Page 10 (1/2)

The hall ehts and lined with flowering plants growing in various pink, powder blue, and lavender pots At the top was a large roolass that looked out over the water In the center of the rooreenhouse, whatever it was, stood the fae

Her skin was pale, a stark contrast to the thick hair that flowed to her hips in any curls Her face was screwed up in concentration which ers, splattered attractively with paint, played with a small paintbrush Her eyes were deep blue, like a lake in the high summer sun Her mouth was dark and full And she was tall, as tall as Charles, and he was a talllike Anna had expected There rinkles at the side of her eyes, and her face was caught between ray T-shirt that had less paint on it than her hands did, and gyy power of age rather than taut youth

In front of her was an easel holding a largish canvas that faced the other direction, so Anna couldn’t see as on it

"Dana," ru at her mate Which didn’t make sense The fae was not beautiful, and she wasn’t even paying attention to Charles It must still be a leftover reaction to the odd moment on the docks

Or maybe it was the "dear boy"

Anna’s hand had found its way back under Charles’s jacket, and she clenched the thick silk shirt he wore and tried not to growl-or drag him away

Dana Shea looked away from the easel, and smiled, a radiant smile that had all the joy of a mother’s first look at her infant, a boy’s triumph the first time he hits a baseball with a bat It arm and intimate and innocent, and it was directed at Charles

"Dana," Charles’s voice was harsh "Stop it"

A hurt look slid over her face

"That ic doesn’t ithto sound seriously angry "And don’t think that my father’s favor will allow you leeith me"

Anna closed her eyes It was a spell She breathed through her nose, allowing the sharp smell of turpentine and Charles to clear her head A spell, but she didn’t think it was directed at Charles, not precisely Dana knew Charles; she’d know he had his own defenses against e The fae woman wasn’t a olf, but she was a dominant in her own territory And just maybe she considered Charles her territory As he had certainly once been