Kim Harrison - Hotter Than Hell

They both ignored him.

Once they reached the bathhouse, Ginger led them into the preparation room where oils scented the bathers’ bodies before they got into the hot water of the bathing pool. Benches lined the walls, and the floor was tiled in a beautiful leaf-patterned mosaic.

“This is where I meant to bring you yesterday,” she told Bern.

He pulled her close. They looked into each other’s eyes. “It was worth the detour.”

“You two are being disgusting,” Percy said.

Bern sighed. “You know, this time I think I agree with him.” He let her go. “We do need to make plans.”

“We have work to do,” she said.

“Do I detect some professionalism at last?” Percy whined.

“Shut up, Percy,” Ginger and Bern said together.

“And that’s an order,” Bern added.

Ginger took a seat on a bench against the back wall. Within a few minutes Kaye and the rest of the team joined them. Bern allowed his people a few minutes of teasing him before the introductions.

“This is Gareth and Lamorak.”

Ginger smiled. “Of course they are.”

He didn’t understand what amused her, and didn’t ask. “Let’s get down to business.”

“Now that we have recovered Dr. White, it’s time to continue surveying the nexus points,” Percy said immediately.

“Percy’s a douser,” Bern explained to Ginger. “He’s working on a new nexus map. But he hasn’t yet found a spot with enough energy to get us home.”

“It’s hardly my fault that this island is swamped with more energy points than anywhere else on the planet, especially in this area. It was a mistake to send a team this far back, and especially to this geographic location.”

“Yeah, I think we’re all aware of that,” Gareth said. “We noticed the problems. And that’s before you started telling us every five minutes.”

“We have one more man to find,” Lamorak said. “That’ll round out our mission.”

“Finding the exit point is far more important for our own survival,” Percy said. “We should cut our losses and concentrate on finding a functioning nexus. Perhaps Dr. White could conjure up a vision of where we should go,” he added. But not as though he meant it.

“What’d I ever do to you?” was Ginger’s response to this rudeness. “See if I tell you if I find it!”

Bern liked that she refused to be intimidated by the jerk. “No one gets left behind,” he reminded Percy. “We’re still looking for Owens.”

“But his transpond—” Percy started.

“What does your gut tell you, sir?” Kaye jumped in. “You found me—”

“Your transponder was working—” Percy cut him off.

“Intermittently. It was Colonel Bern’s instincts that really found me.”

“Balderdash,” Percy scoffed.

“Does anyone really say balderdash?” Ginger asked.

“Just Percy,” Bern replied.

“The colonel’s gut led us here and we found Dr. White,” Gareth said. “So what do you think about Owens, sir?”

Bern considered for a moment, sensing more than thinking. Finally, he said, “I think that most of the population in the area is camped out around this stronghold. If I was Owens, I’d be here too.” He swept his gaze around his team. “Break up. Go look for him. Reconvene here at noon.”

There were nods, and people turned to leave.

Before he left, Percy just had to ask, “And what will you be doing while we’re searching?”

Bern put his arm around Ginger’s shoulders. “I’m going to be standing at the Lady of the White Bird Spring’s side while she seeks a vision to help us find a way home.”

“Good, Bishop Myrdyn hasn’t used the place yet,” Ginger said as they entered the empty shrine.

Now she didn’t have to regret insisting that they get cleaned up before coming to the spring. Her skin felt fresh and tingly, and all the aches from strenuous bouts of sex were soothed. Her hair hung in a damp braid down her back, and Bern had shaved.

“If only we had coffee, I could face anything,” she said.

“Find us the right nexus and I’ll buy you your own Starbucks,” he replied.

He wouldn’t be able to do any such thing, of course, even if she could somehow pull the right vision out of the sacred pool. It saddened her to know that she would return to her point of origin, and he would return to his, which was six months further along the main timeline than hers. She would remember what happened, and six months later he’d read a report filed by her, and learn what he’d done in the past. It wouldn’t be proper to record their sexual encounters in the official record, even if the dry bureaucratic tone of reports could use spicing up a bit.

He’d probably never even know who she was.

But she’d remember forever.

“What are you smiling about?” he asked.

“Nothing.” She turned her smile briefly on him, and then dropped to her knees. “I doubt this will work,” she warned. “I don’t normally see anything dealing with my own future.”

“You saw me, didn’t you?”

“I saw you in response to Lord Ched asking who the next king would be. By the way, there’s something important you should know about that,” she added.

“Not now. As soon as we conclude the search for Owen, I’m taking you and the rest of my people out of here.”

“But—”

“You’ll find me a nexus. I know it. Look into the water. Calm yourself. Concentrate.”

“I know how to summon the visions, Andrew.”

He put his hands on her shoulders and gently began to massage them. He communicated his faith in her through his touch. Damn, but she was going to hate losing this man! She appreciated the moment, refused to feel sorry for herself, and set about doing her duty.

At first, of course, all she saw was a pool of water as still and clear as a looking glass. But the calm, peaceful water changed quickly.

Bern grew worried when Ginger’s muscles went suddenly tense. “What?” he asked. “What do you see?”

“Fire,” she answered, her voice distant and dull. “Fire on the hill.”

“What hill? What’s burning?”

“There’s a battle,” she said. “You have to defeat them. It’s your destiny.”

A battle? He didn’t like the sound of that. “What does any of that have to do with getting us all safely home?”

Lord Ched came running into the sanctuary before she could respond. “They’re coming!” he shouted. “The Saxons are coming.” A guard followed him in, pushing a woman ahead of him. Ched looked at the woman. “Tell him,” he commanded.

The woman was crying. “Mercy, my lord! I did come back to warn you.”

“Yes, yes,” the chieftain said. He pointed to Bern. “Tell the king what you told me.”

Everybody looked at him. Bern wanted to yell at them to cut out calling him king, but even Ginger had come out of her trance and was looking at him like he was the hero of the hour. And, damn it, the thought of disappointing her made him feel like a jerk. He gritted his teeth, and nodded for the woman to go on.

“It’s true I helped my lady Morga and her man escape. I’ve taken care of the girl all her life, and I understood how she’d been with the last Year King long enough to think of him as her husband and not to want to bed a new man.” She looked Bern over. “Though I think she would have gotten the better part of the bargain had she stayed and done her duty.”

“Get on to the important part,” the chieftain urged.

“The pair of them were angry and affronted at being forced to run from their home. After we made camp last night they talked about how they would betray the secrets of the stronghold’s defenses to the Saxons.”

Ched rubbed the back of his neck. “But that is the secret—we have no defenses.”