She didn’t want to, but she opened her eyes.The water worked, did the power?There was an old-fashioned toggle switch by the door; she pushed it and was rewarded with golden glow, faint in the daytime but still very welcome, from a curlicued, glass-dripping overhead fixture.
So somebody paid the electric bill here, which meant there was a paper trail.Great news, but it didn’t help her now.
This will be an amazing story to tell the girls once it’s over.Right?
“Right,” she muttered, and her gaze snagged on the half-open closet door again.No use—she couldn’t get the clothes rod down without something to unscrew the ancient, disc-shaped holder.“So there I was, trapped in the fucking suburbs.”
There was another rod in the empty, cedar-smelling wardrobe that could be lifted out, however.It was a good inch-plus dowel, nice and heavy since particle board wasn’t a thing when that furniture had been made.
It would probably make short work of the window.Then she’d have to figure out a way down to the ground.The tree branches looked sharp—and very far away.
“So there I was…” Nah, she couldn’t open like that.It would be too unbelievable.“Once upon a time, yours truly…” Oh, that was a good one.She’d start with that.
Liv prowled the room one more time, looking for more supplies, muttering bits of the story under her breath.
Then she got to work.
No Harm
Father and Jakewere late returning, but he didn’t mind.When they finally showed Erik was deep in shadow at the end of the hall, and didn’t step free until Ignatius nodded.
You learned not to move until necessary, as a Son.Erik saluted, then stood at ease.“She’s stopped breaking things.”He pitched the words low and soft, even though the door at the far end glowed to sorcerous Sight with a unidirectional baffle.No sound outside could penetrate the small suite with its infinitely precious, infinitely fragile occupant.“But not swearing anymore,” he offered judiciously, just in case Ignatius wanted a full report.
“Modern women.She will hate one of us.”Ignatius shook his head.“Easiest if it’s me.”
“If she was sealed—” Jake began.
“Your brother was right to refrain,” Father continued, inflexibly, almost as if their Younger hadn’t spoken.“We follow the times, my sons; they do not follow us.Come.”
Jake glanced at Erik, his sandy eyebrows raised, and was clearly about one short second away from saying some bullshit Father would not find appropriate at all.Erik shook his head slightly, just the tiniest fraction.
Ignatius paused, his black-clad back to both his Sons.There was a painful, glass-crunching clatter from the smallerliraim—she was trying the windows, again.Hopefully she hadn’t managed to rip any of the glass free, and hadn’t noticed how the damage sealed itself up, slowly but thoroughly.
Or maybe shehadnoticed, just now, and that was what triggered the return of soft but pungent cursing from behind the door.Erik almost winced—Ignatius didn’t like bad language.
But she waslirai.She could say whatever she liked, and do almost anything except escape her protectors.The trick would be showing her the new shape of the world in a way that didn’t end up with her getting… well, even more terrified than she already was.
Ignatius paused before the door.The baffle folded aside, spent energy sinking into stone walls, wooden floor, the fabric of the door itself.
The Mad God—Ymre was not his true name, but you never wanted to saythatout loud—had granted his chosen hands great dominion over sorcery and shadowbeast, and their physicality was supposed to give him a foothold.Now, of course, they had the best of both worlds, physical being plus invisible power.The mark on Erik’s wrist gave a sharp twinge under the leather band used to hide its more… unappetizing movements, and Jake stiffened slightly.
He felt it too.If there was any chance they were mistaken, it was gone now.Not that Erikcouldbe wrong about something like this, but still, it was comforting to know he hadn’t kidnapped a complete civilian.
Well, allliraiwere civilians to begin with, but still.
Ignatius turned the knob and swept the door open.Erik moved for entry but Jake, disregarding the protocol they’d followed a thousand times before, got through before him.
As a result, he was the one to get attacked first.
The girl had a great deal of time to work up some emotional pressure, and that was dangerous.It was a good thing she was merely a potential instead of fully awakened, or the blast of uncoordinated power might have given Jake some trouble.
As it was, Erik’s Younger caught the weapon as it descended—looked like she’d torn the clothes rod out of the wardrobe, smart girl—and twisted it free with almost no effort.If she’d been anything other than alirai,he would have moved reflexively in to gut her; for a moment, Erik’s skin was cold and loose.He almost,almosttwitched a knife free and sank it into his little brother’s back.
Shit.The protectiveness was natural; unforgiving iron training hammered it home.The first priority in any situation was to keep a Dreamer safe.
Everything else was a distant second.
“Hi,” Jake said, letting the rod drop.It clattered against hardwood floor, and she backed up barefoot.She’d torn the nightgown at about knee level, presumably for freedom of movement, and the room looked like a bomb had hit it.A loose fabric coil lay near one of the windows—strips torn from the sheets, braided together and knotted at intervals.
