far reaching. Let’s face it, I’d seen the evidence of their locator spells in action myself. They’d find her wherever I put her.
So I’d have to look further afield. Going abroad might be a possibility, but it was an international organisation. I doubted there were many places in the world I could take a prone body to where they wouldn’t be able to reach us. I didn’t have to stay on this plane, however. I thought of the demesnes that I’d visited when I’d been tracking Iabartu. Somewhere like that would work perfectly. I just had to work out how to get there.
I scooted quickly round to take another quick peek at Mrs Alcoon. Unsurprisingly she hadn’t moved so much as a muscle. Fuck it. I closed my eyes briefly, then spoke.
“Solus?”
The empty shop echoed silence back at me.
I tried again. “Solus? If you want to know what I really am and you’re listening right now, then I’ll tell you. Just do me one small favour first.”
I knew it was madness getting a Fae to do me a favour. I’d end up owing him my first twelve children or something equally stupid. I couldn’t see that I had any other choice though. I just had to hope that, wherever he was, he could hear me calling his name.
“Sol..”
The air crackled and he appeared in front of me. Disturbingly, he was wearing some kind of diaphanous white shirt and ridiculously tight leather trousers, although I still felt a wave of relief that he’d elected to appear in the first place. “Well, well, well. I didn’t think that the big and tough Mackenzie Smith would ever be calling little old me. Have you finally realised that you can’t escape me and that it’s better to just give in?” He grinned with the leer of a predator. “You could have chosen your moment better, I must admit. I was somewhat….tied up.”
I didn’t want to imagine what the truth behind that statement actually was. I could feel a hot white band of heat squeeze my heart, but did my best to ignore it and instead looked at him with a far steadier gaze than my inner churning emotions should have allowed. “You want to know what I am? “
Solus took a step towards me. “Oh, there are so many things that I want, my little prickly ginger one.” He reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair away from my cheek. I had to fight not to flinch.
“Well, then,” I said, all business-like, “I will tell you if you do me one favour.”
The Fae threw back his head and laughed. “Favour? You don’t demand favours from me. You’re just a…”
He didn’t finish his statement. I used the moment to take control of the situation and folded my arms. “Exactly. You don’t know what I am. I could be a thousand times more powerful than you. I could use the strength I have to bend you to my will. Until you know what I am, you can’t control me.”
“You actually think that you could use your strength to make me do something?” The disbelief dripped from his voice.
“I broke your sister’s cruinne, remember?” This time I was the one taking a step forward. “Who knows what I can do?” I hoped that my bravado was working. I was pretty sure that there was nothing I could do to control any Fae; even the weakest of their species could probably grind me to a dusty pulp if they so desired. I tried to remember that I had bested a demi-goddess, even though that had been with the help of Anton and Corrigan. Okay, Anton and Corrigan had bested a demi-goddess and I’d been the warm up crew.
Solus regarded me with a mixture of wariness and amusement, then airily flicked his hand through the air. “Fine. Tell me what you want and I’ll consider it.”
“No. Either you grant me this boon, or all deals are off. I don’t have time for you to go away and consider anything.”
“You demand a lot.”
I stayed silent and just waited, trying not to let the desperation show on my
So I’d have to look further afield. Going abroad might be a possibility, but it was an international organisation. I doubted there were many places in the world I could take a prone body to where they wouldn’t be able to reach us. I didn’t have to stay on this plane, however. I thought of the demesnes that I’d visited when I’d been tracking Iabartu. Somewhere like that would work perfectly. I just had to work out how to get there.
I scooted quickly round to take another quick peek at Mrs Alcoon. Unsurprisingly she hadn’t moved so much as a muscle. Fuck it. I closed my eyes briefly, then spoke.
“Solus?”
The empty shop echoed silence back at me.
I tried again. “Solus? If you want to know what I really am and you’re listening right now, then I’ll tell you. Just do me one small favour first.”
I knew it was madness getting a Fae to do me a favour. I’d end up owing him my first twelve children or something equally stupid. I couldn’t see that I had any other choice though. I just had to hope that, wherever he was, he could hear me calling his name.
“Sol..”
The air crackled and he appeared in front of me. Disturbingly, he was wearing some kind of diaphanous white shirt and ridiculously tight leather trousers, although I still felt a wave of relief that he’d elected to appear in the first place. “Well, well, well. I didn’t think that the big and tough Mackenzie Smith would ever be calling little old me. Have you finally realised that you can’t escape me and that it’s better to just give in?” He grinned with the leer of a predator. “You could have chosen your moment better, I must admit. I was somewhat….tied up.”
I didn’t want to imagine what the truth behind that statement actually was. I could feel a hot white band of heat squeeze my heart, but did my best to ignore it and instead looked at him with a far steadier gaze than my inner churning emotions should have allowed. “You want to know what I am? “
Solus took a step towards me. “Oh, there are so many things that I want, my little prickly ginger one.” He reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair away from my cheek. I had to fight not to flinch.
“Well, then,” I said, all business-like, “I will tell you if you do me one favour.”
The Fae threw back his head and laughed. “Favour? You don’t demand favours from me. You’re just a…”
He didn’t finish his statement. I used the moment to take control of the situation and folded my arms. “Exactly. You don’t know what I am. I could be a thousand times more powerful than you. I could use the strength I have to bend you to my will. Until you know what I am, you can’t control me.”
“You actually think that you could use your strength to make me do something?” The disbelief dripped from his voice.
“I broke your sister’s cruinne, remember?” This time I was the one taking a step forward. “Who knows what I can do?” I hoped that my bravado was working. I was pretty sure that there was nothing I could do to control any Fae; even the weakest of their species could probably grind me to a dusty pulp if they so desired. I tried to remember that I had bested a demi-goddess, even though that had been with the help of Anton and Corrigan. Okay, Anton and Corrigan had bested a demi-goddess and I’d been the warm up crew.
Solus regarded me with a mixture of wariness and amusement, then airily flicked his hand through the air. “Fine. Tell me what you want and I’ll consider it.”
“No. Either you grant me this boon, or all deals are off. I don’t have time for you to go away and consider anything.”
“You demand a lot.”
I stayed silent and just waited, trying not to let the desperation show on my
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