That echoing laugh again. "Ah, but with such arrogance comes a bit of actual strength, doesn't it? Right now, you're madly working through the worst case, whether you could deal with that. Which is why we didn't simply threaten it, Eden. Yes, we can reverse the cure. We can also ensure your father spends his life in prison for the murder of Gregory Kirkman. And we can take your lovers. Both of them. Notice that I do not say 'kill' them. I say take them. Which I think you will agree now is a far worse fate."
"Hey, heb edifeirwch, you done talking?" said a voice. A young voice, male. Then a female one, saying, "That's right. We called you by your Welsh name, heb edifeirwch. Because, being dryads, we're too stupid to be afraid of using it."
Helia and Alexios appeared. Helia's olive skin looked pale, and she limped, her mate staying close.
"You're done here, heb edifeirwch," Helia said. "You may send the Welsh fae running for cover, but there's no word for you in our language. So we don't have to be afraid of you."
"That is the most ridiculous logic I have ever heard," the sluagh said. "You really aren't that bright, are you?"
"Nope," Alexios said. "Definitely not bright enough to know that you are as bound to Nature as any other fae. Yet, unlike the others, you're not part of Nature. You have no affinity for her. And she has no affinity for you."
"Unnatural," Helia said. "If we had a word for you, that's what it would be. And Nature?" She lifted her hands, gesturing to the building. "She really doesn't like anyone messing with her world."
Helia closed her eyes and spoke words in Greek. Her fingers lengthened and twisted, her skin scaling like bark. Alexios did the same, beginning the metamorphosis to tree.
As they reached up, Nature reached back. Vines wound through the smashed windows and pushed through the ceiling, through the walls. I felt the energy of those vines, like straight alcohol driving into my veins, my mind swimming, heart pumping, the energy coursing through me, a raw and live thing.
The sluagh twisted, her edges turning to smoky wisps, as if she fought to maintain her form. Deep in the building, the melltithiwyd shrieked and screamed.
Gabriel grabbed my shoulders to pull me down, but as the melltithiwyd swooped past the stairwell, they reared up, in one body, turning sharply as if they'd seen a cyclone heading straight for them. They winged their way back at twice the speed, hitting one another, attacking one another, black blood and red feathers exploding in their panic to escape.
As the melltithiwyd flew up through the distant hole in the ceiling, Helia watched and said, "Huh. That went well."
"Swimmingly," Alexios said, and they giggled and I turned back to see that the sluagh had disappeared, and the dryads had resumed their humanlike form.
"And that is the advantage to our age," Helia said. "As we grow closer to death, we grow closer to Nature herself. Now, move quickly. Nature is full of bluster and blow, but she can't keep that thing at bay for long. Time to save ourselves."
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
"We rescued your mother," Alexios said to Gabriel as we crawled out the side window.
"Even if you'd rather we hadn't." Helia smiled but then caught Gabriel's expression and said, "We will look after her for you, Gabriel, until you feel ready to deal with her. You only need to tell us what you'd like done."
"I would prefer not to answer that right now."
"Just--" I began, but Helia cut in, saying, "We'll speak to Patrick. She is his problem, not yours. A father chooses who mothers his child. The child has no voice in the selection of his parents."
In this case, neither was responsible, but I kept my mouth shut. Patrick could deal with it.
As Alexios helped Helia climb out the window, she winced and I said, "You're hurt, Helia. I noticed that earlier. I'm sorry I didn't ask--"
"We all had other concerns," she said with a soft smile. "I'll be fine. We heal quickly, even at our age."
Gabriel turned then, frowning, as if poked from his thoughts. "Yes. You were injured trying to protect me. Thank you."
"We have committed ourselves to the adventure," she said. "Adventure comes with risk or it would hardly feel adventurous." She eyed him, the humor falling from her eyes. "I know something happened in there, and I will not pry now, Gabriel, but if you need our help, you have only to ask. I am not joking when I say we are committed. Fully committed."
"Taking care of my mother will be quite enough."
