Thoroughly Kissed (32 page)

A pretty petite blond who looked like she had once been captain of her high school cheerleading squad was peering out the door.

“Grumpy, actually.”

“I always thought he looked like Doc.” Then she smiled. “You must be Michael.”

He nodded but she missed it. She had wrapped her arms around Emma. Emma hugged her back. Darnell ran inside and Michael heard a long drawn-out hiss. It didn't sound like Darnell's.

“I missed you so much!” the woman said as she eased herself out of the hug, and extended a hand to Michael. “I'm Nora Barr. I can't tell you how grateful Alex and I are that you brought Emma to us.”

“My pleasure,” Michael said, shaking her hand. She stepped back and invited them into the loft.

It was breathtaking. The sunken living room was decorated in reds and silvers. A chrome staircase twisted its way to the upper story where a sleeping area hid behind a silver screen. But the most dominant part of the loft were the windows, which, even though it was night, were still open. Through them, he could see the lights of the entire city and the bridges over the river.

“Wow,” he said. He would never have imagined Emma in a place like this.

“We like it,” a male voice said.

Michael turned. A man stood in the entrance to the kitchen. He was tall, with dark hair that covered his collar. He had classic features and eyes that looked almost silver. So this was Aethelstan, the man Emma had once loved. No wonder. He looked like every woman's ideal—tall, dark, handsome, and mysterious.

Aethelstan seemed to be assessing Michael as well. “You made good time. I would have thought that this trip would have taken longer.”

He almost made it sound as if Michael had hurried to get here so that he could be rid of Emma.

“We ran into some troubles along the way,” Emma said.

“Darnell turn into a lion again?” Nora asked. Then she looked around. “Where is he? He was harassing Squidgy a minute ago.”

“Squidgy?” Michael asked.

“She and Darnell were both my cats once. They lived together for ten years, something Squidgy hates to be reminded of.” Nora smiled and in spite of himself, Michael found himself smiling back. He hadn't realized that he'd been prepared to hate these people. After all, Nora had taken Aethelstan away from Emma, but it suddenly didn't seem that clear-cut.

“He turned into a lion once or twice,” Emma said, “but it was the loose magic thing that made us decide to get here as fast as we could.”

A frown crossed Aethelstan's face. “You two look exhausted. Why don't you sit? Would you like something to eat? Some coffee, maybe?”

“No,” Michael started, but Emma said, “That would be good.”

Aethelstan disappeared into the kitchen. Emma led Michael to the couch. As he sat, he saw Darnell in the small hallway that led toward the back, his whiskers forward, batting at a roly-poly black cat who had its ears back and was hissing vehemently. Darnell seemed to be having the time of his life.

“Should I break them up?” Emma asked Nora.

“Squidgy can take care of herself,” Nora said. “Can't you, love?”

Squidgy rose on her hind legs and swatted Darnell five times on the face before he could even swing a paw. He sat, dazed, as she made her way into the living room.

“I never thought anyone could take him on,” Michael said.

“Well, Squidgy decided a few years back not to take any crap from him,” Nora said. “I think living alone's been good for her.”

Aethelstan came out of the kitchen carrying a silver serving tray. On it was a silver coffeepot, and several kinds of appetizers, all of them warm and smelling good.

Michael must have looked surprised.

“They're from the restaurant,” Nora said. “He microwaved them.”

Such a simple explanation, and an unnecessary one for most people. But apparently they had all realized that Michael thought they were magically produced.

“Sorry,” he said, feeling stupid. “I haven't had a lot of sleep.”

“You drove straight from where?” Aethelstan asked.

“Billings,” Emma said, and then she told him about Feo and the shadows. “Michael was the one who said we needed to get here fast.”

Aethelstan's silver eyes studied him for a moment, as if reassessing him. “I think we owe you great thanks. Your friend Feo was the least of the wizards in that area. The others were probably planning something much more elaborate.”

“Emma said they couldn't do anything without her permission, but I was worried nonetheless.”

