The Ramble

Eighteen

On the table, laying between her cup of coffee, her notebook, and the text she was working with, Elaine’s phone buzzed. Both she and Hadrian glanced up from their research. Hadrian’s brow arched. Elaine set down her pen and picked up her phone, frowning slightly. It was the Universe app, telling her she had a message. One corner of her mouth curled up into a smile.

Hadrian noticed. “Message from someone?”

“Yeah,” she said softly, swiping her finger across her phone’s screen to open the app and the message.

“From the one you’ve been talking to?”

Elaine nodded, her smile fading as she started to read the message.

I’m breaking my own rules in reaching out like this, but I don’t have a choice. Real talk, out of character. Don’t let him leave. Tell him I said to stay. It’s okay. Tell him I said it. He’ll try to leave. I need him to stay and he needs it, too.

He’d signed it Caius, but it didn’t matter who he’d signed it as, not really. It confirmed what she suspected without him even giving his real name.

“What’s the matter?” Hadrian asked, watching her. He’d evidently noticed her expression change, though she wasn’t quite sure what it looked like now, only knew that she wasn’t smiling anymore.

“Just a strange message,” she said quietly.

“From him?”

She nodded. “I—I think I need to go home.”

“Is everything all right?” Oddly, he didn’t sound quite as alarmed as she expected.

“I don’t know,” she said, knowing it was the honest answer, the only really honest answer she could give. “But I think I need to find out.”

“Are you all right?” Hadrian asked, his voice more gentle.

“I don’t know,” she said again, staring at her phone for a few seconds more before she started packing up her things. “I guess I’ll have to find out.”

“You’re worried.”

She managed to smile. “Usually.”

That, at least, made him laugh. He watched her as she packed up her things, laughter fading after a few seconds. “Trust him,” he finally said, softly, almost too quiet for her to hear. She paused, staring at him for a few seconds.

“Trust him?” she echoed, her voice as soft as his.

Hadrian nodded. Her brows knit.

“Hadrian—”

“Have I ever led you wrong before?”

Her mouth dried up. She shook her head. “No.”

“Then trust him,” he said gently. “It’s okay.” He paused, eyes glazing for a half a second before he added, “But hurry.”

Elaine swallowed hard and nodded. She slung her bag across her body and bolted, practically sprinting down the stairs and out into the gathering clouds of an October afternoon. It was trying to turn blustery, as Octobers did. Hopefully any sort of rain would wait until she made it home, though the wind was picking up considerably and the clouds had a concerning look to them.

I just want to make it home before the heavens open up.

With a grimace, she sprinted toward her car, parked in a lot far enough from the library that she worried that she might not make it before the rain started. A shiver wracked her as the wind gusted up, bile rising in her throat.

Trust him.

Hadrian really hadn’t ever steered her wrong before, but how did he know?

Does it matter?

She threw herself into the front seat of her car just as the first few fat drops of rain spattered against her windshield. A mumbled curse escaped her lips as she started the engine. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Somehow, she knew this storm was going to be a doozy—she could feel it.

I just need to get home before it gets worse.

She wasn’t sure how much worse it was going to get, but again, her gut told her there was reason enough for concern. Caius’s note and Hadrian’s words coupled with the storm had left her that much of an impression.

She sped out of the parking lot, down the street toward home, heart beating faster than usual but not too fast. Her windshield wipers whipped back and forth as more rain joined those first few drops. It was a hard rain, sounding like pellets pounding against her car’s roof. For a few seconds, she wondered if it was actually hail, but she couldn’t see anything but rain falling through her windshield.

She left her research in the car when she arrived home, bolting with only her jacket and her phone to her front porch. Elaine fumbled with her keys as thunder rumbled again, lightning forking through the sky somewhere high above. Another shiver wracked her. Had the temperature dropped, or was it just her imagination?

At this point, it was anyone’s guess.

She unlocked the door. The house was quiet as she dropped her keys on the table in the foyer. “Joss? Jason?”

No answer, though she could hear faint sounds from Joslyn’s room. She started to breathe a little easier. Nothing seemed wrong.

Maybe it’s preemptive? Maybe there’s nothing wrong.

Elaine exhaled and glanced toward the slider out to the patio, watching the rain fall in torrents. Thunder rumbled, nearer now, its depth rattling the plates and glasses in the cupboard.

She shivered again and was glad that she’d made it home in time.

Losing half a day’s worth of plowing through materials, though. Elaine shrugged slightly. Maybe Hadrian was right, maybe she needed to allow herself that kind of break—maybe she needed to give herself permission not to feel guilty about it, too.

Either way, she wasn’t going out in the storm to get the research she’d left in the car. That was going to have to wait until later, one way or another. She tugged her phone out of her pocket, setting it on the edge of the kitchen counter as she started to shrug out of her jacket. Faintly, as she ducked back into the foyer to hang up her jacket, she heard her phone buzz again on the counter, then heard it hit the floor.

Shit. I should’ve set it a little further in. Hope I didn’t crack my screen.

Ducking back into the kitchen, she scooped her phone up from the floor, checking her screen for cracks—it had already gone dark; whatever had caused it to vibrate hidden. Upstairs, she heard the floor creak and a second later, Jason’s voice.

“What?”

That doesn’t sound good. Elaine stuffed her phone into her back pocket, heading for the stairs. She could still hear his voice, though muffled enough that she couldn’t make out the words as she jogged up the stairs, taking them two at a time in her haste. She heard Joslyn asking what was wrong—at least, that’s what she assumed the question was from the cadence of her friend’s voice. Jason didn’t answer—it sounded like he might be on the phone. Elaine frowned as she moved down the hall toward the bedroom.

I have a bad feeling about this. Christ, do I ever have a bad feeling about this.

What the hell is going on?

She reached back to grab her phone when the door to the bedroom opened and Jason came out, dressed in only his shorts, his complexion ashen. Joslyn was on his heels, but they both stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of her standing in the hallway.

“What’s wrong?” Elaine asked, looking Jason dead in the eye. “What happened?”

Jason shook his head, adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed and started walking again, twisting to move past her toward the stairs. “I have to go.”

Elaine glanced at Joslyn, whose lips were drawn together tightly in a pale line across her face. Her friend shook her head slightly and Elaine frowned, then turned to follow Jason, already halfway down the stairs.

“Jason, wait.”

“I need to eat something, I need to get dressed, and I need to go,” he said, headed for the fridge. There were scars on his back from who knew what, a tattoo of a compass over a sword on the back of his left shoulder blade. “Something happened at home,” he said a second later, as if a peace offering after failing to answer her initial question.

“He said not to let you go.”

Jason froze, standing with the refrigerator door open, his hand wrapped around the carton of milk. Slowly, he straightened again, shoving the milk back onto the shelf as he twisted to look at her. “What?”

“Your brother said not to let you go,” she said. “I got a message from him. That’s why I rushed home—he said he broke his rules to send the message.”

Joslyn’s fingers tangled in the sleeve of Elaine’s sweater as she gripped her friend’s arm. “Jason, what is going on?”

His expression crumpled slightly, brow creasing in distress even as his jaw hung slightly agape, his breathing abruptly ragged as he closed the fridge and stumbled to a chair. He dropped into it heavily, tossing his phone onto the table with a faint clatter. “He lied to me,” he whispered, staring blankly at the edge of the table—through the edge of the table, the look Elaine had heard called a thousand yard stare. Joslyn’s fingers tightened around her arm.

“Who did?” Joslyn whispered.

“My brother.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Peter lied to me. He said everything was okay.”

The two women exchanged a look. Elaine nudged Joslyn toward the table and headed for the counter, intending to make a pot of coffee. Joslyn didn’t go to the table right away, instead turning to snag a blanket from the back of a chair in the living room. She wrapped it around Jason’s shoulders before she drew a chair up in front of him, sitting in it so their knees touched. Elaine watched as her friend took his hands and squeezed.

“Jason, talk to me,” Joslyn said softly. “Please.”

“He lied and he said everything was okay,” Jason said again, leaning forward. Joslyn leaned forward, too, and their foreheads touched. Elaine only watched for another second before she turned around, staring a pot of coffee. “He said it was a false alarm.”

“I don’t get it,” Joslyn said softly. “What’re you talking about? What kind of false alarm?”

Elaine’s phone buzzed in her pocket again and she winced, staring at the coffee pot. She tugged her phone out, glancing at Joslyn and Jason. Joslyn’s fingers were tangled up in Jason’s, squeezing so hard her knuckles had gone white. She couldn’t quite tell from this angle, but she thought there might be tears on Jason’s cheek.

She swallowed hard and looked away again, checking her phone.

Two more messages from the game—two more messages that could only have come from him.

What the hell is going on?

Leaning against the counter, she swiped a finger across the first message.

I will tell you everything, the message said. Just don’t let him leave. He needs to be there not here. Tell him.

Then, the second: I need to talk to you. Soon. I’m sorry.

Elaine exhaled a shaky sigh and straightened, putting her phone away before she started getting down three coffee mugs. “Just breathe, Jason,” she said quietly, gathering the mugs and the jar of sugar, some spoons from the drawer and the creamer from the refrigerator. “Try to calm down.”

He sucked in one rasping breath, then another, shaking his head slowly. As Elaine set her cargo down on the table, she could see that yes, those were tears on Jason’s cheeks. She winced.

Why did you make me the messenger? Why can’t you do this yourself?

He looked up at her, tears sparkling in his lashes, rimming his eyes like jewels that sparkled in what little light the storm outside hadn’t stolen yet. “What exactly did he say to you?” Jason asked, his voice little more than a whisper, so full of anguish and pain that it made Elaine’s own heart ache.

