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She didn’t think he would make this tree eat her, though. Not with people here like Pete and Sergeant Giovanni, who both thought he was a Normal. A bunch of actual Normals were here as well, the whole excavation and forensics team, minus poor Greg. The Fae colonel certainly wouldn’t use magic where they might see.
Every Other went to extreme lengths to hide their existence from the Normals who vastly outnumbered them. It was the one thing they all agreed on.
I need to talk to him.
Despite the inherent danger in a Sidhe knowing of Liliana’s existence, and the fact that he might have been trying to kill her the first time they met, she had greatly enjoyed her previous encounters with the Colonel. They had spoken to each other twice, and she’d seen the tall, muscular, dark hair and skinned man in several visions. Yet, they had never officially met.
She’d side-stepped all the social rules and common courtesy before, due to the necessities of survival. Among other omissions, she hadn’t given him her name or asked him for his. Those were essential social requirements.
Perhaps the Colonel would be willing to help her get on base so she could save Doctor Nudd on the day he would be murdered. Her direct help had the highest probability of saving Doctor Nudd’s life, and the Colonel had full base access.
He had no reason to help her, though.
Last time, she had deliberately not bargained with him in the Fae way. He seemed to appreciate the exception, but this time, she really did need a favor and she had something valuable to trade. She’d seen a possibility that he would be hit by a car and die earlier on the day Doctor Nudd would. The probability of his death that day was low, but the probability of serious injury was high.
Also, his reaction to her request for help might guide her in her eventual decision as to whether or not to save him from the far more likely death that waited for him in less than a year. To decide whether to save him from his fate, she needed to know what sort of man he was.
A formal introduction was in order.
Liliana dropped from her perch, landing near the passenger side window of his car just as it rolled to a stop. The car was so tall that she stood on tiptoe so her whole face would be in the window when he looked. The interior of the big vehicle showed a lot of bare metal. It didn’t look very comfortable.
She tapped lightly on the window, but the uniformed colonel still made a startled jolt.
His hand dropped to the butt of a gun in a holster on his belt. It was brand new. He hadn’t had a sidearm the last time she saw him. It was probably Siobhan’s handiwork, and therefore likely to be effective against a wide variety of Others. Liliana suspected that was why he’d been in the parking lot of Emerald Arms the day Pete accused her of murder.
The spider-kin carefully showed the colonel her empty hands.
He unsnapped the pistol holster with a flick of his thumb and pushed a button with his other hand that caused the window in front of her to roll down.
“It’s you,” he said, a single eyebrow high. “What is it this time?” His tone sounded curious, not alarmed.
“I wish to speak to you, to offer proper courtesy to a Sidhe of your lineage, and to ask for a favor.”
Now, both dark eyebrows went up in surprise. The line of his mouth firmed. Not so much a loss of joy like last time, as a switch from casual to deadly serious. “What do you offer in exchange for a favor from me?” His voice was just as deep and smooth as she remembered, like a perfectly tuned cello, and utterly devoid of emotion.
A favor from any Fae held great value. From a Sidhe prince, a favor could be priceless. There were few things valuable enough to offer in trade. “Your life is in danger. There is a small probability that you will die within a few weeks or a higher probability you will receive grave injury on that day a few weeks from now. There is also a near certainty that you will die in less than a year.” Liliana focused on his square chin, the closest she could comfortably come to eye contact. “If you grant my favor, I will make certain you survive the first danger uninjured.”
His face didn’t seem to change much, yet she sensed a shift in attitude, from something like surprise to something else. If she had to guess, she would say he was intrigued.
“Are you threatening me?” the prince asked her, voice sounding unconcerned, almost bored, but his hand tensed on the butt of the gun.
Liliana blinked her human eyes, the only ones currently open. That was not at all what she had meant to communicate. “I am doing the opposite of threatening. I am offering aid.”
His hand relaxed. “I don’t believe I need aid.”
“Disbelief will not protect you from danger. May I sit with you in your car for a time and talk?” She made as if to reach for the car door handle but waited first for permission.
The prince’s eyes flicked to the left for a fraction of a second, toward the trail that led to the excavation of the grave and the people investigating the bodies.
Liliana told him, “They will not be ready to give you information for another fifteen minutes.”
One dark eyebrow went back up, wrinkling scar tissue on the right side of the prince’s forehead. The scar ran along his temple to the ruined skin where his right ear once was. Above that, a white streak marked his military-buzzed, woolly black hair. He took the gun out of the holster and set it in his lap with one hand. The other hand pushed a button to unlock the door in front of Liliana.
He nodded an invitation.
Ignoring the strangely designed handgun with the short, wide barrel in the Fae prince’s hand, the spider-kin joined him in the car. She had to climb up a tall step, nearly as high as the big tires, grabbing onto a handle on the inside of the doorframe. “Thank you, your highness.”
Once seated, she wasn’t sure what to say next. She fiddled with the ends of her tattered skirt, running the fabric between her fingers and watching the movement to try for calm. Social interactions were always challenging, and if she messed this one up, they might have to try to kill each other.
