Chapter Fourteen – With Rynn

  Back at Ruin Manor, Settie went out first, in her dragon form, to make sure the way was clear to the Weeping Well. The sky was filled with clouds, but it wasn’t raining. It was chilly, though.

  Despite the cold, Gray went to his spot out in the back courtyard and sat next to a little fire that gave him some warmth. Inside, the girls were chattering about their visit to the Weeping Well. Gray needed a minute alone to collect his thoughts.

  He was about to go inside when Rynn beat him to the punch.

  “Mr. No, I’d like a moment with you.”

  Gray knew what was coming. “Yes, Mrs. Yes. I suppose I should call you Mrs. since you’re bonded and no longer a blushing maiden.”

  Rynn’s smile was weary. “Not a blushing maiden. I do believe you have corrupted me. Aunt Florence warned me—she said boys were dogs, and if I wasn’t careful, I’d wind up with fleas. I do believe that is what happened.”

  Gray was intrigued. “How so? And I don’t have fleas or lice. Believe me, I take precautions.”

  That made Rynn laugh for real. “I trust you on that. In fact, Mr. No, I trust you on all things. This is a fine place to start.”

  “Tell me what’s on your mind, Mrs. Yes.”

  She sat next to him and grabbed his hand. “It was a bit shocking last night. I felt Sindara’s sadness, I felt her lust, and I felt her confusion. She was desperate. It wasn’t this logical thought…it was this feeling. Maybe I would’ve insisted that we help her, but I wasn’t there was I? Then, your time with Widow. I was caught between jealousy and lust. Such feelings! I couldn’t stop the fantasies. So by the time you came home, I was more than ready for you.”

  Gray wasn’t sure what he should say, so he kept quiet.

  “I trust you. But you were tempted, weren’t you?” she asked. “I would’ve been.”

  “Really?” he asked.

  Rynn nodded. “Yes, but let me be very clear. I don’t just want anyone, but there is something so alluring about the Widow Stone. When I’ve been in that room, when I felt her power, there is something magical about her. Unlike you, I’ve spent my life only finding pleasure in my fantasies. You got to experience the real thing. I think that with your core, there is the possibility of multiple bonds, but…”

  Her voice died.

  He knew why. “But it’s not worth the risk of damaging our cores. But you’re not wrong. The Widow is special.”

  Rynn laughed lightly. “Emilia, you mean. Yes, she’s special, but it’s because of her grief. Her core is damaged, but she has made the best of it. Sad to say, it might be because she lost her bonded that she is so powerful. It’s such a sad world, Gray. I can’t…I can’t believe Sindara is dead.”

  Gray wanted to comfort her, wanted to promise that there would be no more tragedy for the two of them, but he couldn’t.

  He could only return to wisdom he’d tried to share with Ames on that very spot. “We only have the moment we’re in, Mrs. Yes. Just this moment. for right now, there is no tragedy. Sindara is gone, you and I are here and in love, and soon, we’ll be taking a little trip to the gateway to hell. It’s a very full life.” He paused. “If you know all of that, then you know what Emilia needs to help me.”

  Rynn knocked him with an elbow. “I think you mean the Widow Stone. Let’s not get too chummy with her. I’m not ready to kiss anyone else but you, Mr. No, if that is indeed in our future.” She took his hand and kissed it. “I want you to know, I chose lust and not jealousy because I know my worth. I know that you love me. You would be foolish not to because not only am I wealthy, I’m rich, and I’m a very good fighter. On to top of all that, I’m sexy as the hell we are about to visit.”

  He saw the mana fill her.

  “I would be a fool not to want you,” he said. “Because of your humility.”

  She didn’t flinch, even though they were talking about resonances. “Yes, because of my humility resonance. When I’m in my best self, I can see the true nature of things, and I’m very clear about my strengths as well as my weaknesses. It’s not an easy resonance to have, but I’ve learned a lot about life by working on seeing things clearly. There is the possibility that you can have bond with multiple people. If that happens, it won’t be easy, but I think we’ll be able to figure things out.”

  He had to grin. “My life is complicated enough without adding another woman to it. Let’s talk about how I can become a true manamancer.”

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  She kissed his hand again. “Yes. Let’s talk about that. What does the Widow Stone need to help you?”

  “She needs demon mana, and I have to be the one to get it. It would mean poaching, which would be punishable by death. I don’t even think Settie would protect me. She’d cut our squad loose and maybe try again next year. Or she might kill us like she’s killed her other squads.”

  Rynn sighed. “That’s a lie. Everyone hates her, and so they gossip about her. It’s so tiresome. But I don’t want to talk about that.”

  They fell quiet for a second.

  Unlike with the magistrate, Gray didn’t want silence between him and his bonded. “There might be another way, but so far, nothing that Settie has tried has worked. I think this will work. We’re using ancient magic, and Emilia…the Widow Stone, is an expert in mana enhancement. She said I needed to be the one to collect the mana, and I had the perfect item to store it in. My stick. It’s already filled with my mana. She would take that demonic mana and enchant the brands with it—her and Softie have dwarven smiths who are ready to forge the trayah jalana when we have the design. The needles work, but only up to a point. We can’t tell Settie. She would stop us, or she would tell us to wait until after Soulshred Week, and besides, she needs plausible deniability.”