“He said it’s okay,” Elaine told him, her voice soft. “He needs you to stay and you need you to stay. That’s what he said. He said he broke his own rules to reach out to me but it was important.”

“Why didn’t he just call me himself?” Jason stared at the floor for a few seconds. Joslyn leaned further forward, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing tight. Elaine swallowed hard and turned away to get the coffee.

“Can I see it?” Jason asked as she turned away.

She glanced back as she reached the counter, picked up the carafe. “See what?”

“The message he sent you,” Jason said. “Can I see it?”

Elaine nodded. She brought the coffee over, set down the carafe, dug her phone out of her pocket. She handed it to Jason and then started to pour the coffee. Hunching, Jason opened the app, then the first message she’d gotten that day from Caius—from Peter. From his brother.

From the fucking founding force behind GreySoft. Fuck me what the hell is going on?

She stole a glance at him as he read the message—he must have read it twice, because he was looking at it for what felt like a long time. His lips thinned and he carefully set her phone down on the edge of the table, the hand that had been holding it covering his eyes. His shoulders shook and then Joslyn was hugging him again. He wrapped his arms around her, buried his face against her neck.

Elaine gently set down a cup of coffee near him and took her phone back. Joslyn looked up at her, a question in her eyes.

“Caius and I have been talking,” Elaine said as she poured another cup of coffee, this one for Joslyn. “Ever since the other night.”

“I thought that was all in character stuff,” Joslyn said, her voice barely audible. “What’s going on?”

“It was,” Elaine said. “Today that changed. I don’t know what’s going on, but—” she stopped, looking at Jason for a few seconds, leaning against Joslyn, his arms tight around her. “—but he said he’d explain everything. I just got the message right before you guys came out of your room.”

“My sister called,” Jason said, his voice muffled and raw. He turned his head so he could just barely see Elaine, his eyes already bloodshot. “She said that Peter had gone back to the hospital this morning to see his neurologist. That they were talking about courses of action and plans and about what was going on.” Jason exhaled, shaking his head. “He told me the day we launched full-immersion that it was nothing, that it was a false alarm and that his doctor had given him some anti-seizure meds and told him he needed to take it easy. I believed him.” He exhaled, shoulders slumping even as his arms tightened around Joslyn, wrapped around her waist. “I’m such an idiot. Why did I believe him?”

“Because he’s your brother,” Joslyn said. “Because you guys love each other and why wouldn’t you believe him.”

Jason exhaled a shaky sigh. Elaine slowly set down Joslyn’s cup of coffee, then started filling one for herself.

“Maybe he didn’t know,” Elaine said softly. “Maybe something changed after you left.”

“Then why didn’t he call?” Jason asked. “Why would he leave me in the dark? He always calls, always tells me. Why wouldn’t he have done that this time?”

Elaine looked at him, then her gaze slid over to Joslyn, then back again. Jason squeezed his eyes shut.

He swore under his breath, closing his eyes again. “Of course. Of fucking course. My big brother, always trying to take care of me when no one else will.”

“Not no one,” Joslyn said. Jason took a deep breath, straightening to look at her. He smiled weakly.

“No,” he agreed. “Not no one. He sent me to someone he knew would.” He reached up, brushing some of Joslyn’s hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear as his thumb brushed along her cheek and jaw. “If you’re right, Elaine, he at least must have suspected something.” He swallowed hard again, then sighed. “And I know he did—and so did I. I just let him convince me—let me convince me—that it really was nothing. Just a false alarm. We fooled ourselves for a few minutes into believing everything was fine.” Another shaking breath, another exhale. He shook his head. “We let ourselves believe what we wanted to believe, what we needed to believe, but we were wrong. We were wrong and that’s what hurts the most.”

Seventeen

Jason closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of Joslyn’s hair. He lay on his back with his arms wrapped tightly around her, her head nestled against his neck and jaw as she lay half on top of him, half next to him. Sunlight slanted through her blinds and he stared at the shafts of light as they played against the walls of her bedroom. She was still fast asleep, or asleep again—he wasn’t sure if she’d been there when he’d woken up early in the morning when he’d heard his phone buzzing on the bedside table with a text message from his brother.

Stay as long as you need to. That’s what Peter had needed him to know at five in the morning. It shouldn’t have surprised him that his brother was awake at the early hour—four AM back home—since Peter’s sleep patterns had always been strange, even when they were kids. That was the way it had always been and Jason didn’t see much chance of it changing.

Now, hours later, he lay awake with Joslyn in his arms, wondering not why his brother had been up so early in the morning, but why his brother felt like he needed to tell him that again at that very moment.

Did something change back home? Jason frowned at the shafts of light he lay watching, shafts that faded as clouds eclipsed the sun. Joslyn was still fast asleep, comfortable and warm against him. There was something deeply comforting about her presence, about being there with her.

How long will I need to stay? He didn’t have an answer for that question. He’d been guessing he’d know when the moment would come.

Jason sighed and closed his eyes. He must have dozed, because the next thing he was aware of was Joslyn shifting against him, stirring.

“Mmm. You’re still here,” she said, her voice heavy with sleep.

“Where else would I be?” he asked softly, nose buried in her hair. “I’m right where you left me.”

“I’m always surprised,” she whispered, twisting so she was laying on her stomach, still half on top of him. One of her toes grazed the inside of his calf and Jason smiled, reaching to run his fingers through her hair. She smiled back. “I keep wondering how the hell I got lucky and met a guy like you—and how the hell I could’ve ever been so freaking stupid.”

“Stupid?” His brows shot up. “What do you mean?”

“If you hadn’t told me your name, I don’t think I ever would have told you mine. I never would have found the courage and never would have dreamed that there was anything more between us than just two characters who fell in love and players who became friends in the process.”

His heart wrenched and suddenly his throat was tight. “Joss.”

“I mean it,” she whispered. “I am so damn lucky.”

He wrapped his arms around her again, pressing a kiss to her forehead, then her lips as she inched higher and closer, burying her fingers in his short-cropped hair. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips. “I love you, I love you.”

Her tears hit his cheeks and his throat seized. All he could do was keep on kissing her, holding her tighter as she pressed closer. He shivered, heart pounding a little faster.

“I love you, too,” she breathed, kissing him back, hard, fingertips digging into his scalp. Chills shot up and down his spine, danced along his nerves.

His phone buzzed on the bedside table and he ignored it as Joslyn arched, one foot sliding along the inside of his calf, leaving goosebumps in its wake. Jason’s breath caught, his eyes coming open to stare at her.

“I want you,” she whispered, their lips nearly touching, her nose brushing against his. “I want you so badly I can almost taste it.”

“Well, you have me,” he whispered back. “You have me for as long as you want me—as long as you need me.”

“Right back at you,” she said, then leaned in to kiss him again.

Jason’s eyes slid shut. His phone buzzed again. He groped for it as he kept on kissing Joslyn, caught hold, silenced it, then dropped it. It fell somewhere on the floor, covered a few seconds later by her nightgown as she pulled it off, her hands sliding up beneath the hem of his shirt half a second later.

Nothing else mattered, just the girl who said she loved him, wanted him. He’d never had that before.

It was nice.

Whatever the call had been about, it could wait. His team would understand. Peter would understand.

Stay as long as you need to.

What if he never wanted to leave?

After the second round, they lay cuddled together in her bed, facing each other, foreheads touching, hands threaded through each other’s hair and legs tangled together beneath the covers. Joslyn was looking at him with eyes half-lidded, a faint, satisfied smile on her face.

“Wasn’t too much, was it?” he murmured to her, thumb brushing against her cheekbone.

She shook her head slightly. “Not at all. You’re incredible.”

Jason choked on a laugh and shook his head. “Not really. You sure are, though.”

Joslyn laughed, her eyes sliding closed as she shook her head. “Goddamn flatterer.”

“Just telling it like it is.”

“Liar.” She was still laughing, though, and her lips brushed against his.

On the floor, beneath discarded clothes and a spare blanket, his phone buzzed again.

Calming, Joslyn took a slow, deep breath, settling down again against him, running her foot up and down one of his calves from the midway point down to his ankle. “That thing keeps ringing. Someone must need you pretty bad.”

Jason blinked. “What do you mean?”

“It’s gone off at least four times since the first time,” she said. “Maybe you should answer it. They wouldn’t be this persistent if it wasn’t important, right? Whoever’s calling?”

“It might be more than one person,” he murmured. “I didn’t exactly tell my team that I’d be gone.” He started to move, unwinding his arms from her, but his phone stopped buzzing then and instead he wound his arms around her again. “I didn’t tell much of anyone.”

“Really?”

He shook his head. “Just my brother.”

“Peter,” she said softly. Jason nodded.

“Yeah. He knew something was bugging me before the event but I didn’t tell him what it was until after I told you—until after I decided.”

“Decided what? To talk to me?”

“Until after I decided to come to you,” he said. “Until after you and I planned it.”

“Oh,” she said. Her palm rested against his cheek and Jason closed his eyes for a second, sighing.

“I’m glad I did,” he whispered. “And I’m glad he didn’t think this was ridiculous—I’m glad he didn’t try to talk me out of it.”

“What did he say?”

“In essence? That it was about time.” Jason grinned. “If there’s one thing that’s important to understand about my brother, it’s that he wants to see the people around him happy, no matter what. That’s like life to him. It means everything—making people happy.”

“Your brother seems like a pretty nice guy,” Joslyn said. Her thumb brushed against his cheek and Jason was surprised to find himself crying.

When did that start?

