The Silver Thread (5 page)

“My entire family did not read it,” Talvi scoffed. “As I said before, only a couple of us did.”

“Oh Talvi, I know how you define ‘a couple’—you always allow room for company.”

“There was my brother and my father, which makes two. A
couple
. And I didn’t start any war,” Talvi insisted, his eyes gleaming, “although coming from you, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Forgive me,” she said, with her dark eyes glaring at him. Her nose was only a few inches from his. “It’s not yet been declared.”

“I suggest you read that report in full, Merri,” Talvi retorted, trying desperately to ignore how beautiful she looked when she was angry, how long her black eyelashes were, how she smelled faintly of jasmine and spiced vanilla, how she might look if she let her hair down, and how that maroon dress hugged her in all the right places. To him, it seemed an entirely inappropriate outfit for her to wear on a Wednesday. “It’s not as though we blasted in and made a royal mess of things. We did the best we could, with the information we were given at the time. I know how to tidy up after an assignment.”

Merriweather walked to her desk in silence, downed her drink in one shot, and sighed as she sat back in her chair. She held her glass absentmindedly, unsure whether or not to fill it again.

“From all that I know about the Pazachi, there likely was nothing else you could have done differently. But I absolutely despise that there are loose ends, that girl being one of them.”

“Those are being tied as we speak, I assure you,” Talvi said gently. He knew she must have been terribly upset at the situation, to have finished her expensive drink so quickly. He also knew that was about as close to an apology as he would ever get from her. He returned to sit on the corner of the desk once again. “Don’t be so vexed, Merri. I prefer it when you’re laughing.”

“I’ve much to be vexed about,” she said crisply, and set her empty glass beside the documents she’d been reading. “You heard about Paris, I assume?”

“I saw it with my own eyes. Or rather, I did
not
see it with my own eyes. It’s unbelievable.”

“If you spent a few days here, you would believe it,” she said, and motioned at the huge stacks of paper on her desk. “It’s been a nightmare, dealing with the amount of travelers begging for lodging and passports and directions and currency exchanges. We’re a research facility, not Waterloo Station. We can’t get any headway on the Paris case, because we’re doing the work of two embassies. I have no time to focus on my regular work as it is, and I don’t know where I’ll find the time to sort out all the details that I’ve just been given on this ordeal with the Pazachi, not to mention the rest of Asbjorn’s report. I’ll be buried in presentations and meetings for the next year. It’s going to drive me mad!”

“My my, you’re wound a bit tight. You’ll feel more relaxed after another one of these,” he said, about to refill her glass, but Merriweather put her hand over it.

“Since we were speaking about loose ends,” she said, noticing her door was locked, “your quill has caused me more problems than it’s solved, so don’t think for one second that you have carte blanche to dip your pen in the embassy’s inkwell.”

“Don’t you worry; I only thought that for
half
a second,” Talvi said, winking at her again. “Things have changed since we saw each other last. I’m married now.” That statement was met with a dubious look from Merriweather’s large brown eyes.

“Oh please.
You
?”

Talvi nodded and showed her his wedding band. Merriweather looked at his ring, and then back at him in disbelief.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Talvi nodded again.

“Who is she? I didn’t think there were any elven ladies left who hadn’t heard of your reputation.”

Snorting at her jab, Talvi replied, “She’s not an elf. She’s one of those modern girls.”

“You mean a
human
?”

Talvi nodded again.

“You know that’s forbidden!” Merriweather hissed, looking aghast. “How could you do such a thing? Where ever is she? I’d like to give her some keen advice.”

“Well, that’s the other reason why I’m here,” said Talvi, looking first at his empty glass, and then back at Merriweather.

“I should have known you had ulterior motives for bringing me Asbjorn’s report. Did she leave you already? She must be somewhat clever, then.”

“She didn’t leave in the way you are suggesting,” he said, and the playfulness left his face. He poured a little more scotch into his glass and began to explain. “After the battle against the Pazachi, she was…she…” His voice faltered as he saw the fear in Annika’s eyes all over again. “She was pulled through their manufactured portal, right before it fell apart. I know for a fact that she ended up landing in Paris, although I’m sure she’s back home in America by now. She’s a very clever girl. In fact, she’s the reason that the portals were mended.”

