Time Thief: A Time Thief Novel (36 page)

“Peter,” I croaked, tears filling my eyes at the thought of never seeing him again, never feeling his warmth, never watching him trying to be all business, and failing miserably. I wanted him more than I wanted anything else, and just hoped that whoever was in charge of such things would allow my ghostly form to be assigned to him the way Sunil was. “Although not as a ball of light,” I said in a voice that was inaudible to all but me. “Something with a proper body, please.”

The inky spots merged together, then grew lighter and lighter until they dazzled me, setting my body alight with electricity and making me feel as if I were floating on a warm, delicious cloud.

One that smelled like the woods. Woods that murmured the most wonderful words in my ears, and pressed steamy kisses all over my face and neck. Woods that had hands and arms and a chest that I snuggled happily into.

A chest? Arms? Hands?
What the hell, mind?
I asked the egos and id.

Wake up, you ninny! You’re not dead!

I opened my eyes to see two beautiful eyes of the purest violet, their color shaded with concern and fear.

“Peter?” My voice was rough and harsh and as soon as I spoke the word, feeling flooded back to me in the form of a pounding headache, and a burning sensation around my neck. With shaky hands I reached up to touch his head. “Is that really you? Am I alive?”

“It’s me. And you are very much alive.”

“I am here, too.” A little light bobbled around over Peter’s shoulder.

I gazed into Peter’s eyes, not seeing any of the love I wanted to see. “Oh no, you don’t remember me, do you? I’m going to have to seduce you all over again!”

The lines around those glorious eyes crinkled as he laughed, and gently, as if I were made of glass, he hugged me and kissed me. “I very much remember you, my darling Kiya, but if you wish to seduce me, it would be rude of me to refuse.”

Now his face was full of all the love I expected. “I love you so much. I thought I was going to die, though.”

His expression changed like quicksilver as he looked over my shoulder. I sat up, astonished to see Gregory sitting over the bodies of both William and Andrew. “You almost were killed. If I hadn’t stopped to find Gregory, I’d have been here much earlier and would have kept them from attacking you.”

“You stopped to get Gregory? Why? To make him admit he was hiding from us?”

“He wasn’t hiding, love. That hasn’t happened yet, remember? Not that I think he was hiding from us even then. But today—the day you first arrived—Gregory was just arriving in town. I’m very much afraid that all of your suspicions as to his guilt are false.”

“Well, hell!” I said, struggling to my feet with Peter’s able assistance.

“Thanks,” Gregory said, giving me a wry smile. “I take it you’re the woman who Peter says I met a few days ago. Nice to meet you…again.”

“I’m sorry, that was rude of me. It’s just that…I had it all worked out that Andrew had you pretending to be gone so he could blame us. And now I’m wrong and Peter was right all along.”

“Not so right as all that,” Peter said, assisting me to the nearest picnic table. “It turns out that Andrew wasn’t the one committing the murders—William was. Andrew was working for him at covering his tracks, and put him in contact with the magician who set William up with the whipping boys, but he himself didn’t have a hand in the murders.”

Mrs. Faa sat in the chair, her gaze watchful, but her expression as unreadable as ever. At a gesture from her, the pugs swarmed me. I picked up two of them to cuddle, suddenly exhausted at the near-death experience. “Oh, Peter,” I said, snuggling my face into a pug. “I’m so sorry that it was your own father who turned out to be the murderer. A cousin was bad enough, but a father—”

“Not a father.”

We all turned to look at Gregory. He was looking at his grandmother. “Puridaj, you must tell them.”

“There is no reason to do so,” Mrs. Faa said, her hands on the cane before her.

“There is every reason to tell Peter who his father really was,” Gregory argued. “If you do not, then I will.”

She shot him a dark look. “You would betray our family to outsiders?”

Gregory took a deep breath, and to my utter surprise
walked over to Peter and held out his hand. “I have long wanted to tell you how much I’ve admired and envied the work you do for the Watch. I am honored to call you cousin.”

Gravely, Peter shook his hand. “There is always room in the Watch for people who wish to see justice served.”

“No!” Mrs. Faa struggled to her feet. “I will not have it! It was bad enough that Tobar left me to be with that mortal woman, left the family, left all that he was raised to honor and cherish. I will not lose another member to the gadjos!”

