Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [176]
‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I will.’
Porsche let her finger play across her lips and left.
‘It’s not too hard to work out what she’s offering,’ Selene said.
‘What’s that?’
‘She was all but drooling over you.’
‘Are you sure it wasn’t for you?’ he asked, continuing to massage her feet.
Selene froze for a moment before chuckling. ‘Both of us?’ She covered her mouth. ‘There’s a thought.’
Shane leaned forward, letting her feet slide from his lap. He took her hand away from her mouth and pulled her near, kissing her before she could protest. Her eyes went wide at first, and then she responded, kissing him back.
‘Shall we get in the tub while the water’s hot?’ he asked. He stood and offered her his hand. This time it was Selene who wrapped him in an embrace, sending fire up his spine. ‘I could use a good wash,’ she whispered. ‘It’s been a while.’
Jarrod stared into the Caller’s eyes. They were like emeralds in the afternoon light, striking against the violet pillows propped about her. The look she gave him was intense, almost too much, and he let his focus wander, past the double doors behind her. They were thrown open to a lush courtyard filled with climbing vines and flowering shrubs. Noisy miner birds dotted the branches, piping an urgent phew phew phew almost to distraction. Two ginger tabby cats sat near a central pond, the source of the birds’ distress, though the felines were hardly on the prowl. The cats seemed more interested in the splash of water from the fountain than the zealous birds that were clinging to the overhead vines, hanging upside down, tilting their heads this way and that while shrieking impetuous warnings.
He sighed and returned his attention to the Caller. ‘You still haven’t answered me,’ he said, watching her pupils dilate.
They had been conversing for the better part of an hour and he still wasn’t convinced she was telling the truth. There was something peculiar about her thought process and her mind shield. Strange, yet familiar.
‘That’s because I don’t think much of your question, Jarrod. Who cares why Rosette couldn’t get through the portal to Tensar? It’s done, over. Let’s move on.’
‘Not quite done and over, actually. There’s significance there. I certainly don’t want her to return here if she’s still at risk.’
‘Why would she need to return? You’ve convinced me the problem’s solved.’
He leaned back, allowing one of the ginger cats to jump into his lap. He scratched under its chin. Orange cat hairs floated to the ground like autumn leaves. ‘That’s what it seems like to you,’ he said when the cat leapt down. ‘But are you taking into account the many-worlds, or your choices in them?’
She clicked her tongue. ‘I’m having plenty enough to do with one world, one set of choices.’
‘That’s a single card. I’m looking at the entire deck.’
‘Are you certain?’
Jarrod rubbed his forehead. He wasn’t getting anywhere with the woman and he needed the information now, before he saw Rosette, before she made another choice. He decided to try a new tactic. ‘If you have anything to add, I’d be grateful.’
She shrugged. ‘I can’t add anything until you tell me where my two are. Selene and the bard? Seen them lately? She’s my first marshal, you know.’ The Caller punched a pillow a few times and leaned back into it. ‘I let you two go gallivanting through the portals on the proviso that you brought her back. Remember?’
‘They’ll both be on their way here soon.’ He blinked. ‘Any moment, really.’
‘And did her little plan work?’
‘I think it was his plan all along, Caller.’
She shook her head, then leaned over to top up his teacup from a blue ceramic pot. The room filled with the scent of rosehip and mint. ‘You’re grumpy today, aren’t you?’ she said.
‘You’d be perturbed in my shoes, I promise.’
She took a sip from her cup, a smile appearing