“The land said so?” That was Charles. It occurred to me now to wonder whether he’d been gardening while carrying a gun on him. That was an odd way to garden, but maybe they had really big slugs here in Canada.
“Well, kinda?”
Charles cleared his throat. “Kinnek, baby, trust me, I’d be the first to shoot any of them between the eyes if they ever come near you or Vergis, but getting what intel we can while we can might be worth letting him breathe for a little while longer.”
The silence after that was tense. I heard the Koa Esher whisper something, even if I couldn’t see him. He sounded desperate.
Lissir’s voice was soft, soothing. “Kinnek, there is only one of him and seven of us. We can watch him.”
Fellisse let me down but kept a hand on my back. Kinnek’s face was set in anger, and everyone was watching, alert. The tension in the air didn’t ease, not even a bit. In the end, Vergis sighed, and I saw him relax some and cock his hip.
“Dad, you said this weird Death thing everyone’s favorite twink gave me is a gift. Well, no one here is marked for death, so by your own logic, you should at least go for delayed gratification here. On the plus side, being here with all of us will keep the guy in constant fear since he can’t be sure we aren’t discussing how to butcher him slowly right now.”
My mouth was dry, but I said, “I’m sure he already peed himself a little.”
I could see emotions run over Kinnek’s face much too fast for me to recognize. He bared his teeth and stepped back. “Fine. We will not judge him for all the crimes his people have committed, nor will we do to him any of the things his people would do to us.”
I heard the Koa Esher yelp, and then Kinnek pushed past the others and strode off toward the house, bubbling with…not just fury, I was pretty sure.
“Do you have handcuffs, or do I go find the zip ties?” Vergis asked.
Charles snorted. “Me and your dad have handcuffs, but not the kind you’re thinking.”
“Oh, for the sake of fuck, do you really have to?”
I looked up at Fellisse. “What’s happening?”
Inkiri, I noticed, had been angling himself so he blocked my view of the Koa Esher. Or the Koa Esher’s view of me.
“What’s happening is I’m wondering how you can go berry picking and find a fucking Koa Esher in the bushes.” Vergis looked at me over his shoulder.
Inkiri growled. “Rory did not look for their kind. We need to find out what the Koa Esher want with him and whether it was coincidence they crossed our path on our way to the Stone.” He turned to me. I saw Charles and Lissir moving, and Vergis headed toward the house as well, presumably for the zip ties. “Sweet thing, please let Fellisse and Nokim take you inside and watch over you.” He cupped my neck, and of course I turned all gooey within seconds and nodded.
“Okay, but you be careful. I need you.”
His gaze heated, but he controlled that emotion pretty quick, going back to business. To being a protector.
Fellisse and Nokim hurried me inside after that, and I just barely caught a glimpse of Inkiri and Lissir on either side of the Koa Esher, Charles following at a distance with his gun ready.
Fellisse left me in the mudroom to take my shoes off, and he went around to check the rest of the house while Nokim watched the door to the mudroom itself.
I headed along the hallway, but stopped partway. Kinnek was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall and his head bowed. His midnight dark horns still almost touched the beautiful landscape that lived on the walls. The landscape he had created.
I had not a single fucking idea what I should be doing. Kinnek was upset, and it wasn’t just anger, I could tell that much. I wished Lissir were here, or even better, Charles.
This, like the fogscape and the upset voice in my head, was too much adulting for me; more adulting than anyone should have to do. Unless they were an adult, of course. Which I wanted to be about as much as I wanted to be a mage.
But even so, just walking past Kinnek would’ve been cruel. I cared about him and didn’t want him to sit there by himself. I lowered myself to the floor to lean against the wall right next to him.
There were probably proper things to say here, I just didn’t know what those were. I awkwardly crossed my legs, cleared my throat, and said, “Well.”
Kinnek let out a stuttering breath and glanced at me, then back at the wall opposite.
I followed his line of sight and cocked my head. He was looking at the painting of the bagu, the one with his back turned that I’d first noticed when I arrived.
“I have a few photographs of him, but it hurts to look at them. It hurt so much after I quit the Raiken and came here, and I honestly don’t know why Charlie put up with it. I missed him every day, and Charlie was here. Charlie was right here with me, always.”
“Erm. That… Did the Koa Esher… I mean, do you want to tell me a little more?”
