LITMIR.BIZ

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with always being chased down by aggressive men, but I hated the thought of any girl facing rape or abduction. It didn’t matter that these were gentry girls and not humans. The principle was the same. Brigands and thieves taking advantage of young girls, of preying on those weaker, had to be stopped.

      “I’ll send people to take care of these bandits,” I said finally. Behind me, Rurik made a strange sound. “But I can’t make any guarantees about your daughter.”

      The couple’s faces lit up, and they fell to the ground in gratitude. “Thank you, your majesty!” the woman cried.

      Her husband chimed in. “Truly you are generous and magnanimous and—”

      “Yeah, okay, there’s no need for that,” I said hastily. “Or to kneel. You’re going to get all dirty.”

      We had just started to ride away when Shaya leaned toward me. “You’ve made a lot of promises today.”

      I thought about it. She was right. I’d promised to help them get food, rebuild their infrastructure, and rid themselves of those who preyed upon them. “Yeah. I guess I did.”

      She gave me a bemused look. “And how are you going to accomplish all of this?”

      I glanced around us, noting that the faces watching us leave town were no longer blank and afraid. They were grateful and adoring. I sighed.

      “That,” I told her, “is an excellent question.”

      Chapter Five

      I fully intended to make good on my promises, and in Tucson the next day, I began acquiring an odd assortment of goods that I hoped might improve the Thorn Land’s situation. Admittedly, they were kind of lame, but I figured I had to start somewhere and was rather proud of my attempts when I finished.

      I was sitting down in front of the TV with an early dinner that night when Kiyo walked in, clad in his white vet’s coat. Naturally, all the animals lifted their heads or actually walked over to him in greeting. If I hadn’t been balancing a plate of ravioli on my lap, I would have leapt up and run into his arms. Instead, I gave him a dazzling smile, one that grew larger when I saw he carried a bouquet of flowers.

      “I would have been here sooner,” he said, tossing the coat onto a chair. “But I had an afternoon shift.”

      “Hey, I’m just happy to see you at all. I figured you’d still be busy with baby stuff.”

      “Nope.” He sat down in a chair opposite me and laid the bouquet down on the coffee table. “You were amazing there, you know.”

      “If by amazing, you mean shoddily dressed and leading on gentry princes—then, yes. Yes, I was. What are those for?” I gestured with my fork to the flowers—an arrangement of brightly colored gerbera daisies.

      “Do I need a reason? Aside from you being awesome?”

      I swallowed the piece of ravioli I’d just chewed. “Of course there’s a reason. There’s always a reason. We’ve talked about this before.”

      He gave me a lazy, dangerous smile, propping his head up on his elbow as his dark eyes assessed me. “Right. Standard practices in courtship and mating. Gifts given as subtle suggestions. ‘Here, take these plant sex organs.’ Hint, hint.” It was an old joke between us.

      “Fortunately, in your case, you don’t need to be that subtle. I already know you want sex.”

      “True, but I wanted to clear up any doubts. Besides, you’ve been so great lately…I don’t know. I just wanted to do something nice. Figured we could have a fun night—although, you’re dashing my dreams of taking you out to dinner with the way you’re inhaling that ravioli.”

      “Sorry,” I said through a mouthful of food. “I’ve got a job tonight, so I had to eat early.”

      His eyebrows rose. “What kind of raw deal is this? I get off work so I can take you out on the town, and you’ve got to go into work now? Why can’t you have Lara schedule you day jobs?”

      “Because I was busy today with Thorn Land business.”

      Kiyo gave me a wary look.

      “Hey, don’t judge me,” I warned. “I wasn’t actually over there. But I kind of found out recently that people are starving and going without water.”

      “Yeah. I’ve heard that.”

      Now I was the one with the incredulous look. “You knew and didn’t tell me?”

      “Don’t jump all over me! I figured you had people to deal with it. And probably those people had people.”

      “Yeah, well, all of those people are having a little trouble. In fact, I’ve got to go back tomorrow to help round up some brigands.”

      “Did you just say ‘brigands’? That’s very…I don’t know. Very 1683.”

      “Well, whatever they are, they’re a pain in the ass and possibly abducting girls.” I gave him a quick recap. “You want to go with me and help?”

      He shook his head ruefully. “You know, I came here hoping to spend time with you. Instead, I find out you’ve got a job tonight and are playing sheriff tomorrow.”

      “Would it help if I wore a cowgirl outfit?”

      “It might.” He came over to sit beside me and kissed my cheek. “And yes, I’ll go tomorrow. I’ll even go tonight, if you want the company.”

      “You see? We are spending quality time together.”

      “I just hope there’s some quality time in bed later to help make up for it all.”

      “Well,” I said haughtily, setting my plate on the table, “that depends on you, huh? I have no doubts about my quality.”

      He put a hand on my thigh and brushed his lips against my neck. “Oh, Eugenie. Don’t push your luck here,” he growled, “or you might be late for work.”

      I grinned and answered by way of a long, deep kiss that probably would have turned into more if my appointment hadn’t been so close. That, and we also heard Tim coming in the back door. He never took it very well when he found Kiyo and me in a compromising position.

      The two of us drove over near the university, to a quiet residential neighborhood that was split evenly between single-family residences and crowded houses shared by students. As we pulled up in front of a narrow two-story home in need of a new paint job, Kiyo frowned.

      “That microbus looks really familiar,” he said, eyeing the driveway.

      “Really?” I asked innocently.

      We got out of the car and approached the house. When we’d cleared the microbus, Kiyo paused to look at its slew of bumper stickers. Question Authority and Roswell or Bust! were only a few. He gave me a sharp, accusing look.

      “Eugenie, did Wil Delaney move?”

      “Nooo,” I said slowly. “But this is a friend of his.”

      Kiyo groaned. “If I’d known this, I would have stayed home. That guy is insane. And wait—did you just say he actually has a friend?”

      “A friend with a legitimate problem. And you can always go wait in the car.”

      Kiyo said nothing, merely steeling himself as we approached the door. Wil Delaney was a former client of mine. He was a conspiracy theorist who almost never left his home and whose sole income depended on a blog he ran that furthered his ideas on the government, aliens, mind control, genetic manipulation, and a whole host of other wacky premises. He was quite possibly the most paranoid person I’d ever met.

      He was also Jasmine’s half-brother. It was how we’d met. He’d been the one to hire me to go find her in the Otherworld, long before I’d known anything about Storm King and the prophecy. Apparently, Wil and Jasmine’s

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