Taliesin Ascendant (The Children and the Blood) (28 page)

He said nothing, his gaze on the wall. Studying him a moment, she weighed her chances of getting him to leave.

“Right,” she said.

Turning around on the blankets, she lay down with her back to the massive wizard and, after a second’s hesitation, warily closed her eyes.

The room was dim when she opened them again.

Blinking, she rolled over. Nathaniel stood as she had left him, though the lights overhead were almost extinguished. The air was cool, and as she moved, she realized one of the quilted mover’s blankets lay atop her.

She glanced at Nathaniel again. The man didn’t look away from the wall.

Pushing the heavy blanket back, she climbed out of the sleeping bag and then rose to her feet.

“Thanks,” she told him.

The man hesitated, and then bowed his head slightly, expressionless.

Pausing, she glanced from the wizard to the door, knowing the moment she moved he’d want to leave first. Reading her look instantly, he strode to the doorway and surveyed the area outside before nodding for her to follow.

At the end of the hall, a guard still stood watch outside the room holding Harris. “Where’s Elias?” she asked, directing the question to him and Nathaniel equally.

“Upstairs,” the guard replied.

She cast a look to the stairs skeptically, wondering why he was up there. With a distracted nod, she thanked the guard and then headed up to the kitchen.

Darkness greeted her at the top of the steps. Moving carefully around the boxes by the door, she walked into the shadowy kitchen, her shoes squeaking softly on the checkerboard tile. Stacks of pots and pans were tucked away in the shelving all around her, their metal reflecting the dim light coming through the small window in the dining area door. On the wall, a large clock showed the lateness of the time, and she grimaced, trying not to regret the extra hours of rest.

Nathaniel pushed open the swinging door and then held it for her. Dark red carpet deadened the sound of her footsteps as she walked into the room, and over the polished wood tables, most of the light fixtures were dark. From the walls, assorted pictures of everything from old sport teams to bizarrely painted animals gazed down on her, and in a corner, Elias sat with the man who’d met them outside earlier that day. Beneath the glow of a yellow-shaded lamp, the men were leaned back in their chairs, and Elias was shaking his head amusedly. A steaming plate of food sat between them, and on the wall above, the poster of a black-and-white science fiction movie hung, the characters pointing in horror at the plastic models of spaceships in the sky.

As the door swung closed, the men looked over. Grin broadening, the large man shifted his bulk out of his seat and rose to meet her. “Hey there,” he said, sharing his friendly smile with her and Nathaniel both. “Name’s Joe.”

He extended a calloused hand. Mirroring Nathaniel’s caution, she shook it carefully, her fingers lost in his massive palm. “Ashe,” she answered.

“Nice to meet you. Are you hungry? Come have a seat.”

Obeying his own direction, he started back toward the table.

“We need to get going,” she said, directing the words mostly to Elias.

The wizard hesitated. “Joe just heated this up for us, your majesty. With your permission, it’ll only take a moment to finish.”

Hearing the message behind the words, she paused, and then glanced back as Nathaniel silently headed for a table near the windows to keep watch on the parking lot.

Burying her frustration, she walked over to join Elias.

“So…” Joe said as she sat down. He motioned welcomingly to the plate of breadsticks and cheese dip in the middle of the table. “Elias tells me you’re queen to his folks?”

For all his friendliness, he didn’t seem quite able to keep the skepticism from his voice. She paused in reaching for a piece of bread, casting a glance to Elias.

“Something like that,” she answered, returning her attention to the food.

He grinned. “So you tell Mr. Wizard here what to do, eh?” he ribbed.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Elias carefully look down at the table. Uncomfortable, she said nothing.

“Ah,” Joe said, smile fading awkwardly. Waffling for a moment, he took another bite of the bread and cheese. “So… cheese dip good?”

Wiping the corner of her mouth, Ashe nodded and then swallowed. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Secret recipe,” he said. Elias gave him a dry look and the man’s grin returned. “Not really,” he admitted. “It’s just cheddar and cream with a few spices thrown in. You like it, I can always heat up more.”

Uncertain what to say, she gave him another neutral smile. “Thanks,” she said again.

He shrugged amicably.

A moment passed in silence.

“So…” she began.

