Page 121 of Death Bringer

He stretched and rolled his shoulders. “It feels strange to be back in this form. I miss my wings.”

“What about your immense powers?”

He smiled. “Oh, I still have those.”

“Not all of them, right?”

“Why, are you worried? I don’t intend to use them unless I’m provoked.”

“Seeing as I’m the person who provokes you the most, that isn’t very reassuring.”

She went around the desk to turn on her laptop. “Time is weird in Otherworld. How long have we been away? Five days?” She looked back at him. “Does that feel about right? It seems like a long time to me.”

“I have no idea.”

“And it’s about two in the afternoon, so we missed lunch. Dang it.”

“I’m sure you’ll survive. Let’s see the boss first, and then you can eat.”

She headed toward Feehan’s office, Vadim at her side. It was strange not having him towering over her. It was also strange the way he’d resumed his chilly personality so fast. The door was open, so she gave a perfunctory knock and kept on going.

“Hey, Mr. Feehan.”

“Come in— Ella! Vadim! Good Lord! How good to see you! Sit down!” Feehan jumped out of his chair as he waved them into the uncomfortable seats in front of his desk.

“I must confess, I didn’t think you were going to make it out alive.”

“Neither did we,” Ella said. “But here we are, like two bad pennies.”

He resumed his seat and beamed at them. “I’m delighted to hear that.” His expression faltered. “Unless…well, I suppose, of course, you’ll both be wanting to resign, being as you’re Fae royalty.”

“Not really.” Ella didn’t dare look at Vadim in case she cracked up. “Unless you want us to resign?”

Feehan glanced covertly at Vadim and then away. “Not at all!”

“It’s all right, you know. He won’t hurt you.”

“I never thought he would. Although—” Feehan studied Vadim more closely, “—I never realized what you concealed beneath that perfect human exterior. You were quite impressive. What exactly do you shape-shift into?”

“I can shift into virtually anything. The being you saw in Otherworld is actually my true form.”

“True form.” Feehan swallowed and straightened his tie. “Okay. Well, that’s a new one on me.”

“I don’t expect to revert to it in this world, unless it is absolutely necessary.”

“Good to know, becausethatwould cause a major panic.”

“By the way, we solved the case,” Ella said brightly.

“I did wonder about that, since you have your face back.” He stood up. “Shall we gather the rest of the team in the conference room?”

They followed him out into the bigger room across the hall and waited as Rich and Andrew filed in and high-fived Ella. Liz was next.

“Oh, you’re back! We thought you were dead!”

She hugged Vadim and then Ella, who grimaced at her partner. “I love the confidence everyone has in our abilities, don’t you? Ofcoursewe’re back!”

“My Fae-Web said differently.” Liz took a chair right next to Ella. “In fact, there were a couple of times when one or other of you was almost dead.” She shivered. “I hate that.”

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