thought, at the same time I stomped down on my emotional response before it could overwhelm me.
“He may have covered his tracks, but we know who’s behind this, Anyan.”
The barghest shook his head. “We can’t jump to conclusions. We can’t make assumptions. This is huge, and we need more pieces of the puzzle.”
“Oh, get off it, Anyan,” I replied heatedly. I was so tired of this pussyfooting around the subject of the Alfar. “You sound like that one back there,” I said, jerking my head toward Anyan’s cabin where Ryu, presumably, sat stewing. “He was saying right up till Conleth fingered Phaedra that Jarl’s involvement in that fertility lab was impossible. No one wants to point fingers at the Alfar. But I know how you feel about them, and I know you know the truth. Jarl did this. Jarl is behind these labs, just like he was behind Jimmu’s killing spree and Conleth’s imprisonment. Yeah Jarl’s gotta have tons of help, but the buck stops with him. Unless you think Orin and Morrigan are involved, which I doubt. Taking my mother was personal, and Orin doesn’t work like that. He’s too cold.”
“You can’t know that your mother was a victim because of you, Jane,” the barghest responded, his voice softening sympathetically.
Damn him
, I thought, feeling tears needle my eyes again.
Why does he always know what I’m thinking?
“Whatever,” was my terse response. “But the lab thing is all Jarl. You said yourself that it was like where Conleth was kept. If we assume Jarl’s involvement from the beginning, and don’t waste time acting like that’s an impossibility, we’ll be a hell of a lot closer to catching him.”
Any softening of Anyan’s hawkish features hardened the minute he heard the word “we.” He stood up before placing the statue on one of the workbenches. Then he strode to the door.
“Yes, you heard me right,” I shouted after him, scrambling to keep up with his long strides. “Don’t you ignore me, Anyan Barghest!”
He was already inside his cabin, the screen door slamming in my face. I wrenched it open only to see he was already halfway through his living room. Hustling after him, I darted past a surprised-looking Julian and a sulking Ryu, both sitting on the sofa, just as the barghest gathered up a couple of bulging saddlebags and headed out his front door.
“Anyan, you shitball, you stop right now!”
Within the arc of the porch lights, he was calmly attaching his saddlebags to his gorgeous, refurbished Indian motorcycle. But now was not the time for admiring; now was the time for whooping a little man-dog keister.
“Anyan!” I shouted, demanding he acknowledge my request.
“There is no way in heaven or hell that you are involving yourself in this investigation, Jane. So don’t even start.”
I’d never been one to contain my emotions, but I don’t think I’d ever felt this sort of fury before. I’d grieved; I’d loved; I’d felt overwhelming sadness. But never real
fury
. Until now.
The anger started in my toes, then pushed up my body in a wave of rage so fierce I trembled. Already overcharged, my power fizzed and whizbanged right alongside my emotions. I’d always been told that emotional control was vital to magical control, but ever since I’d reached out to my ocean a year ago, I’d found that shunting off my feelings actually weakened me. Maybe it was because I was a halfling and my humanity tempered the demands of my supernatural heritage. Whatever the case, I felt a heady combination of power and anger beating through me, looking for release.
“He killed my mother,” I responded in a hoarse voice, but the barghest ignored me. And that’s when I felt something snap inside me. Fury ignited in my soul like a puddle of gasoline flaming to life.
“You cannot deny me this, Anyan,” I raged at the barghest’s retreating form. I moved to confront him when Ryu’s voice came from behind me.
“Jane, Anyan’s right. Your coming is a
“He may have covered his tracks, but we know who’s behind this, Anyan.”
The barghest shook his head. “We can’t jump to conclusions. We can’t make assumptions. This is huge, and we need more pieces of the puzzle.”
“Oh, get off it, Anyan,” I replied heatedly. I was so tired of this pussyfooting around the subject of the Alfar. “You sound like that one back there,” I said, jerking my head toward Anyan’s cabin where Ryu, presumably, sat stewing. “He was saying right up till Conleth fingered Phaedra that Jarl’s involvement in that fertility lab was impossible. No one wants to point fingers at the Alfar. But I know how you feel about them, and I know you know the truth. Jarl did this. Jarl is behind these labs, just like he was behind Jimmu’s killing spree and Conleth’s imprisonment. Yeah Jarl’s gotta have tons of help, but the buck stops with him. Unless you think Orin and Morrigan are involved, which I doubt. Taking my mother was personal, and Orin doesn’t work like that. He’s too cold.”
“You can’t know that your mother was a victim because of you, Jane,” the barghest responded, his voice softening sympathetically.
Damn him
, I thought, feeling tears needle my eyes again.
Why does he always know what I’m thinking?
“Whatever,” was my terse response. “But the lab thing is all Jarl. You said yourself that it was like where Conleth was kept. If we assume Jarl’s involvement from the beginning, and don’t waste time acting like that’s an impossibility, we’ll be a hell of a lot closer to catching him.”
Any softening of Anyan’s hawkish features hardened the minute he heard the word “we.” He stood up before placing the statue on one of the workbenches. Then he strode to the door.
“Yes, you heard me right,” I shouted after him, scrambling to keep up with his long strides. “Don’t you ignore me, Anyan Barghest!”
He was already inside his cabin, the screen door slamming in my face. I wrenched it open only to see he was already halfway through his living room. Hustling after him, I darted past a surprised-looking Julian and a sulking Ryu, both sitting on the sofa, just as the barghest gathered up a couple of bulging saddlebags and headed out his front door.
“Anyan, you shitball, you stop right now!”
Within the arc of the porch lights, he was calmly attaching his saddlebags to his gorgeous, refurbished Indian motorcycle. But now was not the time for admiring; now was the time for whooping a little man-dog keister.
“Anyan!” I shouted, demanding he acknowledge my request.
“There is no way in heaven or hell that you are involving yourself in this investigation, Jane. So don’t even start.”
I’d never been one to contain my emotions, but I don’t think I’d ever felt this sort of fury before. I’d grieved; I’d loved; I’d felt overwhelming sadness. But never real
fury
. Until now.
The anger started in my toes, then pushed up my body in a wave of rage so fierce I trembled. Already overcharged, my power fizzed and whizbanged right alongside my emotions. I’d always been told that emotional control was vital to magical control, but ever since I’d reached out to my ocean a year ago, I’d found that shunting off my feelings actually weakened me. Maybe it was because I was a halfling and my humanity tempered the demands of my supernatural heritage. Whatever the case, I felt a heady combination of power and anger beating through me, looking for release.
“He killed my mother,” I responded in a hoarse voice, but the barghest ignored me. And that’s when I felt something snap inside me. Fury ignited in my soul like a puddle of gasoline flaming to life.
“You cannot deny me this, Anyan,” I raged at the barghest’s retreating form. I moved to confront him when Ryu’s voice came from behind me.
“Jane, Anyan’s right. Your coming is a
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