Chapter 10

Aideen had been right. Dad was so thrilled by the idea of me going on a date with Brendan that he started treating Aideen as if she were his long-lost sister and not an evil, murdering fairy. It was a shocking turnabout for him, but one that gave me some hope. If he loved me more than he hated the Fey, then he wasn't entirely lost.

I know that sounds obvious—that no one should hate anything more than they love their daughter—but you just don't understand hatred if you think that. I had been just as consumed as he was, and I can honestly say that love could not have swayed me from my vengeance. I would have understood and even supported my father for hating the Fey more than he loved me back then. Now, however, after exile in paradise and with the addition of Aideen's crucial information, I was slowly letting go of my blind rage. Although, it was being replaced with a new type of anger; one colder and more devious but which also left room for reason. It made no sense to hate an entire race for the act of one person. So, I would focus my anger and condense it into a blade which I would use to give my mother justice.

See; I was doing much better now.

"No discussing that thing about the beasts and their masters," I whispered to Aideen as I headed to the door of our suite to answer Brendan's knock. I didn't want her mentioning anything about the pukas to Dad.

"Beasts?" She frowned and then her face cleared. "Oh, right, no beastly talks. You got it."

"Thanks. I need to find a gentle way to tell him." I glanced over to where my father was rushing out of his bedroom.

"Is that him?" My father asked with a grin. It was the happiest I'd seen him in years.

"I think so." I rolled my eyes and opened the door to find Brendan standing there; looking unbelievably delicious in a pair of worn jeans and a dark green dress shirt. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone; showing a glimpse of tanned skin with a sprinkling of hair. I wasn't a big fan of hairy chests, but it looked good on him; enough so that I was starting to have hopes for the evening.

"Hey, Seren, you ready?" He asked and then his eyes went wide when he saw the little black dress I was wearing. His gaze skimmed down my legs to the heels Aideen had transformed, and he blinked slowly before returning his attention to my face. "You look amazing."

"Thanks." I grinned and glanced over to see Aideen smiling smugly.

"Extinguisher Sloane." Brendan held out a large hand to my dad, who rushed forward to shake it. "I'll have her back before dawn."

"Don't worry about it, Son." Dad beamed, and I groaned.

"He's not your son," I said.

"Not yet." Dad winked at me.

"I'll try my best, Sir, but your daughter is quite formidable," Brendan said and then laughed.

"You're telling me." My father rolled his eyes, and I realized that I must have picked up the habit from him.

Great, and I probably looked just as obnoxious when I did it.

"Take care of Aideen," I admonished him.

"Yes, dear," Dad intoned like a harassed husband as he shoved us out the door. "Don't come back until you're engaged." The door slammed behind us.

"So, no pressure there." I grimaced at Brendan, and he chuckled.

"At least I won't have to worry about convincing your father that I'd make a good son-in-law." He led me through the hallways and took us up in the elevator.

We exited the council house and went down the steps to the curb where a group of young extinguishers waited beside a sleek, black limousine. I raised my brows at that and gave Brendan a look.

"It wasn't my idea." He held up his hands.

"It was mine!" A beautiful redhead launched herself at me.

"Abby!" I shouted in surprise as I caught her.

"Brendan told me about his little crush, and I may have talked him into a bigger one." My old friend grinned as she pulled out of the hug.

Abby had gone to school with us, but she had also attended regular, human high school with me. Brendan had been sent somewhere else since he lived in a different district. So, Abby and I had known each other until graduation and had kept in touch; right up until my mom's death when revenge became more important than friendship.

"You tricksy, tricksy hobbit," I teased her, and she laughed. "Believe nothing this woman tells you," I shot back at Brendan. "She is not to be trusted."

"Funny." Brendan grinned as he opened the limo's door for me. "She said the same thing about you."

"Oh, well in that case." I shrugged. "It's all true." I laughed along with Abby but instead of getting into the limo, she pulled me over to meet the rest of the group.

"This is Claudine." Abby waved toward a tiny woman with a fashionista, blonde bob. "Matthew," a swarthy, cookie-cutter example of sturdy extinguisher stock. "And my boyfriend, Jared," as beautiful as the rest but with dark, serious eyes that made me pause.

"Hey, everyone." I nodded; looking quickly away from Jared's intense stare.

They all gave me warm welcomes and then we piled into the car. It was spacious and had a stocked bar so we stretched out across the leather seats; dividing into couples before we started drinking. Except for Abigail who sat her perfect butt right beside mine and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"I've missed you so much," she said. "How dare you leave me to go bask in Hawaiian sunshine all day while I'm here chasing after errant fairies and freezing in the cold breeze coming off the bay?"

"Hawaii is gorgeous," I agreed, "but boring. So very boring."

"What about the beach?" Claudine asked.

"Have you seen my skin?" I held out one pale arm. "I'm like a vampire."

Then I frowned as I remembered the Dracula comment I'd made about Tiernan. Yeah, people in glass houses definitely shouldn't sleep naked. Or something like that.

"Oh, I hunted one of those last week." Matthew chuckled as he slid an arm around Claudine's shoulder.

"Not exactly humorous." Jared frowned at Matthew. "That baobhan-sith killed four men before we caught her."

"Matt didn't mean to make light of it." Abby patted Jared's knee.

"She killed four men?" I leaned forward to speak to Jared. "How did she get away with so many?"

"She tore up the bodies afterward." Jared shook his head as he leaned forward too. "Then she dumped them in the bay. We were only notified when the parts started to wash up on the shore, and then we had to use a psychometrist to discover what had happened."

"Damn, I wouldn't want that job," I whispered. "First, you have to touch all those torn up bits and then you have to relive what happened to them."

"Yeah, that's why they get paid so much." Jared shrugged.

"More than us?" Abby asked him, and he nodded. She frowned.

"I wonder how many other kills we've missed because of something like that." I slid my gaze back to Jared.

"That's what I said." He nodded to me.

"Downers." Claudine sighed dramatically. "We're not talking shop tonight."

Jared and I exchanged an annoyed look, and we both sat back against the leather cushions with matching sounds of irritation. So, I guess his intensity was intimidating only because it reminded me of myself. I huffed a little laugh at that thought as Brendan's arm slid up on the seat behind me. I gave him a pointed look, but he only smiled and left his arm where it was. I didn't like that too much. He should have taken the hint and eased back. That's what a gentleman would have done, right? Brendan may be a trained Extinguisher but that wasn't an excuse to act like a creep. So, I sat forward stiffly and edged closer to Abby under the premise of refreshing my drink.

Abby gave me a discerning look, glanced over at Brendan, and then slid her own arm around my shoulder to ease me even closer to her. "We're going to have so much fun tonight," she said gaily as she cast a reproving look at Brendan. "No matter what."

A shiver rolled down my spine like a mischievous ice cube. Words like that had a way of conjuring challenges. The Universe, like a fairy, loves to give you exactly what you ask for.