Radiant Shadows

Chapter 19

As Ani worked through her anger, Devlin stayed as silent as he could be—which after centuries in Faerie was akin to the stillness of the earth. However, unlike his experience in Faerie, staying still with Ani beside him was challenging. The more the car raced forward, slipping in and out of small spaces between vehicles, the more Ani radiated calm.

Unlike me.

Devlin found the steed’s resemblance to a mortal car unnerving. Being trapped in a steel cage wouldn’t make him physically ill as it would many faeries, but it was disquieting nonetheless. Moreover, the steed’s choice of a smaller vehicle meant he was physically uncomfortable. Gone was the spacious Barracuda, and in its place was a ridiculously tiny Austin Mini. It was cherry-red, convertible, and, according to Ani, “a 1969 classic.” Nothing about it was subtle or designed to blend in—or fit anyone above average height. Added to that was Ani’s need to play music at a volume that undoubtedly would cause permanent damage to mortal ears. It was the final aspect in a trifecta of discomfort.

“Ani?” He raised his voice over the din of someone singing about being “tired of cheap and cheerful.”

She ignored him, so he turned down the volume.

“Ani, I’d like to discuss our plan.” His voice revealed none of his frustration or worry.

“Our plan?”

“Yes. Our plan. Do you think you could stand against my sister alone?” Devlin tightened his grip on the door as she sped up again.

“I might as well be alone. You were absolutely no help when I wanted to attack her.” Ani glanced his way and bared her teeth. “You were useless. I ought to just leave you along the road somewhere. Maybe if we’d tried—”

“You would’ve been taken or killed.” He closed his eyes for three seconds, opened them, and tried to find a sentence that wouldn’t reveal how disquieting both of those possibilities were to him. He settled on, “This was the best decision. We need to keep moving, find a place reasonably free of faeries if we rest for long. Perhaps if we are gone, my sister will redirect her attention. She is not always constant in her interests, and there is much discord in Huntsdale to distract her.”

Ani was silent, staring ahead at the increasingly congested road in front of them. She downshifted and then slammed through the gears as she darted past a large truck. Devlin wondered what she’d have been like if she’d been raised by the Hounds. Her temper was less fierce than Hounds’, but her impetuousness was more extreme.

She broke the silence. “She asked me to kill Niall, and I considered it.”

His calm faltered. “You probably shouldn’t tell this to many people.”

“I know. I didn’t consider it much. Niall being gone would upset Iri.” She frowned. “I’m Dark Court so I should be okay with the murder thing, but even if it wouldn’t upset Iri, I don’t think I could kill Niall. He doesn’t deserve death.”

“Could you kill to protect Irial?” Devlin prompted.

“Sure.”

He continued, “Wouldn’t killing Niall be betraying your court?”

“I suppose so, but I never swore fealty. Hounds don’t. Mortals don’t.” She swerved into a minuscule space between two cars and then back out, passing a sports car going too slow for her taste. “He’s not really my king then, so I mean, technically—”

“You’re not really a mortal,” he interrupted. “Hounds are loyal. Irial has earned your loyalty, so your choices are perfectly rational and within the expected parameters for a Hound of the Dark Court.”

“Riiight. The parameters.” She pulled her attention from the road and scowled at him. “Your court must be a nonstop party.”

“Indeed.” Devlin couldn’t repress a smile at her fluctuating mood.

Ani directed the car onto an exit ramp without slowing. “Thing is, I’m trying to make sense of it, but the part I don’t get is that she wants me to kill Seth too.”

Devlin stilled. Of all of the things Ani could do, striking Seth would be one guaranteed to result in her death. Is this what Sorcha had foreseen? Devlin stared at Ani, pondering. She didn’t kill Seth though. If Seth was in danger, Devlin should return to Huntsdale. However, Seth was with Niall and Irial. It wasn’t as if he was unprotected—or defenseless in his own right. Sorcha wouldn’t see it that way, of course: Devlin’s failures to his queen were multiplying.

Midway through a sharp S-turn, Ani turned to look at him rather than the road. “Why kill Seth? You have the logic skills, so help me figure it out.”

“To increase hostilities,” Devlin murmured. “It’s why she does all that she does, to position us for greater discord.”

“And Seth is that important? Huh.”

As are you, Devlin thought, but couldn’t say aloud. Not to her. Not right now. Letting Ani know that she was important enough that the first two faeries both noticed her, that her death had been ordered, that her death was still very possible, that assuring her continued life had been his greatest betrayal—of both sisters—and a betrayal he would continue as long as possible… it all felt too weighty to say. Instead, he sat silently.

