Lie Down with Dogs (5 page)

“She never did like me much,” was all he said.

Taking pity on him, I confided, “You failed her test on the first day of the academy. That kind of thing leaves a mark.”

His eyes widened. “She tested me?”

“She thought you were hot, and I was curious how kitsunes tested their mates.” I folded my legs underneath me, settling in to eat my dinner before it got cold. “So I told her she should go for it.”

“She asked your permission first?” His brow furrowed. “What if I had passed?”

Another, sharper pang made it difficult to breathe. “Then you and Mai would be a thing.”

He took a slow drink from his beer. “You would have been okay with that?”

No. I would have fought for him. Worse, I might have lost my best friend over a guy. But Shaw was Shaw, and Rook or not, I couldn’t deal with the idea of him being with my best friend.

“That was then.” I flipped open the box, grabbed a slice of pizza and said in my primmest voice, “I’m married now.”

“That’s not an answer,” he said softly.

I felt my guards’ eyes on me. “What do you want me to say?”

He opened his mouth, shut it, shook his head and then took another drink.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” I muttered.

T
hat night, after Shaw left and I forced myself to crawl into bed, I dreamed of Rook. I knew our meeting was more than it seemed, because I “woke” balanced precariously on the limb of the tree where I had briefly slept in his arms.

Sentimental is my husband.

When I struggled against the threads binding his illusion, I smelled my brand of fabric softener and sensed the soft pillow beneath my cheek. It wasn’t much, but the knowledge I could end this dream calmed me.

Rook reclined against a knot of staggered limbs, the perfect spacing to make him a backrest while protecting him from taking a nasty tumble. If he had been a human, a fall like that would have killed him. Given his ability to sprout wings, and my apparent lack of feathers, I was more concerned for myself.

If I fell to my death in a dream, would I die in reality?

He tapped the ends of a leaf with his fingertips. “How are things in the mortal realm?”

“As good as they’re going to get.” I scooted closer to the tree’s trunk. “What about here?”

“In dreams,” he mused, “all is well.”

I reached the heart of the tree and wrapped a companionable arm around it. “I meant in Faerie, and you know it.”

“Both houses follow me, for now.” His hand dropped. “Neither are pleased with your absence.”

Tough. Their pleasure was the least of my concerns. “Have you heard from Mac?”

He shook his head. “No one has.”

“So King Moran’s killer is still at large?” Not great news. The marshal in me wanted to see the murderer pay for his crime, but his ability to dodge my father actually played out in my favor. If the fae believed I was at risk from an assassination plot in Faerie, they would stay open to keeping me hidden here.

“You could say that.”

I scowled at him. “He’s either been caught or he hasn’t.”

“The answer is not so simple.”

“Riddles aren’t my thing.” I stifled a yawn. “Why did you visit me?”

A cunning spark lit his eyes. “Can’t a husband want to see his wife?”

I rolled my eyes. “We both know our marriage isn’t real.”

“It could be.” He sat up. “It’s not unusual for monarchs to have their spouses chosen for them.”

“Except
you
chose
me
. You arranged all of this.”

“Not all of it. You played your part beautifully, Princess.” He interlaced his fingers. “I believed you were capable of winning the Coronation Hunt, but to watch it... You amazed me, Thierry.”

Conflicting emotions wound me up until I didn’t trust myself to respond.

He looked serious when he said, “If ever anyone was worthy of becoming queen, it is you.”

“It’s late, and I’m tired.” Another yawn overtook me. “Why are you here?”

“Our bargain stipulated that you would be trained in the ways of royalty.” He leaned forward. “I studied alongside my brother. I can teach you what you need to know, as much as anyone can. But you are at a disadvantage. This world, this role, is new to you when others have lived here and coveted it all their lives.”

I heard what he didn’t say too. I didn’t want the position. That meant I wouldn’t fight for it.

“You are powerful and clever,” he offered, “but both houses are filled with more dangerous and slyer fae than you can imagine. Our only hope of surviving is if we work together, and even then...”

His gaze drifted toward the night beyond us and widened slightly.

“Rook?” I wasn’t brave enough to glance behind me and risk falling.

“You must go.” He waved his hand, and the dream—or whatever it was—dissolved.