“Peter’s probably one of the best people I’ve ever known,” he murmured, resting his forehead against hers, reaching up to catch her hand in his. He squeezed her fingers gently. “He’s always been there when I needed him, even when he needed someone more than I ever could. He always puts everyone else before himself.” His throat was tight and he squeezed his eyes shut against more stinging tears. Joslyn wrapped her arms around him and drew him close.

“Shh,” she soothed gently. “It’s okay. It’s okay, Jason. Let it out. You don’t have to pretend everything’s okay.”

“But it is,” he whispered. “Everything’s fine.”

He couldn’t shake the sick feeling in his stomach that it wasn’t, though.

“Are you sure?” she whispered.

“Yeah,” he said, holding her and forcing himself to relax. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”

He left his phone on the floor where it was buried, trying to convince himself that it was nothing, that it was just people calling because they didn’t know where he was. Peter knew. Peter would handle it.

He always did.

Everything’s fine. He said it was and he told me to come, and to stay.

Everything’s fine.

Sixteen

“How was it?”

Elaine blinked at Hadrian he came around the edge of the table to his usual spot across from her, the spot that left his back to the window and the wall. He looked tired, but otherwise seemed all right as he slid into his chair, setting his laptop case on the table a few inches shy of one of her teetering stacks of books.

“How was what?” she asked, dumbfounded.

Bolts on Friday and then suddenly back here on Monday like there’s nothing wrong? She canted her head to one side, studying him, seeking signs of what might have happened. His expression and stance revealed nothing—it was as if nothing happened.

Nothing as opposed to her roller coaster of a weekend.

Saturday morning she’d spent more than two hours talking to Caius in game—seeming to talk about everything and nothing all at the same time, but if she said that she hadn’t enjoyed every second of it, she’d have been lying. It had been nearly noon when she’d headed back downstairs, finding Joslyn and Jason fast asleep on the couch in the living room, Joslyn tucked against Jason’s chest, his arms around her and her arms around his.

It had been at that point when she realized that he looked familiar, that she’d recognized him.

Jason Grey, one of the founders of the game she’d been playing since it launch, was asleep on her couch with her roommate—was in a relationship with her roommate, one that was much more serious, it seemed, than she’d initially thought. Oh, she’d known that they’d been talking for a long time, that they’d gotten to be close friends, but what she’d seen over the weekend went deeper than what she’d expected—even in light of Joslyn’s confession in the car on Friday night that she was pretty sure that she was in love with him.

That had gotten her thinking—if Jason was Jason Grey of GreySoft and he played Ascalon, who did that make Caius?

She still hadn’t worked up the guts to ask, though she strongly suspected she knew exactly who he was and that scared her a little bit.

It still hadn’t stopped her from talking to him again on Saturday night, then again on Sunday—and planning on checking in on him again that night after research and seminar.

“Well, Thursday and then Friday? How was it? Did you have a good time?” Hadrian watched her as he started to unpack his work.

“Yeah,” she said, watching him. “Yeah, I did. I’m glad I went—on both counts. I think I made a new friend.” She glanced back down at her notebook, drumming her pen against it. “And then things got exciting Saturday morning.”

“Exciting?” he looked at her, pausing in the middle of logging into his laptop. “Exciting how?”

“Well, you know that guy that she’s been talking to in the game for months?”

Hadrian nodded slightly. “Yeah, I remember you talking about it. Something wrong?”

“No,” Elaine said. “No, not at all. In fact, when I left the townhouse this morning, they were still in bed.”

Hadrian froze. “What?”

“He drove all the way here from Wisconsin on Friday night,” Elaine said, watching Hadrian’s expression. “He came to see her.”

Hadrian let out a low, soft whistle. “Wow. Something changed?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. He hasn’t told me what, but Joss hinted a little bit. He was in the service and someone he knew got killed and someone else got hurt and he was feeling pretty adrift and reached out to her. I guess they both kind of reassessed and reset and made some decisions.” Elaine smiled, looking back down to her notebook again. “He’s a nice guy and I think they’ll be good together.”

“You’ve got pretty good instincts when it comes to that kind of thing,” Hadrian said softly. “I’m sure you’re right.”

“What about you?” Elaine asked, glancing up again. “You bailed out pretty quick on Friday. Everything okay?”

Hadrian winced slightly but nodded. “Yeah, yeah, stuff’s okay. Had to swing down to Chicago unexpectedly.”

“Chicago?” Elaine frowned. “Is your brother okay?”

“Yeah, Tony’s fine—next time I talk to him I’ll make sure I let him know you asked. It was something else.”

“Something connected to why you missed most of September?”

He winced again. Elaine sighed, leaning back and hoping she hadn’t hit a sore spot.

“Sorry,” she said. “Sorry. You don’t have—”

“No,” he said, cutting her off. “No, it’s okay. You deserve to know. Friend of mine got hurt in September and we were in Chicago because Ky and her partner got tapped to help with the investigation. I came for moral support for everyone involved. It was where I needed to be and I kept up with stuff up here as best I could. Profs understood once I explained what was going on. I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner. It wasn’t fair of me to keep you in the dark.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “It was your business. I shouldn’t have pressed. You didn’t have to tell me.”

“I did,” he said, then smiled faintly. “Don’t worry about it too much. You didn’t press—not too hard, anyway, and not for anything that you shouldn’t know.” He tapped a few keys on his keyboard before he spoke again. “Tony did call me on Friday and that’s why I bolted like I did, but not because anything was wrong with him or Ky or Maggie or the kids. There was some stuff with the case and with my friend who got hurt and we needed to get down there as soon as we could.”

“Is everything okay?”

“It will be,” Hadrian said. “I have faith in that.”

Elaine nodded. “All right. Good. Good. I’m glad. I—I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried when you bolted like that on Friday. I mean, I know you said it wasn’t Ky or the kids, but that still set off all kinds of alarms, you know?”

Hadrian smiled crookedly. “And you’ve got a pretty active imagination, so I’m sure you came up with all kinds of awful things.”

She choked on a laugh. “Mitigated only by the fact that you told me it wasn’t Ky or the kids and the fact that something and someone managed to distract me for a decent chunk of the weekend. Redirection is sometimes the best solution to me worrying about shit I shouldn’t.”

“I’ll have to keep that in mind,” Hadrian said, grinning at her. “In any event, everything’s pretty much okay for now, but if something changes, you’ll know pretty quick since outside of my family, you’re the person I see the most.”

“Only because we staked out this corner together,” Elaine said, reaching for one of the books she’d stacked on the desk, already sprouting a dozen paper markers tucked between the pages.

One of his shoulders hitched in a shrug. “Not just that. I trust you and I don’t trust a lot of people. Or have that many friends, for that matter. You’re one of them.”

“The honored few,” she teased, though only mildly. Hadrian smiled, nodding slightly.

“An accurate assessment,” he said quietly, turning to his laptop screen. For a few moments, they lapsed into silence, both intent on their work.

That didn’t last.

Hadrian reached over, covering her hand with his and stilling the pen she’d been drumming against her notebook—without noticing that she’d been doing it. She startled, looking up from her book and meeting his gaze. Hadrian arched a brow.

“Okay,” he said. “Real talk time. What’s bugging you?”

“What makes you think—”

“Because after a year I of this I’d like to think at least I know you a little bit. You’ve been drumming your pen against your notebook for fifteen minutes and I’d like to know if you remember any of what you’ve read in that period of time.”

Elaine winced, glancing down at the book in front of her. The words on the page were unfamiliar, even in the section she knew she’d read a moment before. A sigh escaped her lips and she squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds. “So the guy that Joss has been talking with—the one that’s at my house? It’s Jason Grey. GreySoft’s Jason Grey—one of the founders of the company.”

Hadrian’s brow furrowed slightly. “That’s what’s bothering you?”

“Yes,” she blurted, then sighed, leaning back in her chair and covering her face with both hands. “No. No, it’s not. What’s bugging me is a conclusion I’m drawing based on that and I can’t bring myself to ask the question I need to ask to confirm what I suspect.”

“Why not? What are you thinking?” Hadrian’s brow arched as he studied her. “What’s going on?”

“I met someone in game,” she said, forcing herself to put down her pen before she started drumming it against her notebook again. “I’ve been talking to him a lot—and I like it. I really, really like it. We never talk out of character, though, it’s all roleplay, it’s all characters, but I look forward to doing it. It’s fun.”

“So what’s the problem?” Hadrian said, his brow furrowing now. “There’s nothing wrong with that, Laney. You’re allowed to enjoy a little escapism.”

“That’s not the part that’s bothering me,” she said. “It’s who I suspect is behind the character I can’t wait to log on and talk to, the one that I’m excited to get a message from. That’s the part that’s bothering me.”

“What’s the question you can’t ask?” Hadrian asked, watching her, as if he knew that was at the root of what was bothering her. Maybe he did—he always seemed to be able to figure her out.

He always seemed to be able to figure most people out.

Elaine exhaled. “I can’t ask him if he’s Peter Grey.”

Fifteen

Twenty minutes after she’d gotten the message, Elaine was in game, on horseback, heading up the winding roadway to Weatherstone’s perch on top of the cliffs overlooking the sea. The morning was quiet, the sun still rising, and much of the city behind her was still asleep at this hour. It was, after all, Saturday morning, and it was well before nine eastern. As she drew closer to Caius’s stronghold, she could see the massive gates were closed, flanked by armed guards.

It seemed that Ascalon—or perhaps Caius himself, since he’d been awake to at least send her that letter—was taking no chances with his safety, at least not right now. For that, Elaine certainly couldn’t blame him. He’d been stabbed in front of hundreds of witnesses.

I wonder if they’ve gotten anything out of the would-be assassin.

For some reason, she doubted it.

