Part 15 (1/2)
”What's this?” Nathan rubbed the mark between her eyes.
”Oh, that.” She sighed. ”Windwolf has elevated me to elf status or something like that. Maynard says it's kind of like he adopted me into his family.”
Nathan frowned and rubbed the mark harder. ”You let him tattoo you?”
”No!” She jerked her head back. ”He had the spell initialized and coded to a word and a kiss. Apparently the mark is a big deal, so it could have some authorization coding in it so someone with a temporary tattoo kit can't duplicate it.”
”He kissed you?”
She had never seen jealousy on Nathan before, but still she recognized it on his face. ”Oh, cut it out. It was a little peck on the forehead.” She turned away from him as she recalled cuddling with Windwolf at the hospice. Had that actually happened, or was it some drug dream? ”Look, it's a good thing. The NSA tried to kidnap me, and Windwolf's mark kept them from doing it.”
It was hard to tell what annoyed Nathan more-that the NSA had grabbed her or that Windwolf had permanently marked her. She hadn't suspected that Nathan would react with such primal male chest beating. ”He's the viceroy, Nathan, get over it!”
And even Nathan could see the unlikelihood that an elf n.o.ble would be interested in a little junkyard dog. ”I'm sorry, Tink.”
He turned her toward him and leaned down to kiss her, cautiously at first, and then hungrily. She was too tired and annoyed with life to enjoy it completely.
When he broke the kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers and asked huskily, ”Do you want me to take you home?”
That put a thrill through her. Nathan. Her place. Her big bed. No. That was too scary a thought, despite the sudden wanting throb inside of her. The couch? Yes, she could deal with the couch, but still, the bed was frighteningly close by.
”No,” she said once she swallowed down her heart. ”I've got some things I want to do here,” she lied. Then, because she knew Nathan wouldn't allow her to go home alone, not after today, she said, ”Oilcan can take me home.”
Oilcan looked struck dumb. When he realized that they were talking about him, he nodded. ”Yeah! Sure!”
”Okay.” Nathan stepped away reluctantly. ”If you need anything, just call me.”
”I will,” she promised.
”See you tomorrow night.” Nathan went to his squad car and drove away.
It wasn't until after he left that she realized he meant for their date.
”What the h.e.l.l was that all about?” Oilcan broke the silence. ”What's tomorrow night?”
”We're going to the Faire tomorrow night.”
”You're dating Nathan? Since when?”
”Friday! You've got a problem with that?”
”I don't know. It just seems weird. You two kissing?” He squirmed. ”It's like you're dating me.”
”What the h.e.l.l does that mean?”
”Well, you know Nathan's like family.”
”So?” She kicked a dead headlight sitting on the ground. It sailed off to smash with crystal clarity. ”You want me to date a complete stranger like...like”-she couldn't say Windwolf because that would hurt-”Maynard?”
”No! Well, maybe.” Oilcan rubbed at the back of his neck. ”I don't know. Nathan knows you're smart, but I don't think he knows how smart.”
”What does that have to do with anything?” She didn't want to point out that she and Oilcan got along fine, even though they both knew she was smarter than he was.
”You're only going to get smarter. You're not happy unless you're learning something. Nathan, he's at the top of his game right now. He sees you and thinks he can handle it, but he doesn't realize things aren't going to stay the same.”
”Could you at least let us get one date in before you doom the whole relations.h.i.+p?”
”As long as you keep in mind that it's probably not going to work out.”
”Why not? You said yourself that Nathan already knows what I am.”
”I don't know if Nathan has ever really listened listened to you. I mean, when you're talking about racing, or bowling, or horseshoes, he's listening to you. But when you talk about what's really in your soul, the real you, he's tuning you out. His eyes glaze over, and he does all sorts of fiddly things, and if you go on too long, he tries to shut you up.” to you. I mean, when you're talking about racing, or bowling, or horseshoes, he's listening to you. But when you talk about what's really in your soul, the real you, he's tuning you out. His eyes glaze over, and he does all sorts of fiddly things, and if you go on too long, he tries to shut you up.”
He does? Embarra.s.singly enough, she had never noticed. She shrugged it away. If she didn't notice, it couldn't be something hugely important. ”I'm going to have to date someone, sometime.” Embarra.s.singly enough, she had never noticed. She shrugged it away. If she didn't notice, it couldn't be something hugely important. ”I'm going to have to date someone, sometime.”
”Have you told Nathan about CMU?”
”Actually, Lain released me from that. She said I only had to go to college if I really wanted to.”
”And?” Oilcan asked, as if it was still a possibility.
She opened her mouth to say no, but for some reason it came out, ”I don't know!”
Nor did she know later as Oilcan dropped her off at her loft. She cleaned up the mess that the NSA agents had made of her place, trying to wrap her mind around the sudden changes in her life. Too much had hit at once. If it had just been Windwolf, or the EIA, or CMU, or the NSA, or Nathan, maybe she could have dealt with any one. She finally drew decision trees to map out her possible actions.
Windwolf yielded no branches; there was nothing for her to actually do, so she tried to delete him from her mind. Unfortunately, sometimes a mind wasn't as obedient as a piece of hardware.
Nor did the NSA tree provide actions; they were dealt with for the time being. EIA worked out to be a simple ”help Maynard or annoy Maynard.” While Windwolf's adoption obviously provided her with protection from the EIA, it seemed wiser to help the EIA.
Nathan broke down to the simple ”go on the date or cancel.” Because of her age and Nathan's reticence, neither would lead to ma.s.sive changes in her life.
The tree for going to college, however, disturbed her greatly. The branch for attending splintered into mult.i.tudes of possibilities. Staying in Pittsburgh yielded unending sameness. For the first time she wondered if Lain was right; was she in danger of stagnating if she stayed in Pittsburgh?
She glanced at Nathan's tree. If she dated him, at least that was some change. She circled the ”go on the date.” She had promised him to try to look older. That required better clothes and makeup, of which she had neither. She made a note to get both in the morning.
Maynard called and told her that the NSA agents would be released in the morning. ”Unfortunately the elves don't deal with gray very well. We either had to execute Durrack and Briggs or let them go. While killing them would keep them safely out of our hair, it was a little excessive.”
Tinker made sure the door was triple bolted, and she armed her security system before going to bed. The events of the last few days combined oddly in her mind until she was dreaming of Foo dogs, crows, Riki, the NSA agents, and Windwolf all jumping through magic hula hoops. Despite the teleporting abilities of the hula hoops, the dream played out entirely at the EIA warehouse. At some point, the Foo dogs ran off with the magical toys, reducing her to tears.
”Do not cry.” Windwolf produced a ring. ”This works just as well. The gates can be quite small, if you understand the quantum effect of magic.”
”What about the veil effect?” Tinker breathed as he slid the ring onto her oil-stained finger.
”Here it is.” He placed a bridal veil on her head. The s.h.i.+mmering fabric was at once invisible and a glistening black caught full of stars.
Proving that she had paid attention to the handful of weddings she'd attended, Maynard married them in what seemed a fairly accurate though amazingly short ceremony.
”Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”