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"Yes," Frost said, "you cannot outrun the Darkness"

"And anger travels on the very wind," Doger?" I made it a question

"She is the scald crow She is the dissatisfaction that drives ht, then feeds on it," Biddy said, as Nicca helped her to her feet

"She did once," Frost said, "but that is no ood quarrel, rows bored with so much peace"

"This is not peace," Frost said

"Perhaps," she said, "but it is not battle either"

"Let&039;s hope not," Rhys said "And now, children, let&039;s go talk to the nice policerinned at her "And alk over there they will all get their badges out and flash them at the princess"

Frost and I both said "Rhys" at the samaela said, "What an odd custom"

She was a literalist with al to hurt himself with this one I explained the truth to her as we all walked over to the parking lot She gave hiel

"Behave yourself," I told him under my breath

"I have behaved myself," he said softly "When you&039;ve talked to the head fed, you&039;ll think I was a saint"

"Why?"

"Because he&039;s not bleeding"

I looked at hi ent be? As the old saying goes, ere about to find out

Chapter 14

THE POLICE, ALL FLAVORS, STOOD IN THE DECEMBER COLD Maybe so to stay war, but so around in the cold for a while If it wasn&039;t for us, then eren&039;t they in their cars, in vans with the heaters on? Because their chiefs were standing out in the cold You didn&039;t sit in a nice warm car while your officers stood ankle deep in snow We&039;d had the parking area cleared off, but apparently snow had blown back across the surface

I recognized Major Walters by the broad-shouldered square of hi almost toe to toe as shorter by at least five inches, and no one I knew But I&039;d have bet goodat Walters, probably the head fed

When I&039;d told Special Agent Raymond Gillett not to come, I hadn&039;t specified that he not send the feds I would reain

Rhys tried to get their attention, but it was Frost&039;s voice that cut across the squabbling "Princess Meredith NicEssus," he announced, the words echoing over the cold, still air

They stopped in ument, and turned to us in surprise, al Then they both started trying to talk totheentlemen, please, one at a time"

They both tried to be the one at a time I settled it for the lot? Why haven&039;t you come to the door?" I smiled as I said it, even with my eyes

He jerked a thumb at the s lot Says it&039;s federal land, and thatto the fed in question "And you are?"

"Special Agent John Marquez" And he actually bowed "It&039;s an honor to h The boas overdoing it "I wish I could say the saent Marquez"

He looked up, puzzle to offend you, Your Majesty?"

I shook my head "Majesty is only for the ruler, and I&039; down his people, but I did not call the FBI, so I&039;m a little puzzled why you are here"

"Faerie land is federal land, Princess That makes these crimes our jurisdiction, as I&039;ve pointed out to the major here"

"Ah, but technically it&039;s faerie land, and neither of you has any jurisdiction here"

Marquez sly "But you called for police help, and since the mounds are on federal land, that means us"

I shook my head "Only if we ask for your help; until that moment it&039;s our business"

He shook his head "You did ask us, Princess Special Agent Gillett got your call, and he referred it to our local office"

I&039;d figured asto know it for certain "I made the call to Gillett out of courtesy and for old ti to have called him at all"

"But we are here now, and we have forensic facilities that the local St Louis police can&039;t match"

A woman broke away from the knot of locals She had blond hair that was a little too perfectly yellow to be real and hulasses cut a pretty face so that it took you a -lashed "I&039;m Dr Caroline Polaski, head medical examiner for St Louis County, and I take exception to that"

"You can&039;t compare your lab with ours," Marquez said

"I did my internship with you, so yes, actually, I can"

"Internship, then you weren&039;t good enough to ave him a very unfriendly look "Check your own records I left because ot offered the run of the place At your shop I&039;d have been soh to be head of our shop," Marquez said

This was getting us nowhere "Stop it," I said

They looked at e here, that&039;s what all the arguing is about, correct?"

