aNo, you donat,a Artemisia agreed.

A gasp from the kitten. I will get to see the great DaAsh?

aThe sooner the better,a Garrett said. He provided Healing for his feral informants if they got wounded or sick and asked for it. Not all of them did. He was accustomed to sending creatures by translocation to Danith DaAsh and her son for Healing, along with a spell informing them of any data he might have.

Rusby should spend time with more civilized, domesticated Fams. Garrett frowned. What might he lose if the kitten became domesticated? He wasnat much domesticated, either. But head feel better if DaAsh checked Rusby out. Closing his hand around his Fam, Garrett released the attachment spell. aIam sending you to DaAshas right now.a He tried a guileless expression.

Artemisia arched her brows. aUsing Flair?a aMinor Flair. Rusby, I donat know your damas or sireas name or lineage. DaAsh likes to note that.a I am the first Cat in My Family to be a Fam, Rusby said proudly.

aDaAsh will be interested.a Rusby grinned, showing pointy baby teeth. I will tell her all about My life.

Artemisia chuckled. aAll five weeks of it.a aYesss,a Rusby articulated. I will tell her of My dam.

aSheall be fascinated.a Artemisia laughed again. Garrett liked listening to that.

aOf course.a Garrett stroked Rusbyas tiny head, scratched under his chin, and felt his purr. Nice.

Cupping Rusby in both hands, Garrett muttered the data spell and attached it to Rusbyas ear, which flicked. aTranslocating Rusby to DaAshas number four intake room in three seconds.a His voice would be heard in DaAshas office, and that teleportation pad was free. aOne, Rusby cat. Two, Garrettas Fam. Three!a Rusbyas squeal cut off midsound as he vanished.

A few seconds later, a blue tag plinked onto the ground and Garrett picked it up.

aWhatas that?a asked Artemisia.

He flicked it into the air, caught it, made it disappear. aReceipt tag from Gwydion Ash.a aOh.a She stared at him with admiration. The warmth of being with her heated to l.u.s.t. His c.o.c.k hardened. Though he was glad to know it worked well, he wouldnat follow up on the attraction to his HeartMate. No. Absolutely not.

He tucked the tag in his pocket.

aYouare a caring man,a she said.

aNot so much.a Disappointment crossed her features before she masked them. She shrugged. He walked on; a breeze fluttered the leaves and cooled him.

They strolled together, Artemisia wasnat sure why. Outside was significantly warmer than TQ. She wanted to hold hands with Garrett, had enjoyed the touching of their fingers before as theyad walked. And she was having more feelings than she should for a patient . . . but he hadnat been patientlike from the first time shead met him.

Theyad struggled through a nightmare together, was all. When head thanked her, shead thought he might be mellowing toward her. Now she was disappointed head reverted back to ignoring her. Her lips tightened against wordsa"she didnat feel pleasant and didnat want to sound whiny. But she got conflicting signals from him. She didnat need an escort in this part of town, was perfectly safe. Why didnat he just leave?

Yet she was Healer enough to observe body language and she hadnat missed his physical attraction to her.

A puzzle. Unlike him, she didnat need to figure out puzzles. They were rocks in a path she wanted smooth.

So she was torn. She liked him beside her, the scent of his skin warmed in the sun. But if he wasnat going to act on the attraction, if he was more tied to his dead lady than living in the present, Artemisia was asking for trouble if she stayed with him.

Then his fingers feathered hers again as they walked and all her thoughts faded as she let the pleasure of his touch rule. And she sensed that he, too, both fought and wanted their connection.

aWhatas that?a Garrett said sharply.

She followed his gazea"across the green gra.s.s of Apollopa Park to the flat reflecting pool and a splashing center fountain of highly polished glisten metal cubes. She pulled her gaze back to a bundle of clothes.

Nasty odors whiffed to her. The bundle became a fallen person, lying on his side. She raced to him, refusing to admit she smelled death. Garrett pulled at her sleeve, her arm, but she flung his grasp away.

Kneeling, she reached out to touch the crumpled man, then stopped. More than her nose told her he was dead. His eyes stared, a pale brown in a soft-sag middle-aged face. Flies crawled on the long, deep slice in his wrist over a vein where head lost blood.

aDonat touch him!a Garrett ordered.

aI havenat.a She had to swallow. Tears hovered behind her eyes.

