"That smells good." Teeg was behind me, his arms around my shoulders.
"It's the best I can do with what I have. Somebody should teach these people how to shop for food." Teeg got a steak cooked the way he liked it (rare) with the best sauce I could put together using what was available. He still enjoyed his food.
"Teeg, what will we do if they don't show up for days?" I flopped onto the sofa—we'd both used it for sleeping. I was tired of wiping myself off with a wet cloth—Teeg didn't want either of us caught in the shower if our targets showed up.
"They'll be along." I don't know how he knew that, but he seemed sure of himself. I started to call him the all-seeing, all-knowing, but I didn't. That had been a joke between Chash and me and I was holding my memories of Chash close to my chest. I still had hope that I might see him again someday.
Teeg wanted to make love too, but if we couldn't take a shower, we couldn't do that. I pointed that fact out to him. Twice. Our quarry showed up while he was sleeping on the third day and chaos erupted.
* * *
"That's what Kifirin said? That we'd see him again but he wouldn't be the same? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Ry raked a hand through his hair in exasperation. Tory had waited until Ry returned from an assignment to share the information.
"No idea. Want to hunt Kifirin down and ask him?"
"Kifirin? No. He still scares the bejeezus out of me." Neither Ry nor Tory had any idea what bejeezus meant, but they'd adopted the phrase from their mother, who'd employed it often.
"Me, too," Tory agreed. "So I guess we won't be asking Kifirin any questions."
"What does your dad say?" Ry looked at his brother.
"He's not willing to go to Kifirin either. He says that when Kifirin doesn't want to tell you something, he won't. He talks in riddles when he does answer and you sure as hell don't want to ask him for any favors."
"Why would you not ask for favors? I hear the comesuli went to Baetrah all the time to ask for something." Ry frowned at Tory.
"Yes, but they weren't asking directly. That's what Dad says. You ask for something directly from Kifirin, well, he remembers. Forever."
"So?" Ry still didn't see where the conversation was headed.
"So he points out to you at a later date just what sort of mistake it was to ask for what you asked for. And then he still remembers past that. Like it's an unforgivable sin or something."
"Well, we should have known. He is Lord of the Dark Realm. Not like the light side, where people ask for things constantly with no fear of retribution."
"Opposites," Tory nodded. "That's the way they were made, to balance."
* * *
It might have been perfect, made sense and allowed us to do what we came to do if all three of them had arrived closer to each other. Instead, they landed in three separate spots inside the media room, forcing Teeg to shoot one warlock before he could cast a spell. Then Teeg was standing beside me, an arm around my waist as spells were launched at us by the other two warlocks, creating blasts, fire and explosions. They were flinging them at us blindly, too—Zellar hadn't taught them to remain calm in this sort of emergency. Part of the roof was blown away over our heads, causing snow, water, wood and bits of metal to rain down around us. Teeg pulled both of us down and jerked me out of the way at the last tick.
"Move forward, Reah!" Teeg shouted as more blasts came, causing momentary deafness. I crept forward, Teeg glued to my side. He still gripped the pistol in his hand, but the two remaining warlocks had raised powerful shields. The shots might not penetrate. If they didn't, they'd likely ricochet, which could hit either Teeg or me. Teeg waited for me to get close enough to the warlocks to neutralize their spells. Then he could shoot them. I wanted my knife—I didn't have it. I knew how close I had to get before my natural shield prevented the spells from activating. A sphere around fourteen hands in every direction. Chunks of the ceiling landed on our heads, causing me to duck. Teeg went with me. We shuffled forward.
Furniture started flying. While we were immune to the spell itself, we weren't impervious to the airborne furniture once it had been set in motion. Teeg was hit with a lamp table. His "oof" as it struck him hard on the right shoulder made me attempt to pull him behind me. He refused my effort and kept going. The accessory table almost hit him in the head. We ducked again. The sofa was lifting off the floor and we were still too far away. Twenty-five hands away.
We were both shocked when the sofa was dumped onto the floor with a resounding thump, raising dust off the rug when it fell. Our two targets were still furiously attempting to cast spells but nothing was happening. Teeg didn't even spare me a glance; he rushed forward so fast and had two heads knocked together so quickly I barely saw him move.
The warlock Teeg shot with his ranos pistol was dead; the other two were unconscious when Teeg called Astralan on his communicator. Astralan and Stellan appeared only ticks later, metal cuffs in hand.
