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“Tell you what, Mastyr. You stand up, face me then I’ll tell you why.”
That’s when things went haywire. Rez leaned forward intent on leaping to his feet, but his body wouldn’t respond. His legs shook. All he could do was sit there.
Oregis scoffed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Davido said you were going to be impatient, erratic and stubborn because of your daughter. But if you go in too fast, without a plan, and without your strength, you’ll get her killed. By the way, those were his words, not mine.
“So, listen up. I’m here to be your common sense until your brain recalibrates and you calm the hell down.” Oregis turned his attention to Holly. “Vojalie brought over a soup for you, a beautiful tomato bisque. If you’ll show me where everything is, I’ll heat up some sour dough slices, pour some German wine and have things ready while you shower. How does that sound?”
“Like heaven.”
Rez watched Holly move toward the kitchen with Oregis levitating off her right shoulder. He still couldn’t get up but he could hear them.
Holly made a cooing sound. “I didn’t realize I was so hungry.”
“Does your chest hurt?”
“Not yet, but it’s feeling full.”
“You’ll need to donate soon. Davido said this would happen a lot probably because of the stress.”
Oregis’s voice faded as both he and Holly disappeared into the hallway beyond, heading toward the kitchen.
He hated when Oregis was right.
He remained on his back, eyes closed. He could hardly move. The adrenaline had faded and combined with the difficult night and having been in the time-path too long, he was exhausted.
He also needed to feed.
His profound drive to rescue his daughter had momentarily obliterated his common sense. He would have been slaughtered if he’d returned. Holly wouldn’t have survived either and he could never let that happen. He was responsible for her given her non-military status.
He had a helluva lot to think about.
A few more minutes, and he heard Oregis on the phone. The gremlin had returned to the entry way. Rez recognized the murmurs and teasing sounds.
He finally felt some of his strength return. At least sufficiently to put him on his feet, though he was still dizzy.
By the time he made his way to the kitchen, he realized Oregis had finished his phone call and Holly was no longer there. He wondered if he’d fallen asleep for a few minutes. He might have.
“She’s showering is the answer to your question. And Davido fetched some of your things from Boylbury. They’re in the guest bedroom. You might want to take a quick shower yourself. Just sayin’.”
Rez got the message and headed to the guest bedroom. It was small and had three paintings above the bed. These were also of oaks though set in larger landscapes. A variety of his clothes was laid out on the bed. Oregis wasn’t kidding. Davido had brought a quarter of his wardrobe over.
He made short work of showering, then shrugged into his jeans and t-shirt. He had plans for the next couple of hours. If all went well, he wouldn’t be needing his clothes.
When he returned to the kitchen, Oregis hovered near the stove. As small as he was, he had to use both hands to stir the soup with a wooden spoon. “Come ladle this out. It’s hot enough.” His large ears twitched and swiveled. “Holly’s coming. You’ll want to feed your woman. She’s built a supply for you, so don’t be an ass.”
“I won’t.”
“You were earlier. Did you see how white she was?”
Rez realized in his panicky need to do the impossible and head back to Underworld, he hadn’t really seen Holly. “Point taken.”
Oregis held the handle of the spoon in his direction. Rez took it and filled both bowls. Oregis’s phone rang, a miniature version meant for gremlin hands.
He moved away from Oregis. “Hello, my love. Yes, I’m hard for you or I will be as soon as I get out of the kitchen. Let me get some place private. Where are your hands, baby? Oh, that’s hot.” His voice faded. He was moving down the hall that led to the guest bedroom.
Rez was used to the interplay and just shook his head.
Oregis had worked for Rez a long time, as had several forest gremlins. His wife often showed up halfway through his shift at the mine for a quickie, something that had made Rez envious on more than one occasion.
