THE BAZAAR (The Devany Miller Series) (12 page)

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome."

She nodded once, and then she vanished. No poof, no whoosh of air, nothing. "Did I kill her? Is she dead?"

No. But be expecting a visit from Tytan.

Her disapproval rocked me to my toes. "I had to."

You don't listen. You're like a child, always doing things first and thinking about them later.

"Hey now—wait a minute. That sounds like a line from the movie we watched the other night."

Arsinua didn't say anything. Her embarrassment at being caught spouting someone else's words of wisdom filled me. I chuckled. "I'm not either like a child. I'm merely an innocent bystander thrust into a situation for which she has no frame of reference, no rule book, no way of knowing what's right or wrong. It has nothing to do with willful ignorance and everything to do with being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

I don't believe in coincidence. Why ever you were in the hook at that moment, why ever you chose the glow stone to stop the assassin, why ever you survived the blast with me, the heart, and the assassin inside you, rest assured it was for a reason.

"I don't believe in that kind of thing. I don't believe in fate."

That's all right. Fate does not need belief. It is as inevitable as the tides.

I grunted. I believed in choices. I didn't, couldn't believe that everything was mapped out, that my actions were preordained. What would be the reason for it and, by extension, the purpose of being a thinking being? Too heavy a subject for a fall afternoon, I decided. I didn't get out the door, though, before Tytan appeared, looking pissed.

I smiled in return. "Yes I did. Get over it."

For once, he had nothing to say. 

I inched around him and tried to slip out the door but his hand on my arm stopped me. I gave him a look.

"I can protect you."

I put my hand on my hip. "For a price." He smiled that lazy smile of his and a slow, smoky heat crawled through my body. I shook off his hand. "Stop that."

"I would enjoy having you in my bed," he said, reaching out to trail one long finger over my collarbone, the lust he injected into me making my hips bump ever so ladylike toward him. 

I knocked his finger away. "Not ever happening." I looked around him to the hallway, hoping the kids wouldn't hear, hoping they wouldn't come looking for me for any reason. "Go away."

Instead, he reached into my pants pocket and pulled out a lodestone. "Amazing. You are quite a woman. No one has ever managed to bring one this large to your universe." He stepped closer and took his own sweet time putting it back. "So special and all mine."

"No, not all yours. I'm my own person, thanks. I might be working for you now, but I don't like it and I don't like you. Trust me, I'll figure a way out of it." I put a hand on his chest and tried to push him. "Now go away."

"Don't fuck with me, Devany. Your little show of independence was amusing." He planted his hand on my chest and slammed me against the doorjamb. "But you crossed the line and I have to exact punishment."

Oh shit. "Take it from me then. Don't touch my kids."

He grinned. "Don't worry. Your kids are safe. For now." And then he vanished, but I still heard his voice, a wisp in the air as he said, "Your husband, on the other hand … "

My cell phone rang. I looked at the number on the caller ID. County General Hospital. My knees wobbled. "What have you done?"

FIFTEEN

T
om was bruised and sore but breathing. The kids and I rushed down to the hospital to find the doctor putting the last stitch in his hand. As we hovered, my heart pounding hard in my chest, the doctor said he could go home. That he'd be sore for a couple of days but that he was a lucky man.

He'd been pulling out of the garage at work when one of the city buses had lost control of its brakes and plowed into him, shoving his Miata into a pick-up and squashing it like a pop can. "I was lucky, Dev. So lucky. The paramedics said they couldn't believe I was alive, let alone able to stand when they cut me out."

Bethany and Liam both hugged him, crying, the stress of the last few days overwhelming them. I must confess I teared up too, but mostly I was angry. Rage filled me that Tytan could do what he pleased whenever he wanted. Why the hell had he needed the heart? He could mess with this world even if he wasn't able to stay corporeal in it.

I wanted to kill him, pondered ways to do that, how to do that. Tom interrupted my revenge fantasies when he spoke.

"Strange, right before the crash I saw this woman, an angel. She stepped between the bus and me. Saved my life, I know it. I asked about her at the scene, but nobody saw any woman." He shook his head, then looked at me, his face youthful in his hope. "You and the kids were what I held onto. I prayed I would survive to make things right."

Shit. I didn't want him to do that. I didn't want him thinking he could make things right. I wanted him to grovel, to accept his fate and to work hard not to make my life any more miserable than it already was. Was that so much to ask? And the woman he'd seen. Had that been Lucy? Sent by Tytan to save him? Or hurt him in the first place?

"Daddy, I was so scared you were dead," Bethany wailed, her face pale.

"I'm fine, sweetheart. I'm okay. It will be okay." He was hugging her close, wincing when she accidentally bumped his sore ribs. Liam had done his emotional bit and was now staring into the tall locked cabinet full of medical supplies. Tom carefully slipped off the table, paper crackling as he rose. 

We drove my car home. In the silence, it occurred to me Tom no longer had the stupid Miata that had been the impetus for his affair. Had Tytan done that on purpose? He wanted to send me a warning, but had he also tried—in his oh-so-twisted way—to give me a gift as well?