I
jolted upright on a gasp then doubled over coughing. My lungs burned from lack of oxygen. It hurt to suck in air, ached as my chest expanded. I stung all over. Stumbling from the bed, I collapsed on the floor as my door burst open and Mai rushed in steadying a baseball bat on her shoulder.

“Tee?”

I groaned.

“Are you okay? What happened? Where are they?” She screamed, “Show yourselves, bastards.”

“What?” I arranged myself into a sitting position. “Who is
they
?”

She growled, “Righty and Lefty, of course.”

If my mind hadn’t been sleep-addled, I’d like to think I would have figured that out for myself.

“They had nothing to do with this.” I shoved to my knees. “I had a dream, that’s all.”

A dream whose fading tendrils haunted me. The way my strange meeting with Rook ended left me cold. How his eyes shot wide when he forced me from sleep. I was worried about him, yeah, but I was concerned for me too. What did it mean for me if Rook got hurt? Being the considerate wife I was, I hadn’t given his safety a second thought. I had been too eager to escape Faerie—and get my life back—to consider the mess I left him to clean up.

Of course, it was a mess of his own making, but still.

“Oh.” She lowered her weapon, and I noticed the price tag stuck to it. “Want to talk?”

According to my alarm clock, it was four forty-five in the morning. I had planned on waking up at six so I could make Mai’s seven o’clock deadline. “Sure.” I covered a yawn. “First I need coffee.”

“Why don’t we get an early start?” She smiled at my groan. “I’ll stop at Java Bean, my treat.”

Right. Because from here on out, my cash flow was dammed. “Can I get a muffin?”

Her lips pursed in careful consideration. “Blueberry, yes. Strawberry, no.”

I pouted. “But I love the strawberry ones.”

“Sorry, Princess.” She winked then spun on her heel. “I’m on an all-blue diet this week.”

I was about to question how that was possible when it hit me I hadn’t made travel arrangements for my guards yet. Drawing on all the patience allotted to me at this time of morning, I summoned them.

Both fae appeared, dressed and ready for battle, like five o’clock wasn’t the butt crack of dawn.

“Has something happened?” Righty asked, scanning the area.

“No,” I assured him. “It’s nothing like that.”

Lefty kept a hand on his sword hilt. “Nothing got past me—” he glowered, “—except the fox.”

I bit my lip and counted backwards from ten. “Leave,” I told him. “Right now.”

He vanished with a pleased smirk I would be happy to wipe off his face with a two-by-four.

“Am I dismissed as well?” Righty’s tone was milder, prickly but not hostile.

I took a cleansing breath. “I’m sure you’ve overheard me planning for a trip to Daytona.”

“Yes.” A thoughtful pause ticked past. “Daire and I have made our preparations.”

“Daire?” Oh. He meant Lefty. “Ah. Good. I should have thought to ask you earlier.”

“It’s no trouble.” Righty inclined his head. “Where you go, we must follow.”

“Still, I should have given you a heads up.” His puzzled reaction made me think the direction of our conversation mystified him. “It was wrong of me to assume you had nothing better to do.”

Emotions clouded Righty’s face, all conflicting and none I could easily identify. “I don’t.”

Exhaling through my teeth, I accepted that a lifetime of Unseelie brainwashing wasn’t unraveled in a day.

“Well, either way, we’re about to leave.” It felt weird telling him what he must have overheard, but since I rarely saw him or Lefty—
Daire
—without summoning them first, I wasn’t ever sure how much either of them knew or how often they pooled their information. “Will you two be riding down with us, or do you prefer alternate means of transportation?”

“We spoke with the cat earlier,” he said. “We agreed that he would ride in the car with you and act as guardian until you reach your destination. Once there, Daire and I will resume our posts.”

I perked up at that. “Diode’s here?” I had been afraid I wouldn’t see him before we left.

Righty nodded at me. “He’s lounging in the living room.”

“Excellent.” I plucked at my shirt. “Can I get some privacy to change, please?”

Back in familiar territory, Righty relaxed into his role. “Yes, of course.”

He poofed.

The bedroom door remained shut, and I hadn’t heard footsteps, but when I inhaled, I no longer scented him. My nose was a hair better than Mai’s, but she couldn’t pinpoint the guards even when they were standing next to her. For the first time, it occurred to me that might be intentional.

