Terry took the stairs down slowly. He had strength back but he felt wobbly. Before he was halfway down, Elton appeared at the foot of the stairs. The Troubadour looked so relieved, Terry felt guilty all over again for putting the both of them through the ordeal.

  “Hi, Elton.” Terry said with what he knew was a sheepish grin. “Sorry to be a bother here.”

  Elton just stood there and let him get to the bottom of the stairs. As soon as he was in front of the bard, Elton latched onto him in a hug. Terry was surprised, but put his arms around him. He thought he understood.

  “I’m sorry I worried you.” Was all he could think of to say.

  Elton stepped back and put his hands on Terry’s arms, looking him up and down.

  “Stop blaming yourself. You did what needed doing. And stop apologizing for being a hero. It’s why you’re here. Just be more careful.” He gave Terry's arm a pat. “Let’s head in. The smell of that meatloaf is killing me. I’ve been looking forward to this thing all day!”

  Elton led them around to the dining room and there was a full spread on the table that would have done Terry’s Aunt Dottie proud. The woman pouring water into glasses at the table had to be Delores’s mother, Deborah.

  She looked so much like Delores that Terry grinned. She just looked older. And more tired. She had massive brown hair that looked like she cared for it constantly and was dressed in slacks and a sweater. She looked up as they entered and the look she gave Terry was weighing. He wondered just how much she had put together.

  “Mrs. Cody?” he said, holding his hand out, “I’m Terry Lingal. I’m your daughter’s partner and it’s nice to finally meet you. I’m sorry for imposing like this and I want you to know how much I appreciate everything you’ve both done for me.”

  She stared at his hand for a moment in shock before taking it and shaking. She looked up at his face and he smiled. Something in her seemed to relax a bit.

  “You’re welcome, Mr. Lingal. Delores seems to think the world of you. I’m glad I’m getting to meet you.” She said and motioned him to a seat.

  Terry sat carefully. He still didn’t completely trust his legs. Before he could do anything, Delores already had a plate ready for him and sat it in front of him. She had one of her small smiles on.

  “You don’t have to do that, D. You’ve done more than enough for me.” He said.

  “Shush.” She said quietly. “You’ve been out for two days. Let someone take care of you when you’re not unconscious for once.”

  “It’s good to see you care for someone, Delores.” Her mother said, watching her daughter as if she were a stranger.

  That shut him up. What image did they have in their minds of Delores?

  After Delores took her seat, they all started in on dinner. Terry was too busy eating happily to talk. Then the questions started.

  “How did you two meet?” Deborah asked.

  Terry looked up to see she was watching him closely.

  “Your daughter was volunteering with relief efforts. She was the only mage there actually doing anything to help. I think that decided me.” He smiled at Delores and she had her face buried in her glass. She was blushing.

  “Mrs. Cody, Delores is amazing. She’s kind, selfless, brave, and frankly I’m lucky to have her with me.”

  Mrs. Cody looked at her daughter and Terry was bothered by the surprised look on her face. Delores was blushing furiously and trying not to meet her mother’s eyes.

  “Is something wrong, ma’am?” Terry asked, schooling his features to calm.

  “No,” she said, “No. I just never thought she-I mean, well, maybe we didn’t give her a chance to be herself.”

  Delores looked up at that. Terry reached under the table and took her hand. She squeezed it. Elton chimed in.

  “We often don’t know who we are until we get into a situation where we’re allowed to find out.”

  Deborah looked at Elton. He could do that sometimes. He could be silly, selfish, a coward, and any number of things and then hit you with the deepest thing you’d ever heard. It reminded Terry of Ernest.

  Mrs. Cody seemed to consider that in relation to Delores. Terry saw the look on Elton’s face, though, and he knew the man was thinking about wrestling a man with a sword to save the life of a fish girl he didn’t even know.

  “We contain multitudes.” Was all Terry could add to that point. Delores looked at him in surprise. It was probably the look he gave Ernest when the old man showed random wisdom. That or the look you give a horse when it starts talking to you in English. Dottie had once said Lingals were full of surprises.

  “Mrs. Cody,” Terry said into the silence, “I want you to know that Delores has saved hundreds of lives and helped dozens more since she left home. She's a hero. She's special.”

  Deborah turned to face him again. Terry remembered telling Delores that in Metairie and her reaction had been heartbreaking to him. Her mother’s constant surprise at any form of praise was beginning to make him angry so he tried to put it away. Later. There would be a time and place for anger later. He finished his dinner quickly. He suddenly wanted to be gone from this house. He didn't like the subtext. When they heard the door open and close, Deborah stood immediately. A look of fear on her face.

