Arabesque: A Wings Companion

Chapter Twenty-Five

Laurel straightened and turned to him, pointing at the screen. She'd found a newscast with live footage of a police helicopter shining lights down at a riot on the boardwalk at Torpedo Wharf.

"No, don't bother with water; that won't help her at all." He wished the reporters would show more of the ocean in the shot, but obviously that wasn't the humans' focus. They had no idea it ought to be their focus. And even if they had, it was pretty hard to make out details on the jumpy, grainy video. Were there sea fae in the waves? It was too dark to be sure. "What? Yes, I know this all sounds weird to you, but I promise, it's what she needs. No, don't cover her with a blanket. In fact, if you can take her jacket off, all the better."

Good, now he was telling a boy to undress his niece. This was just fabulous.

"Just take her there and stay with her, okay? I'm almost five hours away, but I'll drive as fast as I can." Luckily, there was no cop in the world who could give a Ticer a ticket. With luck he could make the drive in half the usual time.

Ending the call, Tamani shoved his phone into his pocket and reached for Laurel, pulling her close. "I want you and Sharlet in Avalon."

"Tonight?"

"Right now. I want you two safe before I leave for San Francisco."

"Rowen—"

"Didn't follow directions. And now she's paying for it." He tilted his head at the TV. "The sea fae did this. I've had an amazing week with you and Sharlet, but it looks like vacation time is over. Probably should have been over sooner," he added in a mutter.

Laurel nodded stoically as Tamani grabbed a shirt and pulled it over his head.

"I'll go to Avalon while you pack. I'll let you through on my way back out."

"Why?"

Tamani gritted his teeth; he hated the feeling of being a puppet on Mischa's strings. "I need Lenore."

He turned to Laurel, and her eyes reflected his. Reluctant acceptance. "There's really no other way, is there?"

"If there is, I haven't got time to figure it out." He touched the key at his chest, feeling more like Klea than Yuki—planning to use someone else's power to advance his own agenda. His intentions were better than the rebel Mixer's ever had been, but the line felt thin tonight. "When you come to the gate, please bring me anything you think might help Rowen recover from burning herself out. And ..." he hesitated. This was a touchy subject, but there was no getting around it. "I'm going to need a couple of memory elixirs."

"Oh, Tam." He couldn't tell if she was sad or disappointed. And he didn't want to think about it too hard.

"Rowen has left me with no choice. She was warned," he added, but his tone lacked heat.

Laurel touched his shoulder. "The elixir Yeardley and I were putting together still isn't strong enough to protect you from immersion in seawater, but it should help with the sand and the spray."

He pulled her close and kissed her hard. "Every little bit helps." One more squeeze of her hand and Tamani was off to Avalon.

***

"It's the middle of the night," Ariana said, her voice raspy. "I wouldn't open the door to anyone but you."

"I'm afraid I counted on that," Tamani whispered, though it hardly mattered; he was here to wake the only person still sleeping in the house. "I need to speak to Lenore."

"Len?" Ariana asked, wide-eyed—but her expression betrayed a flash of knowing as instinct kicked in; prescience honed through decades handfasted to one of Avalon's most battle-hardened sentries.

"I need her. If she's willing," Tamani whispered, not speaking his regret. Ariana would hear it anyway.

"Willing?" Ariana said, with more than a touch of bitterness. "If only that were an issue. She is her father's daughter."

"Ari." Tamani rested his hands on the slight woman's shoulders, faced her in the dim glow of the phosphorescing blossom she held in one hand. "It shouldn't be dangerous. Not to her. I'll do my very best to keep her safe."

"You did you best to keep Shar safe, too." It wasn't an accusation.

But Tamani shook his head anyway. "No. Shar did his best to keep me safe."

Ariana looked away, her lips pressed tightly together. She knew the difference—knew that the reason Tamani hadn't died was that Shar had.

Agony filled Tamani's chest, but he forced the words out anyway. "You've sacrificed more than enough for the good of others. If things get bad, Len's safety will be my first priority. I promise."

Ariana swallowed visibly, then nodded. On silent feet she padded out of the room and returned a few minutes later with a surprisingly alert Lenore. She was taller than both Rowen and Laurel, but Tamani had known her since she was a brand-new sprout; in his eyes she would always be small. Too small. Self-doubt rippled through him. She'd never even been out of Avalon. She might have no idea how powerful she was.

For that matter—maybe she wasn't.

Tamani's mouth went dry and for a few moments he couldn't speak.

Lenore sat on the edge of a settee and stared at him, wordlessly, her appearance and manner both an aching echo of Avalon's unsung savior.

"Lenore, did your father ever take you outside of Avalon to test your Enticement abilities on humans? Through the Manor, maybe?"

She rolled her eyes up to him. "What do you think?"

The answer came to him instantly—even in death, it would seem, Shar was one step ahead of Tamani. What other contingencies had he prepared, during those years when Tamani had found it impossible to plan his own life past his next encounter with Laurel? "Of course he did. Was he impressed?"

Lenore was silent for a long time. Then she simply said, "Very."

Tamani closed his eyes against the hope this kindled in him. Hope—and concern. He really was Mischa's pawn, now. But perhaps it had always been so; did knowing it actually make anything worse? He was gaining a new appreciation for Shar's legendary grumpiness. "Will you help me?" he asked softly.

"Every year," Lenore said, looking pointedly away from her mother, "on my birthday, my father would take me on a walk up to the World Tree. He would tell me about his work, and what he'd been doing all year. He told me secrets no one but he was supposed to know. And every year, underneath the canopy of the World Tree, he would ask me if I was willing."

"Willing?" Tamani asked before Ariana could find her voice. There was no way she'd known about this.

"Willing to carry on his work if anything should happen to him. Protecting Avalon by any means necessary. And every year, I swore to him that I was. My father was the greatest champion of Avalon in a generation. I had only five birthdays to hear of his work, but I remember every word." Lenore rose, seeming to grow a hand's span in an instant, her eyes boring into Tamani. "To question my willingness is an insult to his memory."

Tamani couldn't stop the grin that slid onto his face. He extended a hand to the scion of the Unseelie, the half-orphaned heir of the hidden court.

With fire in her eyes, she took it.

***

(Yes, it's pronounced just like Charlotte and no, I didn't think about that before I named Charlotte Westing.:D)

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