Ani sat there. She considered reaching out to him, telling him that he’d given her everything by not killing Jillian.

Or me.

Almost an hour passed while they stayed silent beside each other, and then Ani looked up and caught his gaze. “You’re a traditional faery; aren’t you, Devlin? Three questions. That’s the rule, isn’t it?”

“It is, but I’ve already—”

“I want a third question,” she interrupted. “And I want you to promise to answer it.”

He didn’t look away or tell her that she had no right. Instead, he nodded.

“Tell me who you are, Devlin. You know everything about me.” She caught his hand in hers. “You’ve seen every step of my life.”

He startled. “I didn’t. I stayed away…. I only saw you in passing until the other night. I wouldn’t stalk you like that. It’s… unseemly.”

His expression begged for her understanding. The High Court was about restraint, not desire; it was about reason, not impulse. And Ani was realizing that Devlin was violating every trait of his court to be with her, to save her, and to hide her. What she didn’t know was why.

“You know me, my history, my family, and I need to know you.” She didn’t let go of his hand, as if holding on to him was the only thing that would keep either of them from falling apart. It wasn’t about skin hunger; it was about things making sense. Holding on to him made sense. “Tell me who you are. There’s more to what’s going on here.”

His already volatile emotions became so intense she shivered again.

He looked—and tasted—frightened. “In all of eternity, I have acted in the best interests of my queen… until you. And now, War tells me that you are the key to my queen’s death. I should kill you, Ani. I should’ve killed you then. I should kill you now.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“As am I,” he admitted, “but if your living means her death… I cannot sacrifice everything.”

“I know.” Ani didn’t have words that would make things make sense for either of them. That wasn’t really her strength. She went up on her knees so she was face-to-face with him.

He didn’t back away. His heartbeat didn’t race, not really, but she heard it speed.

For me.

Slowly, as if he were spun glass she could break, she leaned in and brushed her lips over his. It wasn’t even really a kiss, just a butterfly brush, but it felt like the sort of kiss that made the world stop turning—which made her even less able to speak.

What follows those sorts of sentences? Or emotions?

Ani started back toward her steed. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” He looked and felt alarmed. “I can’t take you to Jill. She’s in Faer—”

“I know,” she said. Whatever reason the High Queen had for ordering her death presumably hadn’t vanished, and the last thing she wanted was to have Sorcha actively pursuing her too. It hurt to realize that her mother being alive didn’t make her any less gone.

“What are the odds of my surviving? I mean, really?”

Devlin scowled. “Numbers are not what you need to think about. The probability is that Bananach will not stop thinking of you. The statistically likely results are—”

She held up her free hand. “Right. My odds are not good.”

They walked in silence until they reached the road.

“Camping,” she announced. “Rabbit used to take us camping, but only with a host of guards and just for a couple of days.”

“You’re a peculiar creature, Ani.” Devlin started to pull his hand free, but she held on. Just a little longer. She was pretty certain that this wasn’t a side of Devlin she’d be seeing very often.

She walked to the passenger side of the car. “I want to just go roam in the woods.”

“Cities are probably safer.”

Reluctantly, she let go of his hand. “So that’s the predictable answer, right? Bananach would figure you’d be predictable, what with the whole High Court thing. Let’s not be predictable.”

Devlin paused. “If I insist that cities are the better choice? Will you run?”

“No.” She kissed his cheek before she walked away. “You saved my mother and me. You’re deadly enough to keep me safe. And whether you like admitting it or know why, you are all sorts of interested in me. I’m not High Court, but I’m practical enough to sort out the reasons to stay together. I think I’ll keep you for now.”

“You’ll keep me?” He gave her a look that she suspected was intended to be intimidating, but a faery who’d grown up with the Hunt and the King of Nightmares as playmates wasn’t easily browbeaten.

“For now.” She suppressed a smile at the sliver of arrogance in his voice. “You’re not nearly as boring as you pretend, and considering my family, that’s high praise.”

“Indeed.” He put his hand on the passenger door of what was currently an ostentatious red Lexus.

Ani walked around to the driver’s side and looked over the roof at him. A part of her insufficiently used conscience warned her away from him, but for one of the only times in her life, it wasn’t just hunger driving her interest. She liked Devlin.

Chapter 21

Devlin chastised himself as they sped along the freeway. He was becoming far too close to Ani. He’d lived forever, and she’d had barely a blink of existence. She was a Hound unlike any other, a faery unlike any he’d known.