  “Charles.” She whispered.

  “WIFE! Who is here?” came a gravelly voice from the front room and when the owner came around the corner, Terry sized him up. Blocky. Bald with a fringe of brown and gray hair. Priests vestments. A lined face that looked like it mostly frowned. The kind of man that called his wife “Wife” and expected a response. Delores's blue eyes, but without any pity or care.

  Terry stood calmly. Father Cody was home early.

  Delores sat in shock and stared at her father. She hadn’t seen the man in two, almost three years. He hadn’t changed, physically or in his bearing. She looked at her mother and the woman looked sick. She looked at Terry and the look on his face made her worry. She caught his eye and the very slight nod he gave let her relax. He was going to stay calm. She stood. Elton rose and moved to a corner of the room for a better vantage point. She had no idea how he did that without most people noticing.

  “Delores.” Was all her father said. An acknowledgment. No emotion. No anger, no joy, no disappointment. Just her name with all the feeling of “It’s raining” or. . .actually, she realized almost anything someone could say would have had more emotion than her father had just shown.

  “Hi, daddy. It’s good to see you.” She managed to say without showing her nerves.

  “Is it.” He said. No question. No emotion. Statement. End of line.

  There was a thick tension in the air. It felt for all the world like right before Terry would start punching people for being tyrants. She watched worriedly as Terry walked from around her and approached her father. He stopped a few feet from him and held out his hand.

  “Father Cody? Terrance Lingal, Errant Apprentice. I’m your daughter’s partner. It’s nice to meet you.” He said. It sounded completely normal. None of what he might be feeling. Her father shook Terry’s hand immediately.

  Charles Cody was one of those people that took handshakes as a challenge. He felt he needed to be the strongest in any given situation, so his handshakes were the kind that made a man’s knuckles grind together in unpleasant ways. The widening of his eyes followed by a quick tightening at the corners of his mouth told her everything she needed to know. Terry was using his strength. She tried not to smile at that. When they stopped, Delores noted her father stuck his hand in his coat pocket. He was probably trying to work the pain out.

  “What brings you to Bay St. Louis with my daughter, Mr. Lingal? I didn’t think to see her again.” her father asked. Still no emotion. She felt herself wanting to hide suddenly. She felt shame. She felt shock as she saw trickles of mana dripping into her father and waves of it flowing out.

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  Son of a BITCH, she thought. It had been him the whole damned time. HE was where the Thaumaturgical gene came from. Not her mother. Now that she’d advanced she could see it. She quietly mumbled a word of power while moving her fingers and a very tiny shield formed around her head. The shame and fear lessened. He probably doesn’t even know he’s doing it, she thought. She wondered if Terry would be affected. He seemed to resist charm spells sometimes.

  “I hate to say this, sir, but I was injured in service to the church a couple of days ago. Delores brought me here to recover. I apologize for imposing on your hospitality, but I think I’m good to go now. I thank you for your time and the use of your home.”

  Her father watched Terry and he seemed surprised at something. Probably Terry’s will. He nodded.

  “Before you go, why don’t we talk. I’d like to know what sort of person would find Delores useful.” With that, her father turned and walked out of the room into the den.

  Delores looked at Elton, who was wincing. Her mother collapsed back into her seat and looked miserable. Terry? She grabbed his arm.

  “Don’t.” She whispered. “Just go. Don’t do this. He’s baiting you or something. Please.”

  Terry looked to her mother. He turned back to Delores and looked pained.

  “I can’t back down from bullies, Delores. I’ll be civil, but your father is a bully.” He said, and then walked into the den. She hurried after him hoping she could still stop him if things went badly. Elton followed but hung back in the hallway.

  In the den, her father was already in his recliner and sitting there like a stone-faced judge. She and Terry walked in and her father gestured toward the couch next to him. The gesture of a king allowing a peasant to sit in his presence. Terry nodded and sat down on the end by her father. He looked calm. She wondered how deep that ran. She sat down next to him. She realized too late she was sitting entirely too close for business partners. Scooting over or moving entirely would just make her look like a fidgety child. She was an adult.

  When the man spoke it felt like a kick to her stomach.

  “There’s been a lot of talk about you in some circles, Mr. Lingal. They say you’ve done the impossible multiple times. They say you have a bright career ahead of you. I have to wonder if your meteoric rise can continue with someone like Delores.”