At the sound of running footsteps, the others went still, but I recognized them and hurried forward as Ricky ran around the corner, Patrick following at a more dignified quick walk.
Ricky caught me in a hug. "You're okay?"
I nodded.
Ricky released me and advanced on Gabriel. "I really do not appreciate--" He saw the look on Gabriel's face and stopped mid-sentence. "What happened?" he asked.
"Later," I whispered. "Patrick? Can I ask you to deal with Seanna? The dryads have offered to help."
Patrick nodded. "Of course."
"I'll go with them," Ricky said.
"Your bike isn't going to hold--" Patrick began.
A look from the dryads, Ricky, and me shut him up. He peered at Gabriel. "What happened in there?"
"We'll call," I said. "We just...We need to leave."
Gabriel's hand went to my back, and he steered me toward the car without another word.
--
Gabriel was driving. I didn't know where. I wasn't sure he did, either. When he reached an intersection on the city's outskirts, he stopped and his gaze traveled east, fingers tapping the wheel.
"You're thinking about the cottage you rented," I said softly. "Of going there."
"Anywhere," he said. "I want to go anywhere. Take you and drive as far as we can. Just drive until..."
He inhaled sharply. Silence for at least twenty seconds, and then he said, "Do you think it would help?" in a voice that was so quiet, I didn't dare reply, not when it wouldn't be the answer he wanted.
"It won't," he said, sounding more himself. "I know that. I just..." He ran a hand through his hair, setting it tumbling over. "I need a solution, Olivia. I must fix this, and the only thing I can come up with is running. Fleeing. Which I would do in a heartbeat if it would make any difference."
"We'll figure--"
"Do you know what I really want to do?" He turned to me, leather squeaking. "I want to say yes. Fine. All right. Let the sluagh be your choice. What does it matter to you? Really, what does it matter? There, the sluagh have your favor. Decision made. We're leaving now. Going as far as we can, and the fae and the Hunt and the sluagh can deal with the fallout after we're gone."
"It's not--"
"--not that easy. I know. It can't be. But what does it matter?" His gaze locked on mine. "No, really, what does it even mean to give one of them your favor? They talk and they talk, and they say nothing, and I'm so damned sick..." Another rake through his hair. "And I'm taking it out on you. You're the one they threaten, and how do I respond? Start shouting and cursing."
"Mmm, pretty sure shouting is louder. And cursing requires more than a single 'damned.' I can show you cursing if you'd like. I'm certainly in the mood."
"Which is my point. I'm making this about me. I'm upset. I had to leave. You needed to tag along and listen to me rant. I'm sorry."
"Given how rarely you rant, Gabriel, I'm fine with it. And honestly, right now, I just feel numb. You're ranting for me, and I'm okay with that, because I'm sitting here, doing exactly what the sluagh said I would. Trying to be logical. What if they undid my cure? How could I prepare myself for that? Except it's not just that--it's the threats against you and--"
"Not my primary concern at this moment."
"But it's mine. If they undid my cure, I could live with it--I'd have to. The rest?" I looked at him. "I can't. I just can't. That's where they have me, and yet you're right that I don't even know what they have me for, what exactly it means to give them my favor."
Another car came up behind us as we sat, still stopped at the i
ntersection. The driver honked. Honked again. Then he jabbed his middle finger at us as he passed. Gabriel didn't even seem to notice. He sat motionless, staring straight ahead until he took out his phone.
"May I have Ioan's number?"
I gave it to him. When Ioan answered, Gabriel gave him instructions. Instructions that I knew would not go down easily.
"I understand your position," Gabriel said as Ioan argued. "And I do not care. This isn't about you. It's about cleaning up your mess, and if you want to do that, you will be there when we arrive."
He made his next call to Ida, with the same instructions, and presumably got the same response from her, followed by the same from him. Then he added a few additional demands.
"Absolutely not." Ida's voice came clear through the phone now. "We will accept responsibility for Seanna, but you are not bringing dryads into Cainsville. We're still suffering the fallout from your last refugee request."
