“Yes,” the woman replied. “You’ve made that quite clear, Caspian. However, while the Unseelie may run the overkeeps on Earth, the Seelie still have the final say on Dhuinne.”
Oh, good, I thought. Politics. Exactly what I needed today.
“So, is this like a trial, then?” I asked, trying to draw the woman out since it seemed like she was way less of a bigot than most of the other Fae I’d dealt with so far.
“No, demonkin,” she said. “What reason would we have to place you on trial? This is the meeting to determine our response to the treaty violation perpetrated by our enemies.”
“And what about me?” I tried. “I’m just as much a victim of this treaty violation as anyone else. More so, even.”
At least that got a reaction, muttering erupting around the chamber. Caspian made a derisive noise.
“You are a mistake,” he said. “One which we will take pleasure in erasing.”
Aaand, there it was. Not that I had truly held out hope of anything different.
I kept my eyes on the woman. “You’re going to kill me in cold blood, even though I’ve never done a damned thing to any of you.”
She did not break my gaze, and I imagined I caught the faintest whiff of regret in her reply. “Your life poses an existential threat to our people. The demons cannot be allowed to use humans as breeding stock, to swell their ranks and tip the balance of power.”
“Must we waste time cosseting this abomination, Magistrate?” grumbled another of the male Fae seated above me. “The question is not about the demonkin’s fate. It is about the sanctions we can apply toward those who spawned it.”
“Wait!” I said, sensing I was losing my brief connection with the red-haired Fae. “If you’re going to kill me, I have a request first! My father—”
She cut me off. “The Court will discuss the disposition of your sire in due course, child. That matter is under review, since no sign of demon taint could be found in him.”
“Beyond the taint of letting a cambion touch him!” someone jeered from the crowd behind me.
Rage and despair swirled inside me, forming a bitter slurry.
“Silence,” the Magistrate said evenly, and the undercurrent of muttering died down.
I ignored the order, since I figured they could only chop my head off once. “If my father is free of... taint—” I spit the word out as if it tasted bad. “—then let him go back to Earth! Something’s wrong with him! He needs help, the kind he can only get from other humans—”
“Must we listen to more of this bleating, Magistrate?” Caspian asked, his mouth twisting as though he’d tasted something sour. “The Court has seen for itself the truth of the creature’s nature. If you will not allow me more time to study it, then take it away to be dealt with. Letting it linger like this is cruel, would you not agree?”
He sneered, the corners of his eyes crinkling at me.
“Bastard,” I whispered, and those eyes turned hard and flat.
The Magistrate sighed. “I suppose you’re right, General. Guardsmen, take the demonkin to the execution block and ensure that she is dispatched cleanly. Have the remains taken to the healers for further study.”
Gooseflesh chased itself across my skin, and a wave of dizziness washed over me. The guards stepped forward from their positions at the corners of the room. A crazy impulse told me to run, or maybe to lunge for Caspian and try to claw his bastard eyes out with my fingernails while I still had the chance.
Before I could do more than draw in a breath—to rage, to scream, to curse every Fae in this room—the double doors at the back of the chamber slammed inward. I whirled, nearly tripping over my own feet as I fought weakness and vertigo.
Blinking rapidly, I stared open-mouthed at the dark figure striding into the court, blue eyes blazing and leather coat billowing behind him. Moss blackened and curled beneath his boots as he passed, the vines and flowers around him withering in his wake. Cries of alarm erupted around the room as several of the Fae on the dais surged to their feet.
“Actually, guardsmen,” Rans said, “I would strongly advise against that course of action.”
FIFTEEN
EITHER THE IMPOSSIBLE had just happened, or my mind had just snapped. The latter option seemed a lot more likely, somehow. I continued to stare in bewilderment, my mouth gaping like I was a particularly dull-witted fish. And okay, maybe I hadn’t lost my mind, because the guards that had been heading for me stopped in their tracks with similarly shocked expressions on their faces.
Rans didn’t slow down until he reached me, his eyes glowing and his fangs bared. Without a word, he grabbed my hand and raised my wrist to his lips.
“What is the meaning of this?” the Magistrate demanded with what I had to admit was admirable steadiness.
I was still mired in shock, wondering if Rans was about to kiss the delicate skin on my inner wrist—right up until his fangs tore into my flesh. I cried out... a stupid, pathetic squeak. What the hell? Was I hallucinating after all?
His throat worked as he swallowed, and then he was reaching into his pocket with his free hand, pulling out something small and sharp edged, like a piece of milky quartz. He slapped my still-bleeding wrist against it.
“What is that crystal?” Caspian demanded. “Guards, stop him!”
“Rans, what the hell?” I tried.
But Rans had already dropped my arm. His fangs tore into the flesh at the base of his thumb, a gout of red erupting in front of my wavering vision. He placed the bloody wound over my mouth, and I made a shocked noise as coppery liquid seeped between my open lips.
“If you want to get out of here alive, swallow,” he said in a voice too low to be heard by anyone else.
I’m sure my eyes were bugging out of my head as salty blood coated my tongue. My empty
