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Roman paused for a moment, then slipped out of my embrace, and when he turned back to me, he was a mask of gentility, smiling again, with no sign of the suffering I’d seen a few moments before.
“Shall we begin the ritual? I’ve everything ready.” He led me to a door at the back of the room.
“This will break the bond between Morio and me without hurting either one of us?” I looked at him anxiously, desperate to trust him, afraid to trust him.
“Yes. Better you break it now, because if you slept with him, the bond would be unshakable. Or if you drank his blood. You haven’t done either, have you? Tell me the truth.” He paused, his hand on the knob.
“No. Nothing. A lot of stolen glances. A kiss or two. But…no blood since my blood first healed him. And no sex. I think that’s why I fucked Roz the other night, and drank from him. I wanted Morio so much that…I used Roz as a substitute.” I hated admitting that—I didn’t like using my friends.
“I thought it was the doppelganger? A charm spell or something?”
I frowned. “I don’t know, to be honest. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, maybe? The drinking—yes, that was the doppelganger. The sex…I don’t know.”
“Well, at least you’ve not muddled things up too bad. Come now, we’ll break the bond and you will be free to go back to your old selves. However, he will retain the strength he gained from you during the transfusion. And he will retain the wild streak…”
I glanced at him. “I thought he’d become more feral since then.”
“Oh, no doubt, my love. And that will stay with him. I’m sure Camille has noticed by now? Has she not said anything to you?”
I shook my head. “No, she hasn’t. But she couldn’t be unaware…” And with that thought in my head, I followed him into the room, ready to close out at least one problem in my life.
Chapter 17
The room into which Roman led me was small and made me think of a shrine. It was laid out in an appalling shade of blue. Or rather than appalling, perhaps it was just overwhelming. I winced. The color itself was pretty—not sea green blue, but the glimmering blue of cobalt glass, so that I felt I was under the water in a swimming pool.
The room was simple, with a central console table, low to the ground, against the back wall. On that table rested a clear goblet, a large pillar candle, a small vial of—something—and a silver knife with a bone handle, along with a dozen red roses. The room was lit from glowing tiles in the walls. Two pillows rested in front of the table, the only other furniture. A white dress, simple and much like a Grecian tunic, hung on a hook on the wall.
“Change while I prepare for the ritual.” Roman turned and left me alone.
I knew enough not to poke around the altar. I didn’t want to muck this up in any way. I stepped out of my jeans and pulled off my shirt, and gracefully draped the gown over my head, tying the simple belt at the waist. It felt elegant and from another time. Looking around for a place to leave my clothes, I finally took them out of the room and put them in the parlor.
At that moment, Roman entered, wearing a long crimson robe, belted by a gold sash. A crown of gold rested on his head and his hair was loose, falling around his shoulders. He looked every inch a prince, and for the first time since I’d met him, the fact that he was the son of Blood Wyne hit home. My stomach thudded and I let out a little sound of surprise.
He seemed to notice. “Few have seen me in my court attire.” He did not ask if I liked it, merely motioned for me to reenter the chamber and followed behind me.>“Why did you get married?” Delilah asked.
“My father owed a blood debt to Thaylon’s father. I was payment, as wife to his son. It was my duty to fulfill my father’s honor, and so I did. Such are the ways of my people. Honor is sacred.” She shrugged, looking over one of the towels that had a rip in it. “I will mend this.”
“Did you love him?” I let go of the towel I’d been holding, beginning to understand her a little better. Hanna had been tight-lipped over the couple of months she’d been with us, but she was starting to open up, little by little.
“Love my father? Yes. Oh, you speak of Thaylon.” She smiled with her eyes. “He was a good man. He never misused me. He was proud of our children. I suppose…yes, I came to love him over the years and we had a good life, until Hyto found us.” A shiver raced down her, I could see it visibly, and she pressed her lips together and said no more.
We left her to her thoughts as she set down the towel to comfort Maggie, who had started fussing. I glanced at the clock. Six forty-five.
“I have to be at Roman’s at seven thirty. Tell me what you found out, if anything, before I go.” I straddled a chair as Iris fixed a pot of tea. Camille was drinking what looked like a megashot mocha from Starbucks. Delilah opened the fridge and pulled out the milk, pouring glasses for both herself and Hanna.
Camille took out a notebook. “Yeah. We found two places that fit the requirements and are near enough here that either might be the anchor for Gulakah. One is out near Snoqualmie. Another is on the way to Mount Rainier.”
“Great, near Smoky’s barrow?” Smoky had a barrow that was near Mount Rainier. At first we’d thought he’d co-opted it from Titania, but the size of the underground chamber that allowed him to change into his dragon self kind of put that idea to rest. It had been she who tried to wrest it away from him instead of living in the cave she’d been hiding in. I was a little fuzzy on how he got out from the barrow once he shifted because, hey, dragons were big. Very big. So big.
“No, a little farther up the mountain than that. An access road leads there. It’s a ways out, but not out of the scope of possibility.” Camille finished sucking down the last of her drink and poured the ice into the sink, then dropped the cup in the recycling bin. “The one near Snoqualmie is in the general area where we found the fourth spirit seal.” She paused, glancing at Delilah. “I don’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
Delilah let out a short sigh. She wiped off the frothy milk mustache and shrugged. “Zachary is happier where he is now. And Chase…he’s living with what Karvanak did to him. We can’t dwell on the past. What happened, happened. We can only move forward.”
“You’ve grown up so much, Kitten.” I crossed to her, kissing her gently on the cheek. “You’re right. We can’t go back. We don’t even have time to look back. So we have two possibilities? Have the guys checked them out?”
Iris shook her head. “They only came up with the information this afternoon. There’s been no time.”
“Smoky and Shade are going to check out the cave near his barrow, and then they’ll check the one near Snoqualmie. They’ve promised not to do anything until we’ve all discussed what they find out. They’ll leave after dinner. So we have a much-needed night of downtime.”
