I had cut a lot of ties when I left home. Quite intentionally. My family didn’t like who I’d grown into, and I didn’t like them trying to keep me from being myself. So, high school diploma in hand, I’d said goodbye and come north, hoping to find more tolerance, and maybe even some good company.
It’s a nice room. Restful.
Thanks. The walls are kind of thin.
Then we’ll be quiet.
A tingle ran through me. I stepped toward Lomen and he turned to me, welcoming. I brushed his hair with my fingers, something I’d been longing to do. It was silky soft.
He waited, letting me take the lead. A kiss, then another, less hesitant. I tasted his neck where it met his shoulder. Hint of salt, and a whisper of sandalwood. I drew him down to the bed.
Your turn.
I echoed what he’d done for me—undid his jeans and found him ready, which made me unbearably hot. He tasted wonderful.
It wasn’t long before he pulled off his shirt and pulled me up onto the bed with him. My clothes faded away and our minds blended together along with our bodies.
Words fail to convey how amazing telepathic sex is. Those two words sound flat and technical, when the sensation is … beyond elation. I can’t do it justice.
I don’t know how many times we came to the brink and he said
wait
and we both held still, aching to come. The last three times were in quick succession, I remember that. And then complete loss of control. And collapse. And glowing exhaustion.
I became aware of myself with the sensation of his hand gently stroking my back. I raised my head to look at him, found him smiling lazily. I shifted so I could kiss him. He responded with languid enthusiasm.
We should get to Caeran’s soon. They will be expecting us.
I looked around him at the clock. Almost six.
OK.
I sat up, feeling a little groggy. We were still deeply connected, which meant our senses overlapped and I had two views of the bedroom, overlaid. I felt him draw back a little.
I wondered if we’d made much noise. Not that it mattered, because omigod. I’d do it again in a hot second.
He chuckled. I gave him a dirty look.
Reading my mind again.
I make no apologies. And by the way, I agree.
You’re going out hunting alben again tonight?
Every night, until we find them.
Damn.
I picked up a shirt. It was Lomen’s. I handed it over and looked for more clothes among the rumpled bedding.
So rest well. We have no classes tomorrow.
Boy, howdy.
We got dressed. I got out my bike, which I wanted to take to Caeran’s so I’d have it for getting around.
“I can walk it,” I said, collecting my pack.
No need.
We left, and I locked up. Noticed movement in the neighbor’s window; the curtain fell back into place as I looked.
The day was heading toward sunset, light just getting a golden tinge and the shadows slanting long. I walked the bike to the street, got on, then glanced at Lomen.
Go ahead. I’ll keep up.
I rode down the street to the corner and turned east. Lomen jogged along beside me. I didn’t try to race him—we were going uphill so I wasn’t going that fast—but I wasn’t crawling along either. He kept pace with me, even though I was working hard by the time we were halfway to Len and Caeran’s.
I glanced at him a couple of times. When we stopped for a traffic light I was breathing hard. He hadn’t even broken a sweat.
Damn. You’re superman.
He laughed softly.
Hardly.
Compared to me you are.
He didn’t answer that. Too close to uncomfortable truths, maybe.
I didn’t apologize. Turned away from regret. Kept going.
The porch light was on at Len and Caeran’s. I parked my bike by the front door and hesitated, wondering if I should knock. Lomen answered that by opening the door and walking in.
I heard the clink of plates and saw Amanda setting the table in the dining nook. Caeran was in the living room, on his feet. He turned to look at us—Lomen, then me, then Lomen again. His eyebrows went up a bit.
“Dinner’s ready.”
I went down the hall to the bathroom to wash my face and hands. Cold water cooled me down and gave me the chance to shield. When I came back the sideboard was full of food and Amanda and Lomen were already helping themselves.
It was lasagne, with salad and garlic bread on the side. I was hungry, and forgave myself for loading my plate. I’d had a vigorous ride up, after all.
Len poured red wine all around and raised her glass. “To Ebonwatch’s success.”
I drank the toast, reflecting on all the things it could mean.
“So,” she said, “how was today?”
“Good,” Amanda said. “I figured out how to set up the business so the seed money isn’t taxable.”
She rattled on a while. I listened with half an ear while I dug into my dinner. Len talked about her own classes—she liked them—and Lomen mentioned changing his schedule.
