“Dance with me,” a male voice whispered in my ear, “you lovely creature.”
Chills peppered my arms, and I turned slowly to find a slender man with leaves for hair and lips as bright as clovers behind me. He wore a costume straight out of a period feature film, something Jane Austenish, and I had to admire his dedication to a theme.
“I have a boyfriend.” I honed my glare on him. “He eats men who dance with me for breakfast.”
“Do you promise,” he breathed, and I could tell he meant it. “I haven’t been properly dined on in ages.”
That sounded like a personal problem to me. “Have you seen Blithe?”
“Madam Danann is holding court.” He offered his arm. “Shall I escort you to her?”
“Sure.” I didn’t accept his arm, and my defiance delighted him. I could tell by the quick shine in his eyes and the swipe of his grass-green tongue over his lips. “Were you here for the party a few days ago?”
“Madam ordered us all away,” he pouted. “I heard about it, of course. Pity to have missed it.”
“Yeah.” I recalled the bodies sprawled on the sidewalk. “A real shame.”
“I feel I must warn you, lovely, that there are those among us who keep an eager eye on you.”
“I get that a lot.” Gooseflesh rose down my arms at the implied threat. “Mostly from people trying to kill me.”
“You helped one of us, and now I will help you.”
Aware I couldn’t speak Bishop’s name, I didn’t bother, but I did wonder if that was who he meant.
“I appreciate that.” I scanned for the court he mentioned. “Where did you say Blithe was again?”
The man took me by the hand and whirled me into a quickstep that spun me out the exit onto the street behind the club.
“Don’t come here again, lovely.” A ripple made his outline blur, and then he was the man with long black hair from the blood whorehouse where Linus had instructed me to leave Bishop after we sprung him from the cage the coven put him in. “Next time I might not be the one to spot the wolf among the sheep.”
“I need to speak to Blithe,” I protested, ready to push past him. “You don’t understand—”
“No,” he sighed. “You don’t understand.” He touched his fingers to my forehead. “You will.”
Glittering trails fanned in all directions, entering and exiting the club, streaming down darkened streets and through alleys.
“What am I seeing?” I braced a palm on the building to anchor myself. “What did you do to me?”
“I opened your eyes a crack. Just as I did before.” The curtain of black hair slid over his shoulder. “It won’t last long, only until dawn. I suggest you hunt while you can.”
Wrapping himself in what I now realized was glamour, he returned to his green costume and shut the door.
Ambrose hadn’t moved a muscle since the fae dropped his glamour, and now he studied the air around us. He pointed in one direction and yanked on me through our bond to urge me on.
Despite the fact he had saved my life, thereby saving his, I recognized the danger in accepting help from him.
“One trail,” I warned him. “We’ll see where it goes, and that’s it.”
The shadow leapt and kicked its heels together.
Anything that put him in that good of a mood was bad business, but I didn’t have any other leads. Given recent events, I did apply common sense and text Bishop an update.
Hit Greenleaf. Bumped into your BFF. He gifted me with the ability to see glowing trails leading to goddess knows what to keep me away from Blithe.
The distraction was a good one. Masterful even. He had offered me an opportunity I couldn’t ignore.
>> #@$%*
Just thought I’d let you know.
I pocketed the cell before he found his words and let me have it. Accepting gifts from the fae? Dumb. Really dumb. But the guy hadn’t exactly given me a choice. If I was going to pay for it somewhere down the line, I might as well use it while I had it.
Curious about the trails, I reached out, expecting my hand to pass through the nearest one, but it was solid as twine. I gripped it, yanked on it, and experienced an odd sensation down its length. As if I had tapped someone on the shoulder, and they had turned to look at me.
“On second thought…” I dropped the trail Ambrose had chosen. “Let’s try this one instead.”