Лорел Гамильтон - Seduced by Moonlight

I'd always thought of Barinthus as my father's friend, our adviser, a sort of uncle. Even when the ring had recognized him months ago, it had never occurred to me to include him in my lovers. And he had not asked.

«The queen will be royally pissed,» Usna said from the front. «She has been meeting with you for weeks, discussing which men to send to the princess. Which men would the ring recognize?» He'd given up trying to get his hair dry and was starting to unbutton his shirt, though he'd have to take his shoulder holster off first if he wanted to lose the shirt. «How could you not have told her that the ring knew you?»

«How do you know this wasn't my first taste of the ring?»

Usna gave him a withering look. «Please, Barinthus, the queen sent you with the other guards to try the ring when the princess first returned to court. Because you did not mention it, we all assumed the ring did not know you.» He struggled out of his shoulder rig so that it flapped around his waist, and he began to peel the shirt from his skin, revealing that the red and black in his hair trailed down his body, in places. «The ring certainly knew you tonight.»

«I never lied to anyone about the ring,» Barinthus said.

«No, we never lie to one another,» Usna said, «but we'll omit so much that it would be more sporting to simply lie.» He let the wet shirt fall to the floor of the limo and stood up enough to start working at his belt.

«Are you actually going to strip in the car?» I asked.

«I am wet through and through, Princess. If I can get the clothes off, I will begin to dry. The clothes will stay wet longer than my skin will.»

«It is true that the ring sparked for me when Meredith first returned to the courts, but I thought then that I could be of more use to her if I remained at the courts, as her ally. Sadly, I still think so.»

«The queen will give you no choice,» Usna said, «except to see the Hallway of Mortality before you bed the princess. That choice you may have.»

I looked at Barinthus. I wanted to ask him if he would claim his true name before the entire court, or at least the queen. But I couldn't ask without giving away that there was more secret to tell. It was his secret, not mine.

If he understood my look, he ignored it. «When I touched the ring many months ago, it was nothing like today. Nothing.»

«The ring has grown stronger,» Doyle said.

«That alone may not be it,» Rhys said.

We looked at him.

He moved aside his soaking-wet trench coat and held up the chalice. Those of us who knew it was back were shocked. Barinthus, who hadn't known, was beyond shocked.

«Where did you get that?» Barinthus finally managed in a voice that was barely a whisper.

«I rescued it from the dais where it had fallen. It was hidden underneath a flap of your coat. I don't think anyone got a picture of it. When Barinthus stood, I palmed it, as discreetly as I could.»

«It was locked in the makeup case, wrapped in cloth,» I said.

Nicca held up the small case from where it had been sitting by his feet. «I fetched it with us, as Doyle directed. I had not held it before, so I did not notice the change in weight.»

«How did it get out of the box?» I asked.

Doyle motioned, and Nicca opened the box. The black silk covering lay folded in the bottom of the case. I started to pull the silk out, to help put the chalice inside again, but Doyle said, «No, Merry, do not touch it and any one of us at the same time. We are not equipped to do another emergency circle of power. I am not entirely certain that it would be successful inside the metal of the car while it was moving.»

«Do you think we contained the energy?» Rhys asked.

«I do not know,» he said.

«I do not mean,» said Barinthus, «where did you get it just now. I mean how did it come to you?»

«I dreamed of it, and when I woke it was in bed with me.»

«I thought this was a secret,» Sage said.

«Barinthus needs to know,» Rhys said, «and all cats love to keep secrets.»

«Princess and Darkness have no problem with that?» Sage asked.

Doyle and I exchanged glances, then both of us shook our heads. «No,» we said together.

Usna had managed to wiggle out of all his clothing. He crawled toward us with his shoulder holster flapping loose over his bare shoulders and his sheathed sword in one hand. Crawling on all fours, even with the sword in one hand, seemed strangely suited to him. His right shoulder and most of his upper arm were black, and, if I remembered, his back was red and black. A flash of red decorated what I could see of his right hip, and the calf of his left leg.

He spoke to them, but he stared at me. «What came in a dream?» His voice was lightly curious, and held none of the heat of his gaze.

«This,» Rhys said.

When Usna saw what Rhys held, he raised up on his knees and cursed long and soundly in Gaelic. «The chalice, the real chalice?»

«It would seem so,» Barinthus said.

I was inches away from Usna where he knelt. Perhaps I had been too much among the humans, but it struck me as odd that he could be this close to me nude and not be aroused. Something in me felt slighted by that. Childish? Maybe. But I had the almost irresistible urge to cup him in my hand and make him notice me. I must have made some small movement because Barinthus touched my shoulder, stopped my arm from finishing the motion.

«Do you feel compelled to touch him?»

I thought about that. «Maybe, sort of.»

«Then do not do it here with the chalice so close. As Doyle has said, we are in a moving car. The water at the press conference would have been enough to flood the interior of this car.»

I leaned back on my knees, resting on my heels. It wasn't entirely comfortable because of the spike high heels. The patent leather just didn't have as much give as regular leather.

«You're right,» I said, and crawled away from Usna and the chalice. I didn't stop until my back hit Galen's damp legs and the puddle of water that was collecting under the three men on the seat. I stayed in the water. My hose, skirt, and panties were all black. It was uncomfortable, but it wouldn't ruin anything I was wearing. At that moment it was more important to be as far away from the chalice as I could get. Stretch limo, or not, there just wasn't room to run.

«What would have happened if the princess touched me?» Usna asked.

«Perhaps nothing,» Barinthus said, «or perhaps much.» He turned toward Doyle. «The chalice always had a mind and agenda of its own. Has that changed?»

Doyle shook his head. «On the contrary, it seems to have grown worse.»

«Consort help us,» Barinthus whispered.

The driver spoke over the intercom. «The bridge is blocked off, police lights everywhere.»

Doyle hit the button. «What's happened?»

Silence, then the driver's voice again. «The river is over the bridge. I haven't seen the river that high since the big flood of 'ninety-four. Strange, we haven't had any rain.»

In the silence that followed, we all looked at each other. «It looks as if we did not contain all the power from Barinthus's return to godhead,» Doyle said.

I remembered the earthquake that had happened after I brought Kitto into his power. A thought occurred to me. «Was there an earthquake in California after we left today?»

Barinthus shook his head. «I checked the weather to see if your plane would be delayed; there was no earthquake.» He looked suddenly thoughtful. «There was a freak windstorm, almost a tornado, which they do not have there, but it was not close to the airport.»

We all exchanged glances, those of us who knew.

«What is it?» Barinthus asked.

«When I brought Kitto into his power, there was an earthquake later that night.»