CHAPTER FIFTEEN

You have no business bringing Jane into the Compound,” Anyan growled. I took an involuntary step backward, but Ryu stood his ground. “She is not ready for that place—not yet, at least.”

“She is as ready to be introduced into our society as she’ll ever be,” Ryu responded, coolly. “And she has every right to go. She must come to know her mother’s people.”

Anyan snorted contemptuously. “The inhabitants of the Compound are not her mother’s people, anymore than the inmates of an asylum are her father’s,” he said.

“Just because you turned your back on Court life does not mean that we all must follow suit.” Ryu’s voice was dry but his body was tense. Anyan snarled, hackles raised. You could have spread the tension on a cracker and eaten it.

“Boys,” Nell interrupted calmly from the porch where she was quietly rocking. “Before you kill one another, why don’t you ask Jane what she wants to do?”

I quailed as two sets of eyes swiveled to meet mine. Ryu’s golden eyes watched me expectantly, believing they already knew my answer. Anyan’s gray gaze simply spoke of his worry for me.

I knew it was crazy to be going off with a guy I barely knew, but there were so many reasons I wanted to that they outweighed the crazy. After all, how many chances would I get to meet my mother’s people? To learn about my history? And it had been so long since I’d left Rockabill. The thought of being Jane True, Random Stranger, was too tempting to resist. Not to mention, part of me wondered if maybe, just maybe, my mother might even be there, at this Compound thing…

But the boys—well, vampire and giant talking dog—didn’t need to know my innermost motivations.

“Um,” I began, clearing my throat nervously. “I’ve already got the time off, and I’m all packed, so I think I’d rather just go ahead and get this over with.”

Lame, I know.

Yet my weak excuse caused Ryu to smile radiantly at me, even as he shot Anyan an obnoxiously triumphant look. The dog just shook his head and strode off to the cabin’s porch, where he lay down like any other dog napping in a spot of sunlight. Since he hadn’t bothered to speak to me since the night Gretchen died, I didn’t really understand why he was so concerned. Then again, his attitude was probably more a product of contempt than concern. He most likely thought I was such a pathetic little halfling that I’d get eaten alive by the Alfar.

Will I get eaten alive by the Alfar? I worried, for about the fourth time that day.

Ryu and I had swung by the cabin to pick something up on our way to Québec, which was our current destination. Apparently things didn’t really get going in this mysterious Compound till later in the week and Ryu wanted to have some time with me before we got there. So he’d asked me if I’d like to go to Québec first, which was on the way. I’d miss a week of work, in total, so first thing that morning I’d gone by Read It and Weep to ask Grizzie and Tracy if they’d mind. Grizzie had said I could go if I promised to take pictures. Tracy had added, “Of churches, and things,” shooting Grizzie a baleful stare. To which Grizzie had responded, “Fuck that, I meant of your man. Naked.” But in truth they were thrilled I was going off with Ryu and told me to take as much time as I wanted. And although I regretted the short notice, because I’d taken all of two days off my entire five years at Read It and Weep, I didn’t feel that guilty.

Leaving my dad was another matter. I’d sat him down and told him all the reasons I shouldn’t go with Ryu. He needed me: Who would cook? Or do the shopping? Or clean? He would never remember his pills, etcetera. My dad had let me vent, and then he’d said, “Go, Jane. I want you to go. I want you to stop worrying you’ll abandon me. You’re not your mother; you will come back. And everything will be fine. I’ll eat and take my pills. I’m not as strong as I used to be but I’m not an invalid. Besides, the guys will swing by and give me a hand if I need anything.”

I’d sat there, shocked into silence by his mention of my mother. Was that really what I was afraid of? That something would take me away the way it had her? Deep down I knew my mother had loved both me and my father, and yet she’d still left. Did I think I’d disappear one day?

My dad had touched my hand and asked me if I was okay. I didn’t know what to say, and I was afraid if I said anything serious I’d start crying. So I’d bravely confronted the real issues. “You’re sure you’ll remember to take your pills?” I’d asked. He’d only squeezed my hand and nodded in response.

