Not that it would help him. Kitsunes weren’t human compatible. She wouldn’t even test him.
A sharp ping had everyone checking their phones. When I reached into my top to retrieve mine, the guys’ eyes followed, widening when I accidentally flashed the frilly white edge of my bra at them. Awkward. Maybe Mai was right and I did need a holster of some kind. Since I was still being stared at, like the guys had just registered that there were two women present and one’s boobs received text messages, I skipped checking my phone and shoved it into my shorts pocket instead.
A sudden snap of sound startled Matt and Tim into action.
“Chop, chop.” Mai clapped her hands. “Let’s hurry this along, guys. Momma needs her beauty sleep.”
Matt lurched into motion, and a screeching yowl filled the air.
“W-what is that?” He stumbled backward, pointing at the ground near my feet.
Diode.
“He’s just a...” My mouth fell open. Diode’s calico pattern held, but his natural bright yellow color was seeping into his fur. He looked like someone had dumped a lemon ice on his back. When we left the apartment, he had been about calf height. Now the pointed tips of his ears tickled the bottoms of my kneecaps, and he resembled a bobcat more than a housecat.
“Meow,” he said in a clipped voice.
The guys exchanged a tense look. Matt recovered first. He jogged around the car, jumped in and peeled out before Tim recovered. At a loss, Tim stared after his friend and wet his lips. “Your bags are still in the trunk.” He sidestepped Diode. “I’ll just, um, go get them.” He slapped an envelope into Mai’s hands. “Grab the first elevator on the right in the lobby. I’ll meet you upstairs.”
“And people say chivalry is dead,” I deadpanned.
“Maybe chivalry is just allergic to cats.” Mai nudged Diode with her toe. “We might have to get him a leash.”
Diode hissed. “I will not be dragged about by a leash like a common dog.”
I bent down to ruffle his fur. “Keep hissing and spitting and someone will think you’re rabid.”
“Hmph.” He turned his nose up at me. “I am not susceptible to earthly disease.”
Of course he wasn’t. “Any clue as to why your camouflage is fading?”
He managed to look chagrined. “Stress would be my guess.”
“Then take a chill pill,” Mai quipped. “We just got here. Don’t mess this up for us.”
His tail cracked the ground like a whip. “Far be it from me to ruin your fun.”
Mai let his snark roll off her back. “Exactly what I’m saying.”
I stepped between them, resting a hand on Mai’s shoulder. “Let’s change and hit the hay.”
“It’s barely ten p.m., and I downed six cups of coffee in the last hour alone. I can’t sleep yet.” A grin spread across her face. “Let’s go for a swim. That ought to tire us out.”
Catching her enthusiasm, I smiled. “I could go a few laps before bed.”
“I will stand guard while you two...” Diode almost gagged, “...swim.”
“I’ll call down to the front desk and check for warnings before we hit the beach.” The night was clear, but I hadn’t seen the local forecast, hadn’t expected to do more than flop into bed on our first night.
“Actually,” Mai said on a chuckle. “I have other plans for us.”
With the roar of the ocean at my back, I couldn’t imagine anything better than the crash of waves and the call of seagulls. Tomorrow I was eager to slather on sunscreen and trudge through the valleys cut between those white sandy dunes.
After reminding myself it was Mai’s vacation too, I managed to stop from pouting. “Do tell.”
The smile she flashed me was radiant. “I’ll show you as soon as we’re changed.”
Not trusting her mood, I stepped onto the elevator after she was inside, and we rode up to our rooms. Diode was too bulky for me to carry comfortably with the illusion spell weakening. Plus, he had the same hands-off attitude as Mai did when she was in her fox form, so he trotted alongside me. Small mercy, he was used to elevators from riding the one in our apartment building, so there was no screeching or mewling like there had been during my first attempts at immersing him into my world. For a cat that lived in the wilds of Faerie when he wasn’t crashing with Mac, entering my home that first time must have been like stepping onto a spaceship for him.
