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"How can that be?" Susan demanded "We were there for half an hour at the most Look My watch says it&039;s two"

My heart began to beat faster "Hell&039;s bells, I didn&039;t even think of it"

"Of what?"

I started walking Susan ditched her club behind a shelf and followed ht, both of us all scuffed up, torn, ragged, and wounded A few late shoppers stared, but no one see to approach us

"Time can pass at a different rate in the Nevernever than it does here," I said "All those stories about people partying with the fae overnight and waking up in a new century? That&039;s why it happens" The next link in the logic chain got forged, and I said, "Oh Oh, dammit"

"What?" Susan said

"It&039;s a three-hour trip to Chich¨¦n Itz¨¢," I said quietly "We can&039;t get there by an to pile up in my belly and on my shoulders and the back ofbitterly "We&039;re too late"

Chapter 38

"No," Susan said fiercely "No This isn&039;t set up on Greenwichtheir cere the stars We only know an approxiht"

It could happen half an hour before ht, but I didn&039;t say that to Susan Instead, I nodded She was right What she was saying just didn&039;t feel right, but I knew, in nore that little whispering voice of defeat in , et back to St Mary&039;s and pick up everyone there"

Susan nodded and said, "Half an hour back if there&039;s no traffic"

"And if you have a car," I said, "which we don&039;t"

Susan&039;sthere&039;s a whole parking lot full of them, then"

I opened the front door for Susan, followed her out onto the sidewalk, and nearly got run over by an eated hood, and shining chroant years subsequent to the Second World War The limo screeched to a halt, and the driver, dressed in a no-nonsense black suit, got out and hurried around to the door nearest us He was h to be acting or- so much so, in fact, that I decided immediately that he wasn&039;t huht, I suddenly saw the young Sidhe lord as he truly appeared - dressed in an ehts, each with accents of deep violet His sunny hair was bound back into a tight braid that fell past his waist, and his feline, cat-slitted aavelittle bow that only barely moved his head and chest, then opened the limo&039;s door

The Leanansidhe leaned over froer compartment, an exasperated look on her face "And here thou art at last, child What madness possessed thee to pay a social call upon the Hunter? He has a grudge against thee Know you not what that means?"

Susan tensed and took a step back froodmother noticed it and favored her with a toothy smile "Fear not, half child I&039;ve no reason to restrain thee again - unless, of course, thou wouldst like to see where it leads" She glanced up at the night sky - ht pollution - and said, "Granted, ould be forced to indulge such curiosity another ti "Whata big car you have"

She shook a finger atMother so that we may embark upon our quest, child Glenainst tiallantly toward the rear of the li ar bow of his head) and helped Susan into the car I got in without help ofthe rear of the vehicle andSidhe pulled out of the lot and headed for I-55

"Ridiculous," Lea said, staring at me in disapproval "You look utterly ridiculous"

I blinked at her and then down at ranted I&039;d been smeared with ichor and then rolled around in dirt and debris and I had a bleeding cut on one hand, which does not for neatness make My jeans were a wreck, s, and even my duster looked dirty and strained Susan wasn&039;t into a state dinner, Godmother," I said

Her voice turned wry "That depends upon ins the battle, me-thinks" She looked me up and down and shook her head "No No, it won&039;t do at all My queen has a certain reputation to ht calls for so a bit lesspostapocalyptic" She studied Susan with a critical expression "M any shame upon you and, by extension, upon the queen"

I sputtered

Susan arched an eyebrow "His concubine?"

