Drama-rama!
(-)
I woke on Pritkin's bed, still feeling tired. I noticed a note on the nightstand: Went to talk to Mircea. Don't come find me unless you know you can shift us both out. And, under that, more hastily scrawled: Don't worry. I won't let anyone take you.
It was ridiculously reassuring, even if fighting off multiple masters at once was kind of crazy. Pritkin was kind of crazy, and if any mage could manage it single handedly, it was him.
After evaluating that I probably had enough energy for a shift there and shifting us both back, I concentrated on Pritkin, since I couldn't be sure he was in the penthouse with Mircea, and shifted.
"You want her for yourself!" Mircea said as I appeared in the main area of the suite right beside Pritkin.
While both vamps looked surprised at my entrance, Pritkin didn't flinch. "Cassie belongs to no one. That's rather the point she wants to make here."
I looked at Mircea, still feeling betrayed at this sudden desire to control me absolutely. "I don't belong to anyone," I agreed. "And you're really showing what I am to you: a servant."
"Dulceata-" Mircea began.
"Don't call me that!" I said. "That was what you called a little girl I thought you cared about. Now you just use it to make me think you care so you can use me."
The vampire sighed. "The fact of the matter is that the Consul and Marlowe agree that it's too dangerous here, and-"
I suddenly got it. It was really stupid for Mircea to pull this when he knew how I'd respond. "They're making you do this."
"I warned them you would not take it well," Mircea said.
"Do they want to turn me against the Senate?" I asked, thinking it was also pretty stupid for both of them to ignore the guy who knew me best when he said this was a bad idea.
Mircea seemed to relax. "No, but they aren't used to humans in the vampire courts not obeying them."
"She doesn't belong to your courts," Pritkin snapped.
"He's right. I'm not anyone's clairvoyant anymore. I'm Pythia. And I'm willing to work with the Senate because I don't want any one group to rule me. I'll do this job on my own terms, not under the control of one organization." This was ridiculous. "Ask the Consul if she wants to alienate me and make me an enemy. Because that's exactly what she's doing."
There was a glimmer of satisfaction as Mircea said, "I'll be sure to emphasize that."
And I got it. "You wanted this. You knew I'd respond like this. And now you have an ultimatum for her. You can say you tried, but it came to a point where you'd lose me if you went through with it."
Mircea smiled. "I do know you, Cassie, and I do care about you. I have no desire to cage you, however much I'm concerned for your safety." His eyes slid to Pritkin, who glared at him.
Sighing, I said, "I don't know why I have to keep repeating this: Pritkin would never hurt me. He's the only reason I'm still breathing many times over."
"I don't trust him," Mircea said.
Still glaring, Pritkin said, "And I don't trust you. You are a professional liar."
"And I think you have some secrets you've been lying to hide," Mircea said.
He really needed to stop bringing that up. I could see Pritkin raising his threat estimation every time the vampire prodded.
"Everyone has secrets," I said. "I have a secret love of brownies."
Raph smiled at that. "Mia stella, that has never been a secret." He was much happier now that I wasn't looking to leave.
I looked between the vampire and mage having a stare off. "And I think we can agree that curiosity has historically killed a lot of cats and mind our own business."
"You are my business," both of them said at once, not taking their eyes off each other.
I gave them a tired little smile. "And you thought you had nothing in common. Can I go to sleep now?"
Pritkin said, "If you wish, but I'm not leaving you vulnerable until we have official confirmation that you aren't going to be forcibly moved anywhere."
Meaning he'd be here in the suite until I woke up. I felt incredibly safe hearing that. I was tired enough that it was getting hard to keep my eyes open. But it was safe to sleep because he wouldn't let anyone take me.
"Mircea, can you play nice long enough for me to get a good nap in? It's also not safe for me if you two get into an epic battle while I'm trying to sleep."
"I must speak with the Consul. Until then, Marco and Raphael will keep an eye on the mage."
I snorted. "Or, you know, maybe keep an eye out for actual threats. That'd be great." On the plus side, Raph wasn't going to start any fights and Marco, however much he enjoyed provoking Pritkin, was pretty levelheaded and knew when not to start arguments.
Satisfied I was safe from both enemies and allies, I went back to my room.
(-)
"Mia stella, wake up. It is time for dinner," Raph said.
I rolled over to look at him. "Just tell me Pritkin isn't in charge of ordering."
"I put in an order. And…I don't know what you said to him, but the mage is actually being…social with me."
I grinned and sat up, pleased Pritkin was behaving. "Like I said, you're the best."
