The
fourteenth century?!
She tried not to gape as she stared at him again, trying to place Tal in a morning coat and top hat, or in serf clothing. But even a zoot suit was too much for her brain to handle, so she tried to focus instead on the conversation.
Tiny movements of his head and hands spoke his confusion. “I can’t, Jason. I only know that she is the voice in my head—the voice that has always been from the Tree. She is where I drew power from to free me from Vegre’s death curse.”
Jason thought about that for a moment and then pursed his lips, as though accepting it. He hopped down from the counter and grabbed his cloak from an iron hook on the wall. “Well then, let’s go and reunite the spirit with her vessel, shall we? I’m afraid I’ll have to see this to believe it.”
Tal looked at him askance. “We don’t have time to go visit Tree Square. We need to find the gate Vegre used to reach Mila’s house and close it. To do that, we need to visit—”
Jason let out a bitter laugh. “Me cousin, Chauncy? Bleedin’ hell, Tal. You are so freakin’ trusting. I don’t have a cousin with that name. Think on it, mate.
Chauncy?
What sort of name is that for a self-respecting Fomorian?” He stared at Mila as he fastened a wooden dowel through a loop of cloth at the neck of the cloak. “Ireland via Africa, lass. Me mum’s clan were fierce warriors—dirtdogs with a taste for steel and a love of gold. They didn’t merely arrive in Ireland, they
conquered
and claimed part of it. I might have inherited me da’s magic, but the love of the finer life? That was me mum’s legacy.”
She looked around the room, trying to compare his words with the furnishings. The apartment was nothing special. It was small and tidy, but there was nothing to give her the impression of exceeding wealth. He laughed, apparently understanding what she was mentally doing.
“Not
this
place, Mila girl. This is just here to keep up appearances for the customers. There’s another gate just outside that opens to where Mum and Da
really
lived—out in the third ring where there was plenty of splendor and a gate to keep out the curious. I did well by ’em, as a son should. In fact, I crafted
all
the gates in Vril, Tal. Me and me alone. There’s no mysterious cousin. I crafted them for the highest bidder … and there were plenty of bidders when the evacuations started.”
Tal looked floored and Mila started to wonder why he was suddenly revealing this. Apparently, Tal was thinking the same thing. He flicked his fingers and the opal dulled and then he picked it up, all the while watching Jason with suddenly suspicious eyes. “Why tell us this now? What’s changed in the last five minutes that you’re suddenly willing to risk me turning you in?”
Jason laughed again, this time a bright and happy sound that didn’t match his earlier words. “You really don’t see it, do you? Can’t even
imagine
the profit potential in the lass?” He reached forward and tapped her on the head. “Demeter’s Children wouldn’t have anything on the
true
spirit of the Tree. The kings would pay
anything
to learn what’s wrong with the Trees, and even more to
save
’em.”
She brushed off his finger like she would a biting insect, suddenly glad she hadn’t revealed the information from the scroll to him.
“I
never said I was the Tree spirit, did I? I haven’t a clue why I can connect with Tal’s mind, but I wouldn’t recognize a
Tree of Life
if I ran bodily into one.”
“Ah, but that’s exactly what I was planning to do, lass. Run you bodily into one.” He grinned darkly, but then turned his head at Tal’s single word.
“No.”
Jason tipped his head, still amused. “You haven’t much choice, lad. It’s my price to show you the gates.”
“No.” The word was said with more force and Tal stood in a rush, his eyes flashing.
Jason likewise steadied his stance, keeping the glove he wore turned stone side up. The narrow gem slab, which could either be a ruby or garnet, glittered menacingly from within. “Think about it,
old friend.
Think carefully. One word in my mind to flash Commander Sommersby about your location is all it would take. I’ve no love for the man or how he’s corrupted the department at the kings’s behest, but I want life back to the way it was … at any cost. The overworld is no place for me, lad, and I don’t believe an Agathia ruled by Vegre Peircevil would be to me taste.” He opened his arms wide, but with a calculating look. “Now, I’m more than willing to keep your confidence, turn me head to your little journey, and even share me own small secrets. All I ask in return is for your lady friend to tell me what’s wrong with the Trees and how to fix them … if she can. She doesn’t even need to stick around to be later identified. I’ll take it from there. And really, Tal—don’t
you
want the Trees fixed, too? Don’t you want the world back to the way it used to be?” He pointed to the window, where dark and false light met. “
Look at that
. Is that what you want for our people? So what if I profit, or you profit? The guilds would be safe, the land free, and Vegre returned to prison.”
Smooth bastard that he was, she couldn’t find any way to disagree with the underlying truth. The message wasn’t any different than Viktor’s speech—only the motivation was different.
She spoke at the same moment as Tal, her “Fine,” tearing his “Absolutely not!” into bitter, angry shreds.
His face was horrified, indignant. “Mila, no. You can’t give in to this, this …
blackmail.
”
She sighed. “Tal, I work in corporate law. A lot of our clients live their lives in the gray area—between the
letter
of the law and the squishy morals of the
spirit
of the law. If I refused to work with everyone who wasn’t lily-white the firm wouldn’t have many clients.” He started to interrupt, but she cut him off with a raised hand. “This is my decision, not yours. I
came
here to see the Trees. I could have waited in the library for you to get back, but I promised Viktor I would try to save your people. I don’t know if I can, but I said I’d try. If Jason’s willing to help us, great. So far as I can tell, he’s a gray area sort of guy, versus the lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key sort like Vegre.”
Jason gave her an odd look, as though he wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or insulted. Frankly, she wasn’t sure herself. “Thank you, lass … I think.”