  Delores wasn’t sure if the silence that followed was as long as it felt or not. It seemed to drag on for ages. She could feel the Earth’s rotation in the time it took Terry to reply.

  “I have found Delores to be incredibly competent. She is a skilled mage, and has shown more compassion than most of my fellow knights. She’s a credit to your family.”

  Her father arched an eyebrow. She realized Terry thought he could sway the man. He was probably about to be disabused of that.

  “I’m sure she makes it seem that way. How did you meet her? Volunteering?”

  “Daddy, that’s enough.” She said. “Terry, we should go.”

  Terry did NOT go. He frowned.

  “Yes, sir. How did you know?”

  “Because,” her father said, “she is a great one for show. If it can get her social credit she’ll appear to be anything someone needs her to be. A mage, for instance. A kind person, perhaps.”

  Terry grabbed her hand. It was a terrible idea for something to do in front of Charles Cody. Especially here. She realized it wasn’t for her. Terry’s hand trembled and she knew he was trying to keep control of himself. He breathed deeply and seemed to calm himself.

  “Daddy, I’m serious. You need to stop this. We’re leaving.”

  “Mr. Lingal,” her father said, ignoring Delores, “I don’t know what impression she’s given you, but Delores is spoiled. It’s my own fault, obviously. I treated her like the apple of my eye and the moment someone dangled a pretty in front of her she turned away from her family.”

  “What?!” she said more loudly than she meant to. Her father continued.

  “She discovered these heathen practices and the mystique of it drew her in. She was given every opportunity to come back to us but she would rather appeal to as many people as possible instead of the family that raised her. She WILL let you down. You should find a cleric.”

  “Fuck you.” She whispered. He could only be doing this to try and get them angry. He wanted them to get angry. He. . .knew what Terry did to bullies. She leaned into Terry’s ear.

  “We need to go. NOW.” She whispered.

  “Sir,” Terry said in such a calm voice that warning bells went off in Delores’s head, “I think you owe Delores an apology. As a man of the cloth, you should be held to a higher standard.”

  Her father leaned forward, a dangerous glint in his eye.

  “The only thing I owe her is the back of my hand for her audacity, her continued flaunting of her heathen ways, and her foolish mutilation of the beauty God bestowed upon her.”

  “Stop it. We’re leaving.” Delores said.

  “You have no right-” Terry began, but her father interrupted.

  “I have every right!” He yelled as he stood from his chair. “I know my daughter. I know she is unreliable, untruthful, and she is corrupting you, Errant.”

  Terry slowly stood to face her father. Delores jumped from her seat and grabbed Terry’s arm, trying to pull him back but it was like trying to uproot a tree.

  “Terry, this isn’t your fight. Stop it. I want to leave.”

  “I know your kind, sir.” Terry said entirely too quietly. “I don’t suffer people like you normally. But you are the father of my partner. I’m going to leave now. I bid you good day. Again, I apologize for intruding on your home and family.” Terry turned to the door. Delores almost sighed with relief. Then her father smiled and it was the most villainous look she’d ever seen on his face.

  “Fine, Errant. Fine. Because I know your kind as well. All false piety and chivalry when the clergy is around. Within the hour you’ll be in a seedy motel. Or a run down rest stop. I understand why you have her now. She’s a whore, isn’t she. Just like she’s always been. She’s a filthy, whore and-”

  Delores didn’t realize Terry had whipped his arm back until he’d already punched her father in the face and dropped him.

  “FUCK!” they heard Elton yell from the hallway. Her mother ran in and saw everything.

  “Delores, you HAVE to go, now. You’ve ruined it. You’ve ruined everything. It’s all you do. I wouldn’t come back. Either of you.” She said all in a rush, terror in her eyes.

  That was the moment Delores realized she had truly lost her family. There was no going back now. Terry had well and truly ended it.

  Her mother pushed them both out the door, followed by Elton. She heard the lock, the deadbolt, and then the chain on the door all fasten. A few minutes later, their bags were tossed from the second story window. Elton was swearing about the possible condition of his laptop.

  She looked at Terry and he stared at the house in disbelief. Delores felt anger rising and walked away from the house to find Thunder with his handlebars drooping. The van was already missing. Terry followed finally.

  That night, Delores left Bay St. Louis for the very last time.

  It was a dark and quiet drive to a rest area outside of Wiggins. Delores smoldered as they got their camping supplies out. Terry hadn’t spoken since he threw the punch and moved like a robot. Elton sat down and stared off as Terry started a fire. The bard looked defeated. Delores finally stopped Terry in the light of the fire after he’d dropped his belongings. He looked at her and placed his hands behind his back. He looked like a soldier at parade rest.

