Seraphs

I had thought my troubles were over when the gavel banged down the last time. I was wrong. When my two champards and I stepped through the oversized front doors onto the covered porch of the old church, the steps and the walk leading to Upper Street were lined with black-clad humans. Rupert and Audric tossed back their cloaks and drew weapons. The sound of steel on leather echoed down the silent street.

In two rows, facing one another, the town orthodox had re-created the gauntlet, a silent condemning jury, hating me, letting me know that though a judge had set me free, they had judged me guilty. Several elders and the most zealous of their followers, perhaps three hundred, lined my passageway. I counted three brown robes before I looked away.

"Theatrics would come in handy now," Rupert said with tense humor. "We could cancan down the street."

I grinned at that, and my rising fear dissipated. "Thanks," I said, catching his eye.

"If you can walk on your own, a little extra weaponry and some hocus-pocus might be useful too," Audric said.

"I'm not attacking humans," I said softly. "Where's a TV camera when you need one to hide behind?"

"No one has a gun out," Rupert said. "No blades, no dynamite. Let's brazen our way through it. Show 'em your clothes again, Thorn. Make eye contact. Let them know you know who they are."

I looked at the first dozen people. I didn't know a single one. Somehow, that lightened my heart. I folded my cloak back, exposing my neomage finery and freeing my arms but keeping my head covered. Like a queen walking to her beheading, I started down the steps, Rupert and Audric following. We reached the street before I recognized anyone, and it was the owner of the laundry I used. Arms crossed over her chest, she held my gaze, glaring. I'd be looking for a new place to wash my clothes. Sleet started again, a thin rain of ice that bounced off my cloak.

Behind me I heard the scrape of boot on stone. Faster than humans can see, I whirled and drew my sword. It was Elder Jasper and his wife, Polly. And their new child, who hadn't been with them earlier. Polly sucked in a breath to scream. I lowered my sword.

His voice ringing into the street, the elder said, "Polly and I wondered if you had a healing amulet. She cut her finger opening a can last night. It's paining her mightily."

I looked back and forth between them, sword poised. A long moment passed. Polly, trembling, handed her baby to the elder and walked down the stairs. She held out her hand to me. A makeshift bandage was taped to her thumb. I stared at her extended hand; her human aura was blazing with fear and determination, a bright golden glow. She stared at my skin, and I realized I had released my attributes as my defenses went up. Slowly, so I wouldn't startle her again, I sheathed my blade and took the bandaged hand in mine. To her credit, she didn't flinch, though her trembling worsened. Her blue eyes fastened on me.

"I have a curative amulet at the shop," I said. "It'll speed healing and lessen the pain."

"That would be a blessing," Polly said. She gripped my hand, a simple human gesture that meant more to me than anything else she could do. I turned with her toward Thorn's Gems. Together, hands clasped, we passed my champards and took the lead down to the ice-covered road.

"Are you scared?" she asked, voice pitched low.

"Out of my mind," I said, seeing hate in the eyes of the farrier who shod my horse.

"Me too. But God the Victorious will protect us."

Having never learned what reply was appropriate when confronted with a faith I was genetically unable to share, I remained silent as we moved through the throng of black-clad, self-appointed judges and left them behind. At the end of the line stood Jacey and her brood, Eli and his mother, and a dozen or so others, including Ken Schmidt. They fell into the void behind us, a human shield. I wondered if they thought of themselves in that way. When we reached the curve in Upper Street and left the old church behind, I leaned to Polly. "Is your thumb really cut?"

"I will confess the sin of lying at kirk this evening," she said serenely.

"Thank you, Polly." I didn't know why she had helped me. We weren't friends in any sense of the word, barely nodding acquaintances, but I wasn't questioning her help.

Once at the shop, we entered while Rupert and Audric stood outside beneath lowering clouds, guarding for possible attack. I gave her a charm, one that might calm a restive baby. For her help, I'd have given her a charm for wealth and long life if there were such a thing. Waving away my thanks, she kissed my cheek, took her baby from the elder, and moved outside, down the street, leaving me alone.

