Ghost Light

Chapter 33

I strode down the empty street, hands loose at my sides. My throwing knives could easily be drawn with a flick of the wrist and I was armed with wooden stakes at my belt, a silver cross beneath my shirt, and a pocketful of iron shavings. The club looked quiet, but the place was a center of supernatural activity. Who knew what badass monsters lurked in the shadows? Better safe than dead.

I gave a curt nod to the ogre bouncer across the street working the club door. The bouncer shifted his weight and rolled his shoulders to show off bulging muscles and the guns strapped beneath his suit jacket. The ogre was ready to rumble if anyone on the street was foolish enough to pick a fight—good to know.

I stayed upwind of the ogre’s stench and crossed the street at the corner. I flashed a tentative smile at the cat sidhe kits milling about the sidewalk. The narrow alleyway where I’d previously met with Torn was right where I remembered it.

That probably shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. I half expected the entrance to the cat sidhe’s alley to be limited to access through the club only. I let out a slow breath and flexed my hands. It was time to see if the faerie lord was in residence.

I stepped into the alley and halted as a large, furry tank of a cat hissed and blocked my path. I wondered idly if I should have brought some Fancy Feast or cans of tuna. I was now allied with the cat sidhe, but I had no idea what the usual customs for visiting a cat sidhe lord entailed. Another question I should have asked Kaye before leaving the Emporium.

My rescue came in the form of a man dressed in leathers decorated with fur, bones, and feathers. Sir Torn leapt down from a fire escape with a flourish. Shadows swirled around the man as he bowed mockingly, a half smile on his lips.

“And to what do I owe the honor, princess?” he asked.

“First, I’d like to thank you and your court for coming to our aid in the battle against The Piper and Melusine,” I said.

“And the rats,” he said.

“Yes, of course, and the rats,” I said.

I had a nagging suspicion that the opportunity to slaughter a horde of rats had tipped the scales in my favor. I doubted the cat sidhe would come to my aid if I faced, say, a barguest or a rabid loup garou.

“We are now allies,” he said spreading his hands. “You will find that cat sidhe make excellent bed fellows.”

Torn quirked his lips and looked like the cat that ate the canary. He leaned close and purred.

“If you’d like to continue satisfying your bed fellows, I suggest you take a step back,” I said. “I don’t like sharing my personal space. It’s a thing.”

Torn’s eyes widened as he looked down to see one of my blades perilously close to his, as Jinx would say, man parts. He raised his hands and took a step back.

“You can’t blame a fellow for trying, Princess,” he said. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that. So why are you here, alone, if not for the pleasure of my singular company?”

“My reason for coming is a confidential matter,” I said. “Is there somewhere we can speak in private?”

Torn gestured for me to step forward. I held my breath and moved closer to the cat sidhe. Torn reached into a dark crevice between two bricks and pulled a shadow around us like an inky, black cloak. I could see nothing inside the shadow, but I could feel Torn’s presence. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming.

“Everything is hush-hush now, princess,” he said. “You know my cat sidhe can be trusted, so why the clandestine cloak-and-dagger business? I’m guessing this shall be interesting.”

In fact, I didn’t trust any of the cat sidhe, but that was beside the point. This conversation was between me and Torn. What I had to say could not breach these walls, or shadows, or whatever.

“Our ears only?” I asked.

I winced and hoped the cat sidhe couldn’t see me in the dark. Torn only had one tattered ear, the other was no more than a cratered lump of scar tissue. I’d have to refrain from mentioning ears if I wanted to stay on the cat lord’s good side.

“Yes, princess,” he said. “It’s just you and me.”

I felt the cat sidhe’s breath on my neck and gripped my knives.

“Touch me Torn and, allies or not, I’ll carve your good ear to match,” I said.

Oops. So much for not drawing attention to his disfigurements. I had a real knack for pissing people off. Jinx said it was my secret superpower, like I needed anymore of those.

“Symmetry may not be such a punishment,” he said. “Tyger, tyger, burning bright, in the forests of the night, what immortal hand or eye, could frame thy fearful symmetry?”

I snorted. Faeries and their damned love of poetry, it was like a disease. I was pretty sure that William Blake’s tiger hadn’t been a cat sidhe, but you never know. Torn’s been around long enough. At least he wasn’t quoting Shakespeare. Most fae are obsessed with The Bard.

“I don’t have time for games, Torn,” I said. “I need information.”

“Yummy, I like it when you play rough, Princess,” he said, purring.

“Did I mention that my blades are tipped with iron?” I said.

“Fine,” he said. With a rattle of bones and a heavy sigh, Torn took a step away. “What knowledge do you seek?”

I focused on the direction of his voice and took a breath.

“I need to find a door to Faerie,” I said.

“Oh, shit, is that all?” he asked, voice dripping sarcasm. “Why don’t you ask for Fionn mac Cumhaill’s bag of lost treasure while you’re at it?”

“So you can’t find out?” I asked.

“I didn’t say that, princess,” he said. Torn struck a match and lit a torch he’d pulled from thin air. We were still inside the privacy shadow he’d wrapped around us. The torch flickered making light dance across the cat sidhe’s scarred face. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To Mag Mell, of course,” he said.

Torn grinned and sprinted away. I chased after the flickering torch, swearing under my breath. Mab’s bloody freaking bones. I was trapped in a shadow, playing cat and mouse games with a cat sidhe.

Too bad I was the mouse.