All of the cottage windows were open to let warm summer air circulate. There were no toys cluttering the floor anymore, no crayon marks on the walls. The pictures hung straight on the walls.
Rylie fluffed the couch pillows, then gestured for Deirdre to sit. “Can I get you anything? Are you hungry?”
“I’ll take a drink,” Deirdre said.
Rylie stepped into the kitchen, which was only separated from the living room by a half-wall. “As I’m sure you’ve already realized, these are my new bodyguards,” Rylie said. “This is Saoirse, and this is Trevin.” She gestured to the woman first and then the man. Both gave shallow bows to Deirdre, the same way that Stark had bowed to the sidhe in his office.
“What’s got you allied with the Summer Court?” Deirdre asked, sinking into one of the couches. “I thought they mostly stuck to the Middle Worlds.”
“We have family in common,” Rylie said.
“What, is another one of your daughters married to a faerie?” The eldest of the Gresham girls, Summer, was well-known for her marriage to an angel. Unions between angels and gaeans were otherwise unheard of.
“No, it’s not like that at all,” Rylie said. “What do you know about the sidhe?”
Deirdre eyed Saoirse and Trevin dubiously. “Not much. None of it good.”
“Most of what you’ve heard probably applies to the unseelie, but we’re nothing like them.” Trevin had kind eyes. It looked like he was smiling even when he wasn’t. “You don’t need to be afraid of us.”
“We’ll see about that,” Deirdre said.
Rylie put a teakettle on the stove. “You know how the sidhe were extinct before Genesis? Afterward, a lot of witches were reborn as sidhe, and that’s where most of the Winter Court came from.”
“Yeah, because sidhe are the magical class of gaeans,” Deirdre said. “Like super-witches.”
“Some of them are.” Rylie grabbed teacups out of the cabinet. “Trevin, tell Deirdre where you were when Genesis hit.”
“Here,” he said. “I was in the sanctuary. We were trying to organize an evacuation.”
Deirdre blinked. “Do you mean…?”
“I was a werewolf,” Trevin said.
That little piece of information felt like a spark igniting in Deirdre’s brain, illuminating dark corners that she hadn’t even known existed. “You mean some gaeans were changed during Genesis, too,” Deirdre said. “Some werewolves came back as sidhe.”
“Yep,” Rylie said. “Trevin was one of the oldest members of my pack.” She beamed at him. “Family.”
Much the same way that Gage had been Rylie’s family.
Deirdre stared at her hands, trying to absorb this new fact. She had only heard about humans turning into other gaean creatures. She’d never heard of people who were already preternaturals changing breeds.
It felt incredibly important that some of the sidhe used to be werewolves, but she couldn’t quite figure out why.
“The Winter Court thinks that your alliance with the Summer Court is part of a conspiracy,” Deirdre said. “They see this as a declaration of war against them, and now they want you dead, too. That’s why they’re buddies with Stark. ‘The enemy of my enemy…’”
Rylie heaved a sigh. “Yeah.”
It didn’t take long for the water to boil. She brought a couple of cups into the living room along with a box of tea bags. Deirdre picked one flavored like apple cider.
“That’s also why we were at the church,” Deirdre said. She swirled her tea bag, watching the clouds of amber spread through her cup. “The unseelie sidhe sent us looking for the Infernal Blade there.”
Rylie’s eyes went round. “You were looking for…
what
?”
“The Infernal Blade. It’s this mythological weapon that—”
“I know what it is.” Rylie had only just sat down, but she stood up again, smoothing her dress over her hips. “Why did you think it was there? I mean, who—who told you about that?” She was suddenly so nervous that she looked like she might explode into a million pieces.
Deirdre frowned. “We found out about it from two members of the Winter Court. Pierce and Jaycee—”
“Hardwick,” Saoirse interrupted. “Goddammit! I told you that they were going to do something like this, Trevin!”
He didn’t look nearly as upset about it. He pushed the curtain aside with a finger, glancing out at the street. “Yup. You were right.”
“Someone fill me in,” Deirdre said.
“There’s not much to fill in. You already know about the rivalry between the courts, and that’s really the whole story. But Brother Marshall doesn’t have the Infernal Blade,” Rylie said.
Deirdre’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know where it is?”
“No. I just know that it’s not with him.”
“Don’t tell me—you have family in common with Brother Marshall and his gargoyles, too.”