And Raph was suddenly taking me in his arms. "You are so precious, mia stella. A vampire like me doesn't have much reputation or respect. But you've always seen great value in me."
"Only because you are valuable and wonderful." I hugged him close, feeling so at home in his arms. Raph had comforted me many times when I was a child.
After a few moments, Raph said, "You told him about Eugenie."
I held him closer instead of answering immediately. "When I was growing up, you two were the only ones who kept me from developing an attitude like his. Without you both, it might be easy to write vamps off as monsters, just being surrounded by Tony's thugs."
"I didn't think you spoke of her to anyone. But you told him."
This was a gentler probe than Mircea, but he was still asking about Pritkin. Luckily, it was a different inquiry. I pulled back to meet his eyes and said, "Once I mentioned you both, he asked who she was. So I told him."
"You trust him. Whatever concerns Mircea doesn't concern you." And he almost didn't have to ask the next part: "Why?"
"Mircea is more jealous than concerned," I said, hoping he wasn't in the suite. "And Pritkin is so ridiculously loyal and trustworthy that any suspicion of him wanting to do anything even unpleasant to me is like a joke. A bad one."
"I am glad to hear it," Raph said, standing. He offered me a hand. "Let's get some food into you." When I got up, he frowned. "Your pretty dress is all wrinkled now."
That made me grin. "An argument for jeans and t-shirts. I'm not made for nice clothes."
Taking me into the living room, Raph said, "Nonsense, you should be exquisitely adorned to accentuate your natural beauty."
Looking at Pritkin, sitting on the couch in his normal mad-scientist-meets-Rambo chic, I thought we had that in common. When Rosier had been pretending to be Pritkin, he'd worn clothes more suited to a predator, a seducer. And while Pritkin looked good in that, it didn't look real. Pritkin dressed for practicality. When not otherwise bullied, I preferred to dress that way too. Well, before this whole Pythia thing started, when I was just living as a secretary and part-time fortuneteller, I'd cultivated my own sense of style and had my carefully built wardrobe. But after my first brand-new brush with death and having to stand in front of the Senate in blood-covered leather mini with matching boots and a smiley-face t-shirt, it became clear that practicality came first. Not to mention that that wardrobe was still in the apartment in Atlanta. Or donated to the shelter after our rent ran out.
The appraising look Pritkin gave me, slowly up and down, was appreciative, however. He didn't seem to mind the wrinkles. But then he looked away, pretending he hadn't been watching. It was almost cute. And maybe dressing up a little wasn't so bad. He didn't normally check me out.
Well, at least not so obviously. After the incident with his father when I learned he was half-incubus, after the revelation that the things he'd been doing to me were things he'd clearly been thinking about, I considered that Pritkin had just gotten very good over the years at veiling any interest in someone. It would be important to not encourage anyone to pursue him. The fact that he was slipping up now was encouraging, even if I'd been blatantly told not to pursue him.
"You're a magnificent artist, Raph; of course you value aesthetics. Me? I value living."
"And that could almost be considered passable if it wasn't a dress. There's no time to protect your modesty when survival is on the line." Pritkin seemed determined to snub my dress now, almost as if to spite his earlier interest.
Given our adventures, including him making my clothes see-through when I met him in the past, I didn't think I had enough modesty left. But I smirked at him. "I'm wearing shorts under it, so I don't look unladylike when it rides up after someone tries to kill me."
I was probably the only one who knew him well enough to know that Pritkin was holding back his amusement as he said, "Then it will do."
"Food is here," Marco said. The room service tray came in and was unloaded before it left again.
I was surprised to find that Pritkin and I were eating breakfast. I had no idea how Raph knew that was what I was craving, since I hadn't even thought about it, but as soon as I saw those pancakes, I needed them.
And I tried to avoid eating like a wild animal, but I was still depleted from Pritkin's damn training, and I needed the calories. Looking over at Pritkin eating his food in measured bites (I was pretty sure he didn't like the unhealthy food), I said, "This is like the first time we ate together. If you don't finish that, I will."
"As long as he does not try to murder you afterward," Mircea said, coming in.
Pritkin gave me a sideways glance that conveyed a lot of awkward guilt. "That was a…rather unfortunate and egregious error."
There was no stopping it. I barely managed to swallow my food before I burst out laughing. Sitting here, now, it was hilarious how this had all started. It seemed to alarm the four men in the room. "Oh, come on!" I said, unable to stop laughing. "He saved my life a couple of times and then tried to murder me!" No one else seemed to find that funny, especially not Mircea and Pritkin.
