Ashes of Honor

“My nephew was on the other side of those doors,” said Tybalt frostily. “I was not willing to leave him stranded to salve your sense of what is and is not proper.” He turned to me. “I should return him to my Court. His father will be worried.”

“I’m coming with you,” I said, almost before I realized I was going to. Tybalt blinked. I smiled. “I need a way back to Tamed Lightning, remember? I left the car there.”

“Ah, yes,” he said. “Expediency.”

“October, surely you can’t intend—” began Luna.

I looked back toward her. “Luna, I am begging you, think before you finish that sentence. I’m tired, I’m covered in blood, and I’m probably not going to get a nap for a long time. So don’t tell me not to rattle any more doors looking for our missing changeling. I owe it to her parents to bring her home.” To her parents, and to Faerie itself if the Luidaeg was correct in her warnings.

Luna frowned, rose-pink eyebrows furrowing. “You should leave well enough alone.”

Frustration overwhelmed my good sense, and I snapped, “Raj wound up on the other side of those doors because of the changeling I’m looking for. You say your grandfather sealed those doors? Well, she’s unsealing them, and she’s going to get a lot of people killed if I don’t stop her.” Luna gaped at me, and she was still gaping as I offered my hand to Tybalt. “Let’s go.”

His smile was weary but so bright that it seemed to light up the twilight. He took my hand, cautioned, “Breathe in,” and pulled me with him as he stepped backward, into the shadow of a hedge. I let myself be pulled, and together, the three of us fell into shadow.

Raj was a warm weight against my neck as we ran through the darkness of the Shadow Roads, his claws dug deep into the leather of my jacket. He could have made this run himself, but after what he’d been through, I wasn’t going to ask him to do that. He was small enough for me to carry, at least for now.

The distance between Shadowed Hills and the Court of Cats seemed substantially shorter than the distance between Tamed Lightning and Shadowed Hills. I wondered whether the Shadow Roads worked like the passages between the mortal world and the knowes, with every use making the next use just a little easier. The Shadow Roads didn’t run between knowes very often, but they always ran back to the Court of Cats.

We stepped out of the shadows and into the high-walled alley I used to think of as the Court itself before I was granted access to the true Court of Cats. Cats—both mortal and Cait Sidhe in feline form—lounged on crates and garbage cans against the alley walls, although there was no stink of trash or decay in the air. A pile of mattresses was pushed up against one end of the alley. The other was shrouded in darkness, hiding this temporary gathering place from the mortal world.

I shoved the Luidaeg’s charm back into my pocket as I wiped the cold from my eyes. “Hop on down, Raj,” I said. “We’re home.”

He meowed piteously.

“Right.” I sighed, and freed my hand from Tybalt’s in order to scoop Raj from my shoulder and place him, carefully, on the ground. He stretched. Then he stood up, returning to his human form in a swirl of pepper and burning paper. “Feeling better?” I asked.

“No,” he said glumly. “But I’m home.”

“Yeah, well. We’re a full service operation.”

Raj looked at me, glass-green eyes solemn. “I thought I was going to die there.”

“You didn’t. But you should get some sleep. You’ve been through a lot, and—”

I didn’t get to finish that sentence. Raj’s father, Samson, came stalking from the shadows of the alley. His hands were balled into fists, and his pupils were narrowed to hairline slits, making him look alien and strange. “You,” he spat, angling toward me. “What are you doing here, whore? You have no right to passage in these lands.”

“You really don’t like me, do you?” I asked, trying not to let my irritation show. “What have I ever done to you? I saved your son. Twice now. Doesn’t that at least warrant not calling me a whore every time you get the chance?”

“Consider your answer carefully, Samson,” said Tybalt, in a mild tone. “I find myself awaiting your reply with great interest.”

Samson glared. Then he turned to Raj, dismissing us. “Are you injured?”

“No, Father, I—”

Samson’s backhand caught Raj across the cheek, snapping his head to the side. He made a startled mewling noise. I started forward before I realized I was going to move and stopped as Tybalt’s hand closed around my upper arm, holding me in place.

“No,” he said, very softly. “You cannot intervene.”

“I hate your rules,” I muttered, but stayed where I was. Raj was a teenage boy. He was my unofficial squire. And he was also a Prince of Cats, and that meant some battles, he had to fight on his own.

“Sometimes,” said Tybalt, “so do I.”