Garrett sucked in a deep breath. aThereas an odd smell.a She recognized the odor of the drug pylor, simply froze.

Memory rose and smacked her. Angry yelling voices in the night. The windows of her home breaking with exploding smoke bombs releasing pylor clouds. Shead breathed them in and coughed, coughed, coughed. Her Family rushing together, teleporting away from the mob attacking their home, wrecking it.

Her own nightmares threatened. She couldnat speak. Her hands fisted and she shoved them in her opposite sleeves. She focused on the dead man. He had a laceration on his head.

aLooks like someone hit him from behind,a Garrett said. aThen fliggering carved him up.a He gestured to the dark-stained earth and clothing.

Artemisia flinched. The manas veins had been opened and head bled out.

aNot a natural death.a Garrett was grim. aYouare a Healer, what are your conclusions?a The breeze picked up and pylor hit her nose. She couldnat speak, held still and forced down bile.

aYou know that smell?a All of her shook inside, so it was easy to shake her head.

Garrett was scanning the park and she looked around, too, so she wouldnat concentrate on the pylor or the body. The fountain cubes reflected in the pool and soft falling water sounded. There was a small, columned round Temple on the far side of the park with no door, showing sunlight inside from a broken roof.

As broken as the body at her feet.

aThe killer wanted this body found. He didnat hide him in the Temple,a Garrett said. aIad better call the guards.a His gaze came back to her. aMurder.a She managed one word only. aYes.a Reverberations of the past, that cataclysmic change in her life, pounded in her skull. Those deadly threats to her mother. Artemisiaas breath came fast. Could this threaten her mother, too? Breathe! Get control and act normally.

Head taken out his perscry, a small gla.s.s pebble with a scryspell, and activated it, was talking to a guardsman. aIall wait here by the body.a Discreetly, she drew in a breath, readied herself so her movements would be smooth. She shifted her balance and rose to her feet. Keeping her face set in the shocked and pitying expression shead had when shead first looked at the man wasnat too hard.

Garrettas gaze cut to her. aDo you know him?a aNo.a He nodded and went back to speaking with the guard, listing all the manas particularsa"his height and weight, the plump body shape, his callused hands . . . detailing his shabby clothes. aWeall wait here.a She shrank inside. She didnat want to stay here but had no choice. Arms crossed in front of her, she cupped her hands around her opposite elbows. She wanted to wrap her arms around herself and rock, and cry out for her mother. But she was an adult now, and the Family would rally around to protect her mother.

No. Shead let her imagination run away. Her Family had lost everything because her mother was cross-folk and incense with the drug pylor had been found in their home. Pylor that had been used in the Black Magic Cult deaths. The misconceptions about cross-folk religion and pylor had been enough to destroy them.

Just because she smelled pylor on the man, knew head been drugged with it, probably after the blow to his head, didnat mean that her Family would be persecuted or the scandal would be raked up again. No. Breathe easier, steadier, relax muscles. Look concerneda"and she was!a"but donat appear afraid.

No one could touch her mother and father now. They were safe in the secret sanctuary. Theyad already lost their t.i.tles and the respect of their peers and their careers. Theyad moved on and made a good life for themselves.

That dreadful time was over. As Garrettas was. Shead survived and she wouldnat have to live through it again.

She opened her mouth to tell him of the pylor, what she thought might have happened, but couldnat. Couldnat force the words out.

The Mugworts had been driven from their home during a hideously cold and snowy winter. Theyad hung on in lodgings for a year before theyad been hounded from the city, then had been offered the benediction of being caretakers for the old FirstGrove, BalmHeal estate.

She shivered in remembered cold and despair. Garrett wasnat the only one who equated cold with despair.

He signed off of his scry and pocketed the pebble, then glanced upward and frowned. aClouds are rolling in. TQ should have told us the weather report.a Artemisia looked. The sun was shrouded by gray clouds with bruised bellies. Good enough reason to shiver.

Garrett squatted by the body. Obviously his ordeal had been wiped from his mind by this new situation. His frown grooved his forehead. aI donat know this smell.a Artemisia wet her lips. She should force her conclusion into the open, into the freshening breeze that spun the scent of pylor around them.

