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Ever since they'd o, this was the way it had been Jacob's gut was always on high alert around the pointy-eared bastard, scanning for soht Of course, Jacob had Irish roots, and before her death, his aled hi, beautiful and wondrous, they were also capricious, unpredictable and sIn short, it was best to give anything s of them a wide berth

I aabond Lyssa's aht I think you have lost that chance

Because of his background as Renaissance Faire knight, drifter and vampire hunter, it was her preferred endearoodht, recal ing his past life as such

Regardless, he was glad she was calht in the Territory Wars and seen a thousand years of crises She tended to consider a s

Mason, with a similar relaxed mien but one Jacob knew could conceal a panther about to tear into the soft underbel y of his prey, had taken a seat on a wrought-iron bench He stretched a powerful arainst the base Like Jacob, Mason kept his anore them both

“To go to her court, you will have to cross into the Fae world She won't siate

She ant to test your mettle, see if you can find your way to it I am not all owed to point the way, but she did not forbid a useful suggestion” Lyssa cocked her head “You're playing a dangerous game with her intent”

Keldwyn shrugged “Our ways are tricky A step left, when the dance seelanced toward the grove again—“but you do not yet know the way our minds work We are creatures of random chaos It is why our paths separated froo Because of their violent natures, they need order and structure We do not”

“Yet the Fae have a court and a queen Two courts, even”

“We have our own etiquette It's just far less predictable”

“There are time distortions between the Fae world and ours,” Lyssa said “What if I go there for a day and return to find a hundred years have passed here?”

“The queen is capable of s If you please her, it will not be a concern Do you wish estion or not?”

Not Though I'd be happy to give hiestion or two

Lyssa's lips quirked at Jacob's thought, but otherwise her face remained serene “Of course, Lord Keldwyn”

“Entrances to the Fae world used to be fairly easy to find In-between places or tiht or noon, equinoxes The , but in your case the will of the Fae queenthat i an easier one”

Keldwyn's focus est tree “I walk in your world, in the places of old Earth, deep forests such as where we th, I can visit places like your cities, observing certain precautions Our young are not so resilient If, through foolish curiosity, they wander too deeply into the hus of earth men haveFae weakens When their erously sapped, their base instinct is to transforenerate A tree, a plant, a stone” Keldwyn's gaze shifted to the necklace Lyssa wore, chunks of amber Some of them had tiny fossilized creatures inside The center pendant was a s It reflected the color of her intent eyes

“But that is a trap,” he continued “Once they are in that form, it becoh strength for it, can release the will need to be taken out of your world of iron and structure, back to the Fae world, before their strength can truly regenerate”

“So you want me to free someone to impress the queen”

Keldwyn lifted a shoulder “There is one, a dryad, lost to our world over two decades ago The queen bore her affection and was grieved to lose her, but where she is, no pure Fae can reclaireat, and the queen forbade anyone to try, because of the chance we ht reveal ourselves

However, you are as yet outside our world, our laws

If you succeed, I a would open for you” Lyssa considered him “You are ever helpful, Lord Keldwyn Where is this Fae located?”

“In the city you race with the Council Atlanta In a place surrounded with broken asphalt I do not know her condition, but even near death, a dryad can live for a long tiive you the exact location, but she is in the don area, the decaying, cri lot, or an older, abandoned area?”