“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 10
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 t
hat 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.
He crossed one long leg over the other. “Who is with you on this vacation?”
“Mai invited me.” I shifted on the limb. “The guards are with me.” No need to tell him that they hadn’t arrived yet. “Diode is here too, but he’s not thrilled about it. Water and cats, cats and water.”
His toe tapped in the air. “Is that all?”
Sensing he must already know the answer and that lying would get me nowhere, I took a breath and admitted, “Shaw is working a case in a city about an hour away. Since I’ve been suspended, I’m not involved. He’s not doing conclave work anyway. It’s a personal matter.”
“You’re rambling,” Rook noted.
“I don’t ramble.” Much.
“This vacation—it happens far away from your home, correct? That is what makes it exotic?”
Oh crap. He was putting the pieces together. “Yes.”
Rook’s lips thinned. “I have seen the way he looks at you.”
A spark of anger had me clenching my jaw. “Are you spying on me?”
“I have loyal subjects who are kind enough to lend me their eyes from time to time.”
That explained the black bird who tapped on my window my first night home from Faerie. I thought since Rook was across realms, his hold on his flock would wane. No such luck. If he was still using their eyes to watch me, then he had a stronger presence in the mortal realm than I had realized.
“I have less than a year of freedom left,” I growled. “Can you not stalk me during that time?”
He looked puzzled by why I wouldn’t want his beady-eyed subjects following me everywhere I went. “How else can I know of your life until then?”
Pinching started in my temples, working across my forehead. “You could ask me.”
“Fine. I will ask you now. Do you have feelings for that incubus?”
My throat constricted, but the denial I intended didn’t come.
“You share a past with him.” Rook demanded, “Does he understand your future is mine?”
That earlier spark burst into a rush of furious anger. “My future is mine.”
In a flash, I was gulping chlorinated water and thrashing. My inner tube, which I had flailed out of, flipped over and bopped me on the head. I stood, and the chilly water barely hit me at waist level. Spluttering, I shoved the limp curtain of hair from my eyes and looped an arm over the float to keep it from escaping. Once I gained my bearings, I oriented myself and searched the spinning inner tubes for Mai.
She was nowhere in sight.
Chapter 11
A firm—yet unseen—hand gripped my upper arm and began guiding me around the last bend, toward the steps leading from the pool. Reflex tightened my muscles. Only the abundance of humans kept me from decking my would-be escort. Chlorine and the remnants of sunscreen on my fellow swimmers dampened my ability to scent, but I had a good idea of who this was now that I was recovering from my visit with Rook.
“Warn a girl next time,” I said to the presence on my right.
“I thought you were in distress.” Righty’s voice almost blended with the babbling water.
“Well, I’m not.” I stared where he ought to be standing. There were ripples in the water from all the jets and splashing, but no eddies gave away the fact my guard stood there. “You can let go now.”
He did, and I waded toward the submerged steps.
“I apologize,” he said. “I should not have interfered.”
“You’re fine.” I craned my neck. “I was on my way out of the pool anyway.”
No response. No sign of Mai, either.
“Are you guys just arriving?” I reached the stairs and climbed them, hiding a smile when Righty cupped the inner tube to relieve me of its weight while allowing me to appear as if I was carrying it.
Sometimes I really wanted to like that guy.
“We’ve been here since you left your apartment this morning, securing the area.”
“How did you manage that?” I teased, “Do you have a portal in your pocket?”
He didn’t deny it.
Okay then. “Is everything as it should be?”
“For now. I will keep you abreast of any further developments.”
That sounded ominous. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen Mai?”
“No.” He volunteered, “Daire is with her.”
My gut did a little twist. “Why?”
“As the location appears to be secure, I thought you would appreciate us extending our services to your friend.”
His voice was calm, reasonable, and I didn’t trust it for a minute.
We returned the float, then I set out for the crowded bar. “Let’s see what they’re up to.”
Sure enough, Mai sat on a stool with a ring of admirers around her. Kitsunes may not have lures per se, but the girl had wicked mojo when it came to the opposite sex.
When she spotted me, she waved and hopped off her perch. “See you later, alligators.”
A tall man wearing a linen suit cut off her retreat. “Let her wait a while, crocodile.”
When he grabbed her arm, I tapped him on the back.
He swung around, teeth bared, snarling a challenge from one predator to another. It took a split second for the threat to register because my brain stalled. The guy was gorgeous. Black hair styled in a frohawk. Skin darker than the night at the patio’s edge, and his eyes… They reminded me of how Rook’s had looked the first time I met him. Empty. Cold. Eternal.
No, I didn’t like this guy one bit.
“You should let go of my friend,” I told him.
He arched a dark eyebrow. “Would you take her place?”
“I’m already married.” I flashed my megawatt smile. “But thanks for asking.”
Ha! Score one for faux marriages everywhere.
When he didn’t budge, I leaned in closer. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Marshal Thackeray—”
“—with the Southwestern Conclave,” he finished for me.
I didn’t ask how he knew. I didn’t want to give him another advantage over me when he already had one. I had no idea who he was, but I
didn’t have to let him know how much my ignorance bugged me.
“My reputation precedes me.” I grinned. “Since you know who I am, you also know I don’t play nice.” Fair, yes. Nice, no. “My friend here doesn’t look eager to continue your conversation. I would let her go if I were you. There are plenty of other women who would be flattered by your attention.”
His eyebrows rose. “You think so?”
“Sure.” I pried Mai’s hand from his tight grip with a decisive yank then shoved her behind me. “Nice meeting you.” I placed a guiding hand on her shoulder and called out “Enjoy your night” on our way past.
His expression made my knees weak, and not in a good way.
“Oh.” He tenderly caressed his hand where my fingertips had brushed him. “I will.”
My shoulders twitched under the tangible weight of his stare. Slowly, so as not to provoke any of his predatory instincts, we retreated a safe distance away.
“We need to leave the area,” a cool voice said to my right.
Thinking of the handsome-yet-creepy fae, I nodded. “Where’s Daire?”
“Making sure we aren’t followed.”
His calm made me curious. “I notice you didn’t step in back there.”
“The fae appeared oblivious to our presence. I saw no reason why I should announce myself unless the situation escalated.” He exhaled. “I was unable to sense what type of fae he is. His power barely registered until you touched him, then it surged. Could you scent him?”
The suggestion stunned me so much I stopped walking. “The thought never occurred to me.”
Righty made a thoughtful noise.
“He was using glamour to conceal himself with a side of compulsion mixed in for good measure.” I followed that line of reasoning. “Otherwise, I would have spotted him—” a threat who was obviously fae, obviously dangerous, “—scented him or demanded he declare himself.”
Mai rested her hand on my arm. “Is it safe to stay here?”
“He is Unseelie,” Righty answered. “He would not dare strike against our future queen.”
Mai and I shared a look that conveyed our doubt. Faerie had been teetering on the brink of war for a long time. King Moran’s death and my controversial appointment could very well be the straws that dislocated the camel’s back. Rook was working to diffuse the situation, but our subjects were almost as fond of him as they were of me. Both of us were half-bloods, and few pure-blooded fae were eager to bow before a half-human sovereign. Especially not one who had killed both the Seelie and Unseelie candidates for the crown.
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