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Frowning, I backed away, not wanting to go but well-versed in taking orders. We may not have been the best agents, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I could hear the soft fall of their voices as I closed the door behind me and huddled in the hallway.
"What's going on?" Menolly appeared at the top of the stairs, Delilah right behind her. "I was watching Jerry Springer with Kitten when we thought we heard the Whispering Mirror."
"You did. Trenyth is talking to Trillian. I was asked to leave the room before I could find out what was going on." Still smarting from being told to get out, I glanced back at the door. "My hearing's good, but I can't catch what they're saying."
Menolly winked at me. "Out of the way." She pushed past me and gently pressed her ear to the door. Holding one finger to her lips, she listened.
After a moment, she straightened, her pale complexion even whiter than usual. "In your room," she whispered.
The three of us filed into my room and sprawled on the bed. Delilah pulled the satin comforter around her shoulders, and I joined her beneath the coverlet as Menolly let out a long sigh.
"You'd better prepare yourself. Trillian's being called back to Otherworld. I couldn't catch much else, beyond the fact that the war has shifted, and Queen Asteria needs him for something." She frowned, toying with Belle, the stuffed bear that was sitting on the bottom of my bed. Morio had given Belle to me, and I liked her company.
"What? But he's bound to have a price on his head. What the fuck do they think they're doing in there? What's taking so long?" I jumped out of the bed and yanked off my robe and nightgown, scrambling into a skirt. My hands shook as I fastened the hooks on my bra and slid into a V-neck tank top. "Trillian's just getting over that arrow wound; they can't possibly mean for him to return to duty. Not now. Not yet."
"Listening at the door?" Trillian entered the room and glanced at the three of us. "How much did you hear?"
Menolly shook her head. "Not enough. Only that they want you back in OW pronto."
"What's going on?" I hurried to his side, pressing against him, my hand against the shoulder where the arrow had come close to piercing his heart. "They can't possibly expect you to go back to running messages? You're too well-known. Lethesanar will have all her scouts looking for you."
Trillian shook his head and gently took my hand, kissing each finger lightly before he slipped out of my embrace. "No, Camille. They haven't asked me to go back to spying. It's another mission. One I can't refuse. Remember, I gave my oath for as long as the war lasts. I can't back out of the deal now."
"But if you're not going back to running messages, why was Trenyth contacting you?" Delilah asked, bouncing to sit on her knees on the bed. Her long, golden shag was caught up in a pair of ponytails, and her kitty-cat pajamas were bright pink, making her look for all the world like Bubbles, of The Powerpuff Girls.
"It was the most expedient way of getting hold of me." He looked around, then picked up his neatly folded clothes from the quilt rack that stood near the window. "Now, if you girls will excuse me," he said to Delilah and Menolly, "I need to get dressed. I'll have to leave my Earthside clothes here, Camille. I don't have time to take them home. Will you get me my traveling clothes and kit?"
As I mutely hurried to fetch his tunic, trousers, and cape from the closet, Delilah and Menolly quietly withdrew, closing the door behind them. I watched as Trillian slid into the OW clothes. He took on a decidedly magical air as he did so. Sometimes, he seemed to blend in so well over here on Earthside that I forgot just how rich in Fae blood he was. Svartans were actually an offshoot of the elves, from long, long ago, and the two races normally distrusted each other. But the civil war in Y'Elestrial had brought them together on the same side.
"I don't want you to go," I finally said, debating on whether to stand by like a good Guardsman's daughter and cheer on my lover, or to be honest. "I don't want you to die. We need you here, in the fight against the demons." After a pause, I added, "I need you."
Trillian exhaled sharply. "I know. I know you need me, and I know that the demons are a far greater threat than any war back in OW. But trust me, please. I wouldn't go if it weren't terribly important. And important, it is. Camille," he said, placing his hands on my shoulders and staring into my eyes. "Don't try to stop me. Not this time. You'd regret doing so if you knew the reason. And I can't tell you what it is, not yet. All I can say is that you need to let me leave without an argument."
There was something in his words. A warning, a promise… all wrapped into one. I gazed at his face, searching for any clue, but the only thing I could see was myself, reflected in his eyes.
"All right," I heard myself saying. "I won't try to keep you. And I won't ask where you're going. But Trillian, you come back to me. Alive. Please?"
He buried his face in my neck, kissing my skin with his warm, honeyed lips. Muffled by my hair, he said, "I'll be back. I promise. But listen to me," he added, searching my face. For once, his arrogance slid away, leaving raw pain—and love. "If something does happen to me, then tell that lizard that it's up to him to protect you. Morio would die for you, yes, but Smoky can protect you better than he ever could. More… more than I can ever hope to. Do you understand?">"Thank the gods. It's dead," I said quietly, peering down into the lifeless eyes of the dubba-troll. "They're both dead. Anybody hurt?" My foot still ached where I'd hit it on the tombstone, but it was nothing a foot massage wouldn't heal.
Everybody shook their heads as Chase knelt by the open grave.
"Shine that light over here," he said to Shamas.
Our cousin pointed his flash light into the hole as Chase lowered himself gingerly to the bottom. "We know the trolls already killed two hobos who were trying to sleep in the park," he said quietly.
Chase reached for Devin's pulse, then glanced up at us and shook his head. "Make that three victims. Devins is dead. His neck's broken."
I leaned on Delilah's arm. Three victims, killed by Cryptos. Joy oh joy. The Freedom's Angels were going to have a field day when they found out.
Chapter Eight
By the time we got home, I wasn't up to heading out to Smoky's, so he agreed to me coming out the next day to talk to Morgaine and took off walking down the road. Feddrah-Dahns decided to stay the night at our house, though he opted to sleep outdoors. We couldn't go after Mistletoe in the night. For one thing, we still didn't know where to start.
Morio still hadn't shown up by the time we got home, and I ended up leaving three messages on his cell phone. As Trillian and I climbed into the shower together, I couldn't get my mind off worrying about him.
"What's wrong, babe?" Trillian soaped my stomach as I leaned my head back to avoid getting my hair wet. He liked to bathe me, and I was quite happy to let him. Showers—now that was one luxury I'd miss whenever we went home to Otherworld.
"Just worried about Morio," I said. "He never forgets to call."
