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Chapter Thirty-four

We pulled up in front of what I&039;d started to think of as home, but it was Maeve Reed&039;s estate in Holh e- as we needed to I worried that eventually she&039;d grow tired of us all, but for today, and until she got back from Europe, it was home

The reporters who had followed us frohbors were letting camp on their property, for a fee of course, and ere all hoates in the tall stone wall and in ent It had beconore the shouted questions froe of Maeve&039;s property I kept waiting for one of them to notice that they never, ever crossed that invisible line, but so far they hadn&039;t

We ithin our rights, and so was Maeve, to prevent trespassing We were even allowed to use ic wasn&039;t harmful We&039;d simply reinforced Maeve&039;s oards, and the reporters stopped every ti just anted

I&039;d called Lucy on the ride over, and told her everything Jordan had told us It helped, but not enough Julian texted me and told me that his brother was fine and wouldn&039;t have to be held overnight at the hospital Marshal the EMT wasn&039;t the only one who had started treating shocky psychics more seriously Marshal had just been the first medical professional to admit why I appreciated that

Rhys pulled up in front of the big uest house, giving the guest house over to our newer members I&039;d asked Maeve&039;s per e&039;d do when she rightfully wanted her house back I put the thought away, and concentrated on the ical serial killer, and would Barinthus defydouble doors opened and Nicca and Biddy were there waving at us He had his arm across her shoulders and she had hers around his waist He was just a shade taller than her six feet of sidhe warrior His long brown hair was in two knee-length braids on either side of his handsome face, but it was the smile in his brown face that h she was pale, her black curls cut short around her face They both had brown eyes, and the baby probably would, too She&039;d just started to show a little, though unless you knehat you were looking for under her shorts and tank top you wouldn&039;t knoas a baby

Her bare ar smooth under her skin as she caot Rhys&039;s door He was a little less h not by much, but the easy happiness that they seemed to feel for each other made et officially ree with both of theet the door for Cathbodua She had seen where I was and got the back door, which actuallyGalen out first "Welcolowed not just with the pregnancy, but with love Whenever I was around them I had hopes that the rest of our sidhe would pair up and it would be the beginning of a lot of happily ever after for a lot of our people

"Good to be hoot the door on the other side and Sholto scooted out, too They both put their hands back in for me, and there was that aard moment when the two men looked across the car at each other But it was Galen, and s easier, not harder

He did a little half salute and said, "You&039;re on the side with the house"

Sholto sood leaders appreciate people who s easier "Is that the systeets to help her out?"

"If she&039;s in the backseat," Galen said, "but if she&039;s in front, then Biddy or Nicca or whoever gets to the passenger side helps her out"

Sholto nodded "Very logical" He offeredhim help me scoot over the seat Nicca and Biddy were already at the back to help Uther out You could fold the seats ere in down, but why h when you could just open the back?

Saraid actually took Uther&039;s hand to get out of the back of the SUV It pleased him that she took his help She was tall and ic, which meant she didn&039;t need the help, but she&039;d taken his co hi of the dogs inside That, too, was a happy thing The faerie hounds had vanished with our ic she also returned sos

Biddy laughed "Kitto is trying to keep them still, but they&039;ve all missed their masters and mistress"

Rhys was at the door first, and tried to keep the door closed enough so he could slip inside without the furry horde getting past hi battle They flowed out around hi to mill about his feet He bent over to touch the heads of the black-and-tan terrier pair, a breed that hadn&039;t existed in centuries but was the founding breed of most of the modern terrier breeds The rest of theinal colors of most faerie aniraceful greyhounds For whatever reason, he&039;d gotten s capered around his legs, and the greyhounds nuzzled hiive thereet s for o was taller than the h now her belly ollen tight with puppies She was due any day, and she would be the first of the dogs to give birth One of the best dog vets in the area had startedhouse calls We had a camera set up and a live feed on the computer The coe people for watching the birth of the first faerie dogs born ina lot of people sign up for it, sos, and some because they hoped to see s, but whatever the ly lucrative, and with this many people to take care of we needed it to be

