He cocks his head and looks at me. I dont see anything human left in his face at all. Dont say it like its a wonderful fucking life. You didnt hear any bells tinkling. What you heard was the sound of a demon, not an angel, recently born. And like any other newborn, it needs colostrum. He gives me a look that I think is supposed to be a smile. Och, and you, sweet lass, are mothers milk.
All the sudden he looks like the most gorgeous, hunky dude Ive ever seen, and I blink. Hes standing there, nearly six and a half feet of black-haired, bronze-skinned Unseelie prince with gigantic wings, terrifying iridescent eyes, and brilliant tattoos moving like a storm beneath his skin, but Im seeing a good-looking Highlander. Sort of. This is new. This isnt a blast of his death-by-sex Fae nature. This is a controlled
Youre throwing a glamour! He hits me with a blast of eroticism that almost buckles my knees. Hes learning control, fast. Way too fast for my comfort. I reach for my sword. Off it!
For you. Today. Not always. And remember who gave you that back, lass.
Touch her, Ill cut off your wings and use them to sweep the floor at Chesters, Ryodan says.
Oh, Ill touch her. And when I do, you wont be able to do a bloody thing to stop me, Christian says.
Nobodys going to be touching me, I say. Unless I say so. Im not public property.
What is wrong with all of you? Jo says. People just got murdered in front of us and youre all too busy arguing to
Humans, Christian cuts in. Waste of space anyway. He looks at Ryodan. Youre alive. Pity. I was hoping the Hag did you in for good.
Not a chance.
You should have let them in, Jo says to Ryodan. Then they wouldnt all be dead.
Dont tell me what to do, Ryodan says, soft.
Shes right, I say. You should have let them in. The flash of hurt in Jos eyes makes me mad. And dont you snap at her.
Right, dickhead, Christian says. You should have let them in. When I give him a look, he shrugs. Being supportive, lass. Part of a healthy relationship.
I roll my eyes. Were not having a relationship and I dont need your support.
If Id let them in, the thing might have come inside after whatever it was that drew it to them in the first place, and iced the whole fucking club, Ryodan says.
He has a point but Im not about to admit it. Dont you snap at her, I say again. You be nice toJo.
I can take care of myself, Dani, Jo says.
Difficult though you all might find it to believe, Dancer says, weve got bigger problems than your egos. Listen up. We need to talk. Lets go inside. Its bloody cold out here.
Ryodan looks at him hard a sec and I can tell by the look on his face he doesnt like what hes seeing with his weird X-ray vision. Whatever you have to say can be said here. Now.
Youre such an asshole, Dancer says. Periodically I suffer the brief delusion you might wise up. Brief.
Jo and Christian look at Dancer like they think he must have a death wish. I snicker but keep it under my breath. Ryodan looks majorly pissed and Im in no mood to be noodled over a shoulder. I want to hear what Dancer has to say because for him to hunt me down, its important. I look back at the iced scene and sober in a hurry. All those folks dead make me feel sick to my stomach. They died in a second, for no reason. Death is bad enough. Dying for nothing adds insult to injury.
I look at the ice sculpture. This evidence is as fresh as its ever going to be. The morning all those Unseelie got iced at Dublin Castle, I didnt get to examine the scene. I want to get as close as I can today, without freeze-framing because that night in the church when I got bumped down into slow-mo and almost died, it seemed I could feel things better.
I move down the street, knowing theyll follow: Dancer because he wants to tell me stuff; Jo because shes well, Jo; Ryodan and Christian because they got some kind of ownership issues with me like Im a supercar they got the title to. Theyre so deluded its laughable.
I open my sidhe-seer senses. Im nearly suffocated by a feeling of wrongness. Like the stuff that got iced is missing some essential ingredient, like theyre no longer three-dimensional, just cardboard cutouts stood up in the street.
Talk, kid, Ryodan says to Dancer.
I know Ryodan irritates him because he makes it clear hes talking to me. After you left, Mega, I sat there for hours, staring. I knew I was missing something. I wasnt looking at things right. I started thinking about how I came to Dublin last fall to check out Trinity and see what I thought of their Physics Department. I wanted to know if I liked their professors and labs, if they had good enough equipment for the kind of research I planned to specialize in. Not that any of thats relevant anymore. Its just a hobby now. I never got around to checking the place out because two days after I arrived, the walls fell and going to college became a moot point.
