Page 10 of Moonstriker (The Summertide Chronicles #4)

Chapter 10

Aubrey

When I turned twenty-one, some of the guys on the docks had insisted on taking me out to celebrate my “adulthood,” and spent the entire evening refilling my beer until I couldn’t see straight. They were stand-up guys, so they’d made sure I got home safely afterward, but that didn’t change the fact that in the morning, I woke up feeling like I’d spent the night sucking on a used sweat sock and my head was actively trying to cave in.

I’d never gone out drinking again, because it wasn’t a feeling I’d been eager to repeat, and the spinning head and laughter of the night before hadn’t been enough to offset the suffering in the morning.

But there I was, years later, with that same pounding headache and dry mouth, wishing for death, or at least darkness.

The room was too darn bright, with too much glass and not enough wall.

There was so much noise everywhere. Aunt Titania bustling about the other rooms in the suite. Someone inhabiting the room on the other side of my own. The freaking electricity in the wires inside the walls.

Had I always been able to hear that? Maybe there was a fault in the chalet’s electrical system. It was a pretty old house, so that wouldn’t have been a huge shock.

Or . . . not a huge surprise, anyway.

Might end up being a huge shock.

I blinked my eyes open, staring at the high wooden ceiling beams for a moment, listening to Aunt Titania singing in the other room.

Singing.

Aunt Titania.

Oh yeah. Dinner must have gone well. As much as it hurt my head to do it, I dragged myself out of bed and slowly dressed for the day.

When I opened the door to my room, Aunt Titania was standing in front of the mirror on the wall, fluffing her hair. She turned and beamed at me, but as she took me in, the expression fell into one of concern. “Aubrey, sweetheart, you don’t look so hot. Did you not sleep? Is it?—”

“I’m okay, Aunt Titania,” I promised. My voice was on the hoarse side, and she pursed her lips at me, dubious about how okay I could be when I sounded like that, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “The thing last night just took it out of me. I’m sure I’ll be fine. It didn’t happen again or anything like that.”

That, unlike the promise that I was fine, did seem to appease her.

“Maybe you’ll feel better after breakfast,” she conceded. “I think I smell maple syrup. I know you love all those sweet breakfast foods.”

I wouldn’t have suggested otherwise—who didn’t like pancakes?—but the truth was that she was the one who loved sweet things for breakfast. I suspected it was because she’d lived with Oberon for so long, and the man had apparently been disdainful of anything that tasted good.

I had yet to hear a single thing about my father that made me wish I had gotten to know him better.

“Sounds good,” I agreed with her. I wasn’t especially hungry, but I suspected that eating something would help. It had helped on the morning of my hangover. I’d thought my mother was trying to torment me when she’d showed up with fried potatoes and scrambled eggs for me to eat, but once I’d managed to eat them and keep them down, I had felt quite a lot better.

So after a few more minor adjustments to her hair, we headed out of the suite and downstairs toward the dining room.

“So,” I asked, casual as possible while we walked, “how was dinner?”

She blushed and giggled, ducking her head so that her hair fell in an auburn cascade that covered her face. “It was...nice.”

“Oh, nice?” I asked, leaning in and pressing my elbow into her arm. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

She giggled again, leaning back into me, then turning and burying her face in my arm. “She’s kind of amazing. She’s so...smart. And gorgeous. And fun. It’s been years since I just had dinner with a woman and—you know?”

Oddly enough, while I’d never yet been on a date, I thought maybe I did know what she meant. Aunt Titania had only rarely in her life managed to do anything for herself without being made to either compromise or feel guilty by my father, selfish asshole that he’d been. I suspected it was half the reason she’d spent close to twenty years of her life drunk, though she’d never said as much to me.

No, she would never excuse her own behavior like that—only the behavior of others.

“Hopefully this won’t take too long,” she said, sighing and leaning into me. “We’ll go up to the mountain this afternoon, since everyone is here, and see if we can take care of things. Then we’ll get you back to Amalion City and take you to a doctor.”

“I’m really?—”

“I know, I know, you’re fine. You’re a big strong man who can handle all things, but I’d feel better if we got you to a doctor. Seizures are nothing to mess around with. I know, we’re worried about protecting the whole Summerlands from Mount Slate right now, and that’s the only reason I didn’t drag you back to the city last night.” She looked up at me, her blue eyes huge and luminous. “You’re all I’ve got, Aubrey. I can’t go losing you too. Who would be my wingman then?”

I chuckled and ducked my head at that. “I knew it. There had to be a real reason you wanted me around.”

She wrapped both arms around my one and squeezed tight. “There is, you know.”

It was Duskbringer for “I love you,” and we both knew it. Nothing more needed to be said on the point.

