One Thousand Kisses (8 page)

Much like her exchange with the cat this morning, she and Embor eyed one another without comment, the only difference being neither of them broke off to lick their behinds.

Embor finally dropped his gaze to his briefcase, adjusting his grip. “Have you breakfasted?”

“No, I—”

“Good. Gangee said you needed an empty stomach.”

“This isn’t necessary. I feel very much myself this morning.”

He examined her from head to toe. Ani resisted the urge to fidget. Her toilette had been pointless. She’d never seen him wear anything elaborate or trendy. He wasn’t the type to be impressed by fripperies, but looking her best imbued her with confidence. Yesterday he’d seen her looking her worst, and behaving worse than that.

“Have you remembered what happened before you took ill?” he asked.

Ani hadn’t thought about it beyond the generalities. “It could have been as minor as a forgotten appointment. A number of things conspire to trigger a panic attack.”

“Did you forget an appointment?”

“Well, no. But anxiety is hardly a rare condition in this environment.” She often cared for the triplets. She often suffered through meals with the Torvals. The only unusual element in her day yesterday had been running into Embor, but she could hardly blame him for her overset.

To his face.

His stern, handsome face with kissable lips and piercing grey eyes.

She was a silly goose. That’s what was wrong with her.

Embor shifted his case to his other hand. “Walk or transport?”

If they walked, it would prolong the awkwardness. Why was this man so hard to talk to? If he could answer a question in a monosyllable, he did. Sometimes he did even when he shouldn’t.

If they transported, she’d get to touch him.

“Transport please.” She held out her hand as something fuzzy bumped her ankles.

He’s keeping secrets from you
, the cat said, his mind-voice a silken whisper.

When Embor reached for her, she snatched her arm back, peering at the cat. He seated himself beside the doorjamb and stared at the Primary.

“A cat,” Embor said.

“He was in my room this morning.” While cats communicated in mind speech, they couldn’t be addressed in mind speech, not that they’d acknowledged. Considering what the cat had just said about Embor, Ani didn’t want to respond aloud.

“Why are you here, Fey?” Embor asked.

Without taking his gaze off Embor, the tom began scratching the doorjamb slowly with one white paw.

Ani waited a moment before asking, “Did he tell you anything?”

“No.” Embor frowned. “I’ve seen that cat before.”

“Around Court?”

“Perhaps in a book. His pattern isn’t uncommon.” The cat’s paw raised and lowered. “Why is he scratching your door?”

“Maybe he’s marking it.”
Warning to Cats: The Lady Here Kicks You Out Of Bed.

“There’s no mark.”

“I doubt we can detect it.” Cats often seemed to see things fairies couldn’t, staring at walls and chasing nothing across the floor. “Master Fey, I have an appointment. Can I get you anything?”

“Miaow,” he said, but it didn’t translate.

“Very well.” If the cat chose not to elaborate, she couldn’t make him, much like another man in her present company. “I hope to see you later.”

Embor again held out his hand to transport them to the healer’s ward when the cat said to her,
He’s going to lie to you about the exam.

The cat’s timing was deliberate. So, too, his cryptic delivery. Cats were perfectly capable of being concrete. They chose not to be.

A little annoyed, she asked, “Would you like to speak with me in private, Master Fey?”

The cat quit scratching the jamb and began to wash his face. She knew a dismissal when she saw one.

Chapter Five

Embor waited patiently while Gangee examined Anisette. He’d decided not to discuss his sleep issues with the physician. He felt more rested today than he had in weeks.

Last night wasn’t the first time Anisette had appeared in his nightmares. That seemed to be the hallmark of these latest terrors, failing to bond with her and watching her die. It was, however, the first time he’d sought help. It was also the first time he hadn’t crawled from bed in a haze of fury and impotence, so exhausted he needed an immediate infusion.

Was that the secret? Asking for help? He’d woken before the nightmare’s dreadful conclusion and slept the rest of the night undisturbed. Besides, if he told Gangee, the healer would want to know about the energy globes. No need to give his staff cause to watch his comings and goings more closely.

The glow from the final spell faded, and Gangee patted Anisette’s knee. “Princess Anisette, you’re in perfect health.”

“Just as I assured the Primary I was.” Anisette pressed open a flower sewn to the neckline of her dress and peeked at Embor. Seated on the exam table, her face was level with his.

“I’m pleased to hear it.” That being said, he failed to believe last night’s episode had ordinary causes. She wasn’t of the nature to be unhinged and hurt people. She’d borne Talista’s antics with dignity, even when she’d been punished for covering up shenanigans.

If Anisette hadn’t collapsed five years ago when Talista had gone missing, the stress of Court training was hardly enough to overset her. Some other force was at work. Something had affected her that she didn’t understand or wasn’t sharing. Why else would she have tried to strangle him?

“What about her mental health?” he questioned the healer.

Anisette answered first. “I’m overscheduled, not unstable.”

“No one’s questioning your stability,” Gangee assured her with a pointed glance at Embor. “Your panic attack was an acute episode.”

