'Yeah, I can't stop laughing.' I shook my head. 'The one thing I don't understand is why use sorcery at all? If Oberon wants to take down Rashan, why not just nuke him with fairy magic?'
'They know each other, Domino. I think they've known each other a really long time. They aren't friends, obviously. I think your boss has defenses against glamour, but that's not the only reason. There are stories. It's said the last time they faced each other there was a treaty, and King Oberon promised to never again use his magic against the sorcerer.'
'Seems like your king broke that promise when he sent the changeling after him.'
Honey shrugged. 'I guess it depends on what his definition of 'his magic' is.'
'He's worse than a fucking politician.' I wondered why Rashan hadn't bothered to mention any of this. Then again, I'd learned not to waste too much time on that kind of wondering. 'He is a politician, Domino. A really good one.'
'Well, he hasn't changed my opinion of them much.'
'So what about us?' Honey was looking at the gun in my hand. I put it back in its holster.
'I guess I probably won't shoot you.'
'Maybe I deserve it. I'd rather die than betray you.' She started crying, and I didn't like hearing it. 'Maybe that sounds stupid, but it's really true. I'll do anything if you can just forgive me and we can still be friends.'
'Take a shower with me?'
The crying stopped, and Honey blushed.
'Just kidding,' I said. 'But I'll think about it.' I winked at her and smiled.
Honey laughed and shook her head.
'The thing is, Honey, I don't have many friends in Arcadia, either.' I swallowed hard. 'And I betrayed you, too. When we first met, I used a spell to read your mind.'
'What did you see?'
'Enough to know you're not to blame for any of this. Enough to know I'd be lucky to have a friend like you. And I'm sorry.'
Honey started crying again, but this was a different sound, one I could live with. 'Thank you, Domino,' she whispered.
I nodded. 'Okay, just two more things. What's Adan planning to do with your gate, and what are we going to do about your family?'
The piskie smiled, and there was an evil gleam in her eye.
Adan arrived at my condo right on time. I buzzed him up and went to meet him at the door. When I opened it, he was standing there wearing faded jeans and a snug white T-shirt, with a sports bag slung over his shoulder. It was the kind of unremarkable image-just a guy standing in a hallway-that nevertheless breaks over a girl and pulls her in, making her feel that all is right with the world. It made me think of razor blades and sleeping pills.
I let him in and he gave me a quick kiss. He set the bag by the couch and went into the kitchen to fix us some drinks. I sat down on the sofa to wait. I'd like to say I didn't feel anything, but I guess I'm not that tough. I hurt like hell, and just like in the Between, I couldn't tell exactly where the pain was coming from.
Adan came out of the kitchen with two glasses and a bottle of tequila. He smiled at me. I looked at him, and for a moment, he was all I'd ever wanted. He smiled again and came to me.
When he reached the middle of the living room, he crossed the circle I'd laid down with saltwater. I'd been a little apprehensive about it, but I followed Honey's directions to the letter. The changeling never even noticed, never sensed the trap until it was much too late. I tapped the ley line running under my building and channeled it into the circle.
When the circle closed, Adan noticed. His eyes narrowed and the beginnings of a snarl tugged at his mouth, but he quickly controlled it. He kept walking and a few steps brought him up against the other side of the circle. He bumped into the magical barrier and stepped back. He looked confused. It was very convincing.
'Domino, what's going on? There's an invisible wall in your living room!'
I considered playing along, letting him have his moment. I decided I had better things to do.
I picked up his sports bag. I set it on my lap, unzipped it and pulled out the soul jar. Its magic was strong, old and black. Holding it was like telling a secret.
'What is that? I didn't put that thing in my bag. Domino, strange things have been happening to me. You'll probably think I'm crazy, but…I think something is inside me. I think maybe I'm possessed. Is that possible? Is this… Can you help me?'
'Yeah, I can help you, Adan. But I won't lie to you. It's gonna sting a little bit.'
Right on cue, Adan called out in the lilting pre-Celtic language of his people. The spatial fabric of my living room stretched and thinned, and two fey warriors came through the gate. They had long, perfectly straight, silken hair, and their features were far too fine and sharp to be human. They were very tall, and their bodies were heroin-chic thin but bound in corded muscle that made them look dangerous rather than delicate. They were dressed more like street kids than elf lords, with battered jeans, T-shirts and trench coats. They held long, straight swords like they meant to use them.
While impressive, all of this was little more than a fleeting image. As soon as the fairies stepped through the gate, they were bound to Honey's nest on the kitchen table. The audible pops as they disappeared were followed by two tiny splashes as the miniaturized elf warriors were dropped unceremoniously into Honey's lagoon. That had been the piskie's idea.
Adan screamed and threw himself at the magical barrier, clawing at it like a wild animal at the bars of its cage. He stilled himself quickly, though, and his look of rage and madness was replaced by one of quiet terror when he saw what I was doing.
I got up from the couch and knelt on the floor before the circle. I set the soul jar in front of me and placed my hand on the lid. Then I lifted my head and locked eyes with Adan. To his credit, I suppose, he didn't beg for his life. He stared back at me defiantly, but the fear still gnawed at the edge of whatever sanity he'd been given when he was made.
'It doesn't matter anymore, lover,' he said, his voice a harsh whisper. 'You can't change what is happening. The Shining Host of the Seelie Court is coming, and this world will have a new king.'
I nodded. 'You're probably right. Your death probably wouldn't serve anything. It won't bring back the guys you killed.'
'I can be him, Domino. I can be anything you want.' The words were soft and seductive.
'So this is really just payback.'
I tapped the line and poured juice into the circle and the soul jar. 'And your very flesh shall be a great poem,' I said. It was more power than I'd ever wielded. I didn't really tap the ley line-I just opened myself to it. The tidal wave of power broke over me, and for a moment I feared the magic would unmake me. The juice gave birth to the ritual, and the ritual slouched toward Adan like a wolf taking a helpless lamb. I couldn't do it exactly the same way the changeling had. The juice was different, and so was the spell. The soul jar came as advertised, though.
When I removed the lid, a black cloud, like thousands of tiny flies, swarmed out of the jar. An insectile droning filled the room, but there were no real insects in the swarm. They were too indistinct, shapeless, like figments of void suspended in the air.
Adan fought. The circle prevented him from using his magic against me, but he could still use it to protect himself. He began to sing in that musical tongue, and a silver glow, like moonlight, surrounded him and held the dark swarm at bay. The song was beautiful, and so was the monster.
His form began to change, slowly at first, but then faster and faster. He was a child, perhaps three years old, Adan as a little boy with curly hair and eyes large enough to swallow the world. He was something ancient and glorious, with leaves and vines woven through the long, straight hair of the elf lords, crowned with the antlers of a great stag. He was an old woman and a young mother, a blood-drenched warrior and a shining prince.
The silver glow pulsed and pressed against the swarm, and the changeling's magic warred with my own. The ritual broke against Adan's will like surf against the rocks, and it retreated, flowing into me, immersing me in juice as cold as space.
Adan's form was again as I had known him. He threw out his arms and his chant rose until it thundered in my ears. He smiled. I felt the life and heat leached from my body as the dark magic inundated me. My sight blurred and narrowed, and I thought I would sink into that cold river forever.
