Chapter 226: Talk With The Sidhe
I gathered up my notes and stuffed them into my backpack, eyes and hand tired from writing, but mind a whole lot wiser. Everything I'd read told me Liam and his family were the corner stone of this place, and if I wanted to get to the bottom of the dream and Shaylee's anxiety I had to talk to him and hopefully his grandfather.
I'd almost forgotten the new librarian until Shaylee jabbed me on the way out with a shot of pure fear. A hand fell on my arm, his touch giving her the willies even through the fabric of my jacket. I glanced up and into those green eyes, though this time I knew for certain he recognized the Sidhe inside me.
"I'm surprised to find you here, Your Highness," Venner said softly, long, silky black hair falling over one shoulder as he leaned down to speak to me. "But I am pleased to know your spirit has finally found a new home."
Shaylee trembled inside me, forcing me to pull free of his grip though I still had no real idea why she despised and feared him so much. And she did, to the core of her, with power of emotion I'd never felt from her before.
But it told me the one thing I needed to know, that and the touch of his power he sent out to explore mine. I shut him down immediately. Well, Shaylee did, with a slap of panic.
I hid my shock as best I could, Shaylee's emotions doing nothing to help me calm down. Kind of hard to do anyway considering I just realized he wasn't like me. Not human, carrying a spirit, like I'd expected. And not mortal with the blood of the fairy realm.
Nope. Venner was pure, 100% unadulterated Sidhe.
"Perhaps this conversation is best held in private." He turned and left me there, heading for a wooden door behind the desk. Shaylee begged me not to go, a fact I blatantly ignored. Obviously I had to know what he was doing here.
I walked into what looked like a small office, closing the door behind me. Venner's eyes flashed with fairy power as he smiled at me like I was something good to eat.
"A shame you seem to remember so little," he said, smile charming and oh so awful. I felt his energy press against me for the second time. Shaylee cringed from him even as she lashed out in protective terror. He staggered back as she slammed her power into him, shock showing briefly on his face.
"You have no idea how much I remember," I said, trying for cold and arrogant while Shaylee shuddered inside me. "Don't assume, lordling."
It must have been the right thing to say because he bowed his head to me, smile gone and a new, speculative look on his face. My strength clearly surprised him. If the way the Sidhe princess was reacting to his presence was her usual normal, I wasn't all that shocked.
"Now," I said, jerking her forward and wrapping her presence around me like a cloak, "tell me what you're doing here and how you escaped the fairy realm."
His eyes narrowed. "I assumed you were here for the same reason as I."
I took a guess, knowing before I opened my mouth I was right. "The Gate."
Venner nodded slowly. "It will open soon, with no Keeper to answer the knock."
Knock? What knock? "And you intend to return?" I was hitting the clown on the nose with this one. A Gate to the Sidhe world. But why was Shaylee so afraid of it? And him?
The fairy lord laughed. "And face endless imprisonment?" He just verified my assumption he wasn't a good guy, though I hated being in the dark, stabbing at guesses while I did my best to interpret Shaylee's fearful prompts. At least she hadn't abandoned me completely. Yet. I felt like a puppet being manipulated by a mistress who didn't quite know how the strings worked.
"Then why?" I crossed my arms over my chest.
He didn't say anything, not for a long moment, though his smile returned. "It's been a pleasure speaking with you again, Your Highness. But I really have so much to do."
He'd figured it out, no longer afraid of me. Okay, afraid was a stretch, but he knew, somehow. I could feel it.
"I'll be watching the Gate," I said. "And the Keepers." Had to be Liam. And Fergus.
Venner shrugged, a graceful and liquid movement. His long black hair, caught in a silver band, swung as he moved toward the door. "Then I'll be seeing more of you," he said.
I walked out of the office, hating turning my back to him. His soft whisper spun me around.
"A pity," he said, "all that power trapped in the body of an ordinary girl."
Shaylee cried out in fear, but my heart lifted. He didn't know what I was? Hadn't felt the other sides of me?
How could I use that to my advantage? I had to see Liam and find out where his grandfather was.
"You have no idea," I said sweetly before turning and walking away like I owned the place.
And the Oscar goes to...
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