  Another sigh. “Mr. No, you are very good at completely complicating my life. Not only do you have this new lust resonance that has women flocking to you, but you also want me to jeopardize my future by breaking the rules. No, it’s becoming a criminal.”

  “You wouldn’t have to do it,” Gray said quickly. “I could go on my own. Or Ames would help, I know it.”

  Rynn squinted at him. “You want to go off into the Old Town with a woman who is in love with you? Even my trust has limits.”

  “Ames hasn’t been as odd or clingy. I think she’s accepted the reality that she and I are not meant to be. But you’re right. I could go alone.”

  “No, you should take Yellow with you.” Rynn sighed still again. “No, our fates are bound. I’d go with you. It would hell, even worse than the hell at the bottom of the Weeping Well, to know you’re out in Old Town risking your life while I was home alone. No. I’d rather go with you and die with you.”

  “We won’t die,” he said firmly. “You have your new ability. When were you going to tell me you got your second mark? We should celebrate you becoming a full acolyte.”

  Rynn undid her uniform and showed him the full mana mark above her heart—two swirls spinning together. There was more red skin on the other side, closer to her underarm. “I don’t have the full mana mark yet, but the itch has become a burn. This morning was…unexpected. I didn’t want to vent my core because I didn’t want to hurt you or our squadmates, and so, I tried to limit the force. I was successful. It was more out of desperation than anything, but I’ll continue to improve. You can bet, when I’m an acolyte, we’ll celebrate. Oh yes, we’ll celebrate.”

  She leaned against him, sighing still another time. “This is why I waited to bond. I wouldn’t want to go through these trials with anyone else. Let’s not do any poaching until we have to. Let’s give Settie some more time. Then? Yes, we’ll go. If we can poach undetected, if you can perfect channeling mana into your meridians, then, we’ll win for sure. With five of us, we need all the help we can get.”

  “I saw where the plans are for Soulshred Week. We just need a way to—”

  Ames came out and pulled up the old chair. so she was close to the fire. She then turned to them. “This is difficult for me to say, but you both should know. I get…I see things. It’s divination magic. We won’t die today. I won’t die, not today, but then, there will be fire. You’ve seen me burst into flames, Gray. You know.”

  “It was a dream, Ames.”

  Rynn was quiet, but she was listening intently.

  Ames continued. “I want to choose my words carefully. I wasn’t eavesdropping, but I know Gray needs demon mana. Settie has ideas on how the Fae might help us, but I’ll never trust the Fae. She is the ice that burns, but different from my burning…or maybe it’s the same. I’m not going to talk about that, though. I want…I want to be normal for you both.”

  Gray had to laugh. “We’re ready for you to be normal.”

  “Okay.” Ames smiled, blowing a bit of white hair out of her face. “If you do go poaching, I want to be there. I want to help. Not so I can be close to Gray. I know that you two are bonded, and I respect that. I respect both of you so very much. All I ask is that you two be happy with one another because what you have is special. But sometimes, when we experience our own life, we don’t see it as special. We see it as ordinary. Well, some live ordinary lives. I was jealous of that. I was…but we’re not talking about me.”

  Ames took a deep breath.

  Gray had never seen her more lucid. Normally, Ames seemed to drift through the day, unanchored. Bur right then, she was grounded, with them, trying to make sure they understood most of what she was saying.

  Still, he had to make a joke. “Are you sure you weren’t eavesdropping?”

  “I wasn’t, I promise,” Ames said. “But one more thing. We shouldn’t hunt demons anywhere near Ruin Manor. We don’t want Captain Sevanya to get in trouble if we’re caught. We should do it across town. I think we’ll know what to do and where to do it at the same time. Oh, and one more thing, about the trayah jalana. I found Quelling lore on the brands. We would need a book, and I don’t think it’s in the First Field archive, but I can work on that as well.”

  “I’m against this,” Rynn said finally. “Let’s see what Settie could do. The fae are also very sophisticated with core work. They have to be, with the nature of their oaths. But when the time comes, Amaranthis, we won’t go hunting without you.”

  Ames eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t cry. “Thank you, Rynnanatha.” She said something in elvish, and Rynn nodded.

  Rynn then responded.

  Gray didn’t’ speak the language, so he listened, and he watched as the two elves—one from the north, the other south, came to some kind of agreement.

  Rynn sighed. “Indeed, Grayson Fade, you do complicate things. And I’m going to send money to Sindara’s father. It’s the least we can do. Do you ever think we’ll know who murdered her and Thormud?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said.

  Ames, though, disagreed. “It won’t matter until it does, Gray. It won’t matter until it does, and then, I think everything that led to the murders will change things forever. Change things in Pit City, in all the seven cities in the Belly of the World and the whole world itself.”