Jen shook her head and smothered another laugh.
Two more scraps, then a bell rang somewhere down in the town. That served as a signal to call a halt. Nikos came to Jen’s side as his elite guard all trooped off in another direction.
Meet me up at the aerie? he asked. Do you remember where it is?
Jen pointed toward the tallest of the towers. Nikos tossed his head, mane flying, then leaped into the sky.
Jen jogged up about four levels of marble stairs, until she reached a wing that overlooked both the harbor below, and the mountain behind. There were broad balconies off all the arched doors and windows—to give flying shifters easy access, she realized.
Nikos trotted through one of these archways, and met her in a broad hall with a mosaic floor depicting ocean waves. Ancient murals had been painted down one wall in a style that reminded Jen of Minoan art.
My room is through there, Nikos said, tossing his head again. My study beyond it. The library is directly below. Over there are the rest of the rooms. Pick anywhere you like.
“What I really want,” she said, “is for us to be human at the same time.”
He came toward her, lowering his head, and whuffed gently against her shoulder. She leaned her cheek against his head, reached up and ran her hands through his mane. I, too, he said. But until then, I want you to be comfortable.
“Anywhere is fine,” she said, closing her eyes. Suddenly she was very tired—then she remembered that back in California, it was late at night.
Take the room next to mine? he asked. You are welcome to any of my clothes, until we can bring yours.
“You’re very gallant,” she whispered into his neck. “I wish. . . I want . . .”
Wordlessly, she felt the hum of his unicorn. “Your unicorn talks to you,” she murmured. “I can hear him. He’s you and not you. I wish my phoenix would talk to me.”
He is my unicorn self, came Nikos’s warm thought, and then came that distinct, deeper voice, Nikos and not-Nikos, She will rise when she is ready. She is still new.
With the voice came a sense of reassurance. Jen sighed, and let him go.
He stepped back. Sleep, came his thought. And then he flew off, until he was a speck against the bright Mediterranean sun.
The room he’d pointed out was huge, with a medieval wardrobe at one side, and Renaissance trunks at the other. The bed was enormous, complete with a canopy, but when she poked it, she discovered a modern mattress and clean fine-weave cotton sheets. Through an adjacent door, she saw an up-to-date bathroom with a tile shower. Fresh towels in the cupboard, and drawers full of brand-new toiletries.
Soon, clean and refreshed, she slid under the sheets, and slept.
SEVENTEEN
NIKOS
Our mate is home, his unicorn trumpeted. Everything is complete.
Everything is NOT complete, Nikos shot back. I’m still you when I could be in that bed with her right now, making things complete my way!
His unicorn remained perfectly serene. Our mate still has half of us, as is right and true. Her phoenix will rise, and we will regain our ability to shift. You will see.
In the meantime, I can’t be at Jen’s side all the time. I know as soon as Medusa finds out about her—and she will—she’ll be slithering around trying to get at Jen somewhere I can’t be. I hate that.
We shall be vigilant, the unicorn responded, still maddeningly serene.
Nikos knew very well that at least half of his ire was due to frustration. He was impatient to close the deal, make Jen his, and surrender himself to her. Make it real.
But the unicorn wasn’t wrong. And one way to help Jen understand what the stakes were was to make sure his most trusted people were up to speed.
He figured they’d be done with their meal by now. He flew down to the training field, and trotted down the corridor to the great hall. As he went, he tried to see the flowering shrubs in their pots, the mosaics, the murals as Jen would see them. She’d been sincere in her admiration, but would she like it here enough to regard it as home? He had not forgotten what she’d said about never having a home. That austere little shoebox of a house had been imposed on her as a home by her crusader husband. Nikos hated the thought of imposing his own home on her. He knew she liked beautiful things, as did he, but was it enough for her to choose it?
He entered the hall. The hetairoi stopped eating, and turned his way. Because he could not use speech, the quicker among them closed their eyes, listening on the mythic plane. Those who still had trouble accessing it took hands with the more experienced.
Nikos said, My mate is asleep. Shifting back to her phoenix will probably waken her. I will have more to say when I regain human form. Until then: watch Medusa’s tourists, but don’t interact.