“And isolated.” She folded her hands in her lap. “I’m recovered.”

“We can’t be certain.” Embor considered how much to tell her. She’d been exposed to many Court secrets, including the fact spirit magic wasn’t so much criminal as it was a necessary evil.

Yet she hadn’t mentioned any suspicions the Torvals might have used spirit magic on her. Misguided loyalty? Or had they erased her uncertainties? The Torvals were experienced and devious, and Anisette was no match for their wiles.

Embor rephrased his question. “Are her stress levels high?”

“Stress and hormone levels are within accepted parameters.”

“This is excessive.” Anisette’s fingers twitched, and her skirts rustled. When he glanced down, he saw the tips of satin slippers.

Last night she’d been barefoot—her feet as blue as the rest of her. He saw no dye now and wondered how she’d removed it. Wondered if she’d missed any spots and where they were.

When he raised his gaze to her face, checking her neck and lips for stains, she was regarding him curiously. He stared at the timepiece on the wall instead of her mouth.

“We’ve been here half an hour,” he said. “That’s not excessive.”

“It was a last-minute appointment.” She swung her feet gently. “Healer Gangee is busy.”

“No trouble. I had a cancellation.” The smaller man scribbled a notation on a clipboard, angling it away from Anisette. In a shorthand code known only to Embor, Skythia and their staff, he indicated that he wished to speak privately.

Embor’s fingertips tingled with an influx of angry heat. Gangee had found something. Had the Torvals harmed a hair on Anisette’s head? He’d kill them—no, he wasn’t barbaric, he’d have them sevendusted and banished to the beyond.

Possibly after some torture.

“I don’t see why anyone would be surprised I had a panic attack,” Anisette commented. If Embor hadn’t been so focused on her, he’d have missed the dryness in her tone.

“I was surprised,” he told her, thinking of the assault. Compassionate, tranquil Anisette, teaching herself pain magic? “Your behavior was highly irregular.”

“I know.” She stared at her hands. “I’m sorry. Will I be put on probation?”

“It’s already forgotten,” he assured her. He’d resorted to a touch of blackmail to ensure her cooperation, so her concern was understandable. Once they were bonded, they’d see eye to eye on most everything. Coercion would be unnecessary.

He’d explained this to Skythia, but she’d laughed so hard she’d given herself hiccups. She had no respect for the sanctity of such a union. No wonder the Seers had predicted she’d never bond with another fairy.

Gangee sorted through his medicants closet until he found an amber vial. “I’ll prescribe healing globes for anxiety.”

“She’ll take them,” Embor said at the same time Anisette said, “No, thank you.”

“Princess, you can’t treat yourself for this. If it happens again…” Gangee opened his fingers as if allowing a moth to escape. “Into the water with you.”

Anisette’s beautiful lips tightened. “How do you know about that?”

Embor had told Gangee about most of last night, leaving out the blue dye and how much he’d wanted to bed the princess. The healer probably took the second part for granted, all things considered.

Gangee smiled. “The Primary described his remedy when he made your appointment.”

“The Primary is neither my sib nor my spouse that he has authority over my medical treatment,” Anisette retorted.

The healer didn’t so much as blink, because what Anisette said was true. Embor had no authority over her medical treatment, nor she his.

Yet.

“You’re in complete control.” Gangee placed his fingers against her wrist. “However, your pulse has increased by fifteen percent in the past several minutes.”

Anisette exhaled, and her heels thudded the exam table. “I’m frustrated.”

“If you prefer naturopathy, I’ll prescribe two weeks of rest and aromatherapy,” Gangee suggested. Part of survival training included non-magical lifestyle options. “Stress is still part of your life. Your anxiety could flare up again. When I said your tension levels were within normal parameters, I didn’t mean they were low.”

“I’m a Court trainee,” she said. “Stress is an occupational hazard.”

“All the more reason to take two weeks off. Perhaps a visit to Gala? It’s nicer than Cappita this time of year.”

“I can’t take time off.” She raised her hand, pressing her finger to her lips, before jerking it away. “I have a project due in human studies, the Midsummer ball is next week, I’m scheduled to volunteer at the clinic and I’m babysitting the triplets for Jake and Talista’s anniversary.”

Embor noted with some satisfaction she hadn’t listed any activities involving Warran Torval. It was good the bastard had scant influence over her. She wouldn’t mourn when the Court banished him.

“All of that can be postponed or skipped.” Gangee fingerprinted a message globe, eschewing paper for the prescription. “I’ll authorize a leave of absence.”

“Princess Anisette, when was your last vacation?” Embor asked.

She shoved her hands under her legs. Her feet stopped swinging. “I accompanied Talista, Jake and the triplets to—”

“If the triplets were involved, it wasn’t a vacation,” Embor said with a slight smile.

For a moment she smiled back, a curl of her lips that began in one corner and overtook her whole face. To Embor’s knowledge it marked the first time they’d smiled at one another simultaneously.

But then she said, “When was the last time
you
went on holiday?”

