"We have each other," Elyssa said, leaning her head on my shoulder.
I shifted so I could see her better and stroked her cheek with the back of my hand. A lock of black hair came loose from behind her ear on cue and waited for me to put it back in its place. But this time, I left it as my heart swelled with such emotion my eyes got a little misty. "I don't know what I'd do without you, my pretty ninja girl."
Her eyes softened and a gentle sigh escaped her lips. "How do you do this to me?" She laughed softly. "Boys never made me feel like this before. I never cared. But you do something to me and none of the rules apply anymore."
"It means the world to me I can touch your heart in a way nobody else has."
Her mouth opened slightly as she regarded me with a wondering expression. "Do I touch you the same way, Justin? Do I affect you more than Katie or Stacey or any other girl?"
I gripped both her hands in mine and pressed them to my chest. "Anything I felt before you was a candle compared to the sun. A whisper to a hurricane." I chuckled. "See, you even have me going all poetic on you and I suck at it."
She pushed me against the armrest of the couch and lay atop me. "It's perfect. It's beautiful." Her lips met mine and fire spread down my neck, my chest, and the embers of my love roared into full heat.
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tight, pressing my lips, my tongue against hers, wishing I could take her all into me at once. Her hands ran up under my shirt, her fingernails raking against my bare skin all the way down to the small of my back. I shivered and moaned.
"Ahem."
We jerked upright and stared at the thin sallow man with a copper tray balanced on one hand.
"Sorry to interrupt, sir and madam, but I've brought you tea and biscuits," he said in a very proper British accent, similar to Phissilinth's. The butler—I assumed—placed the tray on a clear spot of the coffee table, moved some of the magazines to clear another spot, and set the table with napkins and utensils. "Would you like one lump or two?" He pointed to a tray with cubes of sugar.
"Uh…what?" I asked, my mind still very much on what Elyssa and I had been doing.
"We'll do it ourselves," Elyssa said, pulling her shirt back down over her flat stomach, her face bright red.
"Very good, madam. There is milk and cream as well. Should you need me, please pull the sash over there." He motioned to a silky black strand hanging from the ceiling with a brass ring tied to the bottom. "I am Milton, at your service."
With that, he left the room with all the dignity of a person accustomed to the nuances of being a house servant, including love-struck teens tearing each other's clothes off on the couch.
I looked at Elyssa about the same time she looked at me. "Were we really about to do…uh, you know in Underborn's secret lair?"
Her lips tightened. "I'm going to be majorly ticked if we die before it happens."
"That's putting it mildly."
We stared at the tea then back at each other. At the tea again. Back at each other. Then we burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation—at least I was.
"Just when I think life can't get any stranger—"
"He will see you now," Phissilinth said from the doorway.
Elyssa and I stood.
"I'm sorry, but Justin is the only person he will see right now."
"She can hear whatever he has to say to me," I said, not wanting to separate from her. If we were going to die, it would be together, not apart and alone.
"He was very specific—"
I sat back down. "She and I are in this together. You go tell him we're both coming." My nerves knotted so tight my hands tried to shake. I clenched my fists and jammed them under my legs. What was I doing? Underborn might be the only person who could stop my dad from dying but I couldn't bear the thought of leaving Elyssa alone out here. Things had been just peachy so far—tea and crumpets, and the polite Mr. Phissilinth, but it could all be a front and her life was the most precious thing to me in the world.
Phissilinth raised an eyebrow. "Then sir, you must leave. I will show you the way."
I shook my head. "I'm not leaving until he sees both of us. Tell him that." I jabbed my finger down toward the couch. "We're not leaving this spot."
"Justin, it's fine. Go see him," Elyssa said. "I'll be all right."
I shook my head. "No." I tightened my jaw and forced as much seriousness and determination into my expression as possible, hoping it didn't make me look mentally unstable. "Tell Underborn."
"I am not your servant to order around," Phissilinth said, his voice remaining calm and proper as ever. "You, sir, must either leave or get past me and tell him yourself."
Elyssa gripped my arm tight. "Don't do it," she hissed in my ear. "For god's sake, Justin, leave me and go by yourself."