“We’re old friends,” Rylie said.
At this point, it wouldn’t have surprised Deirdre if Rylie claimed that she was old friends with everybody on the face of the Earth.
Rylie perched on the edge of the sofa, fingers fluttering over the hem of her skirt. “I assume that Stark wanted to assassinate me with the Infernal Blade. But I don’t know why the unseelie would have told him that it was with Brother Marshall. They must have known that it wasn’t there. That thing…radiates.”
“It doesn’t add up,” Deirdre agreed. “But just because Stark didn’t find the Infernal Blade doesn’t mean he’ll drop it.”
“I’m starting to think nothing will make him leave me alone,” Rylie said.
“He thinks he can turn public opinion against you. Make all your followers defect.”
“Some of them already have. He’s a convincing man.” Rylie’s voice was soft, her eyes so gentle. “Has he convinced you? I saw the last videos that Stark posted.”
Deirdre set her teacup down hard.
What was she supposed to say to that? Should she apologize? Should she pretend to be sorry for shooting Dr. Landsmore?
As a werewolf Alpha, Rylie would be able to smell lies. She would know that Deirdre wasn’t sorry at all.
Deirdre clenched her fists. “He made me kill Gage, and then he destroyed the only memento of Gage’s life that I possessed. Stark is a bitter, horrible human being.”
And I think he might actually kind of care about me
.
Some truths were better left unspoken.
“I won’t send you back to him,” Rylie said. “You can’t stay here, though. Your face has become too recognizable. He’d eventually hear rumors that you’re living among us, and that would put your life at risk. I can send you somewhere else that would be safe.”
The offer should have been a relief to Deirdre. She should have been happy to hide from Stark.
She felt numb all over.
“Where would I go? The Haven where you’ve stuck your kids?” Deirdre asked.
“I don’t think you’d like it there. We have other places,” Rylie said. “For instance, I relocated your former roommate, Jolene. She’s living with friends of the pack in Jamaica. You’d like Jamaica better than the Haven, I think.”
Jolene was probably having a blast in Jamaica.
But something about Rylie’s tone bugged Deirdre.
“Why wouldn’t I like the Haven?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She wasn’t looking at Deirdre. “Just the impression I get.”
That wasn’t why Rylie didn’t want to send Deirdre to the Haven. Deirdre had shot Dr. Landsmore and Gage, and Rylie didn’t trust her anymore. She wasn’t just an Omega now. She was also Stark’s Beta. Too dangerous to be kept around Rylie’s family.
“Are you kidding?” Deirdre asked. “You don’t trust me after everything I’ve done for you?”
“It’s more complicated than that,” Rylie said.
Deirdre couldn’t hold still anymore. She pushed off the couch, and the seelie tensed, watching her every motion. “See, this here?
This
is your problem,” she said, thrusting a finger at Rylie. “You act like you’re Mary Sunshine, all love and hugs, but you push people away. You lock us into little boxes and throw away the damn key.”
“A lot of lives depend on me. I have to be practical,” Rylie said softly.
“You’re exclusionary.”
“And Stark’s better?”
“Maybe,” Deirdre said. “He takes everyone. He takes the broken people and the outcasts and he gives us something to do with our lives.”
“Like the dangerous convicts he released? Many of which are now dead because local law enforcement was forced to kill them to protect innocents?”
“At least he gave them a chance! Yeah, some of them are dead now. Yeah, some of them are roaming the streets. But he took them out of the detention center where they’d been forgotten for years, and he gave them a chance to prove themselves.” Deirdre’s hands balled into fists. She was shaking, unable to control herself. “It’s the law of the land with him. Nature is a bastard, and so is Stark.”
“Society can’t function like that.” Rylie didn’t look afraid, even with Deirdre looming over her. “Beasts or not, we aren’t wild animals. We’re humans and we need laws. Otherwise, people end up like Gage.”
It was meant to sting. It worked.
“Let’s get one thing straight right now,” Deirdre said. “It’s not your fault that Gage died, but it’s your fault for letting him leave when you knew he wasn’t in any condition for it. You didn’t stop him, and you didn’t warn me. So you could have done something to save him. Don’t act like this can all be blamed on Stark.”
Rylie’s eyebrows knitted. “How many times do I have to apologize?”
“A thousand times wouldn’t be enough,” Deirdre said.
