“You'll be offended, and it's nothing against you personally,” he warned me.
“I think I can take it,” I said. “What has Naye said about me now?”
“It's not Naye.”
I froze. If it wasn't Toby's twin who was badmouthing me, then there had to be a problem with his parents.
“Are you parents okay?” I asked in immediate concern. “It's not your father, is it? Is he having post-Void issues or something?”
“No; it's not my father,” Toby said. “Why would his having Void issues offend you?”
“Right; you said I'd be offended,” I whispered.
But I couldn't process any kind of scenario involving Mr. T and Mrs. E that would offend me.
“You're sure it's not Naye?” I tried again.
“My parents don't want us together,” Toby said in a rush.
“What?” I nearly screeched. “Why not?”
“This is why I didn't want to tell you,” he said. “You're offended.”
“Of course, I'm offended,” I huffed. “How could I not be? And how is this not personal?”
“Vervain, think about it as a mother,” he said gently. “Would you want Rian or Brevyn to be with a woman who they had to share with six other men?”
“If she made them happy, I would,” I said. “Either way, it would be their decision.”
“Well, maybe that's because you have the perspective of the woman,” Toby said. “Parents want the best for their children, and mine want me to have someone who can focus on me alone.”
“I wanted that for you too,” I whispered.
“I know,” Toby said as the heat of his body moved closer.
I reached out and found his arm. Toby lifted his other hand to take mine.
“We tried to be apart, and fate brought us back together,” he said. “I refuse to fight it anymore. My heart can't take losing you again.”
“Right back atcha,” I said. “But I suppose I can see their point.”
“I can as well,” he said. “Especially after all we went through to separate ourselves. But I've explained it to them over and over, and they refuse to see things from my perspective. It's turned into an argument.”
“I don't want to be a wedge between you and your parents,” I said softly. “I love all of you.”
“And they love you too, Vervain,” he assured me. “As I said; this isn't personal. They know you can't change your situation, and they don't expect you to. They've got it into their heads that we made a choice to reunite, and so we could simply decide to separate again.”
“Technically that's true,” I said. “But the reality of it is much more complicated.”
“Exactly,” Toby said. “Once we held each other again—once our love returned in full measure—it became nearly impossible for us to push each other away.”
I leaned against his chest, and Toby's hand slid up my arm, over my shoulder, and beneath my chin. He lifted my face to his and set his lips gently over mine. The scent of his water magic rose around us; clearing away the stench in the room until it felt as if we were in his cave again, just past the waterfall, laying on the bank of a freshwater stream as we kissed languidly. My hands slid up into his thick, long hair, and he pulled me closer. The passion sparked between us as it always did, but Toby tempered my fire with his water and brought us back to a slow simmer. I dove into that kiss with him and let it float me down the river steadily until I felt my Moon rise inside me and grab hold of Toby's water. He inhaled sharply—breathing me in—and then yanked my body against his. I felt his manhood respond to my nearness, and I was about to slip my hand into his pants when Toby pushed me away.
“Vervain,” his voice was low and throaty, “we can't do this here.”
“Damn; you're right,” I said as I settled the Moon back in place within my nine-pointed star. “I'm sorry.”
We split apart completely and returned to our search.
“Don't apologize.” He chuckled—that possessive male sound that spoke volumes; every one of them about sex. “I was enjoying it as much as you. But this is hardly the place for romance.”
“It's not as if we haven't had sex in inopportune conditions before,” I pointed out teasingly.
“That's very true, but—” Toby paused. Then he called out, “Vervain!”
I turned to see a crucifix floating over the bed.
“Look at this,” Toby shook the crucifix. “Do you think it belonged to a priest?”
“Could be,” I went toward the item. “Or maybe it was Felisa's. Let me have a look.”
I grabbed the floating crucifix and, instantly, one scent differentiated itself from the others. I took a deeper sniff and the scent became color; my dragon taking over to track whoever held the crucifix last.
“I have their trail,” I said. “If it belongs to a household member, it should lead us to them, and if it doesn't, it should lead us to the murderer.”
Toby took my hand, and we hurried out of the bedroom together.
Chapter Five
Usually, when I track someone, it's a god. Gods travel by Aether mostly which means that at some point, they trace away and I end up having to ask Torrent to open a vein of Internet so we could follow the trail. But this time, I didn't need Torrent.
I did, however, need a car. Luckily, that wasn't a problem. Since I was our tracker, I had the car keys for the minivan we'd rented. If anyone else had found a clue, they still would have needed to find me to help them with it. I wasn't leaving them in the lurch either; the rest of them could trace back to Eztli's villa when they were done. We didn't bother trying to