There were a couple of slight pops and two guards, one male and one female, strode from the Temple and up to them, moving together like longtime partners.

The female guard scrutinized her. Her brows came down and her mouth formed aMugwort,a and Artemisia trembled.

The guards joined Garrett and only then Artemisia realized shead drawn away from the body and the scent of devastation.

Her perscry in her sleeve pocket lilted a tune. aThatas Primary HealingHall,a she said. aI work there.a aWe know,a the male guard said. aAll guards are treated at Primary HealingHall and we recognize your tunic and insignia.a She cupped her marble and Ura Heatheras irritated face looked out at her. aWell, where are you?a aI was told not to report today,a she said.

aTaHeather wants you here for a debriefing. Come now.a She signed off.

Garrett grimaced. aI can inform the guards of our discovery.a She grabbed at the chance to get away, flexed a smile at the guards. aArtemisia Panax. You can reach me at Primary HealingHall. I must catch the next public carrier.a She gestured to it a few blocks away.

aFine,a the male guard said. aWeall contact you later.a With a last inclination of her head, she walked at an even pace to the public carrier plinth. She wanted one last, long glance at Garrett but she didnat want to see the body.

She didnat turn and welcomed the carrieras cool air as she stepped into it and rode away from the pasta"recent and long-agoa"and to her career that would ground her in the present.

The time with the other Healers, FirstLevel Heather and Holly and the great TaHeather himself, and their discussion of the experiment eased Artemisia until she was as involved as they in the final conclusions. Garrettas blood should provide them with excellent information to use against Iasc sickness.

The guards contemplated the body, then the guy held out his hand to Garrett. aFol Berberis.a Garrett clasped arms with him. aGarrett Primross.a The guard smiled. aI know.a Garrett turned to the woman, who offered her arm. aRosa Milkweed,a she said.

He clasped her arm.

When they finished recording the scene and had sent the body to Druida Guardsa Death Grove, he accompanied Berberis and Milkweed to the main guard station, under the command of Black Ilex Winterberry, Captain of all the Druida guardsmen.

While Garrett waited for Winterberry to end a scry, he rolled a couple of new coins on the backs of his fingers. The guards were intrigued at the sleight of hand.

aCan you do something with a softleaf? I love softleaf tricks,a Rosa said.

Agreeable, Garrett asked, aDo you have a softleaf?a He had a scarlet silkeen one precisely folded and tucked in a front belt pocket for an impressive appearance, but the trick he was thinking of could be done with any.

Fol grunted and pulled a large square softleaf from his pocket and handed it to Garrett. He folded the thing into a little dancing-lady poppet, sang a jingle as he made her perform, and ended with a final aHey!a as she did a high kick.

Rosa laugheda"shead watched every movement intentlya"and the men chuckled. Garrett presented the softleaf back to Fol with a flourish. The manas brows came down as he looked at the unfurling folds as if trying to see the pattern.

aPoppets were a way I used to track and find the Black Magic Cultists,a Winterberry said. aBut poppets made with and infused with Flair.a He smiled but the topic had returned to the serious study of murder.

It wasnat a hardship to spend time at the guard station discussing a mystery. A whole lot better than suffering through sickness and nightmares and at the mercy of a bunch of female Healers. Now Garrett was in control and part of a project with like-minded men and women. Relief swept through him with enough force to nearly blow the top of his head off.

Nothing he liked more than a puzzle, and no one seemed to recognize the dead man. None of the local guards near Apollopa Park knew him. From the labels on his clothes, they were made in Gael City, and the man looked as if head done hard work for most of his life.

The Death Grove Healer stated that head been struck on his head and drugged with pylor, then his wrists had been slit so head bleed out. Things that almost made sense. It looked like the killing was almost part of a ritual. The manas features were almost like someone Garretta"and othersa"recalled.

After a couple of septhours, Garrett got an exasperated scry from Danith DaAsh to come pick up his new Fam, and waved a hand at the guards as he left. The case wasnat his, but head found the body and made himself agreeable and had a good enough rep as an investigator that theyad keep him informed.