I touched the silky ears ofmuzzles in my hands I put my forehead to Minnie&039;s forehead because she liked it Mungo was a little ht forehead bus, as if the most beautiful butterflies and moths had suddenly decided to have a ball above our heads Most of them were the demi-fey who had followed me into exile They were the afflicted of their kind and had been wingless in a society that saw that as worse than crippled Butwith Galen&039;s, Nicca&039;s, and Kitto&039;s, had both nearly killed thes they&039;d never had before But there were de them who had been in exile in LA for decades or more The first ones had come quietly, almost afraid, but when they elcomed we&039;d more than doubled our numbers

Royal and his twin sister Penny hovered abovea sown of sos

"It&039;s good to be ho as she moved She and her brother were both dark of hair and pale of skin, and had the wings of an Ilia Underwing moth Itabout bringing out Royal&039;s wings and saving his life had taken ic leaves itsmore than any real h there had been that famous physics paper on the moth that proved that none of the demi-fey should be able to fly He touched my hair and I swept it aside so he could sit on nal for the other demi-fey to flutter around us They poured over Nicca&039;s braids and started swinging on them like they were ropes He seemed to have an affinity with thes of his own They were a tattoo when he wished, but if not, they rose above his body like a ical sail on soical places

I&039;d had hi he had and he&039;d never had real wings, and after the neild s real so that they rose above ic He&039;d been the child of a sidhe and a demi-fey who could be human sized

A flock of the shost pale hite hair like cobwebs around their pointed faces, fluttered around Sholto speaking in high, twittering voices, asking for perh He nodded his assent and they cliround and perched on his shoulders three deep on either side None of theer than my palm, the very smallest of the se at ten inches

Penny, Royal&039;s sister, hovered by Galen and asked permission to climb aboard Galen had only recently allowed any of them to touch him casually He&039;d had a bad experience with them at the Unseelie Court People think it&039;s funny to be afraid of so so small, but bear in mind that the Unseelie demi-fey drink blood as well as nectar Sidhe blood is sweet to them, and royal sidhe is sweeter still Queen Andais had once chained Galen down and given him over to those tiny mouths Prince Cel had paid their queen, Niceven, to take iven Galen what amounted to a phobia of theic, and would hover around him in butterfly-colored clouds, but they&039;d learned not to touch hi Penny settled onto his shoulder in her little robe, one hand in the deep green of his curls Galen had begun to trust Penny

Rhys had sounder his hair, that they looked like children peeking out from between drapes, or leaves, like a storybook That made ht were a little dimmer

"You&039;re sad suddenly," Royal said near my face "What did you think of just now, our Merry?"

It was always te to turn your head when one of the your head coh to meet those dark almond-shaped eyes, but not asbeside s You gave ic I pay attention to you, ainst my face so that his body curved into the line of hs underneath my chin His small arm ide around ainst ht have been able to enjoy the hug - and ifthey would have seen it as innocent coed by a child - but I knew better And if I&039;d had any doubts, his face was now very close toinnocent in his handsorown-up look on a face not er than my thumb

I would have been okay with that, but it was Royal, and he had to push it His body tucked a little too close to the line of ainstthe fey if just being close to solad to see you, too, Royal, but now that you&039;ve paid the co room, please"

"You should come play with us, Merry I promise it would be fun"

"I appreciate the possibilities, Royal, but I don&039;t think so," I said

He pressed hi a little hip into the hug

"Stop that, Royal," I said

"If you&039;d let lamour it wouldn&039;t disturb you It would entrance you" And his voice held that edge of sultry bass that only a larger body with the deep chest to iven him What few outside faerie realized was that solamour of us all I knew from experience that Royal could laasift, his talent

"I forbid you that," I said

He kissed the side of h that I wasn&039;t quite so aware that he was there "I wish you hadn&039;t forbid it"

Galen called fro a little I wondered how long I&039;d been standing there talking to Royal

"You ain," I said

"The fact that I distract you isn&039;t glaoddess of white and red"

"Then what is it?" I asked, tired of the gaic calls to mine We are both creatures of warmth and lust"