When no one said anything, I calmed a little, though I was still giggling as I said, "You hated me! You thought I was a demon, and then you basically called me promiscuous when you said I couldn't be a virgin which meant I couldn't be Pythia…we've come a long way, haven't we?"
The mage was blushing, looking intently at his plate. "It was a mistake, okay?"
Thinking Pritkin might combust if I teased him, I instead said to Raph, "Thanks for ordering this; it's amazing."
Raph smiled, pleased. "I had to be careful, as I remembered you saying that you do not care for the meat here."
Chuckling, I said, "Yeah, I've spent too much time in the kitchen to find it appetizing."
"Are you sure you're alright?" Mircea asked. Apparently that laughing fit made him think I was hysterical or something.
"That depends: do we have to throw down over where I'm sleeping tonight?" I eyed him warily.
Pritkin was also wary, and I noticed his body drawn tight like a cat ready to pounce. One wrong word, and Mircea was in for a fight.
"The Consul has agreed that you will stay here, where you will have convenient access to MAGIC," Mircea said.
Basically, she was saving face. Which was fine with me. "Given that the Silver Circle hangs out at MAGIC, it's like saying I have convenient access to a guillotine."
Mircea said, "They would have to get through us to get to you, and it would be a blatant act of war to do so there."
At the same time, Pritkin said, "If they think they can get past me and hurt you, they'll have a lesson to learn that they might not survive."
I looked between them and said, "Uh, thanks, but I'll still give MAGIC a miss." Wanting to change the subject, I said, "Pritkin, it's been pointed out that our training shouldn't take me to the point of total exhaustion, since it makes me weak and easy to attack."
The mage eyed Mircea. "Yes, I can see that there are those who would take advantage of your vulnerability. We can't have you being easy prey."
So much for trying to defuse the situation. "Good, great talk. Is there anyway we can have a nice conversation while I finish my, and maybe Pritkin's, food?"
Mircea and Pritkin were still eyeing each other. Without looking away, Pritkin pushed his plate towards me. I sighed. "Then maybe Marco and Raph could stick around while everyone else goes somewhere else to cool off? Please?"
"What assurance do I have that he won't take you anyway as soon as I leave?" Pritkin asked.
Rolling my eyes, I said, "Because he knows that betraying me and going back on his word is probably the best way to turn me against him and the Senate." I looked at Mircea, who had said as much before. "Right?"
The vamp nodded, eyes only on me. "Your trust is precious, Cassie, and not easily won. I would not throw it away."
"Okay, then maybe examine that first statement and consider it when I say that I trust Pritkin absolutely. I'm not worried he'll hurt me or use me." And a pang hit me as I considered that Mircea had waited until I was vulnerable, that he had been insistent that separating Pritkin and me was more important than my safety. He might have been ordered to do that, but he would have gone through with it happily if I had let him. "And I'm sorry to say that's more than I can claim about you."
I just stared at my plate, suddenly less hungry. There was a quick squeeze on my shoulder as Pritkin stood up. "Get some rest." He did, however, wait for Mircea to leave as well. The vampire hadn't said anything, and I didn't want to look at him.
When the door closed behind them, I started eating, afraid I might start crying if I didn't. Mircea was right: I didn't trust easily. And I'd trusted him, believed him to be family. I finished my plate and pulled Pritkin's in front of me.
Raph's hand was on my back, stroking gently. "You know he had no choice, mia stella. When the Consul commands, he must obey."
"Did she tell him to be that eager for an excuse to isolate me from Pritkin? He may be an excellent liar and actor for his job, but he wasn't faking that keeping me away from Pritkin was more important that my supposed safety. I even agreed to go if Pritkin did, but he said no."
"Is the mage so important?"
I didn't think Raph was being anything but a concerned friend, but I was also aware that he would answer any question Mircea asked. So, as much as I loved him, he didn't make for a good confidant.
"I can trust him completely, and I know he's always on my side. You know what my life has been like, Raph. I've never had anyone like him before. Would you be able to let someone like that go?"
An arm slid around my waist in a side-to-side hug as I finished my second plate. "Not unless I was given no other choice."
He was aware of the limits to our relationship as well, probably more keenly than I was. And I said, "I understand that."
There was a press of lips to my temple before Raph stood and said, "If you are through eating, I think you should go back to bed. And, in the future, don't let Mage Pritkin wear you so thin."
I smiled at the change in what he called Pritkin. I was curious about the kind of socializing that had gone on when I was napping but was too tired to ask. "I'll keep that in mind. Night, Raph."
