Mistrals Kiss   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

Sholto led us to the edge of the field and forest. The dogs moved around us, some choosing their masters, others making it plain that they did not belong to anyone here. The ones that chose among us followed as Sholto walked, but the other black dogs began to fall back and vanish into the night, as if we had imagined them. The hound at my side bumped my hand for a pat, as if to remind me that it was real.

I wasn’t certain the hounds would stay, but they seemed magically to give each of us what we needed tonight. Galen walked surrounded by dogs, circled by sleek-looking greyhounds and a trio of small dogs dancing at his feet. They made him smile, and helped chase the shadows from his face. Doyle moved in a circle of black dogs; they fawned and capered about him like puppies. The terriers followed Rhys like a small army of fur. Frost held my hand over the back of the smallest of the greyhounds. He had no dog at his side — only the white stag that had run into the night. But he seemed perfectly content with my hand in his.

The air was warm, and I looked from Frost’s face to Sholto, and found that Sholto was walking on sand. One moment we were walking in snow-covered fields at the edge of the trees, and the next moment sand sucked at my feet. Water swirled over my bare toes, and the bite of salt let me know that I was bleeding.

I must have made some small sound, because Frost picked me up. I protested, but it did me no good. The greyhounds stayed at his side, dancing around us, half afraid of the curl of ocean, and seemingly worried that they couldn’t stay in contact with me.

Sholto led us up on dry land. The three-headed dog and the bone weapons had vanished, but somehow I didn’t think they were any more gone than the chalice was from me. True magic cannot be lost or stolen; it can only be given away.

We stood in the darkness, hours before dawn. I could hear the rushing of cars on the highway nearby. We were hidden by cliffs, but that would change as the dawn grew near. Surfers and fishermen would come down to the sea, and we needed to be gone before then.

“Use glamour to hide your appearance,” Sholto said. “I have sent for taxis. They will arrive very soon.”

“What magic is it,” I asked, “that lets you find taxis in L.A. at a moment’s notice?”

“I am the Lord of That Which Passes Between, Merry, and taxis are always going between one place and another.”

It made perfect sense, but it made me smile all the same. I reached for Sholto, and Frost let him take me, though not just with his arms.