“Who’s Tobar?” I asked Peter.

He shook his head. “I have no idea.”

“Tobar is your father,” Gregory said, assisting Mrs. Faa when she stumbled, helping her back to the chair. “Tell them, puridaj.”

She seemed to sink into herself for a few minutes before finally saying, in a very small voice, “Vilem is not your father. You are the son of my oldest son, Tobar. He mated with a mortal woman, and died before you were born.” Pain twisted her face as she continued. “Tobar was very dear to me. He wished to marry the mortal, but I refused. I would not have him bring that shame on the family. He said hurtful things about not wanting to live the life of a Traveller if it meant cutting off everything else. I forbade him to continue. He did not heed me, and left the family for the woman. He did not return.”

“Oh, Peter,” I said, squishing a pug between us as I hugged him.

“He died?” he asked, watching Mrs. Faa closely.

It was Gregory who answered, however. “Shortly before your mother gave birth to you, he died in an industrial accident, or so I was told.”

“Why did you tell Peter that William was his dad if he wasn’t? I’m sorry, but it was clear from the first moment that there was no love lost between the two of them, and from what Peter has said, his mom wasn’t treated very well by you guys.” I frowned at her, not able to understand how a woman could be so cruel to her own son and grandson.

She turned away for a moment. “Tobar was my firstborn. He wished to live outside the family, to be a part of his woman’s family, to work for mortals. We could not have that shame brought to us. When I heard that my son had been killed, I did what had to be done—I could not let the mahrime child be a part of the family, and yet he bore the blood of my Tobar. I commanded Vilem to take responsibility for both the woman and the child.”

“He didn’t take responsibility for us. He did everything to avoid us.” Peter’s voice was as hard as flint. I set down the pugs and slid an arm around his waist. He pulled me closer until his heat sank into me, giving me strength and comfort. “He couldn’t have been less of a father if he tried.”

Mrs. Faa closed her eyes. “I do not know what is right or wrong anymore. At the time of Tobar’s leaving, I did not suffer any such indecision. Life was simpler then. Now…” She waved a hand. “Now it is not so clear. I know only that I do not want shame brought into this family.”

“Your son killed people,” I couldn’t help but say.

“And for that, he must pay,” she agreed, which surprised me. Her eyes flashed to Peter. “You may consider me a foolish old woman, but I do not condone murder, not of mortals or Travellers. What Vilem did was an abomination. He has brought shame to the name of Faa.
You will take him away to your Watch and they will banish him so that he can harm us no more.”

“They will most certainly banish him to the Akasha,” Peter said mildly, but I knew he had to be hurt by his grandmother’s actions in the past. But what mattered was the here and now. “And most likely Andrew will be charged as an accessory.”

Her face crumpled. “Then he must pay for his actions.”

“And what about Peter?” I asked, wanting to make everything right, but not sure how to go about doing so. “Now you know he wasn’t persecuting you—will you accept him into your family at last?”

“Kiya,” Peter said with an obvious warning in his voice. “I don’t need her forgiveness, or her acceptance.”

“No, but it would be nice for our kids to have some family other than my foster mom,” I pointed out.

Mrs. Faa was silent, her gaze now directed down to her hands.

“Puridaj?” Gregory asked, kneeling before her, taking her hands in his. “It is long past the time when you must let go of the old ways. We are not the same as we have been. The world is not the same place.”

Peter looked with speculation at his cousin.

“What?” I asked him in a whisper.

“
What
what?”

“What are you looking at Gregory like that for?”

“I think he wants to break free of Traveller bonds and work for people, instead of taking from them.”

I smiled at him, and couldn’t stop kissing him very quickly. “I think you and Gregory could be the start of a very good thing. You could form a company that specializes in stealing time from bad people and giving it to
good people. Just imagine what the two of you could do! You could take down dictators, and psychopaths, and people who punch babies and hurt animals, and give their time to all the good people out there who need more time to benefit the world.”

He gave me an amused glance. “We really are going to have to have another talk about why stealing is bad.”

“Puridaj?” Gregory repeated the word.

