Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

JASON

I woke slowly, in a day-off, don't-have-to-move mood. Alan lay tucked against me, his hair tickling my lips and his ass against my thighs. I smelled the familiar warm scent of his skin and smiled?—

Fuck! Bolting upright, dry dirt under my ass, I hauled Alan up against me. He blinked and then I saw realization dawn in his dark eyes.

Alan's here. He's safe. I kissed him with desperate urgency. He froze, then grabbed the back of my head and kissed me back, his mouth open and demanding.

"Hey!" An unfamiliar male voice broke us apart. "You! Stop!"

We scrambled up and I turned but didn't let go of Alan.

A few feet away, the young guard sat, legs sprawled in the dirt, a hand to his head. He shoved to his feet, fumbling at his empty holster. "You're under arrest. You…" His voice trailed off as Erin and Zahira sat up on either side, and Dale coughed loudly from behind him. A dawning look of horror crossed his face as he whirled in a circle, taking in the dark deep-blue sky over head, the sandy ground where grass had been, and the tents and booths and trailers of the Carnival, with nothing but barren rocks beyond. "Where are we? I'm an officer of the law."

Errante's smooth, slightly accented tones came over the Carnival's hidden speakers, or maybe just out of the empty air. "Good morning, friends and family. Today is a rest day. We do have one ordinary patron who may be wandering the grounds, so keep your eyes open and be kind. Do not try to leave the Carnival. The air outside is too thin to support life. Enjoy your day."

"Too thin to support life?" The young man stared up at the arch of color overhead, a blue trending to deep black that I'd never seen, except perhaps for a moment at dusk. Never with a sun squarely rising above the horizon.

I wanted to ask where we were too, but needed to look cool in front of this young jerk, so I said, "Magic, remember?"

"Magic?" He turned his wide eyes on Alan. "You! What did you do? The food was drugged—" He clamped his lips tight shut.

Drugged? I hugged Alan harder.

Alan closed a hand on my forearm but didn't pull free. "Yes, thanks for telling me about that."

"I didn't!"

"Sure, you did. Not in so many words, but I got the warning."

"I never!" The guy went pale. Paler. He was a white-blond waif of a guy with very fair skin. Wearing his hair buzzed to half an inch did nothing to make him look tough.

"How old are you, kid?" I asked him.

"None of your business!"

"Seventeen? Eighteen?"

"I'm twenty!" He glared at me.

"Practically a baby," Erin said from one side.

He whirled to stare at her. "Fuck you!"

"Not a chance, kid." She smiled calmly.

"Watch your mouth, boy." Sylvester struggled to his feet, took two strides, and loomed over the guy, several inches taller, if not much bulkier. "Didn't your mother teach you how to talk to a lady? I'd wash your mouth out with soap if you were mine."

That was pretty rich, given some of the language I'd heard from Sylvester, but I did like the way it made the guard go from pale to beet red as he dodged away.

The young guard turned to Alan. "How did you get out? The bracelet controls you sorcerers, makes you safe."

"This old thing?" Alan stepped out of the circle of my arms and dug in a pocket, coming out with his cuff. He twirled it on one finger, the silver flashing in the air. "I took it off. It was annoying me."

"You can't!"

"Really?" Alan tossed the thing in the air and caught it. "You have a lot to learn about sorcerers, kid."

"If sorcerers could do that, they would've a long time ago. Years ago, when we… when my father…" He pressed his thin lips together.

Sylvester darted forward and snatched the guy's wallet from his back pocket. The guard barely landed a flailing blow on Sylvester's arm, which didn't say much for his training. "Give that back!"

"Ah, ah, ah." Sylvester danced away, dodging behind Erin, who folded her arms and glared at the guard.

I could see the guy thinking about going through Erin and deciding not to risk it. Smart choice, kid. Erin might not be much for a fight, but she had personal shields, and I'd bet a few other tricks up her sleeve. And Zahira took two steps to reach her side, also crossing her arms and glowering protectively.