Don't read kindness into anything the Skriven does. He works only for his self-gain and self-gratification. Nothing else.

I grunted, uncomfortably aware of Tom, who hadn't stopped gazing over at me since getting in the car. To Arsinua, I said, 'We need to get those lodestones working in our favor.' I gnawed on my lower lip then asked, 'Would they work to keep out Tytan?'

No. You are his Archaeon Tezrya. Your bond allows him the right to contact you whenever he wishes.

Oh boy. 'I need to find a way to get out of this bond. I don't want to work with him anymore.'

You'll have to kill him, then.

Right. As if I had a chance in hell—or should I say Slip—to do that. I'd have to find a loophole. 'Who is Cyres?'

I don't know.

'Nex said I could help Tytan find her. Whoever she is.' I pulled up to the house. Tytan sat on the edge of the rooftop and I cursed, loudly. He vanished as soon as the words left my lips.

"Devany!" At least my language had knocked the loopy, hangdog look off Tom's face.

"All right Mom," Liam said as Bethany giggled.

"Sorry." I refused to look again. Damn him. "Just thought of something I need to do at work tomorrow."

"Must be important for you to use that kind of language," Tom muttered. 

Yeah, Mr. Perfect. Criticize me about cussing. It's totally in the same league as cheating. I slammed the car door, taking the ribbing from Liam and Bethany with as much grace as I could muster. It was already late, the ER time having eaten up our evening, so I cajoled the kids to bed. They wanted to stay up and talk about Tom's accident but I convinced them school would come sooner than they liked and they finally agreed to settle down for the night.

Tom slumped on the bed in our room. I cursed again—under my breath this time—realizing I hadn't had the chance to move Tom out yet. He didn't want to move out, or at least his lawyer didn't want him to, but neither did I want to continue to share a bed with him. He'd start pushing for more intimacy, reading into my presence in the bed as forgiveness. I wasn't planning to forgive him any time soon.

If ever.

I locked myself in the bathroom, checked for errant demons, then stripped and showered. I'd managed to get the lodestones but hadn't had any time to charge them to create another layer of protection around my family. I'd managed to piss off a demon and name a formless one, although I still had no clue what the hell that had done except make an incredibly sad looking woman smile.

I brushed my teeth, braided my hair and reluctantly left the bathroom. Tom was in bed looking pitiful and in pain. Maybe he was in pain, but I wasn't in a generous mood. I slipped into bed, presenting my back to him.

"Devany?"

I managed to keep my impatient exhale of air quiet. "What?" I rolled to my back, turning my head toward him.

"I had a brush with death today."

The bed jounced as he turned toward me. His brow would be furrowed, the wrinkles deepened by the look of concentration on his face. I knew his face so well. Too bad his heart wasn't as easy to read.

"It made me realize how selfish I've been. To you. Even before ... the thing with her. I wasn't putting enough of myself into our marriage. But my accident made me realize how much I love you. Truly, deeply love you."

I don't care. I don't care, I told myself again. I don't. Sure he loved me now. It took almost dying to figure that out? Why couldn't he have loved me enough before that? It was like saying, 'I love you because you gave me diamonds today. Yesterday, when you gave me plain old rocks, I didn't love you. But now, those diamonds made me realize you're important to me.'

My silence must have alerted him that something was wrong. "Devany? Are you listening?"

No, I wanted to say. Don't wanna, can't make me. "Yes."

"Do you understand what I'm saying? How much you mean to me?"

Not buying it with a million dollars, buster. "I understand that you believe what you're saying." I almost giggled. I sounded like a twelve-dollar therapist. "Listen, I know the accident shook you up. I'm so glad you're okay." I took a deep breath, my stomach clenching even though what I was about to say was right, was true to my heart. "But this doesn't change anything for me. You broke my heart, Tom. I doubt there's glue anywhere in the world that could mend it."

Tom touched my arm, a gentle tease of fingertips. "Please. Give me another chance. I'll never betray you again. I promise."

I pressed my fingertips into the bridge of my nose. "I can't. I can't trust you. You don't realize the depth of pain you caused, how violated I feel, knowing you slept with a stranger and then slept with me. You didn't take my health into consideration. My feelings. Our marriage vows."

"I never slept with her.”

"Really Tom? You've been going off on weekends with a twenty-two year old. You lied to me about it and now you want me to believe you never fucked her?” I stood, unable to stay near him a moment longer. "Tomorrow you move to the spare bedroom. I'll stay there tonight, but you're taking it tomorrow." 

I took my pillow and left, walking softly down the hall so I wouldn't wake the kids. My cheeks were wet with the hot tears I'd been shedding without realizing. God I was tired of crying. I slipped between the sheets of the guestroom bed, tucking my pillow between my ear and my arm. I stared at the unfamiliar shadows in the room and wished away months of my life, wished away enough of them that I would be far down the road from this horrible, hurtful mess.

