Chapter Five

The voice, male and mocking and very faintly accented, startled Danice out of her relaxation and left her more than a little grumpy. Especially since it didn’t come from the man currently draped half-on and half-in her bare-assed naked body. She and Mac both turned toward the window, wearing matching scowls and each other.

“Who the hell are you? ”

Danice winced. The idea that she’d asked that same question of two naked men in the last two hours left her feeling about half a step from Slutsville.

Jack Green smiled and shook his head. “Ah, how soon they forget. And so ungrateful, too. After all I’ve done for them. ”

Danice shoved Mac aside and yanked the sheet up to cover everything that needed covering. “You’re that weirdo from the bar! ”

“Now that’s not a nice thing to call someone, fair Danice, ” Jack said. “Especially not someone who had your best interests at heart. Didn’t I give you exactly what I promised? ”

She took in the pointy ears she thought had been prosthetics, the long, long pale hair, the too-pretty looks and swore. Then she looked again and swore some more. Louder. And more creatively.

Mac frowned. “What’s going on? Seoc, what did you promise her? ” He turned back to Danice and caught her by the arm. “What did he do to you? ”

She shrugged him off and batted his hand away. “What did you say? Do you know this guy? ”

Her eyes narrowed as she watched him weigh his response.

“Yeah, ” he sighed. “I know him. He’s fae. ”

“Friend? Relative? Drinking buddy? ”

Mac snorted. “None of the above. More like notorious pain in the ass. I said I knew him, not that I liked him. ”

Jack/Seoc clutched his heart and put on a wounded expression. “I’m cut to the core, McIntyre, that you would so cruelly deny me. ”

Danice raised an eyebrow at Mac, crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips.

“Give me a break, ” Mac said. “You can’t take him seriously, baby. He’s just trying to make trouble. Again. ” He paused to glare at the fae, and Danice’s foot began to tap impatiently on the carpet. “Seoc is the nephew of the Queen of Faerie. He’s a celebrity. Everybody knows him. Just because I know who he is doesn’t mean I’m involved in whatever stunt he’s pulled. That would be like me assuming you know Prince Charles personally just because you mentioned his name. ”

The foot stopped tapping, but her arms stayed crossed. “So, do you routinely address royalty as if you know them? And have the right to scold them? ”

Mac snorted even louder. “When it’s Seoc, I do. The Queen herself has encouraged people to call her nephew a moron. She thinks it might help it sink in if she’s not the only one calling him that. Well, as long as you don’t do it in front of her. Then she feels like it’s her duty to defend him. ”

Danice rolled her eyes. “Sure. Great system. ”

“Hey, don’t blame me. I didn’t make it up. I don’t even live in Faerie, and I’ve only ever been a couple of times. Traveling between the worlds is…discouraged. You need more than just a passport to get through. ”

“Then what is he doing here? ” She jerked her chin at Jack/Seoc.

“That’s exactly what I want to know. ” Mac glared at the blond fae. “So why don’t you explain what you’re doing unsupervised in Ithir, Seoc. I’d really love to hear it. ”

Seoc widened his eyes and tried to look innocent. For some reason, even Danice could see through the act.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, McIntyre, ” he said. “Technically, I’m not in Ithir. I’m in limbo, which is not restricted at all. ”

“Start talking before I restrict your airflow, ” Mac growled, pushing off the bed and stalking toward Seoc with a decidedly malicious glint in his eyes.

He got about two steps before Seoc jumped backward and waved a graceful hand in front of him. Before Danice’s disbelieving eyes, Mac froze in place, still in mid-step, with one big foot hovering a few inches from the floor.