From the back of the shop, a man emerged. I appraised him in the instant I pulled my sword and plucked a throwing blade. Hands up, palms out in the universal gesture of peace, he hesitated. Both cheeks wore brands, the left cross old and pale, the right still healing, perhaps only a few weeks old. He was dressed for the cold in layered, shabby coats and mismatched boots. Alone in the shop, I drew back the throwing blade.

"I'm unarmed," he said quickly.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't gut you for breaking and entering."

"I'm with the EIH," he said. "And we want you to join with us against the seraphs."

I had no idea at all what to say to that one, but I didn't release the throwing blade, flipping and tucking it away instead. Silent, my sword in a low defensive position, I studied him, watching his hands. He could have been anywhere between thirty and forty, his face weathered brown, creased deeply at the eyes and around his mouth. His Cherokee heritage showed plainly in the beak of his nose and black eyes, even without the braids lying on either shoulder, framing his long face. "You have one minute," I said.

"Do you want to know the real reason why seraphs put your people in Enclaves? It wasn't that silly fairy tale you recounted back there." That ticked me off, but I raised my brows in a parody of polite manners. He lowered his palms a fraction and said, "It was because neomages can't breed fertile offspring on humans, but you can with seraphs."

"Forty seconds." Everyone knew that human and seraph offspring, the second-unforeseen - half-breeds, mules - were indeed sterile, often with incompletely developed genitals, while the offspring of mages and seraphs, the kylen, were capable of reproduction, able to breed with humans or mages equally. He was saying nothing new.

His eyes shifted to the door as it opened, letting in a gust of air. Speaking fast, he said, "It's because you're genetically closer to seraphs than to humans."

Audric and Rupert stepped into the shop. I could almost feel them maneuvering to my left and right, out of the way of my blades. "What's this scum doing here?" Rupert asked.

"Chatting. Leaving," the man said, hands still out, placating. "Name's Joseph Barefoot. You want to talk, leave a white rag hanging at your back window. I'll be notified. Think about what I said." He eased away, backed down the small hallway, and disappeared from view. I heard him exit the shop by the back door.

Not looking at my friends, I sheathed my sword. Battle rage drained out in a rush. My legs and arms were heavy, tired, and I hadn't even drawn blood. I rested a hand on a display, head hanging down. "What now?" I asked.

"Now we lock up the shop and mount a watch in case one of the more fervent zealots decides to break windows, toss firebombs, or paint slogans on the walls. Jacey's sending Zeddy over to spend the night here, and her next two largest will keep watch in the barn."

Humans. Putting themselves and their families at risk. For me. I wanted to be sick. "Fine." I managed a smile at the picture they made, tall and muscular, swords at their hips. Audric's cloak was the basic black leather worn by the second-unforeseen when they went to war, though no one at my trial had commented on it. Unless the reporter had noted the dobok and delved into his past, his secrets were still safe. Rupert's new blue velvet had a trendy swath of lace at the throat. "You made great champards," I said. "Very flashy. But - "

"If you think you're taking off to keep us safe, don't bother," Rupert said, untying the cape and brandishing his new sword in its scabbard. "All for one and one for all, dearie."

I had been about to say just that. Unexpected tears sprang into my eyes and I hiccupped, half sob, half laughter.

"Go lie down," Audric said. "You're dead on your feet. Oh - and the tense was incorrect." When I looked my question at him he said, "We make great champards."

A tear rolled down; I caught it on my wrist. As I turned back, I saw Eli Walker across the street. He was leaning against the wall outside Shamus Waldroup's bakery, one knee bent, foot flat against the building, rifle cradled in his arms. He tipped his hat when he caught my eye. Eli worked as a tracker, sometimes for the kirk, sometimes for the Administration of the ArchSeraph. Neither liked me much. I wondered who he was working for today.

Thadd walked by Eli, talking to Jacey, the cop animated, his body language angry, Jacey calm, her red clothes a beacon in the gray light. Eli's gaze followed them, speculative. I remembered that neither Thaddeus Bartholomew nor the assey Durbarge had been in the meeting house. I'd have smelled Thadd. Durbarge, as an Administration of the ArchSeraph Investigator, would have been forced to stand beside me on the dais, his eye patch drawing frightened looks. I was a legally licensed mage, accused in a court of law. Part of an assey's job description was protecting mages in the human population, and he hadn't been there. Because he had been kept away as part of the ploy by Culpepper's brigade and the orthodox? Or because he was colluding with them?

