The Collected Christopher Connery (17 page)

Several members of the staring crowd laughed.

The two thugs got clumsily to their feet, clinging
together like frightened children. Perhaps they expected Nia to tear them apart
with her mind. Though she couldn’t deny the temptation, she knew they weren’t
worth the paper. She shooed them away with one hand.

“Go away. If my associate does decide to prosecute, we
won’t have any trouble finding you.” She fixed them with her best glare, the
one she employed whenever younger magicians she tutored mistook her
friendliness for weakness. “And the next time you think about bothering a lady
on the street, I suggest you reconsider.”

The men just stood there, gaping like fish.

Nia rolled her eyes. “Do I really have to say it again?
Go
away.”

There was a confused cursing scramble as the men tried to
run in opposite directions without letting go of each other first. Once they
finally sorted out the tangle, they hightailed it down the street. The speed
they managed was actually rather impressive considering how numb their legs
must have been.

Nia sighed, dropping her badge back into her handbag. She
was sweating slightly under her coat. Of course, she had experienced such
disgusting behavior before; even the Academy with all its emphasis on respect
and decorum wasn’t immune, but she had never faced it alone before. Thank
goodness she had thought to replenish her supply of predrawn spells that morning.
The pavement was still too damp for chalk and –

A small pained sound snapped her out of her thoughts.
Turning, she saw Arthur bent over with one hand on his lower back and the other
cupped over his nose. A young woman, a member of the dispersing audience, was
helping him straighten up, but it was a slow painful process.

“Oh, Arthur.” Nia hurried to his side and tried to pry
his hand away from his face. “Let me see.”

“I’m fine,” Arthur said thickly as Nia dragged his arm
down. “It’s just –”

Nia sucked in her breath as she saw the state of his
face. “Just a broken nose? Arthur, honestly, I was going to handle it. Why did
you get in the way?”

“I wanted to help,” Arthur said, and though his tone was
as defensive as it could be through his damaged nose, his eyes were hurt. “I
couldn’t just stand there and let them hassle you.”

Of course he couldn’t.
Nia reached into her pocket
for her handkerchief. “I do appreciate the thought, Arthur, but you could have
stopped after the first insult.”

“I never can,” Arthur mumbled into the handkerchief. “It
was a pretty good one, though.”

Nia laughed. “It was probably as clever as they could
understand.”

“I know my audience.” He managed a smile though the blood
from his nose was beginning to soak through the handkerchief. “You sure scared
the hell out of them.”

Nia smiled modestly. “They were probably just as scared
of what you would do once you got up.”

“I could bleed on them.”

Chuckling, Nia took Arthur by the arm, thanked a woman
who had stopped to help, and pulled him gently toward the theater, searching
for a dry spot of pavement she could use to draw a healing circle. “Here.” She
gently pushed Arthur under an awning and drew the circle around his feet.

Arthur swayed slightly as the magic took effect. Then he
rubbed the bridge of his nose and winced. “Damn,” he said, his voice more or
less back to normal. “He hit me really hard.”

Nia straightened up to check her handiwork. It wasn’t
perfect, but it was the best she could do with a circle that small. Arthur’s
nose was back in alignment, but there was still a nasty bruise on his jaw. When
she reached up to inspect it, Arthur turned his head away.

“It’s fine.” He prodded the bruise with an expression
that was half-grimace and half-smile. “It’s a badge of honor.”

Nia shook her head, but all she said was, “Would you
rather skip the movie and go back to the hotel?”

“Not a chance. I didn’t get punched in the face for
nothing.”

Apparently, the broken nose had improved Arthur’s mood.
She teasingly told him she would file that away for future reference.

That made him laugh.

The movie was good. A little silly at first, but Nia
quickly found herself caught up in the story. As they were walking back to the
hotel after, Arthur told her that she had looked like she wanted to climb into
the screen. She reminded him that he had looked just the same.

Buoyed up the excitement of the film, Nia made them stop
to collect Marianne’s hat on the way back. They took turns wearing it as they
walked to the hotel, making sure to shoot contemptuous looks at any passerby
who appeared to question its unique beauty.

