Otherworld Renegade

“If you want me to know, I expect you’ll tell me in your own time.” Lorcan stretched his arms above his head. “Right now, if I don’t shower and then get some breakfast, I’ll be no use to you or anyone.”

* * *

The square was crowded with students. Competing music blared from open dormitory windows and from the bars around the outer edge. Lorcan skirted around skateboarders, impromptu dancers and chattering groups, carrying beer and pizza to where Tanzi was sitting on the steps of the university building waiting for him. She wore leggings and a sweatshirt that was at least three sizes too big. Her hair was tied back and hidden under a black baseball cap, and her face was still swollen and bruised. Even so, when she looked up with a smile as he approached, he felt the full impact of the effect she had on him. It hit him somewhere just south of his abdomen. Whom was he kidding? The feeling began well south of his abdomen. He told himself it was what faeries did best. Their ability to enchant was legendary. Faerie glamor, his mother would have called it. The old-fashioned term and the memory of his mother made him smile. Moncoya’s dislike of the phrase was well-known. The faerie king preferred to believe it was his personal charm that drew others to him. Dismissing the unwelcome intrusion of Moncoya into his thoughts, Lorcan joined Tanzi on the step.

“I thought you wanted to talk to me in private?” Tanzi leaned in close so that he could hear her above the noise. Her breath brushed tantalizingly close to his ear.

“I do.” He pointed with his beer bottle at the teeming square. “No one here is remotely interested in us or anything we have to say. They are all too busy having their own good time.”

She laughed, taking a slice of pizza from the box on his knee and biting into it with very white, very even teeth. He remembered another thing his mother used to say. “Are you claiming me for your own?” He nodded at the pizza. “Sharing food with me? In faerie terms, doesn’t this mean I belong to you now?”

Tanzi blushed and glanced down at the slice of pizza in her hand. “I didn’t think. I never meant...”

“I’m teasing you. In a way, I’m already yours to command. I told you that three months ago, on the day of the battle for control of Otherworld.”

She drew in a deep breath and, for a moment, he thought she was about to say something more. Instead, she nodded at the crowded square. “Is this what you mortals do?”

So she bought in to the pretense that he was mortal. Most people did. He was good at it and it was half-true, anyway. He didn’t contradict her. “Have fun? Yeah, we try. Sometimes we even succeed.”

They ate and drank in companionable silence.

“What did you wish to say to me?” Tanzi turned to face him and Lorcan thought again how amazing her eyes were. The bright blaze of sidhe fire around her irises made the blue of her pupils appear darker. There was something slightly feline in the slant of her eyes and the finely arched brows above them. A man could drown in those eyes. Unless he was very careful.

“If you are to remain in the safe house, we must take great care not to let anyone know who you are.” The long lashes swept down, shadowing her cheeks, but not before he caught a glimpse of the pain his words had caused her.

“Because of my father.”

“Yes.” What else could he say? There was no way to soften the blow. She was Moncoya’s daughter. If she was recognized, she’d be lucky to get out of the safe house in one piece. Moncoya had wrecked too many lives for anyone to forgive and forget. And Tanzi was no innocent. She had played a willing part in her father’s villainy.

“Was I wrong to come here?”

“No. You were right to come to me. I will keep my promise and take care of you, but you need to face facts. Your name isn’t going to win you any popularity contests among the Iberian sidhes.”

“So what story shall I tell? What must my name be?”

Lorcan frowned. He hadn’t thought of her name. But there was only one Tanzi. She was as well-known as her father. The name had to go. “Keep it simple. You have no story because you have no memory. You don’t even remember your own name.”

“I can’t be nameless. You will have to call me something.”

He stared into those endless eyes. “I will call you Searc.”

Tanzi wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure I like that. What does it mean?”

“Ah, some old Irish words have lost their meaning in the mists of time,” he lied. “Now, if you are to stay at the safe house, you must earn your keep.”

Tanzi started to laugh, the action bringing her shoulder into contact with Lorcan’s arm. A warm feeling spread from his chest to his stomach. She was addictive. Perhaps he should allow himself these small doses of her touch now and then. Just to develop immunity and test his own strength. “I have not been trained to cook or wash dishes.”

