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Her second client, a Normal human who probably didn’t know such things existed, rolled his eyes and said, “That’s a good story. You’ll have a hard time topping it later.”
When her best client, Janice Willoughby, a rabbit-kin homemaker, came in, she took one look at Liliana, covered her mouth with her hand, and interrupted Liliana’s usual client welcome speech to say, “What happened?”
“I was stabbed by a giant spider helping Pete on that case a few days ago. I am fine, though. The injuries are already healing.”
“Oh, Madame Anna, you could have been killed. I heard on the news about the serial killers in Raleigh targeting soldiers from Fort Liberty. They weren’t Normals, were they? What were they really?”
“A nest of widow spiders.” Liliana shrugged. She looked at the shoulder strap of her client’s purse, a soft-looking blue denim material with appliqued flowers. Liliana wondered if it was Janice’s own handiwork.
Janice gasped and her face blanched. “A whole nest of them! I’d scream and run if I saw even one. It’s a wonder you weren’t killed.”
“I did not die,” Liliana reassured her favorite client. “The widow spiders died. I am fine.”
Janice insisted that Liliana tell her the full story. As talkative as Janice was, Liliana also found her to be an excellent listener. The spider-kin felt an odd relief after she shared the story of Pete, the red wolf-kin, hunting her, how she defeated him in single combat, and later risked her life to save him and his friend, Sergeant Zoe Giovanni. It was as if she had been holding something heavy all by herself, and now Janice Willoughby held one end of it for her.
Apparently, having someone she could talk to honestly about her life was soothing in some way. She had noticed this with her clients—that they would often pay the spider seer to simply listen to them talk about their lives when they had no real questions to ask. That had always seemed odd to her. Now she understood.
Long after her appointment ended, Janice stayed and talked with Liliana. When Liliana started to feel hungry, she did something she had not done in a very long time. She invited Janice Willoughby into her home to share lunch.
After telling the rabbit-kin about the recent events in her life, Liliana had little else to say, but Janice didn’t have any trouble filling up the silence. While they ate grilled cheese sandwiches and drank tea, she kept chatting amiably about her children and her husband, Lou. She also spoke about rapidly becoming close friends with Ben Harper, Pete’s Normal boyfriend who was one of Janice’s son’s teachers.
Liliana was surprised to find that having her best client in her home did not bother her like she’d assumed it would. She enjoyed having the cheerful rabbit-kin sharing her personal space.
In fact, she thought perhaps, once she was fully healed, she should go out on a social visit herself, her first in decades. The thought made her stomach a little queasy with nerves, but Liliana was not a coward. She had promised Doctor Nudd she would return his sweater. She would not let fear stop her from keeping her word to the kind goblin.
In addition, having seen him fight twice now, it was clear to Liliana that Pete needed more training. He had all the raw materials of a great warrior—courage without bounds, an indomitable will, intelligence, and incredible levels of brute power—but he did not know how to use those strengths to best advantage. Beyond training, he needed two other things to survive the attack she’d foreseen from a pack of assassins from the Order of the Wolfhound: something to defeat the protective magic of the crown collars the Wolfhounds wore, and allies.
Liliana picked up their plates and went to her kitchen to fetch more tea for herself and Janice.
Pete would be dead already without his allies. Colonel Bennet, who secretly watched over Pete, was even more secretly an unseelie Fae prince. He was also the only reason the first Wolfhound assassin who came to Fayetteville had not already slain Pete. Well, the Colonel’s abilities plus a little help from Liliana.
The only reason she and Pete had survived their encounter with the widow spiders was the timely aid of Siobhan and her machine gun. The value of good allies was incalculable.
Doctor Nudd, in particular, would be essential to Pete’s survival. If an eight-foot oak goblin stood with Pete when he fought, that would certainly improve his chances. Not to mention the doctor’s healing abilities after the battle.
Liliana opened her fourth eyes and looked along the goblin’s life path.
How can I make sure Doctor Nudd will be there to help when Pete faces the Wolfhounds?
She saw the gentle doctor pierced with a sword, blood bubbling from his lips as he died. The power and clarity of the image meant that it would happen soon and was nearly certain.
Oh.
The tea tray in Liliana’s hands tilted without her noticing, spilling tea and cups all over her woven carpet.
Oh.
Janice jumped up from the chair and grabbed the tray from her hands. “What is it, Madame Anna? What did you see?”
Janice set the tray on the coffee table and gently guided the spider seer to the couch by one elbow.
Liliana would have missed the couch in her distraction without the help. “Doctor Nudd is going to be murdered.”
“Oh! That’s awful.” Janice picked up the mostly unbroken tea cups off the carpet. “He’s the nice goblin who fixed up your injuries, right?”
Liliana nodded. “He is also Pete’s closest friend and mentor. Pete will die if Doctor Nudd is not there to fight beside him the next time he is attacked. And he will mourn if Doctor Nudd dies.” After a moment, she added, “I will mourn too.”
“Is that why he’s going to be murdered, do you think? Because he’s friends with the Celtic werewolf? There’s a lot of Others who have a hate on for Pete’s kind.”
