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But then I remembered that way back when we were first dating, Christopher had told me all the same things about his first ex—the mother of his children. I had believed him of course—and thought she was a monster for leaving her kids. Now I wondered if maybe she’d just seen through his act and had decided to cut her losses and run. I still couldn’t fathom leaving my kids in that situation, but I understood her more now…and it allowed me to have some sympathy for Honey-bunny. Or whatever her name was.
“Okay, fine,” I said to her. “Look, I’m not going to hurt you. Just give me the?—”
But before I could finish my sentence, she bolted past me right out the still-open front door.
32
Lily
I was just about to run after the girl when she suddenly appeared again…being held firmly in the grip of two large Fae males.
“Seldarin! Krynn!” I exclaimed. Relief washed over me and I realized how worried I’d been about them—the anxiety about their safety had been like a constant murmuring undercurrent in my mind from the moment I had run from the Quenching Parlor and left the Palace.
“Princess!” Sel exclaimed as they came in through the front door.
“My Lady—are you well?” Krynn asked anxiously.
“I should be asking you guys that,” I exclaimed. “I was so worried about what Mordren would do to you!”
“Yeah, I had to threaten to call a thunderbolt down on his fucking head to get him to let us out of the Quenching chairs,” Sel growled.
“And then our Markings led us to you,” Krynn added, touching the side of his neck where the spider web tattoo was glowing faintly.
“I’m so sorry I had to leave you,” I told them. “I was just worried that if I started er, drinking from either one of you I wouldn’t be able to stop.”
“It seems that your fears were well-warranted,” Krynn said soberly. Nodding at Christopher’s limp body he asked, “Is that your ex-mate? The one you told us about who hurt you so deeply?”
I nodded sheepishly.
“We, uh, had an argument and things kind of got out of control.”
“Out of control, huh? I’d say that’s a fucking understatement,” Sel growled, nudging the body with the toe of his boot. “Looks like you drained him dry, Princess.”
“I didn’t mean to,” I said earnestly. “I just got so angry with him. And then the, uh, Thirst just kind of took over.”
“That is not at all unusual for a first Quenching,” Krynn told me. “The Thirst is a ravening force within a Queen of Lolth’s line.”
“In other words, don’t feel bad,” Sel said. “You couldn’t’ help it. And from what you told us, this fucking bastard had it coming to him.”
“But I do feel kind of bad about it,” I said. “I mean, Christopher was an abusive asshole, but I’m mostly worried about his kids. What am I going to tell them?”
“Nothing tonight. For now, the body must be disposed of and this one here must be dealt with,” Krynn said practically, nodding at Honey-bunny.
Up until now she had been standing there frozen, with Sedarin’s big hands clamped firmly around her upper arms to keep her from running. But now, she began to cry—big, noisy, braying sobs that were as loud as her shrieking had been earlier.
“P-please d-don’t give me to the vuh-vuh-vampire lady!” she cried between sobs. “I d-didn’t mean to st-steal her husband! I’m suh-suh-sorry!”
“Hush now,” Krynn said sternly. He came around in front of the girl and looked her in the eyes. “Quiet now,” he said softly. “Be quiet, Mortal.”
As he spoke, his own green eyes glowed more brightly for a moment and I felt the same low-level electrical surge that I’d felt the very first time Krynn had done magic around me. Back when he’d caused the protective plant cage to grow all around me when we were attacked on our way to the Palace. God, why did that seem so long ago?
To my surprise, his technique seemed to work because she shut off the waterworks immediately. Her eyes still looked red and tragic and there was a long runner of snot hanging from one nostril which she swiped away with her sleeve, but she had stopped crying as suddenly as she had started.
“How did you do that?” I asked Krynn. “Get her to stop crying, I mean?”
“That’s just a little soothing magic,” Sel answered for him. “Most Fae can do it.”
“It’s kind of a milder form of the persuasion and control magic which is Mordren’s specialty,” Krynn added. “I’m not nearly as good at it as he is—he has a natural aptitude for twisting the minds of others. But it’s not hard to control a human—they’re very weak mentally.” He looked at Honey-bunny again. “What should I tell her?”
