Page 104 of Witchbane
“We could recreate the library and link it to a doorway here. We need the space.” He wilted a bit, his shoulders sagging. “But Kiran isn’t healthy. I don’t want to tax him with something that big right now. This is a good start. I don’t think I’ve read any of this stuff.”
“Thanks for taking care of Liam and Ari,” I said. “I mean in Underhill. I know you’re sort of the voice of reason.” Liam had told me Nick had moments of unrest, which I understood. Maybe if I gave Kiran and him the camper, they could at least have some space? Tiny though it may be.
“I tried. Being confined to the small space Kiran could hold open until Ari was strong enough to help, was difficult. The castle got very small for a while.”
“Years?” I asked. Not really wanting to confirm, but suspecting since Liam had hedged a bit, that he’d been stuck for longer than he wanted to tell me.
“Yes, but not a whole decade, I don’t think. I didn’t always count the time right. And every time we caught a glimpse of you, we thought maybe we could break through. It was Kiran who said he didn’t think you were awake in this world, and until you were, that neither Liam nor Ari were going to have any luck finding the right path to get us out.”
My heart ached with the thought of Liam and Ari without me that long. At least they’d had each other. “Ari can’t create portals?”
“Not really,” Nick said. “Liam did that using your power. It took him a bit to get that right. You are still the only one who can waltz through other people’s worlds. Ari is a bit more like a battering ram. Might have been able to blast the world open, but who knows what damage that might have done. Or if we would have survived. Maybe when they are older. Liam is trying to give them as much of a real childhood as possible.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. Liam alone a long time really bothered me. How had he managed? I’d have gone insane. I wondered if everyone knew how strong my mate was. I had a lot of time to make up for. The last ward relaxed, and I unhooked the inside latch with a careful press.
“For what?”
“You not really having a childhood.”
“Not your fault. I could have been dead. This world will take some getting used to, but I’d rather read than be dead.” He pointed at all the books.
“Apahad an extensive library too. Oberon might be willing to send them to me. Fuck,” I said. “I have to tell Oberon aboutApa. I don’t know if there is a way to get him back.”
“I think Liam told him already,” Nick said, creating a stack of books he was going to read right away. “You’d have to bargain with the dark court which is likely not the best idea.”
I sighed. It couldn’t be that easy. But I’d see if Liam had any ideas about it down the road. At least we knew whereApawas, and it wasn’t dead in Underhill. And neither was Liam, for which I was insanely grateful. “The tattoos you drew are amazing. We will have to get you more drawing books right away.”
Nick actually smiled. “Liam’s vision. I was happy to create the art. It was a bit more complicated making them permanent, but hopefully they stay. Since his aging has been reversing due to having his wolf back at the forefront, he’s worried the tattoos will fade.”
It was hard to get any sort of thing to scar a werewolf, and tattoos were essentially inked scars. “I hope they stay too. They are amazing.” I opened the cupboard door and was surprised to find a fluttering of candy bar wrappers fall around my feet. Hershey bars to be exact. Not my favorite, and not something I would have ever stuffed in that cupboard.
Nick blinked down at the mess, and I flicked on the two overhead kitchen lights, which lit up the whole camper and knelt down to peer inside. Two blinking cat eyes stared back at me.
“Robin?”
After a moment he got up, stretched, shoved the candy bar wrappers out from around him, pretending he hadn’t used all the darkest books of arcane alchemy as a place to nap, hide, and eat junk. He waltzed out with all the disdain his cat self could muster, staring at me like I was interrupting him.
“Um… those are important books you’re getting hair all over.” I really hoped he hadn’t been using it as a litter box.
“You had a puck hiding in your cupboard,” Nick said, sounding amused. “Kiran might actually laugh at that. But if you want help with training on how to use your portals and doors correctly, there’s no greater teacher than a puck.”
I glared at Robin. “Really? You could have helped me with the whole portal thing? You were sleeping and eating crappy chocolate?”
Robin pawed at the empty wrappers like he was worried he had missed a piece. There had to be at least three dozen.
“Probably hiding from the undead fae,” Nick offered. “Sucking up fae energy like he was, your Robin would have been on his hit list. Tricksters have a lot of wild magic in them, even if they can control more structured magic. A puck would have fueled Kiran’s magic for a long time.” He reached down and slowly petted Robin. “Never got to see a real one. Only read books by a few.”
Robin’s ears perked in Nick’s direction.
“Will you come to the house, please?” I asked Robin nicely. The books I needed were in there. I grabbed the two that I thought might help most if we needed to magically tie up some vampires. “I will get you more chocolate bars. I am some sort of fae lord now, with territory and all that.” Could fae get fat? If three dozen Hershey bars hadn’t done it yet, I wasn’t sure anything would. Robin pawed at the bars, then turned and headed toward the door. I sighed. “Any idea how to negotiate with a fae trickster into training me to use portals correctly?”
Nick carried his stack of books. “They are fairly simple actually. It’s the high court ones you want to avoid because they complicate everything. But pucks like your Robin? I suspect candy bars and lots of quiet time will probably be fine. Seeing as he’s been hiding in your camper.”
We headed back out, Robin tromping through the snow toward the house. It was odd as the back door opened without anyone saying anything, and Toby stood there for a moment, framed in the light of the kitchen. He stepped aside to let Robin through, then held out his hands to take the stack of books from Nick.
“I’ll have them left in your room,” Toby said.
“I’ll be up soon. I assume Kiran is still there?”