I wasn’t hot to talk about my day. Not all of it had been fun, and the most fun part wasn’t appropriate for dinner conversation.
“I changed my schedule, too,” I said. “Dropped physics and the student-assisting job. Added molecular biology.”
“Be sure and let me know about any fees,” Amanda said. “And your texts. We’ll pick up the cost.”
Texts! I’d forgotten to check about texts for the biology and genetics classes. I’d do it after dinner.
“I talked to Madóran today,” Caeran said. “We’ve decided that the Evennight celebration will be at his place.”
Len looked unhappy. “Aw, I had it all planned!”
“I’m sorry. It is better this way—with alben in Albuquerque, we dare not risk...”
“No, you’re right, of course.” Len put on a smile. “We’ll host Midwinter.”
“If the situation here is resolved by then.”
Lomen picked up his glass. “Here’s to that.”
We all drank. This time I noticed the wine: fruity but not sweet, dry on the finish. I reached for the bottle to read the label. Montepulciano, Italy.
“You a connoisseur?” Amanda asked.
“Hardly. Just trying to educate myself.”
“Caeran picked it,” Len said. “He knows a lot about wine. He’s educating all of us.”
I glanced at Caeran, who tossed it off with a shrug. “Madóran knows more. He actually makes wine.”
“And carves furniture, and makes pottery. And soap,” I said. “What else does he do?”
Amanda chortled. “Name it. He’s a great cook, too.”
“He’s a healer,” Len said, her tone suddenly serious.
“Yeah,” Amanda said. “That’s his main thing.”
“We all have cause to be grateful for his skill at healing,” Caeran said.
All their faces went sober. Amanda and Len both nodded. I met Lomen’s gaze, and he gave me a tiny nod as well.
I did a quick shield, wanting to keep my reflections to myself. The conversation moved on while I thought about why they might all have needed healing. I told myself that it was in the past, that those alben were gone. But there were the new alben to deal with. The clan wouldn’t be trying to track them down unless they considered them a threat.
Depressing. I tried to pay attention to what the others were saying, but I couldn’t quite reconnect. By the time we’d finished eating and clearing away the leftovers, the sun was down and Lomen was on the phone with Savhoran. I sat next to him on the couch, and picked up Amanda’s tablet from the coffee table.
“Can I use this?” I whispered.
She nodded. I looked up the texts for my new classes on the UNM Bookstore’s website. There were ebook versions available. I’d download them later.
With a pang of envy, I handed the tablet back to Amanda, mouthing my thanks. I’d been scrimping, hoping to eventually get one, but the good ones weren’t cheap.
Lomen hung up the phone and looked at Amanda. “I’m to take your car and meet them, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure,” she said, and dug the keys out of her pocket.
He stood and took them. “See you later.”
I watched him head for the door. He looked back and caught my eye, smiled a little, then went out.
“I didn’t know he could drive,” I said into the silence.
“He can handle an automatic,” Amanda said. “Barely. What the hell, it’s second-hand.”
Len laughed. “Manda’s teasing you,” she told me. “They all learn fast. Caeran got his license a month after he started.”
I looked at Caeran. “Is it strange for you? Driving a car?”
He shrugged. “Easier than driving a wagon. Horses are unpredictable.”
Horses. Jeez.
“If the hunting looks to continue much longer, we’ll get Lomen a car. You should not have to sacrifice yours, Manda.”
“Eh, I’m not going anywhere at night anyway,” she said. “I’m getting itchy for a poker tournament, though.”
“Aren’t there some during the day?” Len asked.
“Yeah. Hey, let’s play now! You know how to play poker, right Steve?”
“Uh...I know the basics.”
“Ever play Texas Hold’em?”
“No.”
“It’s easy. Come on!”
She got up and pulled two decks of cards out of a cupboard, then went to the dining table. The rest of us followed.
“I’d prefer to play bridge,” Caeran said as he took a chair. “There are four of us.”
Amanda frowned. “That takes too long to learn. Do you know bridge, Steve?”
I shook my head.
“He’s a math whiz,” Len said. “He’d pick it up fast.”
“Poker first,” said Amanda.