Ani slid into a parking space, and the engine cut off.

Outside the car, a bustle of mortals milled around at what the signs had proclaimed as a highway “rest stop.” No one appeared to be resting despite the early hour. Mortals walked over to nondescript buildings, returning with as little notice of the world as they had when they entered. A few faeries perched in the boughs of trees in a dusty area where some mortals let their pets relieve themselves. One black- and-white dog snarled at a rowan-man who swiped at it for trying to urinate on him.

“I’m stretching while you think or ignore me or whatever you’re doing.” Ani opened the door and left.

Which isn’t safe. He thought of the possibilities: of their being followed, of Sorcha—or Bananach—knowing that Ani was fleeing, of solitaries knowing she mattered, of random faeries trying to attack her because she was thought to be fair game. The world suddenly looked more menacing than it ever had before.

He was out of the tiny car and following her in a heartbeat, but she was already across the parking lot and headed into a building. She was Hound-fast, especially when displeased. He followed her through a heavy door—and was greeted by angry expressions from several mortal women and girls standing at a row of washbasins.

“Are you okay, sugar?” one older mortal asked Ani. The woman clutched a small black canister with a spray nozzle.

“Devlin.” Ani took his hand. She walked the several steps to the door. “You can’t follow me into the ladies’ room. Out.”

He looked around, assessing everyone in the room—most of whom were staring at him. He nodded. “I’ll be outside the door. If there is a danger—”

“I know.” Her voice was free of emotion, but the look in her eyes wasn’t. She was inordinately pleased by something.

While he pondered the curious way she looked at him, Devlin stood outside the washroom, positioning himself as close to the door as he could be without blocking it.

And he listened to the mortals talking to Ani.

“Are you in trouble, sugar? He seems awfully worried.” The same mortal woman spoke.

“He’s shaken up over a scare earlier.” Ani undoubtedly knew that he was listening, but her voice was at a normal volume. “He’s sensitive like that, but I’m not—I’m not as afraid as he is.”

“Bless your heart, you poor things,” the woman replied. “Well, I’ll wait right here while you use the facilities. He can’t come in here, but you’re not alone.”

Outside the door, Devlin smiled to himself at the woman’s kindness. Her efforts would be futile if there were a threat to Ani, but if the Hound was the mortal she appeared to be, the woman’s kindness could be an asset. It was the sort of mortal selflessness that had astounded Devlin over the centuries.

The other mortals, who’d kept a distance from Ani at hearing her words, weren’t the only sort found in the world. Unlike so many faeries, mortals were unpredictable. Like Ani. It confounded him—and made him strangely awed.

When Ani walked out, the mortal woman stood protectively beside her. They stopped in front of him, and before the woman could speak, Ani hugged her. “You’re a good person.”

“Well…” The woman looked a little startled, but she still reached forward and squeezed Ani’s hand. “You be safe.”

Ani nodded, and cuddled against Devlin as if they were something more than strangers. “I will. He’ll take care of me. Right, Dev?”

“One can hope,” Devlin murmured.

After a few moments of chatter, the woman walked over to a mortal man who was standing several feet away waiting for her.

Ani stayed pressed against Devlin’s side and sighed in a way that evoked a number of inappropriate thoughts. He held his emotions as close to even as he could. He didn’t share his secrets or his emotions with anyone. Except Rae. A stray worry for his bodiless friend assailed him. With it came the curious realization that he wished he could introduce Rae to Ani.

The Hound in question had her fingertips grazing the bare skin under the edge of his shirt. She was still leaning into him as they walked back toward the car.

“Ani?”

“Mmmm?” She stayed near him, acting as if they were… something.

“What are you doing?” He was loath to ask, fearing that any answer she offered would be disappointing. He had no business allowing himself fond thoughts of the Hound. He’d known for years that it was inappropriate to let emotion cloud his judgment.

She looked up at him with a mischievous expression on her face. “How High Court are you, Devlin?”

He couldn’t answer, not truthfully. Or maybe because I don’t know anymore. Reluctantly, he stepped away from her. “I am the High Queen’s Bloody Hands, Ani. How High Court do you think that makes me?”

She hopped up onto the hood of the car, which had shifted form while they were away from it. Once more, it had become a Barracuda. Idly, she patted its hood. “Honestly? I think you’re a lot more like my court than you’re admitting.”

He stepped closer, so that he was beside her. He lowered his voice and said, “You’re a child. I wouldn’t expect you to—”

“A child?” Her voice was dangerously soft, and the glint in her eyes was one he recognized.