“What the—?! ” She watched while Mac’s face furrowed in a frown before it smoothed out into an enraged glare. “You little bogle-lover, ” he hissed, looking ready to rip Seoc limb from limb, even as he balanced frozen on one foot. “Release me. Now. ”

“No. ” Seoc scowled and threw himself down into the room’s single armchair. “If I let you go, you’ll try and hurt me. ”

“You’re damned right I will, ” Mac growled. “I’ll make you hurt in ways you didn’t think were possible. And then when I’ve calmed down, I’ll hurt you some more. ”

Danice cleared her throat. “Um, Mac, I don’t know if that’s quite the best way to persuade him to, uh…let you go. ”

His eyes shifted sideways to include her in his line of fire. “And here I thought I was being so diplomatic, ” he said, his voice going dangerously silky. “After all, I didn’t tell him what I’d do with his worthless little dick after I—”

“You see! ” Seoc threw his hands up in the air and turned to Danice. “You see what I have to deal with? This is why I’m always leaving home and skipping out on Faerie! Because I get absolutely no respect. I am the nephew of the Queen. I’m a prince! But does anyone ever treat me like a prince? Nooo-oooo. No one even calls me prince, and it’s my bloody title! ”

Danice blinked at the sudden burst of frustrated anger and took a wary step backward. “Um, wow. That…er, that is tough. ”

“You bet your extremely attractive ass it is, ” he groused. “It’s intolerable! Even my aunt treats me like an irresponsible fool, and I won’t stand for it! ”

“The Queen treats you that way because that’s the way you act, ” Mac growled. “Maybe if you’d actually grow up and start taking an interest in doing something constructive, your aunt would start to treat you like a grown fae. ”

Seoc sneered. “What would you know about it, changeling? You’re not even of pure blood. You might as well be human! ”

“Hey! ” Danice snapped. She might be in way over her head, but that didn’t mean she didn’t deserve a little respect, damn it!

“Sorry, ” Seoc mumbled. “It just gets me so upset. Imagine how you’d feel in my position. Every time you turn around, someone is there, just waiting for you to make a mistake so they can say, ‘I told you so. ’”

“Have you tried not making any mistakes? ”

Danice glared at her petrified lover. “Mac, everybody makes mistakes. Be fair. ”

“Exactly! ” Seoc cried, bursting into a grin so charming, Danice felt her own mouth begin to curve. “Is it any wonder I wanted to give you something special? I knew as soon as I saw you that you were the sort of human who might be able to understand things greater than yourself and your humdrum little human life. That’s why I offered to give you your fantasies. ”

The smile slowly morphed into an expression so opposite that she even saw Mac’s eyes widen in the periphery of her vision. “That’s what this is about? ” she asked carefully. “You used some sort of freaky magic power to whisk me out of my apartment and strand me in limbo in bed with a man I’ve never met and who could have turned out to be a rapist or a serial killer or something, and you think you did it because you liked me? As a favor to me? ” She could feel herself shaking with the power of her anger. “Are you out of your teeny, tiny little faerie mind? ”

And he even had the nerve to look shocked. “What? How can you say things like that? ” he asked, practically whining. “I saw your fantasy when I was sitting next to you in the bar. You wanted a lover just like McIntyre. All I did was make your dreams come true. You should be thanking me! ”

She drew a deep breath and waited for her rage to dull. It didn’t, so she took a menacing step forward. “The day I thank you will be several lifetimes after I rip your entrails out of your stomach and use them to tell the future. You are beyond stupid. How dare you presume to poke uninvited into my mind! ”

Seoc paled and drew back a hair. “But I gave you your fantasy! ”

“No, you played an irresponsible game with my safety and my psyche, you nasty little imp. ”

She heard Mac’s low whistle. “Ooh, that’s low, baby. Imps are second-class citizens in Faerie. Actually, they aren’t even that well liked. They’re more like slug slime. ”

She smiled grimly. “Good. Then I made a fitting analogy. ” She took another step forward. “You know nothing about humans, except for your own prejudiced opinions about us, and you presume to tell me you were giving me a gift? What if I never wanted that fantasy fulfilled? What if you read me wrong, and I had actually been thinking of something I found personally distasteful? What about that, huh? Would you have cared? Would you have even noticed? ”

Seoc open his mouth to protest, but she never let him speak.

