Shadowspell

Kimber sobered at the same time. “That doesn’t make it your fault,” she told me quietly. “Are you going to blame your mom, too? Because if she hadn’t given birth to you, you wouldn’t be here, and the Erlking wouldn’t have been interested in Ethan, and Ethan wouldn’t have been captured. So that makes it all her fault, right?”

“When you put it that way…”

“Besides,” she continued, “if you think it’s your fault just because you exist, then it has to be at least partly my fault for being Ethan’s enabler. By ducking out on you, I put him in harm’s way.”

“It’s not like you meant to.”

“Exactly.”

“Oh.” Hearing her lay it all out like that made me feel just a little bit stupid for having wallowed as much as I had.

Kimber blew out a deep breath. “Ethan isn’t blameless, either,” she said. “He knew the Erlking couldn’t hurt anyone in Avalon unless that person attacked him first. Why did he have to give the Erlking the chance?”

“I’m sure he didn’t have time to really think about what he was doing.”

She snorted softly. “It wouldn’t have mattered. Ethan is so full of himself he’s biologically incapable of resisting an opportunity to save the day.”

Her words were scathing, but I heard the pain under them. Ethan drove her nuts, but he was still her brother, and she did love him.

“I’m not giving up on him,” I told her.

“Everyone else has,” she said bitterly.

“I know. But not me. And, I hope, not you. That’s actually why I was calling. I was wondering if you could help me brainstorm a bit, see if we can come up with a way to help Ethan.”

She hesitated a moment. “What can the two of us possibly hope to do against the Erlking? We’re a little outclassed.”

“Maybe,” I admitted. Paranoia said that discussing possible rescue plans over the phone wasn’t such a hot idea. “Can I come over so we can talk about it in person?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a laugh in her voice. “Can you?”

I managed a feeble laugh in response. She could never resist teasing me about my misuse of the word can, and it had now become something of an inside joke.

“Sorry,” I said. “I forgot I was talking to the Grammar Nazi. May I come over?”

“Of course.”

“You know I’ll have my bodyguards with me,” I warned.

“I’ll make tea. They can stand guard in the living room, and we can talk in my bedroom. They’ll give you that much space, won’t they?”

“Yeah,” I said, though I figured it might take some persuading. “It might be a little while before I get there. I have to get hold of Lachlan and let my dad know where I’m going first. I’ll call as soon as I know my ETA.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

*   *   *

Conveniently—if completely by accident—I arrived at Kimber’s apartment right at tea time. Playing the gracious hostess, she served Finn and Lachlan a selection of finger sandwiches with their tea. I could tell Finn wasn’t comfortable with being treated as a guest, but Kimber pretended to ignore that, practically shoving the tea into his face until he was forced to take it. She then led me back to her bedroom, where she’d laid out a very different tea spread for the two of us.

I couldn’t help smiling the moment I stepped into the room and sniffed the air.

“Hot posset?” I asked hopefully. I’d never even heard of a hot posset before coming to Avalon, but Kimber now had me addicted to the hot milk-and-honey drink.

“Of course,” she said. “If there ever was a situation that called for hot posset, this would be it.”

Kimber had described it as a cure-all, and it certainly was comforting to drink. Too bad it couldn’t cure what currently ailed us.

We both sat on Kimber’s bed and picked up a mug. Having learned from painful experience in the past, I took a small, cautious sip before diving in. I wasn’t completely surprised to find that sip burning all the way down my throat and into my stomach. I blinked and shook my head.

“How much whiskey is in this?” I asked her. When she made posset for me, she used only a touch of whiskey for flavor, but I knew she liked it strong enough to make an elephant drunk.

She grinned at me over her steaming mug. “You don’t want to know. Now drink up.”

I eyed my mug doubtfully. “I don’t want Finn and Lachlan to have to carry me home.” I hated to admit it, but because of my mom, I was just a little afraid of alcohol. I never, ever wanted to become the sloppy, stupid drunk I’d seen my mom become. No buzz in the world was worth that to me.

“Trust me, it’s not that much whiskey. I know better, remember?”

I relaxed and took another sip. Kimber did indeed know better. I wasn’t all that good at trusting people, and Kimber hadn’t always played things straight with me in the past, but I believed I could trust her now. I’d just try not to gulp the posset down too fast, and I’d be fine.

“The Erlking called me,” I told her, and she practically choked on her swallow of hot posset. “Sorry,” I said, wincing as she coughed and put the mug down.

“He called you?” she asked, appalled.

I nodded. Here came the hard part. I really hoped Kimber would agree with me that I couldn’t make a devil’s bargain with the Erlking, because otherwise, this could get real awkward, real fast. “He wants to set up a trade. I take him and his Huntsmen out on a killing spree in the mortal world, and he’ll free Ethan.”