“Hold,” one of the guards called as she approached. She reined up, turning her horse to the side as she met the man’s gaze. He stared at her, hard, eyes like twin bits of flint beneath the rim of his helm. “His lordship is seeing no visitors today. Your name and business.”

“Isolde Caomhánach,” she said, chin lifting. “Lady Arenvale. I’ve come to check on his lordship’s condition after last night. I’m the healer who tended him.”

The guard exchanged a look with his partner. The other guard let out a whistle to someone out of sight. “Let her through,” he rumbled. “His lordship ordered she be admitted.”

The gate opened, the gap in it just wide enough for her to guide her mount through.  Beyond it, a stablehand came jogging from somewhere to take her horse. Behind her, the gate closed again, softly, though with a clank that suggested security, finality. Elaine glanced back as she dismounted, then shook her head at herself, adjusting the bag she carried so it settled more comfortably against her spine. She smiled at the stablehand who took her mount’s reins.

“Thank you.”

The young man nodded. “Of course, m’lady.”

Then he led her horse away and she was left standing in the courtyard, staring up at the oak doors to Weatherstone’s keep. She had to take a few deep breaths before she felt steady enough to mount the steps heading to those doors. There was no reason to be nervous, she tried to remind herself. He’d anticipated her coming—had basically asked her to.

Who was she to deny him?

Besides, she wanted to see him again and needed to make sure that he was, in fact, all right after last night’s events.

A servant opened the door before she could even knock—either they’d been watching, or somehow alerted to her presence. Elaine offered up a smile and slipped inside, only to be met by still another member of Caius’s staff, who bowed at the waist.

“Lady Arenvale,” he said, his voice rumbling. “Please, allow me to escort you to m’lord’s chambers.”

A shiver crept down her spine, but Elaine nodded. “Thank you. Please, lead on.”

He straightened and did, taking her through a hidden door and down a narrow corridor to a staircase that felt familiar. He led her up the winding spiral stair, though he paused before they reached the top.

“If m’lady continues up this way, she will find m’lord,” he said, studying her for a few seconds. “I will bring up a tray shortly with refreshments.”

Then he was gone, leaving her blinking at the spot where he’d been. Elaine shook herself and took another deep breath, then turned and continued up the stairs—another flight and a half by her estimation—to the landing she remembered from the night before. The doors to Caius’s rooms stood closed and he hesitated a moment before knocking. There was no immediate answer, so she tried the knob—unlocked. She eased the door open and slipped inside, shutting it quietly behind her. Unlike every other door in the keep, the one into Caius’s bedroom stood ajar, though only slightly, and through the sliver, Elaine could see him in bed, his back to the door, apparently asleep or otherwise resting.

A sigh of relief escaped her and she silently padded across the floor toward the door and where he lay in bed. He stirred as she got close, half rolling onto his back with a wince, one eye cracked blearily open.

“That was quick,” he murmured, voice thick with sleep and perhaps the effects of a pain draught. “I can’t say that I expected you so quickly.” He offered up a smile then, and her heart that had begun to sink instead soared again. “Though I am certainly not unhappy about it.”

“Well, let’s just say I didn’t have any plans for the morning beyond what you suggested,” Elaine said, a wry smile curving her lips. She unslung her bag and set it on the bedside table, then unfastened her cloak and laid it over a chair. Caius shifted in the bed, his gaze following her as she moved.

“Thank you for last night,” he said quietly. “I can’t tell you how much it meant.”

“I only did what any healer would have done,” she said quietly. “I told your brother that.”

“No.” Caius shook his head slightly, gingerly pushing himself into a more upright position, propped up against his pillows. “Not that. Before.”

“Before?” She looked at him, brows knitting. “I don’t—”

“You let me feel something real,” he said, still watching her, pale eyes gleaming under dark lashes. “More real than anything I’ve felt in a long time. Do you have any idea how isolating it can be? To be—to be what I am?”

Elaine sank down on the edge of the bed, meeting his eyes. They were very, very blue, the blue of a sky at the height of summer, bottomless, endless. She swallowed hard. “No,” she whispered. “No, I suppose I don’t.”

“I haven’t ever danced at one of those,” he said, still watching her. “Not even the first I held as lord. I always stood aloof. I felt like I had to. Last night…” his voice trailed away. Elaine cleared her throat.

“What changed?”

“I don’t know.” Caius closed his eyes for a moment. “I wish I did. Maybe it was you. Maybe it was you being there.”

Elaine started to shake her head. “I don’t—”

“Either way,” he continued, “I don’t regret it and I’m very glad you’re here. I’m glad I didn’t scare you away, that whoever decided to put a knife in my back didn’t drive you away.”

“It’ll take more than that to drive me away,” Elaine said softly. She was blushing and knew it. Caius didn’t seem to notice—or if he did, he said nothing. “I’m made of some rather stern stuff, you’ll learn.”

Caius smiled. “I admittedly look forward to it.”

A lump built in her throat and Elaine swallowed hard, trying to shove it back down again. The way Caius looked at her, spoke to her, sent her heart careening through her chest with reckless abandon, made her feel things that she’d never considered. She reached over and touched his hand where it lay on top of his covers. Caius turned it over and grasped her fingers gently.

“You, m’lady,” he said softly, “are a woman of rare quality, I think.” His eyes glinted and his grin grew a little wider. “And don’t you dare say that I flatter you.”

“Well, I think you are,” Elaine said, smiling back. “But as you are my lord, I will bow to your opinion.”

That made him laugh, which in turn made him wince, his free hand going to his side. Elaine murmured a soft curse, her own free hand chasing his, the words to a spell already on her lips.

“Easy,” she said quietly. “Easy. You need to rest so that will heal properly.”

“I know,” Caius murmured, throwing his head back and closing his eyes. “By the powers above and below, I know. But I’m not used to playing the invalid, not these days.”

Elaine shook her head slightly, her spell delving into the wound to see if he’d undone anything she’d worked the night before—he hadn’t, just tugged on some of it a little. No broken sutures, nothing worse than what she’d found the previous night. Another spell rose to her lips and she whispered the words. She watched as Caius relaxed markedly, eyes blinking open to regard her with relief and perhaps a little awe.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

“Of course,” she said softly, reaching to check his forehead and cheeks for fever. A diagnostic spell could have done the same, but sometimes the older, more familiar methods were more reassuring—and that, at least, was half of what most patients needed.

Is he really just a patient, though?

She brushed the thought aside as she withdrew her free hand. Caius still had custody of the other one and didn’t seem inclined to release it anytime soon. “Doesn’t seem like you’re running a fever,” she said quietly.

“I take it that’s a good sign?”  He was smiling. Was he teasing her? It was hard to know.

Elaine smiled back, nodding a little. “At this stage, I’d say yes. We’ll have to keep an eye on it, but at least this means for now things are as they should be. Have you felt anything strange?”

“You mean other than feeling like there’s a hole in my back?”

She gave him a level look. “Yes.”

He shook his head, sobering. “No. No tingling, burning, itching, nausea, chills, fever, nothing. Nothing to suggest that maybe the blade was poisoned.”

Elaine’s brow arched. “You’ve been through this before.”

Caius shifted uncomfortably in the bed. “Only once,” he said quietly. “And let me be the first to tell you that I am more shocked now than I was then.”

“So it doesn’t happen very often,” Elaine said softly. She stopped trying to examine him further, just sat on the edge of the bed, holding his hand even as he held tightly to hers.

He shook his head. “Three times,” he said, then amended, “that we’re aware of. I suppose there could’ve been others that didn’t get close enough for us to realize what they were or things we chalked up to a nasty case of food poisoning. We almost chalked the second one up to that until we found the vials.”

“Vials?” she echoed, tilting her head slightly.

Caius sighed, nodding. “Yeah. They tried to poison Ascalon and I but they left the vials in the bloody kitchen at the inn where we were staying. One of our friends found it while Ascalon and I were bedridden with what I thought was the worst bout of food poisoning I’d ever had.”

Elaine let out a low whistle. “Shit. That—what happened?”

“Well, we never caught who did it. The poor innkeeper was mortified. He couldn’t be sure who was responsible but he gave us descriptions of all the people who he remembered coming in and out of his kitchen that night, but gods know that he couldn’t have possibly seen or remembered everyone.” Caius shrugged slightly. “We let it go and no one ever spoke of it again except in private, never in mixed company.” One corner of his mouth curved into a slight, rueful smile. “You’re the first person I’ve told outside of that circle. I suspect that Scarlet probably knows, too, but probably not many more people beyond that.”

Her cheeks heated in a blush and she glanced down. “I appreciate the confidence.”

He squeezed her fingers gently but firmly. “You earned it.”

“I was just in the right place at the right time,” she murmured, assuming that he meant the events of the night before. “I only did what any healer would have done.”

Caius just smiled. “Not any healer,” he said.

She looked up, met his gaze. Her breath caught and she had to swallow hard. There was something in his gaze that got her heart going a little faster, that gave her a hint that maybe he wasn’t talking about the role she’d played in saving his life after he’d been stabbed, that maybe it was something else, something different.

“I—”

“I’m glad you came,” he said again, his voice quiet. “I’m glad you’re here.”

For a few seconds, she just stared at him. “Oh,” she finally said, sighing out the word as little more than an exhaled breath. “You’re lonely.”

He smiled sadly, blinking something away. “Ascalon said you were a dangerous one,” he said softly. “That you saw things that sometimes other people didn’t.”

She swallowed hard again, edging a little closer. “I don’t understand.”

Caius shook his head, the smile fading and his gaze growing distant. “It’s okay. I mean, you hit the nail on the head. There’s not a lot of people I’ve let inside and that’s maybe a failing of mine. But there was something about you that made it easier.”

