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"I don't understand. I don't understand any of this." Benjamin was sitting a little ways to the side, rocking back and forth, holding his arms tightly around himself. Menolly sighed and walked over to him, softly touching his shoulder.
"What next?" Morio said. "What do we do now?"
What indeed? The seal was in the hands of the demons. We had a turncoat dream chaser on our hands, who seemed determined to join us. Trillian was missing. And we were tired. All so very tired.
"I suppose… for now, we go home." There wasn't much else to say.
Chapter Twenty-eight
The next morning—the equinox—dawned cold and chill, and yet there was something in the air that felt different. As I opened my eyes, my first glance showed Smoky to my right side. He was lying there watching me with the hint of a smile crinkling his lip.
I groaned. Every muscle in my body felt on fire. An arm draped around my waist from behind me, and I realized Morio was in bed with us, too. I tried to coax an explanation from my fog-soaked brain, but all I could remember was coming home, weary and defeated, and then it was all one big blur.
"Good morning," Morio said, leaning over my shoulder. He tossed Smoky a look that said they'd already had 'the discussion' and that I didn't need to play liaison.
"How are you feeling this morning? Any better?" Smoky propped himself up against the headboard and patted his lap. I squirmed up to lay my head on the soft Egyptian cotton sheets, and he smoothed my hair away from my face as Morio ran his hand gently over my back, lightly massaging my aching muscles.
I winced. "I'm sore as hell, and I feel two quarts low on joy juice. Seriously, I depleted all my reserves last night. And for what? The demons won."
"The demons may have won this battle, but they haven't won the war," Smoky said. "Always remember: no one is unilaterally successful. We can't let this stop us if we're to prevent them from getting any more of the seals. But we'll have to be very careful from now on. Shadow Wing will be able to make use of the power in that gem, even if it's not full strength."
"Stop us?" I glanced at his face. "You aren't headed toward the Northlands?"
He shrugged, smiling gently. "It seems, since I'm to marry you, my plans are subject to change."
I forced myself to sit up. Sweet mother, every part of me hurt. "I feel like I'm bruised from head to toe." I bent my knees up and propped my elbows on them, leaning my chin on my hands. "What are we going to tell Queen Asteria? She's counting on us."
"We'll figure that out when we talk to her," Morio said. "But last night does answer one question."
"And what's that?" I blinked, jonesing for some caffeine so bad I had the shakes. "I need coffee. Now."
He snorted. "You always need caffeine. The question I'm referring to is why you seem to take to death magic so easily when your own innate Moon magic fritzes out a lot."
Smoky began rubbing my shoulders, and I melted under his hands. The night was starting to come back—after the fight, returning home—and then I blushed as images flooded my mind. Smoky and Morio in my bed, leading me out of the pain, out of the sorrow over our failure, helping me to forget the battle. Smoky bracing me up as Morio thrust deep inside of me, Smoky's hair once again coiling around my wrists… oh yeah … No wonder I was so sore in places no punch nor flying bolt of magic had touched. This was going to be one hell of a rocket ride, all right.
"So tell us," Smoky said. "I'd like to know, too."
Morio slid down to the bottom of the bed and began rubbing my feet. If I'd been Delilah, I'd be purring like an outboard motor.
"It's because of your heritage," he said. "Morgaine is one of your ancestors. Morgaine works with heavy magic—not unlike Aeval—and her connection with the Moon Mother is through the shadowed side. She said you both come from the original family who founded the Coterie of the Moon Mother. Camille, you must have inherited some of the same magical ability that Morgaine did. You think you work best under the full moon, but my guess is the dark of the moon will sing in your blood, too, with all of the shadows that walk beneath it."
It made sense, I had to admit. Perhaps my link to the Moon Mother went beyond the half-Fae, half-human aspects. Perhaps I had focused on the wrong phase of the moon when I'd studied with the Coterie.
A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. "Camille?" Delilah's voice.
"Come in."
She peeked around the door, giving me a faint grin when she saw us curled up together. "We have visitors. Several of them. I think you'd all better come down before we end up with a magical brawl on our hands."
Oops, that didn't sound good.
"Right there," I said, climbing over Smoky. He traced a finger down my thigh as I slid over his lap, and I felt a tug from my nipples down to the tips of my toes. I caught my breath.
"Later," he mouthed as Morio reached across to place his hand on my leg next to Smoky's. Oh yeah, they'd had "the talk."
Delilah withdrew as Smoky and Morio threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. We dressed quickly. Feeling unaccountably shy, I avoided their gaze—or any other portion of their anatomy—and then we all clattered down the stairs. Actually, Morio and Smoky clattered. I inched my way down, aching with every step, until Smoky noticed.
He marched back up the steps and tossed me over his shoulder without further ado. I started to protest but then, sensing that this would get me downstairs with the least amount of pain, gave in without a fight.
