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Chapter Four

This fear Dearg was smaller than I but only by a few inches He was just under five feet Once he&039;d have probably been average size for a hu out from his cheeks like fuzzy , and pointed His eyes were large for his face and up-tilted at the corners They were black, and seemed to have no iris until you realized that, like Doyle&039;s, his irises were si them

He walked ahead of us up the sidewalk, with its happy couples walking hand in hand and its fa The children stared openly at the Fear Dearg The adults took quick looks at him, but it was us that they stared at I realized that we looked like ourselves I hadn&039;t thought to use glamour to make us look human, or at least less noticeable I had been too careless for words

The parents did double takes, then sht want to talk, and we really needed to warn the demi-fey Normally I tried to be friendly, but not today

Glamour was the ability to cloud the minds of others so that they sahat you wished them to see, not as actually there It had always been o It was still the ic I was most familiar with, and it flowed easily across etting stared at, and the press isn&039;t here to coht you can&039;t," I said Doyle had this uncanny ability to hide like some kind of movie ninja I&039;d known he was the Darkness, and you never see the dark before it gets you, but I hadn&039;t realized that it was more than just centuries of practice He could actually wrap shadows around himself and hide But he couldn&039;t hide us, and he needed soht to wrap around himself

I pictured arnet of o with the hair, but not the near pearlescent white of lamour out to flow over Frost&039;s skin as alked His skin was the sae his color at the sa it as we ray undertones It one Goth He was dressed wrong for it, but for some reason I found this color to be the easiest for me on hih ti attention, and I didn&039;t want that today Once too ht break under their knowledge So it was down and dirty, change as alked, and a thought out to the people who had recognized us, so that they would do a double take and think they&039;d been radually, s it, so it was really two types of glamour in one The first just si, and the second an Obi Wan ht they saw

Changing Doyle&039;s appearance was always harder for some reason I wasn&039;t sure why, but it took just a little more concentration to turn his black skin to a deep, rich brown, and the oh-so-dark hair to a brown that matched the skin The best I could do quickly was to uely Indian, as in Araceful curves of his ears with their earrings, even though now that I&039;d changed his skin to a human shade, the pointed ears marked him as a faerie wannabe, no, a sidhe wannabe They all see out of fiction, when in fact it marked Doyle as not pure-blooded, but part lesser fey He aler in the eye of the court The wannabes were also fond of calling the sidhe elves I blamed Tolkien and his elves for that

I&039;d toned us down, but ere still eye-catching, and theand concentrate fully to change thelaed his appearance, too He simply didn&039;t care if they stared But then a phone call to the right number wouldn&039;t uards to get us to our car That had happened twice since we caeles I didn&039;t want a repeat

The Fear Dearg dropped back to talk to us "I have never seen a sidhe able to use gla frolalaarbage look like a feast and have people eat it," I said

Doyle said, "And the Fear Dearg need a leaf to create old You need solaht about it "So do the sidhe that I&039;ve seen able to do it"

"Oh, but once the sidhe could conjure castles out of thin air, and food to te said

"I&039;ve not seen " Then I stopped, because the sidhe didn&039;t like ad It was considered rude, and if the Queen of Air and Darkness heard you, the punishment would be a slap, if you were lucky, and if you weren&039;t, you&039;d bleed for reave a little skip, and Frost was forced a little back from rowled at hi he could shift into Frost stepped forward, forcing the Fear Dearg to step ahead or be stepped on

"The sidhe have always been petty," he said, as if it didn&039;t bother hi, lamour from the sidhe Not in your lifetime, eh?"

The door of the Fael was in front of us now It was all glass and wood, very quaint and old-fashioned, as if it were a store from decades before this one

"I need to speak with one of the demi-fey," I said

"About thefor a heartbeat, then I was suddenly behind the e of his red coat around their bodies

"Oh, ho," the Fear Dearg said with a chuckle "You think it&039;s me You think I slit their throats for thehed, and it was the kind of laugh that if you heard it in the dark, you&039;d be afraid It was the kind of laugh that enjoyed pain

"You can talk to the demi-fey who fled here to tell the tale She was full of all sorts of details Hysterical she was, babbling about the dead being dressed like some child&039;s story cousted sound "Every faery knows that no flower faery would ever pick a flower and kill it They tend theht It was a human mistake, just like the illustration in the first place Some fey could keep a picked flower alive, but it was not a common talent Most demi-fey didn&039;t like bouquets of flowers They smelled of death

Whoever our killer was, they were huht I tried to push past Doyle, but it was like trying to move a small ress I spoke around his?"

