Racing the Dark (43 page)

He never said any of this to her, of course. Kai was always unfailingly polite, but he guarded himself very closely, never saying more about himself than was necessary. The fourth day, he returned when she was sitting on the bed, reading one of his books.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. She wondered if the smile on his flushed face was forced.

Lana thought about feigning more weakness than she felt, but she didn't think it would be fair. "Much better," she said.

He sat on the bed next to her and put down a few packages he had been carrying. "You could probably use a few extra days, though. You don't have to push yourself."

"What are those?" she asked, pointing to the packages.

"Presents. I'm sorry I didn't get this for you sooner ..." He pulled out a beautiful blue long shirt, the match to the pants that he had given her a few days ago. In back it had two long slits to fit her wings, and buttons continuing beneath them.

"How did you ..." Her hands were trembling. It was such a simple thing-a shirt to fit her wings-but she had never been given such a wonderful present in her life. Perhaps because Kai was a kind of non-human aberration himself, he understood her need to regain some sense of normalcy.

"I had it altered by a seamstress in the nearest village. She's making another now-it should be ready in a few days."

Lana wanted to hug him, do something to show the depth of her gratitude, but she found herself awkwardly unable to move. It had been years since she had shown that kind of affection to anyone outside her family. But she couldn't just sit there. She inched forward and, without really thinking, rested her head on his chest. He seemed surprised at first and then, tentatively, he put his arms around her back. She could feel him gently stroking her wings, as though they were sacred objects and not the mark of a black angel.

After a very long time, he pulled away slightly and looked at her. His ocean-eyes rippled with occasional flashes of light. She heard the air moving in and out of her lungs, her heart beating in her chest, but that didn't feel like it had anything to do with her anymore. Her body functioned, but she was lost in those deep, unfathomable, alien eyes. He leaned forward.

This was the third time Lana had ever been kissed. This time, it shocked her how much she wanted it.

She fell asleep soon after, lulled by the comfort of his embrace and his rich, damp smell. When she woke up again several hours later, he was kneeling in front of the writing desk that faced the small private garden. He looked completely absorbed in whatever he was writing, pausing for long moments before each sentence. The sight of his now greenish hair bound at the base of his neck with a leather string, his broad back, and his brown shirt casually hanging over his pantaloons, made her bite her lip against the sudden longing that flooded her. She knew so little about him, but at this moment that didn't seem to matter.

"What are you writing?" she asked.

His hand jerked in surprise, making ink splatter all over the paper.

"Oh, I'm sorry-"

"Don't worry," he said, turning around and smiling at her. "I'll just do it over. I didn't realize you were awake. I can finish this later." He stood up and sat next to her.

"So, what were you writing?" Lana asked again, wondering if she sensed a little evasiveness in his tone.

"Just some letters." He reached over to the foot of the bed and picked up a small wooden box-one of the objects that he had dropped there earlier in the day. "I never got to give you the rest of your presents, you know."

"What is that?" she said. Kai took the top off the box. Inside, she saw several small objects, delicately wrapped in bamboo leaves and tied with a bit of green twine. They smelled sweet.

"The town where the seamstress lives is famous for making these sweets, so I brought some back. Do you want to try one?"

He seemed so hopeful that Lana had to laugh. "Of course," she said.

Kai picked up one of the sweets and undid the twine. Inside the bamboo leaf was a sticky purple oblong ball.

"They make the outside from pounded rice. The filling is made from some kind of red bean, I think-it's hard to understand the accents around here, sometimes." He held it up to her mouth, and after a moment's hesitation she bit into it. The sweet, tangy paste filling had a smooth texture that contrasted beautifully with the chewy stickiness of the outside.

"It's ... wonderful," Lana said, surprised.

Kai put the other half in his mouth and his intent expression soon turned to one of delight. "You know, I wasn't sure when I bought them, but they are delicious, aren't they?"

Lana nodded. They stared at each other for an awkward moment, but before it could turn into anything more, the bell outside their door began ringing peremptorily. Kai's eyes abruptly regained their irises-a chilly pale blue.

