Page 36 of Needed in the Night (The Fortusian Mates, #2)

Despite my initial resistance to the idea, my lovely mate would smell like Isla to me regardless of any perfumes or scents she used. And I was very curious what scent Madame Ycari had made that would be so perfect without Isla actually selecting any of its ingredients.

The wooden box and pouch that protected the bottle were lovely, but the pink crystal bottle was utterly breathtaking.

Its facets shimmered even in the low light inside Atlath’s shop.

With all my attention on Isla, I had hardly noticed its design in Madame Ycari’s sampling room.

Now I realized what I had not noticed last night.

“Isla, look at the stopper,” I said as she admired how the bottle sparkled. “It is the waterfall. And the bottle is the lake.”

“Oh, you’re right,” she gasped, her eyes widening as she looked from the bottle to me and back again.

“Ycari made me a bottle that looks like my favorite place in Onat’ras.

” She stared at the bottle, turning it slowly at eye level.

“I only mentioned it once, in passing,” she added, almost to herself.

“But she remembered. And now I can take it with me.”

Isla carefully unstoppered the bottle and withdrew a crystal wand that dripped with perfume. The scent filled the air, and suddenly everything else faded away as if I had been transported to the moment I had first caught Isla’s scent in Zaa’ga the day she came in to audition.

Somehow, through technology and mastery of her craft, Ycari had made a perfume of my own scent and that of my mate, blended with the natural fragrance of the waters of Fortusia.

And she had prepared the perfume before I had confessed my love, and before Isla and I had decided to leave the planet together.

I could not help myself; lost in the scent, I went to my knees before my mate.

“Oh, no,” she said, smiling down at me. “Not again. ”

“Again and always.” I kissed her palm. “Do you recognize the scent she has made?”

“Maybe?” She ran the wand across her wrists, dabbed it along her neck and cleavage, and stoppered the bottle again before setting it on the counter. She lifted her wrist to her nose and inhaled deeply, frowning.

Her head tilted. “Does it…does it smell like you? And the lake?”

“Yes.” I rested my hands on her hips. “And of you.”

“Oh.” She sank down to sit on her travel case to bring herself eye level with me. “She made a perfume of us combined with the water of Fortusia?”

“And floral notes,” I said. “Ones I do not recognize by name, but that I like very much.”

“So she knew too, somehow.” Her smile turned wobbly. “Brae knew, Madame Ycari knew…was I the last to know?”

I kissed her gently. “All that matters is that we know.”

“I agree,” Atlath croaked. On the other side of the counter, he sipped his wine and kept a tactful distance. “Your employer, I think, was unaware. He may or may not know the whole truth even now. Whether the knowledge would make him more or less angry and vindictive, I am not sure.”

I also was not sure what Nubo’s reaction might be. Someone less venal might consider the fact Isla was my true mate reason enough to let us leave, but as far as I could tell Nubo had never been troubled by sentiment, much less kindness or mercy.

Isla’s expression took on a faraway look that I had learned indicated she was communicating telepathically with Brae. I held her hand in mine, watching for any sign of trouble until she blinked and focused on my face.

“Nubo wants Kona dead,” she said, her voice and expression grim. “For letting us get from the perfume shop to here last night. He’s sending someone now to get her out of the market and out of sight. ”

She did not say that Brae had given her the news, likely because she did not want Atlath to know about her shadowbat.

Isla’s gaze searched my face. “What do we do?”

I did not want to care what befell Kona. She had threatened me, threatened my mate, taken pleasure in the thought of Nubo breaking Isla and putting her in chains. She had spat in my face and tried to stab me. She had been a mercenary raider and likely killed in cold blood.

And yet…

“We have to warn her,” Isla said. Her shoulders slumped. “I know she means us harm, but I can’t just sit by and let him kill her. I can’t.”

“You are too tender-hearted,” Atlath croaked before I had a chance to reply. “Too merciful.”

His tone was not sharp or unkind, but my spines bristled. I would not hear criticism of my mate.

“Maybe I am.” Isla did not appear angry or resentful at Atlath’s disapproval, but her mouth compressed into a stubborn line. “But there’s too much cruelty in the universe already. I’d rather be too kind than not kind enough.”

Part of me—perhaps the more rational part who had undergone military training and served in war—argued Kona’s fate was not our responsibility. She had opted to work for Nubo knowing what kind of person he was, and her death would not be our fault.

But all that did not make what Isla said untrue. And had I not just considered how ripples of kindness created effects as much as acts of evil did?

Isla rose. I stood as well and touched her hand. “I will tell her,” I said quietly. “Please stay here. She is more likely to listen to me, and it is safer inside.”

“All right.” She brushed my fingers with her own. “But if anyone so much as looks at you wrong, I’m coming out there with all my daggers. ”

I caught her hand, kissed her knuckles, and glanced at Atlath. “Do you have anything I can use to write on my skin?”

With a disapproving burble, Atlath waddled to a shelf and found a stylus. He slid it across the bar to me.

If I spoke to Kona, someone was likely to overhear, and Nubo would immediately attempt to find out how his security had been breached. That might put Brae in danger. I needed another way to warn her.

Across my palm, in the coded language of the Cludian Corps, I wrote Nubo has sent someone to kill you for not preventing us from finding refuge . It was not impossible for someone to see the message and interpret it, but I could not think of a better solution.

I had no proof of what I said, of course. She might think it was a ploy to get her to leave the market. If she did not believe me, there was little I could do. We could only try.

“Can you open the front door enough for me to step outside?” I asked.