She pointed a finger at him and raised her brows. “But I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you, so don’t expect me to take anything you tell me at face value. And, I’ll expect you to help us find a way to clear Tal’s name.”
“I don’t need
his
help.” Tal was almost too furious to speak, and each syllable was delivered to inflict the maximum insult.
She blew out an annoyed breath at him. “Oh, would you get
over
it, Tal? Look, Jason was willing to help you before he even knew about me. Yeah, he might have been planning to rob or kill you at some point, but I’m betting not. Great, fine. You discovered he’s not all sunshine and light. But he’s not
all
bad, either.”
Jason’s voice was quiet when he spoke, his words serious and seemingly heartfelt. “She’s right, mate. I’d planned to help you because I owe you. Maybe
all
those words you spouted about honor and charity didn’t sink in at the academy, but a lot of them did. I could easily have been in a cell beside Vegre if given me own head.”
“Terrific,” Tal said sarcastically. “I taught you how to
outsmart
the law. That’s something to carve on my gravestone.”
“No. You taught me
respect
for the law … and the reason for it in the first place. I might not buy into the notion that to be honorable I must do it in
poverty,
but I
have
limits, and you put ’em there. I’m a good son to me folks, and good to me mates.” He took off the glove from his right hand and held it out. “You used to be one of those mates. Have I completely ruined that or can we start over?”
Tal stared at the proffered hand for a long moment and then shook his head. “I don’t know that I can forgive you just yet. Maybe when this is over and I’m still free and Mila is safe, I’ll consider shaking your hand.”
The look on Jason’s face mingled regret with insult. Finally, he swallowed both inside and offered a stony face, lowering his hand with a nod. “I guess I earned that, and I don’t know if I’ve it in me to live up to the standard you do so it may be that we never do shake.”
They stared unblinking at each other until Mila could almost smell the testosterone in the air. “Let’s just give it a rest for right now, and go see the Tree. None of this may matter once we do, because I haven’t got a clue if there’s anything I can do.” She hooked her thumb toward the freezer door. “But won’t you get fired if you don’t get back?”
The grin reappeared on his face. “Nah. I actually had the rest of the day off anyway. I just told Tal that so I could get back and party with me mates. But this sounds like a much more interesting way to spend the evening, so—” He waved his hand and gave an exaggerated bow. “Shall we?”
Mila nodded agreement and Tal grudgingly did, as well. “Is it far from here? Does one of you have a car?”
Apparently, she’d either said the wrong thing, or the right one, to cheer them both up, because they let out nearly identical chuckles. “No cars down here, luv.” Jason looked her up and down quickly, but with no interest attached. “And that jacket has to go. Too noticeable. That’s why those men thought you an easy target. It’s obvious you’re not from around here. They just didn’t know where you came from. I think me mum has something in the back that might work. She’s a bit shorter than you, and broader … but since the magic’s nearly gone, few can claim to be fashion plates.”
The garment he handed her moments later was a beautiful hunter green, and though heavy as wool, was silky smooth. But when she put it on, she realized it was a confusing mass of cloth with holes and fasteners that made no sense. After two failed tries at wrapping herself in it, to Jason’s supreme amusement, Tal finally came to her rescue.
“Here, let me. This goes across like so and ties under here.” He reached under her arm with exquisite slowness and slid his hand from shoulder to waist while staring into her eyes with a look that made her breath catch. She didn’t even realize he was attaching one long length to a fastener until the cloak suddenly balanced and stopped making her feel as though she was tipping forward. In addition to the shivers his hands provided, he stayed close enough to smell his wonderful cologne each time she took a breath—a lemony sage blend with some sort of musk. “And then this flap comes across the shoulder to hook here. You see?”
He stepped back, looking as flushed as she felt. He stepped to the table and slugged down the rest of his juice, as though dying of thirst. When she lifted her arms, she realized that the various folds had become sleeves. It all made sense now, and she experimented to see if she could later undo the mess and reattach it. While still feeling swallowed in the thing, it made her smile because it reminded her of when she used to disappear under her father’s coats in the closet during hide-and-seek.
Jason looked on approvingly as she lifted the hood onto her head and then twirled to get a feel for it. “That would look right smart on you if not for it being a bit too short.”
She looked down at the hem, which came to about midcalf. “Is it too short? It looks about right to me.” But then she looked at theirs, and realized that it should just touch the top of her shoes. “Oh, I see what you mean. Well, I sort of like it this way, for what it’s worth. Easier to walk in.”
“That’s good,” Tal commented, “since we’ll be walking several miles.” He looked at Jason, his jaw clenching and then loosening after a deep breath. He was trying to make nice, which she appreciated. “Unless you happen to have a gate that will get us there quicker?”
Again that fast grin from behind dark lips, showing brilliant white teeth with just a few crooked bottom ones. “As a matter of fact, I do. It comes out a few blocks away, anyway. See how valuable it is to know me?”
Tal snorted with equal parts annoyance and amusement. “Well, let’s have at it then. Lead the way. And while we’re traveling—Mila, you might as well explain what the paper was you showed me earlier.”
Jason hadn’t seen it yet, so she pulled it out once more and passed it over his shoulder as they descended to the lower floor of the shop. He shook his head when he passed it back at the foot of the stairs. “If this has significance, I’m afraid it’s beyond me.”
“Well,” she said as she tucked it back in her pocket on her way out the door between them … since she had to return it to the vault eventually. “Either there are two men in the world with that singularly unusual name, or somehow a man who should be confined in the tightest prison in your world managed to pop topside in 1964 to change his name and then wander back behind his bars. The courts here used to require the physical appearance of the person before the judge in name changes.”