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Watching the scene play out in front of her in reality, rather than in future possibility, the dark beauty of the man wreathed in earth power dazzled her enough that she almost missed the moment she should act.
As the Wolfhound on the sidewalk licked blood off his mouth, his canine face twisting from shock to snarling rage, Liliana flipped her line slightly to get the end to come up, then yanked the loop tight around the werewolf’s ankle.
When the wolf-kin leapt toward the startled obsidian prince’s throat, his outstretched claws stopped inches from polished stone skin. He yelped as he fell, stretched out facedown to the earth at the prince’s feet.
Despite his surprise, Colonel Bennet wasted no time planting a boot on the back of the Wolfhound’s neck to hold him down. He waved his hand, and the roots of the great oak writhed up, grabbing the frantically fighting werewolf.
The Sidhe prince stepped back to let the roots of the old oak tree have better access.
When the werewolf opened his mouth to scream, a root went into his open mouth, muffling the sound. It continued through and came out the back of the still feebly struggling wolf-kin’s neck. Blood soaked into the earth and vanished.
In a few seconds, the werewolf was gone, the Willoughbys’ lawn grew green and lush, and the old oak settled back to providing a sturdy anchor for the Willoughby children’s tire swing.
The Fae prince leaned casually against the trunk, but Liliana could see the tremble in his free hand.
It had been a display of incredible power, but not an easy one. Colonel Bennet no doubt sought to hide weakness, since he had no idea who aided him or what they might want from him in return.
Liliana’s third eyes were very nearsighted. They couldn’t really see much of his mind or soul aura at this distance, especially not with the potent writhing aura of pure dark Green still playing around his legs. The earth’s soul shone deep and powerful enough to dwarf any other, more subtle colors, like the sun hiding stars.
Liliana dropped gratefully from her uncomfortable perch on top of the streetlight, surreptitiously holding her elbow with her other hand until her legs bent to absorb the shock. It still hurt, but hopefully, her weakness didn’t show. She stepped into the circle of light but stayed warily on the concrete sidewalk. He probably could not bring the old tree to life again tonight, but she wasn’t taking any chances.
He nodded to her, a half-bow with a pained expression and a flash of red anger glowing in his eyes. “Thank you. Your intervention probably saved my life.”
“You expected the Wolfhound who served your family to submit, not attack. He surprised you. You wouldn’t have had time to defend yourself.”
He waved a large hand, carved from a dark, living translucent jewel, an echo of the deep Green shimmering under the surface as if the earth’s soul flowed within him. “And you aided me, even though you’re already injured, I see.” The last was said in a tone of exasperated irritation.
Liliana put a hand to the gash on her cheek self-consciously. She could hide her more severe injuries, but that one was obvious to anyone looking. “The assassin chose tonight to attack. I did not have the option to help on a night when I wasn’t injured.”
He huffed a chuckle. “I suppose not.” The red glow of anger didn’t fade. The Fae had rules about that sort of thing. The very strict, codified, black-and-white rules were far easier for the spider-kin to follow than the nebulous, often contradictory rules of social interaction among other races. It was very simple. If she saved his life, especially if it was difficult and cost her pain, he owed her a favor. By thanking her, no matter how much it angered him, he did the honorable thing and acknowledged the debt.
She could ask almost anything of him now.
But she hadn’t done it to get anything from him like a lesser Fae would, or to one up him like another Sidhe would. “I needed the assassin stopped. I couldn’t kill the Wolfhound with the defensive magic in his collar. You could.” She gave him back the same head nod and half-bow, minus the anger. “Thank you for that.”
Surprise shot the sharp ridges over his eyes that took the place of eyebrows up high, and the red glow of anger in his eyes vanished. By thanking him back, she negated his debt. Obsidian shoulders dropped an inch, releasing tension in muscles made of living stone. “That is generous of you.” He couldn’t thank her again, but the words were the Fae equivalent, turning gratitude into flattery, without implying debt.
She bowed to accept the compliment.
“I had hoped to speak to him,” he commented with mild regret. “I’d like to know who sent him, and why.”
“Your sister, Aurore, sent him to kill Pete.”
“Ah,” he said. “I suspected as much.” He looked at her curiously. He did not try to get closer this time, still leaning against the tree. In addition to giving him time to recover, he also let her keep the distance she’d chosen between them. She appreciated the courtesy, and the indication she wouldn’t have to fight him tonight. She was not in any shape to fight anyone. Neither, probably, was he after his expenditure of magical energy. “Last time I saw you, you told me you were going to kill Pete yourself if I didn’t call him off. Did you get those injuries from fighting Pete?” He gestured to the gash on her cheek.
“I was not injured when I fought Pete, other than my feet got very cold and a little scraped, and one of Siobhan’s bullets grazed my arm a little. He wasn’t injured either, aside from a few bruises and a small bite. I got these wounds fighting at Pete’s side. I convinced him I did not murder your soldiers. But when I told him he should talk to Lady Daphne, the widow spider, I didn’t know she was protecting the real murderer. I was injured fighting widow spiders at his side.”
“He never mentioned that in any of his reports. But I did notice some suspiciously glossed-over aspects, and I saw you on some video surveillance footage we confiscated. Pete is usually better about telling me everything.”
“I asked him not to mention me in anything official. I prefer that the government doesn’t know I exist. He respected my request.” After a moment, she added, “I like Pete.”
The startled, barely there smile on the obsidian face with the silver needle teeth should have been cold, even frightening. All the expressions she’d seen on that stone face up to now had been. Instead, the tiny curve of polished stone lips was a flash of warmth and humor that had Liliana smiling back. “I like Pete too,” the obsidian prince with the crown of silver horns said, his melodious deep voice amused.
“Can you please leave me out of the official reports also? My species is nearly extinct because when officials know we exist, they keep killing us.”
The tall, crowned prince looked down at the place where the assassin that nearly killed him vanished under the earth. “I will honor your wish in this. Pete’s report already doesn’t mention you. I’ll make sure the footage that includes you gets accidentally erased.”
Liliana knew better than to thank a Fae. “That is very generous of you,” she said, with feeling, and smiled up at him. She did not feel safe enough yet to step onto a living lawn with the powerful Fae, but she wished he would come closer.
