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I looked into his pale eyes, and knew he meant it. I could maybe get something useful out of Polaski and never be able to trust or be trusted by the police again, or I could let them go and hope that the doctor knew what she was doing. If I hadn’t wanted their expertise, then why had I brought them into the sithen in the first place?
“I trust Dr. Polaski’s judgment, and your stubbor
Frost moved beside me, as if he would have disagreed. “We will all abide by the rules of my agreement, is that clear?”
Some nodded. Ivi was smiling as if he couldn’t quite believe me. Or maybe he was just amused at some private joke of his own. You never knew with Ivi.
“I understand,” Frost said. “I do not agree, but I will abide by it.”
Walters nodded. “I’ll try to hurry the doctor and her techs and get it to you as soon as I can, but a print out of place isn’t proof of murder. It isn’t proof enough to execute someone.”
“Not in a human court,” I said.
“See, talk like that will make Polaski sit on her evidence. You’ll never get it.”
“But I’m not saying it to her, am I.”
“You think I’d give it to you, if I had it.”
“I think you understand, more than she does, how dangerous things are right now for me and my guards.”
He looked at me for a long moment. “Maybe, but I agree with Polaski on one thing: I wouldn’t want to be the person who gave you just enough evidence to get the wrong person killed. Once someone’s dead, Princess Meredith, there’s no fixing it. No going back. I’d want to be dead certain that I had the right person before anyone got the ax.”
“So would I, Major, and I’ll push to see that we get more proof.”
“You said they’d use the evidence to simply execute.”
“I said they could and probably will, but I, like you, want to be sure. Fairplay and all, but more than that, Major Walters, once someone is executed for the crime the investigation stops. If we execute the wrong person, then the murderer is still free to kill again. I don’t want that.”
“So it’s not about executing the wrong person for you but about letting the guilty go free.”
“A guilty murderer that gets away with it once may try again.”
He nodded. “If they get away with it once, most of them seem to get a taste for it.” He looked at me. “If everyone but you is supposed to be immortal down here, then how did this Beatrice die?”
“That is another problem, isn’t it?”
“Perhaps…” Aisling said.
I didn’t want to look at him. I realized I was angry with him. Angry about what he’d done to Melangell. Angry that he didn’t seem to feel bad about it. His tone of voice had sounded almost as if he had enjoyed it.
Mistral suddenly joined our group. “Excuse me, Princess. Queen Andais longs greatly to speak with you.” His face was utterly neutral as he said it. Too neutral. Something was wrong.
“Princess Meredith, why not appeal directly to this doctor?” Aisling said.
I took in a lot of air and let it out slow, then I turned very deliberately and looked at Aisling. “It’s not a bad idea,” I said, my voice sounding more matter-of-fact than my face felt.
Aisling smiled. I could see just enough of his face through the gauze to know that.
I looked away from him. I tried to make it casual, but I don’t think he, or any of the other men, was fooled. Maybe Mistral wouldn’t understand why I didn’t want to see that ghostly smile, but then he didn’t know that I’d unleashed Aisling’s smile on someone else.
“No,” Walters said.
We all looked at him. “Why not?” I asked.
“I shouldn’t have told you.”
“You’re in charge here, right? Of the human side, at least.”
“Technically, but she’s the chief medical examiner, and she’s in charge of her people. If I were the chief of police, yeah, but I’m not.”
“So you ca
Walters shook his head. “She’ll be pissed if she knows I told you as much as I did. If she gets pissed, she’ll be even less likely to share.”
“Then why did you tell us?” Aisling asked.
I kept my gaze on Walters this time as he said, “Because it’s got to be one of the people who were here in the hallway with us. Because they’re the only ones we took prints from. I won’t give you a name just because their print was where it shouldn’t be, not if you’re just going to kill them. But I don’t want you getting killed either.”
“Why, Major Walters, I’m touched.” I didn’t smile when I said it.
“Give me your word that the suspect won’t be harmed in any way, and I’ll help you talk to Polaski.”
“I give you my word that I will do everything within my power to keep whoever it is safe from harm.”
“Doing everything in your power isn’t the same thing as promising that they won’t be harmed,” Walters said.
“No, it isn’t, but I’m Princess Meredith, not queen. I am not absolute ruler here. You can promise me things, but if the chief of police overrides you, then where does that leave me?”
He shook his head. “Fine, talk to Polaski, but she’s not going to be happy with either of us.”
“Why should she be any different?”
“What?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Just ignore me, Walters, I’m not feeling my best.”
“If I’d had two assassination attempts on me in two days, I’d be pissed.”
I thought about that. It wasn’t getting myself killed that bothered me; it was getting everyone else killed. There’s a reason why the president and his family aren’t supposed to date the secret service agents who guard them.
There was still blood on Galen’s hand, his blood, dried, a little tacky still. Too much blood. Too much was happening in too small a space of time. Holding Galen’s hand made me start to tremble. I realized in that moment that I was going to break down.
“Can you give us a few minutes, Major, please?” My voice was only a little shaky.
He started to argue, but something in my face made him simply nod and walk back down the hallway. I fought it off until he was almost out of sight, then the first sob came. I clung to Galen, felt the glamour slip away, and lost it. I cried and sobbed until I started to hyperventilate. I couldn’t breathe, and my knees started to buckle. Galen took me to the ground, put his back against the wall, and let me wrap my legs around his waist, let me hold him as close as I could short of sex.
Galen stroked my hair, and said, “It’s all right, it’s all right.”
“Long, deep breaths, Meredith,” Frost said, kneeling beside us. “Slow your breathing or you will pass out.”
I fought the wordless, screaming panic. I fought to breathe, and couldn’t do it.
Galen stroked my hair and lied to me. “It’s okay, we’re safe, I’m safe.” Lies, all lies. My body was screaming, “Can’t breathe, can’t breathe, can’t breathe.”
Frost grabbed my face between his hands, held me so tight it hurt. He made me look at him. “Meredith, Meredith!” He kissed me. Maybe simply to stop the noises, or because he couldn’t think of anything else to do. The Queen’s Ravens are trained in weapons, hand-to-hand combat, battle strategy, even politics. Hysterical women are not on the list.
His mouth closed over mine, and I struggled against it. There was no air. I fought free of Galen’s arms and clawed at Frost. He breathed a cold wind into my mouth. The moment the cold touched me, I stilled, as if my body just stopped. I think even the blood in my veins stopped. A moment of nothingness, silent, still, cold. It was like being thrown into freezing water; the shock of it stopped the hysteria, stopped everything for a moment.
Frost drew away from the kiss, and my breath rushed back in a huge, chest-hurting gasp. I took several deep, painful breaths in a row, while he held my face, and stared into my eyes, as if searching for me. His grey eyes held that tiny snowscape in them again, and I felt as if I were falling forward, falling forward into Frost’s eyes. He blinked, and the sensation stopped, but some night I was going to have to see what would happen if I kept looking into those snowy eyes. But not tonight. Not tonight.