The ringing of my phone distracted me from bounding out to check on Diode. A quick glance at its display showed an unfamiliar number. I wasn’t sure it was a Texas area code. It looked more like a Nevada prefix. Still, this was my work line, so I answered. “Marshal Thackeray.”

“I must meet with you,” a crisp, accented voice demanded. British maybe?

Trying for polite, I didn’t snap back. “Who is this?”

“I owe you, Marshal.” He sounded less than thrilled about it. “I always pay my debts.”

“I’m heading out of town on business,” I lied. “Call me in a week, and we’ll set something up.”

“That simply will not do.”

Silence hummed in my ear. The call ended before I could wheedle more information out of him.

I stared at the display. Weird. He owed me? Was that a veiled threat?

Without caffeine to jolt my brain cells, I wasn’t sure. He sounded serious about paying his debt, which meant this weirdness wasn’t over yet. This guy wanted to meet, huh? Maybe next week wouldn’t be so boring after all.

Just what my life needed. More excitement.

After dropping my phone into my purse, I began detangling my hair.

I ditched my pajamas for shorts and a tank top, set my compact navy suitcase on the floor, wheeled it over the threshold and then hesitated. The messenger bag filled with my marshal equipment hung on the doorknob. I had guards. I had Diode. Shaw would be a phone call away. I could go unarmed. Trust I wouldn’t need to defend myself.

But my fingers itched for the strap. Being a marshal was the weight keeping me anchored to who I was. All the politics and Faerie drama weren’t me. Not yet at least. Trusting my safety to someone else wasn’t either.

After snagging the worn satchel, I felt better for it. I didn’t need anyone fighting battles for me. Thinking of the strange caller, I grinned. In fact, exercise might do me good.

––––––––

“L
ook what the cat dragged in,” I snarked at Diode as I entered the living room.

The panther-sized cat made a show of stretching before padding over to say hello with a purr so deep it vibrated my teeth when he leaned against my leg. I sank my fingers in his glossy highlighter-yellow fur and scratched.

“The guards informed me of the situation,” he said. “I have taken measures to ensure my own comfort.”

“Wow.” I was impressed. “Everyone around here is so...efficient.”

Haphazard as Mai and I had lived our lives up to this point, I felt disorganized by comparison.

“You are under enough stress as it is.” He flicked his tail. “We will not add to it.”

I bent down and kissed the top of his furry head. “You’re the best cat ever.”

His grin bared wicked, sharp teeth. “I know.”

“Are we ready to roll?” Mai strolled into the room, wheeling a compact purple suitcase identical to mine. Except mine lacked the designer label. And the fancy color. And the retractable handle that actually retracted.

Okay. Well. They
were
both suitcases on wheels.

“Almost.” Diode prowled to the couch and returned with a brown paper bag clasped in his jaws.

“For me?” I accepted the package and waited while he flicked his tongue in disgust at the flavor.

“For me, actually.” He sat on his haunches and curled his tail around his front paws. “Open it.”

I tore the bag—it had been stapled shut—and pulled out a thin black leather collar. “Um.”

“That won’t fit you, fur face,” Mai said helpfully.

The tip of his tail twitched. “You would think so.”

He managed to make it sound like an insult, which amused me. Unlike her animosity toward the guards, Mai had a friendly, if antagonistic, relationship with Diode. Foxes were a part of the
Canidae
family, a fact Diode was fast to mention the first time she tried petting him.

Bam.
Just like that, a good old-fashioned cat-versus-dog rivalry was born.

Ignoring their banter, I asked him, “What is it you want me to do with this exactly?”

He looked like I had asked him to bark or something. “Fasten it around my neck. What else?”

“This should be interesting.” Mai again.

Afraid of hurting his feelings, I unfastened the buckle. “Yell if it pinches.”

His response was to stretch out his neck and wait while I pressed the collar to his throat.

“What the—?” A swirl of sparks blindsided me, and I stumbled forward, tripping over...a housecat.

“Meow.” The boxy calico pronounced it the way a person would.

Mai dropped her purse. “No way.”

“Yes way,” he said smugly.