Part of his mind—the reasonable part—warned him away from answering her, but instincts he typically repressed urged him forward. The two responses warred momentarily, but despite centuries of choosing logic, he knew that logic wasn’t what he wanted. If he were truly logical, he’d put her in the earth before he went even further from sanity. His queen might overlook his lapse in obedience. Rae would have to forgive him in time. He needed to put things back in order.

I can’t.

“Are you trying to tell me that I imagined your interest when we met?” She straightened one denim-clad leg in front of her. The other leg was bent, so that her right foot was flat on the hood of the car. “No parsed words. Tell me why you’re helping me, or tell me why you won’t admit the urge that went with the look back there. You were honestly worried for me.”

He wanted to take the openings in her sentences to mislead her—almost as much as he wanted to tell her the truth. “Does it matter?”

“I just met you, but you seem more worried about my safety that most everyone I know… and that’s saying something.” She put a hand on either side of her hips, bracing herself. “Yeah, I think it must matter.”

He watched her get ready to spring at him. “I’m stronger than you. It’s logical that I keep you safe.”

“It’s not logical.” She tilted her head and widened her eyes beseechingly. “You know what I am, Devlin. Do you expect me to just sit next to the strongest faery I’ve met outside my court and not wonder why he’s appeared out of nowhere and worrying over my safety?”

“My motives shouldn’t matter.” Devlin couldn’t say they didn’t matter: that would be a lie.

“Tell me why.” Her words weren’t a request, but an order. “Tell me why if it isn’t personal. I almost believed it was just business, but you weren’t looking at me like business when you followed me, and you sure as hell weren’t thinking High Court thoughts when I touched your skin. Tell me why you want me with you.”

He wasn’t going to answer that, not now, and possibly not ever. He held out a hand. “Come. We need to go. Just get in the car—”

“Trouble!” she interrupted. Ani slid off the hood of the car. Her gaze was no longer on him.

He turned so they were side-by-side.

Two Ly Ergs approached, one from either side. Another faery, a female thistle-fey, stood a slight distance away. They were Dark Court faeries, but the Ly Ergs often allied with Bananach. Devlin didn’t know whether they were sent in pursuit or had simply come upon them. What he did know, however, was that they were a problem that needed to be resolved quickly.

“I’ll take the Ly Ergs,” Ani said.

“Not both.” He saw Ani out of the corner of his eye and was aware that the car had shifted into a great reptilian beast. The steed and all of the faeries were invisible to the mortals in the parking lot.

“Come on.” She didn’t look away from them, but her tone was as good as a glare. “There’s only two. You go after her.”

“One.” He tracked the Ly Ergs, watching the calmness evident in the muscles not yet tensed, the heartbeats not accelerating. They were trained fighters, unlike the thistle- fey, who stayed back watching.

“You’re as bad as Irial,” she muttered as she lunged at one Ly Erg, and Devlin was torn between instinct and an unfamiliar urge to watch her. Logic won.

Or maybe a hunger for discord.

When it came to fighting, it wasn’t logic that ruled him. Then, he accepted both sides of his heritage: the precision in eliminating his opponents balanced with glee in the bloodletting.

“Come and get it,” Ani challenged. A long knife was in her hand as she advanced on her target; a second short knife was in the other hand.

Devlin scanned the woods: several other faeries became clear among the trees. He wanted to tell Ani, wished briefly that he could speak to her as her steed did, but as he glanced at her, she tilted her head, sniffed, and smiled. She was more Hound than not. His sight allowed him to know the same thing her sense of scent revealed to her.

“More fun, Dev,” she called as she tried again to skewer the Ly Erg in front of her. “I’ll get at least two after all.”

Devlin reached out, grabbed the Ly Erg in front of him, and before the faery could respond, slit his throat.

“We need to go.” Devlin watched as at least four more faeries approached from their left. The thistle-fey turned and ran—which felt more ominous than victorious. Even if the faeries weren’t there at Bananach’s behest, the fleeing faery would likely report back to her. He needed to get Ani farther away.

The steed bit the Ly Erg, pinning him in one place. Ani darted forward and sliced through the muscles at the faery’s knees, bringing him to the ground.

As she stepped backward, the steed was a car once more, with both doors open. Without a second look at the bleeding Ly Erg, Ani slid into the driver’s seat.

She shot a glance at Devlin. “We could’ve taken them.”

He paused, looking at her, realizing as he did so that she was every bit as capable as a young Gabriel would be—and wondered briefly if they should’ve done so, if they should’ve pursued the thistle-fey. “Perhaps, we might’ve. You’re a worthy partner, Ani.”

Her answering grin was more exhilarating than the fight. “Damn right, I am.”