Page 18 of Choosing Jenny
He looked appropriately contrite. “My apologies, Jen.”
“What happened, Mal?” I asked, needing to know how Rex was alive.
“The palace magician, Noc Prisberd, happened,” Mal said with quiet loathing. “He’s a demon, if ever there was one. He captured Rex’s ghost. Justice has had this plan in place for a long time but I never thought he would succeed…”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
Mal sat up, bracing his back against the headboard, looking weary. “Justice has had this idea for a long time, that ghosts could be maneuvered from body to body in some way. Since he was a boy, he’s thought of bodies as vessels that transport a person’s true essence, what we call a ghost. He believed if he could somehow use an intermediary to transport a de-bodied ghost, say one on Halla for instance, then do the work of the ether by putting a ghost into a body…that he could live forever.”
Jenny’s brow crinkled as she tried to process what he’d just said, which was a lot to digest, even for me.
I simplified things for her, my stomach churning at the thought. “So, when Justice dies, he wants his ghost to be putinto a new body, over and over and over, which will let him rule Orhon forever, is that right?”
Mal nodded. “Hisspecial project, as he put it, always sounded so far-fetched that I wasn’t ever really worried about it. Until Credo’s island. I assume you two saw the man who came to rescue me?”
I nodded. “We saw you flirt with him, yes. Go on.”
He released a humorless chuckle. “Yeah. That’s Rex. Proof of concept. Justice’s planworked.”
“Shit,” Jenny said, dragging her fingers through her tousled hair. “He’s going to go after Sarah…”
“Rex has convinced Justice that she’s gearing up for war,” Mal said, confirming Jenny’s thoughts as he met her gaze. “Is she?”
A panic-stricken look passed across her face. “I have no idea what she’s doing, other than growing a tiny person in her body.”
Mal exhaled heavily. “Justice has ordered me and Longshot to spy on you both. And on Halla. So we have carte blanche to go to Halla as needed.”
Jenny’s voice sharpened. “You can’t tell him anything.”
Mal reached out and placed his hand on Jenny’s thigh. “I won’t tell him shit, Jen. You don’t need to worry about that. Neither will Longshot.”
She swallowed hard. “You’ll have to tell himsomething, or else you’ll be in danger.”
“I’ll keep things vague,” he promised. “I can tell him Sarah seems well, but distracted and unmotivated. That she’s uninterested in anything happening on Orhon.”
Jenny closed her eyes and nodded. “Sorry I freaked like that.”
“This is messy. I get it.” He sighed, and rubbed his eyes before looking at us both again. “And it’s about to get messier. Rex is coming for supper tonight, which means we need to take a shower and get presentable.”
I blinked at him. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not. He’ll be here in an hour.” He hesitated, before adding, “Both of you need to understand that I will have to play my part as both Rex’s ex and future boyfriend, while also acting as a bit of a villain and a spy.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic,” I mumbled as I scraped myself off the bed. “I get to watch him flirt with you in real time.”This is going to suck.
The three of us readied in our own rooms, as our wardrobes were large enough to require their own closets. I didn’t want to have supper with the man who flirted with my boyfriend. I had wanted to figure out a solution to my clan problem. I had hoped to be able to talk with Jenny and Mal about it again, once things had settled down. That clearly wouldn’t be tonight.
We met with the others in the dining hall, a dark room with a black floor, curtains, and table, but charcoal gray chairs. The head of the table was backlit by an enormous fireplace, so Mal always looked ominous in his seat. Jenny and I flanked him, while Discord, Surge, and Longshot sat next to us on either side. Rhonda was wound around Longshot’s left arm. Sam stayed away, to help maintain the ruse of her posing as Jenny double, just in case she was needed for such a thing again. It wouldn’t help anyone if Rex knew about Sam.
Supper was already laid out on the table, self-serve as was the custom in Mal’s home. When Vine delivered Rex to the dining hall, everyone tensed. It seemed Surge and Discord had been caught up on the turn of events, as well, and neither looked pleased or happy to see him.
Rex was slickly dressed in an Earth-style suit, the same way Mal and I had dressed. But his was a dark purple that made his violet eyes seem lighter. His new body was tall and tan, shimmering purple when the fire flickered. His short black hair was styled nicely, which encouraged me to hate him all the more.
He had a smug look on his face as he strolled to his chair. “So many guests these days, Mal. Are you running a hotel?” He took a seat next to Discord, who stiffened further, which was impressive for someone as stiff as her.
“Better than running your mouth,” she said, before she sipped her banwine.
“Ahhh, Discord Scrylock and her cutting charm,” Rex drawled. “What a shame you haven’t chosen to use it for anything useful. Rasmine says hi, by the way.”