“I’m not sure what,” she said, her soft tone matching his. His fingers tightened around hers again, maintained the pressure. It wasn’t unpleasant, not at all. “I’m just me.”

“Maybe that’s what it was,” Caius said. “Maybe that’s what it is. Maybe you’re just different.” He shifted slightly, leaning back against his pillows. For a few seconds, his eyes slid closed and he didn’t say anything. Elaine stayed there on the edge of the bed, watching him. His fingers tightened more, then loosened a few seconds later.

“Maybe you should rest,” Elaine whispered. “I can get you something for the pain.”

“It’s not bad,” he murmured. “Not as bad as I’ve felt, anyway. I’ll be all right.” He exhaled slowly and opened his eyes again. “And I want you to stay.” Some color rose faintly in his cheeks as he stared at her. “Though if you want to pull back, I completely understand. I know it’s a little much all at once. I mean—you met me last night.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “No, no, it’s not that, I just—” her lips thinned and she tried to collect her thoughts. “I just don’t want to intrude or overstay.”

“I don’t think that could ever happen,” he said, then smiled. “And I’m rarely wrong about that kind of thing.”

“Confident, aren’t you?” she said with a crooked smile.

He grinned back at her. “I’m told it’s both a fault and a strength of mine—that and the stubbornness.”

“I could see that,” Elaine said, still smiling. “Regarding both—both ways.”

Caius shrugged with one shoulder, tugging her hand gently. “You comfortable sitting there? We can go sit out in the sitting room if you want. I think I can make it that far without falling.”

“I’m fine,” she said. “Bed’s soft.”

“Too soft sometimes,” he murmured. “There are days I don’t want to claw my way free of it.”

Her brows knit. “Why not?” she whispered.

His smile was sad. “That,” he said, “is complicated.”

Fourteen

The next morning, the sun came up in all its glory, pinks and oranges painting the clouds in a lavender sky. Elaine watched it from their back deck, a mug of coffee cradled in both hands, an oversized sweater drawn tight around her against the chill. Joslyn was awake, too, despite the early hour, neither of them able to sleep very well though they likely should have. Elaine had been up at her usual time of morning for a weekday, not necessarily odd for a Saturday but not that common, either. There was a bite to the October air, a promise of things to come, perhaps sooner than anyone would have liked. But it was Michigan, and that was to be expected. She could just smell the faintest scent of woodsmoke on the morning wind, a sign that either someone had held a bonfire the night before or perhaps someone had fired up their wood-burning stove or fireplace that morning. It didn’t matter what it was from. In the end, it was a comforting, familiar scent that fall brought every year, one she reveled in the same way she reveled in the changing leaves and the taste of cider and doughnuts. It had always been her favorite season and she suspected it always would be. Affections like that, she’d noticed, seemed to run deep in her family—at least it always had.

It was hard being the only one left.

“You okay?”

She glanced back at Joslyn as her friend leaned out the slider to watch her. They were both still in their pajamas—flannel pants and a tank top for Elaine, an oversized tee and boxer shorts for Joslyn—and seemed poised to stay that way for the better part of the day unless something intervened.

Elaine nodded. “Yeah. Just watching the sunrise. Pretty this morning.”

Joslyn looked past her, gaze lingering on the sky for a few seconds before she nodded. “Yeah,” she said softly, padding in her slippers out onto the deck, hugging herself against the morning air. “But chilly. Was it this cold last night?”

“Pretty close to,” Elaine said. “We just didn’t notice. I think we were better dressed for it.”

Joslyn laughed and shook her head. “Probably right. At least it doesn’t look like rain again.” The previous weekend it had rained from Friday night straight through to Monday morning, soggy and dreary though not necessarily all that cold, surprisingly enough. If it rained today, though, the dampness would certainly set in, likely in the most unpleasant ways.

They leaned against the rail together for a few minutes, both staring up at the sky. Joslyn chewed her lip and Elaine glanced at her sidelong.

“Are you okay?”

Joslyn nodded. “Yeah. Just…just a little nervous, I guess. I don’t even know when he’s going to be here, just that he’s coming, you know?”

“I know,” Elaine said, taking a sip of coffee. “He didn’t tell you anything about where he’d be coming from?”

She shook her head. “No. He just said he’d come and that was that. I gave him the address. I don’t even know if he’s driving. He could be flying or taking a train or who knows what.”

“I’m sure he’ll get here safe,” Elaine said, reaching over to squeeze her arm. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“There is a hell of a lot to worry about,” Joslyn said, then laughed. “I should get dressed. God only knows when he’s going to show up.”

“And you’re not intending for him to see you in your pajamas?” Elaine grinned at her sidelong and Joslyn laughed.

“It would be quite the impression.”

“It’s not like he doesn’t already know you, Joss.” Elaine squeezed her arm again and straightened. “I mean, he’s been talking to you for months.”

“Almost since launch,” Joslyn murmured. “Feels like forever.”

Elaine smiled. “Then what are you worried about?”

“I guess I’m not,” she said, then smiled. “Maybe a little.”

“Well, miss ‘maybe a little,’ let’s go inside and have some breakfast because I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not do this on an empty stomach—if it happens sometime this morning at all. You said yourself, you don’t know how he’s getting here or where he’s coming from.” Elaine threw her arm around Joslyn’s shoulders and tugged her friend back toward their townhouse. Joslyn sighed with a crooked smile and leaned into her for a second, wrapping her arm around Elaine’s waist in a quick hug.

“You’re the best, you know that, right?”

“So are you,” Elaine said, grinning and gulping down the last of what was in her coffee mug as they stepped inside. “I think I want oatmeal.”

“I’m going to make some toast,” Joslyn said, and together they descended on the kitchen.

It was only a few minutes before they were both settled at their little kitchen table, each with the breakfast of their choice and each with a fresh mug of hot coffee. For a few minutes more, there was only the sound of Elaine’s spoon against her bowl and the scrape of a butter knife across toast as Joslyn spread her half-melted butter around.

It was Joslyn who finally broke the silence. “So what’s on your agenda today?”

Elaine shrugged slightly. “Probably going to work on organizing some research I’ve got here and do some reading for Monday afternoon. Maybe I’ll log in for a little while. We’ll see.”

Joslyn smiled wryly. “So how did it go last night with Lord Caius before shit hit the fan all over the place?”

A blush stole across Elaine’s cheeks and she shook her head quickly. Joslyn smirked, leaning back.

“Well?”

“We danced,” Elaine said simply. “That’s all.”

“The entire time?”

“Until he got stabbed,” Elaine said, glancing down into her bowl. “Then shit got a little unpleasant.”

“As one would expect,” Joslyn said, taking a sip of her coffee. “Considering he got stabbed in the back by god knows who.”

“Yeah,” Elaine said, scraping another spoonful of oatmeal from her bowl. “Everything got a little surreal there—ironic, considering it’s a freaking game, but still. It was like things slowed down and sped up at the same time. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something like that before.”

Joslyn shivered. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m glad it was you and not me. I don’t know if I’d have been able to keep my head.”

“How do you know that I did?”

“Because the person you sent to come get us told us you did,” Joslyn said, shaking her head. “Besides, you’ve always had a more level head than me. It’s just a thing, I think.”

Elaine snorted. “If you say so.”

“I do.”

Elaine just grinned and got up, shoveling the last spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth and heading for the sink. “Well, I think you’re flattering me just a little in that scenario,” she said as she put her bowl and spoon into the sink and ran hot water into it. “But thank you nonetheless.”

Now it was Joslyn’s turn to snort.

There was a knock at the front door. Both women froze, staring at it for a moment, then meeting each other’s gaze.

“Do you think…?”

Joslyn nodded, swallowing hard. She started to stand up but Elaine waved her back into her chair.

“I got it,” she said, turning off the water, drying her hands on a striped towel on her way to the front door. She fought down a strange queasy, excited feeling in her stomach on her way there, leaving the towel on the edge of the counter as she headed from the kitchen to their small foyer, where light jackets hung on pegs next to their front door, shoes lined up in a neat row beneath them, toes not quite resting against the wall. Elaine twisted the deadbolt and opened the door just a crack, peering out to see who’d come knocking at just past eight in the morning.

He was slender, dark-haired, a few inches taller than she was, perhaps an inch or less taller than Joslyn. His eyes were green, copper around the irises, and seemed much too old for his face. He was dressed in jeans and a wrinkled tee beneath a half-zipped hoodie, its sleeves rolled to his elbows, feet shoved into a pair of old low-rise Converse. He peered through the crack, meeting her gaze with a hopeful one of his own. He swallowed once, then asked quietly, “Is Joslyn here?”

Elaine stared at him a moment longer, then nodded. “Are you—?

“Jason,” he said quietly. “Ascalon, if you know that name, too.”

“I do,” Elaine said as she slowly swung the door open a little wider. “Come on in. I’m Elaine—Joss is my roommate.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Jason murmured as he stepped into the foyer. By now, Joslyn had come to the doorway that led from the foyer back into their kitchen and living room, leaning in its archway and staring directly at him.

“Hi,’ she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“Hi,” he echoed, his own voice not much more than that.

Elaine quietly closed the door behind him and locked it again, watching them stare at each other for an awkwardly long time. She cleared her throat. “I’m sure you’re hungry and could use some coffee,” she said, slipping past him on her way back to the kitchen. “I’ll go put on a fresh pot.”

They’d gone through most of the one she’d made when she’d gotten up anyway.

That jarred the pair out of their awkward silence and unfroze each of them, Jason by the front door and Joslyn six feet away. Elaine glanced back to see Joslyn taking a step forward, toward Jason, and smiled slightly to herself, continuing across the kitchen to the coffeemaker.

