Blood, Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter Eleven

“Why do you own a sword if you have no idea how to use it?” Lex asked as I missed stabbing the practice dummy by at least three feet.

Dusting myself off, I raised my chin indignantly and glared at him. “Because it’s a ritual tool, and it’s not meant to spill blood other than mine. It’s a symbol, not a weapon.”

Lex and Tybalt turned to each other and sighed, both muttering, “Witches,” in the same disappointed tone of voice.

“Hey!” I scowled. “It’s not a bad thing to try to do no harm.”

“Not when there’s a hundred or so vampires out lookin’ to end you, darlin’,” Lex argued, and I rolled my eyes.

“I don’t see how this is going to help prevent that.” Waving the rapier in a series of swishing arcs, I eyed it dubiously. It wasn’t the most intimidating weapon I’d ever laid eyes on. I’d feel more secure with a claymore, except for the tiny detail that I couldn’t lift one. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but the rapier was faster and less likely to unbalance me.

Sure, I was safe behind my shields-as long as I remained conscious. A determined vampire could sit and wait for hours, even days, for me to pass out from exhaustion, and though I’d been bending the rules of witchcraft lately, I wasn’t about to start lobbing around fireballs like a sorcerer. I didn’t think I could even if I wanted to. With that in mind, Lex and Tybalt decided to teach me how to properly use a sword. Though really there was nothing proper about my technique, as I had all the grace of a dying wildebeest. It didn’t help that my muscles were already aching to begin with, from activities that had nothing to do with self-defense and were far more enjoyable.

“You’d be surprised what a weapon can do with the right enchantment,” Tybalt said as he strode over to stand next to me. “Easy now.” The faerie placed one hand over my grip on the hilt of the sword and then placed his other hand at the small of my back. “Here.” He guided me toward the target. “You stab here, aiming for the heart, as many times as you can manage. This sword is a piercing weapon, so you’ll not be severing any heads with it. Just concentrate on doing as much damage to the heart as you can, as quickly as you can. Those bastards heal wicked fast.”

Gingerly I poked the poor, straw-stuffed victim in the chest. “Like this?”

“Only if you plan on annoyin’ him by ruining his shirt,” Lex drawled.

“Hey, no comments from the peanut gallery.” I stuck my tongue out at him, and he smiled.

“Here, you need to lunge forward.” Tybalt tapped me gently on the back, and I felt a rush of power zip through me, guiding my muscles to react perfectly as I moved forward and expertly stabbed through the dummy.

“Wow. I just need to keep you standing beside me and everything will be fine.” I grinned, withdrawing the blade.

“I would if I could, Kitty.” He patted me on the arm, and stepping back, he nodded toward the target. “Now try it again.”

Over and over I practiced with the rapier, first with the target and then moving in slow motion in duels against Lex and Tybalt. Although I knew if I was stuck in a situation with the weapon as my only defense I would more than likely end up dead, it was still somewhat comforting to have a little more practice and knowledge than I had before. By the time we finished, just about every muscle in my body had begun to protest, and I was glad to finally replace the weapon in the scabbard at my belt. The rapier was longer and thinner than my short sword, and its weight felt unfamiliar, but my dagger was sheathed in its usual place on the belt and that gave me a measure of comfort. I was dressed and ready for battle: blue jeans, combat boots and top hat. The only new development had been a loose, long-sleeved white shirt. Made from a tough fabric, it was warm, slightly scratchy, and had a thin cord that laced up the cuffs and neck of the shirt. I felt like a reject from the Renaissance faire, but the faeries had assured me my outfit was fine.

“You look tired,” Lex commented. Tybalt wandered off, intent on some mysterious business of his own, leaving Lex and me alone.

“I am tired. Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m used to this sort of workout.” He smiled, and I nodded.

“True. I’ll probably have to get used to it if I’m going to be Titania. Did Maureen have to put up with this sort of thing?” I couldn’t picture the matronly old woman with sword in hand, fending off a group of evil ne’er-do-wells.

“Maureen was more of a shillelagh sort of girl. I watched her club a few uppity goblins in the head with that stick of hers.” Lex laughed at the memory. “She was quite a woman. I’ll miss her company.”

“I still can’t believe she didn’t name an heir.”

“She couldn’t. Her husband wasn’t a magician, and he forbade her from teachin’ magic to their children. Even after he died she kept the secret to herself, though she had plenty of grandchildren she could’ve trained.”

The idea was shocking to me, but sadly it was not unheard of. How awful, so much talent wasted… Rubbing at a sore spot between my shoulder blades, I winced in pain. “I think I’m going to soak for an hour or two.”