“Rightly so,” Aethelstan said. “That group doesn't always respect the boundaries of our laws.”

“I would have been all right,” Emma said.

“No,” Aethelstan said, “you wouldn't have.”

Emma's face flushed. “You don't know what's all happened. I've improved.”

“Probably,” Aethelstan said. “But anything you think you've learned on this trip will have to be relearned.”

“Relearned?” Emma said. “Why?”

“Because there are right ways of doing magic and there are wrong ways. The wrong ways lead to bad spells.”

“Like the one you used to save me all those years ago?” Emma snapped.

“Yes,” Aethelstan said.

Michael looked at him, surprised. He hadn't expected the man to admit a mistake so easily.

“And I don't want you to have any bad habits. I suspect you have a lot more power than most of us do, and a bad habit from you might make the spell even more dangerous.”

“I can handle myself,” Emma said.

“If that were true, you wouldn't be here.”

“I'm here because I have no choice,” Emma said. “You wouldn't come to me.”

“I couldn't.”

“Well, if those mages in Montana could ignore the rules, why couldn't you?”

“Emma, we've had this discussion.”

“I've been thinking about this, Aethelstan, and I don't think this is a good idea. I don't think I can learn anything from you.”

Aethelstan's cheeks grew red. Michael kept his hand entwined with Emma's feeling as if he were over his head. “I'm a good teacher, Emma.”

“But you won't listen to me when I tell you something.”

“I think that goes both ways,” Aethelstan said. “You always misinterpret what I have to say.”

“This type of discussion is not productive,” Nora said.

“We'll handle it,” Aethelstan said to her.

“Actually,” Michael said, “Emma and I haven't really slept for two days. Give her a chance to get some rest and I'm sure—”

Aethelstan waved a hand, and all of Michael's exhaustion left him. He felt better than he had in years. Buoyant, almost giddy.

“Dammit, Aethelstan, you're supposed to ask before you do that.” The shadows were gone from beneath Emma's eyes. She looked as fresh as she had the day Michael met her, and even more energetic, if that were possible.

“You liked being tired?” he asked.

“I
earned
it,” Emma said. “I would rather have had a long night's sleep than a magical pick-me-up.”

“The sooner we get started, the sooner we get back to our lives,” Aethelstan said. “We have a lot of ground to cover.”

“I'm not sure I want to cover it,” Emma said. “Michael and I are getting a hotel room.”

“It can wait,” Aethelstan said.

“No,” Michael said. “It can't.”

“You're not tired anymore, and you've already spent days together. I would think you'd want some time to yourselves.” Aethelstan was frowning. His wife was sitting beside him, trying and failing to suppress a smile.

“The opposite, actually,” Michael said. “We're taking Darnell's advice and getting a room.”

“Darnell?” Nora asked.

“Long story,” Emma said. “But Michael's right. I'm not ready to start tonight, Aethelstan. I want some time to adjust to being here.”

His eyes had grown darker. “You've had plenty of time to adjust, Emma. This is the problem. You keep putting off your training. You can't any longer. And we are going to get started.”

He raised his arm again, but his wife caught it. “Don't,” she said.

“Don't?” He looked at her. She seemed so small compared to him, but Michael was betting on her. She had a lot more power than appeared at first glance.

“This is Emma's life, and Emma's decision.”

“Emma seems to be forgetting that she has to learn her craft.”

“I'm not forgetting it,” Emma said. “I'm just not sure I want it.”

Michael felt his heart lurch. “Emma?”

She looked at him. Her eyes, a richer blue than Nora's, were filled with tears. “I want to go home, Michael.”

“I thought Portland was your home.”

“Madison,” she said. “I want to go to Madison.”

“Well, we can do that, I suppose,” Aethelstan said. “Now that you're here, I can do whatever we need to get you on the right track.”

“Alex,” Nora said. “Just be quiet for a moment, would you?”

He looked chagrined. Michael frowned. Was Aethelstan blustering around Emma because she made him uncomfortable? It seemed that way, and not the discomfort a man felt when he was attracted to a woman, but the discomfort he had when he felt he had treated her poorly.

