On The Prowl

"I'm Claire," I finally said, throwing caution to the wind.

He nodded thoughtfully. "And if I may ask,' what does that mean?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I never looked it up."

He arched a brow. "You bear a name," he said slowly, "and do not know what it means?"

"A lot of people do."

"Not in Faerie."

"So what's yours?"

"That is a very personal question among the Fey. It is better to ask what people call one. It's considered more polite, as it doesn't directly ask for a personal name."

"Okay, what do people call you?"

"Geisli when I was a child – it means sunbeam," he explained, "or sometimes Haddi, because they said I had too much hair. Asmundir is often used at court, because it is indicative of my function as protector of the people. Alarr means general, but I have never yet led an army in battle so it's somewhat misleading. I believe Father gave it to me to impress the Svarestri. And sometimes I'm referred to as Huitserkir, because my armor is white and gold – "

"What do you like to be called?" I asked, desperate to get away from the warm press of his fingers. The touch was light, but a lot more disturbing than it should have been. And he was right – he talked too much.

He looked puzzled. "Others give us our names."

"Then you don't care?"

"I didn't say that." He thought about it for a ridiculously long time. "Some of my shield brothers gifted me with the name Heidar," he finally said. "It means 'bright lord.' They say my hair is easy to see in battle."

"Okay. Heidar it is, then." I felt like I'd won some sort of major victory, just getting his name. Now maybe he'd let me go.

"I am glad to be known to you, Claire," he said, sounding formal all of a sudden. Then strong arms circled me and a warm mouth closed over mine.

Or maybe not.

The kiss started out tender and brain-meltingly sweet, but didn't stay that way. That was mainly my fault. My hands came up, one grabbing Heidar's shoulder, the other curling around the back of his neck, threading its way through his hair and pulling him close. My tongue darted desperately against his as I thoughtlessly drove the kiss deep. He responded after a moment's startled hesitation, clasping me gently, while ru

When we broke apart for air, I found my tongue tracing the vein throbbing in his neck. I had somehow ended up on his lap, my thighs straddling his, and I could feel him firming against me. Someone made a soft exclamation of need and the sound broke through a little of my haze. I stared at him, wide-eyed and suddenly frightened. I felt vulnerable – I needed this too much and it worried what little part of my mind was still capable of thought.

He noticed my expression and frowned. "What is it?"

"I don't know," I whispered, from a throat half closed with panic. "I think something's wrong with me."

"You were injured?" Two large hands began ru

I scrambled away from him to the far side of the room, near the window. "Don't touch me!"

"I'm sorry." He looked perplexed, and I really couldn't blame him. "I thought – "

"Oh, shit!"

"Claire, I'm trying to apologize, if you'll give me a – "

"Svarestri!" I hissed, my problematic libido temporarily forgotten. "Outside."

He was beside me in an instant. A whole cadre of the silver-haired guards were filing through the main door of the tavern. Maybe it was coincidence, but I didn't think so. They didn't have the carefree, laughing ma

"The roof," Heidar said, throwing open the window as soon as the last guard disappeared from view.

"What about it?" I demanded, hoping he didn't mean what I thought. But he was already outside, balancing on the rain-slick windowsill and looking up. The next second, he disappeared into the dark, just as someone knocked on the door.

I jumped and stared at it, then quickly scrambled out onto the sill. I couldn't see anything but heavy clouds overhead and, where they parted, a dark sky dusted with stars. And rain, a lot of it. It clouded my vision whenever I tried to catch any movement on the roof. "Heidar," I called nervously, as someone started throwing their weight against the door. I stood on the ledge, clinging to the wet planks on the side of the building, trying to figure out if being inside or outside scared me more. Then the decision was made for me when two arms reached down and plucked me off my feet.

For a moment, I dangled above the street, which suddenly looked a lot further down than two stories. A guard came back outside, pulling his collar up against the rain, and caught sight of me suspended there. We just stared at each other for an instant, before he let out a yell and grabbed for his weapon. Luckily, it was under his rain cape and before he could get it free, I was on a flat-topped roof ru

The rooftops were very close together, almost touching in places, and the storm made us virtually invisible. At least, I assumed it did since I couldn't see a damned thing. I stumbled after Heidar, trying not to slip off a roof or into one of the gaps between buildings. He wasn't doing much better himself, with his boots back in the brothel and the rainwater making the rooftops dangerous, but at least no one was shooting at us.

I'd no sooner had the thought than I felt something whiz by my ear. Heidar spun us behind a tall chimney, whispered, "Don't move," and disappeared. After a second, I saw him silhouetted in a lightning flash as he jumped to another rooftop and took off. Several dark forms, one with a lit lantern in hand, ran after him, leaving me shivering and alone in the night.

I stayed in the shadow of the chimney, hoping Heidar was pla

A warm hand suddenly gripped mine, and I turned toward it gratefully. "Let's get out of here."

The hand tightened, and a lantern was shoved in my face. It almost blinded me, but I got a glimpse of opaque, silver eyes, and that was enough. I didn't scream – I was too surprised. I reached for his power, but this one must have been older or stronger than the other Fey, because he fought me. We just stood there for several seconds, teetering on the edge of the building, wrestling metaphysically. It hurts when they resist, and by the time I found a way inside his shields, I was gasping in pain.

He didn't scream like the last one when I pulled on his power, but collapsed heavily against me, his weight almost knocking me off the building. I saw the glint of a blade in the lantern light and realized what he was trying to do: if he couldn't take me out one way, he'd use another. I gathered everything I had and pushed, no direction in mind, no thought, just a desire to get him away. The most I'd hoped for was that it would throw him out of arm's reach. Instead, he went flying off the roof as if shot from a ca