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"The healers don't all answer to Court and Crown," she argued. "He'll be okay, Camille. He's tough. And he's in love with you. Why else would he come back? Svartans never go back to their lovers, but he came back to you."
I shook my head. "No, I'm not going to convince myself of something that might not be true. Especially when his life hangs in the balance. I can't let myself believe that he loves me. If he lives, then we'll figure this out." But in the silence of my heart, I begged the gods to let him live. Even if I never saw him again, I didn't want him to die.
Delilah pulled me to my feet. "Come on. We'd better get back out there so you can… so you can say goodbye to him before they take him away."
As we headed back into the living room, I wondered if it would be the last time I'd ever see Trillian alive.
Once the medics had attended to our bruises they took Trillian and the skinwalker with them. Sirens screaming, they headed for the Wayfarer. They'd have to take him through the most accessible portal, and while Grandmother Coyote could lead them to her portal in the woods, the trip through the undergrowth might be enough to kill Trillian before they got there.
When the medics had gone, Delilah and I went upstairs to change. We left Chase and Morio to clean up. As I brushed my hair, I glanced over at Delilah, who had swapped her PJs for jeans and a sweatshirt. I dressed in a cotton gauze walking skirt, a cami top, and then a gossamer-weave jacket over everything. As I buckled my ankle boots, I looked up to find Delilah smiling gently.
"What is it?" I asked. Her smile had startled me, reminding me so much of Mother's. And right now I wanted nothing more than to run home, to leave Earth and the demons behind, and cuddle in the bosom of my family. But Mother was dead, and we were duty bound to protect both this world and our own.
"I was just thinking how pretty you are. You know, you remind me of Aunt Rythwar."
Aunt Rythwar was one of the Court and Crown beauties. She was more securely placed than Father, having married up in caste, but she was also unpredictable, and I'd heard that she'd killed more than one lover who displeased her. No proof, however, meant no charges. And even if they'd had proof, she might have been excused if the Queen thought she was justified. Her current husband was well-behaved and never raised his voice in complaint.
"I haven't seen her in ages. Thank you, by the way. I consider that a compliment. So tell me, how do you think you'll handle Chase now?"
Delilah shook her head. "What's to handle? We had sex. We may have sex again. We may not. I don't think it gets much simpler than that."
I shook my head. Bone-weary to the core, I dreaded the rest of the day. "Don't be so certain. One thing I've learned the past few days is never to say never. Especially when it comes to friends and lovers."
Grabbing my purse, I headed for the stairs. Delilah followed, backpack in hand. When we reached the living room, the mess had been cleaned up and the furniture was back in place. I smelled something good coming from the kitchen, and we peeked around the corner. Chase was frying up scrambled eggs and bacon, while Morio was feeding Maggie. Touched by the gentle way in which he patted her as she lapped up her cream, I knelt beside him and gave him a quick kiss, which he returned without hesitation.
"For everything, thank you." I said. "Without you we would have died."
Morio held my gaze. I couldn't read what was behind those ancient eyes, but he winked at me. "My pleasure to be of service. Anything you need me to do… anything… just ask."
Chase held out his arm to Delilah, but she just wrinkled her nose and blew him a kiss. "Food, man. Give us food. That smells wonderful, and I'm starved."
Looking mildly confused, he turned back to the range. "Not a problem. I figured we might as well get an early start, especially after what just happened."
Delilah and I set the table.
After we ate, Chase pushed back his plate. "I received notification from the OIA headquarters today. They've officially acknowledged that three demons broke through the portals. They do not, however, acknowledge that Shadow Wing sent them."
I slammed my fork down. "Fools. They'd better get off their asses and smell the brimstone. So what do they recommend we do about this situation?"
"They want you three to track down the other demons and terminate them. However, they specifically told me that they have no official resources to offer you at this point. And that's all they said."
Chase offered me another slice of toast. I shook my head, and he handed it to Morio.
"Did they say anything about Tom Lane and the spirit seals?" I asked. "Do you know if they heard anything about what the Corpse Talker said?"
"They didn't mention it, so I'm betting the answer is no."
"So… our assignment calls for us to wipe out the demons that aren't supposed to get through the portals in the first place?" My bet was that until we had the spirit seal in hand and rubbed their noses in it, HQ would chalk the whole thing up as a fluke. But Father had dealt with Bad Ass Luke before. And Father already suspected something was drastically wrong.
Chase shrugged. "Sounds like it. They made it abundantly clear that going through the official channels won't do us any good."
"Right," I said, staring at my plate.
Delilah carried our plates to the counter. "So, did you find out anything more about Tom Lane and where he lives? We were at a dry well when I left last night." She flushed, a smile creeping to her lips.
Chase ran his gaze over her in the way he had been running it over me, but with less "letch" and more "like." "Yeah, actually I did. I slept for a couple hours, then woke up early and hunted through some old databases. There's a Tom Lane that lives just outside the national park. His house is located a half mile from Goat Creek, although from what I can ascertain, it's more of a shack than a house. He doesn't seem to have a regular job, but he's not on any of the welfare rolls or food stamp programs. That's about all I know."
"At least it gives us something to go on," I said.