"Sleep well, mia stella."
(-)
The next day, I popped into Pritkin's room in the morning to find it empty. This wasn't the first time this had happened, though, so I grabbed the latest book he'd given me to read. A few hours later, he came in, a gun appearing in his hand before he instantly put it away. It was getting to the point where I was taking having his weapon leveled on me as a friendly greeting.
"Good, you're here. After yesterday, there are some things we need to discuss."
"Like how pushing me off cliffs and running me ragged turned out to be a bad idea?" I asked. I really hadn't appreciated that cliff.
Pritkin waved it off. "We'll be more moderate in the future. No, I think it's time to take you to our back-up base of operations so you'll be able to shift there if things here go bad."
I set the book aside, because I had been curious about what he had put together. "There's something else to consider, though. It's the reason I didn't want to just run there yesterday."
"The Misfits," Pritkin said. "I know. Once Jeannie started showing up to spend time here, I realized that their safety would be compromised if we left. I'm working on a safe house for them as well."
Staring, I thought I might kiss him. He'd been worried about the kids and Tami too. He was making sure they'd be safe too. "You take care of your family," I said, a small smile on my face.
That got me an alarmed look. "Family?!"
I realized that the only family he'd ever had was a Demon Lord and a court of incubi. "The Misfits. We're a family. And you're one of us."
He gaped at me. "I…I didn't think…"
Laughing, I said, "You saved them from their nightmare of being locked up and taught them to doodle with magic. You're the coolest mage ever."
When he didn't seem able to reply, I said, "You have a place to belong. I know you gave that up to support me, but-"
"I never belonged anywhere," he said quietly. "Even at the Circle. I was good at my job, and there were those like Mac or my old partner Caleb who got along with me, but to most, I was…an outsider."
"Which is precisely why you're one of us. We keep doors open and set things on fire and levitate things and make bird skeletons dance and travel through time. With your unusual background and abilities, you fit right in."
"No one knows why I'm strange. They just get a sense of…otherness. It isn't like I can say why I make people uncomfortable."
I laughed a little. "I'm pretty sure the jumping down people's throats and yelling and shooting first and asking questions later makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Yeah, you're also just weird, but that's what we like." When he opened his mouth again, I said, "Give it up, Pritkin. You have a family."
He closed his mouth. Then he said, "Well, I would have them stay with us, but I've painstakingly warded the whole place."
"And Tami and Astrid would make the whole thing pointless." He looked guilty, so I said, "Tami has been doing this longer than I've been alive. If you give her a decent location, she can make it work."
Sighing, he said, "Well, I also have to think through the logistics of food and clothing and such for that many people."
"Tami can blend in and get a decent job. Since she has a second null in the group, babysitting while she's at work is easier."
Pritkin was looking through a box in his closet. "No, that isn't the issue, it's how to get the funds to them without leaving a trail and-"
Something suddenly occurred to me. "Wait, how are you paying for this?"
He only shot a brief glance at me before he said, "You don't live as long as I do without the ability to plan ahead and without accruing some wealth."
Holy shit. And I was suddenly uncomfortable realizing that I had no way to contribute to this. "If time-travel paid better, I'd chip in, but…"
Snorting, he said, "If we can ever get the Circle to see sense and affirm you as Pythia, I'll ensure you're paid retroactively for all the work you're doing now."
Okay, that was reassuring. "At which point I can pay you back for some of this. I mean, the monetary part." I looked at his suddenly tense posture. "There's a lot I can never repay you for."
There was a short pause before he said quickly in a low voice, "I feel much the same way, so keeping track is unnecessary." I think he hoped I wouldn't entirely understand it, but I did. Then he fished something out of the box. "Here it is."
It was a bracelet. A silver cuff that was engraved with arcane symbols on the inside part, leaving the outside a smooth surface looking plain and shiny. He handed it to me, and I said, "Um, you shouldn't have?"
That got me a smile. "It will block the other two tracking spells and keep anyone from finding you with magic, with the exception of me."
Right, a secret base wasn't secret if everyone could watch me go there. "How did you manage to make yourself the only exception?"
Pritkin turned away, and I saw the uncomfortable look on his face as he did. "It was just a matter of connection. I made the bracelet. I laid the tracking spell on you. My magic is the bridge."
Something wasn't quite true about that. I wasn't sure what, and since I didn't understand magic, I doubted getting him to tell me more would make me able to pinpoint his fib. Still, I said, "And do you have anymore ideas about this?" I put my finger to the air and started writing. His eyes followed my dazzling lines, and when I was done I was sure he could read his name, even if it was backwards.
