Echoes in the Dark (23 page)

She
heard the Songs of people who cared for her enveloping her.

Raine
ended on a high note, a little sad that their melody was done.

Both
Corbeau and Faucon squeezed her hands. “Look,” they said at the same moment.

She
glanced down and was only a little surprised to see a small, perfect sloop.
She’d missed the raising!

“Don’t
worry.” Faucon’s smile was almost sad. “You’ll get plenty of practice. Your
warship isn’t as simple as this sloop.”

Alexa
squealed and Raine and the men dropped their hands. The Swordmarshall swooped
in and got her ship. She grinned. “It’s mine.”

Bastien,
her husband, who was leaning against a tree, smiled brilliantly at Faucon.
“We’ll be wanting a room with a large tub so my lady can play with her
new
toy.”

Much
snickering at Alexa’s surprised expression.

Faucon
bowed with a flourish. “I’ll make sure of it.”

There
was a flurry of wings and a volaran landed delicately among them. Atop the
winged horse was Koz. He lifted a large padded velvet bag. “I’m here and I have
Raine’s mirrors.”

Faucon
stepped farther away from Raine as Koz dismounted. “Dinner, first,” he said.

Too
late for Raine to prefer Koz. During the night before and the time with him
today, she was falling for Faucon.

A
fter dinner they
all gathered in one of Faucon’s sitting rooms on the castle’s main floor. Or
all the humans did. The feycoocus were off on their own mysterious business.

Along
one wall of the room were French doors, looking out into a night spangled with
brilliant stars and moon. Just beyond those doors swished the everlasting tide.

The
room was comfortable with faded orange-and-red patterned rugs and well-worn
leather chairs in a butterscotch color.

As
always when working with his mirrors, Koz had settled on the rug and placed the
velvet bag beside him. Raine sat on the floor, too, but gave him plenty of
elbow room.

Koz
drew out the mirror, then unfolded it to gasps of amazement. First it was a
triptych, opening like a triple wallet, one side to the left and one to the
right, all backed with what Raine recognized as soulsucker skin. Then Koz
flipped up a mirror to the top and down the bottom until the whole array looked
like a cross.

“I’m
pleased to say these are the best magic mirrors ever made.” He gave a
deprecating cough. “Probably couldn’t have been done without my advances in the
field.”

“Better
the mirror magic field than the battlefield,” Marian said, patting her brother
on his shoulder.

Koz
switched his gaze from the others to meet Raine’s eyes. “I’ve calibrated them
to the mirrors now in your brothers’ and father’s homes.”

Huge
feeling rose in her, so big she couldn’t speak. To be able to see her family!
Even if she couldn’t communicate with them like Bri did, she’d know they were
safe and happy. A horrible noise came from her, a groan, then she was heaving
with sobs so deep she could barely breathe.

Bri
came to her left and wrapped her arm around her, and with Calli to her right
they held her as she wept. She cried as she hadn’t since she’d arrived on
Lladrana.

“You’re
safe, you’re valued, you’re safe now,” Calli murmured. Raine let her body
shake, all her emotions out.

To
their credit, the men hadn’t stampeded to the door, but all except Koz had
withdrawn to the far corner of the room—backs against the wall, protecting each
other? Raine snorted a chuckle and realized she’d been wrong when Faucon handed
her a large white linen handkerchief to blow her nose.

She
did and wiggled a bit to let the other women know that the crying was over.
From their supportive mind-tones, she knew that each one of them had suffered
through bouts of tears.

Separation
anxiety,
Marian sent, matter-of-factly.

Separation
from our own world,
Bri said,
and my parents and twin.
Her bondmate, Sevair, strode over to
pick her up in his strong stonemason’s arms and cradle her.

So
half of Raine’s vision was unblocked. Faucon, the handsome hunk, was crouched
before her. When she met his eyes, he said, “I have double-checked with the
ship’s captain who has your stalker in his crew. Being unused to hard work and
of a nature to boast, the man is not faring well.”