Mrs. Faa said nothing, but she withdrew her hands from his.

Gregory looked sadly at her for a moment or two, then stood up. Without turning to Peter, he asked, “Can you give me information about joining the Watch?”

“I can. I will also give you a personal reference. My boss will be delighted to have another Traveller investigating crimes.”

“I’ll give you a recommendation also,” I told him, feeling all warm and fuzzy. “Not that mine will count as much as Peter’s, but now that I know you’re a good guy, I’m happy to back you.”

“Thank you,” Gregory said with a slight hint of a smile in his voice.

My happy feeling lasted until I looked down at Mrs. Faa. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to give you my resignation. Much as I adore the pugs, I find that I can’t work for you any longer.”

She made a dismissive gesture. “This is a black day for the family. I have lost a son and two grandsons.”

“Only if you wish to lose them,” I told her. “Well, OK, I’d want to lose William and Andrew, but not Gregory and Peter.”

She got to her feet on her own, smacking Gregory on the shin with the cane when he tried to assist her. “I am
going to have my rest. Peter Faa, you will remove Vilem and Andrew before I return.”

He made her a little bow, his beautiful eyes unreadable.

She paused at the bottom of the steps to the RV, the dogs swarming past her up the steps. For a moment she hesitated, then turned slightly toward us. “I regret my decision to have Vilem take charge of you. Upon consideration, I believe you would have brought honor to the family.”

“It’s not too late,” I said, taking a step toward her. “He can still be a part of the family.”

She was silent for a full minute before she said simply, “We shall see,” and climbed the stairs, closing the door behind her.

“What an obstinate old battle-ax,” I said aloud before realizing that Gregory might not appreciate that sentiment. “Sorry—I didn’t mean that in a rude way. But she’s…”

“An obstinate old battle-ax,” Gregory said, his lips twisting into a wry smile. He added, his eyes on Peter, “I’ve never heard her apologize for anything, however. I think this bodes well, cousin.”

“I do not need Lenore Faa in my life,” Peter said, his arm tightening around me. “Not now.”

I smiled up at him. “That’s awfully romantic, but like I said, I’d really rather that our kids have a family. Neither one of us grew up with one, and it would be a nice change, don’t you think?”

“We’ll see,” he answered, parroting his grandmother.

Gregory looked past us to where the two prone men lay. “I should have been around here more, but business kept me away for much of the year. I had no idea that
William was causing deaths, or that Andrew was covering up for him. I simply thought they were running an illegal business, and doing business with a magician for that purpose.”

“It’s hard to explain away the whipping boys,” Peter pointed out.

“Yes, but I didn’t know about them.” Gregory shook his head. “They would have made me much more suspicious had I known. They couldn’t have kept them here, or I would have seen them on my periodic visits. And puridaj would never have tolerated that. She is many things, but she would not tolerate William being in possession of such powerful magic.”

“The whipping boys,” Peter said thoughtfully, then snapped his fingers. “The motel room!”

“What motel room?” Gregory asked, at the same time as I said, “You mean Dalton’s room? The one where his body was, that is?”

“Yes. The woman who runs the hotel told me there were two gay hikers staying there, but it could well be that the two men were William and Andrew.”

“Why would they need a motel room when they have fancy RVs?” The light dawned just as the last word left my mouth. “Oh, you mean they holed up their magic stuff there?”

He nodded. “It makes sense that they’d need somewhere close by to store the whipping boys, but away from detection by Lenore Faa or other family members.”

“Plus, it makes for a good hidey-hole should they ever want to lie low from the cops,” I added.

“That’s entirely possible. No doubt that was behind their thinking in using the motel address on any records
the mortal police could check, such as the receipt I acquired.”

“So, what exactly
is
a whipping boy?” I asked Peter. “I mean, I know what the normal definition is, but I suspect there’s some woo-woo explanation that I’m totally missing.”

“They’re actually very close, only the whipping boy I’m referring to is a magical effect. It allows the user to transfer the guilt from a crime to another. I suspect—given that there have been no other experiences of karmic whiplash, as you call it, on Otherworld members in the area—that William was using it on mortals, transferring his responsibility for taking the life of mortals to whoever was nearest at hand.”