“Need someone to wash your back?” Lex asked, wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

“You’d only help in making me dirtier instead of cleaner.”

“And you’d enjoy it.”

“I’m sure I would, but you’re still not invited,” I insisted. I needed some time alone to think.

Though clearly disappointed, Lex still saw fit to give me a parting kiss that left me breathless. I nearly changed my mind about his offer and dragged him back to my room, but I managed to stick to my guns. Set in my resolve, I felt steadier by the time I closed the door of my room behind me. Stripping off my clothes and equipment, I shivered in the cold of the room, hugging my arms to my chest as I prepared the bath. There are many advantages to living in a faerie castle, because it’s made of magic like everything else in Faerie. When I entered, it had been a simple bedroom, but with the few words of a spell and a bit of effort I conjured up a fireplace complete with cheerily crackling fire where a bare stretch of wall had previously been. Near the fire I chose a patch of floor and created an enormous marble bathtub the size of a Jacuzzi, filled with bubbles and steaming water.

It’s good to be a witch. Well, it’s good to be a witch, better to have faerie cousins with their own enchanted castle.

I climbed in, my aching muscles instantly soothed by the water’s warmth. Pippin, the more adventurous (and probably less intelligent) of my two cats, hopped up on the narrow edge of the tub and batted excitedly at a foamy white pile of bubbles.

“If you fall in, I’m not rescuing you,” I warned him. True to form he ignored me and continued to reach for trouble. Closing my eyes, I decided to ignore him back and concentrate on my biggest problem, the last test. And Lex. No, Lex was not a problem, Lex was something else. We’d work that one out later.

I was fairly certain I had passed the first trial. It sounded as though Dorian had foolishly attacked his dragon. I’d worked with mine, and I felt that had been the right choice, or at least I was sure that attacking it would have been the wrong choice. Sure I wasn’t an expert on dragons, but I’d known enough of the facts to trust that it wouldn’t hurt me, and it hadn’t. As the liaison between the human world and Faerie, it would be important to be able to solve problems with strategy and not just nuke the scary things on sight.

The second test had gauged my ability and willingness to judge the guilty and decide their fate. I had the impression that the Council wanted to test my willingness to make the hard decisions. Witches heal, we don’t harm. We encourage life, not death, and a Titania can’t be that softhearted. Of course, as an outcast witch, I didn’t have to struggle as much with that particular moral dilemma, which was reflected in my decisions. I didn’t feel bad about killing the imp-in fact, with the loss of Mac gnawing away at my subconscious, I almost wished I could’ve killed the little bastard more than once.

Lex was still a bit annoyed at me for not killing the shifter, but he’d get over it. I just wanted to know why Lex had been there in the first place. Would he be along for the ride with the last test? If he was, what did that mean? What would the Council ask of me next? There were so many options, countless possibilities. I couldn’t prepare for all of them. Hell, I couldn’t prepare for even one or two. All I would end up doing would be to make myself sick worrying over what-ifs. Everyone around me trusted that I would make a good Titania. I needed to trust myself.

Which left me with only one problem to deal with: my father. I’d sworn to make him pay for what he’d done to my mother, and now I was oathbound to do so, and by the gods I meant to. Dorian Morrow deserved death. A painful, tortuous death. To abandon your wife and child in the pursuit of empty power was one thing, but having your wife killed so she would no longer “annoy” you with her demands of love, attention and child support was another matter entirely. I knew, I’d always known, that if I’d been home that night I would’ve been killed as well. The only reason I was alive was thanks to the fact that I’d been at a slumber party with some friends from school.

Tough enough for a kid to deal with the fact that Daddy didn’t want her anymore, but knowing Daddy didn’t even want you breathing was worse. They would’ve come back to kill me, I’m sure, if Maureen hadn’t shown up and taken me away. I would’ve ended up in the foster care system if Maureen hadn’t pulled a few strings and found a witch to look after me. My life would have been so different if she hadn’t been Titania, and the vampires had murdered her as heartlessly as they had my mother. For their pursuit of empty, selfish, dark power.

Dorian Morrow deserved to die. The question was, could I kill him? Could I decide his fate as readily as he had decided mine and my mother’s? Would avenging her death make me a monster like him? Or was it justice, a fitting end?

Before I could ponder the topic any further my door opened, and I opened my eyes as Lex stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. “Hey, I thought I told you that you weren’t invited,” I commented, raising an eyebrow.

