Twiceborn Endgame (The Proving Book 3) (19 page)

That didn’t mean things never heated up around here, of course. I eyed the undergrowth, taller than my head, with misgiving. We were only about half an hour from where Alicia’s old place had stood before Valeria burned her out, and the memory of that fire was still strong.

Fortunately there was no hint of smoke in the air today as we plunged off the track and into the bush, following Blue. Luce had stayed behind today, working on all the protocols for the coronation. Unlike the rest of us, she’d lived long enough to have actually been to one before. Steve was here in her place, and Garth, barely recovered from his brush with silver but refusing to be left behind, brought up the rear.

Having him here was my one concession to weakness. Ben was gone. Everyone knew it, though no one mentioned it. As if he’d died, people tiptoed around me, carefully avoiding any mention of his name.

If I’d had any sense I would have insisted Garth stay behind. His presence was distracting, when I needed to stay focused, but I also needed the comfort of knowing he had my back.

We followed a path of sorts, but it was so faint and winding I couldn’t have kept to it without Blue to lead the way. It looked like it had been made by a drunken chicken, meandering over sandstone outcrops, climbing up and down. One minute it was bare dirt, the next it would disappear under drifts of leaves, or dive into the bracken. Leaves and sticks crunched under my feet as we walked; the bush was dry, everything crying out for water.

I glanced over my shoulder at Garth as we descended a steep slope and felt an instant lift in my spirits as he gazed steadily back, warmth in those grey-blue eyes. A slash of shiny new pink skin where no hair grew was the only sign of how close to death he’d come.

“How the hell did Ben find this place?” I wasn’t going to pretend that he’d never existed, even if everyone else did.

I’d be hard-pressed already to find my way back to the road. The tree trunks all looked the same, the unrelenting grey-green of the Australian bush pressing in on us, suffocatingly close. Yet somehow Ben had unearthed Blue from this little hidey-hole, without any shifter skills to help him.

“I gave him directions,” said Garth evenly.

“Really?” I stumbled on a rock and had to face front again. Carrying on a conversation was tricky. Blue was setting a punishing pace, as if he was keen to get there and get this over with. “Was Blue here when you got him to come and take the traps off my old house?”

The goblin was so far ahead that for a moment I wondered if he was trying to give us the slip. But Steve was on his tail, and of course hiding from a werewolf’s nose was an exercise in futility anyway. Nevertheless I stepped up the pace, my leg muscles protesting at the workout.

“No. But he’s been up here a lot since he’s been hiding out from his clan. Jason winkled him out originally. He sent me up here after him.”

This was news to me, though clearly Leandra hadn’t known everything Jason was up to, or she wouldn’t have wound up dying and looking for a new body to colonise. The fact that he’d had dealings with a goblin mage and kept it from her was the kind of information that could have saved her life.

“When was this? Recently?”

“Months ago. Before Leandra and Jason split up.”

Something in the werewolf’s tone made me stop and turn around. He nearly walked into me, so close I could smell his sweat. I fought the urge to touch him.

“And what happened once you found him?”

“Nothing. I gave him a message.”

No, there was more to the story than that. Garth was too honest to make a good liar.

“About what?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t going to read Jason’s messages, was I?”

“But you must have some idea. Why was he keeping it from Leandra?”

“I didn’t know he was. The two of them were so tight … It wasn’t like me and Leandra were best buddies or anything. We didn’t talk unless she was giving orders.”

Garth never said “you” when he talked about Leandra. Luce was much more likely to act as if I were just a continuation of her dragon mistress in a convenient new body, but Garth was different. There was a clear delineation between the two of us in his head. I should be so lucky.

“And that was it? That was the only contact he had with Blue?” There was more to this and I wasn’t moving from this spot until I’d gotten to the bottom of it.

He sighed. “We’re getting left behind.”

“So? You know the way.” I folded my arms.

“God. Has anyone ever told you you’re a nagger?”

“Jason. All the time. Now tell me what it is that’s so obviously under your skin and get it over with.”

He glared at me, but I’d been glared at by experts and I wasn’t cowed by a grumpy werewolf.

“Fine. Blue gave me a parcel to take back to Jason.” He looked down at the rock-strewn trail. “I think I delivered the bane leaf that killed Leandra.”