“You’re wondering how I can see you lot, right?” Joe filled in. He grinned. “Guess you all just make an impression on a man.”

Brow drawing down, she glanced to Elias.

Reluctance flashed across the wizard’s face. “Joe’s daughter got caught in the crossfire a few years back,” Elias explained.

She looked back at the large man in surprise. “Was she–”

“Danielle’s fine,” Elias said succinctly.

She glanced at him curiously. Leaning back in his seat, Joe scoffed as though the words were an understatement.

“So–” Ashe started.

Elias pushed away from the table. “How about I go see if Mud’s finished up?” he offered, heading for the kitchen as he spoke.

“Tell him to lay off if he’s not,” Joe called. “Weird little guy was eating me out of business last I saw.”

Lifting a hand in agreement, Elias disappeared through the door.

Ashe watched him go. “Why…?”

“He doesn’t like to talk about what happened to Danni,” Joe said. He cleared his throat. “I mean Danielle. Twelve going on twenty, my girl. Claims she’s too grown up for daddy’s nicknames.”

She glanced back as he chuckled to himself.

“Not his fault,” Joe said to her expression. “Just blames himself, I think. Hates that a kid got caught in this mess.”

“What happened?”

“Eh,” he said, shrugging expansively. “A couple of those Taliesin folks ambushed Elias and his lady. And Danielle and I were walking back from a movie. Been going every weekend since her mom died. Loves the romantic comedies, my girl. Puts a man to shame, being seen in them, but what am I going to do? So one minute we’re walking along, and the next, my girl’s bleeding like she’s been hit by a firebomb.”

Ashe swallowed, and Joe nodded. “I know, right?” he said. “So yeah. I’m standing there, my brain trying to make up all these explanations, but honestly, I’ve no idea what just happened. And meanwhile, there’s my Danni, bleeding.

“Now, from what I’ve learned over the years, most of your kind just leave her, right? Collateral damage or whatever. But Katherine and Elias, they just pop out of nowhere, far as I can tell. He’s bleeding and she’s got murder in her eye, but he still grabs Danni and starts dragging her to the alley, while Katherine… well, she’s making my head spin. Everything is. Can’t really see her, can’t tell what the hell’s going on, but next thing I know, my girl’s back on her feet, and those two are telling us to run like the devil’s on our tail. Danni doesn’t know what happened; she’s just scared and wants to go home. But me… I know what I saw. My Danni was hurt. Now she’s not. And these two? They just take off. Yell at us to run and then do it themselves. Like I’m supposed to forget what just happened.

“Well, I get Danni home, and she tosses her clothes in the laundry like she can’t even see the blood. But me… like I said. I know what I saw. Leaves an impression on a man, watching someone you care about bleeding to death from something you can’t explain.”

Her gaze dropping to the table, Ashe said nothing.

“So yeah,” Joe continued, lost in his story. “Danni doesn’t remember. There’s nothing on the news at all. But here I am, knowing damn well my girl was bleeding her poor little heart out not two hours before, and I’ve got nothing to prove it. My mind’s trying to explain it, but…”

He grimaced, shaking his head.

“And then Katherine shows up. Just walks in from the living room like she’s been there the whole time. Scared the daylights out of me, I’m telling you. Her too. Don’t think she expected anyone to notice her stopping by.”

Joe chuckled. “It’s pretty rare, from what I understand. My kind seeing yours. Almost never happens, really. But when it comes to someone hurting my Danni, well… you better have more than magic up your sleeve to make me forget that. And Katherine, she’d snuck a peek at Danni’s ID with the full intent of coming by to check on her after the dust had gone down.
Check
on her,” he repeated. “Total stranger, Katherine was. And here she came, determined to make sure my girl was alright.”

He shook his head again. “Danni was. Totally healed. Not a scratch on her. Because of them.” He sighed. “So I have to thank them, right? But what do I have? Money? What good is that when my girl could’ve died? But when Katherine tells me what the hell’s going on, well, then I see a way. Got this restaurant, right? And who’s going to pay attention to a human in the middle of you all’s war?” He grinned. “So we made a deal. And the rest, as they say, is history.”

“I’m glad they could help her,” Ashe said quietly, not knowing how else to respond.

