“Bold words, weremyste. You dare speak them now because I have given you my word that no harm will come to you from this encounter. And despite what you think you know about me, I keep my oaths. Your runemyste is not as pure as you might like to believe, nor am I as evil as you judge. You are young and foolish and you see the world in black and white when all around you are shades of gray. You do not trust me; I understand why. But ask him, and perhaps you will glean a kernel of truth in what I am telling you.”
I faltered, not wanting to put any stock in her attacks on Namid, and yet unable to deny them with any credibility. The truth was, being a cop and an investigator had taught me long ago that there were no absolutes. As she put it, everything existed in gradations of gray. Except where Namid was concerned. I had always accepted that he was an agent of unalloyed good, the same way I now assumed that this putrescent creature before me was evil incarnate. I should have known better, which meant I needed to start questioning assumptions I’d lived with for far too long.
“You are thinking about it, I can tell. It may be there is more to you than I have credited thus far.” I heard surprise in her voice, and, I thought, a hint of respect as well. “Nevertheless,” she said, her voice hardening once more, “I offer no assurances as to your safety when next we meet. You and I are on opposite sides in this struggle. At our next encounter I will act accordingly.”
“And I’ll do the same. Count on it.”
She laughed, the effect in her current form chilling. “That is the third time you have threatened me,” she whispered.
In the blink of an eye she had covered the distance between us so that she stood inches from me. Her fetor seemed to poison the air. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. She raised a moldered hand, the skin dark and leathery, and she traced a line down the side of my face, her touch as gentle as that of a lover. Only then, having touched me as her true self, did she shift again, this time back to the form she had assumed when my dream first began.
“Three times, Justis Fearsson. We are enemies sworn now. The next time we meet you will have no choice but to fight me. And you will die. I assure you of that.”
I jerked away from her, able to move at last. And opening my eyes, I found myself back in my hospital bed. I searched the room for a clock and spotted one on the wall behind me. Twisting around enough to read it proved more difficult than I’d imagined. It was a few minutes shy of five o’clock. Despite the dream, I’d gotten a bit of sleep and felt better for it. I wondered if I’d really eaten, and if that had helped as well. Settling back down in the bed, I realized that Namid was still with me, watching my every move, his eyes brilliant in the dim light.
“You were dreaming,” he said.
“Of Saorla.”
“I gathered as much.”
“She fed me and gave me wine. Could that have been real?”
He frowned, but nodded. “You took a risk accepting food from her.”
I started to say that I was dreaming, though I knew he wouldn’t accept that as an excuse. But really, I had known it wasn’t a dream, just as I had known that I could trust her on this one occasion. “I don’t believe I did take a risk,” I told him. “She believes that you’re still keeping things from me, that you’re refusing to tell me everything I should know about your history and hers. Is she right?”
“It is not that I refuse, but yes, I have yet to tell you all. Ours is a long and complicated history. I could not possibly convey all of it to you at once.”
“I understand that,” I said, my patience strained. “But she says that you’re . . . telling me things that present your actions in the best light and hers in the worst.” I wasn’t explaining it well.
His waters were roiled. “She implies that I am misleading you, that if I told you all there is to tell, you might side with her.”
“Exactly.” I hesitated, unsure of whether I wanted to know the truth. “Is she right?”
“No, and yes.”
I scowled. “That’s helpful.”
“We were at war, Ohanko. I fought against other weremystes. Some I wounded, others I killed. I can justify all that I did. I believed that I was doing right. But obviously my foes disagreed and felt that my allies and I were at fault. I am sure Saorla could tell you tales-all of them true-that would make my deeds sound foul, even villainous. Such is the nature of war. I am not perfect, nor have I ever claimed to be. And as a young man I made terrible mistakes that I rue to this day. But I remain a loyal servant of the Runeclave, and I remain as well your friend.”
“Is that why you stayed here all night?”
A faint smile touched his face. “It is.”
He still hadn’t told me all. I knew that. But I knew as well that he had told me the truth as far as it went. More, now that I was awake and free of Saorla’s influence, I was able the name the difference between them: Namid might not have been as forthcoming with information as I would have liked, but he never threatened or cajoled. What he shared came unvarnished; I was free to do with it what I would. And that gift of freedom was an expression of friendship that Saorla couldn’t have understood.
“I must leave you for a time,” the myste said. “I believe you are safe, at least for now.”
“All right. Thanks for protecting me.”
“I did not. That would have been an act of interference. I merely remained by your side out of concern for your health.”
We both smiled. Then he raised a hand in farewell and vanished.
I closed my eyes and must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew a nurse I didn’t recognize was checking my vital signs, and a tray of scrambled eggs and toast had been set by my bed. The nurse’s tag read “Alicia.”
“You’re awake,” she said. “I heard you talking before; do you talk in your sleep?”
“Sometimes,” I said, fighting an urge to laugh.
“Well, if you feel up to it, someone’s here to see you.” She leaned closer to me. “And she’s very pretty.”
I tensed. Could it have been Patty? Witcombe wouldn’t have come herself.
“Come on in,” the nurse said, pulling the curtain open.
Margarite, Kona’s partner-of the domestic sort-walked to my bedside. I gave her a big smile, my pulse slowing.
“Hey, you! I’m surprised to see you here.”
She stooped to kiss my cheek, dark hair brushing my forehead. “How are you, Jay?”
“I’m good. I mean, as good as a guy in a hospital can be, you know?”
The nurse left us, although not before setting the table with the food tray on it right in front of me.
“I knew Kona would be working this morning. You didn’t have to come.”
Her smile tightened. “Actually, I did,” she said, dropping her voice to a whisper. “You have to get out of here.”
“What?”
“Kona told me to tell you that she and Kevin will be coming here to arrest you this morning. They might be on their way already. She tried to keep them from charging you, but right now the evidence is weighted against you too much.”
I nodded, trying to fight off a surge of panic. I could hear my heart monitor beeping out a salsa beat, and I expected the nurse to come back at any moment to find out what the hell we were doing in here.
On cue, the curtain slid open again. “Mister Fearsson?” Alicia said, eyeing us both.
“I have to leave,” I said.
“I’m afraid I can’t-”
“I’ll sign whatever papers are necessary releasing the hospital from any responsibility for my well-being. But . . . my father. He’s taken ill. He might even have had a heart attack. He’s at another hospital and I need to get to him.”
As lies went, it seemed like a pretty good one.
I could tell Alicia wasn’t pleased, but after a few seconds, which felt like an eon, she said, “Yes, all right. I’ll start the paperwork right away.”