"Just leave whatever it is outside the door. I believe I left instructions not to be disturbed?" His voice took on that commanding tone that she remembered from the day he took her in.

She heard furious whispering from the people on the other side of the door.

"I apologize, sir," a woman said firmly. "But this matter cannot wait another night." Lana thought the voice belonged to the innkeeper who had refused to invite her over the threshold. "If you won't open the door, then we will be forced to come in ourselves. Do you understand?"

Lana suddenly felt very afraid. She saw the light of several lanterns through the dark screen. Why would so many people decide to come to their room this late in the evening? She had a sudden, horrible premonition of violence.

Kai looked from the door and squeezed her hands. "Don't worry," he said quietly. "I'll deal with this. Go into the garden and close the screen door. Make sure that they can't see you."

Lana swallowed forcibly and walked into the garden. She left the door open a crack, so that she would be able to see what was happening. Kai gave her a tight, reassuring smile before opening the door.

There were more people than she had expected-what looked like every staff member of the inn and possibly all of the guests. What could they want, with their swaying lanterns and angry expressions? They reminded her of the villagers by the lake, and the resemblance didn't reassure her.

The line of Kai's back was tense, but his tone was icy cold. "What reason could possibly warrant this kind of visitation so late?"

"Where's the girl?" The angry voice belonged to a man whose rough clothes and accent made Lana suspect he was a villager. But what business could the villagers have with them? The man tried to push his way into the room and Kai roughly shoved him back.

"That's no business of yours. You still haven't told me your reasons for coming here-I have to say, Miss Oeha, I had heard better things of your hospitality."

The innkeeper had the grace to look slightly embarrassed, but she did not move. "Be that as it may. I've never had such a reason to violate it before. Against my better judgment, I allowed you to take that ... wretched hunchback in, but I can't allow it any longer. You must give that girl to us. She's done enough damage."

Kai's hands tightened on the edge of the door. "Have you lost your mind, Oeha? Haven't I paid you well for the extra days? Why would you let yourself get sucked in with this ... mob?"

The woman looked away from him, but the man next to her shoved his way forward until he was barely an inch from Kai's nose. "Because she has a responsibility, that's why. You had my wife make ... abominations! Shirts with holes in back for your hunchback. But she's a witch! Just as soon as my wife finished the second shirt, our daughter starts coughing ... mostly blood, now. She's about to die, and it's that damn witch's fault. Give her to us, or we'll take her!"

Lana cursed and stared, paralyzed by her bubbling fear. She wondered if she saw the death's smiling mask lurking somewhere in the back of the mob.

"I'm sorry about your daughter, but what possible reason do you have to think that this girl has anything to do with it?"

Still avoiding his eyes, the woman pulled a young girl from deeper in the crowd toward the front. "Tell him what you told me."

The girl stared studiously at the ground. "Few days ago, you came in and told us to boil all these plants I'd never heard of to make a potion for that hunchback. It smelled awful-my grandmother used to work spells. They looked just like that."

Lana closed her eyes and struggled to regain control of her breathing. How could this be happening? That idiot girl had probably never seen a geas worked in her life.

"I'm telling you, my girl is dying! I don't care if you are the water guardian, I won't spare you if you keep protecting her." The man's angry voice sounded rough with tears.

"You won't spare me? You won't spare me?" Kai's voice was terrifyingly soft. His skin began taking on silver tones, rippling and splashing light. "You will not touch her. She is under my protection. You'll have to kill me first, and I promise-you can't kill me."

A sheer wall of water burst from the ground before him, separating him from the mob. It sailed yards in the air before falling back down on their heads and extinguishing their lanterns. His skin wasn't just splashing light anymore, it was glowing. She had never seen anything quite like it, and such a palpable demonstration of power awed her in a way that had nothing to do with their desperate situation.