Behind his defense team, Sylvester dug into the wallet. "Hm. Kevin Underhill. Can I call you Kevin?"

"No!"

Alan said, "Well, I'm not calling you Underhill because that guy— your dad?— is a douchebag."

"My father's a great man!"

"He's a kidnapper and a liar. He had me Tasered and tried to drug me."

I couldn't help hugging Alan tighter. Tasered?

He glanced up and gave me a wry smile, then continued, "He kept sorcerers like Oscar in solitary confinement for years . I'm not seeing greatness."

"Sorcerers are a threat. The world seems to have forgotten but they… you…" It seemed to dawn on Kevin that he was talking to a whole group of sorcerers. Whirling, he ran off toward the tents of the Carnival.

Sylvester called after him, "Hey! You forgot your wallet!" When Kevin just sprinted faster, Sylvester shrugged. "He'll be back. There's nowhere for him to go." He started looking through the card folder.

Erin turned back to us and said, "Alan," with a hitch in her voice.

Alan broke away from me and ran to hug her. She rocked him back and forth, her arms locked around him. "Don't you ever dare …" She choked, let go, and smacked his chest with a light backhand.

He held up his hands. "Hey, wasn't my idea."

Sunny flew over and landed on his shoulder, rubbing his feathered head against Alan's jaw. "That was decent work with the jailbreak. Sloppy and overpowered, but effective."

"You told me to overpower it."

"So I did." Sunny nipped at Alan's ear, missing deliberately. "I do like a boy who listens to his elders."

"There you are!" Sylvester glanced up, grinned, and nodded to Alan. "You've missed all kinds of excitement. And look. I found a wallet." He waved it in the air.

Alan took the leather billfold gently out of Sylvester's grip. "Here, I'll get this back to the guy who owns it."

"You should keep it. He was a mouthy little shit." Sylvester turned in a circle. "Hey, this is something else. Look at that sky! Even without my magic, I can tell we're not in Kansas anymore."

"Or on Earth, I imagine," Coal said, gliding to a landing on Zahira's shoulder. "What is this place?"

"An ending, and maybe a new beginning." Errante strode toward us from the direction of the trailers. "A world that once was like yours, and may be again."

Zahira planted herself in front of Errante, Coal on her shoulder. "I have questions."

Errante looked more pleased than intimidated. "Ask them."

"How did we get here?"

"This is what the Carnival does, what I do. We Travel across the multiverse to where we're needed."

"And you're needed here ?" She gestured out the gates. "That's more barren than my ex's conscience."

"You are right. There is no self-aware species on this world now." Errante turned to me. I saw, in the depths of his eyes, impossible colors, galaxies— I blinked hard, and they were just eyes in a man's face. Sorcerer's face . His gaze passed on to Alan. "Can you sense it? There is life."

Alan's expression turned inward, unfocused. "I don't… There's something, but it's hard and metallic." He sketched a glowing green rune that sank into the ground at his feet and vanished. "Not life as we know it." He blinked back to attention and grinned at me. "As Spock would say."

Jesus, this man. And I almost lost him. Alan's resilient good nature shone like a light in a dark world, and I had to stride over and pull him against me, hugging him with his back to my front, Sunny's tailfeathers tickling my neck, my cheek on Alan's hair. I needed my man warm and solid in my arms. He murmured, "Hey there," then relaxed against my chest and turned his attention back to Errante.

"Look deeper," Errante said. "Your magic knows life."

"I looked." When Errante only raised an eyebrow, Alan crafted another rune, this one more elaborate than the last. I could feel the electric hum of his magic as he powered the rune and floated it down to the ground. His magic sank deeper. Something tugged at me as if I was supposed to follow. I almost let go of Alan, but nothing he did would ever hurt me.

"Oh!" Alan jolted. "Yes, there. It's faint, though."

"Remember that life," Errante said.