Farther down the street, the reporter who had been at the trial was doing interviews, currently talking to a member of the orthodox, an elderly man with a full beard and a deer-hide hat that came down over his ears. She was getting an earful, and I imagined most of it was mage hate. The reporter had perfect tanned skin, chin-length blond hair that curled at the tips, and clothes that came out of designer shops in Atlanta. As if she felt me watching her, she looked up and met my eyes. Immediately, she ditched the man and raced toward the shop.

Not wanting to listen to her pitch, I turned and climbed the steps, my booted feet heavy and cold. Behind me, I heard the bells over the door jingle and Rupert intercept her. Romona's tone wasn't happy, and I caught the words, "the Trine," and "ice cap," and "Darkness." It wasn't good, if the press had put that much together, but I still didn't go back down.

At the top of the stairs I stopped. The EIH provocateur had entered the shop, and was watching my home and me. It's because you're genetically closer to seraphs than to humans. It was an obvious deduction, yet one I had never made. So far as I knew, no one had made it. And I had no idea what it might mean. Speculating, I went in.

My loft was one huge open area, once the hayloft of the two-hundred-plus-year-old former livery that housed Thorn's Gems. The walls were three feet thick, four in some places, made of old brick, some of which I had plastered and painted rich greens and blues. Complementary window hangings were teal and sea green tapestries, to match colors from my childhood and the stained-glass window at the back of the loft where hay bales once were inserted. Wood floors were covered with rugs except in the kitchen and bath areas, where I had laid teal tiles. The furniture was dun and tan and soft, soothing colors, clustered around the freestanding natural gas fireplaces. There were no closets, and the armoires still hung open, clothes hanging out. The place looked like it was owned by a slob.

I tossed my cloak over the coatrack near the door and untied my boots, leaving them piled near the door so the ice that had crusted on the soles could melt and drain. I put away the cuffs, earrings, and rings. Hanging up the mageskirt, I thumped a bell for a last little jingle. The shirt was harder to get off than it had been to put on, but I finally got it unlaced and hung on a hanger. For some reason I didn't want to look at too closely, I didn't put them back out of sight, hooking the hangers over an armoire door instead. The clothes looked exotic and foreign in the human apartment. Cold, I pulled on leggings, slippers, and a fuzzy turtlenecked sweater, and turned up the fire to warm the apartment, my necklace around my neck.

In a sudden need to restore order to my life, I made the bed with ruby red silk sheets, fluffed the teal comforter smooth, and arranged lavender, ruby, and turquoise pillows. The emerald bed skirt and an inch of ruby sheets were contrasting jewel tones. When the bed was made, I dusted, swept, vacuumed, and cleaned the bath, working up a sweat. As I worked, lazily turning fans overhead pushed heated air back to the floor from the rafters.

I checked my blades to see if they needed attention. Constant wet was a prelude to rust, but I had been careful to keep them oiled and so far I'd been lucky. In mountainous areas, sword blades needed oil once every three months, and I was weeks away from that timeline, but two blades looked dull, so I wiped away the old oil with a soft rag and sprinkled the blades with talcum powder to remove the excess oil. Lastly, I wiped each clean and applied a coating of light oil before laying them aside.

I was standing in the kitchen staring into the refrigerator at my sparse lunch offerings when I heard footsteps and smelled the food. Though it had been months, I recognized both the stride and the menu. Roast duck for him. Roast vegetables for me: potatoes, zucchini, and mushrooms sliced and marinated in herbed oil. Fresh onion bread, still hot out of Shamus Waldroup's oven. A salad with more of the herbed dressing would be in a sealed container to complete the meal. I couldn't smell it - but he wouldn't have forgotten the salad.

