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Faerie operates on a sliding scale of moral ambiguity. The Golden Rule is turned inside out to become “When others do unto you, weigh the cost to yourself and chargeaccordingly.”
~Big Book of Fairyland, “Rules ofBargaining”
My heart—the traitor—leapedand my blood heated. Deciding not to give Rogue the satisfaction of knowing he’d startled me, I refused to turn and look at him. I shouldn’t have been surprised. The Black Dog came from him. Or was him. Or was a manifestation of his subconscious nature somehow. The physics of it escaped me, but where there was one, the other followed. And, like Clark Kent and Superman, they were never in the same place at the same time.
“Howdy, stranger.”
“Always a pleasure to see you, lovely Gwynn,” he returned. “Though you look a bit worse for wear.”
“Thanks for pulling me out of the water.”
“Is that what happened? I wondered.” He spoke from right behind me, the scent of Stargazer lilies and sandalwood weaving through the rain.
I gave in and looked at him. Though I’d braced myself for it, his sensual impact took my breath away. His long black hair flowed loose, hanging in wet strands over his shoulders. Blue eyes like the sky just after sunset met mine, showing lingering anger tempered with amusement. And desire. My body reacted to it and he knew it, dark lips curving up on one side—the left side of his face, which was covered by a network of inky lines and thorny spikes that seemed to reach out from around his skull, fingers and vines splaying across his skin. At first I’d wondered if it was a tattoo, but now I knew they grew out of the same place the Black Dog did. The pattern continued back into his hairline and down past the black shirt he wore.
I happened to know they kept going from there.
Not an image I needed in my head right now. I channeled the flaring heat into banked energy. Should be plenty to keep half a boat afloat.
“I’ll be interested to see if you can pull this off.” Rogue gazed out at the disappearing ships. “You always seem to have inventive approaches, if amateurish ones.”
“Don’t bug me. You don’t even know what I’m trying to do.”
“Sink half a ship. Careless of you not to mind that aspect of the bargain.”
“Eavesdropping, were you?”
“I don’t have to,” he retorted. “You still think far too loud. Anyone with a nugget of ability can hear your internal monologue.”
“Sorry I disturbed you.”
“Oh, you disturb me all right, passionate Gwynn. What will you give me to help you out?” He traced an unnaturally long finger down my cheek, the sensation sending currents of heat through my blood. “I have some suggestions.”
“I’ll bet you do.” I sounded breathy. This was not good. “But the bargain is that I’d do it. So quit bothering me and let me figure this out.”
He gestured grandly at the churning ocean, then folded his arms and watched me expectantly.
“Can’t you go somewhere else?”
“I’m protecting you.” He nodded his head at the mob of men who’d gotten significantly closer. “Yon angry humans seem to be headed this way.”
“Yes. I know. Let me do this and I’m out of here.” I tried to concentrate, straining my eyes to pick out one ship. Rogue’s gaze felt like a caress on my skin. My cheek tingled where he’d touched me.
“Do I make you nervous?”
Yes. “No. Be quiet.”
With a precise wish, I redistributed the people on board to an equal number on each side, trusting in the magic to handle the math. I called up the mermaids and cut the boat in half, letting one side sink. This was no gentle drop, but that couldn’t be helped. Envisioning the half I wanted to keep afloat with the breach sealed over, I wished it buoyant. Then frowned out to sea. I really wanted to see if it worked.
“Change the material of the ship to something else.” Rogue was looking out to the horizon. “It’s the wrong shape to stay afloat long like that. It will just drain you. Then send it to shore.”
“Can you see it?”
He glanced at me, fulminous blue eyes definitely amused under arched black brows. “There are many ways of seeing. Too bad you don’t know them.”
“Nice,” I muttered. In my heart, though, I could admit that part of me enjoyed sparring with him. As much as he taunted me, he always seemed to consider me a worthy opponent.
Not sure why the image sprang to mind, I kept the sealed-up ship shape, but changed it into fiberglass. Strong enough to hold the people, light enough to float well. Hopefully I hadn’t just thrown the whole ecosystem all to hell by introducing that. I wished up a current, to drag the ship to shore. Then let it all go.
