A Stroke Of Midnight   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

Rhys was unsheathing his short sword. “I left Crystall in charge outside with the police.” He held the naked blade up before his face. “You rang?”

Crystall’s face appeared dim and pale in the blade. “Rhys, I am unsure how to proceed.”

“What’s wrong?” Rhys asked.

“I think that we need someone here who is more conversant with modern police and modern politics.”

Rhys shook his head. “I didn’t ask what you needed. I asked what’s wrong.”

“As far as I can ascertain, the humans are arguing about who is in charge.”

“In charge of what?”

“Everything,” Crystall said. “They seem to have no clear hierarchy. It is like a game of too many princes.”

Rhys sighed. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, Crystall.”

“I am sorry, Rhys, but none of us here spend much time outside the land of faerie.”

“It’s all right. I’ll be there.” Rhys wiped the blade clean with a movement of his hand. He looked at Doyle. “I didn’t think we needed someone more modern with the police; I should have.”

“Do not apologize,” Doyle said. “Simply fix it.”

Rhys gave a bow and went for the door. He walked past me, but it was something on the other side of the room that attracted my attention.

I saw something over Maggie May’s shoulder. Movement. The curtain under the sink, where I’d hidden as a child, fluttered. Something was behind that piece of cloth, something bigger than a small dog.

Adrenaline rushed through me so hard and fast that my fingertips tingled with it. I had assumed that someone had searched the area for the killer. Had I assumed wrong?

I broke the hug with Maggie May with a squeeze, fighting to control my face and body. I wanted to alert Doyle and the others without alerting whoever was hiding.

Doyle was just beside me as if I’d given myself away, by some hesitation or movement. He opened his mouth, but I touched his lips with my fingers. He took the hint. He stood mute before me and did not ask what I’d feared, not out loud. With his dark eyes, he asked, What is wrong? But not out loud.

I glanced, using only my eyes, behind me. I tried for the angle I wanted but wasn’t certain he’d understand.

He knelt by Onilwyn’s moaning form and said, “Why did you leave us, Onilwyn? Why did you come ahead to the witnesses?”

The only answer was a soft, bubbling moan.

Doyle positioned himself so he could see the sink area while he questioned the fallen man.