Nicole Peeler - [Jane True 01] (36 page)

So I sat with Elspeth for hours, listening to her stories and relaxing
in the weak November sunlight. A few beings came out and swam in the pool, but
they seemed unaffected by its power. I guess unless you were like me, a water
elemental or whatever the hell I was, it was just a pool. And not uncut heroin.

When it was time for lunch, we wandered back into the Compound. I was
surprised to see Ryu there, already awake, until I realized it was after three
o’clock. He was sitting with Wally, the djinn, and I waggled my eyebrows at him
as we approached. Ryu managed to keep a straight face, excused himself, and
came toward me.

“Not so fast, you little minx,” he said, pulling me into a hard embrace.

“Aww.” I grinned. “I wanted to meet your friend.”

“I’m sure you do, darling. And Wally would love to meet you, too. He’d
meet you right up against the wall if you gave him a chance. But you’re all
mine,” he finished, giving my lower lip a predatory nip that nearly sent my
body plummeting to the floor and my libido crashing through the roof.

I actually whimpered, and Ryu chuckled. Then his face grew more serious
as he whispered into my ear. “Did you hear what happened?”

“Yes,” I said, all traces of lust suddenly wiped from my system.
“Elspeth told me this morning, at breakfast. I thought at first she was telling
me that they knew it was Jimmu who’d done it, but no such luck.”

Ryu frowned, his expression troubled.

“What are we going to do?” I asked.

“I’ve got no fucking clue,” he replied, shaking his head. “The game’s
afoot, obviously. The problem is, we have no idea what the game is, or who’s
playing it, or what the stakes are.” He was mixing his metaphors, but I didn’t
think he’d appreciate being confronted on that one, so I just nodded.

“We need more information,” I said. “And I need lunch.”

Ryu rolled his eyes. “I’m going to hook you up to an IV and roll it
around with you. You
never
stop eating.”

“Hey, you eat during sex and you don’t hear me complaining.”

He blinked at me before he burst out laughing. When he finally stopped,
his pupils were dilated and he was flashing me some full-frontal canines.

“You’re not complaining because you’re usually shouting my name.” He
smirked. “Or calling out to God. But don’t feel bad—it’s a mistake many women
make.”

I gave him the hairy eyeball. “It’s because every time we make love I’m
dreaming of sandwiches. Grilled cheese—cheddar, of course—with bacon. And just
a little chopped up tomato sprinkled between the cheese and the bacon.”

Ryu pulled away to meet my eyes appraisingly. “You’re not serious, are
you?” he asked, finally.

I considered telling him that I was, just to get him back for the “all
the other women” comment, but decided against it.

“No,” I said, finally. “It’s really because you rock my casbah.” I
stretched up on my tiptoes to kiss the frown from his lips.

“Can lunch wait?” he asked, when I let him up for air.

No!
my stomach grumbled. But there was a resounding vote
of
yes!
coming from down below my belt. The below-the-belt party won,
and I took Ryu’s hand to lead him up to our room. “But you have to order us
some sandwiches,” I said as we trotted up the stairs. “Grilled cheese. With
bacon and tomatoes.” He nodded, and both parties cheered. It was a win-win
situation.

Hours later, lying intertwined with Ryu with the remains of my sandwich
clinging to my lips in the form of a few stray crumbs, I groaned. But this time
it was with trepidation and not pleasure.

“What’s wrong?” he murmured.

“Elspeth is going to be here soon and I have no idea what to wear. I’ll
have to borrow something. Or wear that red dress again. Is that dressy enough,
do you think?”

Ryu’s grin widened. I stared at him, but he didn’t spill. We were at an
impasse.

“Okay,” I said, breaking under the pressure. “What’s the dealio?”

“Go look in my closet, top shelf. You’ll need a chair.”

I had a feeling I knew what was coming, but it was way too
Pretty
Woman
for me to believe. I got up out of the bed and dragged our little
armchair over to Ryu’s closet. I tried not to let it remind me of the last time
I looked in the top shelf of a closet. But this time instead of a metal box
full of ears that was set to blow up at a strange touch, there was a large
white box wrapped in silver cord. It had a sticker labeling it as being from
Iris’s boutique. I liked this box much better.

“Oh, Ryu,” I whispered. “You didn’t.”

“Of course I did,” he said from the bed. “As soon as we decided to come
out here, I had Iris wrap it up. You might not get a chance to dress up in
Rockabill, but you certainly will here.”

I finally found the strength to pull the box down from the shelf. It was
very large and unwieldy, and I wondered where he’d had it stashed.
Duh,
I thought,
of course.

“I thought you had the goblin bodies stuffed back there!” I exclaimed,
getting off the chair and climbing back into bed next to Ryu, clutching the big
box to my chest. I felt like a little girl at Christmas.

“Huh?” Ryu asked, confused.

“In the trunk of your car,” I clarified. “When you wouldn’t let me put
my stuff in there, I figured you had the bodies back there.”

“Why would I have goblin bodies in the back of my Porsche?” he asked,
like that was the craziest thing he’d ever heard.

I looked at him, levelly. “Ryu, I’m still getting over the fact that
there
are
goblin bodies out there, period. Whether or not it’s
reasonable to shove them into the trunk of your car is really beside the
point.”

He laughed and leaned forward to kiss me. “Good point,” he conceded.
Then he teasingly shook the box. “Open it,” he commanded, gently.