“But Talvi, the Paris embassy had burned down by then,” Merriweather said, softening her expression and her voice. “That portal was on the third floor. Even if she had survived that kind of a fall, she would be in hospital with severe injuries.”

“Not if she wasn’t
entirely
human anymore,” he said cautiously.

Merriweather’s brow furrowed, but she only tilted her head and folded her arms, waiting for further explanation.

“Something happened to her when we were married,” Talvi continued. “Something happened to both of us, actually. Try to take my ring off.”

He outstretched his hand toward Merriweather, who looked at him skeptically once again.

“I think I prefer your wedding ring exactly where it is.”

“As do I, but I assure you, you can’t remove it, no matter how hard you try. Go on, have at it.”

Merriweather slowly took his left hand into her own, letting her right thumb pass over the platinum band as she admired it. Then, she clamped her fingers around it and yanked as hard as she could. Instead of ending up with a ring in her hand, she ended up with an elf in her lap.

“Oh, damn you! A fine trick that was! I can’t believe I fell for such a desperate act!” she huffed into Talvi’s neck as he groaned and scrambled to get off of her. He clutched his left hand in his right and held it against his chest, gritting his teeth from where he sat on the floor against her desk.

“Hells bells and buckets of blood, Merri; I didn’t think you were so strong!” he hissed through his teeth. He let go of his hand and flexed it into a fist a few times. Blood began to trickle toward his wrist.

“You mean I actually hurt you?” she asked, and took a handkerchief out of her desk drawer. “Give me your hand.”

Talvi rose to his knees and offered his hand to her once again.

“Be a bit more gentle, would you please?”

She nodded and held his hand in hers, resting it in her lap as she wiped his wrist clean. She dabbed carefully around the platinum band, folding the handkerchief to a point to get in between the thin silver inscription in the center. Without thinking of it, she tried to pull the band once more, just to clean underneath it. What happened next made her gasp at the same time as Talvi; he in pain, and she in shock. She could see the silver thread from the ring had pulled the tendons and veins of Talvi’s hand with it. The blood began to trickle once again.

“It’s woven into your hand?” she asked, her eyes widening as she looked at him, and then at the ring once more, before wrapping her handkerchief around his finger. She clasped his hand in hers once again, and let them rest in her lap.

“Yes,” he said, having recovered from the burning in his hand. It had begun to dwindle to more of a warm tingling sensation. “It’s grown longer since the day Annika and I were married. Sometimes I can feel the silver thread halfway up my forearm.”

“I’ve never seen or heard of any kind of thread like that.”

“It’s no ordinary thread. It’s a unicorn hair.”

A gasp escaped Merriweather’s lips, and her golden brown skin broke out in goose bumps. “Did Annika’s ring do the same thing to her? Is that why you believe she survived her fall well enough to make it to America?”

Talvi nodded again.

“Oh Talvi, who else knows what your rings are made of?” Her dark eyes were brimming with both awe and worry.

“Aside from she and I, only my brother Finn, and the two fairies who performed the ceremony, one of which is getting the grand tour from Gerald as we speak.”

“What of the other fairy?”

“Safe at home with Finn.”

“Thank goodness for that. I don’t think any of you should discuss it with anyone else. Please tell me that your wedding was not as well-advertised as all the other soirees you throw.”

Talvi laughed and shook his head.

“Not even my own mother knew about it. I think it will be quite some time before I’m forgiven.”

“She’ll come around,” Merriweather assured him in a gentle, comforting tone. “It’s impossible to stay cross with you for very long.”

“You certainly seem to be having a go at it.”

“I’m not cross with you. I’m concerned for your safety.”

She let go of his hand to smooth her rumpled dress from his fall earlier, then glanced at Asbjorn’s report. “The anti-modern sentiment is gaining strength, and your family has never been shy about their views.”

“Whatever happened to ‘if it harms none, do what thou wilt’?” he asked. “It seems the old creed isn’t fashionable anymore.”