They were both laughing by the time they reached the
hotel. It was Nia’s turn to wear the hat and she swallowed her laughter just long
enough to give the doorman a solemn nod before both she and Arthur fell
giggling into the lobby.

“Okay, tell me the truth, did you see a movie or just
spend a couple of hours at a bar?” Nia turned sharply and saw Gail watching
them both from exactly the same chair they had found her in earlier that
evening. This time she had a notebook open in her lap; the visible page was
covered in small neat writing.

Her lips quirked upwards. “I like your hat.”

“Oh.” Nia snatched Marianne’s hat off of her head, almost
tearing off her flower hairpiece in the process. “It’s a gift for a friend.”

Gail’s eyebrows rose. “Do you like this friend?”

“Not particularly.”

That earned her a laugh and another disconcerting flush
on her cheeks.

Closing her notebook, Gail got to her feet. “Are you two
ready to eat? I reserved us a table close to the band. I thought –” She broke
off suddenly, eyes narrowing as she took a closer look at Arthur’s face. “What
the hell happened to you?”

Arthur rubbed his bruised jaw. “There was a – a small
confrontation.” He rolled his eyes when Gail glanced at Nia. “Not with her.
There were a pair of idiots outside of the movie theater. Nia took care of
them.”

“Arthur helped,” Nia added.

“I helped by distracting their fists with my face.”

“Well, it sounds like you got out of it okay, but…”
Gail’s face creased with worry, the smile lines around her eyes vanishing. “I
should’ve come with you.”

“Oh no, I handled it! It was no problem.” The words were
out of Nia’s mouth before she realized how defensive they sounded.

“I never doubted it. It’s just too bad there had to be
any trouble at all.” Then another smile broke across Gail’s face. “Though
thinking of it, I guess I should be more worried about the thugs who bothered
you. How fast did they run, princess?”

“They removed themselves from the situation with
remarkable alacrity.” Nia couldn’t hold back a satisfied smile.

“I’ll bet they did.” Coming from anyone else that
probably would have sounded patronizing, but Gail was looking at her with an honest
grin. For a moment Nia wondered if perhaps she wasn’t the only one being silly.

Then Arthur took the ugly hat and put it back on her
head.

“Pardon me!” she squawked, snatching it off again. “I
believe it is your turn, sir, not mine.” She held the hat out to him.

He took it like it was a dead rat he had found on the
floor of his bedroom, but he did take it. If there was one thing she and Arthur
had agreed on as children, it was that turns were sacred. You never denied
someone else their turn and you never failed to take your own.

But luckily for him, he was spared taking his turn in the
middle of the crowded lobby by Gail, who plucked the hat from his reluctant
fingers to take a closer look at it.

“This really is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. What
did this friend of yours do to deserve this?”

Insulted my brother,
Nia thought. “She’s just – an
extremely negative individual.”

“I see.” Gail studied the hat from every angle then
shrugged and set it on her head. She grinned at Arthur and Nia, looking so
absolutely pleased with herself that neither of them could help their wild
laughter.

Flipping the hat off of her head, Gail tossed it back to
Nia. “Let’s go eat. It sounds like the band’s already started.”

As Gail led the way to the dining room, Nia ran the hat’s
hideous orange flower through her fingers. Once again, she was struck by how
good an idea this had been. One night of music, lights, and ugly hats before
they had to get back to work, before they had to return to Connery, lying in
wait upstairs.

No,
she reminded herself,
we’re the ones
chasing him. He’s the prey, not us.
The warmth of the dining room pressed
close and she unbuttoned her coat, happily smoothing the skirt of her crimson
dress.

Which, in this light, didn’t look like blood at all.

Thankfully, Gail’s usually belligerent client had been in
a pretty sanguine mood that night and had only yelled at her for fifteen
minutes before letting her explain the situation. Thankfully, this client didn’t
know much about magic and seemed to dislike it even more than Gail, so a few,
“the Academy wanted…” and “Illuminator Graves said…” took the fight out of him.

“Well, tell her to hurry it up,” he’d said gruffly. “I
have plenty of work for you.”

“You always do.”

