"Yes, we rule the between of all things. There are even places considered to be in-between which lie on both Seelie and Unseelie land. Little spots where we might find sanctuary if we were to need it," he said. "It really spits off the other kingdoms.""Spits off?" I frowned and then chuckled as I caught his meaning. "You mean it pisses them off?""Ah, yes." Keir laughed with me. "Human speech can be tricky, but your mother tried to teach me general expressions so that you might feel comfortable around me." He sighed dismally. "I guess I'm not so good at it.""I think it will be more fun this way. Just keep trying, and I'll keep laughing." I tried to imagine my mother teaching this fairy king human colloquialisms and just couldn't do it. Not my serious extinguisher mother. Had she been a different person entirely with him? And why had she never been so with me?"It's a deal," he said. "Was that one correct?""Yes, that was right." I grinned encouragingly. "So, you were saying that
"The Sluagh were sent after me on two occasions." I watched his expression grow more and more ferocious. "Tiernan saved me both times. The last was when we went to Gentry Technologies. They showed up in the building and followed us back into Fairy. At least, I think they did. I never saw them in Fairy.""They were at Gentry?" He frowned. "But I spoke to Dylan, and he mentioned nothing about the Sluagh.""Is it possible that he didn't know they'd been there?" I offered. "We were separated from our team, which I assume was Aideen's plan, or your plan rather, and so we were on a totally different floor from the others when the Sluagh attacked.""I'll need to confirm it with Aideen." Keir took a deep breath. "It's possible they were secreted in but that would take great magic.""Does your brother have that kind of magic?" I asked."Oh, yes," Keir whispered."Then that's probably what happened," I said. "The first time they attacked us, I was in a car with Tiernan, and they lifted us
Keir left me alone so I could bathe and change into something for dinner... after he pointed out where the bathroom and the closet were. They were behind two adjacent doors in my room. One led to a ridiculously luxurious bathroom and the other to a ridiculously elaborate closet. I fit right in since my being there was pretty damn ridiculous too. What would Abby say if she could see me? Would she laugh or cry? Or would she beg me for a bath in the ginormous tub?I smiled at the thought and went into the bathroom through the door beside the fireplace. Even the door was beautiful; cream colored wood adorned with silver curlicues as if the Fey couldn't stand the thought of even one thing being plain. I shook my head at the door as I closed it behind me. Abby would probably be living this up; already immersed to her chin in fairy bubble bath or sifting through the rows of stunning gowns hanging in the closet. Or perhaps trying on all the shoes. Abby had a love for shoes that bordered on be
One of the horizontal poles was directly in front of me and held a whole lot of gowns. Beneath the gowns were two shelves of shoes; some were sturdy boots but most were delicate things made of soft leather with spindly heels and sparkly bits all over them as if some rabid jeweler had got a hold of them. I rolled my eyes. At least I knew where Aideen got her shoe inspiration from.Further down, there were drawers set into the walls and above those were glass cabinets filled with amazing pieces of jewelry set out on display as if this were a museum. There were even little spotlights above them... and how did the Fey power all of those lights anyway? I looked around again; realizing there weren't even light switches. Must be some kind of motion sensor... or magic... or magic motion sensors. I shrugged. Who was I to question it? I moved stuff around with my mind.On the other wall were more drawers and two lengths of gold rods; one set a few feet above the other. The top one was appropri
A knock came at my door just twenty minutes after Mairte left. I was still sitting in front of the dressing table; staring at my reflection in disbelief with Cat seated on the floor beside me. I got up in a daze; looking once more at the elegant fall of fat curls trailing over my left shoulder, arranged to show off the purple streak there. Mairte had pinned a diamond star over the amethyst hair to highlight it even further.She'd dusted silver powder on my skin, giving me an ethereal glow, and outlined my eyes in black kohl so they looked enormous. My lips were stained red and my cheeks blushed pink but it was the rest of me that struck me silent.The dress she'd finally decided on was dusky lavender; which she said would be a nice tribute to my lineage as well as an enhancement to my coloring. It had a curving neckline that barely skimmed the edges of my shoulders before flowing back into a shimmering cape which cascaded to the floor. My arms were bare although the cape skimmed the
"I hardly recognize you," Tiernan whispered; his eyes trailing down to my shameful display of cleavage."I hardly recognize myself... or these fairies," I whispered back as I hid my smile. Maybe Mairte was right; if you got it, flaunt it. "There are so many combinations that it's hard for me to figure out who is what.""There are a few who are purely twilight; their parents' blood combined in a way that produced a new race with unique features." Tiernan waved a hand over to a woman with large, slanted, chartreuse eyes and thick, ebony hair. "The cat-sidhe were born in that manner and so were the bargests and the buguls." He indicated the large shaggy dog I'd seen earlier and then an ugly little man who I knew from my lessons to be a very kind-hearted fairy. "The rest, though, are blends which have left clear markings of both parents." He nodded to a man with golden hair like spun metal and super pale skin. The fairy smiled and nodded back as Tiernan explained, "Seelie hair and unseel
"Princess Seren," a sidhe man slid between me and my escape route. He was tall and thin, very prim looking, with his long corn husk hair pulled back in a braid. I tried to smile at him but my face was getting tired of smiling and my gaze drifted past him to the safety of the high table.As soon as the dancing had begun, the offers of partners had started arriving. Man after man had approached the high table and asked to dance with me with varying degrees of poetic pleasantry. The first few had been flattering but after the twentieth, it had simply become exhausting and this newest prospect didn't even look as if he was worth the weariness."I've already claimed the next dance with the Princess," a gruff voice interrupted before the sidhe could finish his sonnet-like spiel."Conri, I didn't see you ask," the sidhe stiffened."Oh, but I did, didn't I, Your Highness?" This new voice rolled over me like mist at midnight—a thick, mysterious heaviness—and it fit the man perfectly.Conri
I was having sex with Tiernan when it all went wrong.It started out wonderful. Tiernan did all the right things; going slow at first, touching gently and then with more force. It was so good that I rushed him a little, and he was soon rising up above me, his smooth, sculpted chest under my hands and his heartbeat thudding wildly against my fingers.The sable ends of his hair were sweeping forward faster and faster; teasing me with brief glimpses of his face. Then that inky darkness started seeping up the strands; devouring the light around him until his hair was completely black. It grew longer, pooling around us, until it blocked my view of him completely. I reached up to brush the hair away from his face.Staring down at me were the eyes of a stranger. Even the body laying between my thighs had changed. This man was thinner than Tiernan, physically fit but not with the warrior's bulk that I preferred. His skin was paler too—pure white like Iain's—and amid all that black hair, he