Troy was always served first and given the best cuts of meat. It made her eyes burn with long-held, previously unshed tears.
“The coins you gave me,” she approached the subject tentatively. Money was normally the domain of men. “Is it all you have?”
Worry filled his one good eye. “For now. I have land that the Wind Clan paid as restitution for my fighting. I will receive funds from our clan when we establish our household here.”
Our clan. Our household.
“Where is this land?”
“I—I’m not sure. I did not have the means to clear it and build anything, so I did not bother to view it.”
She had read in the paper something about the division of land. She pulled out all the newspapers since the Stone Clan’s arrival a few weeks back. She found the story that ran last week. The accompanying map showed how the land was divided up. The size of the parcel took her breath away. It could have swallowed up the Zion ranch in Kansas a hundred times over. It was, however, all virgin forest. It afforded no shelter from winter and certainly nothing to eat except squirrels and deer.
They would need to stay here at her place until spring. At that point, if the war was over, they could hire someone to cut and lumber. There were most likely abandoned houses near that area they could squat in until they had money enough to build something like a small farm.
She realized then that for the first time in weeks, she felt like she was going to live to see spring.
He pulled her close and after a moment she relaxed against him and let herself feel the comfort of no longer being alone.
“I have prayed so long for you,” he whispered.
She laughed into his shoulder. “Someone like me. Any girl would have done.”
“You alone had the courage to face my demons and quiet them.”
She wished she could believe him. She knew that any number of women in Pittsburgh would have eventually set their sights on him. She was fortunate that she was the first to hear of his plan to take a human partner.
When she sighed, her breath caused fine white dust to drift from his hair.
“You need to wash your hair,” she said.
“A bath! Yes! Certainly!” But when she showed him the shower, he frowned at it for several minutes. “This is not a bath.”
“You just stand here, water comes out from this part, you adjust the heat of the water with these knobs…” She fell silent as he continued to look confused and unsure. Did the elves not have running water?
As she fussed with the shower, she glanced at the mirror and froze in surprise. Almost hidden under her bangs was a small black diamond. It looked like the blue triangle Tinker had in the one slickie photo of her entering the Rolls Royce. Olivia rubbed at black spot and then used soap and water. It didn’t come off; it seemed tattooed into place.
“Did you do this to me?” she asked Forest Moss.
He cringed back at her tone. “It is the custom. The dau tells others that you’ve accepted my offer and that you’re my domi.”
“So, it won’t come off?”
Alarm filled his face and he looked ready to cry. “No.”
“I don’t want it off.” She stopped trying to wash it away as it was obviously distressing him. In some ways he was like a child. It was good that she loved children. Maybe she was exactly the type of human woman he did need. She cautiously asked, “When did you do it?”
“Last night. It is a simple spell.”
For part of the shower, he remained childlike, letting her wash his long silky white hair. And then he turned, and suddenly was all male, and proved yet again that Peanut was right about elves. It was embarrassing how the much the tiles in the bathroom amplified her cries right up to the point she couldn’t think of anything but the pleasure jolting through her. Afterward there was something pure in relaxing in his arms as the warm water beaded down over them.
She woke late that night with someone tapping her palm. A strange male elf crouched beside the futon, a spell light cupped in his hand. He put his finger to his lips, indicating that she should stay silent. She jerked back in fear. Forest Moss was wrapped tight around her, still asleep. The stranger frowned at her and shook his head silently to rebuke her.
As she grabbed at the sheets, she realized that he wore the red scale vest armor and arm tattoos of a Wyvern. Nor was he alone. There were four more Wyverns in her kitchen, all watching silently.
Her breath caught in her chest and she leaned back against Forest Moss.
The crouching Wyvern looked at her sternly and crooked his finger in a universal “Come here.”
Piss the Wyvern off or leave the protection that Forest Moss may or may not provide her? Why were they here? Why did they want her to leave Forest Moss? The Wyverns could and would kill anyone they wanted. So far their kind had killed one of the elf lords, a Pittsburgh policeman and dozens of people that may have been oni or humans.
And the Wyverns were now frowning at her and repeating the “come here” motion.
If she hid behind Forest Moss, and he came to her defense, would the Wyverns kill him out of hand? They had killed his clansman, Earth Son. If she wanted his help, then she had to protect him.
She nodded reluctantly and started to extract herself without waking Forest Moss. He lay with his ruined eye pressed against the pillow, leaving only his beauty heartrendingly vulnerable.
As she slid forward, the Wyvern didn’t reach for her but started to step back, giving her room. His eyes went suddenly wide and he threw up his hands to protect his head and a moment later, the room exploded.
Forest Moss was awake, howling wordlessly. He gestured and another explosion blew out the far wall. The Wyverns went flying backwards, vanishing into the rubble.
“What are you doing?” Olivia cried. She wasn’t sure how he was doing it but he was going to bring the house down on top of them. “Stop it!”
“No!” Forest Moss shouted. “I won’t let them take you away. I won’t! I won’t!”
There was a loud groaning complaint as the room lurched.
She caught Forest Moss by his hair and dragged him backward through the dining room and out the front door and onto the sidewalk. He howled the entire way like a dog caught in a bear trap, a sound of pure bestial pain.
“Stop. Stop!” She put hands on either side of his head and tilted his head until he was staring into her eyes. “Look at me! No one will take me away. I won’t let them. I choose where I go and I’m not leaving you. Now calm down.”
Brave words. Truth was, she was scared shitless. Had he killed the Wyverns? Obviously they had known he could blast the shit out of everything and had been trying to defuse him. Why hadn’t they brought drugs and a straightjacket? Because those things would have made him even harder to handle?
She wrapped her arms around Forest Moss and crooned to him, trying to get him to calm down. She wanted to ask him a million questions but she was afraid he’d lose it completely if she pushed for answers now.
The Wyvern that woke her appeared at the corner of her leaning house, seemingly unharmed. She wasn’t sure how he survived the blast.
She tightened her hold on Forest Moss. “What do you want? You don’t break into someone’s house in the middle of the night and drag them out of bed.”
“Who are you?” The Wyvern watched Forest Moss carefully.
“I’m his domi!” She pushed back her bangs to show him the dau on her forehead. “And you’re not separating us. Just deal with us both.”
The warrior stared silently at her as if weighing his options and then he nodded. “Very well, but you must come with us.”