Page 26 of Sidhe (The Incubus Saga #3)

All eyes moved to the other end of the bar, a few stools down from Iain. The librarian looked pretty spooked to suddenly have someone sitting so close to him, especially since no one had been there a moment before.

Sitting there casually amongst them was an obvious fae.

He had long silver hair, silver eyes—not slit—and pointed ears, and wore a simple purple and gold tunic and matching leggings on slender legs that swung merrily on either side of him.

He looked far more like he belonged in some medieval court than the 21 st century.

The fae waved a hand at Sasha as the incubus reached for the gun in the back of his jeans, only to find nothing but empty air.

“Wouldn’t want you to do anything stupid now, would we?” the fae scoffed at him. “And anyway…a gun? How inelegant for a fellow fae. Don’t you have claws?”

Sasha growled, revealing his fangs, and looked ready to show off his claws as well.

“Save it, sex bot. I’d outrun you anyway.

” The fae pat the counter as he looked to Alex behind the bar.

“Hey, sweetheart, I don’t suppose you’d whip me up a Whiskey Sour?

Wait,” he grinned when she glowered at him, “allow me.” Another wave of his hand and suddenly there was a drink, a Whiskey Sour surely, even in a glass identical to the ones Alex used. “You’ve been working so hard lately.”

Benign powers that posed no threat always worked in the Gatehouse, like Sasha feeding from Nathan with permission, but now that the Gatehouse wards no longer worked, hostile powers were a possibility from anyone, not just changelings.

Nathan watched the fae with his drink warily.

“I don’t know who you are,” Alex said dangerously, “but if you ever call me ‘sweetheart’ again, neutral ground will no longer apply.”

The strange fae ate that threat right up, sending a wink across the bar at Jim on the other end. “Feisty one you got here, huh?”

Before Alex could promptly grab the fae by the throat—which as much as Alex’s threats weren’t to be trifled with, probably wouldn’t do them any good—Walter walked up to the bar from the jukebox to stand between Iain and Nathan’s stools.

“What is the meaning of your presence here, Goodfellow? I wasn’t informed of your intervention.”

Nathan exchanged a sharp look with each of his companions before looking to the fae again as his identity became startlingly clear. “ Goodfellow ?”

Puck—also known as Robin Goodfellow—took a long sip of his drink, before leaning back on his stool and grinning cheerfully.

“Now, now, I’m not as bad as you think. I have news!

We’re on the same side, remember? I’ve heard word from the grapevine of light, friendly dark, and just generally neutral fae to help you boys, besides a mandate from his highness ,” Puck added with a curve of his lips.

“Grapevine?” Nathan said.

“Yes, coming from a lovely little dark shapeshifter named Ula.”

Nathan exchanged another look with his friends. He’d nearly forgotten Ula, and how she had helped them find some of the last dark sidhe they’d hunted before Nathan’s bounty was up, which had apparently upgraded since then if she was calling in reinforcements.

“But why don’t I cut to the chase,” Puck said. “We have a mutual…maybe not enemy for you, but quarry, I guess? See, I’m betting that changeling you’re waiting on is the same one who’s been giving me so much trouble lately. I figured I’d give you the head’s up.”

Nathan shifted on his stool, eyeing Puck suspiciously. Sure, he was light fae, but that didn’t mean he was nice. Or helpful. Or good. “How do you know it’s the same person?”

Puck threw him an impish grin. “Come on. Changeling? Headed this way anyway? My guy definitely fits the bill. Not sure what his abilities are, all I know is somehow he always knows how to find me. Well…” For a moment Puck actually looked troubled.

He tapped his fingers against his glass.

“Scratch that. He doesn’t come to me so much as… I go to him.”

There was a moment of dumbfounded silence.

“I think I’m sensing the heart of your problem, then,” Sasha said finally, daring sarcasm. He’d let his fangs fade, but his fingernails looked pointedly sharp.

Puck grinned again. “I don’t mean to go to him, I just…

do. If he’s within a certain range, I can’t help it.

Something about him just…draws me in. I think it’s that he feels like a really good catch, you see, someone who just smells like the kind of person I love to mess with, but when I get to him, it’s not someone to mess with at all but the same damn seal again. ”

“Seal?” Jim said, eyes wide as he sat stiffly, ready to leap from his stool at a moment’s notice should the need arise. “He’s a changeling and a seal?”

“He’s not aware of the normal stigmas that go with being a changeling, it seems,” Puck said, swinging his legs from his stool again.

“Quite a loner. But yes, he’s both. And he’s like a supernatural magnet, whether you want to be drawn in or not.

You better be careful.” He pointed seriously for a moment at Sasha, Iain, and Jim, with a wary eye at Walter.

“Make sure he doesn’t find out what you are or he might pull you in too.

Whatever power this kid has, it’s been lethal to more light and dark fae alike than I could count.

I’ve only made it this long because I’m…

well, me. I am still master of my domain, but I won’t lie. This guy’s got me worried.”

Silence fell on the group again as they digested the new information. It was Alex who finally spoke up.

“I hate to admit this, but now that I know he’s also a seal, I think I know who Puck means. Sounds like the right seal by that description. And…damn, I could hardly forget the stories I’ve heard from other seals, how fae just seem to flock to him.”

“Who is he?” Sasha asked.

“Real name’s Sonji…something or other. Japanese looks, but American born. Goes by Solrin.”

“So what’s this guy’s deal?” Nathan asked. He didn’t like that Alex looked so spooked.

Puck spoke up again, just before he vanished as quickly as he had appeared. “Compared to this kid… Gabriel was the boy next door.”