Within seconds, he began to materialize before me, shimmering with the light of my reading lamps like the surface of a mountain lake reflecting the moon.
In life, Namid had belonged to the K’ya’na-Kwe clan of the A’shiwi or Zuni nation-the water people, as they were known. His clan was extinct now, and had been for centuries. I didn’t know if Namid’s appearance was his way of honoring their memory, or if it was simply the natural, or perhaps magical, manifestation of his tribal heritage. Whatever its origins, Namid always appeared to me as a being made entirely of water. He had the build of a warrior: tall, broad-shouldered, lean, muscular. On this night he was as clear as a woodland stream and as smooth as the ocean at dawn, but one could read his moods in the texture of his liquid form the way a ship’s captain might gauge the weather by watching the sea. His eyes were the single exception: They always glowed, like white flames within his luminous waters. I would never have said as much to him-I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction-but he was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.
“Ohanko. It is late. You should be asleep, and I should not be summoned at such an hour.”
He was also the most infuriating.
He’d been calling me “Ohanko,” which, as far as I could tell, meant “reckless one,” for so long that I couldn’t remember when he had started. And he had been talking to me as if he were my mother, telling me when to sleep and what to eat, for even longer.
“I’m sorry I called for you,” I said, “But I can’t sleep yet. I need some answers first.”
He regarded me for the span of a heartbeat before sinking to the floor and staring up at me, those gleaming eyes seeming to ask why the hell I was still standing. I sat opposite him.
“You conjured tonight.”
“Yes, I did. But that’s not-”
“What spells did you cast?”
Did I mention that he could be infuriating?
“I used a seeing spell-”
“Using the techniques we have discussed?”
“Yes, and-”
“Did it work?”
“Yes, it worked fine.”
“Good. What else?”
“I cast a couple of . . . well, I call them fist spells.”
His watery brow furrowed. “Fist spells,” he repeated, his voice a low rumble, like the rush of distant headwaters.
“They act like a punch, but I can cast them from a distance.”
He nodded. “Crude, but effective. What else?”
“A camouflage spell,” I said. As impatient as I was to discuss other matters, I couldn’t keep a hint of pride from creeping into my voice.
Namid’s eyebrows-such as they were-went up a fraction of an inch. “That is high magic, Ohanko. Your casting was successful.”
“Yeah, it worked great. That is, until I tripped over an empty beer bottle.”
His expression flattened. “Have I not told you that you must tread like the fox, that you must act at all times with great care?”
“You’ve told me,” I said. “And I try. This time . . .” I shrugged. “What can I say? I screwed up.”
“You are fortunate that your carelessness did not carry a greater cost.”
I’m a grown man-thirty-three years old. My mom has been dead for close to twenty years, and my dad has been crazy for almost as long. In many ways, Namid was the closest thing to a parent that I had, and his scoldings still stung like cold rain. But at that moment, his disapproval was the least of my concerns.
“So you weren’t aware of all this,” I said. “You didn’t see me cast the spell, or knock over the bottle. You weren’t there for what happened next.”
Namid had a way of going still; it almost seemed like he turned from water to ice, and most of the time I thought it was very cool. Not now. Seeing his face harden, his body tense, I shivered, as from a winter wind.
“Tell me,” he said.
“I’m not sure exactly what happened. I was trying to sneak up on a guy, and when I kicked over the bottle he raised his weapon and fired at me. Three times. I couldn’t have been more than ten feet from him, and though he couldn’t see me, he aimed right at my chest. I . . .” I took a breath. “I should be dead.”
“Why are you not?”
“I don’t know. But in the instant that his finger moved, I was almost sure I felt a spell. I-I thought that maybe you had intervened.”
“You know that I cannot.”
“You did, not that long ago.”
“The circumstances were different. Cahors was our . . . screwup.” The phrase sounded odd coming from him. “I cannot keep you safe in the normal course of your life. My responsibilities lie elsewhere.”
I would have liked to ask him about that, too. Another time.
“Maybe I imagined it, then.”
“Is it possible that you cast without intending, without even knowing that you did it?”
I grinned. “I’m not sure how to answer that.”
“I am not sure how you could, either,” the myste said, his tone wry. “But you understand the point I am making.”
“Yes. But I don’t think that’s what happened. I was scrambling to cast a different sort of spell. I should have cast a warding, but it all happened so fast.” I shook my head. “Maybe he missed, plain and simple, though I don’t see how he could have. Is it possible that another of your kind has taken an interest in me?”
“Another of my kind?”
“Another runemyste.”
“I have told you, Ohanko: It is against the laws that govern my kind to interfere in your world. Another of my kind would be bound by the same prohibitions that bind me. And where you are concerned, another runemyste would not chafe at those prohibitions nearly as much as I do.”
I made no effort to mask my surprise; he wasn’t usually prone to such kindnesses. “Thank you, Namid. That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
His translucent hand flicked out in annoyance. “I mean simply that others have not invested so much time and energy in your training. They would not be inconvenienced by your death the way I would.”
That was more like the Namid I had come to know over the years.
“Still, I’m touched.”
Namid frowned, but I could tell that my questions had piqued his curiosity. Or maybe it was more than that. Maybe he was scared.
“If it was someone else,” I said, “a weremyste or a runemyste who’s less bound than you are by arbitrary rules, it’s all right. He or she saved my life. It’s like I have a guardian angel.”
This deepened the myste’s scowl. “There are no guardian angels, Ohanko. There are sorcerers and mystes, and they rarely act out of altruism.”
“So you believe that someone wants me alive for a specific reason?”
“I do not know what to believe. I will have to think on this at greater length.” He started to fade from view. “Tread like the fox, Ohanko. Do not screw up anymore.”
I chuckled. “Thanks, ghost.”
I heard another rumble, like the whisper of approaching thunder. A moment later he was gone.
I stood, stretched my back, and crossed to the answering machine, which was a relic from a time when devices like this used tiny little cassette tapes. I had several messages, most of them from prospective clients. One was from Billie Castle, who was, for lack of a better term, my girlfriend.
“Hey, Fearsson, it’s me.” I couldn’t help the dumb grin that spread across my face every time I heard her voice. “I know you’re working, and I know we have plans for Friday, but I was wondering if you had time for lunch tomorrow. Nothing fancy-I was thinking the burrito place on Main, near the mall. Call me in the morning.”
I made a note to call her, and jotted down numbers and names from the other messages. Then I dragged myself back to my room and fell into bed, too tired even to bother pulling down the shades.
I woke with the sun, went for a run and showered, and then called Billie to confirm our plans. After grabbing a bite to eat, I got in the Z-ster and drove out to Wofford, west of the city, where my dad lives in an old trailer.