Resistance (13 page)

I’m surprised when Flint throws his head back and
laughs, and I find myself unable to stop my own laughter from
bubbling over as I watch my brother preen and make big eyes at the
faery. I watch the two of them and can’t help but think that maybe
Flint isn’t as bad as he seems.

Chapter 9—Fi

May 2102

It’s been three weeks since the day Flint surprised
me on my morning run, and he seems to be adjusting to life here
fairly well. I wasn’t sure at first how he’d do with all the iron
in the city, but he doesn’t seem to be suffering any ill effects so
far. I still find him mildly irritating almost constantly, but
Eirnin seems to like him and so does Seamus, so I do my best to
bite my tongue and deal with his acerbic sense of humor. That
doesn’t mean I’m always successful. I’ve been running a lot more
since he arrived. I find it eases the desire to knock him out, at
least until the next time I encounter him.

He was right about needing to swap out the guards on
our borders, and I need his help. Sean is hell-bent on carrying out
his insane ‘Let’s kill the Winter princess’ plan that he told me
about when I was drunk, and has gathered support amongst the
younger residents of our community. I need to stop this before it
gets any farther out of hand. There is no way I can condone murder.
I don’t care if she’s a faery; she hasn’t done anything to hurt us
and I will not stoop to the level of the Fae. My father would never
want that for us.

I’m pouring myself a cup of coffee after my run when
Flint makes his sleepy entrance to the kitchen. I grin at him, pour
him a cup of his own and leave it on the counter. I sit down at the
table and motion to the chair across from mine. “Can I talk to you
about something?”

He looks over at me and nods. “I don’t see why not.”
He collapses down in the chair I pointed to, looking like he’s
expecting me to scold him for something. “Hit me.”

I smile despite myself. “Thanks. When you first came
here, you said you wanted to help us. There is something we’ve
been…planning, and um…I’d like to get your opinion on it if you’re
agreeable.”

He looks shocked, there’s no other word for it, but
he nods and says, “Of course.”

Now that I have his attention, I find I can’t look
him in the eyes and tell him this. I’m ashamed of myself for ever
agreeing to it. I don’t care how upset or drunk I was at that
moment. I take a drink of my coffee and dive in. “A few months ago,
we heard word that my parents were most likely executed by the
Winter Court.” I can’t take back the catch in my voice, but I take
a moment to compose myself before continuing. “They were looking
for information on how to close the faery gates for good. Winter
has been spreading the word that they know how.”

For the first time since he got there he actually
looks at me with something other than that smirk I despise. He
looks sorry for me, and I look quickly away and wish the smirk was
back instead. “I’m sorry about your parents.” He shrugs. “They do
brag quite a bit.”

“It's not something I talk about, honestly. I am not
comfortable with the plan we're operating under currently, and I
guess I wanted to know what you thought." I let myself trail off
and take a deep breath before going on. "There are some members of
my community who feel like there has to be bloodshed; retribution
for my parents’ deaths. They want to capture and then kill one of
the Winter princesses. Her name escapes me right now. I don't feel
this is the course we should take. What do you think?"

When I raise my eyes to see his reaction, his are
wide and staring. “You’re kidding, right?” When I shake my head no,
he leans back in his seat. “I, uh...that...it seems a bit suicidal
to me.”

I drop my head in my hands, laugh without humor and
admit, “I agree. I just don’t know how to make my…er…people see
that.”

“Whoever gave you that plan isn’t right in the head.”
He leans forward and rests his elbows on the table. “If you kill
one of them it just proves you’re here — it’s an open invitation to
blast the whole city to bits.”

I feel myself stiffen at the insult to Sean but don’t
say anything. He doesn’t know it was Sean’s plan, after all, and
I’m convinced Sean is just misguided in his grief. “I really don’t
want to kill anyone, Flint. I don’t want anyone else here doing it
either. It just doesn’t feel right to me.” I hide my face in my
hands again; misery coursing through me at my own ineptitude. “We
do have to do something, though. We can’t just stay here like this
forever waiting for them to come for us.” I pause a moment,
considering before asking, “Can I ask — why are you so convinced
they’ll come? What are they after?”

He looks up at me. "After being here for a while, I
assume they’re looking for your brother." He shakes his head and
lifts his hands a little. "I don't know exactly why, but there are
rumors about a boy who knows how to close the gates, and the
royalties refuse to acknowledge it. And when the royalties won't
humor an idea, it's because they're scared of something, and when
they're scared of something, well..." He waves his hand. "That
something has to go away."

I clench my jaw angrily and mutter, "So my father was
right," and then sigh. "Eir doesn't know anything about closing the
gates!" I drop my head in my hands for a minute; frustrated and
more scared than ever before. What else can I do to protect him
from Them? I realize Flint is still looking at me expectantly and
say, "Well, at least I know now, right?" I don’t really expect a
response from him. I clear my throat and say, "Anyway, back to the
princess,” and look at the table for a minute, trying to collect
myself.

“Honestly, killing her would have little to no
effect. Landric and Bronwyn have children for show, mostly,” he
says, and if I didn’t know any better I’d think he was trying to
make me feel better by continuing on like we hadn’t spoken about
Eirnin at all. He shakes his head. “There are other things you
could do, though.”

"What would you suggest?"

“If you kill her after they killed two unmarked
humans, you’re basically saying you’re here and you’re pissed. If
you were to...kidnap her,” he winces even as he says it, “they’d
have no proof. It could be a number of different things. And if you
got the right one, she might even want to help us.”

“Kidnap her? Where in the world would we put her?" I
sit back in the chair and tap my fingers against my bottom lip as I
think. “You really think one of them might want to help us?"