“Sorry, sugar, ’fraid I have to interrupt. On business.” Though his intention was business he was definitely distracted by the sight of me in the tub. I couldn’t blame him, because I was just as distracted by his presence in the room.

“Not good, is it?”

“No.” Crossing the room, he sat on the edge of the tub.

“Exactly when will it be time for good news?”

“Soon, I hope.” He smiled softly, and it made me feel a little better. “I stepped out to make a few calls.”

“Out?”

“Of Faerie, for a few minutes. No cell phone reception here.”

“Yeah, I’d imagine not. So what’s the story?”

“The vampires doubled the price on your head after the last test.”

“Ick. Why? They can’t get near me here. All the money in the world can’t buy them a ticket in.”

“The vampires can’t get in, no, but there are necromancers who can, and more than enough sorcerers as well, and they’re always interested in makin’ a fast dollar. ’Specially if it hurts someone else, like a witch.”

“But they still can’t get in here, they won’t get past my cousins.” My voice didn’t quite hold the note of surety in it that I hoped for. Any assassins would have to get through the Silverleafs to get to me, but my clan wasn’t exactly prepared to go on high-security alert. They’d never been attacked in their home-that was the main appeal of Faerie to its inhabitants, and the reason for its creation.

“Probably not, but it’s possible, and it’s something to be concerned about. The necromancer council wants you out of the way before you can take the third test, because if you become Titania they can’t touch you again without startin’ a war. I’ve spoken to Tybalt. He’s alerting the rest of the clan to be on guard.”

“Okay. So all I have to do is survive until the final test.”

“Right.” Lex nodded in agreement, and after a moment’s hesitation tugged his T-shirt shirt over his head and tossed it onto the floor. He untied his boots and pulled them off, adding them to the pile.

“Hey, you said you were here for business,” I pointed out.

“I did. I’ve delivered the news, and since you might be in danger here it’s my sworn duty to stick right by your side from here on out. It’s a tough job, but I’ll suffer through it.” With a great sigh, as though the weight of the world had been placed upon his shoulders, he continued to strip, and I laughed at the mock-serious expression on his face.

“You poor thing, how will you survive?”

“With courage and stamina, darlin’,” Lex replied. I was only able to enjoy a glimpse of the lovely sight of naked Lex before he joined me in the water. “This is a very girly set-up you’ve conjured, Cat. Is that perfume?” he asked, sniffing the bubbles warily.

“Jasmine.”

“That’s used in love spells, isn’t it?”

“If you’re an alchemist. Witches don’t generally approve of love spells,” I reminded him. Lex moved toward me, and I placed my palms against his chest to prevent him from getting any closer. “Slow down there, buddy. You and I need to talk.”

“’Bout what?”

“About this.” I gestured at the tub, the bubbles and the nakedness. “Us. I want to know what your intentions are. Specifics.”

“Specifics, huh?” Sitting back, he gave me some space. “All right. Where do you think we’d be right now if you hadn’t been attacked?”

I frowned at him, hugging my arms to my chest. It was something I tried not to think about, all the “what ifs” and “might have beens” with Lex-it was just too painful. Until he showed up in the Three Willows to tell me about Maureen’s death, I honestly thought I’d never see him again. But before my attack, our relationship had been wonderful.

“Married, maybe,” I admitted cautiously.

“Just maybe?”

“Okay, married, a house in Des Plaines, with 2.5 kids and a Golden Retriever. Is that what you want to hear?”

“Yes.” He took one of my hands in his, and I felt a tingle rush up my arm.

“Geez, don’t do that.” Frowning, I pulled my hand away and watched him closely.

“I’m not doing anything, not really, which is my point. We’re connected, you and I. On more than one level. I feel something just bein’ near you.”

Silent, we studied each other. It explained how he managed to get through my shields. We were connected; my magic wanted to protect him as much as it wanted to protect me. The idea was scary and exhilarating, and I shivered despite the warmth of the water.

“So what happens when this is over, when things go back to normal? Or at least relatively normal?” I asked.

Moving toward me, he drew me into his arms and kissed me. “I’ll take you home to meet my mama, and the rest of my sisters.” Lex grinned roguishly as my eyes widened in surprise. “Don’t worry, you survived a dragon, they’ll be easy compared to that. We can get married in New Orleans.”

“Whoa, wait a minute, I did not agree-” I sputtered, and he cut me off with another kiss.

“We can argue about it later. Now, I seem to recall you suggestin’ that I help you get dirtier before you get clean.”

Deciding that was a good place to end the discussion, I gave in to Lex’s distraction.