“You should offer to help Maria with both. She’ll refuse, but it will endear you to her. No, I think your fighting skills will prove more useful than your domestic talents.” How would she respond? He was asking her to take up arms against her father. It was the ultimate test of how serious she was.

Tanzi’s face told him she understood. For a moment her expression was open to him and the anguish he read in her eyes shocked him. What had Moncoya done to her?

“Agreed.”

That single word said it all. Whatever had caused her to run to him, it was so bad she was prepared to change sides. Lorcan knew how that felt. It was the hardest decision in the world. Without thinking, he took her hand in his. Tanzi looked down in surprise. Briefly, she let her hand rest passively in Lorcan’s palm. Then she turned it and twined her fingers between his. It was a touching, trusting gesture. They sat together for a long time, hand in hand, watching the lively display of life unfolding in the square in front of them.

“Tell me about the men who hurt you.” Lorcan broke the silence at last.

She let go of his hand, and it felt as if a spell had been broken. Perhaps it had. “I was foolish.”

“You trusted me enough to come looking for me. You can tell me about this.” Pedro said they had found her half-naked and beaten. That was bad enough. Was it even worse? His mind made a connection he didn’t want. “Tell me they didn’t—?”

“No.” She interrupted quickly. Her cheeks flamed. “They didn’t rape me. Is that what you meant?” He nodded. “They were street performers. Dressed as a bullfighter and a bull. I suppose they thought I was just a naive tourist flaunting my expensive clothes. I think it could have been much worse, but I’d told them I was looking for you. They knew your name. They seemed to be afraid of you.”

“So they bloody should be.” His jaw muscles tightened.

“They called you a renegade. What did they mean by that?”

Lorcan didn’t answer at first. Renegade. It was a word he hadn’t heard in a long time. A word he had hoped never to hear again. When he did speak, it wasn’t in answer to Tanzi’s question.

“I know who they are.”

* * *

Tanzi regarded Lorcan thoughtfully. “You take your old room, I can sleep in here.”

She indicated the cramped space in which they were standing. It was the only other room on the top floor of the house and, until an hour ago, it had been used by Maria as a linen closet. After returning from the square, Lorcan and Tanzi had cleared it of its contents and carried a foldaway bed up the winding stairs all the way from the cellar. It just fitted into the cramped space. Maria, after eying the arrangement in disgust, was making her way—with much huffing and complaining—down the stairs with laden armfuls of bedding.

“Sure, isn’t this the height of luxury after some of the places I’ve been forced to get my head down in my time?” He grinned and Tanzi’s stomach responded by doing a strange little flip-flop movement. She wondered briefly if it might be some sort of necromancer spell. If it was, its purpose eluded her. “Go to bed, Searc.”

It must be a spell, she decided later. Why else would she be drifting aimlessly around her room in a giddy trance, listening to the sounds of Lorcan getting into bed in the room next door? Smiling to herself as she heard him bump his head on the low ceiling and curse? Picturing the tanned torso she had seen that morning and imagining running her fingers lightly over those interesting ridges of muscle? Discovering that she was not, as she had always believed, immune to the pull of sexual attraction that others found so enticing?

Flopping down onto her own bed, Tanzi thought about what Lorcan had said. If she stayed here, she was changing sides. She would join the fight against her father. To even contemplate such an action should make her weighed down by her own duplicity. So why did she feel—her mind searched for the right word—liberated? It was as though her subconscious had been seeking this decision all along and, now it was made, every part of her felt lighter and freer.

This all-enveloping sense of relief was not just a result of Moncoya’s behavior toward Tanzi herself. The preceding three months had provided her with more than enough proof of his corruption and viciousness. Even though she was his daughter, the faeries had started to come to Tanzi with their stories. She was gaining a reputation for fairness and action. They were beginning to trust her. Tanzi herself no longer had any faith in Moncoya. Finally, she could accept that she had never loved him. Her life had been ruled by her fear of him.

So I will proudly turn my coat. I will become a renegade like you, Lorcan Malone. Tanzi had seen the wretchedness in his eyes when she said the word, and her curiosity had spiked in response. I know why I am crossing the line, and I will do so with my head held high. What was your reason, necromancer?

