Child of Darkness-L-D-2 by Jennifer Armintrout Read Free Book Online Page B

of her. Long, torturous nights that drove him from his bed and to the Strip in the vain hope of seeing her.
    And she’d been there, coy and teasing as ever as she’d led him on a dancing chase toward the boundary of the Darkworld. A boundary that, it was apparent, she didn’t believe he would cross. But he did cross it, without a second thought, and caught her in the tunnel and took her there, without even knowing her name, against the rough concrete wall. A shudder he could not suppress went through him at the memory. “I was bewitched. I did not seduce her.”
    “And you did not press her for our secrets?” It was an accusation, not a question. “You did not make Faery promises to dazzle her?”
    “She loves me,” he said, coldly, haughtily. It was all he knew to be true in this place.
    “She is elfstruck.”
    “She loves me! And it was she that sought me out!”
    The old woman nodded, as if somehow satisfied. “You do not love her?”
    He thought of it, carefully considered what she asked. “I do not believe we can love as mortals love. Your love is bound by time. That makes it more constant. Perhaps desperate. But in the way I am able, I love her.”
    “Your love is also bound by time.” The old woman looked toward the flickering firelight. From where they sat, they could not see Dika tending the cauldron, but the Dya’s gaze was pulled that way, just the same. “Shorter time than you know. If she were to grow old, withered like a grape left on the vine, would you love her then?”
    He could not say. “I would cherish her as something dear to me. It is all I can promise.”
    “And that is a promise that you must make to her, and make clear.” The Dya’s voice was sad, but that sadness fled as she turned back to him. “I wonder, though, what your purpose is, coming here. Though we live in the Darkworld, my people have no quarrel with you.”
    “I am not here to quarrel. In truth, I do not believe my Queene has so harsh a view of the Darkworld as her predecessor. I am here for Dika.” He looked down at his hands. “I am here because I no longer wish to be a part of the Lightworld.”
    “Wishes are what your people deal in, Tom. Not mine.” The Dya fixed him with a cold stare.
    “You cannot choose to be apart from your kind. You could not survive.”
    “I can no longer survive among my kind, either. Perhaps you would let me choose the course of my own future.” He nodded toward the fire. “Perhaps you would let Dika choose hers.”
    He had the old woman at a disadvantage now, and they both knew it. “My Queene will be able to take no action against you. You are leaving, and will be gone long before she can find this place.”
    “You will be hunted on the surface,” the Dya remarked, not wishing to relinquish her hand so soon.
    “You are hunted there, as well. Your people tell fortunes and create elixirs. The Enforcers could not let such a thing go.” He leaned back in the chair, though the iron made him uneasy and his paper-thin wings bent under him, and crossed one leg over the other in a Human gesture. “You will be in a unique position, though. You will have a Faery to hand over to them. A Faery who was close to the Queene, who knew her plans. They may not bother with us on the surface, but they do not like us. You could make a valuable trade and protect your people, if it should come to that.”
    The Dya chortled. “And how do you know I would not simply sell you to the Enforcers the moment we stepped on Upworld soil? I thought Faeries knew better than anyone what tricks could be played in a deal.”
    “I am aware of what tricks you could play on me,” he stated simply. “And I am aware that your people fear my kind. You will not play me false, lest you suffer unintended consequences.”
    She smiled at him, displaying a mouth that was toothless but for two golden stubs that peeked over her bottom lip. “You would find your footing among us, in time, I suspect.”
    For a long