Unlike during our first encounter, this time Connor actually wore clothes over a body I knew was muscular and lean. Eyes of a familiar intense blue met mine. They were framed by hair the color of moonlight—he'd cut it since the last time I'd seen him—and his skin looked like it had never seen the touch of the sun.
Even in a mundane police station, he looked like something out of a story book. A fey creature come to slum it with us mere mortals. Purity radiated from him—a sereneness that threatened to soak into my very being.
I shook the feeling off. I might not be as angry and antisocial as I once was, but I still liked my prickly surliness, thank you very much. I had no intention of shedding it just because I liked the current trajectory of my life.
"What are you doing here?" I managed to say through my surprise.
He paused as the door I’d just exited opened again. Pelt stormed past, shooting a long, lingering look in our direction before she turned the corner and was gone.
When we were alone, I focused on Connor and the question of his presence.
It wasn't that I was ungrateful he'd sprung me from the specter of jail; I was. But I also wasn't big on surprises. Both Liam and Thomas had spent centuries looking for this man. Having him here, now, springing little ole me from the police was unexpected.
Yes, I'd freed him from the glamor he was under, but I hadn't seen him since.
Connor didn't answer, instead peering at the TV with a childlike curiosity. "The human world is so strange. Is this how they see the world now?"
I glanced at the screen. "Not really. It's a story. Make believe."
Connor's head tilted. "Fascinating."
"Ah ha," I managed.
I guess if I had been locked into a stag's form for as long as he had I'd find the modern world fascinating too. It still didn't explain what he was doing here.
"Did you break me out of jail to ask me about Anime?"
Not that I was really complaining. It was a lot nicer on this side of the door.
"I was under the impression you still had trouble with the sun. Was I wrong?"
He wasn't.
"No, you're right."
Much to my continued dismay.
I'd made great strides into being able to resist the call of slumber when the sun rose, but my willpower could only do so much.
Connor waited; expectation filled his expression as he faced me more fully.
I started to thank him and paused, studying him. Connor had spent years with the Fae, more than a century I suspected. It stood to reason some of their habits had worn off on him.
For Fae, words of gratitude were binding. Thank a Fae and you would quickly find yourself owing on debts that you wouldn't want to repay. I already had enough of those in this life. I saw no reason to add more.
"What do you want?" I asked instead.
He made a small sound, his fingers moving restlessly against his thigh.
Yeah, not as easy a mark as he'd thought. Many of my customers were Fae. You picked up a thing or two after a while.
"To do you a favor," he finally said.
"Why?"
The corner of his eyes tightened. "So, you'll feel obligated to do me a favor in return."
Of course.