Packing, meanwhile, had been a cinch. I washed and packed my “best” clothes, all of which Ryu had seen, thinking those would be okay for tourism in Québec. Then I used my dad’s old garment bag to carefully pack the outfits that Ryu had bought me, hoping those would be appropriate for the Alfar Compound. I also packed my mother’s red dress, smiling at the thought that she’d bought it from Iris, as well as a pair of low, black, sling-back heels I found in her closet. After that, it was just a matter of shoving my toiletries and makeup into my duffel bag and I was ready to go. I’d swum that morning for an extra long time, not knowing when I’d next get into the ocean, so I was pretty hyper. I could feel the power glowing under my skin, a little like the effect of about six shots of espresso. Not that I knew what to do with it.

Something to ask Ryu, I’d thought, looking forward to this weekend for so many reasons.

And as I began to daydream about those reasons, my brain touched on something that made me blush. Right before Ryu was due to pick me up, I’d run back upstairs with my duffel bag. I’d unzipped it and turned to my dirty drawer. Only this time I had made a withdrawal instead of a deposit.

I shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at my only other companion on the porch to check if he’d seen my suddenly flaming cheeks. Ryu had gone into the cabin with Nell, and I’d sat down on the stairs next to Anyan. But the big dog still seemed intent on ignoring me—which just made me more uncomfortable.

“Be careful, Jane,” he said, suddenly, without lifting his head. If he hadn’t addressed me by name, I would have thought he was muttering to himself.

“I’m sorry?” I asked. I wasn’t going to make his rude behavior any easier to get away with.

“Please, just be careful. The Alfar and their Court are dangerous. You have been raised as a human—their ways are not your ways.”

“Ryu will keep me safe,” I said, annoyed at how petulant my voice sounded.

“Ryu will do what is best for Ryu,” Anyan admonished, finally lifting his head from his paws. “He would not hurt you, no. Nor would he willingly allow others to harm you. But he will not take care of you.” Anyan’s voice, throughout our exchange, had been calm. But now he sounded sad.

I laid a hand on his head and scratched behind his ears, trying not to take it to heart when I felt him flinch. He was a complicated dog. Never thought you’d say that, did you? I thought.

“Thank you,” I told him. “I will take care, I promise.” Then I let my hand drop. I could tell he didn’t want me touching him.

Right then Ryu and Nell emerged from the door behind us, Ryu holding something heavy in a plastic shopping bag. He put the mystery item in the back of the car, where my own luggage was wedged. Ryu hadn’t let me put anything in the trunk, for some reason. I really hope there aren’t any dead goblins riding along to Canada with us, I thought, with a shudder.

We got in the car and sped off into the afternoon, Trill and Nell waving us good-bye. But when I looked around for the barghest, Anyan wasn’t there.

The hotel in Québec was incredible. For our rare vacations, my dad and I always went camping. So the disparity between our old pup tents and Le Château Bonne Entente—which I think translates as “Oui, We Take Kidneys”—was rather alarming. It wasn’t a hotel so much as an estate, complete with pools and golf course and a spa and all of the other accoutrements of the rich and Botoxed.

I stood there, trying to fade into the background, as Ryu checked us in. He was, of course, a loyalty-program member, and all of the staff recognized him. I noticed that a few of the ladies seemed really to recognize him, and I stifled a wave of jealousy. For the first time since I’d met Ryu I began to appreciate the implications of his existence. He had to gather power from feeding off humans—although apparently halflings like me would do the trick—which meant that sex couldn’t just be sex, could it? It was also sustenance, something he had to do regularly, no matter what the circumstances, in order to survive.

But the fact that these ladies might have been the equivalent of a Big Mac to Ryu didn’t make their sultry glances at him any easier to bear. Nor did the appraising looks they sent winging my way. It was about an eight-hour journey from Rockabill to the hotel—although it had taken Ryu the Rocket about six—and I’d dressed to travel, not to impress the native Québécoise. I was wearing my kelly-green sweater and matching Converse—which I had cleaned up for the occasion—and my most comfortable jeans. But I knew I looked like a freshman in college just off to the library to study something geeky. At twenty-six, I was probably older than some of the women currently eyeballing me like they just might consider pulling out my hair, but they all looked eons older than me and oodles more sophisticated. Under the weight of their painted gazes, I suddenly had a tremendously powerful urge to do the running man. I don’t know why.