His hands stroked my back, the touch drugging. I put my head back on his chest. The faintest trace of a heartbeat fluttered against my ear as he went back to playing with my hair, picking it up and letting it fall with a fascinated expression on his face.
“Speaking of our Fae friends, what did they get up to today?” I asked, needing a change of subject. I assumed he knew since he’d evidently been up most of the day.
His hand stroked along my back as he shifted under me, trying to get comfortable.
“They met with the witch’s hag,” he said.
Not good. I couldn’t think of a worse partnership than Niamh and Sarah. The two apart were forces in their own right, both as tricky and devious as the other. Together they would be a nightmare to deal with.
“I’m still surprised Sarah agreed to an alliance with them,” I said.“She doesn’t strike me as the type to work well with others.”
“She’s not,” Liam said.“But she hates Thomas. She’d do anything to bring him down.”
That was a depth of hatred I just couldn’t understand. Whatever had caused the enmity between them had happened centuries ago. To still be plotting and scheming to get back at Thomas, took a dangerous amount of persistence.
I sighed as the sun sank fully below the horizon, the tight feeling in my chest loosening for the first time sinceI’d awoken.
Liam’s knowing gaze was on me when I looked back up.“It’ll get better with time.”
I sure hoped so. Being this conscious of the sun’s movements was disconcerting.
“There’s still one thing that’s bugging me,” I said.
His chest moved under me as he chuckled. He ran his fingers through my hair, smoothing it out.“Just one?”
“That first attack, how did the person know I would head for the troll?” I said thinking out loud.
His fingers paused as he gave consideration to my observation.“You assume the troll’s sleep was because of you.”
“You don’t?”
“I had the enforcers check on a few other of the known Fae in the city, especially the powerful ones. Two others were in a deep slumber like your friend,” he said.
Which meant Hector and the butterfly might have been a coincidence. I could almost see that.
“I don’t think the attack on us was on purpose,” I said, thinking out loud.
He shifted his head so he could see me better.“What makes you say that?”
“It was sloppy, and it doesn’t fit with everything else going on. I think whoever did it saw an opportunity and took it.”
It would explain a lot. My bet was the witches at the bar. Whether it was revenge for getting them kicked out or because of my connection with Angela, they made the most sense.
Once you took Hector out of the equation, the attack pointed directly at the witches.
“We should get going,” I said.“I’m sure whatever Niamh and her companions are after won’t wait much longer.”
I still had to get to the bottom of Niamh’s role in my niece’s sickness, and Liam probably had to make a plan of action with his people.
Liam’s face was regretful as he stood, stretching that long expanse of fine skin over glorious muscles. He pointed to a door to my left.“You can take a shower in there.”
I nodded, getting a good look around the bedroom for the first time sinceI’d woken. It was surprisingly sparse, just a big wooden bed with a dark coverlet and strong, dark pieces interspersed throughout the room.
“Where are we?” I asked.
The room lacked the easy charm of his house, leading me to believe he’d taken us somewhere else.
“The Gargoyle,” he said.“The sun was already up by the time we left the hospital. This was closer and it was safer to wait out the day here.”