I glanced at Caeran, sitting across from me, and hid a smile. We shared a guy moment.
Amanda pulled the cards out of their boxes and handed one deck to Len to shuffle. She launched into an explanation and started dealing.
At first I thought the game stupidly simple. Each player had only two cards, with five more shared on the board in a version of seven-card stud. It seemed mostly a game of chance, but as we played I realized a lot depended on the players’ choices. By the end of an hour I was intrigued.
Len went out first, yielding most of her chips to Amanda. I was still figuring out the odds, which were different from those of regular poker. A couple of miscalculations cost me most of my stack, and a last-ditch attempt to recoup failed when none of the cards that would give me either a straight or a flush—outs, Amanda called them—came through.
“Heads up,” Amanda said, looking at Caeran as she handed the made deck to Len. “Don’t let me win.”
“I would not dream of insulting you so,” Caeran said.
Len pushed the cards from the previous deal toward me. “Steve, would you shuffle?”
“Sure.”
I couldn’t do the fancy riffle Amanda did. I could barely keep up with shuffling each deck a few times and handing it over as it was needed.
Amanda had the majority of chips, but with a win now and then Caeran made steady gains. I found myself wondering if he was reading Amanda’s thoughts. He gave me a sharp glance and I focused on the shuffling for a while, cheeks burning. The girls didn’t notice.
I quietly shielded, then ventured a glance at Caeran. He gave me a cool look. I was oddly reminded of the old tradition of duelling, where one gentleman could call another out to fight with pistols or swords over an insult such as the accusation of cheating at cards.
It wasn’t quite so formal in the old west. The pistols were right handy and the shooting could happen at the table.
I wondered if I would ever get used to being around these ælven. It was sure training me to watch what I thought about.
The chips evened up, then Caeran edged ahead. Amanda’s betting got even more risky. She bet heavily on a flop of ace, jack, ten, mixed suits. Caeran called her. She continued to bet hard and Caeran kept calling, for a turn card of seven diamonds and a river of nine clubs. She showed two pair, aces and tens, and Caeran laid down queen-eight.
“Straight,” Len said, pushing the pot to Caeran.
“You should have taken me all in,” Amanda said grumpily.
“You might have had the higher straight,” said Caeran.
He now had about two thirds of the chips. Amanda pulled back and won a couple of small pots, but Caeran kept the lead. It took about half an hour more for him to get the rest of her chips. Finally she went all in on three fives, but Caeran had a flush.
She sighed. “You win.”
Caeran smiled. “Good game.”
Amanda returned a wry smile and collected the cards, stuffing them back into their boxes. I checked the time and was surprised to see it was almost ten.
“Who wants dessert?” Len said. “It’s tiramisu.”
We all opted in for that. Caeran offered to make coffee. I ducked away to my room to download my textbooks before I forgot. When I got back, they had the TV on and were watching the news.
Caeran served up the tiramisu and steaming mugs of coffee. Amanda was in her chair, Len on the couch near Caeran’s chair. I sat cross-legged on the other end of the couch and balanced my coffee on the arm.
As we watched the news, I realized I was bracing for a story about another killing. Everything the clan had told me about the alben, though, indicated that there would be about a week between killings. They didn’t need to feed more often than that.
A week here, trapped indoors after dark. I had a feeling cards would get old.
We got to the weather without anything worse than a domestic violence incident. By the end of the forecast I had finished my dessert. I glanced at the others, whose plates were also clean.
“Great dessert, Caeran,” I said, standing up. “Thanks.”
“There’s more.”
“Oh, no. I’m stuffed.”
I collected the others’ plates and took them to the kitchen. Caeran followed me in and poured himself more coffee. I caught his eye.
“Sorry,” I said softly as I rinsed the dishes. “I knew you wouldn’t do that.”
He didn’t quite smile, but his face softened. “No, I wouldn’t. I do value your trust. And the Creed bids us to honor the privacy of others.”
“I’m just paranoid, I guess.”
“You have good reason. I sometimes forget to ignore unshielded thoughts.”
I took a dishtowel off its hook and dried my hands. “I’m still learning.”
“Yes. You’re doing fine.” He added a dollop of cream to his coffee. “I put your bike in the garage. Things have disappeared off of porches in this neighborhood from time to time.”