It isn't right to wish away your life. 

Her quiet words stopped my pity party in its tracks. She would know, wouldn't she? She'd lost hers in a blinding flash. I rolled onto my back. "How do I use them?" I had to do something to keep my mind off my sorry home situation. Fixing the security problems would help. 

We need to attach different spells to each. A few we can set with protection and cloaking. At least one to trip an alarm when any magic workers are near. They won't have their power on this side, but they could use simple location spells. If they were quick, they'd be able to find you before the magic bled out. With the cloaking spells, they shouldn't be able to find us in the time they'll have, but the alarm will sound any way, letting us know someone is trying to find you.

"Can we attach protection spells to a few for Liam and Bethy to carry?"

Yes. And your husband?

I pursed my lips. "Can we attach a spell for protection and a chronic limp dick?"

She didn't want to laugh but she did anyway. She also didn't answer me, but I'd push the issue later. He deserved it, I'm sure. "Let's get this done, then. I won't be able to sleep for a while."

Downstairs, I grabbed a container of salt, a glass, the half bottle of wine from Tom's and my last date night, a couple of candles, matches. I had to make a few trips, because I was starving again and had to lug up enough food for four. When I had my supplies strewn across the bed and after I'd eaten half the food, I poured the salt around me in a large circle as Arsinua instructed.

"Why am I doing this? Isn't this a little clichéd? Besides, you said there isn't any magic here."

There isn't any innate magic here, but there are beings that can tell when you perform magic, even here. This will keep all but the strongest away, and hopefully the strongest won't be interested in what we do tonight.

I set out the glass, the wine, and the candles. Lit the candles and set them in votive holders to keep from catching the carpet on fire. 

What's the wine for?

"My mental health," I said, pouring myself a glass. "Aren't you supposed to drink something when you're performing a ritual?"

I don't. It blurs the mind. You should wait. At least until after we've charged the stones.

"Fine." I set the wine on the night table, gathered the rocks and laid them in a pile in front of me. "Tell me what I need to do."

First, you need to picture a globe around you. Hold a lodestone in each hand; it will help focus your energy.

I picked up two, feeling silly. "Why don't you do this? You know how. You're the ... witch."

You need to know. In the Slip, or if I'm not around.

"Where would you go?"

Arsinua was silent. Her pain curled around my own, deepening the hurt, similar and yet so different.
Someday I hope you will be able to release me. To send my soul to join my body.

"To die. That's what you mean."

Yes.

I sighed. Unshed tears pressed against my lids. I pushed the need to cry away, pictured a globe around me. I made it purple, thick like old glass. There was a zap of energy, and my spine straightened. "Holy shit. I did that?" The air around me crackled with energy, sparks sizzling across the surface of the dome and sliding right through the floor. 

You're using the heart. 

"I'm not. At least, I'm not trying to. Can't you stop me?"

I—I don't think so. It's too powerful. 

Power surged within me as if I'd plugged myself into a socket—only without the pain, thank goodness. I held up the lodestone and pictured Bethany, pictured a globe of safety around her. It formed and the spell attached itself to the stone. As if I'd been working magic my entire life, I completed that work and set the rock aside. I felt Arsinua's worry that I was tapping the heart but I pushed aside those thoughts. I had to concentrate or I might attach the spell wrong and fuck things up.

I picked up one for Liam and did the same visualization for him. When the spell set, I placed it beside Bethy's. Before I'd started, I worried that I wouldn't tell which would go where and had planned to mark them with a Sharpie, but I didn't have any difficulty telling the lodestones apart. They felt different.

I then picked up a group of five and pictured a dome of safety and concealment around the entire house. The magic tugged at the heart deep inside me, as if this required a heavier load of energy. I took a deep breath and relaxed my muscles. Energy surged through me and blasted into the stones. The dome appeared in my head, solid, beautiful, a deep brown that bent light around it. 

I set those aside and picked up another. This one for Tom. God, it would be hard. I used my love to make protection for the kids, but my love for Tom was now colored by my anger at him. Wouldn't that make any protection spell flawed? I struggled, then pictured the day I married him, the love I had for him then. For that I protected him, and for Liam and Bethany. I set the spell and put the stone aside, feeling proud that I hadn't given in to temptation and added something bad. There were about ten stones left. I picked up two more. "How do I do this magic tripwire thing?" At first, I couldn't even hear Arsinua over the roar of energy inside me. I focused on shutting the door I'd opened. When the roar dulled to a hiss, I finally heard her. Screaming.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Zech! They have Zech. He's hurt. He's in so much pain.

She was sobbing so hard I couldn't understand her next words. "Wait? How do you know? Arsinua? Answer me, please."

Yarnell. Adamante. They took him last night, after the ceremony. Oh no. Oh no.

Her keening made me cringe. I let out a breath and opened up the heart again, picturing Zech, picturing his smile, his dimples as he poured my sugar at the fair. For a moment, the air shimmered as a door formed. Arsinua screamed again.

No! Devany, don't!

Too late.