“Sure,” I said.
Cris released my hand and took a step to stop directly in front of Tess. The two women stared at each other for a couple of moments and I thought of Cris’s knack for reading people’s eyes. Was she reading Tess? Then Cris surprised me as she leaned forward and lightly kissed Tess on the lips. It was a brief kiss and Cris stepped back immediately after. Tess watched her without moving.
“Thanks for being there for Raphael,” Cris said.
“Ah, it was my pleasure,” Tess said.
Cris smiled broadly. “Yes, I bet it was at that.”
She turned and went to the large Frost King refrigerator with wood panels that matched the maple cabinets.
Tess looked at me, raised one eyebrow, and cocked her head.
I raised my hands palm upward and shrugged.
Breaking eye contact, Tess opened the indicated cupboard and took out three wine glasses.
In a couple of minutes, we were sitting in front of the fireplace. Cris and I were on the small love seat, our hips touching, while Tess sat in one of the wingback chairs on the opposite side of the coffee table. On the table sat the three bottles of wine, some roasted, red-pepper humus, a container of Kaukauna cheese, and bowls of crackers and pretzels.
Cris described the first wine while we sipped and munched. Her left hand rested on my thigh and every once in a while her fingers would gently squeeze my leg. I was thinking that if she kept toying with me I was going to have to take her off to bed and southern hospitality could just be damned.
“I suppose you had best tell me why you need my help,” Cris said after we switched to the viognier.
“Yes, I suppose we had better get to business before I forget my manners,” I said.
I took another sip of wine, took a deep breath, and said, “I’m in a bit of trouble.”
“Well, I guessed that,” Cris said.
“He does get into it a lot,” Tess added.
Shaking my head, I said, “I really don’t, well, not any more than any Wanderer. It comes with the territory.”
“Yeah? How many of them have been eaten by a dragon?” Cris asked.
I sighed in exasperation. “Okay, you may have me there, but I wasn’t eaten. I was just mouthed a lot.”
“I don’t believe there’s a significant distinction between the two,” Cris said.
The tone of her voice was light, but I could see the topic troubled her. I put my hand on her thigh and gently squeezed her muscles through the thin fabric of the sundress.
“I understand, Cris. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
She frowned. “I thought your fight with Rowle in Huntsville was as bad as it got, but after seeing the news coverage of Colorado Springs. You really do live a dangerous life. I can understand why you didn’t want me riding with you.”
“He was going to let you ride with him?” Tess interjected.
Shaking my head, I said firmly, “No, I wasn’t. She asked and I told her it was too dangerous.
“Back to the topic at hand, I have a serious problem and I’m not sure how to go about correcting it.”
“Okay,” Cris said. “Tell me the problem and let’s see just how bad it is.”
I abbreviated the story to a quick five minutes while Cris grew more concerned with each minute.
Finally, I finished by telling her Verðandi had left to find a method to fix me, but with no promises of success.
“Well, damn, that is bad,” Cris said.
“Yeah, pretty bad. I wouldn’t have troubled you if I weren’t desperate.”
“Yes, I understand. Well, this isn’t exactly how I thought you’d ride back into my life, but I’ll take what I can get. Let me contemplate your problem. Nothing immediately comes to mind in any of my studies, but give me a chance before you give up on me.”
“I’m not expecting you to be able to fix me, I just thought you might have come across something or someone who might could help,” I said.
“And none of the other Wanderers have been able to help?” Cris asked.
“She doesn’t know?” Tess asked.
“Know what?”
“Cris, Tess, and I are all of the Wanderers left. Rowle killed all of the others before the Huntsville showdown.”
Cris’s face paled. “You’re kidding; I thought there were like a dozen or so of you. How could he have killed all of them?”
“That’s the truth according to Verðandi and I have no reason to doubt her. I don’t know the exact mechanism, but apparently it was over a short time or one of us would have gotten wind of it.”
“And Verðandi didn’t warn you what was happening?”
“Verðandi isn’t big on giving us much information. I gather that there’s some kind of restriction on the Fates that keep them from telling us too much.”
“Well, this just keeps getting better,” Cris said. “And Alex? You said he’d been killed and reaped by Verðandi?”
“That’s right. Unfortunately, Rowle got to him first,” I added.
“But how can Rowle claim him? Rowle gave up being a Wanderer, didn’t he?”
“According to Verðandi, Alex should have gone to me to be my apprentice, but Rowle has him now. I don’t understand how Rowle was able to reach him; he shouldn’t have known he’d been reaped. Usually only the Wanderer assigned to an apprentice knows anything about him.”
“Well this certainly puts a damper on our reunion. I’m sorry about Alex. I was looking forward to having an apprentice of my own,” Cris said.
“Imagine how I feel. It was bad enough to learn my son was killed–”
“What? Wait a minute, Alex was your son?” Cris demanded.
“Ah, yeah, I guess I never got around to telling you that. The subject never
