Bourn’s Edge Read Online Free Page B

shrugged. “Perhaps she knows you better than you know yourself. You can’t tell me this”—he gestured at her surroundings, at the dozing wolfhounds—“is enough. Not after the way things used to be.”
    “I can.” She glared at him. “Because it is.”
    His eyebrows rose. “Saying it is doesn’t make it so. Come now, Tarian. Be honest with an old friend. Don’t you miss it? The excitement, the splendour? The balls and tournaments? Having the Queen look with favour on you?”
    “No. And I don’t miss the blood on my hands either.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    “I don’t care what you believe.”
    “Good for you. But don’t tell me you’re not lonely. That you don’t miss the company of an equal.”
    It was true that her days were often long and empty, for all she tried to fill them with her dogs and her paintings. She glared at him. He had always been able to spot where she was most vulnerable. “I don’t know.”
    “Yes you do.” He gave her a knowing look. “Admit it, Tarian. You were born to be the Queen’s champion. Swallow your pride, and your anger, and come home while Mab’s feeling merciful.”
    She shook her head. “This is my home now.”
    “Among these puny creatures with their petty concerns?”
    “Mortals aren’t as puny or petty as you think, Einion. I’ve got to know them, and I find them . . . refreshing. They still have compassion. They help each other.”
    Her answer seemed to concern him. “There’s no future in such attachments, Tarian.” He held her gaze. “Mortals live but mayfly lives. Could you watch one grow old and die? You grieve when one of your dogs dies.”
    “I don’t know.” She made one final effort to explain. “But don’t you see? If things had continued the way they were, I would have become another Mab, thought nothing of using anyone for my own amusement.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    “Then you don’t know me as well as you think.” She sighed. “The truth is I was tired of it. So tired that if the Queen hadn’t offered me exile, I would have welcomed my unmaking.”
    That seemed to shock him, and he was quiet for a while, perhaps remembering when Mab had used the power that was hers alone. An unmaking was never pretty. A shiver ran down Tarian’s spine as she remembered the last one she had witnessed. At Mab’s gesture, the Fae’s body had collapsed in on itself like an empty wineskin.
    “So,” said Einion at last. “What will you do now?”
    She was glad he had given up trying to convince her to return. “What I’ve been doing.”
    “They told me you had become an artist. I didn’t believe them.”
    “Believe it. It’s honest work, and I’m good at it. Well, except for today, for some reason.”
    “But will you be happy?”
    “Happier than if I came back.”
    “Very well.” He stood up, stretched the stiffness from his shoulders, and pulled on his gloves. “My apologies if I upset you, Tarian. I have your best interests at heart.”
    She nodded.
    He pulled her into a loose embrace and pressed a kiss on her cheek. “Now you know Mab’s intentions. The rest is up to you.”

 
    Chapter 4
    “Blimey!” The garage owner, whose name was Mike and whose spiky haircut and acne made him look seventeen though he must be older, wiped his hands on an oily rag and frowned at the damaged boot.
    “You should see the other fellow,” joked Cassie, remembering the smoke and flames rising from the white van’s bonnet.
    “I’ll have to order a new bumper from Ludlow—that could take a week. As for getting those dents out, you’re looking at a solid morning’s work.” He sucked his teeth. “I’m afraid it’s going to cost you.”
    Cassie sighed. “Do what you have to. I’m staying at the B & B.”
    “Liz Hayward’s place?” She nodded. “Righto. Leave your car with me, Miss Lewis, and I’ll give Liz a bell when it’s ready. Okay?”
    “Okay.”
    She gave Mike her car keys and set off walking back down through