“Too
bad,” Alexa said. She’d risen from a couch and stood, chin out, hand on her
baton. She glanced at Raine. “Better than if he was here. No future for him in
Lladrana.”

“No,”
Koz said. He’d moved away down the rug and was fiddling with his mirrors, which
reminded Raine.

“Koz,
I ordered and paid for your hats—”

He
looked up at her with a grin. “Thanks, the feycoocus have already delivered
them.”

They
must have gotten the hats from the tailor. No one would deny the magical
beings.

She
coughed. As if that was a signal the rest of the men sauntered back to drape
themselves over or lean on various pieces of furniture near their ladies.
Looking at Koz, she said, “The mirrors were going to be delivered with
something that would make my guys keep them in their houses for three
generations?”

Koz
smiled and it was charming and her pulse might have fluttered once upon a time.
“Ayes.” He reached into a little belt pouch, withdrew his hand and opened his
fingers. She goggled at huge diamonds. They must have been four carats each.

Raine
blew her nose again, better than gaping at the jewels. “I can never repay you!”

“Raine,”
Koz said, “I have more riches here than I or any children I might have will
ever spend. Even in four generations, or maybe even in ten.”

Faucon
glanced at the diamonds, then at Raine. “These gems are costly in your world?”

“Ayes,”
Raine said, still staring at the beautiful facets shooting rainbows.

Faucon
shook his head. “They are common here, not worth much.”

“Huh?”
Raine stared at him.

Chuckling,
Koz said, “I can barely buy a bit of land with these. A mistake bringing them
from Earth. Your father and each brother got two. So what was a huge payoff to
your father and brothers is actually covered by the hats.” He lifted up a
finger. “One like Bastien designed, low crown, extra-wide brim, of soulsucker—”
he lifted another finger “—and a cowboy hat. Hand-made to fit.”

“Thanks,”
Raine said, gulping back more threatening tears. “About your time and effort—”

Koz
waved a negligent hand, eyed Faucon and scooted back over to give her a firm
kiss that left her lips throbbing.

She
stared at him, then leaned back, smiled.

He
winked. “A good kiss from a pretty girl is enough, ’specially since the project
itself was damn fascinating.” Leaning over, he snagged the mirror array and
velvet bag.

“Bossgond
and I had a good time exploring Best Haven. Nice town. Your map of the main
streets and the Pearsons’ building was perfect, of course. We addressed the
package to the senior Pearson and moved it to his office. Good idea signing
Judge Philbert’s name to that note, Alexa.”

Bri
chuckled. “He’s a U.S. District Court judge and has clout.”

Raine
nodded. “The Pearsons had been courting him, invitations to the country club,
the yacht club.” She shrugged. “You know.”

“Sure,”
Koz said. “Now, the mirrors.” He straightened the array. “The center is your
father’s mirror. The left is your oldest brother John’s.” Again the
self-deprecating smile. “I couldn’t figure out the birth order of the rest, but
the right is Simon’s, the top is Terry’s, and the bottom is Nathan’s.”

He
hesitated, then said diffidently, “This is the original set, but I made a
duplicate and left it at Bossgond’s Tower, where it should be safe enough.” Koz
grimaced. “In payment for that and helping you I did have to give him the
access word to your father’s mirror. I hope that’s all right.”

Raine
swallowed and bobbed her head. When she spoke her voice was crusty. “If that
was his price, that’s fine, and I’m glad there’s another set.” She touched a
corner of the mirror.

Koz
said, “When the mirrors are live we have video and audio. The procedure for
these mirrors is the same as Bri’s. There’s an access word to initiate the
spell to see through the mirror. One for each person—” he cleared his throat
“—or household. Your brothers John and Terry are married.”

“I
was at John’s wedding,” Raine said, making an effort to keep her voice steady.
“I was taking Granny Fran’s mirror to Terry as an engagement gift.”

She
must have sounded shaky. Faucon came and sat near her.