Mai opened the envelope she had been given by the front desk and tugged out several credit-card-sized keycards.
I whistled. “Do you think they gave us enough?”
She spread them between her fingers and fanned her face. “Pick a card, any card.”
Rolling my eyes, I tapped one. It didn’t work on the door. Neither did the next three. By process of elimination, the fourth card popped the lock. We entered the living room, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
All the other crap faded. Faerie. My crown. Rook. Shaw. All of it.
A wall of glass cast our reflection back at us when I switched on the overhead lights. At night, it wasn’t much to look at, but in the daylight? The view would be spectacular. Mai would settle for nothing less. The walls were painted stark white and kept bare, meant to keep the focus on the no-doubt-stunning view. Beige carpet cushioned my feet, and equally nondescript leather furniture filled the room. I caved to the smile tugging my lips.
For the next week, this was my reality. Sun. Beach. Ocean. My best friend.
Diode yowled when the door shut, pinching his tail.
And my psychedelic calico bobcat.
We explored our accommodations while waiting on our luggage to arrive. I was impressed. There were two bedrooms, each with its own bath. We even had a kitchenette, which meant I could buy groceries and skip the tab on eating fast food this week. The living room was cramped, but it had a great view of the gulf. French doors opened onto a narrow patio overlooking the glistening sea. This was a lot nicer than anything I could afford even when I wasn’t flat busted.
Mai made the rounds, too, wrinkling her nose whenever an item failed to meet her lofty standards.
“This place is great,” I said to distract her.
Her hands found her hips, and she glanced around. “We must be paying for the location.”
“Stop being a snob.” I jostled her elbow. “This is great, and you know it.”
She cracked a smile. “Thanks.”
“You have nothing to thank me for.” I was mooching off her, not the other way around.
“Yes, I do.” She turned serious on me. “You call me on being a bitch when Mom’s programming kicks in.”
“She didn’t totally brainwash you.” For the most part. “Besides, she just wants you to be happy.”
“As long as my idea of happy means settling down and popping out kits, then yes, she does.”
“Mai...” I slung my arm around her shoulders.
“No.” She shrugged me off and crossed the room. “We agreed. Life can wait. We’re here to have fun.”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Fun.”
She snorted. “Dork.”
Chimes rang through the room.
“Finally.” Mai bolted to answer the door.
While she was occupied, I took out my phone and checked the earlier text I had missed. I darted a quick glance at my bedroom door before I dialed the number on the screen. One ring. Two. Three.
Shaw answered on the fourth ring. “How’s the view?”
“Dark and moony. How’s yours?”
“It depends.” A smile lurked in his voice. “How do you feel about boxers versus briefs?”
A flush zinged up the back of my neck. His question reminded me of the first time I saw Rook in the flesh. There had been plenty of his perfect fae flesh out on display. He had met me at his door wearing nothing but a pair of faded jeans and an enigmatic smile.
I rubbed the sting from my nape. “Did you forget to pack your undies?”
Shaw’s chuckle did confusing things to my stomach. I should have
texted him instead of calling.
“I’m checking out the store where my sister-in-law was spotted.”
“Any reason why you’re looking for her in menswear?”
“I’m not. Exactly.”
I knew him too well. I could tell he was hiding something. “What is it?”
“Hey, get a move on.” Mai burst into the room and tossed a swimsuit at my face. “Oh. Who’s on the phone?” She flung a towel on the bed and mouthed, Mom?
I nodded, hating that I was lying to her.
She jerked her thumb over her shoulder and pantomimed getting changed.
I bobbed my head again, adding another thumbs-up to the mix. I waited until she left before I shut my door under the pretense of undressing. “I can’t talk now,” I said softly. “Can I call you later?”
“It’s a date.”
Click.
“No,” I growled at the dead air, “it’s not.”
