I looked at her old snake-eyes, and as I did, I saw one of Luke's memories behind my own eyes.
This Luke, hundreds of years younger but wearing the same face, stood before the queen, his clothing strange. The Queen, too, was unchanged, her eyes already the ancient ones that I saw today.
"I will not love you," Luke said. "I won't lie. I will not love you."
The Queen didn't look surprised. Instead, she circled him once, her massive dress dragging behind her and catching on his ankle. He stood stock still, silently waiting for her anger. If he was afraid, I couldn't feel it in the memory. The Queen ran a finger around his biceps where his tore now was, her face calculating, and then she smiled at him. "You will wish that you had."
Anger pushed me from the memory to the present. I
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could hurt her. I could let myself remember every cruel thing she'd done to Luke, and I could use the darkness to absolutely destroy her.
I wanted to. I wanted to stomp her and then say something pithy as she curled up and died like a spider.
As if reading my mind--maybe she was--the Queen said, scornfully, "You are still not strong enough to control the fey. You are weak unless it is full dark. But we don't have to do battle... I can teach you. I can teach you how to find the darkness that hides in the corners of rooms. To harness the night that is caught beneath the tangled branches of a tree. To find the darkness that's in you all the time. I can make you more than you are."
As she spoke, I saw the evening unfolding in her eyes, the summer folding flowers along her skin, ever blooming but not consuming her as they had Aodhan. Her hair cascaded in rivers of laughing summer waterfalls, never reaching the stage. Her fingers reached toward me, vines and roots striving for the stage lights through the tips of them.
"No." I held my hand out toward Luke, and he walked wordlessly over to me, twining my fingers tightly in his. God, his hands were cold. Like he was already dead. "No, I don't think so. I want to see the Daoine Sidhe"
The glorious evening retreated into the Queen abruptly. Fury rolled off of her in vicious waves, but she couldn't refuse--we were two equal pieces circling on the chess board. She turned to Eleanor. "Get Luke Dillon's soul."
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twenty-one
The parking lot was full of faeries of every shape and size. Bonfires climbed high into the night sky, sending sparks and embers whirling toward the stars. I saw faeries in the shape of birds, their massive beaks stretching three feet away from their bodies, and faeries more striking than the most beautiful models. There were men who looked like they'd been pulled from the water, and tiny faerie children who looked as if they'd been knocked from the sky. Music poured from every corner and everyone was dancing, spinning, singing.
We stood just outside the propped exit door to the auditorium, for all the world like a dysfunctional family. Luke
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pressed against my arm, his features hawk-like as his gaze flitted around the lot. The Queen stood a few feet away from us, supremely out of place on the dirty asphalt, and looking the more impressive for it.
Thomas Rhymer emerged from the crowd, curls bouncing, and stood before the Queen.
"Good Solstice, my lady." His voice was solicitous, if not sincere.
"Get away from me, Rhymer. You have chosen your side." Casually, the Queen lifted a hand, not looking away from the crowd, and Thomas tumbled next to my feet. "I will deal with you and your tongue later."
Luke held out a hand; Thomas accepted it and pulled himself up. His eyes met mine, but he didn't say anything as he stepped slightly behind me. Damn, I think I'm getting a retinue.
"I do not see the Daoine Sidhe," the Queen said to me. "I believe they have forgotten you."
Perhaps they had. I didn't know what my move was now.
"Not so quickly," whispered a voice, equal parts song and chant. Eleanor's eyes widened as Una slid out from behind her, moving soundlessly.
"You needn't look so shocked," Una said. "It was only a pinch."
"Keep your distance," the Queen warned, and lifted a hand. "I will snap you in two."
"Come here!" Brendan's voice conveyed the worry that was absent in Una's face. He looked nearly as regal as the
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Queen, winding his way through the reveling faeries astride a dapple gray horse draped in bells.
Bells around the horse's hooves jangled with each step, and bells hanging from the reins trilled as the horse spooked at a ring of dancing faeries. Behind him, a half dozen more horses pushed their way through the crowd, all dapple grays with coats reflecting the colors around them. All of their bells should have made a cacophony, but instead there was an endless rippling chord of stunning melody. Despite everything, I caught my breath, struck with wonder.
Una spiraled over to where Brendan had stopped, tweaking his mount's reins to hear the bells again. "Did I not tell you it would be this door? Don't you look a fool now?" She wiggled her fingers toward the Queen and Eleanor, who stood behind the Queen holding a covered cage.
"Behold the peacock and her handler."
I wasn't sure whether the Queen or Eleanor was the peacock, but neither of them looked pleased with the comparison.
"Say your bit," the Queen snarled. "Since you must."
Luke bowed slightly toward Brendan, as much as he could while still keeping his fingers in mine. "Good Solstice, Brendan. Please hurry. We haven't much time."
Brendan nodded back and glanced at the other Daoine Sidhe. They urged their horses forward until they stood in a row of seven, shoulder to