  She finally snapped.

  “YOU IDIOT!” she screamed at him. All he did was nod.

  “Do you have any idea what he can do to you now? This isn’t like Lawless! My father is vindictive! Even more so than I thought! He’ll report you to the Order! He can end this! He can end US!”

  She started pacing. It was cold again that night and her anger warmed her. She stoked it. Elton just sat miserably and watched.

  “I understand.” Was all Terry said. She strode up to him, eyebrows raised.

  “DO YOU?!” She screamed. “Do you have any idea what he can do to you? To all three of us?! Even if we weren’t lovers, he’d report us as shacking up against your vows! And don’t even start in with “I renounced those” because you KNOW that’s going to get you strung up!”

  She started pacing again, hands rubbing her temples. She looked at him again. Still standing there, stoic. She kept up her circuit of a walk.

  “They probably won’t try to take me as a cleric since I’m registered with the Circle. But what about you, you idiot?! They get you in a room with anyone that can sense mana, you think they’ll let you walk out of there?!”

  That was the first crack in his calm. He glared at her. She realized she’d said that in front of Elton. Elton didn’t look remotely surprised. He just rubbed his forehead with both hands.

  “Don’t act like Elton’s an idiot! He’s seen the things you do! He’s probably had you figured out dead to rights since Natchez.” She said.

  Elton nodded.

  "She's not wrong. It's been obvious for anyone who knew to look." Elton sighed.

  Terry exhaled sharply and went back to his stance. She fumed. She realized the other thing that was bothering her. She let it out. May as well use both barrels, she thought.

  “And that was MY fight back there, Terry! MINE! It’s my stupid family! I made the decision to be there! I told you I wanted to leave! I have had to deal with him my whole life and in you waltz to rescue me like I’m a damsel! I don’t need a knight! I need a boyfriend! One that will support me! Not one that will try to fight my battles!”

  “I know.” He said. She was about ready to punch him if he said one more thing like that. “I’m sorry.” He continued. He wasn’t reacting. He was throwing out stock phrases he thought she wanted to hear. She finally snapped. She ran up to him and pushed him off balance with both hands.

  “SAY SOMETHING, GOD DAMN IT! Don’t give me your platitudes! Stop being perfect and say something! ACT LIKE A HUMAN BEING!!”

  She stood there, fists balled at her sides, staring at him. The look on his face was a mix of shock and hurt and for once she didn’t care. Then, in his eyes, she saw something ignite. It was like an ember and before she knew it, that ember had ignited a forest fire in him. He screamed wordlessly at her, rage contorting his features. She stepped back involuntarily. He turned, kicked one of the log seats, and sent it flying into the woods at speed. He spun back to face her with a mix of fury and pain on his face.

  “GOD DAMN IT, DELORES! I WANT you to fight your battles! I want you to stand up to him and prove him wrong! I want everyone on the face of this planet to see you the way I do! I want them to see you as a beacon of strength! I want to see you stand up for yourself and win but you HAVE TO ACTUALLY STAND UP TO DO IT!”

  Neither she nor Elton had seen REAL anger from him. She’d seen hints. Tiny glimpses. He continued.

  “You won’t stand up to him! I thought when you told him to “f” himself “HERE WE GO!” and then you just kept wanting to run away! You think I like the idea of standing up for you? I DON’T! FIGHT YOUR GOD DAMNED BATTLES! GIVE ME A REASON TO SUPPORT YOU!”

  He looked at her, a pleading look on his face.

  “That man is a bully, Delores. A BULLY! He is everything I joined this stupid Order to fight! He embodies everything I find wrong in humanity! I have seldom seen someone be so needlessly cruel. Frankly, he got off easy with one punch.”

  He turned away from them, then turned back.

  “WHICH I PULLED, BY THE WAY! WE BOTH KNOW I COULD HAVE TAKEN HIS STUPID HEAD OFF!”

  He turned away from them again.

  “Are-are you saying you’re disappointed in me?!” she said, voice fully of incredulity.

  She saw mana leach out of him as he slumped at her words.

  “It doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have gotten angry. I ruined your life. I’m wrong and I’m sorry. I won’t fight your battles. Just. . .don’t expect me to sit there and listen to someone call the woman I love a whore.”

  With that, he started walking off into the darkness and for a long moment all either she or Elton could do was stare. Had he really just said that?