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mind.
“Where’d you swim, the ice bucket?” Dane grumped, shifting to get his arm around Lindsay. He
wasn’t at all shy about their relationship, whatever it was, even now. Maybe being huge and terrifying
made it easier.
“Fuck you,” Lindsay muttered, but a thread of pleasure wound through his tone. “I’m always cold.”
“Brat.” Dane groped Lindsay’s ass in what had to be an affectionate gesture, especially given where
his fingers were slipping. “Thought you liked it the other way around.”
Anah Crow and Dia
“Keep that up,” Lindsay murmured, “and we’ll both find out how much I like it in public.” He was
already getting hard.
Dane laughed, but shifted his hand to cup the curve of Lindsay’s ass and moved his whole body so he
could duck his head and nuzzle Lindsay’s nose with his own. “Would I do that to you?” The wind picked
up and pulled Dane’s hair around, tickling Lindsay’s cheek with it.
Lindsay arched one eyebrow, a smile tugging at his lips. “Maybe.”
“Only if you wanted it,” Dane pointed out, his voice uncharacteristically tender. The wind grabbed at
Dane’s hair again, even though the canvas sides of the cabanas around the pool hung still. Dane tensed and
raised his head, listening.
Lindsay couldn’t see anything different than when he’d walked up to Dane’s chair a few moments
before. “What is it?” he asked softly.
“Just listen.” Dane lay back again, but the tension didn’t leave his body. “Cyrus…” The wind curled
around them and a voice came with it.
“Moore is awake,” the wind said. “She has sent her people to find you where the dog was last seen. It
was the girl who held the dog’s leash for Moore while she slept. The girl sent the dog into the forest. The girl has not been seen. No one knows what has become of her.” The voice was definitely Cyrus, but hollow
and thin with distance, spilling into their ears alone. “This dalliance can wait until Ezqel has what he sent you for and the boy is healed. No more wasting time.”
Dane made a discontented noise.
“Go quickly. Vivian and I can do nothing if Moore’s people catch up to you there.” The wind sighed
against Dane’s cheek, in his hair, and there were no words left in it, just a caress. Then the air was still again.
Lindsay had thought Moore was dead. He’d killed them all. He remembered that, from the mirror. So
many bodies. Maybe she had been. Lindsay couldn’t count on death to be the end of anyone, anymore.
“Who is the girl? Cyrus mentioned her before.”
“They call her ‘the girl’ because she was so young when she started. Younger than you. Her name is
Lourdes. I knew her once. She’s a mind mage, and a good one. Too bad for everyone that she ended up
where she did.” Dane sat up, bringing Lindsay up with him. “The sooner we get this sorted, the sooner
Cyrus and Vivian are out of danger.”
“I’ll go pack,” Lindsay murmured, picking up his towel. He played with it between his hands, feeling
sick with fear. Would Jonas be back? Was Lourdes going to find him?
“It won’t take long to get there.” Dane’s hands were warm on Lindsay’s shoulders and arms.
“Breathe. We’re leaving. This is all we can do right now.”
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Tatterdemalion
The flight from Mexico to Zurich was tense. Whenever he could, Lindsay found himself pushing up
the armrest between their seats and sliding over to tuck himself against Dane.
Of course, the fear only got worse once they landed. The airport was crowded. Was Lourdes one of
the nameless strangers surrounding them? He made himself stop clinging to Dane’s hand, but he stayed
close, fingers clenched tight around the shoulder straps of his backpack.
He’d never imagined wanting to rush back to Ezqel’s cottage. What he’d gone through last time
should have been enough to keep him away now, but the promise of being fixed and the threat of people
like Jonas and Lourdes coming after him were enough to drown out any fear of repeating Ezqel’s tests.
This time, they approached the forest from the village that had been at the end of the path they’d taken
on their way out before. As they left the village behind in the falling dusk and trudged through the muck
and a thin sheet of snow, a slim shadow broke away from the trees and came hurrying toward them. When
the wind tugged the figure’s hood back, it was easy to see that it was Taniel, robe clenched in his hands to keep it out of the muck.
“There you are. I feared you would not get this far. Izia is watching the other path for you. Quickly,
come.” He looked wild-eyed, like a frightened rabbit.
Dane grabbed Lindsay’s hand and drew him along faster. “Have they come this far?”
“There are many hunters in the forest.” Taniel beckoned them to follow. “Hunters coming into
Ezqel’s forest, but hunting nothing living there.”
“I’m sorry,” Dane said flatly. His expression was closed, but his eyes were hot with anger.
“Are they hunting Jonas?” Lindsay asked quietly. “Or are they hunting me?”
“Does it matter?” Taniel gave Lindsay an apologetic smile. “Either outcome is to your disadvantage,
and the events alone anger Ezqel. Trespassers in his forest are like ants on his skin, night and day.” Turning back to watch his step, Taniel murmured a spell that could be felt on the air.
Lindsay frowned. He hadn’t realized the forest was so closely co
that he should have. The paths, the rules, everything pointed to the forest being more to Ezqel than a simple patch of trees. “I’m sorry,” he said, echoing Dane.
“You are not responsible for the evil of others,” Taniel said simply. “It is good to see you again,
regardless.”
“And you,” Lindsay said, surprised to realize he meant it. “Thank you.”
Ezqel’s house was warm and dim when Taniel ushered them in the side garden door. The smell of
something cooking—a rich stew, perhaps, and maybe bread—was on the air. “He will want to see you
first,” Taniel said. “And the item you have brought him. Later, I would like to hear of how you obtained it.”
His eyes were bright at the prospect of adding to his prodigious store of knowledge.
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Lindsay frowned. “May as well share the tale of my stupidity,” he muttered. He was terribly nervous
about seeing Ezqel again, and about how the hunters might have affected Ezqel’s mood. The old mage
hadn’t been particularly personable before, and Lindsay wasn’t looking forward to finding out what he was
like in a bad mood.
Dane slid his pack from his shoulder and opened it up. He had to crouch and dig through, but he
found the box and offered it to Lindsay. “Here. You should take it to him. It is your healing, after all.”
Lindsay swallowed. “I don’t suppose he could do it from a distance?” he asked hopefully, taking the
box and holding it carefully. He traced the lines of the ornate knife set into the lid with his thumb.
Dane reached out and put a hand on Lindsay’s leg. “It won’t be the same if I come with you. Some
things, you have to do alone.”
“I know.” Lindsay tore his gaze away from the box and looked at Dane instead. “Thank you.”
“You already survived the worst.” Dane gave him a smile. “You’re here. Go on. I won’t be far, but
you won’t need me.”
Lindsay mustered up a smile for Dane. He glanced at Taniel one more time, then turned and headed
for the room where he’d seen Ezqel last.
Ezqel was at his desk, and looked up as Lindsay came in. “You have it. This is good.” He held out his