Page 58 of Obsidian Prince

He sighed. "Thank you for that, but if the land had chosen someone who knew the effects of land bonding a little better, this wouldn't have happened."

Liliana squeezed his bicep. "The Green soul of the earth chooses. Your sister Aurore, no doubt, knows all about the effects of land bonding. The land didn't choose her."

"Much to her annoyance, no land in her five hundred years of life has ever chosen her."

Liliana considered that. "You worked the land with your hands, bled to nurture neglected plants. I suspect these are things that Aurore has never done."

Alexander barked a laugh. "I can't imagine her getting dirt under her fingernails on purpose."

"The killings are not your fault. But it is your responsibility, as the land ruler, to go to the forest, to help those awakening to adapt to the new century. You must order them to be at peace with the Normals."

"Tonight?" he asked.

"No one will die tonight. Tomorrow, though, speak to the forest, so no more people will die.

"I'll take care of it first thing tomorrow.”

An issue occurred to Liliana. “Some of the ones sleeping in that forest are European seelie or unseelie Fae. Many more are native and have no concept of that separation. You will need to decide if you will banish the seelie Fae, but they have lived here longer than you or I. The native Fae have been here far longer than that."

Alexander was silent for a while as they travelled. “If the seelie Fae will accept an unseelie ruler, they can stay. I’ll take Lieutenant Runningwolf with me. That should be a sign to the native Fae that the old wars are over. They’re welcome as long as they follow modern laws."

Liliana nodded approval and patted his arm.

"That's what you meant, isn't it?"

Liliana cocked her head sideways. She looked at him from the corners of her human eyes, not sure what he was talking about.

"When you said you would give me useful advice and I could choose to follow it or not."

"Yes. That is exactly what I meant."

"You give Pete advice like this all the time?"

She nodded. "I always give Pete advice if he or those he cares about are in immediate danger. Also, when he asks me. And sometimes just because I know it will help."

"Do you see any danger like that now?"

“There is a strong possibility that you and Pete will come to blows if you don’t soon share with him who you are. Even if you survive the murderer, someone he trusts will tell him dark things about you. He will believe them and seek your life.”

Alexander nodded, face grim. “I always knew that was a possibility. Celtic wolves and unseelie are natural enemies. William warned me repeatedly not to get too close to him.”

Liliana made a rude snorting noise that her first mother would have admonished her for making. “William Eliot was a terrible source of information. Our red wolf has no enmity toward you or any unseelie. But if you will not share your truth with him, he has no way to refute the lies others might tell him.”

Alexander raised an eyebrow. "Our red wolf?"

"I know you think of Pete as yours, just as I do. Telling him who you are would make both your lives less complicated."

"I'll tell him when the time is right."

Liliana sighed.Why am I attracted to stubborn men?

Chapter15

Finally

Liliana waited impatientlyuntil Alexander parked his car in the garage of his house. As soon as the car stopped moving, she opened her door and went over the hood, careful not to scratch or dent the pretty car.

As Alexander stood up and shut the car door, he turned to face her. With her standing on the hood of the car, his face was at roughly the level of her neckline.

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