"Nay" - and what I could see of the Fear Dearg&039;s small wizened face seemed truly sad - "she went to tend the plants that are hers on the hillside and found the police already there"

"We still need to talk to her," I said

He nodded the slip of his face that I could see between Doyle and Frost&039;s bodies "She&039;s in the back with Dobbin having a spot of so has she been here?"

"Ask her yourself You said you wanted to talk to a demi-fey, not her specifically Why did you want one to speak with, ht be in danger"

He turned so that one eye stared through the opening the es, and I realized he was grinning "Since when did the sidhe give a rat&039;s ass how many flower faeries were lost in LA? A dozen fade every year froy, but neither faerie court will let therin faded as he finished, and left hiht to keep the surprise off my face If what he&039;d just said was true, I hadn&039;t known it "I care or I wouldn&039;t be here"

He nodded, solehter of Essus, I hope you truly do"

Frost turned and Doyle was left to give the Fear Dearg his full attention Frost was looking behind us, and I realized we had a little line for

"Do you mind?" aup with old friends" He smiled before he could catch himself, and his voice was less irritated as he said, "Well, can you catch up inside?"

"Yes, of course," I said Doyle opened the door, o first, and in ent

Chapter Five

The Fael was all polished wood, lovingly hand carved I knew that most of the interior ork had been recovered fro demolished The scent of some herbal and sweet musk polish blended with the rich aroma of tea, and overall was the scent of coffee, so rich you could taste it on your tongue Theysome fresh for a custohtly covered He wanted to keep the freshness in, but it was entler scent of his teas

Every table was full, and there were people sitting at the curved edge of the bar, waiting for tables or taking their tea at the bar There was almost an even number of hulamour ould have been the only sidhe There weren&039;t that eles, but the ones ere here saw the Fael as a hangout for the lesser beings There were a couple of clubs far away from here that catered to the sidhe and the sidhe wannabes Now that I&039;d lightened Doyle&039;s skin, the ears otten those pointy ear implants so he&039;d look like an "elf" There was actually another tallat a far table with his own iht He was handsome, but there was a shape to his broad shoulders that said he hit the gyhness to him that marked him as human and not sidhe, like a sculpture that hadn&039;t been sh

The blond wannabe stared at us Most of the patrons were looking, but then most looked away The blond stared at us over the rim of his teacup, and I didn&039;t like the level of attention He was too hulamour, but I didn&039;t like him I wasn&039;t sure why It was almost as if I&039;d seen hi sensation I was probably just being juuys everywhere

Doyle touched ainst nized someone"

"The blond with the iat us

"Good of you to join us this fine reet you and make you happy that you&039;d co wheat, stood behind the counter polishing the ith a clean white cloth He was s at us, his nut-brown face handsoive hih tiny He was tall for a brownie, ht, but he was still small of bone, and the doctor who had done his face had kept that in un life with only empty holes where the nose was, and a face closer to that of the Fear Dearg, you&039;d never have known that he hadn&039;t been this delicate, handsoeon recommendation, I&039;d send them to Robert&039;s doctor

He se of his worry, but none of the custoot your order in the back Coood," I said, all happy to go with his tone I&039;d lived in the Unseelie Court when the only las that I wasn&039;t feeling at all It had ency

Robert handed the cloth to a young woirl for Goth Monthly, from her black hair to her black velvet minidress, striped hose, and clunky retroish shoes She sported a neck tattoo and a piercing through her dark lipsticked mouth

"Mind the front for htly at hiloomy one Positive attitudestayed behind, twisting his face into a sirl She smiled down at him, and there wasn&039;t a shadow in her face that saw anything but attraction in the s, so I left off speculating on whether Alice and the Fear Dearg were a couple, or at least hooked up He wouldn&039;t have been my cup of tea, but then I knehat he was capable of; did she?

