Places of Light needed some Dark, and dark landscapes still needed a thread of Light. Why did the dark landscapes need the Light? That question had teased her when she had stood before the walls of Wizard City and unleashed Heart’s Justice on the Dark Guides. It teased her now.
The Warrior of Light must drink from the Dark Cup.
And wasn’t it inconvenient that, having warned Michael against telling stories, she would have to persuade him to tell her the story about the Warrior of Light?
Be patient, a gentle, ageless voice whispered. When the time is right, he will tell you.
“Lee,” Michael said, “since you’ve got one lantern and I’ve got the other, why don’t you give Caitlin Marie a hand up the beach? The path leading up to the village is just a bit of a ways over there.”
Before Glorianna could tell him they could see well enough, Caitlin looked back at her brother. Grinning, she pulled away from Glorianna, linked an arm with Lee, and said, “Come on, then. I’ll show you the path and we’ll let the lollygaggers catch up when they can.”
“Lollywhat?” Glorianna said. Then a hand closed over hers. Bigger. Warm. A little work-roughened.
“Something I’ve wondered about Lee,” Michael said, smiling at her. “Is he your older brother?”
“Younger.”
“Younger?” He sounded surprised. “But we’re of an age.”
“Which makes you twenty-eight or-nine. I’m thirty-one.” A couple of years shouldn’t make any difference at this stage of their lives, especially since it wouldn’t have mattered if he’d been the one who was older. But she could still remember when those couple of years between her and Lee made a big difference.
“Ah. An older woman.”
The laughter in his voice, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, made her feel foolish—and that made her defensive.
“Yes,” she snapped. “Older. I’ll be gray-haired and wrinkly in a few years.”
“But now you’re a woman ripe with the juice of life.”
Her breath caught, her heart stumbled, and those juices warmed, ready to flow.
“Are you going to be showing me that trick of feeling the currents?” Michael held up their linked hands.
“It’s not your landscape.” Wasn’t Caitlin’s either in the purest sense, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.
“Ah. Well, you could still say you were trying to show me. Or you could tell your brother we’re holding hands because you like the looks of me and you were wondering when I’m going to kiss you again.”
Looking into her eyes, he lifted her hand and kissed her fingers—and an odd little thrill tickled her belly and stirred those juices.
“I have not been wondering about that,” she sputtered, glad the lantern light would hide the blush caused by the lie.
“I have.”
His smile changed. The humor in it faded, replaced by some quality she couldn’t name—or wasn’t sure she wanted to name. Because it was more than lust or desire.
A sharp whistle made them both look up the beach to where Caitlin was ineffectually tugging on Lee’s sleeve and Lee, may the Guardians bless him, was just standing there, staring back at them, not having lost the timing required to be a perfectly annoying younger brother.
“So what are you going to tell him, Glorianna Belladonna?” Michael asked as Lee began walking back toward them. “Are you going to tell your little brother that you were helping me learn about the currents—or that you were thinking of trying me on as a lover?”
Her body hummed. Her brain went blank.
And his words resonated through her like a promise—and yet felt oddly hollow.
He gave her hand a friendly squeeze and walked up the beach, passing Lee.
“Glorianna?” Lee said as soon as he reached her, his voice sharp with concern. “What’s wrong?”
She looked at her brother and blurted out the answer. “He wants to kiss me again.”
She could hear her heartbeats in the silence that hung between them. Then Lee said, “You just figured that out? When we were in the Den last night, the man was wrapped around you snug enough to have Sebastian muttering, so it’s not surprising he wants to kiss you again. At least, it’s not surprising to the rest of us.”
How was she supposed to figure that out? Sure, they’d had fun in the Den last night, but since then she’d been a bit preoccupied thinking about other things—although knowing her behavior had caused her cousin the incubus to mutter was rather gratifying. But Michael being younger than her was reason enough to put thoughts of kisses—and lovers—aside. Even if he wasn’t so much younger that it should make any difference.
But there had been something bittersweet in the resonance of his flirting just now, something that hadn’t been there last night in the Den. As if his feelings had changed in some way, but he didn’t want anyone to know they had changed. Didn’t even want to admit to himself that they had changed.
She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing.
“Glorianna?”
She held up a hand to signal Lee to wait.
Distractions. Lures that tugged a person away from the path she needed to follow. Or signposts that confirmed the way. Were these thoughts about kisses and age a signpost warning her to turn away from a man who could easily distract her, or a lure nudging her away from a person who could help her fight the Eater? She didn’t fit into this landscape, and the Dark currents were working on her in ways they couldn’t in her pieces of the world.
She opened her eyes and looked at Lee. “Do you trust the Magician?”
“If you’re asking if I think he’ll act responsibly with regard to the world, then, yes, I trust him. Do I trust him with my sister?” Lee patted her cheek. “Not a chance.”
Should have known better than to ask a brother.
But the answer felt right and steadied her.
She tugged the lantern out of Lee’s hand. “I’ll go with Caitlin to take a look at her garden. You’re going with the Magician.”
“I don’t think that’s what he had in mind.”
Michael watched Caitlin and Glorianna head in the direction of the hill that would take them to Darling’s Garden, then turned to look at his remaining companion. “Tell me again how I ended up with you?”
“You make my sister nervous,” Lee replied.
He snorted. “That one has more brass than an orchestra and more nerve than a sore tooth. So I sincerely doubt I make her nervous. Her brother, on the other hand…”
Lee just grinned, and that made him like the man even more, despite the feeling that neither Lee nor Sebastian was pleased by his interest in Glorianna. But she was a grown woman, and what she did with a man behind closed doors was none of their business, was it? Not that he’d say that to Lee. Or Sebastian.
So he sighed for show and said, “Come along, then. We’ll go to the harbor and see what news is to be had, then find out where my aunt Brighid has been staying.”
He struck out for the harbor, settling into the easy stride that covered ground but let him keep the pace for miles. A couple of minutes later, his conscience pricked him. He’d wanted to discomfort Lee, but he didn’t want the man pulling a muscle in the effort to keep up.
But when he started to suggest they slow down, Lee just looked at him and smiled. That’s when Michael realized the other man had settled into the same rhythm.
“Travel on your feet a lot, do you?” Michael asked.
Lee nodded. “A fair amount. Depends on how far I’m traveling and where.” He stopped suddenly and pressed the palm of one hand against his forehead.