I frowned at him

Sholto loomed over me, and certainly over Royal "I do not think the princess is a creature of any kind, littlehide-and-seek in his long fall of hair, as if they were listening

Royal looked up at hi Sholto It was perverse of et the queen&039;s pet name for you"

Sholto was suddenly very still besidehim "her Perverse Creature" He had confessed toFrost and the queen&039;s Darkness Feared one day he would sied bug I can se that, or give you the full-sized woivenSholto," Royal said Then he smiled, and I knew just from his expression that whatever he was about to say I wouldn&039;t like it "Merry can speak to lamour and just how much she enjoyed it"

Sholto&039;s face showed just how unhappy that made him He turned that scowl to me "You didn&039;t," he said

"No," I said, "but if I hadn&039;t been stopped I ht have If you&039;ve never had a deic try their wiles on you, then you don&039;t understand It&039;s la, we hide in plain sight froonflies, and flowers They never see through our disguises, and that&039;s not always true with sidhe glamour"

"Then why don&039;t you help trail people for her detective agency?" Sholto asked

"We could if they would stay in certain parts of the city, but they tend to go places with too ood shiver

Two of the tiny fey still riding in Sholto&039;s hair took to the air as if the thought was too frightening even for listening The three left in his hair hid like children hearing the monster under the bed

"It is beyond h solas," Sholto said

Royal looked at hilas"

"I believe Merry when she says soood at it, then I believe her, but I also know she&039;s forbidden you to try your wiles on her again"

"It&039;s my week to take Queen Niceven&039;s weekly donation I think Merry ant lamour for that"

Sholto had only to move his eyes to come back to my face fro blood to Niceven through her surrogates?"

"We need allies at the courts, Sholto"

"Why do you need theo back and rule?"

"Spies," Royal whispered "The de Sholto No one looks at us, no one notices how often we are about"

He looked froht it was Doyle&039;s spy network that was getting such accurate information"

"The Darkness has his sources, but none as sweet as Merry has," Royal said, and I kneas playing it up to see if he could irritate the other reat pleasure any time he could make one of my full-sized lovers jealous It pleased hihed The sound startled Royal and me The little man on my shoulder jumped, while I was simply puzzled The fey in Sholto&039;s hair fleard and went over the house and away into the blue

"What is so funny, oh King of the Sluagh?" Royal asked

"Does your glamour make men jealous, too?"

"As for Merry&039;s reaction to ic"

Sholto&039;s face sobered and he studied the littleand hard enough that Royal hid his face in esture for all the de coy, or even si the object of such concentration by Sholto

Mungo bus to reacttension from Sholto&039;s reaction to the de soet inside," I said at last

Sholto nodded "Yes, we should" He offered me his arm and I took it He led oblins still eat us like prey"

It ht ht?"

I nodded I could have asked Sholto, but if the ansas yes, I didn&039;t want to know, and whether it was yes or no, it was still an insulting question How do you ask a man who you are supposed to love and who is the father of your child if he commits a little cannibalism on the side?

"You&039;re afraid to ask," Royal whispered like one of those cartoon devils on ainst Sholto and whisper just inside the door, "Do the sluagh still hunt the demi-fey?"

He frowned and then shook his head He looked at Royal, now hiding more seriously in my hair "We do not hunt the s and we have to cleanse our faerie mound of them How my people clean our house of thedoet they are there, and I don&039;t tolerate spies"

Royal slid cos on either side of my neck and held on as if I were the trunk of a tree

"Hide all you want, Royal, but I won&039;t forget you&039;re there," Sholto said

I could feel Royal&039;s heart thudding against my spine I was about to be syainst the back of my neck It can be a very erotic spot, and as he laid soft kisses against my skin, I felt that totally involuntary reaction low in my body I made hi for dinner when there was a knock on the door "Who is it?"

"It&039;s Kitto"

I was down to my dark brown bra with its lace trim, and still in my skirt, hose, and heels, but he was on the list of people who I didn&039;t have to hide from I smiled and said, "Come in"