"I could help it grow." Alan extended a hand to where his rune had disappeared. The sand glowed faintly green.

"Save your power," Errante told him. "This world has eons to evolve and develop. Others may not."

Zahira asked, "Will you take us home? To our own world?"

"Yes." Errante faced her. "When the moment is right, I will bring you back."

"And not, like, thirty years later or to Antarctica or something?" Dale jerked their chin up and stared at Errante. "Not, like, a fae bargain that always has a hidden catch?"

"I'm not fae. Not as your world defines the folklore. I've never even met one." Errante suddenly looked over his shoulder. "A unicorn, on the other hand…"

The magnificent white horse I'd seen through his office window trotted toward us.

"Unicorn?" I didn't see a horn, although the horse's feet had fluffy fetlock tufts and its tail looked odd.

The horse turned to me as it neared us. "Yes, mortal, a unicorn." It thrust its head toward my chest and Alan whipped his hand into the air. His fingers glowed green, and three inches from his palm, sparks of light for an instant outlined the tip of a long, spiraled horn growing from the— fuck, unicorn's— forehead.

"And several wizards," it went on in the same casual tone. "Or are you witches or sorcerers on your world?"

"Sorcerers," Dale said, their eyes wide.

The unicorn swung its white head their way, mane tossing. "Oh, I like you. Yes, indeed, my kind of youth. Who are you?"

"Dale." They avoided our eyes and a flush rose on their cheeks. I remembered the old stories about unicorns and virgins. Well, more power to Dale if they weren't running around fucking the wrong people, the way half my family did in our teens.

"Come with me, Dale," the unicorn told them. "I'll show you the Carnival and we can talk."

"I don't know." Dale turned to Erin. "I don't think we should split up."

Errante shook his head. "No one will harm you in my Carnival, not even that deluded boy hiding in the Big Top. Have fun."

Sunny said to the unicorn, "You're not one of us from Home. Are you a different kind of familiar from some other world?"

"No. I wander the multiverse alone." I saw Dale's face fall at the unicorn's words. Yeah, a unicorn-familiar would be a teen dream come true. "But I will be a friend for a short time, if they wish it."

"You promise this is safe?" Erin asked Errante.

"On my word."

"Then go on," Erin told Dale. "You deserve some fun. Last night was hard."

Dale eyed all of us doubtfully for a moment, then took a breath. "All right, yes. I'd like that."

"This way. We'll start with breakfast." The unicorn gestured with its head, turned back to the tents, and Dale fell in beside the shining creature, their head cocked as if listening although I only heard the faintest murmur.

"Well." Sunny rustled his wings as he watched them go, whacking me under the chin. "Clearly, I'm never too old to discover something new. A unicorn. That'll be a feather in my cap to tell Grim about, when I see him."

Too bad we don't know when that'll be. I sure wouldn't mind seeing Silas and his familiar suddenly appear out of the blue, and Darien too. I was farther in over my head with every passing hour, and I had a feeling Alan and Erin were too. I didn't know Zahira well enough to tell what she was thinking.

Errante said, "Make yourselves at home for today. I had the roustabouts set up a tent, that green one." He gestured at a modest apple-green tent with a rainbow flag at its peak. "There are beds and chairs, a space for washing and freshening up. Enjoy the Carnival today."

"Shouldn't we get back home right away?" Alan asked. "I don't know what those NSEP bastards were planning, but you don't drug people way in advance of the action. Something's happening soon, maybe now."

"If I needed to, I could take you back to the moment you left. Although not before. We don't want two of you in one place. You can rest today with a good conscience and still arrive in time." He waved toward where delightful aromas were beginning to waft from the food booths. "The selection of foods will be limited on a rest day, but there is plenty. Eat, talk, gather strength."

"For what?" Zahira demanded.

"For whatever comes next." Errante strode off before I even realized he'd turned away.

"That guy gives me the creeps," Zahira muttered.

"Errante?" Erin frowned. "Do you think we shouldn't trust him? He saved our asses."

