Late Eclipses

happen if Oleander exhausted me before I caught her. I picked up the pace and was rewarded with a fresh glimpse of her hair. I was gaining. The smell of acid was so heavy it burned my throat. That didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the chase.

I flung myself around corner after corner, running ever faster. She wouldn’t get away. The path twisted, and I swerved to follow; as long as Oleander stayed on the path, so would I. Her silhouette was framed by the dark mirror of the lake ahead of us, and the sight of water gave me the strength for one last burst of speed. Peri are desert creatures, and Oleander was part Peri; the lake would stop her. I could catch her and force her to tell me what she’d done. And once I was sure she’d told me everything …

I put the thought aside and concentrated on running. I killed Blind Michael in self-defense. If I ran Oleander down and killed her, it would be murder. She deserved it, but it would still be murder. Had I fallen that far? It was time to find out. I skidded around the last corner, knives raised … and found myself alone.

Moonlight bathed the water in white, chasing away the shadows. I came skidding to a stop, feet sinking into the mud as I frantically scanned the lakeshore. There was no one there. I looked down, and my breath caught in my throat, making my already oxygen-deprived lungs stutter. A single trail of footprints led from my feet back to the path. If you judged by the ground, I’d made the run alone.

I stayed where I was for several minutes, panting, before I heard a twig snap behind me. I stiffened. Maybe I’d come alone—somehow—but one thing was clear.

I wasn’t alone anymore.

THIRTEEN

I RAISED MY KNIVES, HOLDING THEM at waistlevel as I turned. It was a good defensive position, and it wasn’t offensive enough that the person behind me would automatically realize they were about to be attacked.

Tybalt stood on the hard-packed earth of the path, well out of reach of the mud. He raised an eyebrow as he saw my posture. It rose further as he got a good look at what I was wearing. Clearing his throat, he said, “Fascinating as I find your choices of couture and activity, what in the world is going on out here?”

“Tybalt?” I lowered my knives. He was draped in a human illusion, features blunted and smoothed into a semblance of mortality. I opened my mouth slightly, breathing in the solid Cait Sidhe of his heritage before letting my shoulders relax. It was really him. “What are you doing here?”

“Now you’re answering questions with questions. You’ve been spending too much time with the sea witch.” He walked primly forward, stopping where the mud began. “The Dryads called me. They said you were tearing through the park like a madwoman, and given the situation in the Tea Gardens, they were concerned.”

“I … wait, what? I was following someone.”

Tybalt’s eyebrow arched upward again. “Not according to the Dryads.”

I hesitated, covering my confusion by sheathing my knives. Had I seen Oleander, or was I chasing a lure-me spell? Both were possible. The Peri aren’t illusionists on the level of the Gwragen, but they’re close.

Tybalt was watching with concern when I looked back up, a frown creasing his unnervingly human features. I wasn’t accustomed to seeing him like that. It seemed wrong, somehow, like it was more of a deception than the illusions I wore. It didn’t help that he’d changed out of his Court clothes and into something much more reasonable: weathered denim jeans, a linen shirt, and unornamented boots. It was more appealing than the finery, even if it was less openly attractive. He looked … normal.

“Toby, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” My voice sounded small and frightened. I raked my hair away from my face and squelched my way out of the mud, trying to ignore the obscene sucking noises that followed every step. “Root and branch, I need a cup of coffee. Have you heard the news from Shadowed Hills?”

“What?” He shot me a startled glance. “No. I’ve been here all night. What’s going on?”

“… Right.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Luna collapsed outside the Beltane Ball. I think she was poisoned.”

“She sent you to your death once, in case you’ve forgotten,” he said, a sudden chill dropping into his voice. “Why should her collapse concern me?”

I paused. Tybalt was a cat before he was anything else. If something didn’t affect him personally, he was unlikely to give a damn. Slowly, I said, “Because Rayseline is blaming me, and if Luna dies—”

“The little bitch will push for your execution under Oberon’s law,” he snarled. I blinked. I’d expected a reaction, but nothing that strong. “She’ll want your head. Titania’s bones, Toby, what happened?”

“I’m not sure anymore. Remember Karen?” He nodded. “Well, she sent me a dream about Oleander, and then I thought I caught a trace of Oleander’s magic at the Ball. People keep saying Oleander wouldn’t come back here, but I can’t think of any other way to explain what I felt.”

“I believe you.”

The words were so simple and so calmly said that it took me a moment to find my voice. Finally, I managed, “Why?”

“If you were killing people, you wouldn’t start with Luna.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Besides, you’re smarter than that. You wouldn’t get caught.”

“What, are you waiting for me to snap?”

Tybalt shrugged. “I’m waiting for everyone to snap.”

I decided to let that slide. There wasn’t time to think about what it really meant. “If it’s Oleander—if I’m right—then she’s also the one responsible for whatever’s happening to Lily. She has to be stopped.”

“Why would she attack the Lady of the Tea Gardens?”

“Lily kept Oleander from killing me once, and she’s a nutcase. Does she need more of a motive than that?”

“I suppose not, especially since attacking that particular pair implicates you nicely. They’re very … unique women. It would take an intimate knowledge of the both of them to accomplish something like this.”

I stopped, suddenly wary. “What do you mean?”

He sighed. “Please don’t treat me like a kitten. I know what Luna Torquill is, and I’ll grant that Oleander has motive. Still, why would she risk coming back here? Being caught in this Kingdom would mean her life.”

“I don’t know. People say she kills for money. Maybe she’s here on a job and just having a little fun on the side.” I rubbed my forehead, longing for aspirin. “There’s no one else who works with poisons the way she does and has a grudge against me. I came to look for signs that she was behind the attack on Lily, and I saw her across the parking lot. I chased her into the botanical gardens, but she vanished, and—” Tybalt was looking at me oddly. I frowned. “What?”

“No one but the two of us has been here in hours. I don’t smell her, or anything like her magic, anywhere around us.”

“Somehow, I’m not surprised.” Weariness washed over me. “I’m too tired for this shit.”

“Liar.” Tybalt glared at me. “Forgive me for calling you on it, but you’re lying. You aren’t tired. You’re exhausted. You keep squinting like you have a migraine, your voice is raspy, and you look like you haven’t slept in a week. You’re going to run yourself to death.”

“It’s been a long night,” I snapped.

He snorted. “Maybe it’ll be a relief to bury you. You’ll be quieter. Now what?”

“I need to check in with the Tea Gardens,” I said. “After that … I need to find Oleander. I don’t know what I was chasing, but if it wasn’t her, I need to know what it was.”

“A tall order.”

“Yeah, well, thinking small hasn’t been working out too well so far, now, has it?”

The briefest flicker of a smile crossed his lips. “Fair enough, and I suppose it’s a start.” He turned to start down the path toward the parking lot. Lacking any other options, I followed. “I’ll tell my people to watch for her, and I’ll send Raj if we find anything. If she hurts you … my eyes are everywhere. She’ll find no peace and no rest