Anyway, Gail was able to get him off of the phone in less
than an hour – 56 minutes by her watch. She promised to check in once she was
done with this job then promptly put him out of her mind. It was dinnertime,
damn it. She was officially off the clock.

The hotel’s food was good and their band was better.
Xavier had a couple fine solos and both Arthur and Nia were impressed. It was a
good time. Part of Gail would be sad to return to her own sagging mattress and
nearly bare refrigerator when the case was done.

A small part. The chasing Connery around part was still
bullshit and she’d be happy to have it behind her.

The band finished another song and they all applauded.
Popping up together, Nia and Arthur even offered a standing ovation. Gail couldn’t
help grinning as she looked at them. “What? Don’t you get live music at the
Academy?”

“Oh, certainly,” Nia answered, “but it’s – well, it’s
just different, isn’t it, Arthur?”

“It’s definitely different.” For all the teasing he gave
his sister, Gail could tell by Arthur’s shining eyes that he was just as
enchanted by New Crossbridge as Nia. She felt a small and probably silly glow
of pride. It wasn’t like it was
her
city or anything, but it was nice to
see that even Academy magicians with their giant libraries and tall stone walls
could be impressed by regular layman entertainment.

When the band broke between sets, Xavier hopped down from
the stage to join them at their table.

“Hi there,” he said cheerfully. “Did you have a nice time
at the movie?”

“Yes, we did, thank you!” Nia answered. “It was very
good, wasn’t it, Arthur?”

“Yes,” said Arthur, hand drifting absentmindedly to his
jaw.

The gesture drew Xavier’s attention to the bruise. “Hell,
what happened? Did you get in a fight?”

“He was defending me,” Nia piped up loyally. She smiled
at Arthur. “Like Detective Lin, however, he’ll never admit to playing the
hero.”

Arthur stared at her, then at Xavier, then, when Xavier
smiled at him, dropped his eyes to his plate. Gail picked up her glass to hide
her laugh. Over drinks the other day, Xavier had asked her about “the
good-looking doctor” she was working with. Based on his questions, she’d gotten
the impression that he’d taken Arthur for the stern, intellectual type.
Deciding she might as well help him maintain the illusion for a little longer,
she set down her drink and said, “Hey, Xavier, take a look at this hat Nia
bought.” She nodded to Nia. “Go on. A hat like that deserves to be seen.”

Biting her lip, Nia pulled the hat from her bag, holding
it out with a mixture of embarrassment and pride. “It’s a gift for a friend?”

Xavier took the hat in his big hands, gazing at it with
something close to awe. “Do you –”

“Like this friend?” Gail finished for him. “Nah,
apparently she’s a pill.”

“Ah, I get it then.” He tried to hand the hat back to
Nia, but she – made mischievous by the martinis she’d been enjoying – waved it
away.

“Oh no, no, it’s Arthur’s turn.”

“Nia,” Arthur hissed.

“What? It is your turn.”

“I’m sure it looks lovely on you, doc,” Gail couldn’t
help adding with an evil little grin. “Maybe not as good as it looks on me, but
you know, nobody’s perfect.”

Arthur scowled at them both, but when Xavier – kinder by
far than either of them – set the hat down at the table, he suddenly snatched
it up and crushed it down on his head. Folding his arms, he scowled at his
sister across the table. “Happy, Ni?”

Nia, giggling into her hands, could only nod.

Xavier was laughing too, but it was a friendly laugh and
if Gail didn’t miss her guess, this break in Arthur’s Stern Doctor façade had
only charmed him more. “I’d ask to borrow it for the next set, but I think the
others might kick me out of the band.”  

“I don’t know,” said Gail with a sly grin. “You might
start a trend and get the New Crossbridge elite wearing hats just like this
one. You never know!”

“I think he probably does,” Arthur muttered as he took
off the hat and tried in vain to smooth down his hair.

Xavier chuckled, picking up the hat again and tugging on
the orange weed sprouting from the top. “Speaking of hats, I had a weird dream
about them last night. I was back home, trying to get ready for work, but every
time I walked out the door, I would realize the hat I had wasn’t mine and I’d
have to go put it back.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Xavier,” Gail said. “But
your dreams sound boring as shit.”

