now. He had distracted me from my anger, and put himself in the way of it, as if I were a blade to be avoided.
I held out a hand to him, and he took it. I stopped pulling against Doyle's arm, and just held them both. "You are right. You are both right. I knew Doyle's history before he came to my side. Let me try this again." I looked up at Doyle, still with Frost's hand in mine. "You aren't suggesting that we test our theory on random fey?"
"No, but in honesty I do not have another way to test."
I thought about it, and then shook my head. "Neither do I."
"Then what are we to do?" Frost asked.
"We warn the demi-fey, and then we go to the beach."
"I thought this would end our day out," Doyle said.
"When you can't do anything else, you go about your day. Besides, everyone is meeting us at the beach. We can talk about this problem there as well as at the house. Why not let some of us enjoy the sand and water while the rest of us debate immortality and murder?"
"Very practical," Doyle said.
I nodded. "We'll stop off at the Fael Tea Shop on the way to the beach."
"The Fael is not on the way to the beach," Doyle said.
"No, but if we leave word there about the demi-fey, the news will spread."
"We could leave word with Gilda, the Fairy Godmother," Frost said.
"No, she might keep the knowledge to herself so she can say later that I didn't warn the demi-fey because I thought I was too good to care."
"Do you truly think she hates you more than she loves her people?" Frost asked.
"She was the ruling power among the fey exiles in Los Angeles. The lesser fey went to her to settle disputes. Now they come to me."
"Not all of them," Frost said.
"No, but enough that she thinks I'm trying to take over her business."
"We want no part of her businesses, legal or illegal," Doyle said.
"She was human once, Doyle. It makes her insecure."
"Her power does not feel human," Frost said, and he shivered.
I studied his face. "You don't like her."
"Do you?"
I shook my head. "No."
"There is always something twisted inside the minds and bodies of humans who are given access to the wild magic of faerie," Doyle said.
"She got a wish granted," I said, "and she wished to be a fairy godmother, because she didn't understand that there is no such thing among us."
"She's made herself into a power to be reckoned with in this city," Doyle said.
"You've scouted her, haven't you?"
"She all but threatened you outright if you kept trying to steal her people away. I investigated a potential enemy's stronghold."
"And?" I asked.
"She should be frightened of us," he said, and his voice was that voice of before, when he'd been only a weapon and not a person to me.
"We stop by the Fael, and then we'll talk about what to do with the other godmother. If we tell her and she tells no one, then it is we who can say that she cares more about her jealousy of me than about her own people."
"Clever," Doyle said.
"Ruthless," Frost said.
"It would only be ruthless if I didn't warn the demi-fey some other way. I won't risk another life for some stupid power play."
"It is not stupid to her, Meredith," Doyle said. "It is all the power she has ever had, or will ever have. People will do very bad things to keep their perceived power intact."
"Is she dangerous to us?"
"In a full frontal assault, no, but if it is trickery and deceit, then she has fey who are loyal to her and hate the sidhe."
"Then we keep an eye on them."
"We are," he said.
"Are you spying on people without telling me?" I asked.
"Of course I am," he said.
"Shouldn't you run things like that by me first?"
"Why?"
I looked at Frost. "Can you explain to him why I should know these things?"
"I think he is treating you like most royals want to be treated," said Frost.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"Plausible deniability is very important among monarchs," he said.
"You see Gilda as a fellow monarch?" I asked.
"She sees herself as such," Doyle said. "It is always better to let petty kings keep their crowns until we want the crown and the head it sits upon."
"This is the twenty-first century, Doyle. You can't run our life like it's the tenth century."
"I have been watching your news programs and reading books on governments