“How was the drive?” she heard Joslyn ask, her voice quiet, almost tentative.

“Long,” Jason said. “I had to stop for about an hour once I crossed the state line so I could sleep for an hour. Was going cross-eyed when I was on the tristate and that wasn’t going to be a good way to make the rest of the drive.”

“The tristate,” Joslyn echoed. “Where did you drive from?”

“Wisconsin,” he said. “I know I could’ve taken the ferry but I—I don’t know. I guess I wanted to stay in control.  I know I didn’t want to be on anyone else’s schedule.”

“I’m just glad you got here safely,” Joslyn said.

Elaine leaned back from the coffee pot, peering back through the doorway. The angle wasn’t right; she couldn’t see anything.

Not that I should be spying on them anyway.

She shook her head at herself.

In the pocket of her sweater, her phone buzzed. She dug it out on her way to the sink to rinse the coffee carafe and fill it so she could start the promised fresh pot. An alert glowed on the blue background, one from the Universe companion app she’d finally gotten around to installing on her new phone after replacing her old one months ago.

New letter. Huh.

Elaine tucked her phone back into her pocket, though her heart had started to beat a little faster. There was something exciting about getting a message that morning, as silly as it seemed. She forced herself to wait until she got the coffee going before she dug her phone back out again, setting it on the countertop as she reached up to get a mug down from the cabinet for Jason. She left it there as she went back to the kitchen table to retrieve her own mug, sipping from it as she returned to the counter and swiped a finger across the notification, unlocking her phone and opening the message in the same motion.

The message was from Caius.

Lady Arenvale,

You have my heartfelt thanks for your assistance last night. I hope that the excitement will not prevent you from being my guest again in the future. I would like to see you again soon, though I suspect that as a healer, you will likely appear at Weatherstone soon enough to check on my progress. I assure you that I remain abed, as I suspect you instructed my staff to keep me while I was unconscious. I have instructed them that you are to be admitted into my presence as you see fit. I confess that I hope that you will see fit soon.

Faithfully,

Caius.

Her heart rose into her throat, still beating too fast, and for a second it was hard to breath, a burst of nervous butterflies erupting in her stomach.

He’d signed it simply ‘Caius.’

What did that mean? Did it mean anything, or was she reading too much into all of it?

Taking a deep breath, she closed the app and stuffed her phone back into her pocket, leaning against the countertop. The coffeemaker made its familiar noises as a fresh pot brewed, and she stared at it perhaps a little too intensely, trying not to eavesdrop on what was going on out in the foyer. Joslyn and Jason weren’t making eavesdropping easy, in any case, their voices low enough that she really couldn’t make out whatever they were saying over the sound of the coffeemaker.

They probably wouldn’t miss me if I went upstairs, would they? Would Joss be okay with that? Of course. Of course she would be. She’s known Ascalon for a long time now—even if this is the first time they’ve seen each other face to face. Elaine glanced toward the foyer again, then sighed and shook her head. She took another gulp of coffee, resolving to wait at least until the fresh pot was done.

The brewing had just finished when Joslyn appeared in the doorway again, drawing Jason behind her by the hand, a faint blush creeping across her cheeks. Still leaning against the counter, Elaine arched a brow at her friend, studying the pair as she gulped down the last of the coffee in her mug.

“What?”

Joslyn shook her head, leading Jason over to the kitchen table. Elaine’s brow climbed higher, but she turned away, reaching for the carafe.

“How do you like your coffee, Jason?”

He seemed startled by the question as he dropped into a chair at the kitchen table. “Uhm, black is fine.”

Elaine nodded, her back still to them as she filled the mug. She filled hers, too, before she put the carafe back, then collected Jason’s cup and brought it to the table, handing it over with a crooked smile. “I hope it’s not too strong.”

“I honestly doubt that it would be,” he said, smiling warmly as he took the mug from her. “Thank you.”

Elaine nodded, then headed to the fridge for cream for her own coffee. “Was it a bad drive?”

“No,” he said. “Not too bad. Just long and it was dark and last night was a little exciting before I did that. I probably should’ve slept a couple hours before I left but I—” he broke off, looking at Joslyn for a few seconds as she reclaimed her seat at the table.  “—I just wanted to get here,” he finished, his voice quieter. “I needed to get here, I guess.”

“Well, we’re both glad that you made it safely,” Elaine said, smiling. “I’ll let you two…uhm. I’ll let you two talk. I’ve got some work to do upstairs anyway.” She wrapped both hands around her mug. “It’s nice to meet you, Jason.”

“Likewise,” he said quietly, watching her for a few seconds.

Elaine smiled again, nodded, then retreated up the stairs, leaving the pair alone in the kitchen.

  

Thirteen

“That was quite the evening,” Elaine said as they walked out to her car. The night had grown chilly, and she tugged her jacket a little tighter around herself. “I wasn’t sure what to expect but it sure as hell wasn’t that.”

“It was definitely a bit more eventful than a lot of events at Weatherstone,” Joslyn said, glancing up toward the sky and the stars that were just barely visible in the glare of the parking lot’s lights. Even though the mall was closed, the lots were still brightly-lit, even this late at night. “I didn’t expect it, either.”

Elaine dug her keys out of her pocket and hit the remote start on her car as they drew closer. “Are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, sure. Why?”

She shrugged. “You just seem distracted, that’s all. Did you and Ascalon have a good talk or whatever?”

“I didn’t realize you noticed we left.”

“I did, I just didn’t think it was a big deal,” Elaine said, unlocking the car as they reached it. “Everything okay?”

Joslyn didn’t answer right away, just slid into the passenger seat. Elaine frowned for a second, climbing into the driver’s seat and starting the engine.

“Everything’s not okay?” She guessed.

Joslyn shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said. “But he’s coming here.”

If they had already been moving, Elaine would have slammed on the brakes. “Wait, what?”

“He’s coming here,” Joslyn repeated. “I told him it was okay. He—we talked. You were right. You’ve been right all this time. It’s always been more than just character interaction, we were always just pretending it wasn’t. It just—it all came out tonight. All of it.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. “And he needs someone and I’m the someone he needs right now. I said I’d come to him but he said that it was easier for him to get away than it’d be for me. So…he’s coming.”

“Ascalon is coming here.”

“His name is Jason and I am pretty damn sure I’m in love with him.”

“But he’s coming here.” Elaine looked at her sidelong for a few seconds, the car idling as they sat in the parking lot. “But you do love him?”

“I’m pretty sure I do,” Joslyn whispered, then scrubbed a hand over her face. “This is hard.”

“It usually is,” Elaine said, swallowing. “Do you know when?”

She shook her head. “Soon. Sounded like he was leaving after he logged off. I don’t know where he is, though, so I don’t know how long. I don’t know if he’s flying or driving or taking a train or what. I don’t—” she broke off with a sigh.  “I don’t know enough. About how he’s coming, I mean. About him, I—I know a lot about him. What I need to know, anyway.”

“I wasn’t—”

“I know.”

Elaine reached over to squeeze her hand. “Joss. I trust you. It’s okay.”

Her friend exhaled and shook her head, staring at the ceiling of the car for a few seconds. “He just sounded like he was hurting so much, Laney. I could hear it. He was—there was something bothering him tonight and I could tell from the second I laid eyes on him.”

“Did he tell you?”

Joslyn nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, he told me.”

Elaine exhaled and started to pull the car out of the parking spot, out of the lot to head home. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“He was in the service,” Joslyn said quietly, leaning her head against the passenger window, staring out into the night. “I don’t think I ever told you that he was. I’ve known for a while. He got out a few years ago, went back to school—fine arts degree. Works for the family company doing art and writing and that’s why it was going to be easier for him to duck away than me. I guess he’s not wrong about that.”

“No,” Elaine agreed softly. “Not at all.” She glanced toward her friend as they stopped at a stoplight. Joslyn didn’t notice.

“He lost someone—a few someones, I guess. People he knew. It rocked him harder than I think he thought it would. That’s what finally did it.”

“Did what?”

“Brought the wall down,” Joslyn murmured. “Made him think and then that and what you and I talked about the other day got me to talk and really think about what I wanted and what he’d started to mean.” She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “And I guess we’ll figure out what it all really means and if it’ll work when he gets here.”

“I am in complete awe of your guts,” Elaine said, shaking her head, eyes on the road. “I would not be able to do what you’re doing.”

“You never know what you can do until you’re in the position to do it,” Joslyn said, finally looking at her. “It could be you someday, Laney. Don’t rule it out.”

Elaine smiled weakly, glancing toward her for a moment. “Okay. I won’t.”

“Promise?”

Elaine nodded. “I promise.”

“Good,” Joslyn murmured, then turned to look out the window again. “I want it for you, Laney. You’re too good of a person to just be alone.”

Elaine winced, eyes stinging for a few seconds before she blinked it away. “Well. We’ll have to see, right?”

“Yeah,” Joslyn said. “Hopefully sooner rather than later.”

She choked on a laugh. “We’ll see what happens. There’s a lot of road between me and whatever happens with that in the future, I think.”

“Maybe.”

Elaine risked another glance at Joslyn, but she wasn’t looking at her. Instead, she was watching suburbia fade into a landscape that was a little more rural without being completely isolated. Elaine smiled a little and turned her attention back to the road.

Just let me get through school, Joss. Maybe then I can think about a relationship that goes beyond being friends with someone.

“Thanks, Laney.”

“For what?” She glanced over again, though only for a second, gaze returning to the road quickly as they started up a winding hill.

“Not freaking out. You could’ve—you’d have been entitled to it. I didn’t even ask you.”

