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I didn’t knohat to say to that Finally I said, "I seek a different kind of king then, one who understands that a true queen is worth any aht that had been friendly before becalasses to shield frolare

"No, Taranis, you insult me, and my queen, and my court If you have no better words forto discuss" I nodded at Frost, and he blanked the mirror before Taranis could do it himself

We remained in silence for a second or so, then Doyle said, "He’s always thought himself quite the ladies’ man"

"Do you , then his ar me to him "For Taranis, anyone who isn’t impressed with him is a thorn in his side He must scratch at anyone who does not worship hirit in the eye, always there, always hurting"

"Is this why Andais talks to him nude and covered in men?"

"Yes," Frost answered

I looked up at hi by the mirror "Surely it’s an insult to do such to another ruler?"

He shrugged "They have been trying to seduce one another, or kill one another, for centuries"

"Killing or seduction -- is there a third choice?"

"They have found their third choice," Doyle said against my ear "An uneasy peace I think Taranis seeks to control you -- and through you, eventually the Unseelie Court"

"Why is he so pressing about Yule?" I asked

"Once there were sacrifices at Yule," Kitto said softly "To ensure the light would return, they slew the Holly King to , the rebirth of the light"

We all looked at one another It was Frost who said, "Do you think the nobles at his court are finally getting suspicious of his lack of children?"

"I have not heard even the breath of that rumor," Doyle said Which meant that he had his own spies in that court

"It was always a king to be sacrificed for a king," Kitto said "Never a queen"

"Perhaps Taranis wants to change custo to the Seelie Court before Yule There is no reason good enough"

I sank back against his body, let the solid circle of his arree," I said softly "Whatever Taranis is planning, I want no part of it"

"We are all agreed then," said Frost

"Yes," Kitto said

It was unani

Chapter 38

We ca roo chair, sipping tea, and looking less than happy

Galen was sitting on the couch and trying to be char none of it Everything fros to the way her foot bobbed said she was angry, or nervous, or both

"About damn time," she said, when I came out of the bedroom She looked the three of us over, rather critically "Aren’t you a little overdressed for a little afternoon delight?"

I looked fro about the roo house" without a word I didn’t see Sage, and wondered if he was outside on the growing force of potted flowers by the door Galen had bought several in a bid to keep the little fey happy It hadn’t worked, but Sage did spend a lot of tiave me very innocent faces Too innocent

"What have you been telling her?"

Rhys shrugged, then pushed away fro her you were having sex with both Doyle and Frost was about the only way to keep her fro the castle walls while you finished your little business "

Lucy Tate stood up and shoved the cup of tea in Galen’s direction He grabbed it, barely in time Her face had taken on a flush of unhealthy color "Are you telling me that I’ve been out here for nearly an hour and they’ve been on a business call?" Her voice was dangerously low, each word very cal cup into the kitchen, one hand held underneath it to keep fro a trail of tea behind

"Business call to the faerie courts," I said "Trust me when I say that I’d rather you’d have walked in on a full-blown e a trois than the call I just finished"

She seemed to see ed "My fa ti up herFinally, she shook her head "Rhys is right Only the threat of seeing you in flagrante delicto would have keptBut family business isn’t police business, so screw it"

"Are you here on police business?" Doyle asked as he er room

"Yes," she said, and stepped around the couch to face hi area so it wasn’t so confrontational, but Lucy wanted a confrontation She stood with her arerent like she wanted to pick a fight with so into the rooe of the couch If she wanted to keep eye contact with me, she’d have to walk around the couch and face ain

She leaned forward, hands clasped together, fingers entwined as she fought with herself

I asked again, "What’s wrong, Lucy?"

"There was another ood eye contact, but not today Today her eyes roved over the apart

"Was it like the one ?" I asked

She nodded, resting a aze on me, then turned away to look at the television, the line of herbs that Galen had growing in the"Exactly the same except for location"

Doyle cahtly I think he’d knelt so he wouldn’t looency has been forbidden from this case Your Lieutenant Peterson doesn’t seeotten up Peterson’s craw, and I’ to decide if I care If I talk to you about this case, it could an to pace in the s rooht between the couch and the white painted wood of the entertainment center

"All I’ve ever wanted was to be a cop" She shook her head, running fingers through her thick brunette hair "But I’d rather lose my job than see another one of these scenes"

She sat down in the pink chair abruptly, and now she looked at me, those wide eyes, that earnest face She’d made her decision It was there in her face "Have you been following the case in the papers or the news?"

"The news called the club incident a as leak" Doyle rested his chin on my shoulder as he spoke His deep voice vibrated down ht to keep how it affectedon my face I don’t think it showed

"The second was one of those traveling clubs, raves, I believe, bad drugs"

She nodded "A bad batch of ecstasy, yeah At least, that’s the story we leaked Weto chase so they wouldn’t put two and two together and start a citywide panic But the rave was exactly like the first two scenes"

"First two?" I asked

She nodded "The very first scene probably wouldn’t even have come up on anybody’s radar if it hadn’t been in a ritzy area of town Just six adults that tione very bad It’d still be floating around on soh profile, so when the club got hit, it rang bells don, and suddenly we had a task force We needed one, but we never would have gotten it this quickly if one of the first vics hadn’t been friends with several mayors and a chief of police or two" She sounded bitter and tired

"The first murders were at a private residence?" I asked

Lucy nodded, hands just clasped now, not wringing tight She was tired and depressed, but calmer "Yes, and it was the first related scene, as far as we’ve been able to find I keep drea that there’s some crack house or sweat shop that was really the first hit, and we’re going to find dozens of dead bodies rotting in the Dece worse than one of these scenes fresh would be a really old one" She shook her head again, running her hands through her hair, then she shook her head, fluffing out the hair she’d just smoothed "Anyway, the first one was a private residence, yeah We found the couple that lived there, two guests, two servants"

"How far was that house from the club that ?" I asked

"Holo very still behind me The silence seemed to widen out from us like circles in a pool We all stared at her and, I think, fought not to look at one another

"Did you say Hol back at us "Yes Why does that ring everyone’s bell?"