"What are those?" I asked as Astralan and Stellan placed them around each warlock's wrists.
"They used to make something like this to control vampires," Teeg sounded proud of himself. "These control wizards and warlocks. Handy, huh?""You mean they can't use their power if those are in place?"
"That's exactly what it means." Astralan sounded quite sure. I stared at Teeg. He had been busy. No doubt it was the same sort of technology that he'd used on the chip in my collarbone. A double-edged sword, in every sense.
"Now, let's go back, I want a bath." Teeg was finished here. Astralan folded us back to Teeg's apartment while Stellan took charge of our prisoners. Both prisoners were waking inside a cage much like the one I'd been stuck in while convalescing. This cage was in one of the bedrooms—Teeg showed me.
Farzi and Nenzi were there to help guard our captive warlocks while Teeg and I cleaned up and Astralan went back to destroy the compound. It was a shame Teeg wanted it destroyed—I thought the architecture was a work of genius. Surely, Zellar hadn't built it himself. More than likely, he'd killed the one who had built it and taken it for himself.
"Reah," Teeg hadn't been willing to bathe separately. Now he was kissing my shoulder. Caressing my ribs and hips. "Did they hit you anywhere, sweetheart?"
"Just little bits of stuff hit me," I said.
"You said stuff." We didn't get out of the shower for a while.
* * *
"What are you going to do with your prisoners?" I asked Teeg as I set out two plates of food to serve the rogue warlocks. The rest of us had eaten already. Nenzi had helped me cook, cutting up vegetables and such.
"Ask them questions. Tomorrow, when they've had time to think about things."
"And then what?"
"I have plans for them."
"You're not going to tell me, are you?"
"No. But I am taking you out for a little while. Then you're going to bed. You look tired."
"Where are we going?" Stellan had come with us as protection. We'd walked out of the building that housed Teeg's penthouse apartment and then to a shopping district just a few ticks away.
"To pick up something I ordered," Teeg said.
* * *
"Tiralian crystal, as requested, Master San Gerxon." The owner of the upscale jewelry shop came to deliver the ring in person. My face was burning—if I'd known this was what he was after, I might have dug my heels in and refused to come. I didn't want to make a huge scene so I didn't fight with Teeg about it. I'd told him I wouldn't wear his ring as long as he held Gavril, but if I refused, then Chash might suffer. I didn't have a choice, now. The crystal setting was large and Teeg placed it on my hand there in the shop. Teeg just grinned at my embarrassment and took me out for a protein jumble at a shop nearby.
Teeg's arm was draped around my shoulders and I was sipping my drink; Stellan got ice cream while Teeg let his coffee cool as we walked out again. Teeg drew in a breath two steps out the door, then did something—I don't know what—grasping my arm and Stellan's before we were all flying through the air. I'm not sure how I heard the blast from the sweet shop behind us, but the small building was obliterated by an explosion. I had no body, no hands and no mouth, else I'd likely have been screaming. I could see all about me as I hurtled through the air, which frightened me. I remembered being carried like this just once before. I didn't know how it had happened the first time. I was pretty sure I knew who was responsible this time.
I watched in shock as we passed right through the wall of Teeg's apartment. "Keep her here!" Teeg shouted to Farzi and Nenzi as I became solid again right in front of the two reptanoids. Gathering Stellan and Astralan to him, Teeg and the warlocks disappeared right in front of me, leaving me with a look of stunned wonder on my face.
"Reah, you are fine?" Farzi made it a question. I whirled to look at him.
"Farzi, what happened? I mean, how did he do that?" I turned to look at the space previously occupied by Teeg.
"We not knowing," Nenzi shook his head. "He only do when has to."
"Somebody blew up the sweet shop." I discovered I still had the cup in my hand. "Did those people get killed?" I was turning in a circle—normally I'd have a comp-vid handy so I could check on things like that. Teeg had carefully kept those things out of my reach. I headed for the door, determined to find out if the young man who'd served us was injured, as well as the other customers in the shop.
"No, Reah. Teeg say you stay with us." Nenzi was blocking the door.
"Nenzi, those people might need help."
"Reah, you have no identification. You stay." Farzi came to stand next to Nenzi. Farzi was right, of course. I had no identification—Teeg hadn't given anything back to me. It may have been lost, too—I had no idea what I'd had with me when they found me. "Teeg will come soon—let him take care of this." Farzi was pushing me gently toward a chair away from the door.