“I– Yes.I didn’t mean to.Really.”
“See.We’re all friends now.So, why don’t you tell us where Nimai is, so that Declan can kill him?My feet are already killing me in these shoes.”
As Talia was wearing the same beaten-up tennis shoes she always seemed to, Antonio spared her a sideways look.
“Kill him?”Calloway asked, brow furrowed.“You can’t… He’sdangerous.”
The real fear in Calloway’s voice was the last thing Antonio needed to hear.Still, the plan was the plan.
“Yeah, that’s the point.He’s not gonna stop until he’s dealt with.”
“You’ve already gone to the trouble of getting us his name.Now we merely need his location.”
Calloway edged closer to Talia and earned a smile for his trouble.
“I saw him upstairs, a little away from the hosts.He’s with his sidhe friend.”
“Kesk?That sidhe?”Declan asked, knuckles continuing to brush against Antonio’s.
“I think so?Yes.The one whose brother’s–” Calloway glanced to either side, then lowered his voice.“The one whose brother had a human father.”
“Hyacinth’s an old friend,” Declan said, dry as ash.“I don't suppose he’s here?”
“I didn't look.Maybe.It's a party.”He was looking at Antonio again with those huge, sad eyes.“I… I really was trying to help.But all I ended up doing was proving everyone right about me.”
What the hell was he supposed to say to that?
“People are only right about you until you make them wrong.”Talia patted Calloway’s arm again.For all that she remained a chubby, diminutive teenager with a spark of mischief in her eyes, there was something about her amused, dismissive manner that felt much much older.“I’m sure you’re not the first fae to try to murder Declan.Seriously, I’m surprised any of you live more than a century.”
“I wasn’ttryingto kill anyone.I thought I was saving Antonio.The other ones were sent by– Not by me.”
“Sure,” Antonio said, just to get the guy to stop looking at him.It didn’t work.“We still good, Murderpunk?This Kesk gonna be a problem?”
“For our purposes, Kesk is a boon.He’s almost guaranteed to have his bond and entourage nearby.And Nimai cannot afford to lose face in front of so valuable a friend.”Declan murmured, his narrowed eyes on Calloway.“However, Kesk could be a problem for little wisps who talk about how his mother consorts with humans.I can’t decide if you’re sillier than I thought or have a scrap of bravery in you.”
Calloway blushed lavender.“Even I know to toss up a distraction ward.”
“And that,” Declan said, “is how some of us survive past a hundred.Even if we insist on being fucking fae about it.”
“What else would we be?”Calloway asked with a frown.
“People, puppy,” Talia replied.“You and the rest could try being people.”
Antonio wanted to bolt.To drag Declan along with him and beanywhereelse.Somewhere without naked fucking fae everywhere he looked and the promise of blood in the air.The garage, Declan with his glamour down, and the safety of iron around both of them.Declan sitting on the hood of the Mustang, and Antonio kneeling between his spread knees.
Da.Da.Da.
Yeah.
Wanted that.
But this,this,was his life.Was Declan’s life.There’d be no getting away from it, and if the idea of Declan fighting made him sick, the idea of him beinghuntedwas worse.They had to do this now.
Fuck, but he didn’t want to lose him.
“Sounds like now’s as good a time as any,” he said, with a nod to the stairs.“Let’s get this over with before Nimai hears we’re around.”
“Let’s,” Declan agreed, his gaze raking up the length of the stairs.“Talia, if you bring a wisp home, Bo will have my hide.”
