Page 62 of The Silver Spider
Chapter 21
“He’s lefta trail a child could follow,” Maddugh grumbled.
“On purpose, then.”
“Yes. Otherwise I didn’t raise him right.”
Kailigh said nothing. Maddugh mock glared at her anyway. “You look adorable in your pink dress.”
“Don't be insulting.” She plucked at her sleeve, lip curled in distaste. She’d worn it because pastels seemed to be the style in the Dome, and neither of them wanted to stick out. Having traced Serephone to a local library and bribed the clerk to bring up her daughter’s search history, they now sat at a cafe across the street, trying to think like two young adults lurching around the city like drunks, hunting enemies.
“The fae quarter isn’t far from here,” Maddugh said. “I don’t like being this close.”
She glanced up from the map, sipping her tea. He’d told her a bit about the fae Lines over the evening, enough to put her on her guard while she was in the Dome. But the likelihood of encountering someone, who would guess about the small drop in her veins and then take the trouble to haul her off, was small in her book.
“Don’t worry about it,” she advised. “I look as human as any and what skills I have are small and manifest only when needed.”
“It doesn’t work like that.” His scowl was dark. “If you brush up against someone in your Line, they may…never mind. You won’t leave my side is all.”
She patted his hand, turning her attention idly to the street. People walked by briskly, or strolled with companions. The streets were swept clean, and the sky overhead sparkled as if it were a sunny, spring afternoon and not a red, barren desert right outside the pretty bubble.
“Why is Serephone fae-hunting?” Kailigh asked. “Is she trying to find her heritage, or are they involved with Ruthus somehow?”
“I don’t know. But the fact she missed work isn’t good.”
“If Amnan wasn’t with her, he would have shown up.”
They’d gone over all of this already, but kept circling back to the same argument. Kailigh wanted to go to the fae quarter. Maddugh wanted to stay away. But Sere didn’t hunt for no reason—wherever her daughter was sniffing, was where she would be.
Kailigh rose. “I’m making an executive decision. We won’t get anywhere, if we sit here rehashing the same thing over and over.”
He looked up at her, expression calculating. “We bring backup. Dragons.”
She shrugged. “Let's get to it, then.”
* * *
They stayedin the room together the following day. A flesh wound, even if it had almost pierced a vital organ, was one thing. No one could generate new blood faster than a week, and he’d lost pints of the stuff. He’d tried the toughing it out route at first, but Serephone suspected once he realized he’d get more…tolerance from her if he was convalescing, all of a sudden he was faint and bedridden, and absolutely had to have her at his side, running her hands along his flesh—to stimulate healing. It was all bullshit. An evening of fucking told her he had reserves of energy, when hewantedthem. And she wasn’t the loverly sort. The best she could manage was to stretch out next to him and not squirm when he wrapped an arm around her. But, gradually, she relaxed. Eventually they both needed to eat, and Anissa stopped by to ask their preferences.
“I can have staff send you meals up here,” her sister said, “or you can raid the dining room and choose your own plates.”
Serephone slid out of the bed. “I prefer to choose.” She glanced at Amnan inquiringly, ignoring his frown. “Do you have a taste for anything?”
He sat up. “I’ll go with you.”
“But I thought you were feelingsoweak, Amnan.”
He scowled at her. “Woman—”
“It’s probably best you stay here for the time being,” Anissa said. “Allow the Lord time to recall why your death isn’t the most expedient option.”
Amnan let her go without much of a fuss, though she promised to be back in no more than fifteen minutes. It didn’t take long to fill plates, anyway. At least Dawnthorne preferred a more casual household, rather than something formal and nauseatingly upper class.
She wasn’t expecting to see him when she entered the dining room, and almost stopped short when not only he was seated at the long table, but another man as well, who instantly struck a deep note of wariness.
Serephone nodded at Dawnthorne, not sure of the proper protocol, but something told her to keep her mouth shut and walk very quietly. The new fae did not sit as if Dawnthorne was his Lord, with the subtle deference and attention to Dawnthorne's words the others paid. He sat as if he were an equal, with the air of a houseguest, who found the accommodations somewhat quaint.
Anissa placed a hand on her back in silent warning and Serephone looked away. But she’d gained the strange male’s attention.