Xavier could only shrug as he handed the hat back to Nia.
“I’ve just never dreamed about swapping hats before. Maybe it means something.”

“It means you need to get out more, Rivers. That’s what
it means.” As much fun as they were having discussing Nia’s hideous purchase,
Gail figured that Xavier had come over to their table with a goal in mind, so
she tossed him an opening.

“So you’ve got a bit of a break now, Xave?”

“Yeah,” said Xavier. “The other trumpet subs in for this
next set.”

“Looks like you’ve got some free time then. You want to
sit down?”

“Actually, I was wondering…” He gave Arthur a shy
sidelong smile. “Gail told me this was your one night off from work, so I was
just wondering if maybe you’d like a dance, Doctor Graves.”

Arthur looked startled, as Gail had expected, but she
hadn’t counted on the suddenly uncomfortable expression on Nia’s face.
Considering how the Graveses usually interacted, she would’ve predicted
giggling and teasing, but instead Nia was looking at her hands, mouth twisted
like she’d swallowed something sour.

Things only got weirder when Arthur said, “Well, I –” and
glanced at his sister.

Poor Xavier didn’t seem to know what to do with that
either. Backing off a bit, he said, “It’s all right if you’d rather not. I
probably ought to help out backstage during my off-set anyway, so…”

“Oh, no, no!” Nia interrupted out loudly enough to turn
the heads of several people at adjacent tables. After the outburst, she was
again awkwardly silent, as if she had surprised herself by speaking. Then she
cleared her throat and straightened her necklace. “You should go, Arthur. This
is our evening off after all.” She turned a brilliant smile on to Xavier.
“You’ll have to forgive him, he can be a bit shy.”

Arthur’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “No, I can’t.”

Gail had to give Xavier credit. Though she had assured
him the Graveses were all right, she wouldn’t have blamed him if he had
retreated, figuring he was about to step knee-deep into a puddle of crazy. But
maybe out of respect for their friendship or maybe just because he thought
Arthur was cute enough to be worth a little weirdness, he smiled again and
said, “Only if you want, of course, but it’d be my honor.”

Very nicely done,
Gail thought, impressed.

Though the suave line must’ve had an effect, Arthur
remained admirably cool, saying only, “Yeah, okay, why not?” as he pushed his
chair back. He held himself confidently enough as he offered Xavier his arm,
but the way his eyes kept flitting sideways seemed to disprove his “not shy”
claim. Still, it was a good show.

Gail hid another grin behind her glass until Arthur and
Xavier were on the dance floor and out of sight. Then she turned back to Nia to
say that if Arthur had taken the hat with him, he’d definitely be the belle of
the ball, but the comment died on her tongue when she saw that Nia’s smile had
gone out like a candle.

“Something wrong?”

Nia practically jumped out of her chair. “I – no, I’m…
well.”

That was less than informative, but considering the
earlier awkwardness, Gail could make a pretty good guess as to what was bugging
her. “It’s just a dance. And Xavier’s a nice guy, I promise.”

“No, I know that, it’s just –” Nia twisted a handful of
the beads at her waist. “Arthur’s a bound ward of the Academy. He’s – he’s not
supposed to have relationships with laymen.”

“Why not?”

“There’s a risk of – bound wards are at a high risk of
becoming confused and misled. Even though their magic is bound, people might
try to manipulate and use them, especially wards like Arthur who –” Her mouth
snapped shut on the words.

The Academy was fucking weird. Shaking her head, Gail
picked up her fork. “Look, Xavier’s not going to be manipulating or using
anyone, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Oh no, I know that. Please, I don’t want to offend you
or Mr. Rivers. It’s only…”

“And I don’t think a dance – or even more than one dance
– counts as a relationship, anyway.”

“I know that, but while we’re beyond the Academy walls,
Arthur is my responsibility. It is my duty to – to…”

“To stop him from forming relationships?”

