Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [106]
The feline bolted down the path before her sentence was out.
‘Grayson?’
‘Yes, thanks.’
‘That wasn’t me,’ he mumbled. ‘No one’s listening to me.’ An’ Lawrence rose, gripping the back of his chair.
‘Rowan, are you going to stand there in a daze or are you going to help?’ she asked without looking his way. Her head was bent over a list of logarithms, scratching calculations in her notebook. ‘This would be faster on the computer—but by the time we got to the library and fired up the generator, I’d be done.’ She looked at the table still cluttered with supplies. ‘How’s the packing going, Rowan?’
An’ Lawrence pushed back his chair, its legs scraping over the tiles. He strapped on his sword and tucked a short knife into one of the packs. Kreshkali put down her notebook and came up behind him, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. ‘Are you breathing?’ she asked.
He exhaled. ‘A bit. Kali, tell me, what are you planning?’
‘A rescue,’ she said, looking past him to the door. Teg wasn’t far off.
‘Scylla says Rosette’s dead,’ An’ Lawrence repeated.
‘I heard what your familiar said.’ She cut him off. ‘That’s why we have to move. You are swamped with negative thoughts!’
‘Kali.’ He turned around and clasped both of her hands, running his thumb over her long tattooed fingers. ‘Denial is a natural first response.’
‘And despair is yours?’ She pulled her hands out of his grip and grabbed her notes. As she slipped on her pack, there was a knock at the door. ‘It’s Teg. Let’s go,’ she said.
‘He’s coming?’ An’ Lawrence scowled, staring at her as if she’d invited a Corsanon warlord to accompany them.
‘Behave. I need a team, not a battlefield.’
‘I get that, but why do you need him? He’s only…’
‘My apprentice! And if you’d open your eyes, you’d see how brilliant he is.’
‘My eyes are open wide enough, thanks.’
She turned away. ‘Enter, Teg,’ she said. ‘We’re almost ready.’ She grabbed her winter cloak from the rack and let the young Lupin in. He was packed, armed and alert. He caught her eye and acknowledged An’ Lawrence.
Where are we going, my queen?
On a hunt.
Rosette?
Indeed. She handed him both charts and spoke aloud as they left her rooms. ‘We need to find Drayco, and we’ve got to send a call to Jarrod as well. Where’s Grayson?’ She spiked her hair off her forehead and flipped up her cowl.
‘Kali, what if Scylla’s right. What if Rosette’s dead?’ An’ Lawrence asked.
Dead? Teg asked.
‘She’s not. And if she is, she won’t be for long.’ She strode down the hall, boots clicking on the floor. Teg, do you remember the north portal?
Of course, Mistress.
Get Grayson from the stables and meet us there. We’ll be along shortly.
Horses?
Not where we’re going.
They trotted down the entrance steps and the Lupin darted off without a sound.
‘We can’t let any other world get hold of her DNA, Rowan.’ She leaned towards his ear. ‘Alive or dead, her body has the key-codes. It has the spell.’
‘If we don’t find her, we’re lost anyway, Kali.’ His voice sounded empty. ‘She’s childless. The Richter line is finished.’
Kreshkali clapped her hands together, jolting him with the sound. ‘Nothing’s finished,’ she said. ‘Not if I can help it.’
The woman emerged from a tangle of blackberry vines, a sudden gust blowing strands of amber hair across her face. She walked unhurriedly, a graceful gait. The temple cat beside her was equally composed, his black coat rust-red in the sunlight. They stopped a few feet in front of Jarrod. She released a smile that made his breath catch. Selene and Shane drew their swords.
‘Disarming,’ Jarrod said, though the words barely escaped his lips. He waved the others back without taking his eyes off her. The breeze lifted the delicate material around her neck, a gentle sea rolling against the shoreline. Another gust pushed the mantle further aside, revealing a striking tattoo. He heard Selene gasp, though he made no sound himself. The image was Ishtar’s sacred lion, done in mosaic tiles