Higher Power (Prophecy Of The Cataclysm Book One), page 9
Cole. She groaned, hating he’d had to see her this way again. She really couldn’t understand what had prompted her to drink so much. Leaning forward, she pressed the heels of her hands against her aching eyes.
The scent of bacon frying wafted in under the door. She moaned, her stomach tumbling over itself as the smell filled her head. Whoever was cooking was going to get it once she could clear her head well enough to go downstairs.
Kat reached for the water pitcher she always kept on her night stand. Her groping fingers met nothing but empty air. With a frown, she squinted at the empty space where the night stand should have been. All thoughts of her aching body fled Kat’s mind as she took a good look around the room. Nothing was where it should be. Nothing was familiar.
“Oh no.” She gripped the edge of the bed. “This is not my room. This could be bad.” She looked down at herself. She was wearing a man’s sleeping gown. She swallowed. “Very bad.”
She scooted to the head of the bed and braced one hand against the wall as she rose to her feet. Her trembling legs threatened to spill her to the floor. She pressed her forehead to the wall, giving her body a moment to adjust to this upright position. When she felt strong enough, she pushed away from her source of support and stumbled toward the door.
It opened on a combination living room and kitchen. Kat froze with one hand gripping the door handle, her breathe catching in her throat as she stared at the broad, muscular back of her best friend. “Cole?”
He turned, a smile lighting his face. “Good morning. How do you feel?”
“Confused and a little nauseous.” She winced against the morning sunlight spilling in through the open window. “So...how did I get here?”
“Not under your own power.” He turned back to the stove. “You were very drunk last night.”
“Yeah. Uh,” she cleared her throat and then licked her lips, “so, I spent the night here. In your bed.” She hesitated, afraid to ask the obvious question. This could be so much worse than she’d imagined. “With you?”
Cole chuckled. “In my bed, yes. With me, no. I slept on the couch.” He placed two pieces of bacon and some scrambled eggs on a plate and put it on the table. “Sit. Eat.”
Kat breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank the God Above. When I woke up in a strange bed wearing a man’s shirt I thought... Well, you know.” She slowly made her way to the table and sank into the chair. “What am I doing in your shirt?”
“Lauren thought you’d be more comfortable out of your clothes, but she had nothing which would even come close to fitting you. So I offered one of mine.”
“Thanks.” Kat looked at the plate and made a face. “You don’t seriously expect me to eat this,
do you?”
“An empty stomach isn’t going to ease your hangover.” He pushed the plate toward her. “And believe me, you’re stomach is empty.”
Kat wrinkled her nose. “I threw up on you?”
Cole nodded. “But at least you did it while we were still outside.”
“Sorry.” She lifted her fork and poked at the eggs. “I guess I was a real mess, huh?”
“It’s okay. What’s a friend for if not to hold back your hair while you throw up all over them? I need new boots anyway.”
Kat chuckled. “Well, now you have a good excuse.” She lifted a small bite of eggs to her lips. The smell alone was almost enough to make her gag, but for Cole’s sake she shoved it into her mouth anyway.
“So, did I do anything incredibly stupid last night?” she asked after swallowing the eggs. They hit her stomach like tiny pebbles. “You know, besides getting smashed in front of your brother who has never liked me.”
Cole leaned back and crossed his arms. “You do owe us for a broken table.”
“I threw a table?”
He shook his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “You danced on it.”
“I...danced? On a table?” She sat her fork down. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.” The small smile was quickly spreading into a grin. “And you sang.”
Kat groaned and leaned her face into her hands. “Kill me now, please.”
“It wasn’t so bad, really.”
She peeked at him through her fingers. “Easy for you to say. Now I can never show my face in The Grey Goose again. In fact, I may give up drinking completely after this.”
“Really?” He raised a brow. “Completely? As in, you will never take another drink in your entire life, ever?”
“What’s that tone?” Kat lowered her hands to the table. “Are you implying I’m a lush?”
“Never.” He smiled. “But you do like to drink.”
“You better watch it.” She lifted her fork and pointed it at him. “I may not have my staff at the moment, but I’m not weaponless.” She frowned. “Where is my staff anyway? And, um, my clothes?”
“Over there.” He pointed to a chair by the hearth. “But first,” he tapped his finger on the edge of the plate, “eat.”
“Yes, mother.” She obediently took another bite. “So, did we have any fun at all last night?”
“You were pretty deep into your mugs by the time we got there.”
Kat shook her head. “I’m sorry. Sean and Lauren must be furious with me.”
“I don’t think Lauren is capable of being furious. And Sean...” He shrugged. “It’s hard to tell.”
“I guess they aren’t here?”
“They left the babies with Lauren’s mother and went to the market. Lauren thought you might be more comfortable if they weren’t around when you woke up.”
“She was right.” Kat finished off the breakfast and pushed the plate over to Cole. “There, satisfied?”
“Very.” He carried the plate to the sink.
Kat ran her finger over a whorl in the surface of the table. “I know what I did, but did I say anything I shouldn’t have last night?”