For fucks sake, do you think I care who you are, Ryodan says.
All the sudden he looks like the most gorgeous, hunky dude Ive ever seen, and I blink. Hes standing there, nearly six and a half feet of black-haired, bronze-skinned Unseelie prince with gigantic wings, terrifying iridescent eyes, and brilliant tattoos moving like a storm beneath his skin, but Im seeing a good-looking Highlander. Sort of. This is new. This isnt a blast of his death-by-sex Fae nature. This is a controlled
Youre throwing a glamour! He hits me with a blast of eroticism that almost buckles my knees. Hes learning control, fast. Way too fast for my comfort. I reach for my sword. Off it!
For you. Today. Not always. And remember who gave you that back, lass.
Touch her, Ill cut off your wings and use them to sweep the floor at Chesters, Ryodan says.
Oh, Ill touch her. And when I do, you wont be able to do a bloody thing to stop me, Christian says.
Nobodys going to be touching me, I say. Unless I say so. Im not public property.
What is wrong with all of you? Jo says. People just got murdered in front of us and youre all too busy arguing to
Humans, Christian cuts in. Waste of space anyway. He looks at Ryodan. Youre alive. Pity. I was hoping the Hag did you in for good.
Not a chance.
You should have let them in, Jo says to Ryodan. Then they wouldnt all be dead.
Dont tell me what to do, Ryodan says, soft.
Shes right, I say. You should have let them in. The flash of hurt in Jos eyes makes me mad. And dont you snap at her.
Right, dickhead, Christian says. You should have let them in. When I give him a look, he shrugs. Being supportive, lass. Part of a healthy relationship.
I roll my eyes. Were not having a relationship and I dont need your support.
If Id let them in, the thing might have come inside after whatever it was that drew it to them in the first place, and iced the whole fucking club, Ryodan says.
He has a point but Im not about to admit it. Dont you snap at her, I say again. You be nice toJo.
I can take care of myself, Dani, Jo says.
Difficult though you all might find it to believe, Dancer says, weve got bigger problems than your egos. Listen up. We need to talk. Lets go inside. Its bloody cold out here.
Ryodan looks at him hard a sec and I can tell by the look on his face he doesnt like what hes seeing with his weird X-ray vision. Whatever you have to say can be said here. Now.
Youre such an asshole, Dancer says. Periodically I suffer the brief delusion you might wise up. Brief.
Jo and Christian look at Dancer like they think he must have a death wish. I snicker but keep it under my breath. Ryodan looks majorly pissed and Im in no mood to be noodled over a shoulder. I want to hear what Dancer has to say because for him to hunt me down, its important. I look back at the iced scene and sober in a hurry. All those folks dead make me feel sick to my stomach. They died in a second, for no reason. Death is bad enough. Dying for nothing adds insult to injury.
I look at the ice sculpture. This evidence is as fresh as its ever going to be. The morning all those Unseelie got iced at Dublin Castle, I didnt get to examine the scene. I want to get as close as I can today, without freeze-framing because that night in the church when I got bumped down into slow-mo and almost died, it seemed I could feel things better.
I move down the street, knowing theyll follow: Dancer because he wants to tell me stuff; Jo because shes well, Jo; Ryodan and Christian because they got some kind of ownership issues with me like Im a supercar they got the title to. Theyre so deluded its laughable.
I open my sidhe-seer senses. Im nearly suffocated by a feeling of wrongness. Like the stuff that got iced is missing some essential ingredient, like theyre no longer three-dimensional, just cardboard cutouts stood up in the street.
Talk, kid, Ryodan says to Dancer.
I know Ryodan irritates him because he makes it clear hes talking to me. After you left, Mega, I sat there for hours, staring. I knew I was missing something. I wasnt looking at things right. I started thinking about how I came to Dublin last fall to check out Trinity and see what I thought of their Physics Department. I wanted to know if I liked their professors and labs, if they had good enough equipment for the kind of research I planned to specialize in. Not that any of thats relevant anymore. Its just a hobby now. I never got around to checking the place out because two days after I arrived, the walls fell and going to college became a moot point.
For fucks sake, do you think I care who you are, Ryodan says.