“You are the most morally reprehensible person it has ever been my misfortune to meet, ” she hissed, leaning forward until her braids fell over her shoulders and almost brushed against the hands he had clenched on the arms of his chair. “I ought to use my amusing little human mind to devise a fitting punishment for you, but I’m afraid the only ones I can think of now involve a lot of pain and bloodshed, and I have a delicate stomach! ”

The fae’s eyes had gone wide as dinner plates as he squeaked out a protest. “If you try and harm me, I’ll freeze you just like I did the changeling. O-o-o-or I’ll t-turn you into a…into a toad. ”

“Go ahead, ” she said, her lips curving in a snarl. “At least that way you’d have a kindred spirit around. ”

He lifted his trembling hand and Danice braced herself.

“Seoc! Try it, and I’ll take a few minutes to beat you senseless before I bring you back to your aunt. ”

The deep, menacing and decidedly unfamiliar voice came from the door of the theoretical hotel room and had both Danice and Seoc jerking their heads around in surprise. A ridiculously tall, ridiculously well-muscled man stood just inside the door with one hand still poised on the knob and one hand on the hilt of a sword that was probably almost as long as Danice was tall. He had eyes greener than the color green, pointed ears, long, dark hair and a furious expression on his handsome face.

Danice straightened up and turned on him like the new target he was. “Oh, just what I need. Another strange man to see me naked. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to make it three in one night. ”

The green eyed, sword-wielding newcomer blinked at her, his glower changing to a look of confusion. “You’re not naked, ” he pointed out, even gesturing with his sword. “You’re wearing a—is that a bed sheet? ”

“Um, she’s a little sensitive about the whole clothes, no-clothes thing, ” Mac said from his immobile spot behind Danice. “I wouldn’t dwell on it, if I were you. ”

Danice’s head turned very slowly around until her gaze locked on Mac and made his eyes widen. “I’ll deal with you later. ”

Before she could open her mouth to say another word, Seoc leapt up from his chair to face the newcomer with a childish look of defiance.

“I won’t go back, ” Seoc said, planting his hands on his hips and putting his chin in the air. “I’m sick of the way everyone there treats me. No ones gives me any respect, and I’m tired of it. I’d rather stay in Ithir. At least the humans don’t try and tell me what to do. ”

“That’s not an option, ” tall, dark and well-armed said. “The Queen sent me to fetch you—again—and that’s what’s going to happen. If you don’t like it, you can take it up with your aunt. ”

Seoc’s defiant pose crumbled, and he stomped his foot and whined like a three-year-old. “But she never listens! Last time you brought me back to her, she confined me to Faerie for months! I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere interesting or do anything fun. ”

The other fae’s eyes narrowed, but he sheathed his sword, which made Danice relax a little. “You’ll be lucky she doesn’t make it years this time, ” he said. “But if you try and run now, I’ll only come after you. And when I find you, I’ll make sure the Queen feels even less charity toward you than she does right now. ”

Danice could almost see that warning sink in to Seoc’s thick skull. She watched his face sour, his posture relax and his shoulders sink before he shuffled reluctantly forward until he stood next to Danger Man.

“Fine, ” he pouted. “If that’s the way you’re going to be, then let’s just get it over with. ”

The stranger grunted and put his hand on Seoc’s shoulder to steer him toward the door.

“Hey! Are you forgetting about something? ” Mac called, sounding seriously peeved. Not that Danice could blame him. If someone had paralyzed her for a good ten minutes, she’d probably be pretty anxious to get back to normal, too.

Seoc looked back at them and frowned. “Oh, right. Sorry about that. The spell holding you here will expire in a couple of hours, and you’ll be back in the human’s apartment. The halt spell I can do now. ” He snapped his fingers, shot the stranger one last disgruntled glance and they both left. Not through the door, because that would have been much too normal for the day Danice had been having. They walked up to the door, paused, and then just disappeared.