“Right,”
Koz said. “Anyway, I gave the mirrors access words that you’d remember, based
on what I saw when the mirrors were mounted. Here’s the list.” He tossed her a
small piece of paper. The phrases were written roughly, as if his Lladranan
hand formed English awkwardly.

The
first, for her father, was “Follow your heart,” and Raine sniffled. That was a
sampler her mother had cross-stitched when she was a bride. The piece of
embroidery had hung in the family living room for as long as Raine could
remember.

The
rest of the words made her smile. “Yo, ho, ho” for Simon’s pirate ship in a
bottle. “Bottle of rum” must mean Nathan had put in that bar in his living room
as planned. She swallowed. “Quiambog” and “Cos Cob” meant John and Terry still
had maps on their walls. Their wives sailed, too. “Thank you,” Raine whispered
thickly. Faucon reached over and took her hand. His fingers were warm and the
Song that spun between them was nearly painful in its intensity.

“Right,”
Koz said again. “If you want to try to communicate with someone, you tap the
mirror and say, ‘Testing, testing, testing.’” His grin came crooked. “If they
actually don’t jump outta their skin and reply or whatever, to end the session
you say, ‘Signing off.’”

“That
won’t happen.” She glanced at Bri. “Any way your folks could visit and
convince—” Raine held up a hand and answered her own question. “No. My guys
wouldn’t listen.”

She
looked at the mirrors, drew in a big breath, exhaled. Then she squeezed
Faucon’s hand and let it go to hunch over the array. Who to check first? Not
her father. She looked at Marian. “Time’s the same there, right?”

“Ayes,”
Marian said. She sat in a loveseat with Jaquar.

“Perhaps
we should leave.” Jaquar stood.

“No,
I don’t mind,” Raine said.

“It’s
not only you,” Alexa said, “it’s your father’s and your brothers’ privacy.” She
frowned. “Bad enough Bossgond is a Peeping Tom.”

The
image of a boney old man peering into a mirror, eyes wide with apersonal
curiosity, seemed to strike them all at once and there were a series of snorts
and chuckles.

“Please
stay,” Raine said.

“Okay.”
Jaquar used the English word. He drifted, casually, over to the mirrors so he
could see what was going on during this experiment. Fooling no one since they
could all hear his personal Song pick up beat. Marian drifted, too.

Alexa
strode over.

“Good
thing we’re not testing the two-way video. Having loads of people loom over you
could freak a guy out,” Koz said.

Touching
Nathan’s mirror—his mind was the most flexible—Raine muttered, “Bottle of rum”
under her breath.

The
mirror flicked on, showing a masculine room of cream-colored walls, a huge TV
screen on one wall, a green leather recliner and, straight ahead, a multitude
of bottles on the bar.

“Is
that liquor?” Faucon asked.

“It
certainly is,” Koz said genially.

Nathan’s
apartment wasn’t large and Raine knew he wasn’t home. She tapped it again with
another whispered “Bottle of rum” to close the video, then tried her other
brothers in turn. It hurt to see things from home, the map of Connecticut, the
silver vase she’d given John and his wife for a wedding gift. So she spent
little time at her brothers’.

Finally
she tapped her father’s mirror and whispered, “Follow your heart.”

The
mirror came on. Her entire family was sitting on the curving sofa facing the
fireplace. Holding drinks and diamonds.

17

R
aine’s father
swirled his rum and Coke and stared at two diamonds twinkling in his hands.
“Damndest thing,” he said in a way that meant he’d said it more than once. His
hair was all gray now and Raine grieved for the vanished brown that had been
the same color as hers, for the lines engraved deeper in his face. A tiredness
showed in his eyes that was carried throughout his body.

John
was holding his wife’s hand—they were solid, both of them individually and as a
unit. He glanced at a folded sheet of paper that looked stiffer than most and
Raine realized with a little shock that it was Lladranan-made. Her mouth dried.
Something here
had
made it there. Oh, the mirrors, too, but she couldn’t
actually
see
this mirror, only out of it. She knew it was rectangular,
width longer than the height, and hung over the mantel where an old mirror had
always been.