Melissa Marr - Stopping Time, Part 2: A Wicked Lovely Story

PART 2

The tangles of panic and fear and guilt hit Irial like an unwelcome banquet. If they were anyone elses fears, it would be a welcomed treat, but the emotions that assailed him were hers. Theyd come flooding toward him over his mostly severed connection with Leslie.

No. He hadnt figured her pursuer would enter her classroom. Most mortals didnt escalate from a few calls to a dangerous public scene that quickly.

Leslie needs help. Get Niall, Irial snarled. Now.

Mortals paused and shuddered, but they didnt hear. Only faeries heard his orderand he knew that Dark Court faeries would obey as quickly as they had when he was still a king.

He ran to Leslies classroom; she wasnt there.

Leslie, he called, hoping that the thread that bound them was still alive enough to let her hear him. Once in a while a fleeting moment of connection flared in it. Hed felt her panic. Now he needed to feel her , to know where she was. He called louder, LESLIE.

The thread that once bound them lay silent.

Irial felt a surge of terror. In the centuries hed led the Dark Court, Irial had only felt true terror one other time. Then, it had been Niall in danger; then, he had been useless. Now, he felt much the same: she was in danger, and he hadnt been there to stop it.

Abject terror filled him as he ran through the streets seeking her, listening for her voice.

Then he heard her: Ren, this is a mistake.

Irial moved through the streets toward her voice, and just outside her door, he stopped. Leslies brother stood with a gun barrel shoved into her side. Irial could smell it, the bitter tang of cold steel. Steel wouldnt kill him, nor would the copper and lead of the bullets inside the weapon. They would hurt , but faeriesespecially strong oneshealed from such things. Mortals didnt. Leslie wouldnt.

If she were fey, he could safely pull her out of reach. If she were fey, shed likely heal from a gunshot. She wasnt.

Shouldve killed the boy then. He had watched over her, had guards at the ready, yet Ren had escorted her away. If Id have killed him then Irial winced at the thought of Nialls pain at our pain if Leslie was hurt by his prior decision to let Ren live.

Ill remedy that mistake, Irial murmured.

Leslies hand shook so much that she dropped the key.

Ren smacked her with one hand while keeping the gun steadily pressed into her side. Pick it up. Dont try anything, Les. Really.

I dont know how you think this is going to work. She snatched up her keys. You think my ex is going to just show up?

Ren gave her an unreadable look. No. I think youre going to find a way to reach him or one of themI dont care which of themand until one of them comes through your door, well sit in your dive of an apartment and wait.

She shoved the key in the lock and glared at him. Then prepare to wait because unlike you I dont sacrifice other people to protect myself.

A look of what seemed like regret crossed his face, but it passed in a breath. We all do what we have to.

Leslie opened the door, and for a brief moment as she stepped inside the building, the gun wasnt against her. It didnt last long enough to be of use.

She jumped as Ren closed the building door.

He gestured with the gun. Up.

If I had said the word, he wouldve killed you, Leslie said.

Ren followed her up the stairs. Why didnt you?

Im not sure, Ren. She paused on the last stair and glanced back at him. Because real family protects each other?

Could I push him down the stairs? Am I fast enough to get away while he falls? Letting him inside her apartment seemed like a sure way to be trapped. Hell sleep, though. She thought about it, escaping while he slept, but then just as quickly thought about him jacked up and paranoid. He was terrible when he was strung out.

She shoved as hard as she could with both hands and then she ran.

Bitch! Ren cursed and stumbled.

Pleasepleaseplease. She jammed the key into her apartment door and slammed it behind her. She threw the bolt with a shaking hand, and then retreated farther into the apartment.

She couldnt leave. She couldnt be sure whether hed shoot through the door. She couldnt think beyond the fear wrapped around her.

Irial. She started to speak as they once had, but their metaphysical bond was goneburned away by her own choice.

This isnt a faery matter.

But it was. If Ren was looking for Irial, if he was looking for Niall, for Gabriel, for her Dark Court family, it did concern them. She pulled out her phone and pressed the button shed programmed but never dialed, closed her eyes, and waited.

Leslie. Relief laced Irials voice. Are yousafe?

Did you see him? she started, and then quickly added, Dont come here!

Where are you?

My apartment, she said.

Alone?

I am the only one inside my apartment. She shivered. His voice made her want to cry, even now. Especially now. He was every monstrous thing she shouldnt miss, every nightmare she shouldnt crave.

Are you hurt?

She shook her head, as if he could see. Memories of the way hed held her when she wept came flooding back. No, she whispered.

Stay inside. Ill fix this.

Tears slipped down her cheeks. Hearing his kindness and his darkness made her miss him as intensely as she had those first days after their bond was severed. Dont come. He wants to hurt you. Someone told him about you, about faeries. Hes here tohe says hed let you pay more for his silence, but you cant trust him. You cant and I cantif you were hurt, if Niall

Irial sighed. My beautiful Shadow Girlno mortal will hurt me or our Niall. I promise.

A sob escaped her lips. Rens in my building. He has a gun. I should call the police. I couldntif you were hurtI justI dont want him to ever hurt you, either of you. Neither of you can come in here. Someone elseI cant ask anyone else to either. I just

Hush, now, Irial soothed. Ill stay exactly where I am. This will be fixed, and neither I nor Niall will be injured.

Promise?

We will not be injured by Ren, and I wont move a step. I promise. Irials voice was the same comforting croon that had kept her steady when she felt the horrible emotions that he had once funneled through her body.

She whispered, I wish I was with you instead of here.

Irial didnt hesitate, didnt make her regret her admission. He said, Talk to me, love. Just talk to me while we wait.

Irial wanted to rip the door from its frame, but to do so would mean that the building would be vulnerable. He stepped away from the doorway to her apartment building as Gabriel and Niall approached.

Push the button to open the door, Leslie, he said.

She gasped.

Open the door, he repeated.

You said you wouldnt move. She pushed the button even as she said it.

I didnt. I said I wouldnt take a step, and I didnt. Irial put one hand to the window in front of him, wishing he could move, wishing he could be the one to enter her building. Hed promised. Hed assured her that he wouldnt move. He didnt intend to twist his words with either Leslie or Niall if he could help it. If Niall were going in there alone, Irial wouldnt be waiting so calmly, but Niall had Gabriel at his side, and the Hound would keep their king safe.

A weak laugh from Leslie made him smile. You said a step, didnt you? A lot of steps doesnt break the vow.

Indeed, he murmured. My clever girl.

I couldnt stand playing word games all the time, she said, but Ill try again. Promise me Ren wont hurt you. Promise me you are safe right now.

Irial watched the Dark King in all of his furious majesty drag Ren into the street. Mortal and faery were invisible as long as Niall had his hands on Renand he did. One of Nialls hands was on Rens throat.

I am safe, love, Irial promised. So are you now.