The Dreamer's Curse (Book 2) (25 page)

The man’s breath stank to high heaven and his eyes rolled
like a wild animal trying to figure out how to bolt.

“Forgive the late introduction, goodman,” de Luca continued
pleasantly, as if they were chatting over tea. “This is my close friend,
Artifactor Sevana Warran.”

Rabi let out a choked sound of pure fear.

Her lips stretched even further, baring more teeth. He had
every right to be afraid. After the weeks of pent-up frustration, followed by a
wild goose chase that put her back in
that
fool’s sphere, she felt the
need to pound on something until she felt better.

“Do you understand now? I will curse you so that you will
never have any peace, or rest, or sanity until the day you breathe your last
unless you
tell me where the original is
.”

“It’s h-h-here, right here,” he assured her brokenly,
wiggling free and squirming until she finally released him. Then he fell to all
fours and scrambled to a back corner, curtained off from view, although he
appeared barely a second later with a very familiar black box in hand. When he
shifted the curtain aside, however, she saw in openmouthed dismay that he had
not made a simple three copies as she thought, but had a whole production line
behind that curtain. From this viewpoint, she counted a good two dozen lined up
on some upturned crates, all of them in various stages of completion.

He hastily brought the box to her and set it on the table
before scrambling backward again, anxious to put some distance between them
although with the confines of the small tent he couldn’t manage more than four
feet. Sevana tucked her wand under one arm and touched the behave box,
springing it open. Huh? Strange, it shouldn’t open that easily. Turning the box
slightly, she saw that it had been forced open on one side and so could no
longer close properly. Ah, of course. They couldn’t magic it open so they used
brute force, eh? Made sense.

Lifting the lid, she took a good look inside before daring
to lift the gadgick free. This time, she had no doubt it was the original
before she even touched it. It still radiated a trace amount of magic even
though it had been sealed away for so many days.

Sarsen leaned over her shoulder for a better look. “That’s
it.”

“That’s it,” she agreed with a breath of relief. Eyes
narrowing, she looked back up at Rabi. “Where did you get this?”

“A-a strange man offered a trade for it,” he answered with
nervous looks between her and the count. “He said it was too famous to trade in
Windamere. I heard the story, knew what it was, so gave him a good deal. My
lord count, I followed the tenets!” this last he said in a plaintive wail.

De Luca spread his hands in an apologetic shrug. “He does
have a point, my dear. A black market would cease to be altogether if he
weren’t allowed to broker deals like this one.”

Rationally, she understood that. But it was the culmination
of having to work so hard to get this gadgick free, then have it stolen from
her, and then have to come all this way to a place she hated and have to track
it down
again
. “If you think I’m paying you for something that was
stolen from me, you’re barmy,” she informed him tartly. In fact, just the idea
that he would do so made her boiling mad. Putting the gadgick back in the box,
she shoved it into Sarsen’s hands before ordering Rabi, “Kneel.
Now
.”

Too scared to do anything else, he dropped to his knees and
cowered. Sevana had no idea what expression she wore just then, but it must
have been something as even de Luca, with his twisted mind, looked impressed.
Ignoring her audience, she focused on the forger/vendor. “Let’s be clear on
this, Rabi. It’s not the fact that you took on a stolen product that bothers
me. This is, after all, a black market. I
expected
it to show up here.”

He looked hopeful at her words and gave a ginger nod.

“No, I’m angry with you for a different reason entirely.”
Pointing her wand at the nearest section of gadgick wannabes, she blasted them
into dust, making everyone jump. “Do you know why I’m mad? No? Allow me to
explain. I have spent the past
four hours
crisscrossing this mad
labyrinth searching and being fooled by
your
fakes when it could have
been prevented.”

