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I rose the next day feeling pretty grihtened when I saw that Claude and Derht before The evidence was clear Claude’s shirt was tossed over the back of a kitchen chair, and Dermot’s shoes were at the foot of the stairs Plus, after I’d had ed fro for uys," I said Even to my own ears, I didn’t sound too perky "Did you remember that today was the day the antiques dealers come? They should be here in an hour or two" I braced myself for the talk we had to have

"Good, then this roo way

I just nodded Today, we had Obnoxious Claude, as opposed to the more rarely seen Tolerable Claude

"We did promise you a talk," Dermot said

"And then you didn’t coht" I sat back in an old rocker from the attic I didn’t feel particularly ready for this conversation, but I was also anxious for so at the club," Claude said evasively

"Uh-huh Let "

That made them sit up and take notice "What? How did you know?" Dermot recovered first

"Victor has hiht

"It’s not enough that we have to handle our own race’s proble va I alking uphill in this conversation "You as a group weren’t sucked into the vales One of you was taken for a specific purpose Different scenario Let me point out that at the very least, that fairy as taken has been bled, because that hat the va comrade couldn’t be alive, but you kno the va fairy"

"She’s right," Dermot told Claude "Cait must be dead Are any of the fairies at the club her kin? We need to ask if they’ve had a death vision"

"A female," Claude said His handsome face was set in stone "One we couldn’t afford to lose Yes, we have to find out"

For a second I was confused, because Claude didn’t think that much about women in terms of his personal life Then I remembered that there were fewer and fewer female fairies I didn’t know about the rest of the fae, but it seemed the fairies were on the wane It wasn’t that I lacked concern about the h I didn’t think there was a snowball’s chance in hell that she was alive), but I had other, selfish questions to ask, and I was not going to be diverted As soon as Derans and asked Bellenos to call the fae together to ask about Cait’s kin, I got back on my own track

"While Bellenos is busy, you have so soon, I really need you to answer my questions," I said

Dermot and Claude looked at each other Dermot seemed to lose the conversational coin toss, because he took a deep breath and began, "You knohen one of your Caucasians roes, so ly at random That likeness can vary even between children of the same couple"

"Yes," I said "I’ve heard that"

"When Jason was a baby, our great-grandfather Niall checked on him"

I felt my mouth drop open "Wait," I said, and it came out in a hoarse croak "Niall said he couldn’t visit because his half-huuarded us frorandfather"

"This is why Fintan guarded you fro in your lives the way he had interfered in his own But Niall had his ways, and nonetheless, he found that the essential spark had passed Jason by He becameuninterested," Claude said

I waited

He continued, "That’s why he took so many years to make your acquaintance He could have evaded Fintan, but he assumed you would be the same as Jasonattractive to humans and supernaturals, but other than that, essentially a normal human"

"But then he heard you weren’t," Derrandmother would have been proud

"Froether, and Niall thought to ask Eric to alert him to events in your life Eric would tell Niall from time to tiht you needed the protection of your great-grandfather, and of course you ithering"

Huh?

"So Grandfather sent Claudine, and then when she greorried she couldn’t take care of you, he decided to ht that he would get Niall’s goodwill as kind of a finder’s fee" Dered "That seems to have worked for Eric Vampires are all venal and selfish"

The words "pot" and "kettle" popped into my mind

I said, "So Niall appeared in my life and made himself known to me, via Eric’s intervention And that precipitated the fairy war, because the water fairies didn’t want any more contact with huhth fairy" Thanks, guys I loved hearing that a whole as my fault

"Yes," Claude said judiciously "That’s a fair summary And so the war came, and after hed heavily "I was left outside, and Der," I pointed out with some sharpness "Ithe big picture, but I was getting angry Or rier

"You have only a little fae blood," Der re"

I couldn’t deny that "So why a more and more like one of you, if I have such a little dab of fairy in me?"

"Our sum is more than our parts," Derer I’h a full- blooded fairy, has been in the huer You only have a dash of fae blood, but the longer you’re with us, the more prominent an ele a puet it"

"Like--like--washing a new red garment with the whites," said Der the week before Everyone in our house had pink socks now

"But wouldn’t thatless red? Isome of his?" "No," Claude said, with some complacence "I am redder than I was"

Dermot nodded "Me, too"

"I haven’t really noticed any difference," I said

"Are you not stronger than you were?"

"Wellyeah So vath for an indeterminate period, if it didn’t or I felt, in factyounger And since I was only in

"Don’t you long to see Niall again?" Claude asked

"Sometimes" Every day

"Are you not happy e sleep in the bed with you?"

"Yeah But just so you know, I think it’s kind of creepy, too"

"Humans," Claude said to Dere in his voice Dered After all, he was half-human

"And yet you chose to stay here," I said

"I wonder every day if I made a mistake"

"Why are you two still here, if you’re so nuts about Niall and your life in Faery? How did you get the letter froo, the one where he told me he’d used all his influence to lared at theery?"

"No, it was genuine," Dermot said "And we’re here because we both love and fear our prince"

"Okay," I said, ready to change subjects because I couldn’t get into a debate about their feelings "What’s a portal, exactly?"

"It’s a thin place in the membrane," Claude said I looked at Claude blankly, and he elaborated "There’s a sort of ical membrane between our world--the supernatural world--and yours At a thin place, that membrane is permeable The fae world is accessible As are the parts of your world that are normally invisible to you"

"Huh?"

Claude was on a roll "Portals usually stay in the saet from your world to ours At the site of the portal in your woods, Niall left an aperture The slit isn’t big enough for one of us to pass through standing up, but objects can be transferred"

Like a mail slot in a door "See? Was that so hard?" I said "Can you think of sos to tell me?"

"Like what?"

"Like why all those fae are at Hooligans, acting as strippers and bouncers and whatnot They’re not all fairies I don’t even knohat they are Why would they end up with you two?"

"Because they have nowhere else to go," Dermot said simply "They were all shut out Some on purpose, like Claude, and some notlike me"

"So Niall closed off access to Faery and left so to keep all those fairies who still wanted to kill humans inside, and he was too hasty," Claude said I noticed that Dermot, whom Niall had bespelled in a cruel way, looked dubious at this explanation

"I understood that Niall had good reasons for closing the fae off," I said slowly "He said experience had taught him that there’s always trouble when fairies and humans mix He didn’t want the fairies to crossbreed with humans anymore because so many of the fae hate the consequence-- half-breeds" I looked apologetically at Dered He was used to it "Niall never intended to see o into the world of the fae and stay there?"

There was a pause that nant" It was clear that Der to respond At least they weren’t going to lie "So explain why you’re living withthey’d answer that one

"We’re living with you because it seeood idea to be with the kin we could find," Claude said "We felt weak cut off from our homeland, and we had no notion that there were so many fae left out here We were surprised when the other stranded fae in North Aans, but ere happy As we told you, we’re stronger e’re together"

"Are you tellingback and forth "You could have told " I held out my arms to either side, palms up Well?