Emma was rubbing her index finger over Michael's knuckles. She was studying the appetizers no one had eaten. “What can you teach me, Aethelstan?”

“Control, Emma.”

“And spells?”

“All the ones I know.”

She nodded. Michael didn't entirely understand her mood shift. “This is going to take years, isn't it?” she asked. “You can't just put a spell on me and I'll have it all?”

“You can get the knowledge that way.” Aethelstan spoke softly. He seemed to sense that he had overstepped as well. “But the practice is the important thing. And you need someone like me to help you correct your mistakes quickly and easily. Like those white horses. They're yours, aren't they?”

Emma nodded.

“That's dangerous magic to let float around,” he said.

“They're just wishes.”

“People can wish for anything, Emma.” His voice was gentle. “A million dollars or the death of someone they hate. Anything at all.”

Michael felt his breath catch in his throat. He hadn't thought of that. And, he could tell from the look in Emma's eyes, that she hadn't either.

“You'll show me how to fix that?” she asked.

“And we'll make sure there's been no harm,” Aethelstan said.

“All right.” Emma was watching her fingers move over Michael's. He'd never heard her sound so docile. What had changed? Or was she always this way around Aethelstan?

Then Michael glanced up at Aethelstan and Nora. They were watching Emma with expressions of equal concern on their faces. They didn't like how this was going either.

Squidgy had made her way into the living room, her nose twitching at the smell of food. Darnell was sitting in the window, looking out at the city, as if this were his place and he had missed it.

Emma's finger was still tracing Michael's. Her beautiful face was downcast, her eyes shaded. He squeezed her hand. She sighed, and brought her head up. “I'm not ready to start tonight.”

“Emma, every hour I leave you alone is another hour in which something can go wrong.” Aethelstan's voice was harsh.

Emma's face flushed. She had obviously heard what he said as criticism. Michael was willing to bet that the man meant it as concern. “I need to be alone with Michael for a while.”

“You just spent three days driving with him. It's not—”

“Alex.” Nora put her hand on his knee. “If something goes wrong, you can fix it, right?”

“It's a waste of magic,” he said, but he covered her hand with his own.

“And we can't afford to waste magic, can we?” Emma snapped.

“That's not what I meant,” Aethelstan said. “You know the toll that magic takes. Why exact it if it's not necessary?”

“Maybe it is necessary,” Nora said.

“Emma's just procrastinating. She hates this kind of work. She's had years to do it and—”

“I'm not procrastinating,” Emma said. “I need some more time.”

“That's what I'm trying to tell you,” Aethelstan said. “You've used all your time and more. You're lucky you made it here. Michael, we owe you more than we can say for getting her here. I'm sure it wasn't easy—”

“Emma was the one who got us here,” Michael said. Emma glanced at him in surprise. “I was just along for the ride. Added security, nothing more. I'm sure she could have done it on her own.”

“That's not what Sancho said.” Nora moved the silver tray. Squidgy was sitting beneath it.

“Sancho?”

“Merlin,” Emma said. “You know, the Ghost of Christmas Present.”

“He told you about the Dickens thing?” Aethelstan said.

“No, actually,” Emma said. “Michael had a visitation.”

“Sancho did that?” Nora looked at Aethelstan for confirmation. “I thought that wasn't allowed.”

“It doesn't matter.” Michael was getting annoyed himself. Who were these people to treat Emma like this? “I don't care what your friend said. Emma did just fine. She saved us more than once. She's going to be one of the most capable magicians around.”

Emma's finger had stopped moving over his. Her entire body was still, like a rabbit's scenting danger on the wind.

“She needs to start work immediately,” Aethelstan said.

“She will. But let her get settled first. We had a long drive and we're—well, we were tired. Give her a few more hours, and I promise she'll be back here, ready to work.”

Aethelstan studied Michael for a moment, clearly reassessing him again. Then he turned his gaze to Emma. “Will you be here?” he asked. “You won't spend days avoiding this? It's important, Emma. It really is.”