"His lover, the mother of his child, yet to whom he is not wed? I believe the term applies, dear" She waved a hand "Words La Let us see"

She rested a fingertip thoughtfully upon the end of her nose, staring at in with silk"

She murmured a word, passed her hand overas if they&039;d been anism, and one that hadn&039;t yet had the courtesy to expire It was the da, and I hit my head on the roof of the limo as I ju odmother and said, "I don&039;t need any help"

"Harry," Susan said in a strangled voice She was staring at arbed in silken clothing My shirt had becorey silk, fitted close to ht black seeded in patterns of deep areen-blue opals, and pale, exquisite pearls The tights were also made of silk, closely fit, and pure white, while the leather boots that carey as the shirt

I stared at me Then at Susan

"Wow," Susan said "Youyou really do have a fairy gode," Lea said, studying ain "Perhaps a bit ain, the sensation so odd and intrusive that I all but banged h a dozen outfits in half as many minutes A Victorian suit and coat, complete with tails, was nixed in favor of another silk outfit, this one inspired by ied in the project, exchanging co absolutely every word that caiven up trying to have any say whatsoever in hoas going to be dressed

I was given outfits drawing inspiration from widely diverse cultures and periods of history I lobbied for the return of my leather duster stridently, but Lea only shushedto Susan

"Which outfit is really going to get that bitch&039;s goat?" Susan asked her

Finally, Lea&039;s mouth curled up into a smile, and she said, "Perfect"

My clothes writhed one more time and I found myself dressed in ornate Gothic armor of the style used in Western Europe in the fifteenth century It was black and articulated, with decorated shoulder pauldrons and an absurdly ornate breastplate Gold filigree was everywhere, and the thing looked like it should weigh six hundred pounds

"Cort¨¦s wore armor in just this style," Lea h it needs"

A weight suddenly enclosed hed patiently and reached up to remove a conquistador&039;s helmet decorated to match the armor I put it down on the floor of the limo and said firmly, "I don&039;t do hats"

"Poo," Lea said "Arianna still hates the Europeans with a vengeance, you know It hy she took a conquistador husband"

I blinked "Ortega?"

"Of course, child," Lea said "Love and hate are oft difficult to distinguish between She won Ortega&039;s heart, changed hi his heart over and over again Calling for hi in to hi her course She said it kept her hatred fresh and hot"

"Explains why he orking in bloody Brazil," I said

"Indeed Hmmrey to my armor-broadened shoulders, its ties fastened to the front of the breastplate Another flick changed the style of htly She added a deep hood to the cloak Then she thoughtfully wrought all the gold on the arreen that deepened along the color gradient to blue and then purple the farther it went froree a cold, eerily surreal look She added front panels to the cloak, so that it fell like some kind of robe in the front, belted to my waist with a sash of deep, dark purple A final adjustment iving me that football shoulder-pad profile I reh school

I looked down at myself and said, "This is ridiculous I look like the Gaht"

Susan and Lea blinked at me, then at each other

"I want my duster back, da?" Lea said "You have an ionna maintain it in my duster," I said stubbornly

"Harry," Susan said "She ht have a practical point here"

I eyed her Then my outfit "Practical?"

"Appearances and first is," she said "Used correctly, they&039;re weapons in their own right I don&039;t know about you, but I want every weapon I can get"

Lea murmured, "Indeed"

"Okay I don&039;t see why e can&039;t wearto be binding and heavier than hell"

Lea&039;s mouth curled up at one corner "Oh?"

I scowled at her Then I shook my shoulders and twisted about a bit There was a kind of springy flexibility to the base material of the armor that steel would neverabout, I couldn&039;t feel its weight At all Icoh it by strength of mundane arms," she said calmly "It will shed blows from even such creatures as the vampires of the Red Court - for a tiainst the wills of the Lords of Outer Night"

"Should?" I asked "What do you mean, &039;should&039;?"

