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Chapter Fourty-three

Patterson wasn&039;t home or at work or anywhere that the police looked for him He&039;d packed up and simply vanished But a whole human man was easier to find in LA than a demi-fey smaller than a Barbie doll They finally put their pictures up on the news as persons of interest who s They were afraid of what the fey coot out that they were our suspected killers I hadthe taxpayers the cost of a trial had its appeal

That night I dreamed about the last murder scene But it was Royal suspended from the top of the arch, his body limp in death, and then he&039;d opened his eyes, but they&039;d been clouded like the eyes of the dead I woke covered in sick sweat, calling his name

Rhys and Galen had tried to pet o back to sleep until they woke Royal up and brought hio back to sleep

I woke up sandwiched between Rhys and Galen, with Royal on the pillow bysorown-up fantasy

He ith a lazy s, Princess"

"Sorry I woke you last night"

"That you care enough about "

"It&039;s too early to be talking," Galen led lower in the bed so he could hide his eyes against my shoulder

Rhys just rolled over and threw an arm across my waist and part of Galen I could feel that Rhys ake, but if he wanted to pretend he could

Royal and I lowered our voices and he ainst the side of my face and whisper into my ear "The other demi-fey are jealous," he said

"Of the sex?" I whispered

He traced his hand along the curve of ht caress a shoulder "That, but to be able to grow in size is a rare gift a us None here in this house can do it except for ht with you would do the same for them"

"What do you think?" I asked

"I don&039;t know if I want to share you with them, but I am like all new lovers, jealous and infatuated We&039;ve even been approached by some demi-fey who are not ours They want to know if &039;tis true that I&039;ve gained such a power"

Rhys raised his head, done with pretense "What did you tell the his arms around his knees "That it was true, but they didn&039;t believe me until I showed them"

"So you can do it at will," Rhys said

He nodded happily

"What do you think would happen if ent down to the Fael and you changed in front of everybody?"

"Merry would be pestered silly by other de"

I looked at Rhys, and Galen raised his head "No, Rhys, no"

"It&039;s been two days and the police still have no clue where they are," Rhys said

"You are not going to make Merry into bait for these monsters"

"I think that&039;s up to Merry," Rhys said

Galen turned his unhappy face from him to me "Don&039;t do it"

"I think Bittersouldn&039;t be able to resist," I said

"That&039;s exactly what I&039;m afraid of," he said

"We&039;d have to run it by Detective Tate," Rhys said

Galen propped himself up on both elbows and looked down at all of us "You woke up screa their victims Do you really want to put yourself out there as a potential victim for them?"

In truth, no, but out loud I said, "I know I don&039;t want to go to another murder scene, especially if I could flush them out into the open"

"No," Galen said

"We&039;ll discuss it with Lucy," I said

He went up on his knees and even nude and lovely he was so angry that it wasn&039;t sexy "Does my vote not count at all here?"

"What kind of ruler would I be if I kept ave up the damned crown for love; well, don&039;t do this for the same reason I love you, we love you, and this human has so us have seen in centuries We don&039;t knohat he&039;s capable of, Merry Don&039;t do this Don&039;t risk yourself and our babies"

"The police et hurt just by the o down to the Fael and have Royal show off, won&039;t you?"

I didn&039;t say anything Rhys looked atto see what the sidhe would decide as his kind had done for centuries

Galen got out of bed and picked his clothes up froht He was as mad as I&039;d ever seen hi like this?"

"Do you really want to see another murder?" I asked

"No, but I&039;ll survive it I&039;ue"

"Get out," I said

"What?"

"Get out"

"You can&039;t unman her before a battle," Rhys said

"What the hell does that mean?" Galen asked

"It means that&039;s she&039;s scared and doesn&039;t want to do this, but that she&039;ll do it for the sa and not away frouards We&039;re supposed to run toward the probleuard Doesn&039;t part of that jobthe sheet into his lap and a little off me "Sometimes, but in the old days we rode into battle beside our leaders They led fro&039;s guard was not dying at their side, or the before we did"

"I don&039;t want Merry to die at all"

"Neither do I, and I&039;ll bet "

"This is insane You can&039;t, Merry, you can&039;t"

I shookhysterics doesn&039;t make me feel any better about it"

"Good, because you shouldn&039;t feel better about it You shouldn&039;t do it at all"

"Just go, Galen, just go," I said

He went, his clothes still bundled in his arms, nude and beautiful from the back as he walked out the door and slammed it behind him

"I&039;m scared," I said

"I&039;d be worried if you weren&039;t," Rhys said

"That&039;s not co the leader isn&039;t about comfort, Merry You know that better than any leader we&039;ve had since we landed in this country"

Royal was just suddenly big enough to holdout behind hi as the moth would to scare a predator away "Tell me not to show off my neer and I will hide it away"

"No, Royal, ant them to know"

He pressed his face to erous?"

"It could be," he said

"My vote with the green knight won&039;t change your mind, will it?"

"No," I said

"Then I&039;ll do what you want,will happen to you"

I shook e stiff delicateness of his wings "I am a royal of faerie I can&039;tforesworn"

"We&039;ll talk to Doyle and the rest," Rhys said "Maybe they&039;ll have a safer plan"

I agreed Royal held me, but in the end no one had a better plan

Chapter Fourty-four

On wednesday ent to the Fael and had Royal show off his new talent A hurried towel thrown his way by Alice the barista and he was covered enough for human law The flock of de around him, and when he told how it had happened they came toto touchI had to drag one little female out from my blouse where she&039;d nestled between my breasts

I had a moment of claustrophobia; so many little bodies Doyle, Rhys, and the rest helped me step out of them, and ent home with the trap baited I was never anywhere, not even in the house, without at least four guards with ht about was that I had friends in LA, people I cared about, and we hadn&039;t protected all of the ht was a little toothat Steve Patterson&039;s h never having aold and it had only been three days

My cell phone rang in the bedrooet that?"

Frost ca it out to me The ID said it was Julian I picked up and said, "Hey, Julian, can&039;t get enough of me at work?"

"This isn&039;t your friend" It was a nize it

"Who is this?" I asked I had one of thosebad is about to happen, but there&039;s nothing you can do because the o

"You knoho it is, Princess"

"Steve, right?"

"See, I knew you&039;d know"