Just the thought ignited her anger all over again and she
blasted another section of the pottery, making white dust fly everywhere. Rabi
lost five years of his life and started shaking nervously, no doubt wondering
when that wand would turn on him. “Your greed, your selfish desire to flood the
market with
dozens
of these has already wasted hours of my valuable
time—” BLAST! “—and would have wasted even
more
time if I had gotten here
any later! I might very well have spent
years
tracking every one of
these things down if I had been delayed by even a few days!”
Blast!

“B-but my lady Artifactor,” Rabi dared to argue even though
his voice shook. “I didn’t steal it from you!”

“I know that!” she snapped at him. “I’m just taking it out
on you!”

The count whispered behind her back, “Is she always this
unreasonable when she’s angry?”

“Always,” Sarsen whispered back. “But she’s worse when she’s
sleep deprived. Be thankful that she slept on the way up here, or this section
of the market would likely be in tatters.”

With a last blast of the wand, she destroyed any trace of
what was left of the fakes. She didn’t feel particularly satisfied by it, but
her temper had cooled enough that she wasn’t tempted to blast Rabi too. With a
huff, she turned on her heel and headed back for the skimmer. “We’re done
here.”

De Luca, laughing, lengthened his stride in order to catch
up with her. “My love, you are simply dazzling when you’re angry!”

She shot him a glare. “You’re paying for that.”

“Of course,” he assured her as if he hadn’t been expecting
anything different.

“Sarsen, is that thing properly secured?” she asked, not
slowing her speed any.

“It is,” he assured her. “What now?”

“We’re going directly to Jacen’s from here,” she said
firmly.

De Luca let out a squawk of protest. “No! You can’t just
leave only hours after having arrived!”

Her eyes cut to the side to regard him suspiciously. Why did
he sound as if he had ulterior motives in saying that? Wait, what was she
thinking? Of
course
he did! She never had any intention of staying the
night at his mansion anyway, but after that, she felt particularly glad they’d
found the gadgick on the first day of the search.

“Romano, I don’t dare dawdle. The last time I waited for the
morning before transporting that thing, it was stolen that night. With me being
this close to a black market, the odds of it disappearing while I sleep are
even
worse
. No, we’re leaving now and it’s going straight into the hands
of someone I trust.”

He gave her puppy eyes, silently imploring for her to stay.
With complete ease, she ignored him.

“And after that?” Sarsen asked. “Back to Chastain to finish
up the job?”

She nodded confirmation. “And after
that
I’m
collecting a certain boy and going home.”

Sky’s hand trembled in hers, his eyes wide as he looked all
around. He might not have any magic in him, but he didn’t need it to see that
he had stepped into an unworldly realm. The very air glowed, and the trees and
plants grew in vibrant hues that no human saw naturally. Even the scent was
different, as if a fine perfume had been sprayed through the forest.

“Are you sure we should be here?” he whispered.

“No, we really shouldn’t be,” she told him seriously. “Or at
least, I shouldn’t be. We’ve been in Fae territory for some time now, and they
don’t like outsiders coming this close. But because I have you in tow, they’re
curious, and they’re letting me approach without warning me off.”

He gulped nervously. “How’d you know?”

“I can sense them.” They possessed a very different kind of
magic, but to her senses, they were like lit beacons surrounding her on all
sides. But she hadn’t lied to the kid—as long as she had no ill intent and she
had a young child in tow, they would let her approach.

It had been a week since her rather interesting trip to
Belen and her retrieval of the gadgick. She and Sarsen had delivered it safely
into Jacen’s eager hands, and with a sigh of relief to have
that
out of
the way, went back to Chastain. After spending two days on cleanup, she had
finally won free and clear of the job. Of course, that was when the real
trouble began. Just remembering it gave her a headache.

Decker—henceforth known as ‘the rat fink’—had led a campaign
to give her an Illeyanic pup. Even though she’d explained multiple times that
she had a grumpy old mountain lion that would
not
look favorably upon a
puppy invading his territory, they’d insisted she take it anyway. Decker
trotted out all sorts of reasons and assurances that convinced the whole
village it was a splendid idea to where it made it impossible for her to refuse
with either good
or
bad grace. Sky hadn’t helped matters either, as he
had happily scooped up the puppy and cuddled with it while she argued.

