Expertly, Inara avoided my swipe, darting in for another attack. "How the hell did you get another one of those?"
I leaned away from the annoying pixie. "Do you really think I'd let anyone else put another mark on me?"
I already had too many of them. No way would I chance another one.
"I don't even know how I got it," I yelled.
Inara stopped attacking me, hovering in midair, her face flushed and her hair disheveled as she panted. "How long have you had it?"
All eyes found me as I paused, considering.
That was a good question. I really wished I had an answer.
Inara gaped at me. "How can you not know?"
"It's not like I spend my time staring at them."
"It is older than the rest," Connor said looking up from where he was still bent over my wrist.
That silenced the both of us.
"That's not possible," I finally said. "I would have known if I'd had a pair of birds on me for that long."
Inara flew in a tight circle mumbling to herself.
I ignored her as Connor straightened, a thoughtful look on his face.
"You should also know the sorcerer's mark seems to be unraveling which should be impossible." He blinked at me. "I find all this quite interesting."
"Son of a bitch," I whispered.
There went my evening—and possibly my next hundred years.
FIVE
I SHOVED OFF the couch, unable to sit still for another minute with this news. "I need to go."
While we'd been speaking, the last few rays of sunlight had faded from the sky, and night had once again arrived.
"Where?" Inara demanded.
I shook my head at her, not answering, as I walked toward my entryway table to collect my keys and messenger bag.
I needed to think about this. Consider the ramifications. I couldn't shoot from the hip as I'd done in the past and hope things worked out.
It was entirely possible I was panicking for nothing. I wasn't the same naive vampire of a few years ago. I had friends now. Allies.
Vampires weren't the monsters I'd once feared. If Thomas suddenly had claim to my life, it wasn’t the end of the world. It wasn’t good, but it also wasn’t anything to lose my mind over.
"Aileen!" Inara cut in front of me, her wings a blur. "We need to talk about this."
"Later. Right now, I have places to be."
And questions to ask.
Already I was moving into damage control mode. Creating a to-do list as long as my arm. The problem presented by the Scattered took precedence. Good thing I already had plans with the one person outside of a Fae who could help me shed some light on the situation.
I grabbed the messenger bag, checking that everything I had left in it was still there. With pixies as roommates, it paid to be careful. They had a distressing tendency to relocate personal belongings for their own amusement.
