Page 18 of Up in Smoke

“It wouldn’t surprise me. Once he controls Tulsa through Asylum, and he takes credit for finding a solution to the worsening storm problems, he’d essentially make himself a ruler of the entire quadrant. Just about everything in the Alley has been wiped out—and I’m starting to think he was behind the Alley’s entire storm problem in the first place.”

“No, the storms have always hit the Alley. They just grew a lot more severe after he showed up,” I replied. “Before the quadrants were established, the place had been called Tornado Alley for a reason. Thus the Alley. Magic only made the storms worse and more unpredictable.”

Sandro sighed. “The trade angle is the only reason I can think of for Mansfield to do all this. Of course, the quadrants will adapt. There’ll be more cargo flights for planes risking the boundary crossing, and the Alley will become even more cut off. I don’t know how it’ll manage if it’s essentially sundered from the rest of the system.”

“I don’t know, either,” I admitted, opting against taking a bath and shedding my pajamas so I could get changed, not caring if Sandro decided to enjoy the show. My fox hoped he took a good, long look and liked the view. “Will Mansfield welcome you back to Asylum if we go?”

“They haven’t lost their internet connection, and I’ve been emailing him. He’ll be expecting us. He knows you’re my uncontested courtesan fully verified in all quadrants now. He congratulated me on my choice. I think there are too many residents who are aware we’re responsible for the influx of medical supplies that were sent over. We probably accelerated his plans.” Sandro joined me in the bathroom to finish getting dressed in his suit, making use of the vanity mirror. “The problem will be getting there.”

“If the choirs are wiped out, all we have to do is dodge the natural storms. That’s not too bad, even without a warning system. We keep an eye on the sky and pick where we sleep at night carefully. There are old cellars scattered throughout the Alley. I’m good at finding them.” Finding cellars large enough for Sandro to fit in would be more of a challenge, but I held hope I could get him back to Tulsa alive. “I’ve done the trip from the East several times. It’s a long hike, especially if you don’t have my endurance, but it’s possible.”

“I have a few poems useful for long-distance travel, assuming I can make it through the boundary without passing out.”

“You’re not that large of a man. I can handle dragging you if needed. There are also parts of the boundary that are narrower. We can cross there. It won’t be safe, but we should make it.” I would likely expose my secret to him if something did go wrong, but he’d find out the truth eventually.

The first time something terrified me, like an unexpected pulse in New Orleans, he’d learn I was a hybrid shapeshifter. My fox would likely rub all over him in an attempt to make it clear she was his. I couldn’t blame her, either.

For once in my life, I actually agreed with her regarding a man.

“As long as we aren’t within the boundary for too long, I’ll be all right. The longer I’m in the boundary, the worse it is. Blitzing through the boundary is harder on me than if I walk in and adjust to it. The transition’s easier for me to handle.”

“Oh. You don’t swap your magic types well?”

“I really don’t. But I can also pull through the boundary somewhat. If I’m near the Alley’s boundary, I can write someone a decent little poem even in another quadrant. But I pay in general unconsciousness if I try to skip the transition process.”

“Thus passing out when you fly.”

Sandro nodded. “And you just get a little queasy?”

I nodded. “And flying wasn’t that bad for me, either. Except for the whole boundary crossing part. That was bad. And you should be happy I ate your share of dinner. It was not good. You might have ended up poisoned.” I pointed at myself. “I am better prepared for eating questionable things. You’re a delicate, spoiled heir.”

Chuckling, Sandro shook his head. “You’re something else sometimes, Jade. I do wonder if you could pull through the boundary, too.”

“You mean use my Alley scrying in the South? I just use my South witch magic; it’s better at divining than my abilities in the Alley,” I admitted. “But it usually requires a talisman or fetish here, and I don’t have one, at least not for that. I avoid divining whenever possible. Some things I don’t want to see.” The magic Sandro had woken had definitely come from the Alley, but I could only assume he held responsibility—or New Orleans had wanted to make his symphony as potent as possible, pulling from its origin through me.

Some questions I doubted I would learn the answers to, but I could accept coping with my curiosity.

“Can you work magic in the boundary?”

I winced at his question, as a lot of hopeful mages and witches had gone mad trying to master all four quadrants and the boundaries dividing them. “Yes, I can.”

Sandro whistled. “That definitely puts you at master class, then. You’re self-taught, too. That’s remarkable. I’m going to have to tell my mother she underpaid for you, and that’s going to upset my father. Then my mother will try to cajole my father into a better mood with her feminine charms, and I might really end up with another sibling before the tyrant known as menopause gets her.” Snickering, he shook his head. “Dad’s having fun riling my mother up, and he’s told me he has no intention of skipping out on one last crack at a baby. He just likes when she begs.”

“Your dad is a little evil, Sandro.”

“He really is, but he does love my mother dearly. They were friends before my family bought him. He told me a while back it had been his idea to become her uncontested courtesan. He’d spoken to my mother’s parents about it because he wanted to marry her, but he didn’t bring anything of value, in his opinion, to the table. But my family doesn’t pick partners due to pedigree or wealth. That makes us a little weird compared to the other prominent families in the East. Mom picked you to lure me home, but she also picked you because she knew I was interested in you.”

“You were only interested in me because I kept giving you the slip,” I reminded him.

“That only made me even more interested.” Sandro lowered his head and sighed. “I’m a chip off my mother’s block. It’s the ears and tail. They’re just so damned expressive.”

I pricked my ears forward, and my tail twitched of its own accord. “You like my ears and tail?”

“Your tail is gorgeous, and you speak a whole second language with those ears of yours. You’re good at hiding your emotions, but your ears betray you sometimes. I’ve learned I have to look you over ears to tail if I want to figure out what you’re thinking. But my mother got it right. You’re beautiful, you’re smart, and you’re compassionate, which is what I need in a partner when I have to run the family.”

Raising a brow, I stared down at my chest, which wasn’t quite flat, but small enough I could get away without a bra when needed. “I think the Moretti family needs a group appointment for an eye doctor.”

“If breasts defined beauty, you might be right, but it’s the whole package I find to be attractive. And anyway, wouldn’t your breasts just get in the way if they’re much larger? Like, every time I see a woman with huge breasts, I wonder if it’s like hauling around two bags of rocks or something.”