Chapter Ten
Mai sashayed into my bedroom wearing a strapless navy-blue bikini top that gathered between her breasts. The bottom was white, the pattern a twist on traditional paisley in navy and turquoise with gold accents.
It put my simple black one-piece suit to shame.
I snatched the enormous beach towel off my bed and wrapped it around my waist. I offered to carry one down for her, but she declined.
She cocked her hip and struck a pose. “I can’t cover all this up.”
“I figured you’d say that.” I shouldered an oversized straw bag, my cell, a book on types of blood-drinking fae—a threat realer than any vampire—and other necessities.
Shaking her head at me, she asked, “Ready to go?”
“Yep.” A good marshal was always prepared. “Where’s this surprise you’ve been promising?”
She curled her finger at me. “Right this way.”
We left our room, but instead of hopping on the elevator, she led me down the hall to a large set of picture windows overlooking the right side of the hotel. She yanked the gauzy curtains aside with a grand flourish then waited for me to step up and check out the view. I approached cautiously and gasped.
A kidney-shaped pool dominated one side of the cobbled patio area. Recessed lights created a path leading straight to the water’s edge. But that wasn’t the surprise. Shaped almost like a smile, a second pool hugged the first, nudging giant inner tubes striped with glow-in-the-dark paint around its narrow loop. A strip of palm trees wrapped in Christmas lights divided the two areas. Swaying in the breeze, they blasted disco-style lighting from their fronds.
“A lazy river?” I burst out laughing.
She came to stand beside me. “I know how much you love them.”
I did love them. I wasn’t as big a fan of pools as Mom was, but agitate some water and dump me in a donut-shaped inner tube, and I was in heaven.
I slung an arm around her waist. “Have I told you lately that you’re the best friend ever?”
“Not since yesterday.” She leaned her head against my shoulder. “But I never tire of hearing my praises sung.”
We turned at the sound of the elevator opening behind us, but the booth was empty except for the rich fragrance of curry chicken.
Too bad I was on a strict budget. Takeout smelled divine after our long drive.
“Moment over.” I bobbed my shoulder. “Let’s head down there.”
We bolted for the elevator and rode it down to the lobby. Finding the pool was easy. We followed the pounding bass and flow of the twenty-something crowd, and they led us straight to it.
Like a mini theme park, the area boasted a small bank of lockers with an attendant booth. Behind that, a tower of inner tubes leaned. Unlike a theme park, a long bar curved down one side of the patio. Its thatched roof whispered on the breeze, and dance music poured out of the speakers hanging from its bamboo rafters.
I strolled up to the booth and flashed a keycard at the attendant that did...I’m not sure what...and the guy passed me a brightly colored inner tube.
Mai was right behind me, and she pointed at my float. “Can I get one of those in turquoise?”
“Sure. Yeah.” The attendant swept his gaze over Mai. “You can have whatever you want.”
Needless to say, he didn’t ask her for ID.
She turned and winked, and I scowled. “How do you do that?”
“This—” she gestured down her body, “—is a magic bikini.”
I cocked a dubious eyebrow. “It is?”
“No man can resist me when I’m wearing it.” She grinned. “It works like a charm. Get it?”
“Oh, I get it.” She didn’t need magic to charm men. Her natural charisma had them eating out of the palm of her hand. If I didn’t know how hardcore the kitsune dating scene was, I might be jealous.
Pulling one of my moves, she tugged a keycard from her top. “Do you want to hold on to this?”
“Sure.” Figuring it was safer with me, I stuffed the card into the side pocket of my bag. I rented a locker for the week and got a key on an orange plastic coil bracelet in return. Once I stashed my bag, we found the launching station.
After a few false starts, where I tried to get Mai into her inner tube without her actually getting wet, a pair of lifeguards climbed from their respective towers to lift her and center her on her float while I gawked. Flirtatious laughter trailed after her as her float was snared by the current, and she was swept away from me.