Polaski and Marquez nodded Walters just looked at entleht, said plainly that I was a little girl and shouldn&039;t try to play with the big boys "Now, Princess, your call for help indicates that you don&039;t think you and your people are capable of handling a double hoent Marquez I aladly accept, but let there be no confusion aaze take in Walters and the e, and anyone who has a problem with that doesn&039;t step one foot onto our land"

Marquez argued, as I&039;d expected him to "You are not an officer of any kind, Princess No offense, but this investigation needs e of it"

"My private detective license isn&039;t valid outside of California, Agent Marquez"

"Then you have no legal standing to take control"

I stepped into him so fast and unexpectedly, that he actually took a step back before he caught himself I looked up at him, inches taller, and let him look into the delicate oval of , Marquez? I am Princess Meredith NicEssus The only person who outranks me here on this land is the Queen of Air and Darkness herself You and your people are here on h"

"You can&039;tto send us all away because I hurt your feelings" Goddess, he had an attitude

"Not at all I&039; to take Major Walters and his people with us, and let them do their jobs"

"And when they can&039;t handle it, and you need our help, you ht need their help I hoped not, but we ht I had an idea I turned to Walters "Do you have a cell phone?"

He looked a little uncertain, but he held it out to -distance call on it?"

"Who are you going to call?"

"Washington, DC"

Walters took in a deep breath "Be uest"

I dialed a nuet for me before we came out here I&039;d hoped not to use it, but I&039;d seen enough territorial disputes in LA to know that the feds and the locals could do ot into a serious pissing contest Marquez wasand request, Marquez said, "You are not calling the president of the United States"

"No" I was on hold "I&039;m not"

Marquez frowned harder at me

A woman&039;s voice caood to talk to you again"

Marquez&039;s eyebroent up

I&039;d first s when her husband was a senator They&039;d corets had seemed the most sincere of the political people there that day After that Senator Billings and his wife had made several visits to faerie, and I realized that Joanne Billings was a faeriephile My father had not raised e, and besides, I liked Joanne She was open-minded about the Unseelie Court&039;s unfavorable press, and ht when she could We exchanged holiday cards, and I ement party, the one for public consue once, without her husband, just to see hoas getting along, and by that ti vote Pictures of her with America&039;s faerie princess didn&039;t hurt I understood that, and didn&039;t think badly of her for it I had even invited her to otten photo ops together One of the last things I&039;d done before vanishing froe with theed small talk, then she said, "I assume you didn&039;t call at this hour for a social reason"

"No" I gave her the briefest sketch of the situation

She was silent for a second or two "What do you need from me?"

I explained some of what Marquez had said, and added, "And he threatened that if I didn&039;t let him in now, he would make certain the FBI didn&039;t help us later, if we needed their expertise to solve the crihed "You could have called the diplomatic service, talked to your ambassador You could have called a dozen people, but you called me first You did call ain, and I knew she liked that I had called her first I also knew she liked that I hadn&039;t asked her to talk to her husband "Put him on the line," she said, and her voice had already taken on that cultured, ale that it had on radio or television

I handed the phone to Marquez He looked a little pale around the edges His end of the conversation was mostly "Yes, ma&039;am No, ma&039;am Of course not,to look angry and sick at the same time

"I think he&039;ll behave himself now," she said

"Thank you, very much, Joanne"

"When you&039;ve finally picked a husband, you better invite ement party" She was quiet for a second, then said, "I am sorry about what happened with Griffin I saw the tabloid photos he gave to the reporters I have no words to say how sorry I am that he turned out to be a such a bastard"

"I&039;et an invitation to the engageain with honest delight "All of faerie decked out for a wedding, I can hardly wait"

"Thank you, Joanne" We hung up, and I turned to Marquez "Is there anything else you wanted to know, Special Agent Marquez?"

"No, I&039;ve had about all I can stand tonight, thank you very ave me a look that said I&039;d made an enemy Gee, an ene

"You and your lab will be available if we need your expertise?" I asked, keeping s ould be"

"Great," I said, then turned to Major Walters He was trying not to look pleased and failing He practically bea their hats handed to them by the feds; for once the shoe was on the other foot, and Walters was enjoying it He waited until we&039;d walked out into the snoith a circle ofA man of iron self-control