Kingfisher(80)

“What can I do?”

She drew a breath. “Come for lunch tomorrow. Anytime after one—he should be open by then. I might need someone to fight for me.”

“What are you planning?” he asked, startled.

“I made some changes. I’m not sure about anything I did, or can do. But maybe, while you’re there, you’ll think of something. If nothing I did works.”

His eyes narrowed. “Does Merle know you’re doing this?”

Her taut face warmed unexpectedly at the name; she almost smiled. Again, Pierce glimpsed the wolf in her eyes. “I haven’t told him. But he’ll know.”

Pierce was silent a moment, absently running his finger around the lip of his glass and remembering Sage, her easy smile, her fairy tale face, the long, rich fall of her hair, so heavy, so full it could belong only in the realm of the imagination. The beer glass refused to sing; he dropped his hand, said hollowly, “I spent those two or three days in Chimera Bay trying to get back in to see her. Trying to outsmart the restaurant. But always when I went there, no matter what time of day, no matter what day, it would be closed. If he sees me coming, I might not be much help to you. He might just lock the place up.”

“Maybe you can melt in with the lunch crowd. And if not—we’ll have to think of something else. But try. Please? Just remember: If he actually lets you in the door, don’t eat anything.”

“Of course I’ll try.” He reached toward his back pocket, caught Tye’s eye, and gave up on that thought. “He won’t let me pay for anything,” he murmured ruefully. “Not even my mistakes.”

“You’re family,” Carrie said. “Your mother has been calling Lilith ever since you left home. She knows you’re here.” He stared at her, aghast. “You could invite her to lunch. I’m just saying,” she added as he stood up. “We need all the help we can get.”

“Believe me,” he said grimly, “joining me for lunch is the last thing she’ll do if she finds out who else I’m inviting.”

—

He was amazed any number of times before he actually saw Sage’s face. The small, elegant restaurant stayed on its corner as he approached it and did not shroud itself in mist. The door opened when he thumbed the latch. There were actually diners inside, filling most of the tables, as though there were nothing at all extraordinary about the place. He saw Sage standing with her back to him, speaking to a table of four, most likely telling them what they were going to have for lunch. Then she turned, and above all, he was astonished at the sudden, pleased smile on her face.

“You came back!” she exclaimed. “We hoped you would. Todd asked me to tell him if I ever saw you again, so that he could make something very special for you. Now let me see. Where can I put you?”

Pierce glanced around, found his father and brother at a table in a corner near the bank vault. “With them,” he said. “They’re waiting for me.”

“Oh, that’s perfect. As you can see, we have so many guests today.” She paused briefly, her attention snagged by his clothes, or by the scrutiny he gave her face. A line, the faintest thread of thought, formed and vanished on her brow. “I don’t remember that you were a knight,” she said slowly. “I remember—someone younger.”

“I’m a kitchen knight,” he answered wryly, and realized, as he heard himself, how it was true.

She said nothing, bowed her head, showing him her perfect profile against her shining hair, and led him to the table.

Val glanced up from his phone as Pierce sat; his pale blue, burning gaze homed in on his brother, and then on the tall, lovely server. “Are you all here now?” she asked, then paused, as though distracted from a script. “You look so much alike.”

“They’re my sons,” Leith said with satisfaction, and her eyes widened, as though even she, the sorcerer’s enchanted wife, recognized the man behind the gossip.

“We might have other friends coming,” Val told her cheerfully. “They’re very rowdy. You probably shouldn’t let them in.”

“As long as Todd cooks, he will feed whoever comes in. We’ll find room. Have you had a chance to read the menu? It’s unusual, but everything he cooks is wonderful; you won’t be sorry about letting him choose. And we have an amazing new cook working with him. Our well-kept secret. We hide her in the shadows so no one can steal her away. What would you like to drink?”

“Water.

“Water.”

“Water.”

“Perfect. I’ll let the kitchen know you’re ready.”

“Who else did you invite?” Pierce asked Val softly when she was out of earshot.

Val picked up his cell again, and fingered through it. “I’ll show you.”

There was, oddly enough, what looked like real bread on the table. Both Val and Leith had broken a piece on their plates, scattering a deceptive path of crumbs onto the cloth. Pierce, eyeing the board with the tiny loaf on it, felt a sudden urge to taste it, find out if it was real. Val raised his eyes from the phone, narrowed them warningly at his brother.

“She’s very beautiful,” he murmured. “I can see why you came back here.”

Pierce opened his mouth, found no coherent response in his head. I came back to return a knife, he thought. I came back to show you what a fish fry is. I came to rescue a cook who asked to be helped. I came because I couldn’t not. “She’s not what you see,” he said shortly. “That’s why we’re here. What are you looking at?”