I managed to flip myself—twice—before ringing the hole with my butt instead of my thigh. The lifeguards never batted an eye. They were watching Mai arrange herself as artfully as one can while sitting prim and proper in the center of a giant, inflatable donut while dunking one’s ass into icy water.
Trusting she couldn’t stir up too much trouble while confined to her inner tube, I arranged my limbs for maximum relaxation potential. I leaned my head back and shut my eyes to block out the glaring lights. Stifling a yawn, I fought the urge to nap. But between the early start and the tense trip, I couldn’t resist. I dozed.
“Where are you?”
My head snapped up at the sound of Rook’s voice, and my hands scrambled for purchase on the same narrow limb where I woke last time. Heart in my throat, I crept toward the tree trunk and held on.
“That’s a damn good question,” I snapped.
“We already covered this.” He looked bored. “You’re in a dream.”
I had to ask. “If I die in this dream, will I die in real life?”
“You won’t fall.” A fierce glint shone in his eyes. “And you won’t die. I won’t allow it.” The spark in his gaze ignited as he studied me. “Where are you?”
I glanced down and noticed I still wore my swimsuit. “Oh. I’m at a pool.”
He bolted upright. “You’re sleeping in the water?”
“Not exactly.” I flushed as I realized he was right. I had fallen asleep in the lazy river. “I’m in a float that protects me from drowning.” I hoped. “Plus, there are lifeguards on duty. They watch over everyone.”
Especially foxy ladies in bikinis...
Seeming mollified, Rook reclined once more. “This is not ideal.”
“Tell me about it.” Even if my body was asleep, he was keeping my mind awake and exhausted.
“This is the only way we can communicate.” He smiled slowly. “For now.”
I glowered at the reminder I would be hauled back to Faerie all too soon.
A thought occurred to me. “Hey, what happened last time? You just vanished.”
His smile widened. “Were you concerned for me?”
“No.”
“You’re a bad liar, Thierry. No matter. I can teach you to be a better one.”
I bet you could. “What is the purpose of these dreams?”
“I told you.” He rested his elbows on his knees. “I must educate you if you are to survive here.”
I had trained one way or another for the last six years. This was familiar territory. “When do we begin?”
; He waved a hand at my swimsuit. “Once you’re dressed more appropriately.”
“This is a dream, right? Can’t you just snap your fingers and make it happen?”
“I could,” he admitted, staring so intently I crossed my arms over my chest. “But we have time. Besides, I would prefer knowing that your body is safe while I have your mind otherwise occupied.”
I couldn’t fault his logic. If my inner tube floated over one of the agitators creating the current, those powerful jets could dump me headfirst into the water. Would the shock wake me? I hoped so.
I didn’t want to depend on lust-struck teenage boys to save me.
A distant awareness thrummed through the back of my mind, but the body in the pool wasn’t as real to me as this treetop conversation. Reality was playing tug-of-war with my consciousness.
“You’re struggling.” He leaned forward and cupped my cheek. “Eager to escape me?”
Yes. “I’m eager to get back to my vacation.”
“Vacation.” He turned thoughtful. “I have never had one of those.”
A stab of pity kept me from jerking out of his grasp. “Maybe when things have settled down?”
A brittle smile answered me. “Perhaps then.”
I searched his face for an answer to his mood. “I get the feeling you aren’t telling me everything.”
“Let me bear the burden for now.” His voice softened. “It will be ours to share soon enough.”
I flinched at the reminder, and he let his hand fall away.
“I required these preemptive meetings in order to let you acclimate to the dream state, but the time for idle conversation is over. The next time I summon you, we set to work. Be prepared.”
“I will be.”
If no loophole could be found for me in our original bargain, then I must prepare for the dangers awaiting me in Faerie. So far, my only way out was to serve my one-hundred-year sentence as queen. By that time, all the mortals I knew would be dead, including my mother.
Serving wasn’t an option.
Rook settled back into his spindly-branch chair. “A question, before you go.”
“Okay.” I made a rolling gesture with my hand.
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