“You didn’t have to,” Elaine said, shaking her head. “You never have to ask me if it’s okay to do something you need to do. Not something like this.”

“Still,” Joslyn said softly. “Thanks.”

Elaine sighed, not answering right away. Then, finally: “You’re welcome.”

Neither said another word the rest of the way home.

“I will never get used to that.” Peter sat on the edge of the couch, slowly unstrapping the contacts of the gaming rig as he perched there, looking much more tired than Jason had expected him to look.

“You mean the weird out of body thing when your avatar’s unconscious but you’re not?” Jason scrubbed a hand over his face as he stood up, holding still for a moment and letting the sense of temporary vertigo fade. “We tested it, Peter. We said it was fine.”

“I know, I know.” His brother tossed the contacts onto the couch behind him, then leaned forward, resting his elbows against his knees. “I don’t regret it, I just don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”

“Well, hopefully it’s not going to happen that often.” Jason finished unstrapping his own rig and met his brother’s gaze. “We didn’t expect that, did we?”

“Fuck no,” Peter said. “That was a complete surprise. Not even sure who’s responsible or who’d have the balls to try it.”

“Well, Cay does have enemies.”

“Not many of them.”

Jason shook his head. “More than you think.”

Peter made a face at him and Jason just shook his head again.

“I’m just being honest.”

“Right,” Peter said, still watching him. “So what’s bothering you?”

Jason exhaled, rubbing at his temple. “Nice change of subject.”

“Nice attempt at a dodge. Spill it.”

He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “Right. You knew.”

“I asked you when we were in game. For some reason I had it in my head that it was something related to what we were about to do in there, but now…” Peter shook his head, still watching him. “Something happened.”

“Yeah,” Jason said. “Yeah, something did. Then something else happened.”

Peter’s brow quirked.  “Okay.”

Jason sat down across from him, mirroring his brother’s stance almost perfectly, leaning forward, elbows against his knees. “This afternoon, we found out that someone I knew okay back when I was deployed was killed with her entire crew.”

“How long ago?” Peter asked in a whisper.

Jason’s eyes dropped. “I don’t know. We didn’t have that information.”

“How did it happen?”

“Someone brought her chopper down,” Jason said, studying his hands as he clasped them loosely between his knees. “She was in a war zone. It happens. You just—” he hesitated, then forged onward. “—you just don’t expect it to happen to people you know. I got luckier than most while I was deployed. I guess luck runs out after you’re out sometimes.”

“You okay?” Peter watched him, brow furrowed slightly. Jason didn’t dare look up, already knowing what he’d see in his brother’s gaze—worry, love, and a silent plea that Jason talk to someone, anyone, even if it wasn’t his brother.

“I will be,” he said, still staring at his hands. “I just need you not to get mad at me.”

“Mad at you? For what?”

“I’m driving to Michigan tonight.”

Peter sat up straight, blinking rapidly. “Michigan? What’s in Michigan?”

He risked a glance at his brother. “Scarlet.”

Peter’s eyes widened and he sucked in a breath. “Then you—is that where you went? I thought that you’d follow us down but by the second song I realized you’d vanished. I wondered where you went but I was having too good of a time dancing with Isolde that I kind of stopped thinking altogether.”

“That’s a good sign,” Jason said, more than half relieved that for the moment, Peter was slightly distracted with telling him about how his night went after Jason had absconded with Scarlet—with Joslyn—to his study at Weatherstone. “I’m sorry it was cut short.”

“Me too,” Peter murmured. “I wish I’d met her sooner.”

“She’s pretty shy,” Jason said. “Busy.”

“We’re all busy.”

Jason smiled wryly. “She’s a grad student, spends most of her time in libraries and archives, studying and writing, I guess. At least, that’s what Scarlet’s told me.” He looked down again. “What Joss has told me.”

“Joss,” Peter echoed.

“Joslyn,” Jason said. “Everyone calls her Joss.”

“And you’re going to leave tonight?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, as soon as we’re done here.”

“You could fly.”

“Driving’s going to take just as long as flying and I won’t be on anyone else’s schedule but mine,” Jason said, stretching and starting to stand. “Might not be back on Monday but probably Tuesday. I’ll call if something changes. Already gave the teams their marching orders anyway.” He paused, then looked at his brother again. “There were a few survivors from the chopper crash—there was a recon team on board when it went down. One of them’s gotten a medical discharge. I had HR offer her a job.”

Peter’s brows went up again. “Doing what?”

“Voice acting,” Jason said, then smiled faintly. “I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“I never do,” Peter said, standing as well. “Call me when you get there, okay? Take all the time you need.”

Jason nodded. Peter stepped forward and hugged him, tightly, and Jason wrapped his arms around his brother, squeezing him close. “I’ll be careful,” he murmured.

“Damn straight,” Peter said, drawing back to look at him. “I’ll let Marissa know in the morning.”

“Thanks.”

“Anytime.” Peter smiled. “I hope she’s everything you deserve.”

“I don’t think I’m wrong,” Jason said, then shrugged. “But I guess we’ll see.”

Peter smiled crookedly and shook his head, giving Jason a little shove. “Go on. Get out of here.  If you leave soon, you can still hit a Starbucks before they close.”

Jason snorted. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“Pfft. You never know. Go on, get rolling.”

“I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Don’t feel like you have to rush on that,” Peter told him, trailing behind as Jason headed for the couches in the darkened seating area on the seventh floor. “Go with what feels right.”

“Is my big brother who’s never had a relationship in his life giving me relationship advice?”

Peter grinned. “I read. Now go, dammit.”

Jason grinned, nodded, and headed for the elevator. It’d be a long drive, but every fiber of his being screamed that it would be worth it.

Somehow, he knew it’d be worth it.

Twelve

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Caius drew her onward, out of the shadows beneath the gallery and out to the floor. He wore gloves the same as she did, though his were of thin leather while hers were silk. Eyes turned toward them, raked over them as they emerged from the shadows and moved toward the floor, the crowds parting slowly to allow them to continue on.

The orchestra in the corner played a few notes, a few chords, clearly on the tail end of warming up, then followed it with a quick tune, as if to make sure that they were truly ready to play. The conductor seemed pleased enough after making a few more minor tweaks. By then, Elaine and Caius had made it nearly to the center of the inner half of the floor, a circle widening slowly around them even as all eyes remained glued to them.

Caius turned toward her, smiling a sad, almost shy smile. “It’s all right,” he whispered, shifting his grip on her hand. “Don’t think about them. They don’t matter.”

“Then what does?” she asked, her voice barely audible.

“This,” he said, then bowed to kiss her knuckles lightly. By reflex, she dropped into a curtsey, managing a faint, only half-terrified smile.

The orchestra struck a cord as they both straightened and Caius reached to settle a hand on her waist even as she, out of sheer reflex, rested her free hand on his shoulder. He smiled at her and she smiled back, a fresh blush creeping across her cheeks.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked in a whisper.

“Of course,” he said.

Then the music really started and suddenly, they were dancing.

Her skirts swirled around them as the moved through the circle of open space that the crowds had formed around them, crowds that she noticed less and less as she focused on him, on his face and expression, on his gaze. He was staring at her as if studying her, memorizing a woman he’d only just met but never wanted to forget.

It was a silly and romantic thought and Elaine wanted to hate herself for it but there was a tiny piece that wanted to cling to it much more than hate it. Maybe it would just be a single dance, but just then, a single dance was all that mattered.

“What are you thinking?” Caius asked about halfway through the song. He was still smiling, still watching her face as he guided her through complicated steps and spins, moving across the floor as if this was what he’d been born to do. There was lightness to his expression now, though, one that hadn’t been there when they’d been up on the balcony before.

Could it actually be that he was somehow enjoying this as much as she was?

“I just—” she stopped, smiled, and shook her head. “I was just thinking how nice this is and how wonderful you are.”

His smile turned rueful, but his eyes crinkled at the edges—it was a real smile, not something for show, not a mask that he wore to hide what he actually felt or thought. There were the faint beginnings of a blush high in his cheeks as he shook his head. “I’m not wonderful,” he breathed, drawing her closer, close enough he could whisper in her ear, close enough that it drew one or two scandalized gasps from the crowd surrounding them. “But thank you for thinking so.”

He spun her, then, and she laughed aloud, his laughter joining hers as she came back to him, their hands clasping more tightly, their bodies closer together, moving as one through the remaining paces of the dance. Caius was flushed by the end, when he stepped back enough to bow to her and she dropped into a curtsey.

“May I have the pleasure of another?” he asked softly as they both straightened again.

“I would be delighted,” Elaine said, grinning.

“Good.” There was something boyish and charming in his smile and her heart soared higher than she thought possible. It was just a dance and just a smile but for some reason both meant more than anything else had in a long time.

She didn’t know what it meant, but she knew it meant something. Eventually, she’d figure out what.

But that would be for later, for now, Caius had asked her to dance again, and she decided that she would dance all night with him if he wanted to.

All he had to do was ask.

By their fifth turn on the floor, the pair was no longer alone. The room had finally begun to settle, and some people had drifted out while others had joined them in dancing, still more clustering in knots of conversation off to the sides, usually nearer to the refreshment tables.

She and Caius didn’t talk much as they danced, just watched each other, each getting a feel through movement and gesture rather than words. Elaine’s heart pounded in her chest, not from exertion, but excitement.

This had not been what she’d expected out of her evening, not by any stretch of her admittedly overactive imagination.

“Another?” he asked in a murmur as she returned to his arms after another spin. Elaine smiled.

