Lacuna - N.R. Walker Page 0,42
to the other.”
Everyone stared at her, and it was Tancho who spoke first. “Do you mean to tell me that no matter what he does,” he said, pointing his thumb at Crow, “no matter how much he pisses me off or what he says or does, I cannot kill him?”
“Kill me?” Crow asked, staring at Tancho incredulously. “As if you could!”
Tancho bared his teeth. “I would best you—”
“You cannot,” Maghdlm said, closing her eyes and laying back down. “You cannot be apart. I told you that. Not in life, not in death.”
Not in life.
Not in death.
Crow was about to object and denounce this nonsense for the absurdity it was. He wanted to be angry, to rage and wreak havoc . . . but he couldn’t. Because he knew. He knew in his bones, in his core, that it was true.
Whatever it was between Crow and Tancho was strange, some alchemical or astronomical oddity, but it was real. Real enough to spark bolts of blue lightning between them and real enough to burn the birthmarks on their skin.
The jovial mood from before was gone. No one spoke or laughed, and Crow was quick to go back to his reed mat on the floor even though he had no hope of sleeping this night. Not now. His mind raced and his wrist still ached, and from the way Tancho tossed and turned, Crow assumed his did too.
“Oh, for the love of the blue skies above,” Soko grumbled, getting up. He trudged over to Tancho and nudged his foot with his own. “Swap beds. I can’t stand the noise. If you have the bed next to him, you might actually sleep. You’re keeping everyone awake.”
Tancho sat up angrily, got to his feet angrily, and stomped over to the mat next to Crow’s, and lay down angrily too.
But the ache in Crow’s wrist went away, and he felt settled by Tancho’s closeness. He was calmer, more relaxed, and at peace. His mind swam and his blood buzzed warm, drunk from just being near him. He knew Tancho had to feel it too.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Tancho whisper-hissed.
Crow smiled in the dark and closed his eyes, and for the first time since this whole mess began, sleep came all too easy.
“What do you think Maghdlm meant when she said, ‘not in death’?” Tancho asked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
They’d not wasted any time getting the horses saddled and ready for another day’s ride, and even though Crow and Tancho rode side by side for hours, they hadn’t really spoken. Crow’s mind ran in circles, turning over everything Maghdlm had said and what had happened with the sword fight and the crazy bolt of lightning.
Not to mention what had happened before the fight. The desire, the want. When they’d squared off against each other, there was a physical thrill that gave his blood a buzz, and Crow had been certain Tancho had felt it too.
And there was the sleeping next to each other that felt like one too many a shot of berry wine. It made him feel warm all over and his limbs heavy, and he’d slept like the dead. And that was having Tancho on the reed mat beside him. Imagine what it would feel like to have him in the same bed . . .
“Do you not wish to answer me, or are your ears for decoration?”
Crow looked at Tancho. “What?”
“I asked you a question. Maghdlm’s ‘not in life, not in death’ comment. What do you think she meant by it?”
“I can guess, but I don’t know exactly.”
“And your guess?”
“Is that we cannot be apart in life or death. That we cannot cause that death. I cannot kill you because I cannot be apart from you.”
Tancho sighed. “You couldn’t kill me because you lack the skill.”
“Perhaps,” Crow replied. “But it’s not for the lack of wanting to kill you.”
Tancho smiled at that. “Well, that is something we have in common.”
“The real question,” Crow furthered, “is what happens to the one who remains should the other meet his end? For example, if you were to trip and fall on your own sword, what would happen to me?”
“Fall on my sword?”
“Yes, or lose a fight to a novice. Both of those scenarios are likely; I’ve seen you fight.”
Tancho’s mouth fell open. “Or if you should fall from your horse right now and snap your neck. Or accidentally eat some shinigami berries and, in turn, pass your innards for outtards.”
“Shinigami?”
“Angel of death,” Karasu answered. She and