Oh, no! What had I done? What if only his Beloved was supposed to be able to communicate with him mentally? My mind scurried around trying to remember what I had read from Christian's books about mental communication between a Beloved and her Dark One. What if only a Beloved was supposed to be able to communicate mentally with him? I thought I remembered reading he could talk to others that way, but what if I was wrong? My hash was really fried if that was so. I resisted the temptation to see if he was looking at me in the mirror, deciding that as of that moment, all mental communication with Christian was verboten.
'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you just then. I wanted you to know how bad I feel about how things have turned out. I know you don't believe me yet, but I'm going to prove to you somehow that I'm not the one who can save you. Better than that, I promise to help you find her. I don't want you to suffer anymore, Christian, I truly don't.'
His eyes glittered blackly in the mirror. 'It is, perhaps, a subject we can discuss more fully at another time.'
I shook my head. 'No, it isn't. You don't have to worry about Roxy, she won't repeat anything. I told her what happened in your dungeon. She understands.'
He glanced at Roxy. She just smiled at him.
'Not that I have a lot left to say. I think I've pretty much said it all.'
'I, however, have not said all,' he replied mildly, and turned his eyes back to the road.
Glaring at his head helped a bit; so did a stringent round of mentally calling him every variation of the terms
'Are we going to brave the crowds?' Roxy asked as we stood in the parking area of the hotel, looking at the meadow below.
'Do you have to ask?' I turned to smile at Christian. 'You're welcome to join us if you've got nothing else to do. That is, if you don't mind being around a bunch of people. If we don't bother you, I mean. Having all the people… around… you…' My words trailed off under the knowing look he gave me, my cheeks heating up with embarrassment over what I couldn't put into words.
'She means if you've fed,' Roxy chirped. 'I don't suppose you'd let me watch—' He transferred his look to her. 'No. You're right. It's a bad idea.'
'If you will allow me, I believe I will join you later at the fair.'
'Sure thing,' I said brightly, trying not to acknowledge that he was off to prey on some unsuspecting victim. 'Later. We'll be there. Somewhere.'
'
I grabbed her by the arm and hustled her down the grassy hill toward the fair. 'For God's sake, Roxy, you don't tell a Dark One
'Why?' she asked, stumbling over a clod of dirt. 'I want him to have a good meal. What if he picked someone who was born in an off year? Or someone with a blood disease? You may not have any plans for him later, but I do, so I'd like him to be in a good mood. I want to hear all about the stuff he hasn't written yet, all the dirt on the Dark Ones. And he promised me it was my turn next with the thumbscrews in the dungeon room.'
I looked back over my shoulder as we reached the bottom of the hill. Christian was silhouetted against the glow from the hotel, the wind setting his long coat flapping around his legs as he stood frozen, watching us.
'Raphael can't be done soon enough for me. I sure hope nothing goes wrong at the fair tonight,' I muttered under my breath.
Roxy heard me. 'What could go wrong tonight? You're not reading any rune stones tonight, so the world ought to be safe from any of the disasters, catastrophes, and general acts of God that follow when you do.'
There are times when Roxy isn't particularly prescient.
I found Raphael by one of the two tents that served prepackaged food and hot beverages. Although the fair was not licensed to serve alcohol, many customers brought their own in. With the crowds gathering for the big festival a few days away, Raphael was particularly hard-pressed to weed out those who had overindulged and were making a nuisance of themselves. He was escorting two women and a tall, skinny young man off the fairgrounds, telling them they could come back later after they'd sobered up.
'From the way they're staggering—not to mention the bits of song interspersed in their condemnation of your actions—I'm betting they sleep it off rather than return later.'
'That's the general idea.' Raphael smiled as he turned to face me. There were lines of stress alongside his mouth, and his beautiful eyes looked troubled and distracted. I squelched my plans to tease him into a frenzy of lustful thoughts, and tried instead to smooth away the frown that creased his forehead.
'Not going well tonight?'
'No worse than what we expected.' He caught my hand and pressed a warm kiss to my palm. 'How did your evening with Dante go?'
I swallowed back the horrible memory of Christian's torment. 'OK. I'll tell you about it later.' Much later. Say, five or six years later.
A burst of static and unintelligible garble came from the radio clipped to his belt. He seemed to understand it, however, because he barked a command into the radio, and grabbed me as he started back toward the fair proper.
'Here. You take this.' He pulled his trailer key out of his pocket and shoved it in my hand. 'I'll be there as soon after closing as I can. Rico needs help with a fight near the main tent. Stay away from that area until we can clear it out.'
'No problem. Don't worry about me. I'll go find Arielle and see how she's doing.'
He started off at a trot toward the big tent, then changed his mind and pulled me into a quick, hard kiss. 'Have I told you how wonderful you are today?' he growled into my mouth.
'No, but I'm willing to entertain your apologies later for so gross a negligence.' I nipped his chin and felt a glow of happiness inside me at the heated look he sent before turning back toward the main tent.
'Be careful,' I couldn't help but calling out.
He raised his hand in acknowledgment, and muscled his way through the thickening crowds.
Arielle was near the end of her rope.
'Joy!' she shouted as I wandered by her tent, pleased to see the huge line of people waiting to have their palms read. She stood up, excused herself to the startled client, and dashed after me, clutching my hands in hers when she reached me. 'Oh, Joy, I am so happy to see you. I have sent Roxy to find you—please, you must help me. I am in a situation most desperate.'
I smiled and gave her hands a little shake. 'Of course I'll help you. What do you need?'
She started dragging me back toward her booth where the line of people—steadily growing with the increasing crowd—were beginning to look a bit disgruntled. 'Tanya will not read. She came back earlier and refused Dominic's order to read the tarot cards.'
I guessed where this was going. 'I'm glad she's back safe and sound, although I'm sorry to hear she won't read, but I'm afraid I can't help you. I don't know the first thing about tarot cards—'
'No, no,' she said, shaking her head vehemently as she continued dragging me past the line of people waiting. 'It is all arranged. I shall read the tarot, and Renee—she is Bastian's wife, you know her? She is very much with child—she will read the palms, but you must read the runes, for Renee is a
'But, but—'
'It is all arranged,' Arielle repeated, shoving me into her chair. 'I will go now to Tanya's booth and read the tarot. Renee is using the tea tent for the palm readings. You give a three-stone reading for 150 koruna or five euros. You may keep the tips, of course. Here are your stones—Roxy brought them from your room. Is that all you need? Yes? Excellent.' Arielle clapped her hands and shouted out over the din that a great reader of runes had come halfway across the world to read for them. No one looked particularly impressed by either that news or my appearance in faded jeans and a Bavarian sweater, but no one cried foul either, so I picked up my bag of stones and gave the woman in the chair opposite me a smile.
'You must think of a question you'd like some insight on,' I told her in German, praying everyone in line
