Court faeries would obey as quickly as they had when he was still a king.
He ran to Leslie’s classroom; she wasn’t there.
The thread that once bound them lay silent.
Irial felt a surge of terror. In the centuries he’d led the Dark Court, Irial had only felt true terror one other time. Then, it had been Niall in danger; then, he had been useless. Now, he felt much the same: she was in danger, and he hadn’t been there to stop it.
Abject terror filled him as he ran through the streets seeking her, listening for her voice.
Then he heard her: “Ren, this is a mistake.”
Irial moved through the streets toward her voice, and just outside her door, he stopped. Leslie’s brother stood with a gun barrel shoved into her side. Irial could smell it, the bitter tang of cold steel. Steel wouldn’t kill him, nor would the copper and lead of the bullets inside the weapon. They would
If she were fey, he could safely pull her out of reach. If she were fey, she’d likely heal from a gunshot. She wasn’t.
“I’ll remedy that mistake,” Irial murmured.
Leslie’s hand shook so much that she dropped the key.
Ren smacked her with one hand while keeping the gun steadily pressed into her side. “Pick it up. Don’t try anything, Les. Really.”
“I don’t know how you think this is going to work.” She snatched up her keys. “You think my ex is going to just show up?”
Ren gave her an unreadable look. “No. I think you’re going to find a way to reach him or one of them—I don’t care which of them—and until one of them comes through your door, we’ll sit in your dive of an apartment and wait.”
She shoved the key in the lock and glared at him. “Then prepare to wait, because
A look of what seemed like regret crossed his face, but it passed in a breath. “We all do what we have to.”
Leslie opened the door, and for a brief moment as she stepped inside the building, the gun wasn’t against her. It didn’t last long enough to be of use.
She jumped as Ren closed the building door.
He gestured with the gun. “Up.”
“If I had said the word, he would’ve killed you,” Leslie said.
Ren followed her up the stairs. “Why didn’t you?”
“I’m not sure, Ren.” She paused on the last stair and glanced back at him. “Because real family protects each other?”
She shoved as hard as she could with both hands, and then she ran.
“Bitch!” Ren cursed and stumbled.
“Pleasepleaseplease.” She jammed the key into her apartment door and slammed it behind her. She threw the bolt with a shaking hand, and then retreated farther into the apartment.
She couldn’t leave. She couldn’t be sure whether he’d shoot through the door. She couldn’t think beyond the fear wrapped around her.
But it was. If Ren was looking for Irial, if he was looking for Niall, for Gabriel, for her Dark Court family, it did concern them. She pulled out her phone and pressed the button she’d programmed but never dialed, closed her eyes, and waited.
“Leslie.” Relief laced Irial’s voice. “Are you … safe?”
“Did you see him?” she started, and then quickly added, “Don’t come here!”
“Where are you?”
“My apartment,” she said.
“Alone?”
“I am the only one inside my apartment.” She shivered. His voice made her want to cry, even now.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, as if he could see. Memories of the way he’d held her when she wept came flooding back. “No,” she whispered.
“Stay inside. I’ll fix this.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks. Hearing his kindness and his darkness made her miss him as intensely as she had those first days after their bond was severed. “Don’t come. He wants to hurt you. Someone told him about you, about faeries. He’s here to … he says he’d let you pay more for his silence, but you can’t trust him. You
Irial sighed. “My beautiful Shadow Girl … no mortal will hurt me
A sob escaped her lips. “Ren’s in my building. He has a gun. I should call the police. I couldn’t … if you were hurt… I just… I don’t want him to ever hurt you, either of you. Neither of you can come in here. Someone else… I can’t ask anyone else to either. I just—”
“Hush, now,” Irial soothed. “I’ll stay exactly where I am. This will be fixed, and neither I nor Niall will be injured.”
“Promise?”
“We will not be injured by Ren, and I won’t move a step. I promise.” Irial’s voice was the same comforting croon that had kept her steady when she felt the horrible emotions that he had once funneled through her body.
She whispered, “I wish I was with you instead of here.”
Irial didn’t hesitate, didn’t make her regret her admission. He said, “Talk to me, love. Just talk to me while we wait.”
Irial wanted to rip the door from its frame, but to do so would mean that the building would be vulnerable. He stepped away from the doorway to her apartment building as Gabriel and Niall approached.
“Push the button to open the door, Leslie,” he said.
She gasped.
“Open the door,” he repeated.
“You said you wouldn’t move.” She pushed the button even as she said it.
“I didn’t. I said I wouldn’t take a step, and I didn’t.” Irial put one hand to the window in front of him, wishing he could move, wishing he could be the one to enter her building. He’d promised. He’d assured her that he wouldn’t move. He didn’t intend to twist his words with either Leslie or Niall if he could help it. If Niall were going in there alone, Irial wouldn’t be waiting so calmly, but Niall had Gabriel at his side, and the Hound would keep their king safe.