* * *
I ’d reluctantly managed to get dressed and ready to go while Nixie slipped back into her armor. I offered to help tie off the metal straps in the back, but she only smiled as power rippled through the armor, tightening the metal ties and locking the silver clasps closed.
“So, you mean you could’ve just popped that off when we got home?” I asked.
“Of course,” Nixie said, “but where’s the fun in that?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Why are you here?” I asked. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you are, but I thought you were stuck in Europe.”
“I had an unexpected ally offer her assistance when she learned of the plot here.”
“Who?”
“Morrigan,” Nixie said. Before I could ask anything more, she continued. “She has served on the courts nearly as long as Nudd himself. She knows what a tyrant he can be, and she understands the damage he has already done.”
“Can you trust her?”
Nixie was silent for a time. “To an extent, I suppose. She has long had a history of doing what will benefit her, but she has also committed selfless acts to strengthen the courts.”
“And you think she sees Nudd as a threat to the strength of the courts?”
Nixie nodded.
I hefted my backpack over my shoulders and frowned. “I sure as hell hope you’re right.”
Nixie led the way out the door and down the old wooden stairs.
“If Morrigan’s in Faerie,” I said, “who’s in Falias? Who else is supporting the Obsidian Inn?”
“Leviticus, for one,” she said, raising her nose to the wind. “You should move somewhere with less industry, someplace more like the cabin. It suits you, and it does not … smell.”
“Hey, now,” I said.
Nixie shot me a cutting grin.
We climbed into my car, and I remembered the first time I’d seen Nixie get into the old ’32 Ford. Her hair had been much longer then, almost to her knees. I’d worried about how tangled up it was in the seatbelts and the doorjamb, but she’d only given it a gentle tug to pull the entire mass of hair safely into the car. Sometimes I missed those days. I’d been able to see her a little more often than I did now. The times had changed. We had changed.
“Have you spoken to the werewolves?” I asked. “They’ve been tied up with some nasty business with the dark-touched over in Kansas City.”
“I’m aware. Camazotz joined them. I imagine the conflict there will end soon.”
“Maybe they can lend their support to Rivercene,” I said. “I worry about the innkeeper being so far from us.”
“She is far from everyone,” Nixie said. “Without the use of the Warded Ways, none of our enemies can reach her at speed.”
“The queen’s undines can,” I said, turning the wheel and pulling back out onto the highway. The car bounced over a small pothole, which felt more like a crater because of my car’s ancient suspension. “The Missouri River practically cuts to Rivercene’s front door.”
“When the queen receives word that I’m here with you,” she said, “I have no doubt she’ll split her forces. She’ll believe the Obsidian Inn to be weakened, when they are anything but. And she’ll aim to strike both of us down in one assault.”
“It’s kind of dangerous to be your boyfriend,” I said with a half smile.
“I believe the word is thrilling,” she said.
A humorless laugh fell from my lips as we rumbled back onto the cobblestones of old Saint Charles.
I turned off Main Street and headed up Adams. I could see Park through the glass in the front door, true to his word, and a bit more punctual than me and Nixie.
“That man has a great respect for Frank,” Nixie said. “I don’t believe he would’ve allowed us to heal that private otherwise.”
“Stacy?” I asked as we bounced in the rear parking lot. “He believed it would kill Aideen. And that if Aideen died, Foster would come for his head.”
I frowned slightly. “He probably has a good point. And Foster wouldn’t just come for his head. He’d come for tiny little pieces.”
“Are you bothered by that?” Nixie asked.
“It would probably be a bit hypocritical of me.” I glanced at her, and she eyed me. “If something ever happened to you, whoever or whatever caused it would have a fairly terrible fate.”
“Such poetry,” Nixie said. “I asked because you tensed. Your knuckles are still white.”
I looked down at the steering wheel and slowly released my death grip. “There’s too much at stake. We can’t afford to lose …” I shook my head.
“It’s a price every civilization has paid. It’s the way of the world.”
She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. I took a deep breath, and we climbed out of the car.
The deadbolt started up before we even crossed the parking lot. “Disgusting. Mating with a mortal. A necromancer. What would your ancestors think? What do your contemporaries think?”
Before I could even respond, Nixie gave the deadbolt a swift kick to the face, and it snapped open. “Thank you, doorman,” she said in an exuberant voice.
I frowned at the cringing face and wondered if we should have used the front door.
“Peanut! No!”
Peanut? I wondered, knowing that Peanut was still guarding the coven with Ashley. A furry green shadow hit me like a battering ram a moment later, a smaller yet still very pink tongue licking every inch of my face like wet sandpaper. I gasped for breath after I bounced off the wall. Peanut jumped up on his hind legs, still licking me as I fell toward the ground. He was nice enough to hop up and down on top of me while I tried to roll and get away.
