“Now, don’t fall to pieces on me and burn the damned place down with one of your maudlin displays,” he warned.
“You are an ass.”
“I hear that more often than you might imagine.” He sighed deeply. “’Tis just a pile of wood and stone, but rather handsome just the same, I suppose.”
She turned her head and rested her cheek against his shoulder so she could better look at what he’d created. She wasn’t surprised, actually. It was Acair after all and he could certainly trot out very fine manners when they were called for. That his home should be so lovely was perhaps nothing unexpected.
“I never bring anyone here,” he said quietly.
“I can understand why,” she said. “It would utterly ruin your reputation for murder, mischief and what is the third?”
“Mayhem,” he said dryly. “You haven’t seen the condition of the kitchens, so don’t speak too soon. I’m very rarely home, so the provisions might be a bit sparse.”
She pulled away and looked at him. “Why?”
He looked profoundly uncomfortable. “I’m not sure,” he hedged. “A poorly stocked wine cellar, probably.”
“Too much peace and quiet, more than likely. Who knows where that might lead.”
“Ye gads, woman,” he said faintly, “have a care for my poor self. I refuse to admit to anything, though the thought of depriving the world of my sparkling wit and flawless manners does leave me feeling slightly hollow inside. So many fine suppers, so little time to attend them all.”
She shook her head in disgust, then waited. He seemed to be in no hurry to go inside, which she found less comforting than alarming.
“What is it?” she asked uneasily. “Lose your key to the front door?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” he said slowly. “There’s a spell.”
She wondered why she hadn’t realized what that faint shimmer of something over his home had been. It could have been mistaken for a fine evening mist, but once she realized what she was looking at, she could see that it was anything but.
“It lets me sleep at night,” he said. “Protection, avoiding death, that sort of thing.”
And, was almost out of her mouth before she realized what he was getting at.
“And you can’t undo it now—wait, nay,” she said, holding up her hand. “Knowing you, the spell will allow you through with only yourself as the key, but no one else. Is that it?”
“Aren’t you like a duck to water with all matters magical,” he said.
She took a deep breath. “That’s fine. You go and I’ll find somewhere to hide.”
He looked at her in surprise. “Of course you won’t. Either we both go, or neither does. I think you can use your spell of containment to terrific reviews. Let’s try it on our wee friend here and see how it goes.”
“And if I fail—”
“You won’t. Take your spell out, wrap it around that lad there, and I’ll get us through whilst it’s busy trying to free itself.”
“Sianach, as well.”
He blew his hair out of his eyes. “Aye, damn him. I’ll pull all three of us through, then we’ll go see if there are any apples left in the bin.”
She knew she should have been flexing her fingers and preparing to trot out the second of the two spells she knew, but all she could do was stand there like a terrified colt and shake. Acair closed his eyes briefly and pulled her back into his arms.
“You are unnerved,” he said, “and you have reason for it. The first time I had to remove that damned Falaire from his stall, I felt the same way.”
“This isn’t the same thing at all.”
“You have no idea how unnerved I was. No magic and that enormous maw reaching for my arse? Terrifying. Now, go ahead and do your worst. I’ll see to our other business here.”
She nodded, though the icy cold running through her was even less pleasant than the usual fever her magic seemed to carry with it. She put her shoulders back and looked at Acair’s surly companion.