He sighed and joined me on my side, looking the letters over. "No, and I'm not sure you understand what I'm saying. I've never seen anything like this. Any race that can cast spells can do this one, so I've seen various pure and mixed bloodlines of demon and Fey heritage. I thought I'd seen every nature of power there was. This," he said, using his own magic to underline my word, "is alien. I don't know what it is."
"Alien?" I was pretty sure my mom wasn't from outer space, but at this point in my life, anything seemed possible.
"Not the UFO kind of alien," he clarified. "Something from outside our reality. Something that didn't originate here." His eyes widened and he abruptly shut up.
"Share with the class," I said, because no way was I letting him keep whatever had just occurred to him from me.
"It's just a thought."
"Which you're going to share," I said firmly.
He sighed and sat on the bed. "Even Faerie and the demon realms are considered part of our reality, just different dimensions. There is one place, however, that is very firmly set apart."
And I understood what he was saying. "Where the gods are sealed up." I joined him on the bed, leaving a foot of space between us.
"They call themselves gods, and we only call them that because their magic is so foreign to ours that we can't protect ourselves from it."
There was a problem with this theory. "The gods were banished. If they were still running around, we'd know since they stick out."
"One god was left on this side of the divide," Pritkin said quietly. "Rosier told me the story of the goddess who stayed. The things the gods loved most about our world was demons. We had the best energy for them to feed off of. And his father, along with many of the old terrors of Demon Lords, were killed by the Huntress to fuel the spell to close off our world."
"Artemis?" I asked. Surely he wasn't suggesting that my mother might be an ancient deity.
"The gods were never meant to stay here. They would come and feed and play with the mortals, but their power dwindled if they didn't go home. She would have become weaker, more mortal, as the centuries passed. Eventually, she might have passed for human."
"But you aren't saying my mother is Artemis," I said, brain still trying to come to grips with that idea. I knew that I had just thought that anything was possible, but this?
"I'm only saying that the nature of your magic is like nothing I've ever seen, and that is one theory about why that might be." He looked over at me. "Until I can look into her, it's pointless to worry about it."
"Says you!" I said, because it was pretty pointy from where I was sitting. "That's a hell of a bomb to drop and then say forget it!"
The space between us evaporated as his arm went around me and pulled me close. That pleasant hum went through me, and it was soothing. "Whatever you are, it doesn't matter. You'll always be Cassie." I let my head fall against him. Pritkin knew me. He accepted me.
My arms slid around him as I turned to face him, loving the connection I felt when his arms went around me. My entire body thrummed with how right it felt. And he felt it too, he'd basically admitted as much. No wonder he didn't mind hugging me, even suggested it. "Can we stay like this?" I asked, voice soft but sounding very loud over the pleasant silence that had descended on us. Even the muscles that still ached from yesterday felt relaxed and happy when we touched.
Pritkin let out a mirthless snort, shaking his head. But then he said, "Just a bit longer."
I pulled myself tighter against him, legs no longer hanging over the side of the bed but splayed out beside me as I faced him. It was difficult to remind myself that I couldn't just sit on his lap to get as close as possible. "Hugging like this feels amazing, don't you think?" I asked.
That got me a non-committal noise as he gave me an extra squeeze. Which meant yes. I was needing to focus on not reaching for more, on not initiating more dangerous contact. Because I wanted to press my lips to his skin, feel that vibration under my mouth. Slide a hand between his legs and see if he enjoyed this feeling there.
And Pritkin could sense where my thoughts were going, because I was suddenly alone on the bed and he was leaned over the table, bracing himself with his back to me. "I'm sorry, but-"
"No," I said, feeling a little abandoned. "I'm sorry. I know your rules. But the hug felt so good…" High-intensity hugging was a big turn-on, apparently.
"I understand, but…perhaps we should go to the base later. For now, maybe…play with the children or something." His voice was strained.
He needed space so he could calm down. "Okay," I said. I tried not to let my disappointment show in my voice. The whole thing was my fault. I looked at the bracelet he had made for me. "I'll leave this here so they don't know we can hide from their spells until we need to." And, before I could say or do anything else stupid, I shifted out.
(-)
Aw, hugs are too nice. Hope you're enjoying the developments. And I hope the deduction of her lineage is believable. I'm not looking to go through the whole Ragnarök thing, so I needed a different way for them to learn about it.
Let me know what you think, if it suits you. I'll have more chapters coming, so I hope you'll keep reading.