“Oh, Damian,” Ashley said as she reached the back room. “Are you alive? Are you drowning in tongue?”
So many opportunities for a terrible joke, but all I could do was try to fend off the pink monstrosity. “Help!” I squawked.
“Peanut,” Ashley said. “Oreos.”
The 200-some-odd-pound cu sith happily jumped up and down in my chest before using me as a launching pad to rocket back over to Ashley.
“Thanks,” I muttered. Bubbles and Peanut bumped their heads together, excitedly waiting for Ashley to gift more Oreos to them. I groaned as Nixie helped me to my feet.
“You need another shower.”
I took a towel from her when she handed me one from the shelf and I wiped my face off. “You’re telling me.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I thought you’d be with the coven, hunkered down with that monster.”
“It’s Beth,” Ashley said with a sad smile.
“Did something happen?” I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.
Ashley took a deep breath, her shoulder-length red hair rising and falling. “No, she’s fine. She left for Rivercene with Cornelius this morning.”
I raised my eyebrows, unable to keep the surprise from my face. “I was under the impression the innkeeper wasn’t a huge fan of blood mages.”
“I know, but Rivercene is a stronghold on a nexus.” Ashley’s voice took on the cadence of someone carefully reciting words that she only recently had to memorize. “Cornelius says that Rivercene is not only a gateway through Gaia, but there’s an intersection with the shadow realm there too.”
I cursed. “The shadow realm? As in where he and Beth summoned those giant freaky beasts?”
Ashley nodded. “It’s why they want to help defend it.”
“Well, shit.”
“Master Sergeant Park is in the front,” Ashley said. “He asked if the coven needed help. I thought that was very nice of him. He didn’t have to ask.”
I gave Ashley a small smile. “Park is good people.”
“The shadow realm?” Nixie muttered under her breath. She was surprised, too. I didn’t know if that made me feel better, or a hell of a lot worse.
“Let’s go see Park,” I said, making for the saloon-style doors.
* * *
We walked into the middle of an arm-waving, foot-stomping discussion between Frank, Sam, and Park.
“That’s fantastic,” Frank said. “I’m telling you, it’s a tactical advantage to place some of the troops along Main Street.”
“Command is considering,” Park said.
“Did they say anything about the giant skeletal warship on the river?” I asked.
Park shot me a smile. “I may have left a few of the details out. We’re grateful to you and your friends. I only wish all of my soldiers were.”
“Soldiers follow orders,” Nixie said, the stone in her voice surprising me. “It’s those in command who forge alliances.”
As much as Nixie’s words bothered me, Park didn’t seem upset by them at all. He nodded, agreeing with her to a degree. “And that’s part of the problem. Some of command thinks your assistance is a ploy to get inside our own defenses. Others want you on the front lines so you and the other supernaturals can take each other out with minimal casualties on our side.”
“We were just talking about how I need a new apartment. Seems relocating would be a bit more humane than murdering everyone.”
Park shook his head. “I don’t think you’re in immediate danger, but some of my superiors suspect you’re in league with Nudd.”
“Do you know how many times that guy has tried to kill me?” I asked jetting my finger at Park before realizing it was a rather rude gesture.
“A lot,” Sam said. “Like, a whole lot. Why aren’t you dead?”
“Thanks, sis.”
“You have to understand,” Park said, “millions were lost in the Gettysburg tragedy. Falias’ arrival signaled the single greatest loss of human life in a single day, in all of history. People are scared.”
“They should be scared,” Frank said. “But they should remember who is responsible, and they should remember who opposed them.”
“I know Frank,” Park said. “I know.”
“How many men did you lose?” Ashley asked.
“Fourteen. The squad stationed closest to the highway was dead before we knew we were under attack. We’d have more dead it wasn’t for Foster and Aideen, and Nixie.”
“Where the hell is Foster?” I asked.
“He’s with Casper and her squad at the hospital,” Park said. “I don’t know who’s more exhausted, him, Aideen, or the troops. But most of them are already sharing war stories.”
“Oh, Lord,” I said. “Foster has a great deal of those to share.”
“I have to get back to command,” Park said.
“You’re welcome to join us,” I said. “Whatever happens next is likely to affect you as much as it does us.”
“I appreciate that, Damian. Please understand, our orders are to protect humans, and our ranks are flooded with recruits who have a vendetta. Be careful. What happened in front of the shop earlier with Private Stacy could’ve been a great deal worse.”
We said our goodbyes and watched Park vanish down the street outside Death’s Door.