“Indeed it was.”

He took the pitcher away, walked toward the bed, and returned to me. I felt his arm move toward me, and then the scent of something strong and fruity touched my nose.

“The wine,” I realized. “I found the wine.”

“Yes. Quite remarkable too, considering I’d almost drank it all.” He set the decanter down and untied my blindfold. “Now, my dear, it’s time to go to sleep.”

He knelt before me and started the tedious process of undoing all those ties and knots. I waved my free hands.

“You want help?”

He shook his head. I could smell the wine on him. “No. Leave me my simple pastimes, please.”

“Are you drunk?”

“Probably.”

He worked steadily on freeing me from the cords, his fingers a little less precise than they’d been earlier. I again felt that strange chill over being so ensnared.

Released at last, I stood up and stretched. “Can I have some of that?”

I wanted to celebrate, and after weeks of good behavior, I realized I could safely drink here. Funny that the safest place for me now would be in a gentry’s keep.

He held up the decanter. There was probably only one glass left. He eyed it askance for a moment and then took off his shirt. Perplexed, I watched him walk over to the door and stick his head out.

“Yes, sire?” I heard a voice say.

“We need more wine!” declared Dorian in a booming voice. “Lady Markham and I have a lot more to do tonight.”

“Right away, your majesty!”

“Hurry, man. You have no idea how demanding she is. I can barely keep her satisfied as it is.”

I heard boots running on the stone floor. Dorian shut the door and turned to me.

“Your wine will be here shortly, and my prowess will no doubt be proclaimed throughout the castle.”

I rolled my eyes at his show. “So did I pass the test?”

“Hmm?”

“You said I had to make progress in magic before we could go get Jasmine.”

“Oh. That. Well, this wasn’t exactly progress.”

“The hell it wasn’t.”

He sat next to me on the bed. “You found the water. Now you have to do something with it. Your enemies won’t be impressed when you inform them there’s a lake just over the next hill.”

I sighed. Great. “So what’s the next step?”

“Next you make the water come to you.”

“Huh. Well. That at least sounds more exciting.”

“Not really. Mostly we do exactly the same thing except you just sit around and try to make it move.”

“You’re the most boring teacher ever.”

He grinned and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, just as a knock sounded at the door. “It all depends on what you want me to teach you.”

I didn’t give Lara all the details the next day, only that I’d just broken up with a guy.

“Ice cream,” she advised me through the phone. “Lots of ice cream. And tequila. That’s the key.”

“I can’t do a lot of drinking right now.”

“Hmm. Well, maybe get one of those liqueur-flavored ice creams. Like with Kahlъa or Irish cream.”

“Any other hot tips?”

“Chick flicks.”

“Good God. I’m disconnecting right now.”

“Well, then, try this.” She sounded huffy. “I just got a call from a guy who thinks there’s a troll in his basement. Seems like beating one of those up would be therapeutic.”

“Lara’s full of shit,” Tim told me later when I recounted the phone call. “Why do women turn to ice cream? It makes them fat, then they hate themselves and start going on and on about how they’ll never find anybody, blah, blah. It’s stupid. Now, if you’ve got some peyote squirreled away, that’d be a different matter…”

“No,” I said. “No peyote. Not after what happened last time.”

He made a face. “All right, then. My best advice? Don’t call him. He’s probably going through all sorts of regret and guilt. You call him, he’ll feel smothered and put up his defenses. Let him stew for a while, and he’ll call you.”

“I don’t want him to call.”

“Sure, Eug.”

I ended up taking down the troll later that day, but it didn’t really do much for me. Neither did the Kiss puzzle I put together that night. With my doldrums growing, I was only too happy when my next lesson with Dorian came the following day.

Considering his fascination with human things and novelty in general, I thought he’d like eating out somewhere. I didn’t know why I bothered; we probably should have gone straight to the lesson. Maybe I felt guilty about the sex thing. Maybe I was lonely.

After a quick drive, I arrived at the Catalina Lodge, a prissy hotel about a mile or so from Catalina State Park. I parked in a remote spot, hopefully away from watchful eyes, and sat down on the ground with crossed legs. The ring sat beside me on the asphalt. Slipping on my sunglasses, I leaned against the car and waited.

My timing couldn’t have been more perfect. A few minutes later, I felt the pressure and tingling, and then Dorian materialized beside me. He’d left the robes and cloaks at home, wearing dark pants and a blousy, sage-colored shirt that looked only moderately out of place. He squinted up at the bright sunlight and then noticed me on the ground.

“Isn’t it ever cloudy in this infernal place?”

I straightened up, and he offered a hand to help me rise. “I could arrange that if you wanted.”

“And risk you wiping out half of your fair city? No thank you.”

“Figured you’d appreciate that. It’ll make your world domination easier. One less place to conquer.”

“No. I need this place intact. I plan on keeping prisoners and exiled enemies here. Where exactly are we today?”

“Mere steps away from the best food of your life, if rumors are true.”

He flashed me one of his trademark grins. “Pleasure before business? My, my, you never fail to astound me.”

“Hell, wait’ll you hear me identify every water source in the restaurant.” That, at least, had been a good thing to come from Beltane. I could now feel cactuses, wells, and any other water source within a certain distance. I could even sense people now since the human body was supposed to be, what, 65 percent water? That meant no one could sneak up on me.

Inside and seated, Dorian found watching his surroundings far more fascinating than anything on the menu.

“Pick something for me,” he said distractedly, watching a family leave with four small children in tow. He cocked his head curiously. “By the gods, do all those little ones belong to them?”

I glanced up. “Likely.”

“And their mother looks pregnant again. Incredible. Back home, those people would be worshipped as fertility deities. A family with two children is remarkable enough.”

The waitress returned. I ordered spinach-stuffed ravioli for me and some sort of spicy chicken for him.

“A lot of middle-and upper-class families actually go out of their way to only have two kids. And a lot of them don’t even start until they’re older than me.”

“Baffling.” He propped his elbow on the table, resting his chin in his hand. “A woman your age could have had that many children by now.”

“Hey, I’m like twenty-six. I’m not that old. I don’t even look my age.”

“That’s your father’s blood. And I wasn’t insulting your age-merely making an observation.” He sighed. “I’d give up half my kingdom for just one child.”

I smiled slyly. “And the chance to be the father of Storm King’s grandson?”

“I’d be just as happy to father his granddaughter too. I’d be happy to father anyone’s child.”

“Then why don’t you find some nice girl and do it?”

“Believe me, it hasn’t been for lack of trying.” His face held a rare seriousness, but the expression vanished as quickly as it came. “Ah, now there’s a fetching young woman.”

Following his gaze across the restaurant, I saw a tall blond woman exit the restroom. She was stuffed into a tiny spandex dress, her chest practically spilling out. I didn’t have the heart to tell Dorian there was probably a lot of silicone in there. His eyes lingered on her, then his charm-alarm must have gone off for fear of neglecting me. He turned back around.