“That’s hardly relevant.” He’d faked long weekends for his secret project. His last actual vacation had been in the aftermath of his kidnapping. Skythia—and the nightmares—had forced him on medical leave. He’d lasted one month until he’d threatened to torch Skythia’s house in Key West. His only scars from his misfortune now were the bite marks on his arms and his poor hearing.

No matter what Skythia thought. No matter that the nightmares had returned.

“Why is it not relevant?” Anisette tugged her braid over her shoulder and began to reaffix the binding. “If the Primary doesn’t need a vacation, a Court trainee doesn’t either.”

“Primaries don’t take vacations.” Embor clasped his hands behind his back before he gave in to the urge to unravel her shining auburn hair. She rarely wore it loose, and last night while wet it had looked—she had looked—utterly seductive.

“Skythia takes vacations, and she’s a Primary.” Anisette snapped the elastic on her braid and flipped it out of her way.

“I’ve taken three long weekends this year and returned to Court quite invigorated.”

“That’s hardly two weeks.”

“I didn’t need two weeks.”

“But I do? You’re no mere Fey, I suppose.”

“I can’t be.” Primary was the hardest job in the Realm, but in forty-eight years, with minimal breaks and maximum pressure, he’d never attacked another fairy unprovoked, spontaneously adopted combat magic, or had his memories tampered with.

Not even his kidnappers had tampered with his mind. They’d wanted him to recall every single detail with photographic clarity. Gangee had offered to wipe him, but Embor had opted to keep his nightmares close and his vengeful fantasies closer.

He hoped that hadn’t been a mistake.

“Everyone needs time off,” Anisette said. “Any good healer knows that.”

“As a healer yourself, you know you can’t ignore what happened to you or how you reacted,” Gangee said with a touch of asperity. “This good healer insists you accept the pills or the vacation.”

“Three long weekends is nine days total,” Embor said. “That’s close to two weeks.”

Anisette’s lips quivered, and Gangee rubbed his mouth in a way Embor recognized. Why was that amusing? When he tried to joke, no one laughed, yet they found humor in his logical conclusions.

She slid off the examination table and straightened her skirts. “Let me think about it and juggle some commitments. I’ll choose by tomorrow.”

“I want you back in three days for a training session on panic reactions. Instinctive magic can be dangerous.” Gangee didn’t specify the agony spell, but they all knew what he meant.

Anisette closed her eyes. “I don’t think I’ll do that again.”

Unfortunately, Embor agreed, which is why Gangee would be teaching her a sleep spell. If Warran or Ophelia assailed her, she might hesitate to inflict pain but not to put them to sleep. She could let Embor shoulder the guilt of harming them. It was his duty as Primary, and if he took more pleasure in some duties than in others, so be it.

“I also want her implanted with a Realmside escape tooth,” Embor said. The ones for humanspace weren’t formatted for the Realm. “If someone besides me had found her, this conversation might not be so cordial.”

Anisette reddened. “Yes. Well. I’d be honored to receive instruction from you, Healer Gangee.” She indicated the clock. “I have class in thirty minutes, and I’ve not yet breakfasted. I’m sure both of you have more important things to do than lecture a Court trainee about the pressures of modern life.” She hesitated by the door.

“I need to speak with Gangee on a different matter,” he told her. Conflicting emotions crossed her features at his words. He was unable to decipher any of them. “I’ll find you later to discuss your decision.”

“Don’t trouble yourself,” she said tartly. That emotion he could decipher easily. “You’ve done enough.”

“Nevertheless.” He watched her leave, watched her blue skirt sway back and forth and her spine stiffen with each step. He waited until she was out of range of the privacy spell on the office before turning back to Gangee.

“What did you find?”

The healer flipped up the clipboard. He sketched a rough outline of a fairy brain in a blank area. “Spirit magic affected her at some point in the past several days. I found fresh indications here and here, in the memory center.”

“I knew it.” Embor grabbed the cold marble tabletop and squeezed, wishing it was Warran Torval’s neck. He’d been right to mistrust that man. There were no grounds for anyone to have used the sixth arts on an innocent like the princess. “Can you reverse it?”

Gangee edged around the table until he was on the other side. “I don’t think so. It appears to be a one-time amnesia spell. Further tampering could erase more than it restores.”

“I’ll call her back.” Anisette couldn’t have gotten far. “We have to tell her.”

“I don’t advise it,” Gangee said. “Not yet. Knowing a spell has affected one’s memories has been found to hinder recovery.”

Embor would prefer to level with Anisette about this—and turn her against Warran—but Gangee was the healer.

“Very well, but if the Torvals are using spirit magic, we must act quickly.” Embor’s thought processes kicked into high gear as a fierce protectiveness surged. How dare anyone hurt Anisette? “First we’ll inform the cabinet. Then we’ll call an emergency session of the Elder Court. The Torvals will be sevendusted and exiled before she returns from vacation.” He’d see to it she disappeared from the Court’s radar until Warran and Ophelia were so far out of the picture they might as well no longer exist.

“I’m sorry, Primary. We can’t do that.” Gangee sidled further behind the table.