"I won't let that damn witch kill my daughter!" The man's scream of defiance turned into one of surprised pain when he tried to force his way through the wall of water. He stumbled backwards, holding a hand to the left side of his face. The mob fell back, looking at each other in obvious fear.

Something the man had said about his daughter kept coming back to Lana in the part of her mind that wasn't overcome with horror. It reminded her of a detail Akua had once told her about lung diseases. She had said that the rice paddies often carried diseases that would flood the lungs and drown its victims if they weren't treated immediately. That man was convinced that his daughter was about to die, and he was probably right, even if for the wrong reasons.

Barely aware that she had made a decision, Lana slowly finished fastening the buttons on her shirt and pulled back the screen door. Kai whirled around and his wall of water faltered for a second.

"Get back inside, Lana!" He sounded like he was finally panicking, which scared her more than anything else. Behind him, she could hear the horrified whispers of the people as they saw her wings through the water.

She shook her head. "I can help that man's daughter. If he'll let me see her, I can probably save her life."

"They'll kill you if you go out there, keika." His soft, almost helpless use of the endearment nearly made her lose her resolve.

But she knew he had enough power. "Then you'll have to protect me," she said.

He held her gaze for a long time. "Collect our things," he said finally. "Then stand beside me."

Lana ignored the muffled sounds of the mob as she picked up his bag and carefully stuffed his few belongings inside. She paused a moment over his letters-one was addressed to the fire guardian and the other to the Mo'i. When she had finished, she walked beside him and quietly handed him his bag. What little she had was already packed.

"If it were up to me, I would leave now, but she wants to save your daughter. You have come to kill an innocent woman who still feels enough pity for you to help you despite yourself. I hope, one day, you may understand what that means."

"She ... she's a damned black angel ... she'll kill my daughter just by touching her-" A well-placed jet of water suddenly hit the man in his mouth and he began coughing violently.

"What do you need?" he asked her.

"Nightshade mushrooms, bitterwort, pleurisy root, blue cohosh-those are the most important, but they probably won't have them in the kitchen here."

"Any of you who still have a bit of sense left and who would like to see this man's daughter live, find those herbs and take them to the seamstress's house," Kai commanded the crowd. He lowered his voice and turned to her. "Hold my hand tightly and don't let go, no matter what. You understand?"

Lana nodded mutely. He gave her a sudden, gentle smile and caressed her cheek. Then his skin began to glow more brightly and the towering wall of water slowly melded itself into a hollow sphere surrounding them both. Everything looked hazy and blurred to Lana, but Kai seemed sure of his view. He took a step forward and the people around them fell back, cursing and shrieking. The innkeeper, however, actually chased after them, yelling in a shrill voice.

"I demand you compensate me for the damage done to the room. It will cost at least a thousand kala to repair-"

A jet of water suddenly surged from their bubble and knocked her to the ground. Before she could do more than gasp and splutter, another-much stronger-spray of water launched into the beautifully painted wooden pagoda, arching above a small pond. Two of its supports snapped immediately, and the ensuing deluge of water sent it crashing down, a mess of shattered tile and broken wood.

"And that," he said, very deliberately, "is at least fifteen thousand kala, I should think."

And even though she could hardly think of a more inappropriate time to do so, Lana burst out laughing.

Their walk to the village, followed at a respectful distance by a growing crowd of people, took about an hour. When they first set out, some people had sprinted past them-presumably to alert the villagers-but now things were relatively quiet. Kai's skin was slightly damp, but to her surprise the bubble of water around them did not drip at all. He smiled at her occasionally, but he mainly focused his gaze forward. The furrowed line between his pale eyebrows grew deeper as they went along. She finally realized what a strain he was under when he tripped over a small rock and nearly collapsed. She had to hold him up until he said he could go on. She worried about him and then berated herself-he wouldn't have had to expend so much energy if she hadn't demanded to see that sick child. Why is he doing this for me? She was as much a stranger to him as he was to her, after all. An answer occurred to her, and she wondered if it could be so simple. Beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead and his irises had turned so pale she could hardly see them.