I pressed my back against the stone, pulse stuttering. I didn’t understand him. Fieran was sunlight and shadow, merriment and menace by turn.
He reminded me of the stories of the trickster, ever-changing Fae. How had I kissed him—desired him—pressed myself to him as if he were my protector and not a predator? The foolishness of the danger I’d placed myself in as I flirted with him made my muscles stiffen, my hunger fading.
Trickster Fae were notoriously fickle. And what frightened me most was how easily I could be pulled into his gravity, even knowing what he was. He held my brother’s life and mine in the same casual way he lazily gripped his knife’s hilt as he stood talking, and here I was, gawking at him from the shadows.
I was barely wiser than Lidi, who’d been taken in by his charms. Disgust—at myself and at him—washed over me.
Maura stalked past me, high color in her cheeks. She didn’t see me, perhaps because her eyes were dark with anger, tightly focused. She was nearly out of sight when Nixi rushed past in a flounce of golden skirts. It was strange to see them both dressed up and looking glamorous.
Then Nixi was out of sight, but I heard her hiss Maura’s name.
“What?” Maura demanded.
There was a long pause.
“If you have nothing to say, Nix, I’m going?—”
“Don’t let Fieran come between us again!”
“He didn’t come between us.”
“Don’t be like this. I miss you, Maura.” Nixi’s voice was tight, the words like launched arrows; it didn’t sound like the right tone for affectionate words. She cleared her throat as if she realized it too. “Why can’t we talk for two minutes without arguing?”
“I believe you started it, Nix.”
“Then I’m sorry.” She didn’t sound sorry. “Can we try again?”
“Fine.”
This second pause was longer and more awkward.
“I was afraid when I saw you get hurt in Stonehaven.” Nixi’s voice was soft. “I’ve been thinking since then about how I could’ve lost you, while everything is fractured between us.”
“I don’t like it either,” Maura admitted. “I’ve missed you too.”
There was another pause.
I hadn’t realized the Fae were quite so emotionally constipated.
“Maybe we could spend time together without talking about Ander or Fieran or the clans.”
“Or how your dragon hates me?” Maura’s voice was tinged with amusement.
“My dragon hates everyone.” There was a smile in Nixi’s voice. “She’s the perfect fit for me. You can’t take it personally.”
“Misanthrope,” Maura accused, but now it sounded teasing.
“Well, it does seem to flow through our bloodline.”
“Maybe we can have dinner together tomorrow night if you’re free,” Maura said. “I’ve got to train that mortal girl tomorrow, but I’m free afterward.”
That mortal girl?Fieran was handing my training over to Maura?
Well, that was terrifying.
“How is she doing?”
“I don’t want to talk about the mortal girl. It’s dangerously close to talking about Fieran.”
