“I need to consult with you on something,” I said.
Mab tilted her head.
“Lara,” I said. “Last summer when she touched me, she was burned. On Halloween, she wasn’t. I don’t understand why.”
Mab stared at me for a long moment. She took a sip of ice wine, considering.
“Twice,” she said, “you have loved. And twice death has claimed that love.”
I grunted.
“The protection granted from the White Court by love is not a mechanical process. It is an interaction of energy. Where that energy exists, it threatens the White Court. It exists under specific circumstances. When those circumstances have changed, it exists no more.”
“You’re telling me death defeats love?” I asked dully.
Mab regarded me. “Poetry does not suit you, my Knight. To accept love and give it back in equal measure, one must believe one is worthy of it. By your own judgment of yourself, you have failed. Twice.”
There wasn’t an actual knife sticking in my heart, but it felt like an argument could have been made. I closed my eyes.
But it made sense. The older I got, the more I realized that most of the things that happen to you in life are your own doing.
But it hurt.
I opened my eyes. Mab was staring at me with the oddest expression, one I couldn’t read. Maybe the emotion behind it wasn’t something a human could understand. I don’t know.
“One day,” I said quietly, “I’m going to be free of you.”
Free.
Little word.
It hung in the air between us.
Mab’s eyes glittered. Her rich lips spread slowly, showing me her pointed canine teeth. “Perhaps,” she purred, “but not today.”
Difficult to argue with that one.
“Eat,” Mab said quietly. “Thou shalt need thy strength, my Knight. One way or another.”
Difficult to argue with that one, too.
Besides. Of late, I was hungry most of the time anyway.
“Of course thou art,” Mab noted, almost idly. “Thy mind and spirit heal. Thy flesh must follow.”
A small, cold thrill went through my belly. Followed by a flash of annoyance.
“Stop that,” I said.
Mab…Okay, it wasn’t a giggle. I refuse to believe that’s possible. But it was a low, smug, satisfied sound she made that was technically laughter.
“Am I to take that as the boon thou dost crave?”
Another joke. I scowled at her, and she made the laughing sound again. Instead of answering her, I ate a few bites of steak and cheese.
She watched, her expression relaxed and satisfied. She nibbled a bit more cheese. Sipped a bit more wine. Just two people having dinner.
Hah.
