Page 15 of Against the Veil (Endangered Fae #3)

Chapter Nine

Bane Sidhe

Interview, Sunday Edition, Sionnach Silvertongue and Angus Farseer, excerpt of transcript:

Interviewer: Do you agree with the strict restrictions on human travel to the Otherworld?

S: Honestly? I think it’s simply too dangerous for humans. Too many unknown perils and possibilities that we take for granted. Very much like dropping a fae who has been out of touch with humanity for some time into the heart of Manhattan.

A: I suppose that’s a joke at my expense.

S: Sorry, love, but I’m not the one who was mugged on Fifth Avenue.

A flash of red zipped past Zack’s window. He surged up to press his hands against the glass even before his eyes focused properly. Heart hammering, he watched with avid interest as the cardinal flitted from branch to branch in the apple tree outside his window.

What the hell? He was practically panting, muscles quivering at being denied a chase.

“Acting like a damn dog. That’s what it is,” he muttered. “Gonna have to watch that.”

He stretched to pop his back. Oh, that felt good.

He felt good all over, surprisingly so, strong and better rested than he had in years.

His shoulder didn’t even twinge anymore.

A glance down revealed the wound finally closed, a pink scar where the angry, seeping red had been.

The werewolf’s teeth marks had gone from refusing to heal to month-old wound status in a matter of three days.

Maybe there were small benefits to being one of the shaggy set.

Lugh’s scent still permeated the room. It should have made him angry, but the spicy male musk filled him with longing, the ache around his heart matching the one spreading through his groin. He wanted to go back, wanted to say things that should have been said, wanted—

“Wait. Why the hell do I smell him at all?” He drew in a slow, careful breath. Lugh. His own sweat. The wood. Different kinds of wood smells from the furniture and the floor. Fabric softener from the towels on the other side of the room. “This’ll take some getting used to.”

He slipped into his bathrobe, grabbed hold of the doorknob and yanked it right off.

Shocked, he stared at the metal ovoid in his hand.

A clank from the hallway told him the other half of the knob had fallen off.

At least he didn’t have to call for help to get out of his own bedroom again.

Easy enough to reach inside the door and pull the latch open.

His eyes met feline ones when he opened the door.

“It seems your door has broken,” Eithne said, glancing between the knob in her hand and its mate in his. “Shoddy craftsmanship.”

“Um, right.” With exaggerated care, he took her half of the assembly and put the whole mess on his dresser. “Are there things I should know, your furriness? About this whole lycanthropy thing?”

“You are the first werewolf I have known. What sorts of things?”

“I can smell stuff. I mean, of course I could smell before, but now it’s new stuff.

Like maybe you would. Or maybe a dog would.

” He wrapped his hand around a bedpost and lifted.

The head of the solid oak bed rose three feet without much effort.

“And I seem to be stronger. I don’t know how much yet. ”

“Ah.” She took his arm and led him down the hall. “Perhaps these are things that will pass as you grow further away from the full moon. Or perhaps there have been true changes to your human body. For now, I think I should turn on the shower for you so Diego need not replace those knobs as well.”

“I can replace a doorknob,” he said as his face heated. He let Eithne turn the water on for him, though, and promised to be more careful.

Breakfast smelled heavenly. Bacon, eggs, toast, hash browns, coffee—each individual scent competed for his attention, making his stomach growl and his head spin. He managed to make it to the table, showered, shaved and dressed, without any more breakage.

Diego turned from the stove to grace him with a smile. “How do you feel?”

“Honestly? A little too good.”

When he had explained about the bird, the doorknob and his new super-nose, Diego only nodded. “I guess we have to expect side effects.”

“Is that what we’re calling this? It’s not some pharmaceutical thing.”

“No. That would come with a long-winded, legal-vetted pamphlet ending with ‘in rare cases, patients have suffered stroke and even death’.”

“Funny guy.” Zack closed his eyes and sighed in satisfaction when Diego set a plate in front of him. “But I think I can forgive you.”

Diego settled across from him. “And Lugh?”

“I’d like to be able to eat, Mr. S. Can we not talk about him?”

“Sorry. He’s gone to New York, just so you know.”

Zack tried to steel his heart against the roil of emotions churning there.

The prince had run. First sign of trouble and he ran away.