In the end, she’d given in, wondering how in the world she’d
deal with Baby when she returned. Then, after all of that, the rat fink further
embarrassed her by doing something he knew she wasn’t comfortable with.

He had hugged her.

With a mischievous smirk on his face he’d swooped in,
grabbed her up in a tight bear hug that lifted her feet off the ground, and
before she could hex him, put her down again and danced off. Of course, when he
got by with it, the whole village seemed to find that a grand way to bid her
farewell and they’d done it
too.
 

“Sevana?” Sky looked up at her askance. “Are you mad?”

“I’m just remembering all that insane hugging I had to fight
off to fly back here,” she grumbled.

He cocked his head, still not following. “But aren’t you
happy people like you?”

“They didn’t hug me because they liked me, they did it to
see me flustered and blushing.”

He mulled that over for a second before he shook his head in
disagreement. “Only people who really like you tease you.”

The simple truth of that hit her strong enough to where she
actually paused for a moment. Teasing, eh? Sevana was blunt and not really comfortable
with demonstrative touchy-feely things, which usually isolated her from people.
But if she viewed the teasing as a sign of being
liked
…well, who
wouldn’t be happy about that? Smiling a little to herself, she shook her head
and kept walking.

They’d stayed in Big for a few days before coming out this
morning for two very good reasons. The first was that Sevana was simply
exhausted after traveling all over Mander in a simple three and a half weeks’
time and she just wanted to be home for a while, surrounded by familiar things.
But she’d also been uncertain about leaving the still-unnamed puppy alone with
Baby. Her cat had not been happy to see him. Granted, he was never happy after
she was gone for any length of time as he preferred to have her nearby. But it
was worse when he saw the puppy in tow.

The first day he’d snarled and snapped and did his best to
force the puppy out. Then, for some strange reason, she’d woken up this morning
to find the puppy snuggled in against his side as they napped. She’d expected a
truce to be worked out at some point, but this exceeded expectations. Not that
she minded. If Baby took on the role of mentor, it meant she wouldn’t have to
train the pup, which took a load off her shoulders.

Still, she had a suspicion that Big had stepped in and
worked things out while she wasn’t looking. The mountain did things like that.
Big had a soft spot for anything young and vulnerable and liked to take them
in. She and Baby were prime examples of that. He had been all in favor from the
very beginning of taking the puppy in.

Her young guest had been delighted to see the two getting
along, of course, but he also understood when they stumbled across the scene
that they had no further reason to delay their trip to the Fae. Sky,
understandably, felt nervous about this whole adventure, but after everything
he had seen in Big, it didn’t overwhelm him as much as she thought it would. In
fact, mixed in with the nervousness was a healthy dose of curiosity and
anticipation. He kept up with her admirably as they hiked the very long trail
deep into Fae territory.

They took the same trail that she and Bel had traveled down
so many months ago, stepping in and around ancient trees that dwarfed most
houses. Finally they went around a bend and came to a small pond that looked
very familiar. This was where she had stopped last time, and where a certain
Fae man had met her. She stopped in the same spot again and called out in a
clear voice, “Hello.”

The same Fae that had taken Bel stepped out from a hidden
doorway, the air shimmering, looking the same as he did back then. He wore a
light blue coat today with white trousers underneath, but his feet still had no
shoes on them, his blond hair tied off to hang over one shoulder. He looked
cautiously optimistic as he approached them, his bare feet making no sound on
the grass as he walked.

“Artifactor. I did not expect to ever see you here again.”

She smiled at him wryly. “I bet not. The boy you took last
time grew into an adult and chose not to return. However, in the course of my
latest job, I ran across this child. He fits your requirements, I believe. He’s
without kith or kin, is young, and has no human magic on him. He desired to
meet you and see if you are interested in adopting him.”

