Page 25 of Obsidian Prince

The next evening after work,Liliana climbed onto her own roof.

She jumped onto the tall pine that grew next to her house and climbed as high as she could. The trunk thinned, wobbling under her weight. She popped out an arm blade, reaching up to cut the webbing that held Pete's sword to the slender trunk.

She scrambled down a silk line. The spider-kin dropped to her toes in the light of the headlights just as Pete’s van pulled into her driveway to pick her up.

The Celtic wolf exclaimed with delight. "My sword! You found it!"

"It was not lost," Liliana told him. "I stole it."

Pete gave her a puzzled look. "Why would you steal my sword?"

"So that no one else would steal it.” She handed the old sword to him, wiping away a stray strand of her webbing stuck to the worn leather scabbard.

"Ookaay." Pete accepted the sword. "Thanks for giving that back…I guess… since you were the one who stole it in the first place."

“Your van will break tomorrow.” Liliana walked over to the vehicle. “You will leave it with Lou Willoughby for repairs. Assassins of the Order of the Wolfhound who serve the house of the unseelie Queen of Air and Darkness will come tomorrow night while Lou is working late on the van. They will be looking for your sword, and they will kill Lou Willoughby if you are not there to protect him.” Liliana poked Pete in the chest with her finger. She did her best to make her voice sound like her first mother’s. “If you do not use your sword, they will kill you, too. Use your sword. Your gun and knives will not work.”

Pete got a sheepish expression on his face, looking down at his too-large boots. He hadn’t listened to her when she told him to shoot the stone giant in the right hand, her only weak point. Liliana paid the price that time in bruises and blood. Pete would pay the price this time if he didn’t heed her warning. “I’m listening this time, Lilly. Promise. I’ll use the sword.”

Liliana nodded. “Good. Also, call Doctor Nudd to go with you so that he can help you fight the four assassins. His cudgel will not pierce their protective magic to do them damage, but the sheer force of it will help keep them off you both, and off Lou Willoughby.”

Pete got an odd look on his face. He put a proprietary hand on the old vehicle. “What’s wrong with my van?”

Liliana shrugged. “I have no idea.” She looked at the big green panel van as if it came from another planet. “I do not understand why this machine runs in the first place.”

Pete snorted. “Well, maybe you could give me a clue from what you saw.”

“It will make a funny noise tomorrow, but it will work fine tonight.” Liliana got in on the passenger side, stepping up, and settling on the worn seat. “You can still take me to the party. I am going to dance.”

“Oh, that’s class. I’ve got my drums in the back. Siobhan and Doc are ready to make some music, too. I’m looking forward to it.”

Liliana smiled. “I am also.”

Pete put his sword in the hidden compartment in the back of the van, under the small couch that could double as a bed. The back of Pete’s large van had all the amenities of a tiny apartment. He’d told Liliana that he lived in that van when he was younger, when he was a young orphan in the college work-study program.

He started up the engine which sounded normal, shrugged, and started driving toward Doctor Nudd’s house.

"You must not tell anyone that you have the sword back,” Liliana told him as they moved through the busy after work traffic. “Not even your beloved."

Pete's brows furrowed. "What's wrong with telling Ben?"

“You can tell him afterward.” Liliana smiled to herself. “In fact, telling him will help him come closer to our world.”

“How?”

“He and I agreed to an experiment to show him that I could see the future. He would put the sword where I could steal it. If I was wrong about the future danger to you, then I would return it in a year.” She smiled to herself, fangs peeking out, foreseeing the consternation on Ben Harper’s face. “Tell him our experiment was a success, and I returned the sword to you when you needed it so you didn’t die. You can tell him about the assassins and Lou.”

“He knew about this?”

“I convinced him to help me steal the sword by telling him that if I could truly see the future, then letting me steal the sword and give it to you at the right time would save your life.”

Pete looked down at the sword, frowning.

“He did not believe I could see the future but was willing to let me steal it anyway. Your life was more valuable to him than his belief in the world as he sees it.” It was the best comfort she knew how to offer her friend.

Pete smiled at her, wanly, as the auto-drive kept them moving through the traffic. “Maybe there’s some hope for us after all.”

“Give him time and patience. There is hope.” Liliana smiled to herself, seeing in her fourth vision the moment when Ben sat on the couch, spiked coffee in his hand, the shock on his face turning to thoughtfulness as he considered the ramifications of children who could become rabbits. “There is progress, even. I made sure of that.”

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