Ouch. No wonder he looked so hangdog. For a loyal guy like Garth, that would be a hard thing to live with. He looked up, and his grey eyes were clouded with pain.

“I’m the reason your life is so screwed up.” His deep voice was gruff. “I’m sorry, Kate.”

Poor bastard. He looked so guilty I couldn’t stop myself. I closed the gap between us and wrapped my arms around him. He froze for a startled moment, then he crushed me against him and buried his face in my hair.

“Garth, you idiot,” I mumbled into his chest, “how is it your fault that Jason’s a backstabbing bastard?”

“I should have known. It smelt funny. If I’d said something …”

He was still crushing me. His arms were like steel bands. I pushed on his chest till he loosened his hold and let me breathe again. His lips were so close. If I just stood on tiptoe …

I stepped back abruptly. Lachie first. The mess I’d made of my love life could wait.

“A week later he sent me back up here with orders to kill Blue.”

That sounded so like Jason. No loose ends.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Blue and I go way back. He helped me once when no one else would. I told Jason he was gone. And then Jason planted that bomb and suddenly I wasn’t taking orders from him any more.”

Strange that Jason had resorted to the bombing if he’d had bane leaf already. The poison would have been much easier for someone living in Leandra’s house, sharing her bed. Perhaps Valeria had demanded something that made more of a statement as a demonstration of his commitment. They’d nearly killed Luce as well in that debacle.

Suddenly I came out of my thoughts and realised how close Garth still stood. His wild wolf scent mixed with the clean fragrance of eucalyptus, creating a heady mixture.

“We’d better catch up with the others.” But I didn’t move. Couldn’t move.

“Kate. You know how I feel about you. And the way you kissed me, I know you feel it too.” His voice was husky with need. “I’ll do anything for you, be anyone you need—”

“Hush.” I put my fingers on his mouth to stop him. I couldn’t deal with this now. Even that much contact sent a buzz of excitement arrowing straight to my groin. Damned dragon sex drives. I wanted nothing more than to tear his clothes off right there. But it was more than a purely physical longing. I couldn’t bear to look too closely at my feelings for him, not so soon after Ben. “I can’t—I have to focus on Lachie right now. Only Lachie. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

He nodded, grey eyes serious. Well, that was good, because I hardly knew what I was saying myself. The inside of my head was a serious mess, between fear for Lachie, regret over Ben, my sisters, the coronation, the problem with the kitsune … I just couldn’t manage another relationship and all its complications right now. Even if I felt that if I didn’t have this man soon I would die.

“I can wait,” he growled, and the heat in that promise nearly melted my resolve.

I spun and headed off blindly in the direction Steve and Blue had taken. In the end Garth had to take the lead as the trail petered out. I felt a tingle as he brushed past me, and drew a long, shuddering breath. Enough.
Focus, dammit
.

We heard voices, and found Blue and Steve waiting by a low rocky outcrop.

“There you are,” Steve said with relief. “I told Blue he was going too fast.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “Let’s keep moving.”

Blue laughed. “But we’re here.”

Where? I couldn’t see anything that looked like a cave, just blank rock walls. A couple of little crannies that might have made a cave for a small animal, but nothing goblin-sized.

Then Blue turned and walked straight into the rock and disappeared.

“Shit!” said Steve. “How did he do that?”

Garth stepped up to the rock face and calmly inserted his arm. It disappeared up to the elbow, as if it had been hacked off. Looking at it gave me the horrors.

“It’s an illusion.”

Blue’s face suddenly thrust out of the rock. I squeaked and jumped back. He grinned at my reaction. “You going to stay out there all day, or are you coming inside?”

He disappeared again, and I looked at Garth. “If you can’t see through the illusion, how did you ever find this place?”

“Don’t need to see. The whole place stinks of goblin.” He tapped his nose. “Gotta trust the nose.”

I stepped forward, but couldn’t help shutting my eyes at the last moment. With my eyes open, it was very hard to persuade my brain that I wasn’t about to headbutt a rock wall. Now I knew how Harry Potter felt trying to get onto Platform 9¾.