"Yeah, but why? Who does that? What's in it for him?"

Coal squawked by her ear. "We should eat. You're always grouchy when you're hungry."

"I'm not grouchy ."

"Hah." Coal launched into the air. "Come on. I smell sausages."

We glanced at each other, and Sylvester's stomach let out a loud rumble. "Did that bird say sausages?" he asked.

"Yes." Erin relaxed into a soft smile. "Come on. Let's see what we can find."

What we found were four open booths, each serving foods familiar and unfamiliar. When I tried to pay, the booth owners laughed me off. "Nothing here to spend money on during a rest day. You're our guests today."

I had to let go of Alan's hand to load a plate with fresh rolls, a skewer of fruit, and sausages, while Alan took a kind of rice porridge with scallions and cilantro on top, and fried dough strips. But when we found a big picnic table away from the crowd, I sat beside Alan and made sure my leg was pressed against his. I wasn't ready to have him out of reach yet. He bumped my knee and dug into his porridge eagerly.

"This khao tom's great," he said with his mouth full. "Didn' eat las' night. Drugged food and all."

"How did you know it was drugged?" I asked. We'd been so close to having all our plans derailed. "That guy Kevin didn't actually tell you, did he?"

"Luck, really. I guessed from the way he was acting, and once I had my magic, I did a quick check."

"Good thing you have some kind of brains," Sunny said. "I tried to deliver escape ointment to Oscar at the last minute and he was passed out cold, and so was the next guy. The women in the next two cells were groggy and making no sense. I didn't look beyond that."

"How did the escape plans work?" Alan asked. "My part was easy." I scoffed, and he grinned at me. "Well, simple, anyhow. Grow the tree roots below the bespelled wall, crack it up from underneath, run like hell. I heard lots of noise. What did you all do?"

Zahira said, "Coal did most of the work. He flew to the fence and scratched my runes into the gate and the spot you escaped by, right under the guards' noses."

"You bent the fence," Coal noted. "And fused the gate shut so almost all their vehicles were locked inside."

"Except the damned bus." Zahira shook her head ruefully.

I told Alan, "Erin climbed trees along the approach to the gate and put these explosive targets we bought up into the branches."

"Crap!" Alan stared at her. "I bet they had surveillance. What if you'd got caught?"

"Sylvester did his invisibility illusion." Erin's tone was casual, but I saw her shiver. Trusting the unreliable old man to keep her safe had been a hell of a leap of faith.

"Erin was awesome." Zahira grinned. "Then, when we were ready to go, your Jason shot the targets to set off the explosions and get the guards headed the wrong way. That was damned good shooting."

"My dad's huntin' and fishin' trips for us boys had to be good for something," I said. "Then I ran like hell for the SUV, where Zahira had magic-welded a whole bunch of steel in her truck to make a shield behind us."

"Dale helped too," Erin noted. "They drove the SUV off-road without headlights to where it was needed for our escape. And they were prepared to be the designated driver with NSEP chasing them, if Jason didn't have time to swap seats."

Alan rubbed his face. "You all risked a hell of a lot for me."

"Of course we did." There wasn't the slightest hesitation in Erin's voice. I wasn't the only one who loved Alan.

"To be fair," Zahira told him, "I hate NSEP with a passion and loved punching a hole in whatever their fucking plans are."

"Fuck NSEP!" Sylvester crowed.

"Speaking of plans." Erin leaned toward Alan. "Do you know what they're up to? Did they tell you anything?"

"Very little." He slid his hand over mine. I wasn't sure if he'd realized he'd done it, but I turned my hand over and his grip went tight around my fingers. "They laughed about me wanting a lawyer, so it sure wasn't anything legit. The head guard told me we wouldn't be in that prison long. They were worried about Darien and Silas interfering, though. They said the Weaver and the Necromancer flew off to Paris and seemed relieved to have them far away."

