Page 70 of Time's Fool

I just stared at him, my eyes huge, not understanding anything he had said and not daring to move.

“You’re not my Dorina, are you?” he asked gently, a strong hand cupping my face.

It had a swordsman’s calluses; I recognized them immediately. Yet it was so gentle with me. As of he was touching spun glass.

That was likely to change in a moment, when I failed to speak. But I honestly had no idea what answer he wanted. All I could think was that his eyes were very blue, although not like the witch’s cursed things. But calm and gentle, like a summer’s sky—

“Cease attempting to sway me, vampire,” I said harshly, jerking away. “I am dhampir, and immune to such tricks!”

“Always were,” he agreed mildly. “Claire!”

The sudden shout caused me to flinch, but there was nowhere to go.

And then my situation became infinitely worse, when a line of heads poked up above the roof’s edge.

At first glance, they were men’s heads, but at second . . .

The gods truly hate me, I thought, staring at a line of creatures whose existence I had heard of, but never before seen. And did not want to see now, when I was already outclassed! But they were there nonetheless, with the breeze blowing strands of their long, blond hair aside to show off elegantly pointed ears.

Fey.

I stared at them and they stared back, looking confused and wary as they cautiously climbed into view. They were armed, with several girded with swords, others with long knives that crossed over their backs, and one with a quiver over his shoulder and a bow in his hand. The bow was a problem, ensuring that he could kill me at a distance any time he wanted.

I had to get off this roof!

But when I turned the other way, intending to jump the three stories to the ground, another belching monster came by. It was bigger than the last, with a metal pipe beside its great head that was sending a cloud of dirty smoke into the pretty blue sky. And causing me to flatten back against the side of the chimney, not knowing what threat to focus on.

The beast abruptly stopped, sensing my vulnerability, and a man stuck his head out of its maw. “You all right up there?” he asked me.

“Fine,” the vampire answered. “We’re, uh, examining the roof. There was a leak.”

He smiled winningly, but the man did not appear mollified. He was clearly some sort of wizard, if he could control such a beast, which was snorting and bellowing like an overworked Shire horse, although much larger. I . . . didn’t think it lived, or if it did, it was some sort of infernal hybrid between an animal and a cart, and the more I looked at it, the more horrified I became.

What hellscape was this?

“Leaked when?” the man demanded. “Hasn’t rained in over a week.”

“And we’ve been busy,” the vampire snapped, not liking the wizard’s audacity.

“Uh huh.” The man turned his attention to me. “You okay there, girlie? ‘Cause if not, I can give you a lift just anywhere you want to go. Including the police station.”

“P-police?” I repeated, not understanding what he meant, but recognizing that he was offering me aid.

Or wants another soul to feed to his hellish beast, the more logical part of my brain said. But if the choice was between death now and death later, I would always take the latter. It bought time, and time could be shaped in so very many ways.

More than I’d realized, apparently.

“Yeah, I think the sheriff might like to have a talk with ya,” the man said, staring defiantly at the vampire.

And, finally a word I knew!

“Yes!” I said loudly. “Yes, I would very much like to meet your sheriff!”

“Well then, come on down,” the man said. And when the vampire threw out an arm to block my path, the man reached up and spread open his jacket, to show some item in a leather sling under his arm. I couldn’t see it well, but the vampire seemed to know what it was and his lips curled into a sneer.

“That won’t avail you,” he told the man, who huffed out a laugh.

“Oh, it won’t avail me, huh. Well, how about this?” He held out something else I didn’t recognize, which was becoming a familiar sensation. In this case, it was a simple black rectangle that reflected the sky, like a dark looking-glass. “Got it all recorded for the cops, one of which is right down the road, lying in wait for good citizens tryin’ to exercise their God-given rights. Figure this’ll give him something useful to do.”

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