"The only 'fallout' you are 'suffering' is that Veronica is fostering a damaged fae. It is Veronica's choice to continue that relationship. These dryads have been nothing but helpful, and I require their continued assistance."
"We can assign someone to watch your mother, Gabriel."
"I don't trust you."
"And you trust a couple of dryads?"
"More than I trust you. We will be there in an hour. Please have an apartment at Grace's complex prepared for Seanna and the dryads."
--
"Do you ski?" I asked as Gabriel took the exit for Cainsville. When he gave me a look, I said, "Yes, probably a stupid question, but I also presumed you didn't jog, and I learned my lesson from that. No presumptions. And...judging by that continued look, no skiing."
"As a form of physical activity, it would accomplish no more than jogging or swimming or weight lifting, all of which can be undertaken with little more expense than a gym membership and no more travel time than the two-block distance to the gym, which is still often too far to fit into my schedule."
"Skiing is also considered a form of recreation."
Another look.
I sighed. "Recreation, yes. It's a word we really need to incorporate into your vocabulary. I'm mentally planning a vacation for when this is done. 'Vacation' is another word you may not be familiar with. We'll go to work on that, too."
"So long as you intend to take one with me and not send me on it alone."
"I'll only send you alone if you get on my nerves. By doing things like rolling your eyes when I dare to ask if you ski."
"I did not roll--"
"So, no skiing. Gabriel's list of acceptable sports includes running, swimming, and weight lifting, none of which are something you center a vacation around. Unless your idea of a vacation is entering a triathlon."
"A triathlon involves bicycling."
"Which you don't do, either, I presume. And don't roll..." I sighed. "Too late. Okay. No triathlon vacation, which is fine by me. Do I even dare ask what you'd want to do?"
I didn't expect an answer and was about to continue when he said, "I'd like to see the ocean."
"You've never...? Okay, first step, where have you traveled? I know you don't own a passport."
"I have visited neighboring states on business." He paused. "Nothing more."
"So, the ocean," I continued as quickly as I could, covering my surprise. "Sandy beaches or rocky surf?"
"Am I correct that sand attracts people?" he said. "Crowds of people?"
"Rocky surf it is. Any issue with flying?"
"I doubt it would be a concern."
In other words, he'd never even been on a plane. I'd semi-joked earlier about avoiding presumptions, and now I was making them all over the place.
"Maybe Oregon," I said. "I'm thinking oceanfront property. No neighbors within a half-mile radius. As close to the water as possible. And complete lack of cell service and Internet would be a plus."
"I'd say it's a necessity."
I smiled. "Agreed."
We could see Cainsville in the distance now. No signs announced it and certainly no high-rise buildings, but the distant dip in the tree line was enough.
"I need to speak to Seanna," he said. "Before we meet with Ioan and Ida. I'm going to ask you to allow me to do that alone." When I didn't answer, he glanced over. "I am more comfortable dealing with her when you are not there to draw her spite."
"I know. But I was going to ask the same--that you let me speak to her alone. There are a few theories I want to test out."
"Tell me what they are and I will do it. You've been through quite enough today. I do not want you having to endure her ridiculous and petty insults."
"Her insults don't bother me. I know they're ridiculous and petty. What bothers me, Gabriel, is how she treats you, and 'bothers me' is an extreme understatement. I just...I cannot..." I felt my temper spark and clenched my fists.
Gabriel pulled the car to the side of the road. "Let's take a moment."
I managed a smile for him. "Get past my imminent emotional outburst?"
"Yes."
He leaned over and kissed me. Just a long, sweet kiss, pulling me as close as we could get over the console. And that's what I needed, as much as I'd needed the sex earlier. A moment to reconnect.
"Now that's my idea of 'taking a moment,' " I said when we separated. "You might say you don't know how to deal with emotion, but you are one helluva fast learner."
He chuckled and put the car into gear. "Good. Now let's get the rest of this over with so that we may take more than a moment."
--
Gabriel agreed to let me speak to Seanna alone...with a raft of stipulations. While I did that, he'd grab a new shirt at my place and then talk to Patrick about the sluagh.