“I don’t know, Talvi,” she said, fixing her gaze on him. “We live in strange times. Not everyone likes how things are developing on Earth. That’s what got you into this mess with the Pazachi to begin with, and now you may have gone and made them into martyrs, which will only strengthen their cause. Being that there are survivors and witnesses, it would be arrogant not to expect some kind of retaliation for assassinating their leaders. Please promise me that when you get to America, you will lie low for a while? Try not to call any attention to yourself.”

Talvi batted his lashes at her and shot her a smirk. “I try not to make promises that I can’t possibly keep.”

Merriweather rolled her eyes, trying not to smile. “You know very well what I mean, you cheeky bastard. Wherever are you headed, anyway? What city does your unfortunate bride live in?”

Talvi bit his chapped bottom lip, and tried his best to look as charming as possible while he shrugged his shoulders.

“I never got around to asking her.”

“Talvi Marinossian, how long did you know this girl before you decided to marry her? No, don’t even answer that. I’m certain it was less than half a year.”

He gave an impish grin, but said nothing.

“How is it that after all these years, you can still surprise me like this? Yet I am not really so surprised after all. Well, I take that back. I am surprised. Really, how
do
you do it?” she demanded in exasperation.

“Merri, I know how much you love playing travel agent lately, but I could really use your help finding her,” he confessed in his silkiest voice as he stood up and took ahold of the back of her office chair. He still held the bloodied handkerchief in his left hand. “You’re
so
good at everything you do. That’s why I refuse to work with anyone else here.”

“That’s the reason?” she said and turned to look at up him skeptically. “You certainly had me fooled. For a moment I almost thought you were complimenting me on my credentials.” She motioned to the wall above her desk, decorated with numerous framed diplomas and certificates from prestigious universities and other organizations.

“Oh, I was, but we both know not all of them are hanging on a wall, protected behind glass,” he said, and tilted her chair back as far as it would go, looking down at her seductively. Then he pointed at one of the frames. “I remember the night you received that award. You worked quite hard for that one, if I recall. But this one over here, this came easily enough. Three times in a row, isn’t that right?”

Merriweather tossed her head and took a deep breath, shuddering slightly as she exhaled. “I didn’t get this lovely corner office by being an underachiever, now did I?”

“No, you did not,” he agreed, appearing satisfied with his effect on her. He gently rocked her chair, letting one corner of his mouth curl upward. “You had a fair amount of assistance acquiring this position…achieving your multiple awards.”

“And I appreciate all that you have done for me in the past,” said Merriweather, motioning for Talvi to let go of her chair. “But if you honestly want my help finding your wife, perhaps you might try acting like you are her husband?”

“Of course,” he said, embarrassed that she had called him out on his bad behavior. He returned the chair to its original upright position. “Where shall we begin?”

“Let’s start with some basic information about her. What’s Annika’s last name, or did you neglect to ask her that as well when you were getting acquainted?”

“It’s Brisby,” Talvi answered. “She lives with her brother Charlie and some other bloke. They’re in a band together. She plays guitar…quite well, I might add.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Merriweather said, turning to her computer as she began to type. “Musicians and artists tend to willingly promote themselves.” Within seconds, she had brought up a half dozen pictures of Annika. In one of them she was drenched in blue lights, clutching a microphone. In another, she was playing guitar, dressed in a poufy rainbow colored skirt and sparkly Mary Jane heels.

“That’s her!” Talvi exclaimed. “How did you do that?”

“Sweetheart, I just Googled her,” Merriweather explained, typing more, opening other windows in her browser.

“Do you know where she is then?” Talvi asked, peering over her shoulder, but Merriweather minimized the browser so that all he saw was her desktop background. She swiveled her chair around to face him, crossed her legs, crossed her arms, and looked Talvi square in the eye.

“I can’t get a phone number for her, but I can get you to her front door in about twenty-four hours…
If
you agree to my terms.”

“Of course I’ll agree,” he said without hesitation. “What are the terms?”

“As of this moment, you are no longer on hiatus.”