Page 54 of Wicked Deeds

“I am aware.”

“I’m human,” I pointed out.

“I did not cast it on you,” he said with a smile that was somewhat chilling. “I cast it around myself. You just happen to be within the boundaries of the spell.”

Ah, that was the kind of Fae dancing around the edges of a rule I had been warned to watch for. “And is anything stopping me from removing myself from within those boundaries?”

“No. But you were the one who invited me to talk.”

“Only so I could tell you to stop spying on me. You’re wasting your time.”

“Unlike you, Maggie Lachlan, I have an ocean of time at my disposal. I could watch you for the rest of your human life and it would be a mere blink of an eye to me.”

And that wasn’t creepy at all. I stared at him, trying not to shudder. Hopefully he meant fifty or sixty human years were no time at all to an ancient Fae lord, rather than that he intended to see to it that my life was short.

“It would still be wasted because you would get to the end of my lifetime and have nothing to show for it.” I put my unfinished drink down. “Ward or no ward, you probably only have a few minutes before my bodyguard comes looking for me. And this ward may not break the rules of the contract but anything else you actively do to anyone in this place would. I assume you would prefer not to start a war with the Cestis right now, so I’m telling you again. There’s no need to watch me. I am no danger to the realm and your people.”

“Why would you object to extra protection freely offered?”

I actually laughed before I managed to choke it off. “Last time we met, you tried to stop me from removing a human?—”

“A tanai,” he interjected.

“A human,” I continued, unmoved. “You did your best to stop me removing her from your court, you sent your subjects after other humans with the apparent intent to hurt them, and you tried to invade my mind.” And he’d kissed me. Not through any desire, but because, as far as I could tell, he thought it would upset me enough to make it easier for him to break my shields and yank whatever memory he’d been seeking out of my head. “Why would I believe that you want to protect me? Any of us could have been killed.” Or all of us.

“I was annoyed at the time,” he said, as though that was a perfectly reasonable excuse for attempted murder.

“And you usually try to kill those who annoy you?” I asked, a chill traveling down my spine. My fingers flexed at my hip. I was used to being armed when I was dealing with Fae. But Decker’s had stringent security. Damon’s security team carried guns but Decker’s security only used stunners as far as I knew. No guests were allowed any weapons. No exceptions. No even for Damon Riley’s girlfriend

Damn it.

“Sometimes,” he said, in the same ‘no big deal’ tone. He paused, frowning at me, perhaps reading something of my fear in my face.

I tried to wrestle it back under control.

“One does not become Lord of a Fae realm by being eternally nice. And you cannot fight the Greater Dark with kindness. You should know this. You have known Lady Cerridwen long enough. She is no less ruthless than me.”

True, but she’d never tried to kill me. In fact, she’d actively tried to help me. So, there was a difference. If Usuriel had decided the only way to fight the Greater Dark—demons—was by becoming a monster himself, then it was all the more reason notto trust him. “Still,” I said. “You have to admit, it’s quite a leap to go from viewing me as a threat to wanting to protect me.”

“Let us say that I believe in keeping my options open.”

“Then let us say that I believe in not having your creatures in my backyard.”

“Your backyard, or Damon’s?”

“It’s our backyard,” I said, realizing it was true. I no longer thought of my house as home, but Damon’s. Huh. “And if you don’t leave us alone, I will have to bring this up with Cerridwen and the Cestis. I doubt either of them will be thrilled about you overstepping your bounds.”

He tilted his head, studying me in a way that made me think of an eagle or a shark. Something predatory and entirely emotionless about the fate of their intended prey. “Not many people are so forthright with me, Maggie Lachlan.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sorry, but you’re not my lord. I’m not tanai. I’m a witch. Cassandra gets to boss me around, not you.”

“And the Lady Cerridwen?”

“We have a mutually beneficial arrangement.” Did he know Cerridwen had kind of stalked me to begin with? Or at least magically compelled me to meet with her by booby-trapping one of Damon’s games? If he didn’t, I wasn’t going to be the one to give him ideas.

“You and I could have a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

“I would have to trust you to agree to that,” I said. “If you are concerned about the things that the Lady usually handles, then I suggest you make an arrangement with her.”

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