The third stair from the top had a creak that sounded like a strangled cat. When it came, it was the signal Tanzi had been waiting for. The noise had either been caused by someone coming up the stairs, or, as she suspected, by Lorcan sneaking down.

Slipping fully dressed from her bed, Tanzi pulled the hood of her dark sweatshirt up so that it hid her hair. Leaving her room, she closed the door carefully behind her and leaned over the banister. She could see Lorcan on the flight of stairs below her. He was carrying his shoes. Avoiding that telltale third step, Tanzi made her way down, hiding in the shadows of the landing as Lorcan paused to pull on his boots.

The night air was crisp as she followed him outside. Lorcan’s long stride made him hard to keep up with, but the streets were thankfully quiet. Tanzi found herself running from one corner to the next, peeking around buildings before tiptoeing on. Like a cartoon caricature of a sleuth, she thought in annoyance. Are all men this obstinate? Why couldn’t he have just offered to take me with him?

Lorcan made his way out of the winding lanes around the safe house and into a wider promenade near the Ramblas. There were more signs of life here. Neon lights cut through the darkness and a few revelers were trying to maintain the daytime carnival atmosphere. The smell of beer and fried onions hung heavy in the air. Tanzi kept her hands in her pockets and her head down, glancing up only now and then to check that Lorcan was still in her sights. That was how she almost missed it when he ducked into a narrow alley between a bar and a strip club. Doubt assailed her. Maybe she had this all wrong. Was he actually planning a nocturnal visit to seek comfort in one of the district’s seedier establishments? These advertised their services with red lights hung over their doors. Although the prostitutes loitering on the doorsteps might also have been a clue.

Tanzi hung back, watching by the light of a single streetlamp as Lorcan followed a short cobbled passage, then turned left. When she sprinted after him, she found herself in a walled courtyard, with a church at one end. The building was abandoned. Even in the darkness it was clear that half the roof had fallen in and there was no glass in the windows. There was no sign of Lorcan. Tanzi spun round. There hadn’t been time for him to scale one of the ten-foot-high walls that enclosed the square yard and, while she knew that his friend Cal had the power to make himself invisible, it was not a common trait among necromancers.

A shout of laughter from inside the church drew Tanzi’s attention and, clinging to the shadows, she made her way in that direction. As she approached, she noticed Lorcan’s tall figure to one side of the door. He was hanging back, observing what was taking place inside. Presented with a dilemma, Tanzi considered her options. If she went any closer, Lorcan would notice her. If she remained where she was, she would be unable to see what was going on. Curiosity won, which was probably what prompted her next action.

When Tanzi was a child, she and Vashti used to sit spellbound while their old nurse, Rina, told tales of faerie folklore. Of a time when mortals understood that the wee, fae folk were part of their heritage, accepting the decisions of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, even referring to Otherworld as “Faeryland.” There were no divisions then between the faerie factions. No separation between faerie and sidhe, no fighting for prominence between Iberia and Celt for who would rule the faerie dynasty. Now, of course, Tanzi understood Rina’s hidden message. She spoke of a time when there was no Moncoya. Rina would tell them of the powers of the ancient faeries. Faeries of the Seelie Court could bestow good fortune upon mortals, change the landscape, control the weather and the crops, levitate or fly and shape-shift. These powers were frowned upon by Moncoya because, in him and other descendants of the Unseelie Court, they were weak or nonexistent. Gradually, over the centuries of sidhe rule and as the distance between Otherworld and the mortal realm grew wider, the faeries had become a fighting race and their benign powers faded.

Nevertheless, Tanzi and Vashti had been determined to put their own skills to the test. Tanzi had never mastered levitation, although, after much practice, Vashti had been able to hover a few feet above her bed. Beyond all others, the one faerie power that had fascinated them throughout their childhood had been shape-shifting.

“I will be a cat,” Tanzi had declared.

“Panther.” Trust Vashti to go bigger, bolder, meaner and keener.

