The malignant hovering doll turned toward me. Doyle moved slightly forward on the couch, minutely, so that if she had another burst of power he could shield me. Frost's body was so tense beside me it felt like his muscles should ache with it. I fought not to tense, to be calm, and to send calm out to Bittersweet. She was a buzzing, rage-filled thing, and I wondered again if she was mad.
"You begged me to stay here and keep you safe. I stayed, and I have made certain that the police did not take you somewhere with more metal and technology."
She dipped toward the ground, and then hovered again, but not as high, and not as precise. I knew enough of winged beings to know that that was puzzlement, a hesitation. The sound of bees began to fade.
She scrunched her tiny face up and said, "You stayed because I was afraid. You stayed because I asked."
"Yes," I said, "that's exactly right, Bittersweet."
The voices outside grew louder, more strident. "It's too late, Queen Meredith. They've come." Bittersweet turned toward the door. "They've come to get me." Her voice sounded distant, and not right. Danu save us, she was mad. The question was, had the madness come before or after she saw her friends dead? The sound of bees began to grow louder again, and there was the smell of summer and sun beating down on the grass.
"They aren't coming to get you, Bittersweet," I said, and I sent calming thoughts to her. I wished we'd had Galen or Abeloec with us; they could both project positive emotions. Abe could make warriors stop in the middle of the battle and have a drink together. Galen just made everyone happy to be around him. None of the three of us sitting here could do any of that. We could kill Bittersweet to save the humans from harm, but could we stop her short of that?
"Bittersweet, you called me your queen. As your queen I command you not to harm anyone in this place."
She looked back over her shoulder at me and her almond-shaped eyes glinted blue with her magic. "I'm not Bittersweet anymore. I'm just Bitter, and we have no queen," she said. She began to fly toward the door.
O'Brian said, "Detectives?"
We all stood and began to move carefully after the demi-fey. Lucy came close to me and whispered, "What kind of damage can she really do?"
"Enough to blast the door off its hinges," I said.
"With my people between her and the door," Lucy said.
"Yes," I said.
"Well, shit."