“Yes, that—”

She caught movement from the corner of her eye and stiffened. Whether it was her sudden tense or the look on her face or something else, his gaze flicked sideways, but a hair too late. A figure slammed into them, sending Elaine skidding back before she could catch herself. She heard Caius grunt, saw his hand snap out.

Lightning coursed from his fingertips through the man he’d grabbed with a murmured word, his eyes gleaming. The man made a sound that was not quite a cry and slumped, eyes rolling back into his head. Caius’s gaze lit on her and he took two steps before dropping to one knee.

It was at that point that she became painfully aware of the screams around them.

What the hell is going on?

Then she saw the knife and realized what was going on.

“Oh hell,” she breathed, coming two steps forward and kneeling in front of Caius, getting beneath him she he wouldn’t hit the floor. A knife protruded from his back on the right hand side, below his rubs and blood was already starting to slowly seep through his shirt and doublet, staining silver and white a deep crimson.

Caius leaned into her, forehead pressing against her shoulder, his lips moving, forming words she could only barely hear.

“Get out of here,” he whispered, the words almost inaudible. “There could be another.”

Screw that.

“You’re hurt,” she said firmly. “I am not going anywhere.”

One of his hands clutched at her arm, fingers wrapping around it for a moment before he shivered slightly and his hand fell away, as if his strength was fading. Slowly, carefully, Elaine eased him down to the floor, looking around quickly even as she reached for the dagger and the scarlet stain surrounding it. A few people had moved closer, almost forming a perimeter around her and Caius and the would-be assassin who lay unconscious a few feet away, still twitching occasionally with residual energy.

She didn’t recognize any of the people surrounding them, but she did recognize the looks on their faces—horror, determination, helplessness. She took a deep breath, her fingers exploring the sopping fabric around the dagger in Caius’s back even as she focused on two of the people surrounding them. “You,” she said to a woman dressed in navy and gray, “find Lord Dravenwood and bring him here—quickly.” Her gaze shifted to a man in green and brown. “You, come here and help me.”

The woman nodded and turned, vanishing into the crowds. Even as she left and the man in green and brown left the circle, others fell in to close the gaps they’d left behind, the protective circle becoming a little tighter around them. The man in green and brown crouched next to Caius, looking at her.

“Just tell me what you need me to do,” he said quietly.

Elaine nodded, carefully splaying her hands around the dagger, not caring how much blood she got on her hands as long as she was able to help him. “When I tell you,” she said, her voice steady, “pull the dagger out. Don’t hesitate, one smooth motion, straight out the way it went in.”

The man nodded. “What are you going to do?”

“Hopefully put his kidney back together again before he loses too much blood,” she muttered, steadying herself. Her focus narrowed down to the wound, to the arteries and veins that had been severed, the ones that she could sense the deeper she looked using a healer’s magic—her magic. The dagger was keeping pressure on some of the worst of it all—the assassin must have hoped that it’d be pulled out right away, so that Caius would bleed out before anyone could help him. She took an extra second to plan, to figure out what to address first, then cleared her throat. Her fingertips glowed faintly, the green of evergreens and early summer grass all at once.

“Okay,” she said. “On my count.”

“All right.”

“Three.” Her focus narrowed further until the room started to fall away. The man in brown and green wrapped his hands around the dagger, ready to pull it on her signal. “Two.” She drew a little more power, ready to start pouring it into Caius’s wound as soon as the dagger was out of the way. “Go.”

The man in brown and green pulled the dagger free, as quickly and smoothly as she’d hoped he would. Even before the tip cleared the wound, she was at work, mending the worst of the damage in those first few seconds, both hands pressed hard against the wound to staunch the bleeding. Her magic poured into the wound, knitting artery and vein with thin threads of magic, of power. With practiced skill, she tied off each small spell, part of the greater whole designed to save his life.

Time passed, but all she was aware of was her work and the fact that Caius, though unconscious, was still breathing. So completely focused on healing, she didn’t hear the ripple that went through the crowds, the sudden silence in the air, the tension that rose a notch or three.

She heard Acalon’s voice, though, as he reached the edge of the circle. “Who’s responsible for this?”

“That one,” someone said, pointing to the man on the floor behind Elaine, the one that had gotten a nasty jolt courtesy of Caius after the initial attack.

“Take him into custody,” Ascalon said, his tone one of command. There was a faint thread of anger and something else beneath it, though.

Fear?

“We’ll get our answers from him once he’s conscious,” Ascalon continued, then turned to look at the crowd still milling around. For a second, he seemed on the verge of saying something further, then exhaled and moved closer to Elaine and his wounded brother, dropping to a knee beside them.

“Is he stable enough to move?” The question came as a murmur in her ear. Elaine took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yes. Yes, that should be fine. Better, probably—certainly more comfortable.”

Ascalon nodded and squeezed her shoulder, straightening. “You there, get the hall cleared. I think we’ve all had more than enough excitement for the night.” He glanced toward Joslyn and motioned her over. “Scarlet, help me with him.”

Elaine blinked. “Wait—”

“You said it was safe,” Ascalon said, moving to start lifting Caius from the floor. “Is it?”

“I mean, yes, but be careful.” Elaine swallowed hard. “It’s not fully healed.”

“Never is,” Ascalon said grimly as he lifted his brother. Scarlet rushed to help. Elaine watched, heart in her throat. Caius’s face was pale as death. Had she somehow miscalculated when she’d asked for the dagger to be pulled out? Had she hesitated too long?

Stop. Stop. You never second-guess yourself like this. It’s fine. You did fine. He’ll be okay.

Elaine took a ragged breath and followed Ascalon and Scarlet as they began to carry Caius away. Behind them, several people were starting to clear the hall, Caius’s guests slowly trickling out the doors at the head of the room even as Ascalon and Scarlet carried Caius toward the back of it. Elaine chewed her lower lip, hurrying to keep up. Even carrying Caius, somehow the pair still moved faster than she did.

“What happened?” Ascalon asked as they ducked through a hidden door beneath one of the galleries and into a hallway. “Don’t leave anything out.”

“I didn’t see much,” Elaine admitted. “We were dancing. It was getting near to the end of the song and he asked me if I wanted to dance another and I said yes. Then someone came out of the crowd—the man you saw on the ground—and ran right into Lord Caius. We lost our grip on each other and the next thing I saw was Caius grabbing him and channeling lightning into him. Then he dropped him and started moving toward me, but he didn’t make it. When he went down on one knee was when I saw the dagger. The bastard stabbed him and gods only know why.”

“Do you think he made someone angry?” Scarlet asked quietly as they rushed through corridors, heading deeper into Weatherstone’s keep. Suddenly they were on a winding staircase heading upward. Elaine swallowed hard again, this time against the bile rising in her throat.

“He told me to get away,” she said, her voice barely audible. “That there might be more. He was—” she stopped before she could say scared. Was that really what it had been? “—concerned.”

“Caius has some enemies, that’s for certain,” Ascalon muttered as they continued upwards. Elaine lost track of the distance, but it felt like those stairs went on forever. She kept her gaze on the spot of crimson on Caius’s back, trying to gauge if it was any worse.

She couldn’t know if it was or not with her magic unless she was touching him.

“But would one of them have made a move this ballsy?” Scarlet pressed. “This feels all kinds of wrong, Ascalon.”

“Damn straight,” he muttered.

They reached the top of the stairs. A small landing awaited them there, one with a door set several feet back from the end of the steps. Ascalon made a beeline toward that door and opened it without breaking stride, moving inside with his brother still in tow. Beyond the door was a small study, and beyond that study was a bedroom, visible through the half-open door at the far end of the room. They headed there, Caius giving no indication of waking even as Ascalon laid him on the bed and started undressing him.

“Then what does it mean?” Elaine asked quietly as she knelt against the edge of the bed, taking one of Caius’s hands between both of hers. Her eyes slid shut as she mouthed the words to a diagnostic spell, assessing his condition a little more closely than she’d been able to downstairs. It was heartening to find him relatively stable, if suffering a little from blood loss and the obvious trauma. At least he didn’t seem to be in shock despite his pallor and unconsciousness.

“I don’t know,” Ascalon said, his voice soft. “But we’ll find out. Trust in that—somehow, we’re going to find out and someone’s going to pay for this. This sort of act—“ his voice hitched. “This sort of act doesn’t go unanswered.”

“Is he all right, Isolde?” Scarlet asked. “Will he be?”

Elaine nodded quickly. “Yes. As long as he takes it easy and rests, I think so.” She exhaled a sigh of relief, then let go of Caius’s hand, moving to start unlacing his boots so Ascalon could concentrate on other parts. “I just—I don’t understand why someone would want to do this to him.”

“People do stupid, wrong-headed shit all the time,” Ascalon muttered, gently lifting his brother to strip off his ruined tunic and the shirt beneath. “I’ll have some bandages sent up so you can bind everything, Isolde. Assuming that you’re willing.”

She blinked at him, startled. “Of course I’m willing,” she said. “I’d hate to leave the job half-done. There’s a part of me that wants to stay until he wakes up, but I’m thinking that might not be until morning.”

“Like as not,” Ascalon murmured, staring at his brother for a few seconds. “Thank you for everything tonight. You have—you have no idea how much it’s meant.”

Elaine gave him a faint, warm smile. “You don’t have to thank me,” she said quietly. “But I appreciate it all the same.” She took a deep breath, then, and exhaled it slowly. “Frankly, sorting out who did this and why? That will be all the thanks I need.”

“Those are answers I intend to get,” Ascalon promised. “You can rest assured of that.”

“Good,” Elaine said, softly, simply. “That’s all I ask.”

That, and that whatever bastards decided that Caius needed a dagger in the back pay for their poor judgement—one way or another.