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TWENTY-THREE STORIES UP AND ALL I COULD SEE OUT THE WINDOWS was grey sels if they wanted to, but if there were angels out there, they had to be flying blind

Los Angeles is a place where people, those ings and without, come to hide Hide from others, hide from themselves I’d co out at the thick, dirty air, I wanted to go home Home where the air was blue round to get grass to grow Hoo back because they’d kill me if I did, row up to be a faerie princess Trust me It’s overrated

There was a knock on the office door It opened before I could say anything My boss, Jererey man, four feet eleven inches, an inch shorter than rey from his dark Armani suit to his button-up shirt and silk tie Only his shoes were black and shiny Even his skin was a pale unifore No, he was a trow in the prime of life, just a little over four hundred There were so the thin mouth, that made him appear mature, but he’d never be old Without the aid of ht live forever Theoretically Scientists say that in about five billion years the sun will expand and engulf the Earth The fey won’t survive that They will die Does five billion years count as forever? I don’t think so Though it’s close enough to ainst the s and the thick, hanging srey as rey, like clouds before a spring rain What lay outside thefelt heavy and thick like soet it down It was a day to choke on, or loo?" He closed the door behind hi us privacy Maybe it was for htness around his eyes, a set to his thin, well-tailored shoulders that said I wasn’t the only one in a bad ood rain shower or even a good ould have cleared out the sain

"Hoave a small smile "Can’t fool you, can I, Merry?"

"No," I said

"Nice outfit," he said

I knew I looked hot when Jeremy complimented my clothes He always looked impeccable even in jeans and T-shirt, which he only wore if he absolutely had to be undercover I’d seen Jere a suspect Of course, it helped that his dexterity and speed were ht have to actually chase so shoes and left the high heels at hoives you when he’s appreciating the view It wasn’t personal, but anore so to be attractive, a slap in the face telling them that they’d failed Apparently, I hadn’t failed I’d woken up to the shter than normal to try and cheer myself up Royal blue suit jacket, double-breasted, silver buttons, ablue pleated skirt that was so short, it was only a fringe across h that if I crossed hs Two-inch patent leather high heels helped show off the legs When you’re as short as I a Most days the heels were three inches

My hair was a deep rich red in the reflections of the mirrors A color hts instead of the usual brown that most redheads had It was as if someone had taken dark red rubies and spun them out into hair It was a very popular color this year Blood auburn it was called in the high court of the fey royalty Faerie Red, Sidhe Scarlet, if you went to a good salon It was actually my natural color Until it becaht, I’d had to hide one for black, because it looked more natural than hu the dye jobthat Sidhe Scarlet co It doesn’t It’s the only true red color I know of that matches a pale, pure white skin tone It’s the red hair for soreat in black, true reds, royal blues

The only things I still had to hide were the vibrant green and gold of my eyes and the luminosity of my skin I used dark brown contacts for the eyes My skin-that I had to tone down using glaic Just a steady concentration like uard and start to glow Hulow, no , which hy the contacts coveredfamiliar coat, an illusion that I was just a huround who had some psychic and mystical abilities thattoo special

Jereency kneas one of the weakesteven on the weak end of the scale It meant that I had successfully hidden my true self, icians and psychics in the city Maybe in the country No slamy heart For that I needed skills that I didn’t have, and that was one of the reasons I was in hiding I couldn’t fight the sidhe, not and live The best I could do was hide I trusted Jeremy and the others They were ht do to them if I were discovered, and my relatives found out norant, then the sidhe would leave thenorance was bliss on this one Though I thought that soood friends would see it as a type of betrayal But if the choices were thery at ry I could live with their anger I wasn’t sure I could live with their deaths

I know, I know Why not go to the Bureau of Huet asylum? My relatives would probably kill me when they found me, but if I went public and aired our dirty laundry for the world media, they would most definitely kill me And they’d kill aave him what I kneanted: the look that said that I appreciated the slender potential of his body under his perfect suit To hu, but for the fey, any fey, it wasn’t even close to flirting "Thanks, Jeremy, but you didn’t come in here to compli ot tomen in my office They want to be clients," he said

"Want to be? "I said

He turned, leaning against the desk, ar my stance at the s, either unconsciously, or purposefully, though I didn’t knohy "We don’t usually do divorce work," Jere away froency never, ever, does divorce work"

"I know, I know," he said He pushed away fro out into the fog He didn’t look any happier than I felt

I leaned back against the glass so I could see his face better "Why are you breaking your cardinal rule, Jere at ment If you say we stay out of it, we’ll stay out of it But I think you’ll feel the same way I do"

I touched his shoulder "And how are you feeling, boss, other than worried?" I ran my hand down his arone dark charcoal grey with anger "Cory afterward as I aripped his arm "Jeremy, relax It’s just a divorce case"

"What if I told you it was attempted murder?" His voice was calm Matter of fact, it didn’ttension in his arm

Iabout?"

"The nastiest death spell that’s ever walked intoto kill her?" I made it a question