Лорел Гамильтон - Seduced by Moonlight

«If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it's a duck,» he said.

Madeline looked puzzled again, which didn't mean she was. She capitalized on being small and cute, and only at odd moments did you realize just how shrewd and business-like she really was.

I'd never had much patience with women who hid their intelligence. I thought it set a bad precedent for the rest of us. «He means if it looks like a problem, sounds like a problem, and acts like a problem, then it's a problem,» I said.

The major, whose nameplate said WALTERS, turned his cold grey eyes on me. It wasn't just the normal unreadable cop eyes, either; he was mad about something. But what? His eyes thawed a little, as if he liked that I'd stopped playing games, or as if he wasn't mad at me. «Princess Meredith, I'm Major Walters, and I'm in charge of this detail until we cross over onto sidhe territory.»

«Now, Major,» Madeline said, «you and Captain Barinthus are both in charge, that's what the queen agreed to.»

«You can't have two leaders,» the major said, «not and get anything done.» He glanced at Abloec, then at Barinthus, and the look said he didn't like the way Barinthus was running his men. What Major Walters couldn't know, and none of us would ever admit outside the sidhe, was that if things weren't running smoothly, it was almost always Queen Andais's fault, or her son's. But since Prince Cel was still locked safely away, it had to be something that the queen had done.

For the life of me I couldn't think why she'd have allowed Abloec to be seen in front of as much media presence as was likely to be in the press conference. He was addicted to everything, drink, cigarettes, drugs. You name it, Abe liked it. Once he'd been the greatest libertine of the Seelie Court, a lover and seducer par excellence. He was cast out of the Seelie Court for seducing the wrong woman, and Andais would only allow him into the Unseelie Court on one condition. He had to join her guard, which meant that Abe went from being one of the busiest lovers of the sidhe to being celibate. He'd taken to drink, and when stronger drugs were invented he took those. Unfortunately for him it was almost impossible for a sidhe to become completely impaired by alcohol or drugs. You could get drunk, but never to the point where you passed out. Never to the point where true oblivion could ease your pain. The best Abe could do was take the edge off and become addicted to damn near everything. My father had kept him far from me, and my aunt despised him, thought him weak. So he'd been hidden away on small duties for centuries, an embarrassment to us all. So why was he here, now, in such a public forum? It made no sense. Not that everything Andais did made sense, but in public she always came off as the perfect queen. A drunken guard was not good press. A drunken guard entrusted with the life of a princess and heir to a throne was worse than simply bad press, it was careless. Andais was many things, but careless was not one of them.

«I earned the right to be here, Darkness, trust me on that,» Abe said. His smile was gone, and there was something very sober in his charcoal-grey eyes.

«What's that supposed to mean?» Walters asked.

Neither the guards nor I had to ask. If he'd earned it, then he'd done something that he'd hated but had pleased the queen. It usually involved sex, or sadism, or both. The guards kept their secrets about what humiliations the queen demanded of them. There's an old saying that you'd crawl over broken glass for someone, or something. Apparently that wasn't just a saying with the queen. What would a person do to end hundreds of years of celibacy? What wouldn't he do?

It must have shown on at least some of our faces, because Walters looked even grumpier and said, «What aren't you telling me?»

Barinthus and Doyle gave him their empty faces, honed to unreadability by centuries of court politics. I turned in against Frost's body so that my face was hidden from the major. I just didn't give good blank face anymore.

Frost slid one arm across my shoulders, but opened his coat so that I was snuggled inside it. Most people would have thought that he was trying to get me closer to his body, but I knew better: He was opening his coat so he could go for his gun, or knives if he needed to. Hugging was fine, but for the guards, duty had to come first.

Since it was my life they were protecting, I never got my feelings hurt about it.

«To my knowledge, Major,» Barinthus said, «we are not concealing anything from you that will impact your ability to perform your job.»

Walters almost smiled. «You're not going to deny that you're withholding information from me, from the police?»

«Why should I deny it? You would have to be a fool to believe that we have shared all we know with you, and I don't think you a fool, Major Walters.»

He looked at Barinthus, and it wasn't an entirely unfriendly look. «Well, that's good to know. You don't want Abe here, do you?»

«Obviously not,» Barinthus said.

«Then why is he here?»

Madeline tried to intervene. «Major, we really must get them all ready for the press conference.»

He ignored her. «Why is he here?»

Barinthus blinked at him, and his second eyelid flicked down and up. The clear membrane allowed him to see underwater. When it showed on dry land, it meant he was nervous.

«You heard me say that Abloec was not my choice, but the queen's.»

«Why would she send a drunk?»

«I resent that,» Abloec said, leaning in toward the major.

Walters wrinkled his nose. «Your breath smells lethal.»

«Just good scotch,» Abloec said.

Barinthus grabbed him by both shoulders. «We need some privacy, Major Walters, to discuss things.»

Walters gave Barinthus a sharp nod and called his men out. He tried to leave two, but Barinthus asked him not to. «You are welcome to put officers at both doors, as long as they are outside and do not try to eavesdrop.»

«Unless you yell, they won't hear you.»

Barinthus smiled. «We will try not to yell.»

Walters herded his men out, and Doyle called, «Please, hold the door for Ms. Phelps.»

The publicist looked at him, her eyes wide, mouth in a little O of surprise. It was an act, because she recovered too quickly. «Now, Doyle.» She put her well-manicured hand on his arm in its black leather jacket. «I have to get you all presentable for the press conference.»

He looked at her much the way Walters had, except meaner. She let go of his arm and took a step back. For a moment the real Madeline stared out; ruthless, determined. She played her trump card with a face that was harsh with her anger. «The queen's orders are for me to make sure you are all lovely for the press conference. When she asks why I didn't do that, do you want me to tell her that you contradicted her orders?» She, more than most of the humans who dealt with the court, knew what the queen was capable of, and she used that knowledge well.

I turned in Frost's arms so that my face was framed by the fur of his coat. «None of us is contradicting my aunt's orders,» I said.

The look she gave me was just this side of insolence. Madeline had enjoyed the queen's favor for seven years now. Seven years of basking in the absolute power the queen had over beings who could have snapped Madeline in half with their bare hands. She felt safe behind the shield of Andais's power. Up to a point, she was right. Beyond that point—well, I was about to remind her of what that point was.

«We have a major press conference, Meredith.» She didn't even bother to use my title now that no other humans were around to listen. Her glance flicked from Galen's much loved, old brown leather jacket to Doyle's short black one, and finally to Kitto's Day-Glo parka. Her lip curled just a bit. «Some of the coats, some of the hair, and you are seriously not wearing enough makeup for this kind of photo opportunity. I have makeup and wardrobe outside.» She turned toward the door as if she'd fetch them.