I shook my head and pushed it all away Their love life was not my business The office space was neat and raphs from home so that all the staff, even those without a desk, could bring fa the day Robert and his partner were pictured in tropical shirts in front of a beautiful sunset Goth Alice had several pictures, each with a different friend; maybe she was just friendly There was a partition, still in that warm shade between tan and brown, that separated the break area from the office space We heard the voices before we could see around the partition One was low and h-pitched and feminine

Robert called out in a cheerful voice, "We have visitors, Bittersweet"

There was a little screa, and then ere around the corner of the partition There was nice leather furniture with cushions, a large coffee table, some drink and snack machines al faery

"You proer so that there was an edge of buzz to it, as if she were the insect she resembled "You pro to cos were a blur, and I knehen she stopped s on her back, but rather soht with little winks of rainbow color Her dress was purple, only a little darker than my own Her hair fell around her shoulders in white-blond waves She would barely fillto calht, slender, neatly dressed, tanned, and handsome in a preppie sort of way They&039;d been a couple for more than ten years Before Eric, Robert&039;s last love of his life had been a wohty-soht it was brave of Robert to love another human so soon

Robert spoke sharply "Bittersweet, we promised not to tell everyone, but you were the one who flew in here babbling hysterically Did you think no one would talk? You&039;re lucky that the princess and her men are here before the police"

She flew at him, tiny hands balled into tiny fists, and her eyes blazed with rage She hit hi smaller than a Barbie doll wouldn&039;t pack

She hit hiy that came before and around her fist like a small explosion Robert was airborne, and pitched backward towardman Frost yanked me out of the way of both as they hit the floor

Bittersweet turned on us, and I watched the ripple of power around her like heat on a summer&039;s day Her hair formed a pale halo around her face, raised by the wind of her own energy It was theto eat bird or a shrew

"Do not be rash," Frost said His skin ran cold againstwinter&039;s chill The glamour that I&039;d used to hide us fell away, partly because to hold it with hiswas harder, and partly because I hoped it would help bring the ss stopped, and I had a s on her tiny body as she did the airborne equivalent of a huround before she caught herself and rose to eye level with both Frost and Doyle She&039;d turned sideways so she could see both of they quieted around her as she hovered

She bobbed an aard curtsey in the air "If you hide yourself with glamour, Princess, then how&039;s a fey to kno to act?"

I started to come around Frost&039;s body, but he stopped me partith his arm, so I had to speak from the shield of him "Would you have harmed us if we had simply been humans ere part fey?"

"You looked like those pretend elves that the humans dress up as"

"You mean the wannabes," I said

She nodded Her blond curls had fallen around her tiny shoulders in beautiful ringlets, as if the power had curled her hair tighter

"Why would huhten you?" Doyle asked

Her eyes flicked to hihtened her Doyle had been the queen&039;s assassin for centuries; the fact that he ith me now didn&039;t take away his past

She answered his question while looking atdown the hill from where my friends were " Here she stopped, put her hands in front of her eyes, and began to weep

"Bittersweet," I said, "I&039; you saw the killers?"

She just nodded without an to weep louder, an a had an edge of hysteria to it, but I guess I couldn&039;t blame her

Robert moved around her to Eric, and they held hands as Eric asked Robert if he was hurt Robert just shook his head

"I have toin his eyes letto call and why I wasn&039;t doing so in this room The little fey didn&039;t seem to want anyone to knohat she&039;d seen, and I was about to call the police

Robert let us go back into the storage room that was behind the offices, but not before he had the Fear Dearg come in and sit with Eric and the deood idea

Frost and Doyle started to come with me, but I said, "One of you stay with her"

Doyle ordered Frost to do so, while he stayed with ue; he&039;d had centuries of orders followed frouards to do what Doyle said

Doyle let the door close behind us as I dialed Lucy&039;s cell phone "Detective Tate"

"It&039;s Merry"

"You think of so?"

"How about a witness who says she saw the killers?"

"Don&039;t tease," she said

"No tease, I plan to put out"

She alhed "Where are you, and who is it? We can send a car down and pick them up"

"It&039;s a demi-fey, and a tiny one She probably can&039;t ride in a car without being hurt by theto have probles at headquarters?"

"Probably"

"Double shit Tell me where you are and we&039;ll come to her Do they have a room where we can question her?"

"Yes"

"Givethrough the grass fast enough that her slacks ave her the address

"Sit tight I&039;ll have the closest uniforuns"

"We&039;ll wait"

"We&039;ll be there in twenty if the traffic actually gets out of the way of the lights and sirens"

I sh she couldn&039;t see it "Then we&039;ll see you in thirty No one moves in traffic here"

"Hold the fort We&039;re on our way" I heard the wail of the sirens before the phone went dead

"They&039;re on their way She wants us to stay here even after the closest uniforic, and this killer does," Doyle said

I nodded

"I do not like that the detective asks you to put yourself in harm&039;s way for her case"

"It&039;s not for her case It&039;s to keep any , Doyle"