I looked at Doyle He looked at ainst the wall as if it , but his face couldn’t quite hide the shine of excite, if that was a word Rhys couldn’t help but enjoy it

Galen went into the kitchen and hid, fetching a cloth to dry the teacup Frost cah roo away Nicca looked genuinely puzzled, and I realized that he’d been out of the loop on exactly where Maeve Reed lived He’d helped with the planning for the fertility rite, but he didn’t know her address

"No," Lucy said "No, you are not all going to just sit there and look innocent When I said Hol, soiveon"

"We can do anything ish, Detective," Doyle said

She looked atto stonewall me on this? I risked my career to come down here and talk to you all"

"We are a little curious about that," Doyle said "Why would it be worth your career to come and speak with us? You have Teresa’s information, and Jeremy’s assurance it was a spell What lared at him "I’m not stupid, Doyle There are fey everywhere I look on this case Peterson just doesn’t want to see it The first incident is in Holht next door to Maeve Reed’s house She’s a sidhe royal Exiled, or not, she’s still fey We put out calls to all the local hospitals, looking for anyone exhibiting syot one bite on a live person No new dead have coaze flicked to him, then back to Doyle andbetter every day" She stared at the two of us "Would it make you share information with me if I told you our possible survivor is fey?"

I don’t know about the rest of them, but I didn’t even try to keep the puzzlement off my face

Lucy smiled at us, an almost mean smile, as if she knew she had us "This fey doesn’t want to contact the Bureau of Huer to avoid it Lieutenant Peterson says the fey have nothing to do with the case, says it’s a coincidence that Maeve Reed lives close to the first incident He had the fey interviewed, but insists you can never really tell what’s wrong with the faeries; insists that if it had been the same sort of events the fey would be dead" She looked around the room at all of us "I don’t believe that I’ve seen fey heal injuries that would have killed any huh-rise and walk away"

She shook her head again "No, this has soht not to look at anyone around me

"Would you talk to me, tell me the whole truth, if I let you interview the injured fey? Lieutenant Peterson has declared the fey noninvolved So, technically, even if he finds out, he can’t fire me Or even discipline me for it In fact, the injured fey is my cover story Since the fey won’t speak to the fey authorities, I’ for a few fey faces to try to talk to hi city"

"You think he’s froot never been to the big city written all over him He screamed when his heart rate monitor beeped at him the first time" She shook her thick hair all around her face "He’s from somewhere where they’ve never seen modern equipment The nurses say they had to take the television out of his room because he had some sort of seizure after he saork"

She looked at all of us in turn, and finally came back to me, Doyle, and Frost "Talk to me, Merry, please Talk to me I won’t tell the lieutenant I can’t Please help me stop this, whatever it is"

I looked at Doyle, Frost, Rhys Galen came back out of the kitchen, but he spread his hands wide and shrugged "I haven’t been doing much of the detective stuff lately, so I don’t feel like I should get a vote"

Nicca spoke up, which surprised us all "The queen won’t like it" His voice was clear, filling the roo in the dark, afraid to be overheard

"She didn’t tell us not to share with the human police," Doyle said

"She didn’t?" Nicca’s voice see body

I turned on the couch so Nicca could see full into my face "No, Nicca, the queen didn’t tell us not to talk to the police"

He let out a large breath "Okay" Again it was a child’s answer The grownups had told hiet in trouble, and he believed us

We all exchanged looks one more time, then I said, "Rhys, tell her about the spell"

He did We emphasized that eren’t sure anyone left in the courts could still do the spell, and that it ician or witch It wasn’t anyone at the Unseelie Courts, that ere sure of

"How can you be so sure?" Lucy asked

We exchanged another series of looks "Trust hts or review boards She’s very thorough"

She studied our faces "How thorough can you guys be?"

I frowned at her "What do you mean?"

"I’ve heard ru that effective without leavingus to do what I think you’re asking us to do?"

"I’ain The fey in the hospital won’t talk to the police; he won’t talk to the social worker that the Bureau of Huested we could contact the ambassador personally if he wasn’t co how scared he was to talk to the auys"

"Why?" I asked

"The ambassador isn’t sidhe"

"What do you expect us to do to this fey?" Doyle asked

"I expect you to do whatever it takes to get hiot over five hundred dead, Doyle, als aren’t stopped, if we just keep letting the I don’t want a pack of newly born ancient deities with a taste for killing running around loose in ot to be stopped now, before it’s too late"

We agreed to go with her, but first we made a phone call We called Maeve Reed and let her know that the ghosts of dead gods had been resurrected to kill her Which meant it was so’s permission to do it