Page 63 of The Unseelie Court

But her memories remained. Every moment with her mother, preserved. And in that moment, it felt like enough.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Nos stared down at the unconscious form of Ava. Being in the home of the Seelie sisters made him uncomfortable. He did not trust them. They were dangerous—namely because they were, on the surface,notdangerous.

To be honest, he preferred dealing with creatures like Braega or Rig. Unseelie had the dignity to show others precisely what kind of monsters they were. They did not wander about masquerading as kindly things, only to consume their victims from the inside out.

The mother had asked him to carry Ava out into the garden, where she might sleep underneath the large oak tree that shadowed the house. The oak tree would keep her safe from any other dreamlings that would try to crawl into her mind, the mother explained.

Nos simply wished to leave. He wished to go home, take Ibin with him, and let Ava and her blasted book of lies sort this all out on their own.

But, as always, he did what was asked of him.

He also did it because Ibin was hovering over Ava nervously. Ibin was growing increasingly fond of the sharp-tonguedhuman. Nos was suspicious he knew why, and hated what it meant, if he was right. But he could never,everspeak his suspicions out loud. That left him standing under the branches of a massive old oak tree, listening to chickens cluck away in the distance, and watching a foolish, deeply irritating human sleep in the grass.

With her head atophisfolded-up peacoat.

“Oh, do not look so put out.” Ibin chuckled. “Your faces might get frozen that way.”

Faces. He smirked. Ibin was the only one allowed to tease him about his, well, condition. He knew she did it out of affection. “I do not want her to bring harm to you.”

“I can handle myself.” Ibin stretched out her long legs in front of her and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. “Don’t forget I was a Lieutenant Pilot before I was sucked into all this magical hoopla.” She waved a hand idly at the world around her. “I’m not a wilting wallflower, even if I look like one now.”

“I was not insinuating otherwise.”

“I know. I appreciate that you’re always looking out for me.” Ibin smiled, but it faded fast. “I’m just afraid that…Look, I wasn’t around for Gregor, when he wasn’t, well, a corpse—so correct me if I’m wrong, but Avafeelsdifferent.”

Nos stared down at the young woman again. She was peacefully sleeping. The crone had left her mind, said the debt had been paid, and Ava slumped over, nearly collapsing to the floor.

But she was alive. And whole. Just sleeping off the exhaustion of what had transpired.

“It feels like she…” Ibin trailed off.

“Might stand a chance of succeeding where the others all failed.” Nos had been thinking the same. He had not known the other humans before Gregor. But he had heard tales of them. And no one had even made it throughgathering the first shard.

This was the farthest any of Serrik’s attempts had ever gone.

It troubled him deeply.

“We have to convince her we should all be allowed to live. It’s the only way.” Ibin toyed with the hem of her gossamer gown. “And right now, we’re all doing a right terrible job of it. If I were her, I’d be eager to wipe us off the face of all the planets we’ve managed to inhabit.”

“We live within a prison of the most undesirable and insane creatures the fae could not otherwise dispose of.” Nos rolled his eyes. “How do you plan to convince her? We are likely the most harmless creatures within this place, and she barely tolerates us. You hear how she cusses.”

“She barely toleratesyou,Nos. Shelikesme.” Ibin snickered. “And she barely tolerates youbecause you act like you despise her.”

“I do not.”

“You do too.” Ibin laughed harder. They had no fear of waking Ava. She was in a deep, hard sleep. “It’s painfully clear that if you had your druthers, you’d have snapped her neck by now.”

“It would do no good. She cannot die by those means.” Nos folded his arms over his chest.

“And that’s the only reason why you haven’t done it.” She waggled a finger at him. “Not exactly the greatest way to make friends.”

“I don’t need to be her friend, I need her to agree not to help the mad bastard kill us all.” They were arguing in circles. Again. “But neither does that mean I despise her. I do not. I simply wish her matter resolved with neither of us coming to harm.”

“If she sides with Serrik, we willallcome to harm, Nos.”

He knew she was right. He knew what she was saying made sense. He simply did not like it. “What are you proposing, then?I insist that there is no one here within the Web who can serve as a shining example of the value of our race.”

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