Lorcan brought her back to the present by resting his hand lightly on her head as she sat on the terrace rail next to him. Unable to resist the temptation, she rubbed her face against his palm and he glanced down at her, his face registering surprise.

She hesitated for a moment.
What if I have become infected with mortal skepticism? I may never be able to go back.
It was time to find out. Closing her eyes, she conjured up an image of her home, so clear and sweet and sharp it stung the back of her eyelids. She needn't have worried. When she opened them, she was there. Barcelona had vanished. The sights, sounds and scents of the vast city had been replaced by tumbling turquoise waters crashing onto rocks far below her and cliffs rearing high above her head. She was home.

Tanzi had thought she could be content in the mortal realm. During her stay in the safe house—if anyone had asked her—she would have said that she would be able to stay there forever. Of course she would. Her warrior training meant she had been instructed in survival techniques. She could adjust to any environment, cope with any hardship. And because she was Moncoya's daughter—and she didn't do sensitivity—missing the palace where she had lived all her life, her awkward, irascible sister and the servants who had been like an extended family were beyond the scope of her feelings. Yet now, as she breathed the air of Otherworld again, she knew she had been fooling herself. She had missed this place without knowing. Longed for it without understanding the promptings of her own heart.

The sight of the elegant white marble palace set in jeweled gardens and flanked by soaring mountains made her heart quicken with something that, had she been capable of it, might have been called love. The crisp scent of pine, the sounds of distant waves and mournful gulls, these things were in her blood. She was a child of Otherworld. The thought brought with it a new sadness and a new awareness.
I must leave this place all over again. Forever. It's also about time I stopped fooling myself and accepted that I have failed my father in more ways than one. I have no immunity to emotion. It affects me just as strongly as anyone else.

Lorcan, with that unique radar he had for the feelings of others—
so different to me. He is attuned to others, while I don't even know myself
—gave her a few minutes alone to drink in the view. When they approached the palace they did so together yet apart. Lorcan was in full view while Tanzi slunk through the longer grass as she had done so many times before in her cat guise. During the battle, part of the palace had been damaged when the Iberian sidhes planted a bomb in one of the four turrets. There were signs that restoration work was now under way. That and the presence of the peacekeeping force led by the elves were the only indications of change. Everything else was exactly as it had been since she was a child.
It will continue to look like this when I am gone.
She didn't know whether to be comforted or alarmed by the thought.

“Be careful,
Searc
.” Lorcan's continued use of the nickname had a soothing effect on her disordered senses. “I'll meet you by the lake.”

Tanzi knew from experience that the best way into the castle in her cat form was through the grotto. Padding across the grass to the side of the vast building, she made her way stealthily along the wall until she reached the place she was seeking. As a child this had always been her favorite part of the palace. Moncoya's designers had created a fantasy area, an artificial cave, with colored lighting and a decorative waterfall. This could be entered from the gardens and Tanzi slid inside. The cave, as she had anticipated, was empty. Counting on the fact that the glass door leading from the grotto to the conservatory was usually open during the day, Tanzi made her way through to the back of the grotto. Sure enough the door was open and, pausing briefly to drink in the spectacular, uninterrupted views of the mountains from the full-length windows, she padded softly through the conservatory and beyond. She was in dangerous territory now, as the corridor leading to the east turret and Vashti's rooms was a busy thoroughfare used constantly by the servants.

After being forced to hide in the shadows on two occasions to avoid being seen, she managed to make her way up the wide, sweeping staircase and eventually found herself in the circular turret that housed Vashti's suite of rooms. Another pang of sadness swept through her, and she recognized it for what it was. Homesickness. The opposite wing on the west side of the palace was the one she had called her own.

Resolutely putting aside the thought, Tanzi cast a swift glance around. Reassured that there was no one else here, she cast off her shifter illusion, emerging in her true form to open the door to Vashti's chambers. Once inside, she paused, leaning against the door for a moment to catch her breath. The sitting room and bedroom were both empty. Beyond that was the bathroom, and her keen ears caught faint noise from that direction. Making her way into the bedroom, she smiled slightly as the sounds became clearer. The shower was running and Vashti's voice could be heard, lifted in song above the sound of the water. Tanzi tugged off her sneakers and climbed onto the vast, luxurious bed. With a soft sigh of satisfaction, she curled up among the cushions and awaited her sister. It seemed like seconds later that she was disturbed from slumber.