Despite what my eyes told me, there was no physical sensation as I entered the cave. I looked back once I was inside. From this side the illusion was invisible. The cave mouth was completely open. I could see Steve still standing there as clear as day, not a thing between us. And then I had to scramble out of the way as he nearly trod on me, since he couldn’t see me standing there gawking and blocking the entrance.

It wasn’t a very wide opening, just big enough for two people to stand side by side. More of a fissure in the rocks than a cave. I could see a slice of blue sky above us. But that slice soon narrowed and disappeared as I followed Garth’s broad back deeper in.

The light disappeared too as the floor fell away and we edged cautiously down a slope. Behind me Steve stumbled. His eyes weren’t adapted for the dark as ours were, though even I was having trouble until a soft green glow sprang up.

By its light I saw the tunnel had widened into a cavern with a few dead stalactites hanging from the roof. Somewhere close I heard the faint trickle of water, but this cavern was dry. The green light came from small glass bowls lined up along a natural shelf in the cave wall, each flickering with what looked like candlelight but cast too much radiance for candles. Probably some kind of goblin magic. They’d been cave dwellers and miners long before they discovered the delights of housing estates with pools and tennis courts.

Arranged among the lights was a huge range of containers. Some were glass and looked old and dusty. Others were Tupperware, labelled in neat handwriting. The modern age had come to goblin mages as it had to the rest of the shifters. Some might have held food, but most were probably the tools of his trade, judging by the labels on the ones I could read.

I moved closer, scanning the line, but didn’t see one in particular.

“Got any bane leaf here?” I asked.

Blue snorted. “Don’t you know how rare that stuff is?”

“I hear you were selling it not so long ago.”

“My last customer bought my whole stock.”

“And that was Jason, right?”

He cast a quick glance at Garth. “Might have been.”

A small camp bed was set up against one wall, and a couple of plastic crates held tinned food and basic camping supplies. It wasn’t exactly palatial.

“How long have you been out here?”

“I come and go.”

“But why here? You’re a goblin mage.”

Half his clan was living it up on the Gold Coast. As a mage he should be raking the money in, even without the support of his clan.

“I’m a wanted man. I refused to be the slave of my clan any more. Funnily enough, they didn’t like the idea of their gravy train drying up. Some of them might have actually had to work.” His mouth twisted into a bitter line. “They had me chained like a prisoner, constantly watched. I had one chance to break out, and I took it, but they’ll never stop hunting me.”

“Couldn’t you use a seeming and hide somewhere better than this?” Garth’s tone showed his opinion of the sad little refuge.

Blue’s eyes glittered in the eerie green light. “Maybe I like the quiet, away from shifters and their ignorant questions.”

And maybe there were too many pairs of goblin glasses like his out in the world for a seeming to hide him effectively.

“Shall we get on?” I said before they could erupt into a full-blown argument.

“Of course. Mustn’t keep the queen waiting.”

Garth growled, but Blue ignored him. He pulled the camp bed away from the wall, revealing a small dark hole.

“This way.” He got down on his belly and wriggled into the hole.

My stomach lurched. I did
not
like confined spaces. Garth crouched down and assessed the gap as Blue’s feet disappeared. He looked up at me doubtfully.

“I don’t think I’ll fit.” He jerked his head at Steve. “You either.”

Steve grabbed one of the glowing bowls from the shelf and shoved it into the gap. They were both big guys, built like rugby players. Garth was right. They’d never make it through an opening that size. Great. Looked like I was on my own for this one.

I dropped to the floor, glad of the little green light at least. By its dim glow I could see that the space seemed to open up into a larger area quite quickly. My visions of getting trapped in the tiny space faded somewhat.

“I don’t like you going in there alone,” said Garth, his face anxious.

Me neither
. I shoved my head in and began to squirm forwards before I lost my nerve. “I won’t be alone. I’ve got Blue.”

Not that that was much comfort. Blue wasn’t on my side. I’d given him no choice but to help me, and maybe he wouldn’t have helped my enemies either given the option, but Blue was on nobody’s side but Blue’s. I wouldn’t have cared if I’d been able to lay my hands on a better mage as easily, but negotiating with a goblin clan for their mage’s aid was a protracted and costly business, even for a queen. Always I could hear that clock ticking in my head, reminding me that every second wasted was another second Lachie had to spend with his father, under the nose of Daiyu.