Atlath accessed a control panel behind the counter and tapped on it. One of the front doors swung open about a meter. The noise of the market spilled into the shop along with a slant of mid-afternoon daylight.

I strode to the door and stepped outside.

At a glance, I noted five watchers I recognized as Nubo’s agents—and Kona, who stood to the right of the doors, hands on her daggers, her dark gaze fixed on me and fury blazing in her eyes.

Moving slowly so she did not interpret it as an attack, I held out my palm. Her gaze dropped from my face to my hand, then flicked back up. I dropped my hand to my side.

For a beat, she studied me, her eyes narrowed almost into slits. I could well imagine she was reading my body language and expression and weighing the odds of whether I was telling the truth or simply trying to trick her. Would I believe me if I were in her place? I did not know.

My gaze on hers, I stepped backward through the doorway. The moment I crossed the threshold, the door swung closed again.

Isla was waiting just inside. She wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her head on my chest. “That was the longest fifteen seconds of my life,” she said, her voice muffled by my shirt. “Did she believe you?”

“I do not know.” I kissed the top of her head and glanced at Atlath. “Is she still there?”

“She is leaving,” the Prylothian croaked, all his eyes fixed on his control panel. “I do not understand why you warned her or why she would take your word, but it is done.”

The rear doors to the shop slid aside. Madame Ycari entered, followed by Pioni. Both smiled at the sight of Isla in my arms.

“Ycari!” Isla slipped from my embrace and hurried to greet them. I followed in her wake.

She grasped Ycari’s outstretched feathered hands. “Thank you so much for the perfume. It’s more wonderful and perfect than I could have imagined.”

“You are most welcome,” Ycari said. Her gaze moved to my face. “You approve as well?”

“More than words can say.” I gave her a deep bow. “It is the finest scent I have ever encountered except Isla’s own.”

Her feathers ruffled in obvious pleasure. “I am so glad you approve.”

Pioni folded her little hands in front of her chest. “You are both beautifully in love today,” she said to us in her musical voice. “Atlath says you have chosen your destination and will soon leave for the port. He mentioned I would like to go with you?”

“Yes.” Isla took my hand. “Thank you so much for everything. How can I repay your kindness? ”

“When next you may help another, you can do so in my name. I need nothing more than that, except one thing.” Pioni dipped her head. “Will you sing for us before you go? I would be very grateful.”

“Oh.” My beautiful mate blushed again. “Pioni, I can’t—your voice is so beautiful that it made me cry. I can’t come close to that. And I haven’t warmed up at all.”

“I have heard from many sources that your voice is marvelous,” Pioni countered. “We are not in competition. You have admired my voice. I want very much to do the same for yours.”

I stroked Isla’s palm with my thumb in silent encouragement.

“All right,” she said finally with a smile. “I’ll do my best, then.”

Humming to herself, she selected a song on her wristcomm. As the music began to play, I let go of her hand, surreptitiously tapped my wristcomm, and joined Ycari, Pioni, and Atlath at the counter.

Wineglasses in hand, we listened to Isla sing the Fylorian ballad she had performed for her audition at Zaa’ga. Despite her nervousness about singing for Pioni, the questionable acoustics of the wine shop, and her lack of warm-up, her voice soared, filling the space.

Gods above, I loved her.

When Isla reached the third and final verse, Pioni began to sing, turning the song into a duet. Isla’s eyes widened, but she did not stop singing or sing more softly in deference to the Sirrah.

Their voices blended, sweeping through the shop and leaving us all mesmerized. Ycari’s feathers ruffled with every high note, and for all his love of wine, Atlath’s glass went untouched, as did mine.

When the last notes of the song faded, I tapped my wristcomm again to end the recording. Isla would surely treasure this recording of them singing together, as would I.

“Thank you,” Isla said to Pioni. “Thank you so much. What an honor to sing with you.”

“Truly, the honor was mine.” Pioni handed Isla her glass of wine, then raised her own. “A toast to Isla and Mikas, friends. To love.”

“To love,” we echoed, and clinked glasses.

Isla tucked herself under my arm and nestled against my side.

“Brae says Nubo is angry because Kona got away,” she murmured.

“He can’t figure out how you knew, or why you warned her.

Apparently he’s arranged for someone to come in and scan his office for listening devices.

I told Brae to come back here and keep watch outside while we get ready to leave. ”

“Good.” I kissed her temple. “We want him to be safe.”

“I have arranged transportation to the Alpha Megaport,” Atlath interjected.

“My embassy guards will escort you to the market gate, where you will board the vehicle. Ordinarily I would have you board on the landing pad on the roof, but I think it will be to your advantage for your diplomatic credentials and escort to be clearly seen. Once your observers see those medallions, I expect your way to the port and off-planet to be clear.”

“I hope so.” Isla toyed with her wineglass. While the rest of us had finished our own drinks, hers was almost untouched.

For all Atlath’s planning and preparation, he could not guarantee our safety. Neither could I, and that gnawed at my insides. Isla must be safe. Nothing else mattered as much as that. My beastly hearts pounded, even as I rubbed her back and projected calm I did not feel.

My wristcomm beeped. Identification sets complete , the message read. Best of luck . I replied with my thanks and transferred Isla’s new identification to her wristcomm .

In our own names, we could travel from Fortusia to another world with a major transportation hub, and then use our new identities to make our way eventually to Jakora.

Efre and Pelles , I thought. Efre and Pelles .

I liked how the names sounded together. Isla had chosen well. But we would always be Isla and Mikas to each other.