Traveler by Melanie Jackson Page A

safer with him than being pushed around like a pawn by Queen Xanthe. He planned on keeping her far away from H.U.G.
    “We need to be out of here when the topside goblins start pouring back in at dawn,” Jack pointed out as he wiped the beading sweat from his brow. This,the goblin underground, was the only place where he perspired. He figured it had more to do with his body trying to rid itself of toxins than the Labyrinth’s actual heat. “They’d buy the poor lost tourist shtick up there, but no way would they let us go if they found us down here. Not with fruit. Not when we are fey and packing spells.”
    Io nodded once. She tried to hide it, but she looked relieved they were going back up. Air down in the Labyrinth took getting used to, mostly because there was a lot less of it. Her head was probably pounding from the lack of oxygen, and even for the green light she looked exceptionally nauseated.
    He gave her credit for trying, though. The thought of confronting two carnivorous gargoyles was daunting even when one wasn’t feeling sick. It took a dedicated person to suggest it when she was feeling ill.
    “I have some home-brewed antihistamine back at my place,” Jack said as he started back toward the exit. “It’s mostly cognac with a few herbs, but it will help your head and stomach.”
    “Antihistamine?” Io asked, moving quickly to keep up with him. He wished he could stay behind her and watch her walk. Too bad he had to take point, because her heels gave her a nice feminine sway.
    “Yeah. You have goblin allergies,” he said matter-of-factly. “We’ll get you set up before we come backdown again. A good day’s sleep and a shot of my home brew and you’ll feel terrific.”
    “Oh. I didn’t know we could have allergies to anything.” She sounded reassured by the explanation. “Jack? About going home with you—”
    “Don’t bother arguing,” he interrupted. “You said you were in, little fey. That means you’re in all the way.”
    “Zayn is going to be looking for me,” she argued. “I just sort of ditched Xanthe and him without telling them anything. With ticks saying I’m stuck in some nightclub bathroom when I am clearly not there, they are probably going bonkers.”
    Jack smiled at the idea of the cool Queen Xanthe going bonkers.
    “Let the pretty boy look. We’ll catch up with Zayn tomorrow if you really want to see him. Come to think of it, that’s an excellent plan. He can get someone to water your houseplants and feed the parakeet.”
    “I don’t have a parakeet! And it isn’t a matter of wanting to see him,” she explained.
    “It is now. And wants take a backseat to needs. What you need to do is become real scarce around your former compatriots. Your presence from here on out will be rarer than hen’s teeth or dragon’s tears as far as H.U.G. is concerned.” Jack looked back at her. He made his voice flat so she would know he wasn’t kidding. “You’re on my team until this job is done, Io Cyphre. New team, new rules. One of thoserules is that you see people from the outside only in controlled situations. Another rule is that you lie to everyone at H.U.G., because the less they know about where you are and what you’re doing the better for both of us. You see, there’s a sort of balance of physics in this kind of work, a mathematical equation that doesn’t vary. H.U.G. has spies here? You can bet the goblins have spies there.”
    Io thought about this. “You want me to lie to everyone? ”
    “Except me.” Jack considered whether he needed to threaten her with anything to ensure her obedience, and decided against it since he couldn’t think of anything dire that he would actually be willing to do to her. “So…you are coming back to my place tonight, and we are going to have a toast to our partnership with some antihistamine. And then you’re going to bed so you have the strength to kick goblin ass tomorrow night.”
    He waited to see what Io would say to