I shook my head. "No, it might be a trick. They might do something to you after I leave you here alone."
"We're in his headquarters, for crying out loud. Do you think there's anything they couldn't do to us right now?"
"As long as we're together, we're strong."
I stood up and advanced on Phissilinth, knowing even if I had my full strength, this guy could probably whip my tail. But I had to see Underborn and I wouldn't leave Elyssa.
"Justin, no!" she said and put herself between me and the small man. Her hands pressed against me and shoved me back until she immobilized me against a wall. "I'm not letting you fight him. We'll either leave or you'll go in alone. I will be fine."
"She will come to no harm. You have my word," Phissilinth said.
"Fine, fine," I said holding my hands up in surrender. "I'll go in alone."
Elyssa directed a penetrating gaze into my own and released me. I walked across the room and over to Phissilinth. As he turned I grabbed him. Air exploded from my lungs as my back slammed into the floor. The small man's face filled my view. He was smiling.
"You're rather persistent, aren't you?"
"Uh huh," I said, gasping for lost air.
"He said you would do this. That it was your nature."
"Underborn?"
"Indeed." He held out a hand. I gripped it. "Up you go," he said, jerking me to my feet despite his small stature.
Good lord, the little man was strong. I bent over and took some deep breaths to fill my lungs. When I straightened, Elyssa gave me a concerned look.
"Are you okay?"
I nodded and she slapped me hard enough to make stars flash before my eyes. "Ow!"
"Never, never lie to me, Justin." Her voice was low and angry, but more than anything full of hurt. "How dare you lie to my face? You say you love me and then you serve me up a bald-faced lie and attack someone who could kill you in a heartbeat."
Shame constricted my throat and I looked away. I hadn't even thought about it like that. "I'm sorry."
"I made my choice, Justin. Respect me enough to abide by it."
I breathed hard to choke down the guilt and looked at her. "I'm sorry, Elyssa. Please forgive me for being an idiot."
She touched me tenderly on the cheek she'd slapped. "I forgive you for that all the time, my love. Don't ever lie to me again. Okay?"
I pressed her hand to my face. "Okay."
"If you'll both accompany me, he will see you now," Phissilinth said, the barest hint of an amused grin on his face, and walked through an open set of double doors and down the hall.
My forehead almost cramped from the confused look sprouting on my face. "But you just said—"
"Yes, of course. All in due time. All in due time."
Had it been a test?
Elyssa took my arm and guided me down the hall without another word. We passed through a long hallway lined by closed doors. Sounds emanated from behind the doors, all too muffled to make out, and I wondered what atrocities were hiding behind them. Portraits lined the hall, unfamiliar faces looking out from each one. Tiny brass labels had a name and a date beneath the portraits and I wondered if these were former members or victims of the Guild.
The hallway dead-ended at a single door. Phissilinth stopped.
"I will leave you here," he said. "Simply enter and close the door behind you." He turned and walked back down the hallway.
I took a deep breath to calm my frayed nerves, braced myself, and opened the door. Bookshelves lined the room beyond, and a large stone fireplace held a crackling fire. Elyssa closed the door behind us and we walked further inside what looked to be a library stretching on for several hundred feet.
"Greetings," said a voice containing no hint of an accent.
Elyssa and I spun to the right. A figure stood there, wreathed in the shadow of a support column blocking the light from the large chandeliers overhead. The figure reached out a hand and pulled the chain on a lamp mounted on the column. The light flickered on.
And I looked into the face of a man I knew.
Chapter 28
Mr. Turpin, my English teacher, smiled warmly back at me. "I see you're staying on task, Justin."
My legs turned to goo and I almost butt-planted on the floor. Elyssa had a similarly shocked expression on her face, her mouth hanging open, eyes wide.
"But you're a nom. A high school teacher," I said.
"Yes, I am."
"And you're Underborn?"
"The one and only, Justin."
"Are you going to kill us?"
He laughed. "Why should I bother when there are so many others willing to do it?"
Cold fear wrapped itself around my midsection. I clenched my teeth and forced the fear away best I could, replacing it with anger. "You're the almighty Underborn? The one who put a bounty on my dad? I want you to leave my father alone and tell me who put the hit on him."