Fantastical (Fantasyland #3)(86)

I closed my eyes again as renewed heat flooded my system.

“Which would mean,” Tor went on quietly, “I would spend my days planting it there.”

My body trembled and then I swallowed.

Tor kept speaking.

“Are we understood, you and I?” he murmured.

“Yes, Tor,” I whispered, lifting a hand to place it lightly on his neck.

And we were. Or, at least, I hoped we were.

His lips went to my ear. “We have enough challenges ahead of us, my sweet. We do not need to be striking out and wounding each other.”

Boy, was he right.

“You’re right,” I agreed softly.

His arms gave me a squeeze then the one at my ribs loosened, his hand sliding down to rest on my belly briefly at the same time he kissed my neck. Then he lifted me off him, set me on my knees in the bed and fell to his side grabbing my hand as he did so. I went down and he rolled to his back and pulled me in his arms so I was pressed into his side, one of his hands coming up to play with the ends of my hair.

“Uh… Tor?” I called.

“I’m right here,” he answered and I snuggled closer, because he was.

Then I told him something I had to tell him but didn’t want to.

Still, I had to.

“Earlier tonight, uh… Noc came around.”

“I know.”

My head shot up and I looked at him through the shadows. “What?”

“I alighted the stairs when he was shouting through your door. I hid, watched, prepared, should he lose his temper, to intervene. He did not. He left and I followed him.”

My hand lying on his chest fisted. “You followed him?”

“I did. And Cora, I will say it’s very strange seeing another you,” he told me.

I was sure it was but I was also stuck on Tor following Noc.

“You followed him?” I repeated and he sighed.

“Yes.”

My fist opened and I slapped his chest. “Why would you do that?”

“The same reason I spent a day wandering your world when I first got here. You do not wage battle unless you know the lay of the land. And you never battle an opponent you do not know and understand even better than he understands himself.”

What he said was very wise and everything but I still glared at him through the dark. “But, he could have seen you! He could have freaked out! He could have lost it! He could be a bad guy and led you someplace you shouldn’t be.” A thought struck me and I asked, “Where did he lead you?”

“He led me to what you call a police station.”

I blinked. Then I breathed, “What?”

“He led me to what you call a police station,” Tor repeated.

What on earth?

“Why?”

“From observing through the doors when he went in, it appears he is known there so my guess would be, he goes there often.”

My voice got high when I asked, “He’s a cop?”

“A what?”

“A police officer. An officer of the law. A –”

“Do these men carry gold emblems?” Tor interrupted to enquire.

“You mean a badge?” I asked back.

“Perhaps. He carried such as this on his belt.”

“Yes, a badge and yes, cops carry badges.”

“Then yes,” Tor stated, “it would seem this man is a… cop.”

Holy crap!

I whirled to sitting and stared into the darkness.

This, I reckoned, was not good.

Tor sat up and called, “Cora?”

I focused on his shadow. “I don’t think this is good, Tor.”

“I would say there’s no thinking about it, my love,” he replied and I stared at him.

Great.

“Why would you say that?”

“Is this poker illegal?” he asked.

“Um… no, if it’s done in a casino, of which there are some around here. But, yes, if the games are illegal.”

“Then Cora is attending illegal games,” Tor declared and I blinked.

Then I cried, “How could she even find illegal games? And, how did she even learn how to play poker? She was here less than two months! I wouldn’t even know where to begin to find an illegal poker game and I never understood poker. And… and… not only how but… why?”

His arms came out and he pulled me to him, saying, “The Cora of my world is what she is, and she does what she does, and very little of it is good. We cannot waste our energy trying to understand how or why because the answer to the first is superfluous and even if we knew the answer to the second, we would not comprehend it. What we need to expend our energy on is what kind of danger she has placed you in.”

Okay, it must be said, sometimes Tor being sensible and logical was a good thing.

“Right,” I agreed.

“Share your thoughts,” he demanded and I relaxed into him.

“Well,” I started, processing them in my head. “The best case scenario is that he’s a dirty cop and he’s in on whatever she’s in on, they’re playing at it together. This would be good since I won’t be going to any games, I’m making it clear he’s out of the picture and he’ll have to find another sugar mama who can count cards.”