“What the hell, Albigard?” I asked, figuring that diplomacy would be pretty much wasted at this point.
The look in the Fae’s forest green eyes was hunted, and it freaked me out more than it maybe should have. His lip curled in a frustrated snarl before he spoke, sounding about as pissed off as I felt after everything that had happened.
“Caspian’s allies have been magically tracing my movements,” he spat, as though the words tasted bad. “I only discovered and neutralized the tracking spell an hour ago—which means that you’re in danger, demonkin.”
SEVEN
AWKWARD SILENCE reigned for a beat before I broke it, not trying to hide my sarcasm. “Gee, Tinkerbell... d’you fuckin’ think?”
Silence fell again. Albigard’s expression registered surprise before turning grim. “They already reached you,” he said. “And I gather... they succeeded in killing you before your bloodsucker turned you into one of his kind? That complicates matters.”
“Yes, that’s what I said,” Edward agreed.
“Rans didn’t turn me,” I clarified. “Not that I suppose it really matters.”
Albigard nodded slowly. “Ah. Of course not. He couldn’t, could he?”
With the life-bond, Rans had died the moment I did. By necessity, Guthrie had been the one to turn me.
It occurred to me that Dad was being awfully quiet, given the sudden appearance of a magical portal in reality a few feet away from him. When I glanced over my shoulder to check on him, it was to find him staring fixedly at Albigard with a lost expression on his face. I whirled and sank to my knees in front of him, realizing with a jolt that the unexpected exposure to Fae magic could send him right back into the blank mental space where he’d been trapped for weeks after being kidnapped to Dhuinne.
“Dad! Snap out of it! Albigard’s a—” I stumbled a bit on the next word before recovering. “He’s a friend, all right? He’s the one who arranged to get you out of that horrible place the Fae took you. Come on—please don’t check out on me again...”
Edward rose, giving Albigard a wary berth as he crossed to my side and leaned over my father. His gnarled hand closed over Dad’s shoulder, giving him a little shake.
“Darryl, old chap. Stay with us, yes?”
Dad blinked rapidly, sucking in a breath as though he’d been drowning. This time, when his gaze wandered past us to settle on Albigard, it was with more awareness.
“What is that... creature doing here?” he asked hoarsely.
Albigard raised an offended eyebrow.
Rans let out a derisive snort. “Good question,” he said. “Now that you’ve delivered your totally useless warning, was there anything else, Tinkerbell?”
“Oh, for god’s sake, you two,” I groused. “Could we not?”
“In fact,” Albigard bit out, “there is something else, bloodsucker. Caspian is recruiting allies among the Unseelie, claiming that the demonkin physically assaulted him. He’s rattling sabers, and the implication is that he will soon move to destroy the peace treaty once and for all—with or without the sanction of the Court.”
“I assaulted him?” I echoed in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?”
Albigard blinked at me. “Did you not shoot him?”
“Dude! He was trying to kill me!”
“Indeed,” he said, looking down his patrician nose at us. “In case this is not already clear to you, Fae do not lie... but they frequently engage in creative omission and reframing of the truth.”
Rans stepped up to him—just close enough to be mildly provocative. “Yes,” he said. “About that. Answer me this, and don’t try to dodge the question. Did you knowingly lead us into danger when you transported us to the Caribbean?”
Albigard glared at him. “No, bloodsucker. I did not knowingly lead you into danger. My intention was to fulfill my end of the two bargains I made with Zorah, and give you passage to a place where you might be comparatively safe for a while.”
They stared each other down for a long moment, before Rans gave a small, sharp nod and backed off. The Fae eyed him with affected distaste.
I sighed. “Okay, cool. So, if you two are done kissing and making up, maybe we could get back to the problem at hand? First, though—does the fact that Caspian apparently has his eye on you mean that you’re in danger as well now, Albigard?”
The Fae’s dark brows twitched as though my words had surprised him.
“Perhaps,” he said. “It certainly wouldn’t be the first time I’ve fallen on the wrong side of Court politics. I daresay it won’t be the last, either. Why should you care about such things, demonkin?”
It occurred to me that sighing had been a lot more satisfying back when I still needed to breathe. I did it anyway.
“Why wouldn’t I care, Tinkerbell?” I shot back. “You’ve helped me out on multiple occasions now. Plus, you and Rans were friends... or something... for way longer than I’ve even been alive, I’m guessing. Those two things mean I’m supposed to give a shit if you’re in trouble.” I gestured back and forth between us with a finger. “You see how this works?”
“Not really,” Albigard said, studying me like I was some unknown species of insect that might turn out to be poisonous.
I shook my head. “Okay, you know what? Never mind. Here’s the deal. Myrial is going to come after us, and it looks like Caspian may be involved as well when that happens. My dad bound himself to Nigellus so he could get out of Hell and warn me, but by doing so he may have been playing into a trap. Do you want to stay and help us try not to get killed?”
“With a sales pitch like that,” my father grumbled, “how could he refuse?” He gave Albigard a wary visual sweep. “Are you really the one who got me out of that god-awful place?”
Albigard returned the look measure for measure. “If you refer to Dhuinne, then yes, I am.”
Dad’s eyes narrowed. After a moment, he gave a short, sharp nod of acknowledgement.
“So,” I prompted. “Are you going to stick
