'You really are an asshole, Adan.'
I opened myself wholly to the flood of magic, and I fed it with hurt, and betrayal, and loneliness and rage. I spiked it with everything in me that was still human. My body warmed and my vision sharpened. The swarm pressed against Adan's halo of moonlight, and the light dimmed. Then it darkened. Then it was gone.
The swarm moved to Adan and settled around his head. Then it began moving down the length of his body. He fought and screamed as the swarm devoured his flesh. His struggling didn't move me, and my dampening spell swallowed the sound of his death. Whatever he had been, in the end Adan died just like anything else.
When its work was done, the black cloud floated back to the jar and disappeared inside. I replaced the lid and the hellish droning subsided. I collapsed onto the floor and gasped for air as the juice burned through me. Finally, I raised my head and looked at what I had done.
What was left of the thing that had been Adan looked more like petrified wood than human remains. I struggled to my feet and walked slowly over to the body. Adan didn't smell like apples and cinnamon anymore. That wonderful smell hadn't been real, anyway. It had just been the changeling's glamour. Just another lie.
'I'm sorry, Domino,' Honey said.
'I told you, we're good. Don't worry about it.'
'That's not what I mean.'
'I know.' I stood there and looked at her. I didn't say anything else and I didn't turn away. Finally, Honey flew to me, perched on my shoulder and wrapped her arms around my neck.
'I can't cry,' I whispered.
'I'll do it for you,' she said, and I felt her tears on my skin.
After a few moments, Honey disengaged, wiped her face and hovered in the air beside me. 'What will you do with it, Domino?'
I didn't have the energy to haul the corpse into the desert and bury it, and I didn't really want to make Anton do it, either. This was my mess. I lifted the body and was astonished at how light it was, despite my exhaustion, as if the remains were little more than a husk or shell. From what Honey had told me, I knew that fairies were really just corporeal spirits. The changeling had been more juice than mass, and now all the juice was in the soul jar.
I carried the corpse across the room and set it down in front of Honey's gate. I went back into the living room, sprawled onto the couch and crossed over into the Between.
Mrs. Dawson was standing in the middle of the room with her hands covering her mouth. She was sobbing quietly.
'It's okay, Mrs. Dawson. Everything is going to be all right. I'm sorry you had to see that. Really, I am.'
'You murdered him. Right there, in the middle of my living room. You're a monster.'
'Maybe you're right, Mrs. Dawson. But he wasn't human. He killed three of my men and he came here tonight to kill me. I did what I had to do. I'm just sorry it had to happen here.'
'It was so horrible.'
'You're really not going to like this next part. Maybe you should go into the bedroom for a while.' The ghost left the room and closed the door behind her. I could still hear her crying.
I went to the gate, reached through, and pulled the changeling's corpse into the Between. I went to the closet and took a hammer, nails and a box cutter from the toolbox. I dragged Adan's body out into the hallway, stood it up and nailed it to the front door.
This was probably enough of a message for any fairy assholes who stopped by, but I wanted to make sure nothing else would be able to use Honey's gate. I sliced the palm of my hand with the box cutter and incandescent blue juice began to spill from the wound. I used the juice to paint warding sigils on the door frame. I couldn't actually spin the wards in the Between, but I could power them up when I crossed back to my world.
I opened and closed the door a few times to make sure the corpse would remain in place, and then went back inside. There was no sign of Mrs. Dawson. I had a feeling I wouldn't see her for a while. I let the spell unwind and crossed back into my world.
Honey was there, waiting for me to finish the cleanup. 'What are we going to do with those guys in my nest?'
'I don't know, Honey. It was your idea to put them there.'
'Yeah, but I really didn't think about what to do with them, after.'
I went to the closet and replaced the tools, then drew my forty-five from the shoulder holster hanging there. I didn't say anything as I walked to the kitchen. I was thinking about what a forty-five caliber bullet would do to a body that was eight inches tall and change. I was way too tired to spin a spell, though, so the gun would have to do.
'Wait, Domino,' Honey said. She hovered in front of me, blocking my way. 'I don't want you to kill them.'
'Why not? My outfit is at war, and they're enemy soldiers. You don't want them in your nest, and I can't think of anything else to do with them.'
'I'm on your side, Domino, but they're still my people. Not exactly the same, I mean, but they're still fey folk. Anyway, they're not just soldiers, they're sidhe.'
'She who?'
'Not she, sidhe. They're like the nobility. And I think they could be useful. The Seelie Court will want them back. You can hold them hostage.'
I had to admit, it wasn't a bad idea. The two fairies didn't seem like a lot of leverage, but they gave me more than I'd have without them. Besides, it wasn't like Honey would have to share her nest with them. Her family-all twenty-seven of them-was busy building a new one in my office. I'd moved the laptop and Mr. Clean into my bedroom.
'Okay, they can live. But they have to stay in your nest. I don't have anywhere else to put them.' I grabbed a beer from the fridge, returned the gun to the closet and retreated to the couch. Honey flew over and landed on the coffee table.
'We need to talk about what's going to happen next. We need to plan our next move.'
'It's over,' I said. 'The good guys won. Papa Danwe is going to have a big fucking problem, but that's just a loose end. The changeling is dead and Rashan is safe. Your king's invasion has no chance with Rashan still in play. He knew that-that's why he had to take him out.' I shook my head. 'He had to have been planning this for more than twenty years. He planted the changeling on Rashan and then waited all this time to make his move.'
'King Oberon is immortal, Domino. He takes a very, very long view of things. It's been more than five hundred years since fairies were able to dwell in Arcadia. What's another twenty?'
'Okay, but that brings up another question. Why here? I get why the Seelie Court wants back in. I get that they've been thinking about it for a long time. But why L.A.? Why Rashan's territory? Shouldn't they have their hearts set on Ireland or something?'
'We're drawn to the magic, Domino. The magic of that place was strong once, but now it's stronger here. And your boss controls more juice in L.A. than anyone else.'
'It just seems like it would have been easier and safer for this Oberon to start small and work his way up. Why come straight for Rashan?'
'King Oberon can't start small. The Seelie Court needs a lot of juice just to survive in this world. The magic is like oxygen for us.'
I nodded. I'd known that, and it was one of many little hints and clues that eventually came together in my subconscious and led me to the truth. The talk with Rashan had just confirmed my suspicions. Honey had filled in the details.
'Well, that's just it. The fey can't start with just a little magic, any more than you could make do with a little oxygen. They can only survive in a place that's filled with it. You said it yourself-your enemy had to be something that needed a lot more magic than a spirit would.'
'Well, anyway, it's over now,' I said. 'Your King Oberon failed. His changeling is dead. Rashan is alive. I guess he'll just have to wait a little longer and try somewhere else.'
'He won't stop, Domino. Killing Rashan would have made it a lot easier, but he's still coming. It takes a while for his plans to unfold, but once they do, he sees it through to the end. To tell you the truth, despite all his lore and wisdom, he's a lot like a little boy with a one-track mind.'
'Then Rashan will crush him. Not only that, we'll rally all the outfits to our flag. Maybe not Papa Danwe-he