Joe scoffed. “You and me both.”

Oblivious to the awkward silence, he reached over, drawing another breadstick from the plate. She looked away, her gaze moving over the walls without landing on any image in particular.

She hadn’t known how to heal. Wasn’t good at it even now. Five months ago, she hadn’t even known what magic was. And Harris worked for the Blood. Maybe Malden had too.

Or maybe not.

Stomach twisting, she tried to push the memories away.

The kitchen door opened. Grateful for the interruption, she looked over as Elias returned, Mud trailing after him. Baggy coats still enveloped the man, making him look like a shuffling laundry pile. As he came closer to the light, however, she could see he’d made some effort to remove the dirt on his face, leaving scrubbed patches of paler skin amid the caked-on mess.

“What’s going on?” Mud asked, a half-eaten sandwich in each hand.

“You leave me any food down there?” Joe replied.

Mud gave him a blank look, and the man snorted. Rising heavily to his feet, he shook his head and then glanced to Elias.

“Lock up if ya’ll use the doors, eh?”

“Sure.”

Still shaking his head, Joe headed back toward the kitchen, muttering about weird men being bad for business as he went.

“What was that about?” Mud asked, looking around nervously.

Shuffling sideways, he edged back from Nathaniel as the wizard left his surveillance of the parking lot and came over to the table.

“Nothing,” Ashe said. She took a deep breath, trying to focus. “Mud, do you know of any other cripples hiding around here?”

Elias frowned.

“What?” she asked at his expression.

“We should leave town, your highness. We discussed this.”

Her eyebrow twitched up. “After finding Mud here? What if there are others?”

“What if there aren’t?”

“We still need to make sure. We’ll need their help to find the Blood.”

Elias looked away.

“So?” she prompted Mud.

Awkwardly, the cripple cast another glance to the kitchen and then gave a lopsided shrug. “Listen, your queenness. I risk my own life, alright? Not other’s. I mean, folks don’t seem to like me much, but I’m still not going to just volunteer them to get killed, okay?”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “We’re trying to help them, Mud. The ferals are still out there.”

“Yeah, well,” he hemmed, shifting beneath his coats. “I mean…”

“And we’re not going to force anyone to help us,” Ashe pressed.

His mouth worked around again, as though struggling with a tough bit of food. “I don’t know…”

“You’re risking their lives by
not
telling us where they are.”

“But how do I know that, huh?” Mud retorted defensively. “You’ve got your wizard guards haunting my every step, and just because you haven’t killed me yet, doesn’t mean–”

“
What
?”

“Well…”

Pushing to her feet, she shook her head incredulously. “Are the others ready to head back out?” she asked Elias.

“What’re you doing?” Mud asked.

“Your majesty…” Elias started.

“
Are
they?”

Elias grimaced. “Yes.”

“Good.” She hesitated, her skin crawling at the necessity of stealing another car. “Then we’ll hit the eastern side of town as soon as you find transportation.”

With a resigned nod, Elias started back toward the kitchen.

Looking between them in shock, Mud shuffled backward. “So what? You’re just going out there? But you don’t even know if anybody else is in town. They could have left. Or–”

“Have they?” she asked.

“I dunno.”

Fighting hard to keep her irritation in check, she took a breath, and then paused, watching the little man shift his weight from one foot to the other with an expression lost somewhere between defensiveness and bravado.

“Are you
scared
, Mud?” she asked.

Surprise flashed across his face, swiftly hidden. “No.”

“You know you’ll have half a dozen wizards around you if you go out there?”

Mud shrugged. “Just think it’s safer if we stay here or whatever…”

At the kitchen door, Elias glanced back, giving them both a dry look. She ignored him.

“We’re heading out either way,” she told Mud. “But it’ll go a lot better if you come too. And if you tell us what you know.”

Unwillingness twisting around his face, Mud shrugged again. “Okay…”

“Are there other cripples around here?”

Mouth working reluctantly, he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I might’ve seen a few roaming the north side of town.”

“What about anything more specific than that?” She cast an oblique look to Nathaniel, uncomfortable. “You know, signs where they might be hiding or something?”

Mud’s brow furrowed. “Signs?”

Ashe hesitated. “Or whatever.”