With no clear idea of how to go about the necessary transformation, they had spent hours concentrating on the feline forms into which they wished to change. Tanzi recalled a whole day during which she had followed the kitchen cat around the palace grounds, emulating its movements and imagining herself inside its skin. No matter what they did, neither twin sprouted so much as a whisker. Dispirited, they had questioned Rina about the problem.

“Your father would not like it if he knew I talked to you of the old ways.” Their nurse had cast a nervous look over her shoulder as though expecting Moncoya to emerge from the very walls. “It would be worse if he thought I was encouraging you to try them.”

“We won’t tell if you don’t,” Tanzi had assured her. “But we want to know how to shift.”

“I don’t understand how it works,” Vashti, a stickler for detail, had grumbled. “Even if we could work out what to do, what happens to our clothes when we shift? And how do we come back into our own form again?”

Rina had shaken her head, clicking her tongue indulgently. “Ah, my princesses, you are thinking about this in the wrong way. This is what happens when the old traditions are allowed to die. You are faeries, not were-creatures. Your bodies do not change in the way theirs do.”

Spellbound, Tanzi and Vashti had gazed at her. “Go on.”

“The faerie skill lies in the ability to weave an illusion. We are creatures of magic. Changing shape is part of our glamor. All you have ever needed is the desire to create your disguise. If you believe, you will make others believe with you.”

Round-eyed, the twins had watched each other in delight as they shifted easily into their chosen animal form. From that day on, Tanzi’s go-to shift throughout her childhood had been a black cat. Mercurial Vashti chose a different animal each day, depending on her mood. It had remained their secret, one they had never revealed to anyone else. Their father’s response to their newfound skill was not one they cared to predict.

It had been a while since she had donned her feline disguise, Tanzi conceded. But, if she wanted to see what was going on over at that church, it was her only option. Her mind was made up when Lorcan moved out of the shadows and pushed open the wooden door. Dropping into a crouch and then onto all fours, Tanzi padded into her cat form. She crossed the square and then sprang lightly onto one of the window ledges so that she could look down through the broken glass and onto the scene below.

Chapter 4

The interior of the ruined church was lit by two branches of flickering candles set on a table near the altar. Upon this were piled numerous items, including bags, wallets, clothing and shoes. From her vantage point looking down on the scene, Tanzi immediately spotted her own belongings. She also knew the toreador from his spiky hair and distinctive street performer’s clothing. She didn’t recognize his companion, but he wore dark clothing that could easily have been the bull’s costume. The discarded bull’s head lying on one of the lopsided pews was the final giveaway. Tanzi’s injured ribs ached in acknowledgment of the second man’s identity.

“Raimo and Ronab.” Lorcan strolled into the church, coming up behind them. He lit a path before him in the way that was unique to necromancers. “It’s been a while, guys.”

They swung around, matching expressions of comical incredulity on their faces. The toreador attempted a sneer. It didn’t quite work. “Not long enough.”

Even from a distance, Tanzi could hear Lorcan’s exaggerated sigh. “Raimo, will you lose the attitude? Is that any way to greet a fellow countryman?”

Lorcan was standing next to them now, and Tanzi noticed that the other two men had a tendency to hunch over with their backs curved forward and their heads hanging almost below their shoulder line. Maybe it was just because Lorcan was so tall and straight in comparison. Perhaps it was even a trick of the shadows or a distortion caused by her viewing angle. It was disconcerting because when she had first arrived the two men had looked completely normal. They had also appeared to be individuals, completely different from each other. Now, only minutes later, when she looked from one to the other and back again, they had become almost identical, like indistinguishable mirror images.

Lorcan ran a casual hand over the hoard on the table. “Busy night?”

“What’s it to you, necromancer?” The one who had been dressed as a bull adopted a belligerent tone. It was the same one he had used in that alley when he’d stolen her clothes and kicked her in the ribs. It made Tanzi arch her back and unsheathe her claws.

Lorcan’s hand shot out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. Effortlessly, he lifted the other man off the ground. “A friend of mine was attacked in an alley just off the Ramblas a few nights ago. If I remember rightly, beating up girls is your specialty, Ronab. Would you know anything about this incident, by any chance?”