Flint shrugs. "One of them is the pariah of the
family. She's been caught dealing with humans a few times already.
That one might be your best bet."

I can’t even believe I’m considering this, but it has
to be better than murder. "Dealing with humans? What do you
mean?"

Flint glances at my mouth and I blush, realizing I’m
still tapping my fingers there, before he raises his eyes to meet
mine again. "For one, she snuck a pregnant human and her three-year
old daughter out of her father’s custody. And before I arrived
here, rumors were flying about her getting caught visiting a little
get together some really stupid humans were throwing. I don't know
how that all ended, but it's pretty obvious she's got a bit of a
soft spot for you all."

Part of me already knows the answer to this, but I’m
hoping I’m wrong for this poor girl’s sake. "Her father won't hurt
her, will he?"

Flint pauses, seems to be considering his words
carefully, and then slowly shakes his head. "With all the
evidence...in that Court, it would be weird if he didn't."

I shake my head; sad for this girl who will be
punished for trying to do the right thing and feeling awful about
our plan. "So she would be the one to take?"

He nods. "The others are all very anti-human. Some
are better than others, but," he sighs, "the blonde is your best
bet."

"The blonde?” I ask in confusion. “What's her
name?"

"Some long, drawn out thing." He shakes his head.
"Winter always has the weirdest names. I believe she goes by
Lumi."

I nod, though I still feel sick inside. "So Lumi it
is, then."

"Lumi it is." He doesn’t look too fond of this idea
either.

I open my mouth to ask if maybe we should scrap this
idea altogether when my back door opens with a violent bang to
reveal my cousin, Sean standing there. He and I haven’t been on the
best of terms since Flint’s arrival, and all I feel at his
intrusion now is annoyance.

“For heaven’s sake, Sean, why are you busting in here
like that? This is my house, you know! You could knock!” I say,
venting my frustration on him.

Flint turns to look at the door and lifts a brow at
Sean. “Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today, huh?”

Sean flushes at my reprimand. I don’t normally yell
at him, no matter what he does. “I’m sorry, Fianna. I didn’t see
you run by this morning. I wanted to check on you,” he says,
sounding petulant and ignoring Flint completely.

“You didn’t see me because I didn’t run by you, Sean.
I took a different route and left earlier than normal because I
wanted to talk to Flint about something,” I say, seeming unable to
stop the venomous tone in my voice.

Flint leans back in his seat and takes his coffee off
the table; looking between the two of us with mild interest. “Seems
a bit stalker-ish, watching her run...” He frowns thoughtfully.
“Just saying.”

Sean looks between the two of us sitting at the
table; his face getting red in anger or embarrassment, I can’t be
sure. "Well, pardon me! What would you possibly have to discuss
with the faery?"

I shake my head and sigh in exasperation. When did
things become so complicated between my cousin and me? “Sean—” I
say, but Flint interrupts me.

“She was telling ‘the faery’ about someone’s idiotic
plan to murder Fae royalty.” He scowls at Sean. “We were just about
to discuss how you didn’t get hugged enough as a rugrat.”

I drop my head in my arms on the table and wait for
my cousin to explode with rage. Sure enough, Sean slams the door
shut and takes two steps inside. "It is NOT an idiotic plan! They
spilled our blood — why shouldn't they pay?"

I raise my head again, trying to reason with him.
"Sean, it's not going to happen. We aren’t murderers."

Flint pauses for a second and bursts out in
hysterical laughter. After a second he composes himself and says,
“Oh God. How did I not guess it was your idea?”

“Please shut up," I say quietly to Flint. "You are
not helping the situation."

“I’m not trying to,” he says honestly; covering his
mouth with his hand and nodding. “It just makes so much
sense...”

Once again I wish I could knock Flint out, but settle
for scowling at him instead. "Please, Flint — I’m saying please. No
more laughing at Sean." I look up at my cousin. "We have a new
plan. I think it's much better, and will actually help us in the
long run. It might even help this poor girl…eventually. And no one
is getting killed during its commission. Now, do you want in? Or
are you going to run away because your feelings are hurt that I
will not put our people in jeopardy to build up your ego?"

My cousin glares down at Flint and then nods. Pulling
out a third chair at the table, he flops down into it and drags it
so it’s closer to me. I sigh and feel a headache start pounding
away in my temples. “I’m certainly not going to leave you to work
alone with him,” Sean says with disgust heavy in his voice.

I straighten in my chair and point a finger at my
cousin, my patience exhausted. “Sean Michael Kelly — if you stay
you will keep a civil tongue in your head or I swear I’ll smack
you.” I turn to Flint and tell him, “That goes for you, too!”

Thoroughly fed up with both of them and their
attitudes with one another, I get up to refill my coffee and grab
the coffee cake that I have hidden in the cupboard with the wine
glasses. I need the sugar to keep me sane at this point. I lean
against the counter rather than returning to the table and take a
very unladylike-sized piece of cake from the pan, leaving the rest
on the counter. I cup my hand under my mouth to catch any crumbs
and tune out the two boys sniping at each other at the table;
simply enjoying the sweetness on my tongue. My aunt is a culinary
genius. I finish and heave a contented sigh, dusting crumbs from my
fingertips. Realizing the room has finally become quiet, I look up.
Both boys are watching me with looks of varying amusement on their
faces.

I feel my face flush and busy myself, pulling out
plates and forks and carrying everything over for them. Once it’s
all on the table and I can’t avoid it any longer, I take my seat
again and look at them. Sean is very interested in the piece of
cake he’s sliding on a plate for himself, but Flint has that damn
smirk firmly in place; his shoulders shaking with silent mirth. I
surprise us both by sticking my tongue out at him and helping
myself to another piece of cake. I slide the cake pan across to
Flint and then clear my throat.