I pushed my chair back. “I’m sorry you got pulled in the middle of this, Alex. I know you care about Eugenie.” Those things were true; the next part wasn’t. I planted my imaginary staff on the Khazad-d?m of Magazine Street and took my stand against the Balrog of political bullying. “I better go and talk to her now. This news is better coming from me.”
The relief rolled off Alex thick enough to choke me, but I didn’t tell him his trust was misplaced. If he thought about it hard enough, he should realize I would never agree this easily. He was desperate to avoid a conflict, however, and I couldn’t blame him.
I hoped he’d forgive me.
“This will take a while, so plan on seeing me at the meeting tomorrow morning. I’ll either transport from Eugenie’s or be back at the hotel. Is your transport still powered?”
“Sure, I’m good. Zrakovi was in and out a couple of times today.” He stopped me halfway across the living room. “Hey, don’t I get a good-bye kiss?”
I let him kiss me. I kissed him back like it might be my last chance, and it hurt like a knife wound to my chest. I didn’t want to lie to him, to let him think I was supporting him while I turned around and did just the opposite. But I also couldn’t put him in the middle. If I asked him to side with me against the Elders, he’d be a wreck no matter what decision he reached. Better to just let him be pissed off at me but at peace in knowing he’d done what he could.
Alex might reach his own crossroads later, but not tonight. Tonight, it was my turn.
I opened the door, and the snow hitting my face camouflaged the tears that had started up again. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Alex.”
When the troubles would really begin.
CHAPTER 20
I had very little time to make a decision.
Not about the baby. The clarity I’d been seeking all night had shone clearly on that issue. I wasn’t doing what they’d asked me to do. Period. What’s more, if I could prevent it, Zrakovi’s hired Green Congress wizard wouldn’t do it either. Eugenie had to be my first priority. Prete politics would come and go, but friends were more important.
So as I fought the wind and snowdrifts to make my way across the vacant lot where I once lived, and across the street to Eugenie’s house, my first thoughts were to make her disappear. She could go to Shreveport and visit her sister—if she could get out of New Orleans. Doubtful. Even if Christof called a halt to his winter storm this instant, the airport was closed. The bridges over Lake Pontchartrain were closed. There was no way out of town that wasn’t every bit as dangerous as a Green Congress wizard with a toxic potion.
The other quick solution would be getting Eugenie to the Beyond and setting her up in Old Orleans, or even in Barataria. I didn’t want Jean mixed up in this fight, however. He had his own tricky maneuvering to do, and Old Orleans was a wild, lawless border town between the modern world and the Beyond. An overly curious soul like Eugenie, with no experience in the prete world, could get into a heap of trouble very fast.
I’d been dithering on the first step to Eugenie’s porch, but now did an about-face and went back down to the sidewalk. I was going about this all wrong. Getting rid of Eugenie wasn’t the answer. I needed to go to Rand.
My limbs had already begun to move sluggishly, and I opened my mind wide to my non-husband and yelled: Rand! Come downstairs and let me in!
Somehow, he managed to convey a mental wince. Stop yelling. We need to work on your manners.
Yeah, well, when I had a spare moment. By the time I made it halfway across Magazine Street, my legs were barely shuffling. If there had been any traffic, I’d be a pancake.
The world turned upside down as I lost my footing. My sluggish thoughts registered how sad it was going to be when I was found either hibernating or frozen in the middle of Magazine Street come daylight. I seemed to still be moving, however, and it took a few seconds to filter through my iceberg of a brain that Rand had hustled out and thrown me over his shoulder.
*
Great, let him take care of things. I needed to sleep.
“Dru, wake up.” Something hot gushed down my chin, startling me awake. I was stretched out on the sofa in his upstairs sitting room, and Rand sat beside me, holding a mug. He’d been trying to give me hot liquids, I guess, but missed my mouth. I held out my hand and he placed the cup against my palm, hanging on to it until he was sure I had it in a firm grasp.
I sipped, and recognized the taste. Sort of like warm apple juice, but with some elven mojo stirred in to clear my mind. After Tish Newman had been murdered on my porch and Rand found me, he’d given me this same stuff. I needed all the mental help I could get, so I drank the rest of it.
“How long was I out?” We didn’t have time for me to waste hibernating.
“Not long. Less than a half hour, I’d say.” Rand took the mug and set it on the end table. “It’s just before eleven. What were you doing out there?”