"They are an ancient power, godchild," Lea replied, and gave ain "I have not had the opportunity to ainst theirs" She looked me up and down one more time and nodded, satisfied "You look presentable Now, child," she said, turning to Susan "Let us see ea lot better than I had

I got distracted while they orking I looked out theand saw us blowing past a highway patrol car as if it were standing still instead of racing down the highith its bulbs flashing and its siren wailing We had to be doing triple digits to have left hi our dust so quickly

The patrole, and I realized that Glen the car behind so through the traffic with entirely i other motorists&039; bumpers and fenders by inches, with them apparently none the wiser Not only that, but I couldn&039;t feel the hts, we should have been bouncing off the s and the roof, but it didn&039;t feel as if the car were ot us to St Mary&039;s in less than fifteen rey hairs in the process

We pulled up and Glenly the saainst its parking brakes I got out, the dark grey cowl covering my head My shadow, on the sidewalk in front of e and scary Irrationally, it made me feel a little better

I turned to help Susan out and felt my mouth drop open a little

Her outfit wasuolden headdress was the first thing I noticed It was decorated with feathers, with jade carved with sigils and symbols like those I had seen on the stone table, and with flickering geht her vaain, because her face was covered in what I lance showed n, sort of like hennain appearance They were also done in a variety of colors of black and deep, dark red The designs around her dark brown eyes made them stand out sharply

Under that, she wore a shift of some material that looked like simple, soft buckskin, split on the sides for ease of movement, and her feet rapped in shoes made of similar material, also decorated with feathers The moccasins and shift both were pure white, and ainst the dark richness of her skin, and displayed the ss tremendously well

A belt of white leather had an e for hanging a scabbard upon it on the other And over all of that, she wore a mantled cloak of feathers, not too terribly unlike the ones we had seen in Nevada - but the colors were all in the rich, cool tones of the Winter Court: glacial blue, deep sea green, and twilight purple

She looked atabout a Vegas showgirl"

It took me a ," I said

Her smile was slow and hot, with her dark eyes on mine

"Um," I said "Butit doesn&039;t look very practical"

Lea accepted Glenmael&039;s hand and exited the li into Susan&039;s ear

Susan arched an eyebrow, but then said, "Okaaay" She closed her eyes briefly, frowning

And she vanished Like, coone

My godhed and said, "The same as before, but red, child"

"Okay," said Susan&039;s voice fro broadly "Wow"

"The cloak will hide you froodmother said "And while you wear those shoes, your steps will leave no tracks nor ht," I said "But I&039;d feel better if she had so Just in case"

"Glenodmother

The chauffeur calmly drew a nine-millimeter, pointed it at Susan&039;s teun barked

Susan jerked her head to one side and staggered, clapping one hand to her ear "Ow!" she snarled, rising and turning on the young Sidhe "You son of a bitch, those things are loud That hurt I ought to kick your ass up between your ears for you"

In answer, the Sidhe bent with consuround He stood and showed it to Susan, and then to me

It was a bullet The nose was suely reseot kind of wide

Lea spread her hands and said calodmother"

I shook n, create, and improve my leather duster&039;s defensive spells, and even then, the protection extended only as far as the actual leather Lea had whipped up a whole-body protective enchantment in minutes

I suddenly felt a bit ood forThe power involved in ifts was incredible - but the universe just doesn&039;t see That was as true in ic as it was in physics I could, with years of effort, probably duplicate what Lea&039;s gifts could do The Sidhe worked with the sah admittedly they seemed to have a very different sort of relationship Still, that y cost for it was being paid elsewhere

Like evity

"Godifts endure?"

Her sods are not ht," I said

"Of course not I am not part of Summer" She sniffed, rather scornfully "Noon"

And that made more sense My duster&039;s spells lasted for ht I&039;d worked out how to make them run for ifts involved the saly without toil - but they wouldn&039;t last like the things I created would My self-ie recovered a little

"Lea," I asked, "did you bring ht it over to me The Swords in their scabbards were still strapped to the bag&039;s side I picked it up and nodded "Thanks"

He bowed, s I was tempted to tip him, just to see ould happen, but then I remembered that my wallet had been in my blue jeans, and was now, presumably, part of the new outfit Maybe it would reappear at noon to I was alive to need it, I mean

"I ait here," Lea said "When you are ready to travel to the first Way, Glenht," I said "Let&039;s go, princess"

"Of course, Sir Knight," Susan said, her eyes sparkling, and ent into the church