“If this is the best of your ability,” she said, “then it’s the taskasked of youthat is the problem. That implies a leadership that doesn’t want Guardians to actually guard, no?” She paused. “Sure, sure. It’s complicated, yeah.”
Lexi turned and strode toward an enormous gate that appeared within a massive wall.
“I’ll take my chances,” she told the Celestial. “Keep your deal for the next fool that comes along.”
With smirks and sparkling eyes, the others followed after Lexi. There wasn’t a creature in this whole land who would speak to Celestials like that and get away with it. Lexi definitely had a way about her, and it didn’t matter if she was sweet or spicy, she made herself heard.
Zorn stayed where he was, looking at the female. Glancing at those flying above. Waiting for Bria and the others to rejoin him.
The female’s eyes slid to his. They narrowed.
Your quarrel is not with me,she said into his mind.
We shall see,he thought back, peeling away as an out-of-breath Bria caught up with them.
“Zero power or know-how,” she said without sparing the Celestial a glance. “Guarding the fringe has to be child’s play. It’s a wonder they need so many people…”
No, it was a wonder their leadership didn’t want them to do a better job…
He pondered that as he neared the large, arching doors leading into Faerie, clearly the main entrance that held no peril. A trick, a trap, or a pass, they would soon see.
As he moved to pass through, something above caught his eye. He glanced up.
A massive being rested its forearms along the top of the walls, hundreds of feet in the air. The face smiled down at him,with hair as dark as the night and spotted through with what looked like stars. She, for it seemed female, covered her mouth with her hand as though to hide a laugh.
What fun,he thought he heard, the voice strange and echoing, far away but in his head at the same time. The form pulled her hand back to bite a nail. Her violet eyes flashed as she looked down at him, her skin fleshlike one moment, then wispy and nearly see-through the next.The humans have come to play in my games. One of the human god’s favorites, no less. Maybe I will invite him for the show. This will be a grand treat…
Her laugh was horrible and beautiful at the same time, and then she was gone. Vanished like the darkness within the new day.
Cold washed through him. It didn’t seem like this would be as simple as going after Daisy. This seemed a lot bigger than any of them could ever possibly know.
15
Daisy
Slightly too-big servants’attire draped down her frame, hiding the weapons stashed or strapped on her body. The cloth was old, her slippers worn, and ash from the fireplace marred her face. No one seemed to notice her passing through the halls behind Niall and Lennox.
They stopped beside a set of nondescript double doors. Niall pushed his way inside and Lennox paused so Daisy could go in the middle. The room opened up into a lovely domed affair with stained glass, couches, maps, and scrolls everywhere. Literally everywhere. On chairs, the floor, stuffed in bookcases, overflowing from two different desks, from all the tables… It was madness. Mayhem.
“Nah.” She stopped in her tracks. “This looks like a conspiracy theorist’s lair.”
“A what?” Lennox grabbed her shoulders to keep her walking.
“A person who has lost the thread of reality and?—”
“Oh.” Eldric stepped out from an alcove. He had a feather quill in one hand, ink on his face, and a sleeveless shirt showing pasty-white, heavily wrinkled arms that would fry immediately if they ever saw the sun. Which they probably wouldn’t. “I thought I heard someone. What is?—”
He sighted Daisy and lowered his quill. His pale gaze took in Lennox and Niall, and his lips pressed together.
“I choose Tarian,” Daisy said without preamble. “I told him everything. I will help him help Faerie, and in turn, he will help my family. I’m okay with that. I’m okay with what will happen to me should I fulfill this plan. Also…we made a deal about it. I’m pretty sure I have to at this point, anyway.”
“Yes, I see.” He hadn’t moved. “My gentle fae, would you excuse us, please? You may wait outside, or in the room just…there.”
He indicated another alcove blocked with something that looked like a metal door with a thick bolt locking it from the outside.
“Holy hell,” Daisy muttered.
Neither of the guys moved.