Cole hesitated, his gaze fixed on the plate in his hand. “You might have mentioned Jesse once or twice.”
“Jesse?” Kat’s fingers stilled. “What did I say?”
“I don’t remember.” He worked the pump handle to draw water. “It was nonsense, mostly. Garbled. Drunk talk.”
“Oh. Good.” But it wasn’t good at all. The way Cole wouldn’t look at her made her think it had been a little more than drunk talk. She didn’t know what she might have said, but she had a feeling it wasn’t anything she’d repeat while sober, so she must not have been insulting Jesse or threatening to bash his head in. For a minute, she thought to ask Cole exactly what she’d said. Then thought better of it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“I guess I’ll get dressed and let you have your house back.” She stood. “Thanks for bringing me here instead of to the Guild.”
“You’re welcome,” he said. “I figured you wouldn’t want anyone else to see you that way.”
“No.” Kat gathered up her clothes and went back into Cole’s room to change. When she came back out, Cole was gone. Probably went to open the forge. She was glad, she didn’t feel like trying to think of something else to say to him.
Kat squinted as she stepped out into the bright sunlight. The pounding in her head had faded to a dull throb and the food was sitting in her stomach much better than she would have expected it to, but she still felt groggy and achy.
She walked through the crowd feeling as if she were dragging weights on her feet. The sunlight was so sharp it seemed as if it would cut right through her. Sounds were muffled. When she finally realized she was being followed, she blamed her dull senses for not catching on quicker.
Once Kat became aware of the hooded figure trailing her, her thoughts turned away from the previous night and focused on what she might do about the present situation. Turn and confront her unwelcome shadow here on the crowded street, or wait until they were in a more isolated area? She didn’t relish the idea of fighting for her life in the condition she was in, but neither could she put the innocent lives around her at risk. Not when she had no idea what the stranger’s intentions might be.
She continued down the street pretending to be unaware she was being followed. When she came to the road leading to the Guild House, which was less traveled this time of day, she slipped behind the nearest building, slid her staff off her back, and waited.
The second her pursuer came in sight, Kat swung, aiming to crack an arm or a rib rather than a skull. She wanted to question the person before killing him. Instead, her staff swung through empty air and slammed into the wall with enough force to rattle her teeth.
“I mean you no harm,” the stranger said in a low voice. He stood calmly before her as if having someone swing a staff at him was an everyday occurrence.
Kat faced the man with her staff gripped in both hands and held crosswise in front of her body. Sweat dripped down her back and yet the man before her seemed perfectly comfortable dressed head to toe in black with not an inch of skin showing.
“Who are you?” She tried to get a look under the hood of his cloak, but the blackness within was impenetrable. A shiver rolled down her back. She’d never had much cause to meddle with magic, but she knew it when she saw it.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “What matters is who you are.”
“Oh, yeah?” She tightened her grip on her staff. “And who, exactly, do you think I am?”
“Someone who can be trusted to handle a difficult job.”
Kat eased her stance a little, eyeing the man uncertainly. “You want to hire me?”
“Yes.”
“To do what?”
“Have you heard of the Suri Desert?”
“Yeah, it’s in the Wild Lands.” She lowered her staff. “But I’ve never been there.”
“In the center of this desert is a temple and within this temple is a stone tablet no larger than a loaf of bread. I wish you to acquire it for me.”
“You mean steal it.” Kat rested the butt of her staff on the ground. “Sounds easy. What’s the catch?”
“The tablet is an object of power and is protected by a Magus of the Order Of The Seventh Star. You will have to kill her.”
Kat laughed. “Okay, well, this has been a fascinating conversation, really, but I think I’ll be going now.” She stepped past the man.
“I can pay.”
She turned around. “You couldn’t offer me enough paper to...” Her voice trailed off as he took a small, shiny object from the pouch in his hand.
“It’s real,” he said, turning it so the light from the sun reflected from its silver surface. He let it tumble back into the pouch. "I'm not offering paper. I'm offering these two hundred star stones, for starters. All you need do is accept the job and they’re yours. And when you return to me with the tablet, another two hundred will be waiting for you.”
Four hundred star stones. For a moment Kat could not even breath, much less talk. The stones seemed to sing sweet promises to her from within the pouch. Promises of a brand new future she had never even dared to dream of. Forget a measly cut of Jesse’s marks, this was so far beyond that it boggled her mind to even try and think of it.
Kat swallowed and forced her gaze away from the pouch. “Killing even a Magus of the lowest order would be a near impossible task. What you’re asking of me can’t be done.”
“Anything can be done, if you’re willing.” He jiggled the pouch. “It’s a high risk job, this is true, but the pay is more than equal to the task. Will you do it?”
It would be crazy to say yes. Completely and totally insane. And yet Kat found herself reaching out her hand. The man dropped the pouch into her palm. It wasn’t nearly as heavy as it ought to have been, seeing as how it contained her entire future.
“Will you be able to find the temple?” he asked.
