Page 25 of Rory

Somehow he’d managed to hurt her. The stupid immortal bitch was far, far too sensitive.

“Should I thank you for that? When I’ve done the same with some of your less than admirable qualities?” He thought about picking off one of the stray hairs she’d shed onto his jacket and showing it to her, but that would likely cross the line from complaining into taunting.

“I’m always happy to see you, aren’t I?” the giantess demanded. “I’m probably the last friend you have left. No, after what you did to upset Aosda, I know I am.”

“Why do you care?” he asked, perplexed now. “Don’t you have better things to do than worry about me?”

“Sure I do.” She looked down and shuffled her huge feet. “It’s just that, well, I was hoping maybe someday we could be more than friends.” She reached out as if to touch him, and then dropped her huge hand. “You know.”

“More than friends.” For the first time since he’d met the giantess he realized she must have had her own reasons for helping him. The thought that it was out of affectionate hope for a future together made him want to scrub out his brain with acid. “Mirry, you’re the forbidden spawn of the King of Nightmares and an unlovely member of the nearly extinct Fae Phrygian. I’m the forbidden spawn of inbred goblin royalty who tried to sacrifice me to parasitic crystals so they wouldn’t offend the dark Fae Queen and lose their kingdom.”

“See?” Mirry lifted her head to beam at him. “We’re perfect for each other. Besides, you can’t use your magic on me, and vice versa, so we’re a no-harm-no-foul couple, too.”

“Even if we could mate without my crystals killing you or you maiming me with your sizeable attributes,” Bodach said through clenched teeth, “I’m not inclined to be the sort of pet-level lover you want. I don’t find all that fur attractive, so I wouldn’t be able to rise to the occasion and perform to your expectations. I enjoy being sadistic; you’re sentimental and overly affectionate.”

She moved her massive shoulders. “You say tomato, I say toe-mah-toe.”

Had she completely forgotten his repulsive true appearance? Bodach wondered. “We were cast out of Elphyne because we’re both forbidden spawn so dangerous we could destroy the otherworld. Any progeny we might produce would likely make the universe collapse and devour itself.”

She stared at him, her eyes glittering wetly now. “You know, you’re really mean sometimes.”

“I’m being realistic, you duh, uh, dear friend.” Knowing now she could smell his lies forced him to forego the usual vapidities he would have offered to soothe her pride. “You’re one of the most powerful dark Fae in the mortal realm. No one can match your knowledge of potions and melia magic, and humans all adore you. You can command legions of immortal beaus from the ranks of the dark Fae outcasts here. I’m sure that someday you will find a male worthy of serving as your mate.”

“Quit saying that like I’m going to make the universe collapse, huh?” Evidently mollified, she smirked a little. “All right, then, have fun playing with your dead mortals. I’m going to head up to Yosemite and see if I can scare some campers.”

Bodach waited until she disappeared from sight before he pressed the heels of his pink, sore-riddled hands against his eyes. He then went and opened the back of the rental truck and surveyed all the crates. He’d have to tap his last reserve of red crystal to have enough power to bespell the revenants in the best condition to come and unload the artifacts. He wished he’d thought of that before Mirry’s unwelcome visit.

“It doesn’t matter,” he muttered as he pried open the nearest crate, from which he pulled a long, heavy object wrapped in dry-rotted burlap. Through the tears in the wrapping the blackened gleam of steel shone. “Soon I’ll have what I need to leave all this behind and take the kingdom that should have been mine long ago.”