been a teenaged troll with a killer throwing arm. He’d chucked the pixie grenade that downed The Piper long enough for me to disrupt the Dance Macabre and free the children.
“Aw, was nothing,” he said.
The kid blushed and crossed one leg behind the other. I wanted to reach out and give him a hug, but settled for pulling the gift out of the shopping bag.
“Here,” I said. “I promised you a proper housewarming gift the next time I stopped by.”
Marvin’s face lit up and he forgot all about his embarrassment. I watched him tear away wrapping paper with large hands. His smile grew when he saw what was inside.
“Thank you, Ivy,” he said.
I beamed back at Marvin, glad he liked the gift. As an orphaned bridge troll, I didn’t think the kid got many presents. I’d have to stop by again soon with some of his favorite candy.
“Just don’t eat it all in one sitting,” I said.
Marvin opened the jar and started scooping honey into his mouth with bare hands. Now that he didn’t have to worry about offending Hob’s sense of decorum and fanatic need for cleanliness, the kid could eat his honey in unrestrained sticky glee.
I missed seeing Marvin around the Emporium, but I was happy for him. He’d garnered the courage to leave the safe confines of Kaye’s shop and found a place to call his own. I swallowed against the growing lump in my throat and flashed Marvin a smile. The kid was growing up.
I said my goodbyes, telling Marvin I had an important visit with the cat sidhe Sir Torn, and promised to return soon. I would have liked to have spent the day hanging out with the kid, but I had to chat with my new allies.
As I climbed up the embankment, a scraggly cat sat watching from the street.
“Hear that?” I asked. “You can tell Sir Torn I’m on my way.”
Instead of scampering off to inform Sir Torn of my arrival, the cat blinked at me. He dropped down, spreading his hind legs in an L position with one leg up in the air, and started licking his balls.
“Ew, really?” I asked. “You think this is a good time for that? This is exactly why I will never have a cat. My unicorn would never do something so vile.”
The cat stopped and glared at me, then returned to its grooming. I looked directly at the creature with my second sight to see if it was a cat sidhe in disguise, but the cat was mundane. I shook my head and ambled on toward Club Nexus. I had a date with the Lord of Cats.
As I walked, I considered the upcoming meeting. I hoped I didn’t stumble on Sir Torn
I chuckled and sauntered up Joysen Hill.
Chapter 33
I strode down the empty street, hands loose at my sides. My throwing knives could easily be drawn with a flick of the wrist and I was armed with wooden stakes at my belt, a silver cross beneath my shirt, and a pocketful of iron shavings. The club looked quiet, but the place was a center of supernatural activity. Who knew what badass monsters lurked in the shadows? Better safe than dead.
I gave a curt nod to the ogre bouncer across the street working the club door. The bouncer shifted his weight and rolled his shoulders to show off bulging muscles and the guns strapped beneath his suit jacket. The ogre was ready to rumble if anyone on the street was foolish enough to pick a fight—good to know.
I stayed upwind of the ogre’s stench and crossed the street at the corner. I flashed a tentative smile at the cat sidhe kits milling about the sidewalk. The narrow alleyway where I’d previously met with Torn was right where I remembered it.
That probably shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. I half expected the entrance to the cat sidhe’s alley to be limited to access through the club only. I let out a slow breath and flexed my hands. It was time to see if the faerie lord was in residence.
I stepped into the alley and halted as a large, furry tank of a cat hissed and blocked my path. I wondered idly if I should have brought some Fancy Feast or cans of tuna. I was now allied with the cat sidhe, but I had no idea what the usual customs for visiting a cat sidhe lord entailed. Another question I should have asked Kaye before leaving the Emporium.
My rescue came in the form of a man dressed in leathers decorated with fur, bones, and feathers. Sir Torn leapt down from a fire escape with a flourish. Shadows swirled around the man as he bowed mockingly, a half smile on his lips.
“And to what do I owe the honor, princess?” he asked.
“First, I’d like to thank you and your court for coming to our aid in the battle against The Piper and Melusine,” I said.
“And the rats,” he said.
“Yes, of course, and the rats,” I said.
I had a nagging suspicion that the opportunity to slaughter a horde of rats had tipped the scales in my favor. I doubted the cat sidhe would come to my aid if I faced, say, a barguest or a rabid loup garou.
“We are now allies,” he said spreading his hands. “You will find that cat sidhe make excellent bed fellows.”
Torn quirked his lips and looked like the cat that ate the canary. He leaned close and purred.
“If you’d like to continue satisfying your bed fellows, I suggest you take a step back,” I said. “I don’t like sharing my personal space. It’s a thing.”
Torn’s eyes widened as he looked down to see one of my blades perilously close to his, as Jinx would say, man parts. He raised his hands and took a step back.
“You can’t blame a fellow for trying, Princess,” he said. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that. So why are you here, alone, if not for the pleasure of my singular company?”
“My reason for coming is a confidential matter,” I said. “Is there somewhere we can speak in private?”
Torn gestured for me to step forward. I held my breath and moved closer to the cat sidhe. Torn reached into a dark crevice between two bricks and pulled a shadow around us like an inky, black cloak. I could see nothing inside the shadow, but I could feel Torn’s presence. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming.
“Everything is hush-hush now, princess,” he said. “You know my cat sidhe can be trusted, so why the clandestine cloak-and-dagger business? I’m guessing this shall be interesting.”
In fact, I didn’t trust any of the cat sidhe, but that was beside the point. This conversation was between me and Torn. What I had to say could not breach these walls, or shadows, or whatever.
“Our ears only?” I asked.
I winced and hoped the cat sidhe couldn’t see me in the dark. Torn only had one tattered ear, the other was no more than a cratered lump of scar tissue. I’d have to refrain from mentioning ears if I wanted to stay on the cat lord’s good side.
“Yes, princess,” he said. “It’s just you and me.”
I felt the cat sidhe’s breath on my neck and gripped my knives.
“Touch me Torn and, allies or not, I’ll carve your good ear to match,” I said.
Oops. So much for not drawing attention to his disfigurements. I had a real knack for pissing people off. Jinx said it was my secret superpower, like I needed anymore of those.
“Symmetry may not be such a punishment,” he said. “Tyger, tyger, burning bright, in the forests of the night, what immortal hand or eye, could frame thy fearful symmetry?”
I snorted. Faeries and their damned love of poetry, it was like a disease. I was pretty sure that William Blake’s tiger hadn’t been a cat sidhe, but you never know. Torn’s been around long enough. At least he wasn’t quoting Shakespeare. Most fae are obsessed with
“I don’t have time for games, Torn,” I said. “I need information.”