The Fae seemed intrigued and he knelt on one knee to put
himself eye level with Sky. “Young child, you wish to become Fae?”

Sky licked his lips nervously. “Sevana’s told me about you,
some. I don’t know about becoming Fae or not, but I want a family. Sir,” he
added as an afterthought.

The Fae’s eyes gentled into a soft smile. “That is reason
enough, I think. That is the core of what we are—family. We are praised and
feared as magicians, but in truth, all we truly do is live so that we are in
sync with the world’s energies. You are nervous about changing?” he didn’t need
an answer, as he seemed to know what Sky felt just then. “I was too, in the
very beginning. But it’s not a frightening experience, or an unwanted one.
Living here gives you a sense of completion that a human rarely finds.”

Sevana had a few choice words she wanted to say about that,
but bit her tongue. This was not the time or place for an argument.

Sky searched the face in front of him, brow furrowed. “So…it’s
my choice? I mean, you don’t mind taking me?”

“Mind?” he repeated, faintly shocked at the question.

“Oh, you’re making a mess of this!” a female voice said in
exasperation. From the other side of the pond, a door opened—again, seemingly
from thin air—and a woman appeared. She had the same style of clothes, although
hers were in a deep, shimmering green, her hair elaborately braided around her
head. With quick footsteps, she skipped over the water’s surface as if it were
solid ground and came directly to Sky.

Sevana blinked at her, nonplussed at this abrupt appearance.
This Fae’s…wife? Consort? From the way she casually leaned against him to kneel
in front of Sky, they had some sort of close relationship, so Sevana guessed
wife. She could tell Sky felt overwhelmed by the woman’s beauty, as a slight
flush came into his cheeks as he stared up at her.

“My dear child,” she said to him with a warm smile, “My name
is Ailana. This is my husband, Lorin. You are a handsome, sweet boy, and we
would be blessed if you chose to stay with us. Don’t you wish to do so?”

Sky nodded, dumbfounded. But then, she could have suggested
throwing him into the pond and he’d have likely nodded in agreement. He was so
star-struck by her, most of what she said likely went right into one ear and
out the other.

She lit up—literally, her aura became almost blinding for a
moment—and reached out, scooping him up into her arms. Sky gasped at the sudden
movement and grabbed her around the neck for balance. But once there, he liked
being so tightly hugged by the beauty and gave her a shy smile.

“You’re mine, then,” she told him firmly.

“And mine!” Lorin protested.

Giving a musical laugh, she ignored her husband’s pouting
and turned to Sevana. “Artifactor, I thank you many times for bringing my son
to me. If, in the course of your work, you find other children that are like
him, will you bring them also?”

So, not content with just one child, eh? Having no problem
with bringing them orphans, Sevana just shrugged. “I will. As long as you
understand I want favors in return.”

Lorin understood her perfectly and gave her an elegant nod
in confirmation. “We will find ways to repay your kindness.”

Good enough for her. She looked at Sky, who seemed somewhat
befuddled with this abrupt adoption but beyond happy at the same time. “Well,
Sky, I’d wish you luck but I have this feeling you won’t need it. So instead,
I’ll say enjoy your new life.”

A grin wide enough to reveal two missing teeth split his
face. “Thanks, Sevana. Really, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” With a salute to him, and a proper bow
to the Fae, she turned around and left the way she had come in. She had a
bounce in her stride and a wide smile on her face as she walked. Some people
would likely question her decision on this, giving a child over to the Fae to
raise, but in her mind, human society had already had their chance to take care
of the kid and they’d failed miserably at it. The Fae would raise him with all
the love and care he should have had from the beginning. She had no qualms
leaving him there or bringing other children here in the future.

Pleased with herself, she hummed a ditty and enjoyed the
feeling of a deed well done.