"If I was kidnapping sorcerers, I wouldn't want those two to hear about it," Zahira said. "Or be close enough to interfere. I don't care how old they are. Darien's going to be dangerous till the day he dies, and Silas doesn't hesitate."

"I wonder if Darien and Silas leaving the U.S. was the trigger for NSEP's plans," Erin mused. "Can't be a coincidence the bastards immediately ramped up the kidnappings."

"Which means we should tell Darien everything as soon as we can." Zahira pulled out her phone, then stared blankly down at it. "Okay, no bars. Huge surprise." Her laugh held a tinge of wildness. "Because we're on another fucking planet."

"Another world, anyway," Sunny said calmly. "Like our Home is a worldgate away from yours."

Coal tapped Zahira's temple with his beak. "Exactly. Keep it together, sorcerer. We familiars do this every time."

"Right." Zahira raised her chin and squared her shoulders. "After all, Silas and Darien traveled to your home world. This is just one more version of gating or a summons."

"We have to trust that Errante can get us back," Erin said. "And we have to figure out what happens then."

I suggested, "We could have him drop us off in front of the White House. Raise a big stink in a very public way, more than even NSEP could cover up."

Alan squeezed my fingers, shaking his head. "I have the feeling that would be too slow. Whatever NSEP is planning, it's in motion now. By the time we get the public eye riled up enough, they'll likely be done."

"So it comes back to what are they doing?" Zahira frowned. "Why collect sorcerers and then just keep them locked up? Why drug them now and get ready to move them? That had to be what the bus was for. Transporting a lot of people."

"Transporting where, though?" I asked.

We all looked at each other, but no one had an answer.

"If they just wanted to kill us all, they could've done it from the start," Alan noted. That made it my turn to squeeze his fingers, probably too hard. "Killing's a whole lot easier. So they need us for something. Odds are, something magical, even though they're the human division. Especially if they're worried about Darien."

An idea came to me. "You know who might have more information? That little blond puke of a guard."

"Good thought," Coal said. "Although he's probably too junior to know much."

"He's Underhill's kid." Alan looked over his shoulder. "Maybe Daddy spilled the beans. I wonder where he is."

"I'll look." Coal took off, rising above the Carnival.

" We'll look." Sunny launched upward to join him.

"Don't go too high," Alan called after him. "There's no air up there."

"When you grow wings, you can give me flying lessons, kid." Sunny darted like a green-and-orange missile toward the big top.

Alan eyed the retreating bird, then smiled. "I fucking missed all of you. But I also missed getting clean. Did Errante say the tent had facilities?"

"He said it had something. Come on." I stood and tugged Alan to his feet, not releasing his hand. Erin piled our empty plates on her own and waved us off. I suddenly needed to get Alan somewhere private in the worst way, not for sex, but to touch every inch of him and be sure…

As I hustled him toward the green tent, Alan called over his shoulder, "Let us know if you find Kevin."

We ducked through the triangular door flap onto a thick canvas floor. Alan and I kicked off our shoes and looked around, hands still locked together. The tent's main room had the promised beds, neatly made but narrow, laid out in a row. I might squeeze into one of them with Alan, but we wouldn't be doing much moving around. One corner of the space was curtained off. I swept aside the drapery to reveal a shower enclosure with a pull chain instead of a tap, and a toilet, also set up with a high tank and a handle on a chain like some nineteenth-century bathroom. Whatever. We weren't going to be fussy. I tugged Alan into that small, private space.

Alan stepped past the drape with me, letting the curtain fall behind him. I turned. Grabbed Alan. Pulled him to me so desperately I could feel every inch of him, every muscle and bone and crease and seam, pressed into my flesh, safe under my clutching arms. And then I cried, gritting my teeth against the sounds but helpless to keep the tears from spilling over, shaken by tremors that rose from my core and vibrated through us both. Alan held me just as tightly, murmuring soft sounds against my neck for minute after minute, while I finally let myself fall apart.