Master of Smoke

power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.’ ”
    Arthur threw his head back and roared with laughter. “I always loved that line. You memorized that?”
    Bill chuckled. “Hell, I memorized the whole movie.”
    “Oh, God,” Charlotte whispered to Eva as he waved them all inside. “Your father has found a kindred geek.”
    Sure enough, the two started swapping lines from the “Dead Parrot Sketch” on the way down the hall.

    Charlotte was, as usual, right. Two hours later they’d stashed their suitcases in the Pendragons’ guest rooms, had dinner, and settled in to get to know their hosts. The three women ate slices of tart lemon meringue pie in the dining room while the men bonded over Monty Python’s cockeyed version of the Grail legend. Deep laughter boomed through the house, along with chorused snatches of dialogue.
    “What’s with all the pop culture?” Eva asked. “I noticed you folks seem to have DVDs of damn near every television show, movie, and music video ever made.”
    Gwen snorted. “And you haven’t seen the Magekind’s main library yet. It takes up four buildings in the middle of town, full to the rafters. It’s like a magical Library of Congress.”
    “You’re trying to stay caught up,” Charlotte said suddenly. Correctly interpreting Eva’s lifted brows, she shrugged. “I don’t get some of the references on TV either, and I’m just fifty-five. If I lose track ...”
    Gwen nodded. “You can’t understand a people until you understand their culture. You have to know why they believe the things they do if you’re going to change behavior.” She grimaced. “Which is why we’ve been watching a whole hell of a lot of Middle Eastern television these days. Not to mention hanging out in mosques in very heavy disguises.”
    “Gee,” Eva said wryly, “why didn’t the CIA think of that?”
    Charlotte frowned. “Why not just cast a spell on the bad guys? Tell them not to blow people up anymore?”
    “Wouldn’t work. Well, it might have when the problem was only a couple of nutcases, but we didn’t know about them at the time. Once you get a big movement going, it’s like an aircraft carrier. Changing its direction is a bitch.”
    Before a political discussion could get going, David sauntered in. “I thought you should know Arthur’s trying to talk Bill into following him around with a pair of coconuts.”
    Gwen rolled her eyes and explained to Charlotte, “To make clopping noises for his imaginary horse.”
    Charlotte’s eyes widened in horror. “I know. And Bill’d do it.”
    “Oh, Lord.” Both women bolted out of the dining room to save their husbands from themselves.
    The minute they were out of sight, David grabbed Eva’s hand and pulled her from her seat. “Quick, while they’re distracted, let’s go neck.”
    Eva laughed as he hauled her toward the stairs. “Neck?”
    “Snog? Do the horizontal mambo? Fuck like forest creatures?”
    She dropped her voice to a horrified whisper. “I am not having sex with you in King Arthur’s house with my mother right downstairs!”
    “Then we’ll gate somewhere else. I haven’t made love to you since yesterday. My favorite bits are turning blue.”
    Eva snickered. She lost the smile as it occurred to her that her David—the David before he regained his memory—would never have told that particular joke. What other differences were there? And was this still the man she’d fallen in love with?
    He shot her a sharp look, and she realized he’d picked up on her flash of doubt. His eyes narrowed before he regained his easy grin and kept right on pulling her up the stairs. His big hands moved in an elegant gesture, and a gate appeared at the top of the stairs. Eva, who was getting used to dimensional travel, followed him through it with hesitation.
    Into sunlight.
    The contrast between indoors and the brilliant streaming light blinded her for a moment, and Eva stumbled, blinking, to a stop. As she waited for her eyes to adjust, she became aware of the roar of ocean waves and the feeling of fine sand underfoot. Magic bloomed in a warm and tingling tide across her skin, and she realized she was naked.
    Her vision returned at last, revealing a sweep of deserted beach with sand as fine and white as powdered sugar. A high granite cliff stood off to the left, spilling huge black boulders here and there across the beach and into the water. The sea flung foaming waves against the