When he hopped on one of the infrequent public carriers to n.o.ble Country, his muscles felt looser, he had more energy, and he resented only a little that head lost weight and was out of shape.

Head never appreciated a day more. The streets of Druida widened and the trees lining them grew larger, the buildings opened to vistas. The sky was deep blue, and the dark clouds had transformed into high, white crystal-glitter scarves. The sun was the usual tiny blue white.

He was alive.

Some poor guy was dead.

Garrett was more interested in the mystery than in the man himself, accepted that and said an absent blessing for the dead. He, himself, was alive and life was fine. As he exited the carrier, he stretched and popped some muscles. Yeah, he felt good. He jogged past the sign aDanith and A. Gwydion Ash, Animal Healersa and through the arched stone tunnel. The corridor was pretty, with climbing plants, but Garrett wasnat fooled, it was a security measurea"and for Commoners who took the public carrier. He let the annoyance burn off.

The door was open when he reached it, a small woman with brown hair standing on the threshold, arms crossed: GreatLady Danith DaAsh. aGarrett Primross!a He winced.

She turned and he followed. She had such an aura of n.o.bility, it was hard for him to recall shead been born a Commoner. She led him past her office reception rooms to a small white room reminding him of TQas sterile walls, then pointed to a cage behind the examination table.

His Fam sat in it, looking pitiful.

Sixteen.

Jail for you, huh? Poor cat,a Garrett said.

aHeas too young to be away from his mother,a Danith DaAsh said.

Am NOT! Rusby shouted telepathically.

aHis choice,a Garrett said.

Danith DaAsh narrowed her eyes. aHeas small. He got into the housefluff burrows and scared some mothers and kits.a Housefluffs hop fast! Rusby said gleefully. They ran and ran!

Garrett bit the inside of his cheek, hoping he looked properly serious.

Danith showed her teeth in a smile. aThatas two hundred gilt.a That sobered him up. Garrett nearly yipped in pain.

aFor all the time Iall need to soothe the housefluffs and their babies, make sure they took no harm physically or emotionally. I must keep them longer and ensure theyall go to homes that wonat make them nervous after this incidenta"place them in homes without cats.a Garrett looked at his Fam behind bars. The kitten tried to appear pitiful, but there was still a gleam in Rusbyas eyes; the tip of his tail flicked with joy.

aYou cost me more than three monthsa worth of feral animal injuries,a Garrett grumbled to Rusby. Concentrating, he translocated two one-hundred gilt pieces from his home safe, plunked them into Danithas outstretched palm.

She slipped the gilt into her tunic pocket, opened the cage, and set Rusby on the firm permamoss bedsponge on the table. aHeas small for his age, and will remain a small cat.a She placed a holo orb next to the kitten and sheets of papyrus with instructions. aThe care and feeding of a kitten,a she said, plopping large tubes of milk on the table. aSome initial feedings. Every two septhours.a An appalled expression stretched Garrettas face. Head been antic.i.p.ating a good, long, and uninterrupted nightas sleep. He looked at his kitten with a jaundiced eye.

Rusby drooped, curled into a small ball.

Danith was right: The kitten ball was too small. But Garrett was stuck with the little guy. He picked Rusby up and held the softness of him, the fur caressing his palm. Soft as Artemisiaas hair.

No, he wasnat thinking of her.

He put the kitten on his shoulder, attached him with a spell. aThat will keep you out of trouble.a As he thought of Rusby tearing through the housefluff burrows, he had to keep a straight face again. aGood to see you again, Danith.a She gave an exasperated sigh. aMales.a Garrett grinned.

aAlso, Iam handing over your regular accounta"your stream of feral informants who get sick or woundeda"to Gwydion. Heall be Healing them.a She put her hands on her hips. aAnd if they want to become adopted Fams, they stay with us.a aAlways the deal,a Garrett muttered.

aI expect you to get more of them off the streets.a aSome like the freedom of the parks and the estates . . . and the streets.a He smiled his slow and charming smile that he knew she liked. aI might have a racc.o.o.n for you.a Her eyes widened. aA racc.o.o.n! Theyare almost extinct.a aOneas been hanging around MidCla.s.s Lodge. It might want to be a Fam.a aThey always had the potential,a she agreed.