Earth's Requiem(49)

“Why?”

“Maybe there’s food or something.” Because she had to scrounge for everything, she always searched abandoned buildings, particularly those in the middle of nowhere like this one. The door hung half off its hinges; it made a creaking sound in the wind. She took a tentative step inside, realized the flooring was rotten, and determined where the support beams were. She didn’t find food, but on the second floor, consisting of four large bedrooms, she found clothes. Pants and shirts and a Gore-Tex jacket that looked as if it hadn’t ever been worn. It still had a plastic bag around it. Shoving a dusty coverlet off one of the beds, she tried things on. Nearly everything fit, even the silk panties and lacy bras.

“They’re ridiculous,” she muttered, but the feel of the smooth material, soft against her skin, made her reconsider. Once upon a time, she’d loved nice things. She settled on a finely woven, long-sleeved wool shirt, sturdy pants with lots of pockets, and the Gore-Tex jacket to wear. Then she filled her pack with three more shirts, another pair of pants, socks that miraculously didn’t have holes in them from resident moths, bras and panties, and a wool-lined vest. Unfortunately, whoever had owned the clothes had feet that were smaller than hers. She looked longingly at a pair of leather boots, but knew they’d make her feet hurt every time she wore them. She did tie a pair of Teva sandals to the outside of her rucksack, though. They were a big step up from the cracked, plastic Crocs she had at home.

She thought about folding her old clothes and placing them in dresser drawers, but they were still quite damp. She draped her threadbare garments over the furniture. “For the next person,” she told the silence of the room. “There’s still wear left in them.”

“What are you doing?” Rune called.



“Shopping.” Something that sounded a lot like a giggle escaped before she started down the broken staircase.

“You found food?” the wolf asked, nose twitching. “Must be in cans. I can’t smell it.”

“No, silly, I found clothes. I don’t have an all-weather fur coat like you.”

“We’re losing the light,” he observed. “Maybe that walk wasn’t such a good idea—unless we end up staying here for the night. Then we’ll need to scout a protected campsite. Do you have enough magic for another jump?”

“Sure.” She was astonished by how good she felt. Between food, lolling in the sun—even though it hadn’t been all that warm—waiting for her clothes to dry, and finding new ones, her energy was back online. She thought just maybe she could conquer the world. Or what was left of it, anyway. “Let’s surprise Fionn and Bella.”





Chapter Twelve


Surprise was a mild term for what Aislinn encountered. Fionn grabbed her shoulders the minute her spell dispersed and shook her. “I’ve been expecting you since this morning. Tell me everything. Everything, lass. Leave nothing out. Christ! What happened to your face?” He let go of one shoulder to trace the gash down her cheek.

“Welll, nice to see you again, too.”

She drew back and stared at him. His jaw was set in a hard line. His brows were drawn together. Blue eyes snapped dangerously. He looked furious—and worried.

“You were supposed to call for me if you got into trouble.” He balled his hands into fists at his sides.



So I was. “You’re yelling at me. Stop it. And I’m not sure you would have been much help.” Ah, whoops, that didn’t come out quite right. “Er, I mean, if you had been there, of course—”

He turned away, sucking air like a bellows. She knew he was trying to get himself under control. When he turned back, the tense planes of his face had relaxed a little. “You’re right, of course. It’s just that I was so damned worried about you. And I felt so fucking helpless. Told myself if you weren’t back by midnight, I was going after you.”

“We didn’t agree on a time when you necessarily expected me back.” Aislinn trod cautiously, aware of how tired she was. The euphoria she’d felt leaving the fishing lodge had gotten sucked up and spit out by the magic she’d summoned to ferry Rune and her to Fionn’s grotto. Apparently, she wasn’t as fully recovered as she’d thought. The last thing she wanted was an argument. “What if Rune and I had spent the night next to the McCloud River? We talked about it. Then you’d have been gone tomorrow morning when we finally got back here, and I wouldn’t have known where you were.”

He stared at her. No, it felt as if he was staring through her. “What would you have done?”