It confirmed what Zack had suspected about Lugh and relationships, but it also left a gaping hole in the center of his chest that he was gone. Why the hell did he still care?

“He took staff with him?” There, he could be professional about all this.

“Marcus and Kevin for security detail.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s all he would take.”

“No one to keep him on schedule? No extra hands for the dinner with the Secretary General?”

“I had a hard enough time getting him to take two. He wasn’t quite himself when he left.”

Zack shoved the rest of his bacon in his mouth to gain a moment . I don’t feel bad for him. I’m not the bad guy here. I don’t care if I hurt his feelings. Except he did, and no matter how furious he was, he still worried. “Maybe I should go out there.”

Diego raised an eyebrow at him. “Probably not your best idea this week. Besides, I have a different mission for you. After breakfast, I’d appreciate it if you get dressed appropriately for the Otherworld.”

“Danu want to see me or something?”

“No, we’re going on the journey you’ve always wanted.” Diego took a sip of his coffee, regarding him closely. “You and I, we’re going into dragon territory.”

Fork halfway to his mouth, Zack stared at him. “Seriously? You’re not doing this to…I don’t know…distract me?”

“If I could take all the pain away so easily, I would. Eat your breakfast, hon, or at least close your mouth. I don’t know what’s really happened to you, in terms of what’s happened to your body, or what to do about it.

Neither do the fae healers or Danu or Balor.

The internet is hopeless on the subject.

There aren’t any reliable books. Danu suggested we talk to the dragons. ”

“Dragons. Wow. It’s just…wow.” Embarrassed all over again, Zack ducked his head and plowed through the rest of his breakfast. Apparently, the sooner he was ready, the sooner they would leave.

The hardest part had been deciding what to bring.

Oh, the little bit provision-wise was easy, and the canoe Diego had requested.

But dragon visiting required a gift. He’d been told that enough times to have it sink in.

He discarded anything with steel parts, thought about bringing duct tape, but decided that might be too dull, and finally settled on a Rubik’s cube.

Geeky? Hell, yeah. But it was plastic, colorful and a visual riddle, all things dragons were supposed to appreciate. At least Finn said they liked plastic.

The poor lonely pooka wasn’t happy about his husband going off without him, but the tears and arguments had all been spent by the time he came to say goodbye.

He pulled Diego into his arms and gave him a kiss hot enough to curl an iceberg’s toes.

Zack had to turn away. Their open affection didn’t embarrass him, but it was a knife through his heart to watch such unquestioned faith and understanding.

Finn hated being left behind, but he knew Diego had to do this, knew that he would return.

Semper fi.

At Cian’s Ford in the Otherworld, fae from both courts stood on the bank of bright green grass to see them off.

Colors had always seemed so much brighter to him here than in the human world, jewel-tones of heartbreaking clarity.

Now the colors were so vibrant, so alive, he thought they might speak.

Maybe it was his excitement, but maybe the change had affected his sight as well.

“You should have a guide.” Sionnach tugged on his arm, his voice trembling. “You should not go alone.”

“I’m not alone, beautiful. Diego’s with me.” Zack turned to him, concerned.

Sionnach flung his arms around Zack’s ribs, bare since he wore nothing but the cornflower blue petal-cloth kilt King Balor had given him.

“You’re shaking. What’s wrong?” Zack held him tight, uncertain what else he could do.

“There has never been…” Sionnach started and shook his head when his breath hitched. “You are the first. The first were-being to be granted safe passage. Balor and Danu have both decreed it. But there are those outside the courts’ influence. I am frightened for you.”

I’m kinda frightened for me, too. “It’ll be fine. You know I’m tough, and I’ve got the most powerful human sorcerer on the planet with me, right?”

Sionnach stroked delicate claws through his hair.

“Stay to the river, Sergeant, for as long as you can. It will be safest. Even so, you must cross through bane sidhe lands. They may only watch and let you pass. They may try to delay your progress. If they show themselves, be still. If they bind you, do not struggle.”

“Um…okay.” Zack filed the information away, knowing enough about fae at this point to listen to any warning, no matter how odd or veiled. “I got it. Now, dry those pretty green eyes. You’re beautiful when you cry but you’re kick-ass gorgeous when you smile.”