So I smiled at her and nodded back. “I’d drag you to a doctor too. I’d like to keep you around for a good long while as well. I imagine Ember would too.”

That brought the giggle and blush back, and all was right with the world.

Well, until we walked into the dining room, and the vibe in there was...heck, it was terrible.

Everyone was silently sitting around the big table, stiff and formal and frankly, way overdressed for breakfast. Those Moonstriker clothes looked uncomfortable to survive in, let alone try to eat or sit or any number of other regular activities a person was required to do every day.

Back at Gloombringer Castle, Rain had made them look comfortable.

I supposed that meant the problem wasn’t the clothes.

The older woman from the previous evening—wearing one of those stiff suits—was sitting in the middle of one side of the table glaring at Cove Moonstriker, who was also wearing one, sitting at a random corner of the table next to his boyfriend Florian.

If the woman was Rain’s mother, didn’t that make Cove her brother? What the heck had he done to offend her?

Meanwhile, Kit was sitting at the other end of the table, right next to the door we’d come in, feet kicked out and resting on a nearby chair, looking like the same insouciant asshole as usual. He was wearing a dueling costume that was an even brighter red than the one the day before. Or maybe it was the same costume, and there was something wrong with my eyes.

He sent us a lazy smile. “Morning, Duskbringers. I trust you slept well?”

Ember was frowning, though, and oddly enough the expression was aimed at me. “You don’t look so hot, Aubrey. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe?—”

“I thought he looked rough too,” Aunt Titania interjected. “Maybe...I could call our family physician, and see if she’ll fly out here, so we don’t have to leave.”

Oh boy.

The very last thing I needed was Aunt Titania flying doctors out to meet me. Most people in Duskbringer lands could barely afford to go see a doctor when they were seriously ill. They sure as heck couldn’t order a doctor to come see them. I never wanted to be the guy who was phoning up to order a doctor when the people around me still couldn’t afford the bare minimum of care.

As though reading my mind, Kit scoffed. “By all means, let’s summon a doctor from hundreds of miles away, make her cancel all her other tiny little pleb appointments, and inconvenience everyone we possibly can on Aubrey’s behalf.”

Aunt Titania scowled at him. “Aubrey’s health is important. I’m not going to just sit by and?—”

“Let him go see a doctor under his own power?” Kit’s voice was dry as dust, and he wasn’t looking at Aunt Titania, but at me, as though I’d been the one to suggest flying a doctor out to see me. “There’s a town not an hour from here, and they’ve got this handy dandy thing called a doctor’s office. We can call ahead and make an appointment. Tell them it’s an emergency, even, so they’re sure to squeeze him into their schedule. Maybe inconvenience a few people instead of dozens or even hundreds.”

Aunt Titania paused and cocked her head. “There is?”

Like she’d missed the insulting attitude of his whole speech, and only heard the information he’d offered.

He smiled at her, this irritating, ingratiating, beautiful smile, like he was a freaking angel, and leaned toward her, expression earnest and almost hopeful. The absolute asshole. “There is, ma’am. I’d be happy to drive him into town for you, since you’re needed for the meeting on Mount Slate, and Aubrey and I are just extras in this mess.”

She utterly melted. “Oh Kit, that’s so sweet. You’d really do that for us?”

“Of course,” he agreed, reaching up to take her hand. “This meeting has to happen, but if Aubrey needs a doctor, I can get him there easily. I can even call the office on the way. We can leave now. Or right after breakfast, if you think we should eat first.”

Biting her lip, she turned to look at me, gaze assessing.

“It’s fine, Aunt Titania. I don’t even need a doctor. I certainly don’t need you to fly one out for me. It can wait until the meeting is over and we’re back in Amalion City.” I motioned toward the empty chairs across from Delta Moonstriker, and she looked at them.

Or . . . no.

She wasn’t looking at the chairs. She was looking at my hand. Which was shaking again. Darn it all. I pulled it back and shook it out forcefully, as though that would stop the tremble.

Delta Moonstriker sighed aloud, frowning over at us as though finally deeming us important enough to acknowledge. “What’s going on? Why do we need a doctor?”

“Aubrey had a seizure last night,” Ember offered instantly, and she sounded oddly conciliatory. I didn’t like that on her, and somehow wanted to...to protect her from it. She bit her lip a moment, and then went on, looking as though she expected a rebuke. “I thought...that is, I’ve read that happens sometimes when a person is first introduced to high altitude.”

Delta pursed her lips, scowling, but as she opened her mouth, I decided whatever she was going to say, I didn’t want to hear it. “That’s true. I looked it up myself. And I’ve never been sick a day in my life before, so it must be that. I’ll be fine. I’ll see a doctor when we get home and?—”

Delta interrupted me, but I didn’t hear it. All I could hear was the same surround sound roaring from the night before, as the whole world began to shake.