They were my favorite foods, and had once been part of a well-planned seduction that ended with my being stretched out on my mattress, losing my virginity with eager abandon and getting engaged to the man of my dreams. Who then cheated on me and broke my heart. Right. Remember that, I told myself, even as I closed the fridge door and went to greet him.

"Peace offering," he said when I opened the door, craning his head around a bag of food. I just looked at him, so he added, "I have wine and beer."

"I have food," I lied. "And wine and beer," I said, more truthfully.

"I have a foot rub." His blue eyes gleamed with mischief. I felt my toes curl up.

He shifted the bag. "And a shoulder rub, if you want. I remember how your shoulders ache when you drill stones all day." When I still said nothing, his brows went up and his voice dropped into a low register that sounded like pure sex. "And three kinds of hot peppers and cheesecake and red grapes and divinity candy imported from Louisiana."

My belly did a funny little dip and curl, leaving me breathless. I couldn't help it. I said, "You are an evil, wicked man, here to tempt me with fat, protein, and alcohol."

"Don't forget the hot peppers, fresh fruit, and candy," he said. Something in his voice reminded me of a vision I'd had of him not long ago, emaciated, in a dungeon, his neck scarred by fangs. I crossed my arms over my chest but my foot pushed the door wide. It was an ambiguous invitation at best, but he didn't wait for better. Lucas Stanhope walked back into my loft and my life with an unrepentant grin and the scent of really great food.

He went straight to the kitchen, where he began to unload the bags of edible treasures and set the table. I hadn't rearranged the dishes after he'd moved out. His hands went straight to the plates, the wineglasses, the salad bowls. Taking the bottle of wine and a six-pack of Dancing Bear Brew, he walked through the apartment as if he belonged there, and out onto the back deck, where I watched him brushing snow off my beer cache. He deposited the new six-pack and the wine in the snow, bringing four cold bottles back inside. He twisted one open and held it out as he passed. I had no intention of taking it but my arms unfolded and my hand reached out on its own. My fingers wrapped around the bottle. As he passed by, I found I was watching his butt. Drat. This was not good. A woman in town claimed they were married. Jane Hilton, a breathtakingly beautiful blond with vivid eyes and a sculpted face. Lucas was married. Married. Maybe.

I needed to tell him to leave. Now. Instead, I said, "Thanks," and took a swig.

I told myself it was the smell of roast veggies and the way the little potatoes glistened in oil and the sight of the salad greens all crisp and curled that shut me up. But it was the dried cranberries that did it. That and the almonds. They were a sure sign that this wasn't a spontaneous gesture on Lucas' part.

The other food could be obtained in Mineral City from greenhouse farmers or a trader who made regular runs on the mule train. But not almonds and dried cranberries; they had to be imported all the way from Atlanta. At fabulous expense. I was the only person I knew who craved slivered almonds and cranberries. None of the locals even knew what they were.

My mouth watered when Lucas set a small china plate mounded with pieces of fluffy white divinity candy studded with pecans in the center of the table. He dribbled raspberry sauce over the cheesecake. The china was the set we had used when married, the pattern an ancient Pre-Ap one, the plates and dishes from Audric's claim at Sugar Grove. They had been one of many engagement gifts from my fiance.

Lucas lit candles and set out cloth napkins I hadn't used since he left. He looked up at me. His blue eyes were the exact shade of the Gulf of Mexico at sunset, the far-off water touching the darkening horizon. He was wearing a black button-down corduroy shirt over a cotton T, black jeans, and pointed-toe boots made of tooled leather. I had given him the boots.

"Get out," I said. Only it came out as, "I don't have any coffee." To go with the cheesecake. He smiled that smile that had blown me away when I first met him and pulled out my chair. The chair I'd sat in when we were married. I didn't tell him I'd taken to using his chair when he left. I just walked over and sat. And I bowed my head when he prayed a blessing. He'd never prayed a blessing when we were married. Never.

He raised his head. As if reading my surprise, he leaned over and kissed my cheek before placing my napkin over my lap. "Eat."

The bastard. If he'd tried to kiss my mouth I'd have cold-cocked him. Instead, I met his eyes. And was lost. I picked up my fork and took a bite of salad.