“Stark’s a killer, and he would unleash killers on the streets if he had his way,” Rylie said. “You know that. You’ve seen it yourself. You’ve participated in it.”
“And so have you,” Deirdre snapped. “You want to act like your hands are clean of blood? They’re not. You might not do the killing directly anymore, but people kill under your watch, waving your banner, and you sit here like you’re a fucking saint!”
Rylie looked like she wanted to speak again, but Deirdre cut her off.
“You know what? Maybe we do need laws, but maybe we don’t need
your
laws. Maybe it’s time for a new Alpha. Not Stark, but not you, either. Think about that.”
“Rylie?” Saoirse asked, stepping forward. Magic shimmered at her fingertips.
She was asking permission to silence Deirdre.
But Rylie didn’t give that permission. She gazed into her teacup, biting her bottom lip. “I have thought about it,” she murmured. “I’ve thought about it a lot.” When she looked up again, her eyes glistened with tears. “Where am I sending you? Do you want to join Jolene in Jamaica?”
The question seemed to hold new weight.
It wasn’t just a way to get Deirdre away from Stark. It would get her away from the OPA and all their laws, too.
Away from Rylie.
But Deirdre wasn’t certain she was ready to give up on the fight yet. Even if she got away, there were thousands of shifters who couldn’t.
Her anger defused slowly, draining out of her inch by inch.
“I need to think about it,” Deirdre said through gritted teeth.
Rylie nodded. “Of course. You can stay the night, at least. I’ll have the cottage made up for you. Trevin, could you…?”
“Yeah,” the seelie said. “Come with me, Deirdre.”
Trevin took Deirdre to a guest cottage a block away from Rylie’s. “Rylie will want to talk with you about Stark more,” Trevin explained as they walked. “Get information about his location in New York, his movements over the last few weeks, his plans…”
They had already gone over much of that while flying to the sanctuary. Rylie had grilled Deirdre about every detail of the asylum, including the material used for the building’s foundation. She’d exhausted herself coming up with information about Stark, and she would have been surprised if she had anything else to add.
At least, anything else that she was willing to add.
Deirdre almost regretted telling Rylie anything in the first place. Anger smoldered in her belly, and it only grew fiercer when she imagined the Alpha’s tearful, innocent eyes gazing up at her.
Innocent. Yeah, right
.
“When and where?” Deirdre asked dully.
“Probably after dinner. Rylie doesn’t like doing anything until her guests have a full stomach.”
He spoke casually, like he was an ordinary man dropping Deirdre off at her doorstep. His personality seemed so normal. But Trevin wasn’t normal. He distorted reality, reflecting and amplifying daylight, making the ground seem to bow underneath his feet. Deirdre had a hard time looking at Trevin directly.
In the corner of her vision, he almost didn’t even look human. His skin seemed kind of…green.
Her skin crawled. “Okay. If Her Highness doesn’t need me right now, I’m going to shower.”
“I’ll be waiting out here for you,” Trevin said.
She shut the door and counted to ten before peeking past the front curtains. Trevin had taken up position on the steps in front of her door, facing out, hands hooked in his pockets.
He wasn’t going anywhere.
Rylie had assigned one of her powerful seelie guards to stick with Deirdre. She wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or offended.
Either way, Deirdre wouldn’t be able to go through her front door without attracting her escort’s attention.
She slipped into the bathroom, locked the door, and turned on the shower. She was pleased to find that the narrow bathroom window opened easily. It was also just big enough for her to squirm through and drop to the ground silently on the other side.
Deirdre jogged across the cottage’s back yard, careful to remain in the shadows so that Trevin wouldn’t see her.
Her shoulders were tense. She expected the faerie to spot her and start hurling magic through the air at any moment.
But he didn’t notice her escape.
As soon as she was out of sight of her guest cottage, she slowed her pace to walk normally, like she belonged at the sanctuary.
Deirdre had no idea where she was going. All she’d known was that she didn’t want to be trapped in a cottage, guarded by one of the Summer Court, and treated like a prisoner. She’d endured enough of that during her hour in OPA custody to last her a lifetime.
She wandered through the sunshine, trying to look like she wasn’t an escapee. She stuck out among all the happy families playing around the cottages, though. She was the only person walking alone. The only person who couldn’t shift. Deirdre felt like she had a scarlet letter branded on her, a flashing sign that said “Omega.”