Page 30

Not that any understanding between Dylan and his demon was any of my business.

Still grinning, I ordered myself to stop being nosy and go search for the book. I planned to take it back to bed with me and read until I fell asleep or the guardian woke up.

The search took less than a minute. The book lay exactly where Dylan said that he left it on the desk. There was another book with it that looked equally intriguing, so I took both.

Still humming, I left the library and headed back across the tiled foyer to my quarters. Dylan and his lady were no longer hovering outside, which made me smile.

“Madame? May I have a moment?”

When I turned, I saw the woman speaking to me. She was dressed entirely in black and the only noticeable thing about her was a porcelain and very youthful complexion.

Was she a new demon? I didn’t read her that way. But dressed as she was, she could have easily passed for one of Henry’s or Gale’s people.

The hair on the back of my neck rose in mild alarm. I didn’t recognize her, and yet she was here in my home.

The woman picked up her pace as she neared me. I got no demon vibe from her at all. No, she was something else. And she was radiating power.

“How can I help ya?” I asked, trying to stop her advance. “Are ya lost?”

“No,” she said. “I’m looking for Aran of The Dagda.”

She had to be one of Henry’s guests. Was she truly lost? Or trespassing on purpose? Conn’s teasing about me investigating Henry’s guests now irritated me even more.

“This level of the house is my personal space. Please return to the rooms Henry showed ya. If ya don’t know how to get there, ya can wait here until I call Henry. He’ll show ya the way.”

I looked around for Dylan and the demon he’d been wooing. Was she supposed to be guarding this level? Henry had said he’d send someone to guard the floor while the strangers—those he called guests—were staying for the weekend.

“Please, I need to speak to you for a moment. I promise it won't take long," she said.

Her ocean-green eyes stared hard at me as she neared. She was beautiful and looked vaguely familiar, but her gaze was neither friendly nor kind. It wasn’t her eye color confusing my brain, though. It was the arrogance in her gaze. I’d seen that arrogance before but my brain couldn’t place it.

I should have called an energy sword right then. But I didn’t. However, I did move one book to my empty hand as a reflex. The strange woman in black carried no weapon at all, or none I could see. Since I didn’t want to scare off the first of Henry’s guests, I restrained my urges to whack her with my reading material.

While my home wasn’t what I considered a true sanctuary, it wasn’t a paranormal battlefield, either. We’d set house boundaries for good reasons. I had expected Henry’s guests would honor them because Henry and Gale always did.

“Stop. That’s far enough,” I said, holding up a hand to stop her from coming any closer.

“I have a message to deliver. It’s essential that I share it,” she said.

My mind considered the situation and once again found it strange. My anxiety climbed a bit, and I nearly called an energy sword.

Then it was too late to act wisely.

The woman rushed me at the end of her walk, plowing her larger body into my smaller one with enough force to knock me flat.

Instead of falling, though, her grip held me upright.

I stared into her eyes and felt the cool blade of a knife sliding into my gut.

At the last minute, I finally remembered to fight, so I lifted the books in my hands and brought both against her head with all the strength I could summon.

As I fell to my knees, the books fell too. One of my hands clutched the protruding knife handle as if I might pull it out.

I heard Rasmus calling my name, but he sounded very far away.

I glanced up at her. She was holding her head and cursing me in her native language. Fairy, I thought. Henry had told me she was a fairy, but I had paid no attention to the details. In retrospect, I guess I should have.

“Is yer dagger in my gut the message ya brought me?” I asked.