I dropped back to my heels and smiled up at him, enjoying the slightly frustrated expression. That should teach him to taunt me.
I swished past him out of the alcove, my shoulder brushing the front of his tuxedo as I began to slip by him.
His hand shot out, cupping the back of my neck as he pulled me slightly into him.
“Aileen.” He waited until I turned to look at him. “Only use it if absolutely necessary.”
I nodded, understanding the warning as his hand slid away.
I stepped fully out of the alcove, never suspecting my promise would be tested so quickly as I staggered to a stop.
CHAPTERTEN
I nearly choked on my spit as a being straight out of my worst nightmare blocked my path. He was tall, his head only a foot below the ceiling, a red substance that looked like blood dripping from the red helmet atop his head. It made him seem even bigger than he was, and he already looked like a small giant.
But the red stuff couldn’t be blood. Civilized beings didn’t walk around with blood dripping from their heads. I didn’t care if they were Fae or not.
His arms were the size of tree trunks. He wasn’t quite as big as a bridge troll but he wasn’t far off.
His face was a stony mask as he surveyed his surroundings, his gaze passing over me as if I was no more a threat than a fly. I was okay with that. Really.
Liam’s hand touched my back.“Steady.”
I nodded, despite the strong urge to pull the Judge.
“The red cap is a guard. He won’t hurt you unless provoked,” Liam continued in a murmur meant only for my ears.
I nodded again. That didn’t really make me feel much better. I had a terrible habit of being provoking.
“How can he wander around the city without people losing their minds?” I asked in a near hiss. It was a legitimate question. Social media alone should have blown up if anybody caught a snap of the big guy.
Liam paused.“You’re probably seeing him in his natural form.”
“What do you see?” I asked. For once, my ability to see under illusions was not one I cherished. I could have gone a lifetime not knowing what lay under the Red Cap’s glamour and been perfectly happy.
“A man. Slightly taller than me, wearing armor that would be better suited to a period three hundred years in our past,” he murmured.
“I wish I saw that.”
“I can imagine,” Liam said, his voice grim.
I finally noticed what I should have before. A woman standing slightly to the right of the guard, her covetous gaze fastened on Liam.
She was beautiful, probably more so than any other womanI’d ever seen, which was saying something, since vampires tended to pick their companions with an eye to their looks. Her face possessed a flawless perfection almost painful to look at.
If the sun had been molded into the shape of a human, she was the form it would have taken. Her hair nearly shimmered, a golden-white blond that fell in soft waves down her back. She was clad in a dress appearing both delicate and impossible as it clung to what few curves she had before falling to the ground in a graceful arc.
She should have been untouchable, with the sort of beauty only found in paintings created by long dead masters. Instead, all I could see was lust coupled with greed stamped on her features as she looked at Liam. It drained some of the light, revealing dark shadows beneath her pretty surface.
“My pet, it has been ages,” the woman said, her gaze never leaving Liam who had gone stock-still at my side.
I didn’t have to look at his face to read how unwelcome the sight of this woman was.
“Niamh.” He spoke her name in a low voice, more for my benefit than hers.
She glided toward us, her advance silent as she seemed to float over the wooden floor. I might have been invisible for all the attention she paid me. The red cap lumbered by her side.
Behind them, two Fae men paused, taking note of the unfolding scene. The two were nearly identical; obviously twins. Tall and thin with an athletic build, their faces held a hint of cruelty. Their hair was the color of autumn leaves and their eyes the amber of tree sap.