“Not on my own.” Kat wrapped her fingers around the bag. “But I know someone who can show me the way.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Heat pressed against the back of Simon’s head as he rode alongside Loren behind Charles and Anastasia. His thoughts were in turmoil. Though it had been his suggestion they do this, it didn’t mean he was entirely convinced it was the correct move. But even thoughts of possibly being arrested for treason were not as worrisome as the arrival of the imp.
Simon had immediately seen through the imp’s guise and judging by its reaction, it had seen through his as well. He silently cursed his own hesitancy. Shock had made him too slow to react and now whoever had sent the imp to spy knew the truth.
Being human for so long had dulled his senses and made him forget the reason he was brought to the lesser plane in the first place. The God Above had not seen fit to supply him with all the details, but he knew enough to know what it was he was supposed to do. Protect Anastasia until her great destiny could be fulfilled. He didn’t know what her destiny might be, but the God Above had assured him it would have an impact on all realms and when this all began that was good enough for him.
He had no doubt whoever sent the imp meant Anastasia harm. In order to better protect her, he needed to know who and why. But he had no way of contacting the God Above to find the answers.
It might be time to pay a visit to Selene. The idea filled him with equal parts elation and trepidation. So much time had passed since he last saw her and she might not even be willing to help. But she was his only link to Fate, and if he couldn’t get answers from a god then a higher power was the next best thing.
“Simon.” The way Anastasia spoke his name suggested she’d been trying to catch his attention for several moments.
He lifted his head to find the siblings looking back at him with matching expressions of worry. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Are you all right?” Anastasia asked. “Is something bothering you?”
Plenty was bothering him, but he couldn’t explain to them. They had no idea what he truly was. “I’m worried about what’s going to happen after you speak with the Duke.”
“You and me both,” Charles said. “If the Duke won’t help us, I don’t know where we might turn next.”
“We still have Jesse,” Anastasia said.
Charles sighed. “I don’t understand why you cling so desperately to the idea of a rebellion. People talk, it doesn’t mean they intend to rise up against the throne. And even if they did they would likely fail. Farmers and merchants could be no match against trained troops.”
Anastasia’s lips pinched. “But they might, if they have someone helping them. Someone powerful, like Duke Victor. Of course,” she fiddled with a strap on the side of her saddle, “if you were king, then a rebellion wouldn’t even be necessary.”
“Simon.” Charles twisted in the saddle to glare back at him. “Did you put that idea into her head?”
“Of course I--”
“No one has to put ideas into my head,” Anastasia snapped. “I do have a brain, even if I’m not allowed to use it. If you were king then we would be rid of the threat of Richard and, perhaps more importantly, the people would have no reason to rise up. We could save so many more
lives besides our own.”
“How many times do I have to say I don’t want to be king before someone actually hears me?” Charles asked. “How do you know I would be any better than Richard? Power corrupts, that is a fact.”
“I don’t believe that,” Anastasia said. “A truly good man cannot be corrupted.”
Charles gazed at her in surprise. “And you think me a truly good man?”
“Yes,” she reached out and laid her hand on his arm, “I do.”
He shook his head. “A sister’s opinion is hardly unbiased.”
“Perhaps, but it’s still true. I love you, Charles, and I have the utmost faith in your character,” she said. “I wouldn’t wish for you to be trapped in a life you would hate, but I can’t help wondering if we’re being too selfish, thinking only of ourselves.
“Last night, I found myself considering not only our fate if Richard is crowned king, but the fate of all of Hyacinth. We are royalty, and thus we have a duty to the people of this land. A duty to shelter and protect them. Even if it means sacrificing our own happiness in order to do so.”
Charles slumped. “Duty is a heavy burden.”
“Yes, it is,” Anastasia said. “I feel it now as I never have before. Father...he made the right decision in choosing to agree to my betrothal to Richard. Now wait,” she held up her hand before Charles could speak, “listen to me. Father has a duty to protect his people. I was angry at first. I even hated him. But I’ve had time to think, and I’m still angry, but I understand why he did it.”
“I don’t,” Charles said. “I’m sorry, but I could never put duty above my family. If I can’t protect the people I love, then how could I be expected to protect those I don’t even know?”
“If you were king, you could do both.”
Simon couldn’t help but smile at her logic. “She has a point.”
Charles shook his head. “She usually does.” He wiped his hand across his face. “Can we at least talk to Duke Victor first? See what he has to say before I make up my mind?”
Anastasia smiled. “Of course.”
“You know,” Charles grasped her hand, “no matter how much I may not want the responsibility, if becoming king is the only way to save you from Richard, I would do it. I would do anything for you.”
“And I for you.”
Watching them together, Simon felt his heart swell so with love it seemed intent on bursting from his chest. When the God Above first put him here, protecting Anastasia was nothing but a mission, now it was so much more. He would keep her safe from the coming storm. He would keep them both safe. Whatever he had to face, whatever form the threat might be, he would let no harm come to either of them. That’s what family was for.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The sun was sliding down the western horizon, painting the sky in bands of burnt orange and amber. Ahead, the lights of Havenessy glowed through the falling gloom. Jesse was glad to have reached the city at last, even if he had no real desire to enter it.