“Yes,” Nia answered miserably. “It sounds terrible when
you put it that way, doesn’t it? He’s allowed to date anyone at all within the
Academy, even an Illuminator if he wanted, but laymen…” She shook her head.
“Arthur isn’t allowed to live outside the Academy anyway, so it’s not as if
things could progress very far. The whole enterprise would be doomed from the
start.”

Gail was pretty sure she wasn’t following half of this.
“So why’d you let him go dance then?” To be honest, the thought of Nia giving
Arthur a disapproving look and Arthur sitting meekly back down was a little
ridiculous, but if Nia had the authority then…

“Well, because –” Nia shrugged helplessly. “Because I
could tell he wanted to go.”

Leaning back in her chair, Gail tried to find Arthur and
Xavier in the crowd on the dance floor, but could only catch a glimpse of
Arthur’s gray suit and a flash of Xavier’s smiling face. Nia was leaning over
the back of her chair, fighting for a view of her own. She must have managed
better than Gail because she sighed and dropped her chin on to her folded arms.

“He looks like he’s having a nice time.”

Gail guessed it had to be tough being your brother’s
boss, especially when you were required by law to be a hard-ass one.

“Hey, princess.”

Nia looked back over her shoulder, wearing a tragic
expression that would have been the envy of any movie actresses.

“Don’t look so miserable, you did the right thing.”

“How would you know that?”

“I know the Academy has its rules and they’re probably
mostly good ones –” Before Nia could open her mouth to object to the ‘mostly’
part, Gail rushed on to her point. “But in the end, what does it matter if
Arthur has a dance with a fellow or drinks with a nice lady or whatever? When
this is over, you’ll both go back to the Academy and that’ll be the end of it.
Anyway, Arthur seems too smart to get into the kind of trouble you’re talking
about. So there’s no point making yourself upset about things that aren’t going
to happen.”

Nia’s only response was a tiny shrug, but judging by the
pensive way she was looking at the floor, Gail thought she saw her point.

“Basically, there’s no harm in letting him… feel like a
normal guy for a while, you know?”

Nia winced as though Gail’s words had stung her. “I do
want that. I just don’t want him to get hurt and the Academy…”

Gail remembered what Arthur had said earlier that day,
about Nia doing everything absolutely by the book. She guessed that book was
felt a lot heavier when you had to throw it at your brother. “Anyway, you’re
here to look after him, right?”

“I suppose…” Gail could tell that Nia was trying to hold
on to her concern – maybe thinking it’d be irresponsible to do anything else – but
some of the weight had clearly lifted from her shoulders. “As you said, as long
as no one gets hurt, there’s no problem.” Her face brightened until her smile
eclipsed the jewels in her hairpiece. “Thank you, detective. I feel much
better.”

“Glad to hear it.” Gail held out her glass and Nia tapped
her own against with.

Over the course of the evening, Gail learned a few new
things about Illuminator Nia Graves. One, she couldn’t hold her liquor worth a
damn and was a mess of giggles after her second martini. Two, when tipsy, she
talked even more like a princess than usual and employed the phrase, “exemplary
demonstration of musical versatility” to describe the band’s performances. And
three, she could wear the hell out of a red dress.

Arthur returned to the table after about an hour. Xavier
buzzed by for just a second, apparently having already missed a set while
chatting with Arthur at the bar.

“I hope you all have a great evening,” he said as he took
up his trumpet again. His smile lingered on Arthur. “Hopefully I’ll see you
around.”

“Hopefully,” Arthur echoed as Xavier bounded back on the
stage just in time get in place for the next song. Arthur looked a little tipsy
but in a happy way, smiling without any trace of irony. Nia’s eyes were just
about burning with curiosity, but she commendably swallowed all of her
questions except, “Did you have a nice time?”

“Yes,” Arthur answered simply, still smiling, “but now I
think I’m going to go to bed.”

“Already?” Gail checked her watch. “It’s not even
midnight yet. You’re a lightweight, doc.”

“I’m tired, that’s what I am. Considering how early we
were up this morning, I’m justified.” He tried to twist his face back into its
usual lines of exasperation, but the flushed smile kept breaking through. He
brushed some of his conspicuously disordered hair off of his forehead. “Anyway,
I’m going up.”