One Blood Ruby

Author:Melissa Marr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-12-27T16:00:00+00:00

twenty-three

LILYDARK

Lily watched Hector walk through the police station toward them with a mix of relief and fury. He had a swollen eye, a bandage around his arm where they’d obviously drawn blood, and he was limping. She leveled a glare at the human officer who’d been at her door and was currently escorting Hector out of wherever he’d been imprisoned within the bowels of the building.

“Stand down,” Daidí said sternly.

At first, Lily glanced at Erik, who merely grinned and raised his brows at her. With a start, she realized that Daidí was talking to her. It wasn’t a tone that allowed for any argument, however, so she held her tongue. She might be the future queen of faeries, but she was still her father’s daughter. And this was Abernathy business, not fae. That made it his to manage. Perhaps, it always would be solely his.

With some sadness, Lily realized that she’d sacrificed his empire. She wasn’t sure she could manage to rule the Hidden Lands and a criminal enterprise, and even if she could, she wasn’t sure it was fair to anyone for her to try to do so. It broke her heart a little.

She leaned her head on her father’s shoulder and said, “Yes, Daidí.”

He sent her a sideways look that was full of questions, but they weren’t anywhere where answers were possible.

“Abernathy,” the human detective said as he released Hector’s cuffs.

Daidí didn’t deign to reply. He had a longstanding tradition of not answering the police in even the simplest matters if possible. It was well-documented.

“Mr. Abernathy is here to collect his employee, who was wrongfully detained without proper due process,” the attorney supplied.

“And what does Mr. Abernathy have to say about the burning of one hundred and eighty acres in the South Continent?” the officer continued, staring at Daidí, not the attorney, as if he could read some hint there. He wasn’t the first man she’d seen try to intimidate her father. It was sheer folly on their part every time. Nicolas Abernathy was implacable on even his worst days.

“Fires are a naturally occurring event,” the attorney said mildly. “It’s an unfortunate thing that such a large area was burned, but nature can be unpredictable.”

“If a fae-blood were—”

“Are you accusing Mr. Abernathy of being fae-blood, officer?”

The officer said nothing for a long moment, but then he relented and said, “We have seen the records. He was not fae-blood in the tests.”

“Then you know he was tested voluntarily several times,” the attorney supplied smugly.

“A man with his sort of reach could just as easily hire one of them.” The officer’s voice was dripping with hostility at the mention of the fae-blood. He gestured at Hector. “That one might not be, but I’m certain he’s harboring one of them.”

Daidí turned away, steering her with him. Erik met his eyes and led the way, while Creed and Hector closed in behind them side by side. It was similar enough to how they’d walked in that it wasn’t drawing undue attention. However, the feel of the air solidifying behind her was clue enough that Creed was uncomfortable.

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