Nonplussed, he drank it himself. I racked my brain for what to do without my voice. Then, idiot that
I was, I realized I still had Tasey and the knife. I was clutching them both so hard my hands ached.
Glad my actions were hidden by the couch, I put Tasey awaynot any good for more than a few seconds with faeries. With a hand free, I pushed the panic button again. I had no idea where we were, but really, really hoped it was somewhere Lish could send a retrieval.
Arent you tired of being cold? he asked, trying to draw me in. Cold and alone. You dont have to be. Our time grows short. His eyes were pools of amber, deep and eternal. Pools you could drown in. Dance with me again.
I squeezed my eyes shut. He was right. I was tired. I had been alone my whole life. The foster homes, the Centerwhat was the difference? Why was I resisting him? I felt his hand on mine; he was so warm. The heat started to spread up my arm, slow and insistent. Why not give him my heart, my soul? No one else wanted them.
He could feel my surrender and pulled me close. There is no one else for you, my love. Let me fill you. There was no one else for me. I opened my eyes and looked into Reths golden onesand the image of other eyes, eyes as clear as water, flooded into my memory. Why I thought of Lend right then I have no idea, but it was enough to pull me back. I lifted the silver knife and held it between us like a talisman.
Reth looked surprised, then angry. What are you doing, child? He hadnt let go of my other hand, but I resisted the warmth. It was barely past my shoulder, now slowing. Dont you know what Im trying to give to you?
I shoved the flat of the blade against his chest and he let go of my hand, backing up a step. Iron is the best against faeries, but they arent fans of silver, either. Enough, I mouthed, pointing to my neck. Glaring, he flicked his hand and my throat tingled.
Why are you fighting this?
Because youre a lunatic! I dont want this! I dont belong to you! I never will!
A half smile twisted his perfect face. Youre wrong.
Well, Ive got a silver knife that begs to differ. Now
Take you home?
I nodded.
His smile spread. That wasnt a command, and youve got to sleep sometime. Before I could command him to take me home he disappeared, his silvery laugh lingering in the absence.
I was starting to miss the vampires.
FAERLY STUPID
I screamed for him to come back, then sat heavily on one of the couches. He was right. I was exhausted from not sleeping last night plus a very full day and rather stressful evening. And if I fell asleep, I couldnt hang on to the knife. And if I couldnt hang on to the knife
It was a problem. I didnt know what he was trying to do to me, and I didnt want to find out.
Not surprisingly, there was no signal on my communicator. I didnt even know if I was technically on the planet anymore. The Faerie Realms coexist with ours, but cross time and space and all sorts of other boring and weird physics things that I never cared about before now. I added Faerie Realms and knife fighting on my list of things to pay more attention to.
I could call for him using his real name again, and hed have to come. But that worked out so well before. The phrasing I used still killed me. I need you? The way I figured it, he took that as the command and would now fill what he thought my need for him was. If I called him back and negated my command before he took my voice again, there was no telling how he would interpret it. If you give a faerie conflicting commands, they cant fill them and therefore come up with something completely different (and always bad). I was so screwed.
Faeries are the slipperiest things in the world. IPCA (before it was IPCA and back when it was APCA and all sorts of individual country acronyms) worked for decades to find a faerie, any faerie, and learn his true name. Their plan involved using pretty young girls as kidnap bait. Dozens of pretty young girls, none of whom were ever seen again. Except one girl, who discovered a great secret.
Faeries are unaffected by alcohol, but much to her surpriseand the faeries undoingthey get very, very drunk on carbonation. Using copious amounts of Coke, she was able to discover a single faeries true name. With that she was able to force that faerie to do her will and reveal several other faeries nameswho were forced to reveal other faeries names, as well. Thus followed the great
Faerie Catalog and Control Operation of 95.
It sounds more impressive than it was. A whole bunch of workers on the project ended up dead or missing, and faeries guard their names closely even from one another, so IPCA only got a fraction of them. Heres what IPCA should have learned, still hasnt quite learned, and probably never will learn: you cannot control fairies. Can. Not. They arent logical or rational. They dont obey the same laws (physical, social, emotional, trafficyou name it) that we do. They always have their own agendas and are just plain smarter than us. Plus, in finding and using their names, we were messing with paranormal magic deeper and more powerful than any of us understood.