“Myrcedes-”
“Get out of the way.” I cut him off, taking a step toward the weeping mess of a man, dagger still in hand. Daath stepped in front of me and grabbed my arm. I pushed him and slammed into his shoulder with my free arm. He stumbled backward but recovered quickly enough to catch my wrist while it was still lowered, taking the weapon from my hand. “Daath!”
“Myrcedes, listen to me! I know what you want. It will come. But if we can dig, he could have answers. He could have other names. Don’t you want that?”
I paused, crossing away from Daath and Oli. I leaned my arms against the wall and tried to think. He had a point. I needed more information. I needed to know why he was there, what he did, and who else was involved. But all I could think about was getting revenge… I’d never been a vengeful person before, but I’d never had so strong a reason as I did now to seek vengeance. The energy surrounding our bodies wasn’t visible in the House of Stars, but I could feel my anger emanating from me in waves, nonetheless.
I felt Daath’s hand on my shoulder.
“All is well, little owl,” he said softly. “I don’t plan to deny you what you want, what you deserve. We just need to get the information first. I promise you.”
I took a deep breath and nodded, standing up straight. “Fine. You’re right… I want to know the second you know anything about this. And as soon as he stops having the answers, you’re done with him, and you call me. Got it?”
“P-please,” Oli’s voice broke from the corner of the floor where he cowered. “Have mercy…”
“Mercy?” I turned to him slowly, feeling my rage flare once again. “Mercy? You want me to have mercy? On a man whose spinelessness led to the death of my mother, my father?” I realized I was shouting, but I didn’t exert any energy to calm myself. I felt Daath’s eyes on me, but since I didn’t have a weapon, I was practically harmless. You know, besides the mass of purple fire I could spray from my palms to incinerate someone.
The Unseelie cowered on the floor and held his hands over his head. “No, no! Please! I don’t remember! Whatever I did, I did because she made me, I would never have hurt a fly unless she forced me to!”
“I hope for your sake,” Daath interjected, “you’re telling the truth. Even if you don’t remember it, I’m going to find out what happened.”
I glared in Oli’s direction, struggling to find something to say, but there was no way to express how I felt without building myself up to do something stupid.
“I’m going home.”
“To the castle?” Daath stroked my back gently. “You don’t want to stay-”
“I’m going home to Seattle,” I shook my head. “If I stay here… I’m going to do something I’ll regret.”
The dark-haired giant nodded at me. “I understand, my love.”
I turned to leave and paused to pick up the dagger from where Daath had tossed it. In addition to the etching on the blade, the hilt looked like pure gold and had writing on it. “This is ancient… isn’t it?”
“Hm?” Daath came over to look at it. “How can you tell?”
“The language… it’s similar to Latin,” I mused. “But it’s not quite Latin. It almost seems older.”
I looked up as Daath furrowed his eyebrows. “I didn’t realize you spoke Latin.”
I paused. “I… I don’t. I’ve never really studied it either.”
“Then how did you know…”
“I don’t know,” I muttered. “That’s happened a bit more often the past few months…”
“Well, maybe we’ll find an answer,” he nodded. “I’ll let Syrion know, and perhaps he can help.”
“Fine,” I agreed, pocketing the knife in a belt loop, hoping to study more about it. “I’ll see you soon.” I kissed Daath before shooting one last glance at Oli, the sad Unseelie who hadn’t made a move to do anything but cry since getting here. With that, I took a deep breath and thought of my bedroom in Seattle.
12
Myrcedes
A few days later, I sat on the bench outside my apartment, trying not to drift to sleep. I was more exhausted than I’d been in months. Ever since Daath and I had visited Oli, I’d had nightmares every night. My subconscious had come up with the most hellish routine: I’d have a nightmare about the apocalyptic vision of Earth I’d seen on the Floor of Dreams and wake up from the horrific images. When I finally went back to sleep, I would have nightmares about the guillotine I’d seen in the fae realm. That one was almost more frustrating because I understood even less how to stop it. If my job was on Earth, why had the Floor shown me an image in the world of the fae?
My eyes were drifting open and shut as I leaned on the arm of the bench. I jolted awake when I saw a black cloud, and suddenly Kalian materialized before me. I rubbed my eyes and stifled a yawn.
“Thank you for meeting me,” I said as I stood.
“As you wish,” he nodded. He wore such casual clothes, and it was obvious that wasn’t what he was used to. I was sure this wasn’t the case, but I couldn’t keep from imagining him on a day off when he was still in the army, wearing his golden armor anyway, trying to relax at home, and the image made me smile.
“You look comfortable.”
“I’m not.” He looked down at the jeans and long-sleeved sweater I’d left for him.
“Well, you fit in.” I took a step toward him. He was almost as tall as Daath and Syrion, so he still towered above me. “That’s the important part.”
He nodded, though clearly disgruntled with the situation. “What precisely did you want my help
