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PASCO’S DEATH MEANT THAT THE QUEEN NEEDED A NEW SPY TO SEND back to Los Angeles with me She see in the hallways I was able to press until we settled on a guard asn’t exactly one of her pets Nicca is terrified of my aunt, so he’ll report to her, but he also helped us after the thorns tried to drink me dry Doyle trusts him, and I trust Doyle The queen says that Nicca is not an inspired lover, but the packaging is nice His father was one of the des His mother was one of the ladies of the court, a full-blooded sidhe The queen had hiiant butterfly wings are tattooed across his shoulders, arenetics tried to give hih he wasas lovely as the wings on Nicca’s back The queen would have had hi design went, but I opted to be left with a little htened the entire time He watched Queen Andais the way a crippled sparroatches a snake, just wondering when the first big bite is going to sink into its flesh I got him out of her presence as soon as was polite Doyle assuresas the queen is nowhere around I’d love to knohat she did to him in particular to make hiet the norance may not be bliss, but soeles as soon as we could get a flight out The police had to be called in to keep the press at bay The pictures of Frost, Kitto, and me were already in the tabloids I’ the full nude shots with nothing fuzzed out The question everyone wanted to know the answer to was: Is Frost or Kitto the new fiance I kept answering no, and one smart reporter asked if I was into polyandry Ihed, and loved it Since we can’t do anything else, we’re playing to it Princess Meredith is picking a new husband, or two

Jereht Uther to the airport to h the reporters When you’re thirteen feet tall,out of your face, even reporters will clear a path Jeremy fielded questions that, yes, the princess did work for the Grey Detective Agency We’d already talked on the phone, because Jeremy had prettya detective hada faerie princess ever had Besides, I had a lot of o was out of the hospital and alre’s attack in the van Roane was back frolea with opalescence like a daintier, pinker version of abalone shell It was lovely, and meant more to me than any jewel because itto be told, though I’ve let hi sex has made him sidhe-struck, he’s welcome He seems fine; his new sealskin seelad, because truth is I have enough uard withto be twenty-four-seven, so they rotate, andto be on duty and who isn’t I’ Doyle handle the details-it is his job When they’re not guardingto settle into the neorld I’ve dragged theency and be a real-life detective Jere on staff Once the word got out, it seeuard their body Business was so good anddecorative with no real danger-that Galen and Nicca both signed on Doyle says he doesn’t guard anyone butaround with me and would spend most of his ti well to his first view of the twentieth century The poor goblin never saw a car before, or a television- and now he spends his days in a skyscraper in one of the most , I’ll have to send hi will send a replaceoblin won’t be nearly so nice

Whatever the demi-fey did to Galen, it wasin one certain area the way he should We’ve had a doctor and the best ical practitioner in the city look at hiic both keep failing us, I may have to talk to Queen Niceven herself and find out what the hell they did to hi other bodies because to be so close to me and still not be able to have me, when everyone else can, is just too difficult for hi, and we’re still waiting

The Grey Detective Agency is getting so -bucks business that Jereer offices There were souards, because they were Unseelie and Jeree Galen and Rhys took hi I don’t knoas said, but the next day the tension level was better Male bonding at its best

Alistair Norton’s , Frances Norton, and Nao well They’ve ether and if they were a heterosexual couple I’d say weinvitation soon They see Alistair The police have traced some of Alistair’s fellow sidhe worshipers Two of them died mysteriously just before the police found them I don’t have much hope for the health of any of the sidhe worshipers The queen, or Cel’s toadies, or both, are tidying up the mess The queen assured me that there was only one bottle of Branwyn’s Tears er to the huave o back on their oath, not even Andais There is al the sidhe than to be an oath-breaker No one will do business with you after that No one will bed you, let alone ht now-she would not risk it There are whispers of revolution, and I know that Cel’s followers aested that Barinthus is behind it, that he intends to make me queen whether I bear a child or not "Barinthus Queen-maker" is what they say behind his back I’velike that, but he still refuses to co we need at least one powerful friend to talk to the court aboutto wonder exactly what he’s saying at court without me there to say yea or nay to it

Doyle has shared ether, but not had sex He says that anticipation will make it better I don’t knohat he has planned, but looking into his dark eyes I know he has a plan, a purpose When I ask about that plan, he says, "I want only to keep you safe and see you queen after your aunt" I don’t believe him Oh, I believe he wants me safe, and I believe he wants me to rule after Andais, but there is more to it than that When I press, he smiles and shakes his head I should know by now that when the queen’s Darkness keeps secrets there is no prying theether co, he is still the queen’s Darkness and not truly mine It’s not the lack of sex but the wealth of secrets that keepsDoyle completely If I cannot own him body and heart, how can I trust him? The answer, si as a detective but under my real name now I have access to sidhe lovers and could return to faerie any ti I wanted, but there is a tension that never quite goes away Because I know that, as they say, the other shoe has not dropped Cel still lives; his followers fear that I will destroy theun over less The media is always present like a circle of sharks kept at bay only by court orders They’re chasing the sex and role-if only they kne very much more there is to the story Griffin hasn’t been found Maybe he’s dead and no one toldmy aunt, I think she’d probably box him up and send me a few favorite parts I should be happy, and I am, but I’m not at peace We are in the quiet before the stor to be a hell of a stor the storuards, and with every caress, every glance, I aive any of theh people in my life I’d like to try, just this once, not to lose anyone else I’d pretty ion with my family, but I’ve set up an altar inas hard as I can, but I know better than et an answer to your prayer, sometimes the answer isn’t what you want it to be I don’t want the throne if I have to cliet it I don’t want anything that badly-I never did I always thought love was more important than power, but sometimes you can’t have love without the power to keep it safe I pray for the safety of those I care about Maybe what I’h power to protect them So be it What ever it takes to keep the queen I can’t be queen while Cel lives, no matter what my aunt believes I pray for the safety of those I care about, and what I’ for is power, the throne, and s ive us all safety They say, be careful what you wish for Well, be even more cautious with your prayers Make sure, very sure, it’s what you want You never knohen a deity ive you exactly what you asked for