Before Ronab, who seemed to be struggling for breath, could speak, Raimo moved closer to Lorcan. His gait was odd, almost gamboling, and his arms appeared much longer and thinner than Tanzi remembered. Why had she not remarked upon these very noticeable traits when she first saw him? I might be naive, but even I would not have willingly followed one whose appearance was so clearly odd.

“You wrong us, Lorcan.” The combative note in Raimo’s voice had been replaced by a high-pitched wheedle. “It would not be the first time.”

Lorcan laughed, letting go of Ronab so quickly that the other man stumbled and fell to his knees. “I have never been wrong about you.”

Tanzi almost lost her grip on the window ledge as she caught a glimpse of Ronab’s face, as he turned fully in her direction for the first time. There was no longer anything left of his human features. It was as if he had donned a mask of polished bone. Roughly triangular, his head narrowed from a wide top to a sharp, pointed chin. Small, downward-curving horns protruded from the upper corners, and bright red slits glowed in place of his eyes. Ronab blinked once and, as Tanzi watched in fascination, his eyelids moved from side to side instead of up and down. As far as she could see, he had no nose or mouth.

“We have to earn a living. Ever since we were cast off...”

“Don’t give me that old sob story. We all know you were cast off because of your thieving ways.”

“To our sorrow. If we could go back, start again, explain what happened.” Raimo sighed. “Too late. We miss her.”

“You should have thought of that while you still had her protection.” Lorcan’s voice was colder than the ice on the mountains surrounding Valhalla. “The question is, what shall I do with you now?”

“Speak sternly and make us promise never to do it again?” Ronab got to his feet. With the change in their appearance, the demeanor of the two men had also altered. They had become skittish, almost fawning over Lorcan. They were subservient to him now. Any suggestion of confrontation was gone.

“I could do that,” Lorcan agreed. “And five minutes after I left here, you’d be back out on the street doing a number on the next unsuspecting tourist you came across.”

“There is one way to ensure our eternal obedience.” The creatures that had once been men arranged themselves on each side of Lorcan, gazing up at his face. “Become our master.”

Before Lorcan could respond, Ronab turned his head to slowly gaze at all four corners of the church. Despite his lack of nostrils, he appeared to be sniffing the air. “Faerie,” he grunted, when he had completed the circle.

Raimo crouched lower in a defensive attitude. “I cannot feel it but you are better at detecting the fae ones than I. Where?”

“Very close.”

Was it Tanzi’s imagination, or did Lorcan actually look directly at her? She tried to draw back into the shadows, but it was difficult on such a narrow perch. “Can we get back to the matter in hand? You know very well I cannot be your master. Even if I wanted the job, I lack the necessary credentials.”

“You changed once, you can go back again. It is what she would want.” Raimo, who was clearly the spokesperson, hovered somewhere between pleading and desperation.

“I’m a patient man.” Tanzi decided that she loved listening to Lorcan speak. Even now, when there was a slight edge to his tone and danger in the air, those lyrical notes in his voice reassured her that she was safe. “But if you speak of her again, I swear I will raise her from her grave so that she can punish you herself.”

“You would not!”

“Try me.” Evidently deciding that he meant business, the creatures subsided into an aspect of supplication at his feet. Lorcan turned back to the haul of stolen goods. “Here’s the deal. You will take these to the Santa Maria homeless shelter tonight. Then you can take yourselves off home and find a new master.”

“If we say no?” Ronab scurried out of reach as he asked the question.

“Then I’ll beat you to within an inch of your miserable lives,” Lorcan told him cheerfully. “And, when I’ve done that, I’ll take you home myself and hand you over to someone who’ll know how to keep your light-fingered tendencies in check.”

Needing no further encouragement, the two creatures began to gather up the items from the table. “Not these.” Unerringly, Lorcan picked out Tanzi’s property. “I’ll return them to their owner. Oh, and guys?” They paused, looking at him inquiringly. “You might want to go to the homeless shelter in your mortal guise. No point frightening the volunteers by showing them the real you.”

Muttering under their breath, Raimo and Ronab scurried out of the building, loaded down with their haul of goods. After they had gone, Lorcan stood very still in the center of the aisle.