Ashes of Honor

Her words faded into unintelligibility as she moved on down the hall. I stayed frozen until even the faint echoes of her voice were gone. Then I let out a breath, straightened, and unwrapped my fingers from around the Luidaeg’s charm. That had been close. Too close: if I didn’t find Chelsea soon, I was going to need to head back to the others.

I tugged the tapestry aside and peered out into the hall. There was no one there. Even so, it never hurts to be careful. I closed my eyes and breathed in, filtering through the scents in the air, looking for traces of the Folletti. There were none. For the moment, at least, I was alone.

The tapestry slid back into place with a heavy swishing sound as I crept out of my hiding place and resumed letting the charm tug me along, thinking as I walked. Riordan wasn’t happy about one of her visitors. Li Qin was a familiar face, and Riordan would hardly be demanding someone “fix it” when Li Qin was within her rights to be here. No, she had to be complaining about me. Which brought up a more interesting question: who was she complaining to?

The Luidaeg’s charm was dimming. It was still glowing red; it was just…duller, as if its batteries were going out. Or as though Chelsea was moving again. I swore softly and picked up my pace, trying to let the charm lead me to where I needed to be before I lost the trace.

I didn’t hear the wind whistling through the chandeliers until the sound was almost on top of me. I whirled, staring up into the darkness against the ceiling. That’s the trouble with Folletti. By the time you know where they’re coming from, there’s no way that you can run. And me without a big bag of coal dust to throw on them and keep them visible.

“Shit,” I muttered, and started backing up. Maybe I’d get lucky and find another hidden chamber behind a hideous tapestry. Sure, the Folletti would probably see me duck inside, but it would give me a chance to get the charm out of sight, and I could always say I got lost looking for the bathroom. Most purebloods assume all changelings are stupid. There was even a chance they’d believe me.

My shoulders hit the fabric—and hands reached out from behind the tapestry, yanking me backward into the shadows on the other side. I squeaked before I could stop myself—

—and then everything was dark and cold, and I was falling, falling, falling—

—and we fell through a portal in the side of a wall, landing in a heap on the floor of what appeared to be an attic. My lungs were aching. I stayed where I was, trying to catch my breath.

Underneath me, Tybalt commented mildly, “While this is amusing and such, don’t you think we’d be more productive if you elected to move? I ask merely out of curiosity, and not because you’re cutting off circulation to my left arm.”

“Oh, crap. Sorry.” I scrambled to my feet, narrowly avoiding elbowing Tybalt in any sensitive spots. “Are you okay?”

“I am quite fine.” Tybalt flowed to his feet with effortless grace before stooping to retrieve the Luidaeg’s charm from where it had fallen to the floor. He held it out to me. “The same question might well be asked of you, you know. Whatever possessed you to think roving the halls of Dreamer’s Glass unescorted would be the wisest thing to do?”

The charm was dark in Tybalt’s hand. When my fingers touched it, it flickered back into foxfire light. Not red, though, not anymore. That would have been too much to hope for. “I was trying to find Chelsea.”

“You nearly found the wrong end of a Folletti’s blade.”

“Didn’t. That means I win.” I tucked the charm into my jacket pocket. “That was a good save. How did you know I needed it?”

“Jasmine was kind enough to let me know my services might be required. When I arrived in Tamed Lightning, April alerted me to your destination.” A small, self-satisfied smile spread across Tybalt’s face. “There are no Cait Sidhe in Riordan’s domain.”

I blinked. “So?”

“So, when she employed my late, lamented cousin Barbara as one of her spies, she was forced to open her wards to access from the Shadow Roads. Otherwise, there was no way the espionage could have continued for as long as it did.”

Barbara was one of the people who died at ALH, right around the time Jan did. At the moment, that didn’t matter as much as the fact that Barbara had been Cait Sidhe. I stared at Tybalt, comprehension dawning. “Riordan didn’t think to close her wards back up.”

“I daresay she assumed there would never be cause.” His smile became a smirk. “I do enjoy proving people wrong.”

“You know, Tybalt, I could kiss you right now,” I said. His eyes widened in surprise, and I barely managed not to wince. I shouldn’t have said that. Kisses were nothing to joke about, especially where Tybalt was concerned. I turned quickly away, using the need to survey my surroundings as an excuse not to meet his eyes.