When I arrived at my old apartment building, Grace sat on the stoop, bundled up against the cold. As I approached, she said, "I don't like having her here."
"There's no place else--"
"I know that. But the shorter her visit, the better. She disturbs things. Her energy..." She made a face, as if talk of "energy" was for flightier fae. "She's soul-reft. That's what they used to say about changelings. People could tell they were fae because they lacked a soul."
"Which is true, isn't it?" I said as I climbed the steps. "You guys don't get an afterlife. Technically, then, you lack whatever we call a soul."
"Except we never had it," she said. "We aren't supposed to have it. Humans are."
I looked at the building. "You really think Seanna lacks...?"
"She lacks something. I say soul-reft because she feels empty." Another face. "Whatever that means."
"Was she always like that?" I asked.
"She was never a pleasant child. She could be, if she got her way. She had a selfish streak a mile wide."
"Doesn't that go for all children?"
"Double for her. But Seanna had her good side, too. Then she grew up--and I don't know if it was the drugs or the booze or the men--but it's like she went looking for something, and it drained all the good from her. Made her queen of her own universe, where others exist only to benefit her."
"You mean she became more fae-like."
Grace wagged a bony finger at me. "You have as much fae as she does. Probably more." She settled back in the chair. "But yes, it made her like us. Except, again, we're supposed to be like this. We work around it to form attachments. Otherwise we'd never be able to live in this damned town together."
"And you wouldn't be running a home for aged fae."
She snorted. "That's not altruism. Don't go making that mistake, girl. None of us knows the real meaning of the word."
"But nor are you so self-absorbed that you destroy even useful relationships, the way Seanna does. If she had an ounce of sense, she'd at least feign remorse to wiggle into Gabriel's good graces and get at his money."
"She can't. Something in her is missing, and she cannot overcome it even to her own benefit. I know she needs to be here, but the sooner she's gone, the better."
"For e
veryone."
She nodded. "Now get in there and rescue poor Ricky. He's helping those dryads watch over Seanna, and she seems to have decided he's a very fine-looking young man."
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
I was still climbing the stairs when Ricky opened the stairwell door.
"Thought I heard you," he said.
"You mean you were eagerly awaiting the arrival of anyone who might save you from another minute with Seanna Walsh."
He chuckled. "Maybe. Are we sure she's Gabriel's mom? She looks like him, but I'd demand a maternity test, because otherwise, I'm not seeing anything in common."
"He will take that as a compliment."
I fell in beside Ricky as we climbed. "Speaking of Gabriel, I know you weren't happy with him leaving you behind earlier, but he wasn't trying to play my white knight. His theory is that, given what the sluagh said, they wouldn't kill him."
"I'm more expendable."
"It's not--"
"Yeah, it is, and I'm okay with that. Part of making me more expendable is making me feel more expendable. Making me feel second-rate in hopes that'll turn me against you two. I need to watch my ego and not get prickly." He opened the door for me. "You are going to explain what happened with the sluagh, right?"
I tried to give a casual nod, but Ricky caught my arm and tugged me back into the stairwell.
"Liv...?"
I took a deep breath. "I would love to take twenty minutes and go somewhere to tell you the whole story. But if I do, I won't be in any mood to take on Seanna."
"Okay." He pulled me into a hug and whispered, "We'll work it out."
"Thank you."
We reached the door and I said, "You don't have to stick around. I hear she's ogling."
"She keeps telling me I have a nice ass. I can't tell if she's hitting on me or dismissing me as a pretty boy. Hopefully the latter. As much as I hate being objectified, it's better than thinking she's actually coming on to me."
"She's just being honest. It's a very nice ass."
He laughed. "That's so much more welcome coming from you."
He pushed open the door and led the way down the apartment hall. When Seanna saw him, she gave him a slow once-over. Then she saw me and scowled.
"Is Gwynn joining us?" Alexios asked. When Helia elbowed him, he said, "I mean Gabriel. Sorry. Arawn said--Richard...Rick..."
"It's Ricky."
"So cute," Helia said.
"He is," Seanna murmured.