I undid the silver cord and lifted off the box cover. Underneath a thin
wrapping of tissue paper lay the silvery dress and the pair of heels with the
black bows.

“Oh, Ryu,” I breathed. “I feel just like Julia Roberts. Only without the
hooker aspect. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, Miss True,” he said, leaning back against the
headboard. “And this one is from me. No company expense accounts were harmed in
the purchasing of this present.”

I’d stood up, held the dress in front of me, and looked at myself in the
mirror. It was just as perfect as I’d remembered it. Although what I was going
to do with my boobs was beyond me—hopefully Elspeth had some magic spell for
keeping boobs and dresses in their proper places. I turned to Ryu, grinning
like a jack-o’-lantern. For the moment, all traces of anxiety were gone.

“Amazing sex, beautiful clothes,
and
a grilled cheese whenever I
ask—I could get used to this life,” I joked, turning back to the mirror and
trying to balance the dress against me and hold up my hair at the same time.

Suddenly Ryu was behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist,
underneath the dress. He nuzzled into my neck, inhaling deeply. “That’s the
plan, Jane,” he murmured, before meeting my gaze in the mirror.

For a split second I thought he was serious. Then my brain kicked in.
Get
over yourself
, it advised, remembering all the women at the hotel.
He
does this for a living… literally
.

Laughter burbled up from my lips and I turned around in his arms, the
dress pressed between us.

“So that’s why the Alfar put crack in their pool. Get me addicted, and
I’ll never leave!”

Ryu returned the laugh and took the dress from me. He hung it up, ever
so gently, then pushed me toward the bathroom as he started getting dressed.

“Go get ready for Elspeth, sweetness. I’ll meet you back here when it’s
time for dinner.” I nodded. “And Jane,” he said, his tone suddenly serious. “Be
on your toes tonight. I have no idea what is going to happen. But if anything
bad kicks off, you run—get out of the main hall and try to make it back to our
rooms. When you get here, lock the doors, and don’t open them for anyone but
me, okay?”

I was again plunged into worry about this evening. Which was good; I
should never have let myself get lulled into a false sense of security.

He smiled at me, but his expression was tight. “I’ll keep you safe,” he
said. “I swear. But don’t trust anyone else. Just run and I’ll find you.”

“Okay,” I said, giving him an equally unhappy smile. He kissed me on the
cheek and then took a suit bag out of the closet as well as the shopping bag
he’d picked up from Nell and Anyan’s cabin.

“I’m meeting Wally,” he said. “Then I’ll find somewhere else to change.
I don’t want to get in Elspeth’s way.” He kissed me good-bye, giving my hand an
encouraging little squeeze before he left.

When Ryu was gone I took a deep breath. I felt totally unprepared for
tonight. I was like a mouse that had found herself invited to the neighborhood
cats’ spring fling. I should be donning armor and stashing semi-automatic
weapons about my person, not worrying about whether I should wear my hair up or
down that evening.

Which reminded me…
Should I wear my hair up? Or down?
I sighed,
betrayed by my vanity at a time when I most needed to be strong and cynical. I
decided I’d let Elspeth choose, and went to get in the shower. If I was going
to my death that evening, I could at least go out looking my best.
Which
means you should wear underpants
, I thought. I looked at the beautifully
flimsy dress hanging in the closet.

Nah
.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

E
ven I
had to admit that I looked pretty hot. But Ryu, he was almost out of this
world. “Gee whillikers,” I breathed, when he came in to the sitting room where
I sat, waiting. He was wearing the most beautiful tux I’d ever seen—not that
I’d seen many—and he looked
gorgeous
. We just stood there, looking at
one another for a few seconds.

“You look fantastic, Jane,” he said, finally. I stood up and gave him a
little twirl. How could I
not
look fantastic in this dress? Even Elspeth
had been impressed when I’d taken it out of the closet.

My hair was, once again, up in a little twist. As for the boobs, those
had been taken care of the old-fashioned way. When I explained to Elspeth my
concerns—that I couldn’t wear any of the bras I had with me and going commando
was not an option—she’d said that would be no problem. I’d thought she was
going to do some magic—a spell to keep everything in place and perky. But no:
To my horror, she’d pulled a roll of duct tape out of her little bag.

“All is fair in love and fashion,” she said, the tape ripping ominously
as she unrolled a piece. So, underneath my dress I was trussed up like a heating
duct, but nobody had to know that except for me. And the emergency medical team
that I planned on calling to get the shit off.

Ryu and I fussed over each other for a few more minutes, and then I took
his arm and we went down to dinner. I was very careful to pick up my feet so I
didn’t trip over anything, and Ryu wasn’t taking any chances either. He had his
other hand wrapped over mine like a vice, which I appreciated. Balletic grace
and I were not on speaking terms.

The hall was beautifully decorated that evening—bedecked with flowers
and other natural elements. Instead of using the dining room, tables were set
up in the main hall on either side of the central aisle. The main dais had also
been elevated, and the thrones replaced with a head table. Underneath that dais
was a new secondary dais, which was empty and meant to be a stage, I figured.

Ryu had planned our entrance to be fashionably late, of course, and the
room was quite crowded when we arrived. Over the three days we’d been in the
Compound, it had slowly grown from mostly empty on Thursday to what looked to
be about full capacity on Saturday. Obviously the weekend was
the
time
for the supes to hit their Court, and I wondered how often they had these kinds
of parties. Ryu rolled his eyes when I asked him.