Resistance (41 page)

I give his shoulder a shove. “How long have you been
awake?”

He laughs and pulls me down to him so my chest is
pressed against his. “Since you came in,” he says with a chuckle,
and then claims my mouth with a quick but thorough kiss. Feeling a
little dazed, I shake my head to clear the fog. I feel somewhat
vindicated when my hair grazes his bare chest and his breath
hitches just a little.

“I have to ask you a favor,” I say; stretching out
next to him and putting my head down on his chest. I know I
absolutely cannot look him in his eyes and lie to him. I absently
run my fingers lightly over his stomach. His arm is wrapped around
my waist, holding me closely to his side and his hand grips my hip;
tightening for a moment before he clears his throat.

“Name it,” he says and I grin into his chest,
surprised by his response.

“Eir and I have to run out and handle a few things,
and I was hoping you could hang out with Lumi upstairs today so I
can move Aodhan to the backyard.” My hand is still tracing circles
over his stomach and I am afraid to lift my head to see his face. I
hate lying; always have, and most likely always will.

He clears his throat again. "Yeah, I can go annoy the
princess for a few hours," he says with a smirk in his voice, and I
release a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

Relief floods through my system, leaving guilt in its
wake, but I put a grin on my face and lift my head so I can look at
him when I say with absolute sincerity, “Thank you.”

He smiles back at me and looks a little confused.
“Anytime, love.” I lean up to press a kiss to his cheek and he
turns his face at the last minute so I meet his lips instead. I
smile against them and his mouth moves to my ear. “Can you spare a
few minutes for me before you run off?” I shiver a little and move
closer to him without conscious thought. His mouth is back on mine
before I can think up a reply, and for a few stolen moments I
forget all about Sean and everything else.

Five minutes later we’re both breathing heavy and my
brain is foggy. He has one hand tangled in my hair while the other
has slipped low on the bare skin of my back where my tank top has
ridden up and is keeping me flush against him. My fingers move over
the bare skin above the waistband of his boxer shorts and he groans
low in his throat. His noise reverberates throughout my body and I
wrench my mouth away from his; dragging my thoughts back to the
issues waiting for me next door at my uncle’s house and away from
the gorgeous man who is now kissing his way down the side of my
neck to my shoulder. I shudder with pleasure and sigh; hating that
I have to leave.

“I would like nothing more than to stay here with
you,” I begin, and stifle a moan when his teeth graze the sensitive
skin of my neck. “Eir is waiting for me, though…”

Flint sighs and pulls back to look at me and I almost
go for his mouth again. He looks just as dazed as I feel. I shake
my head again to clear the lust away and remind myself that I
cannot stay in bed with this man all day. I bite my lip and roll to
my back next to him on the bed. I rub my hands over my face and sit
up. “I have to go.”

“Go ahead,” he says, and looks resigned to my
leaving. “It’s okay, Fi. I’ll see you later.” I don’t trust myself
to speak so I nod at him and bolt from the room. I run up the
stairs to the second floor, and if the look on my cousin’s face is
any indication, I am a sight to see. He grins and then looks at his
feet when he sees me. I look down at myself, confused. My blue tank
top is clean and pushed back down where it belongs, and the same
with the jean cut-off shorts. I look back up at him, still puzzled,
but decide to ignore his weird behavior for the sake of saving
time.

“Hey, I need you to guard the back door today. Right
outside, please. Flint is going to sit with the princess. If you
need me for anything, I’ll be at your house,” I tell him. When I
turn to go, he grabs my elbow. I look back at him. “What’s
wrong?”

He grins. “You should take a moment and maybe...” he
clears his throat, “go fix your hair before you leave the house. It
looks a little wild right now.” He laughs and I punch his arm,
blushing. I didn’t think about the state my hair might be in.

“Thank you,” I say as I head back down the stairs;
pulling my hair into a messy bun as I go. It’ll be hell to brush
out later, but that can’t be helped right now. I’m in my uncle’s
house two minutes later, and the smirk on my brother’s face tells
me that he can also tell what I’ve been doing. I try to ignore the
blush that spreads over my face and take the cup of coffee my aunt
pushes into my hands before I take a seat at their kitchen table
with a murmured, “Thank you” in her direction. I keep my eyes on my
coffee until I feel the heat leave my face. Even my uncle is
smirking at me when I raise my eyes from my coffee cup and glare at
him silently for a moment.

“I have an idea,” I tell them.

An hour later, my hair neat and my face stoic, I’m
approaching Sean’s post on the border and hoping he won’t be able
to tell how badly I want to punch him in the mouth. I take a deep
breath when he hears me coming up behind him and turns with a
scowl. His hand is bandaged, the ugly scar on his face is white
against his ruddy complexion and he looks completely miserable. I
call out to him and try to keep my voice level. “I thought we
should talk.”

“Really, now,” he says with derision. “You want to
talk now, after banning me from your house and refusing to see me
for how long?” His voice gains volume as he continues. “Now, after
you’ve thrown in your support with the Fae you’ve let infect this
city — NOW you want to talk to me?” His face is puce and there is a
vein throbbing by his temples.

“Sean, listen,” I say, lifting my hands palms-out in
front of my body in a show of peace. “I don’t want to fight with
you. That isn’t why I came here. You are my family and it hurts me
that we’ve been at odds so much lately. I was hoping maybe we could
have a picnic dinner tonight in the park by the Alice in Wonderland
statue? Ruth already packed some things, and I thought we could
talk. Clear the air.”

He seems to be debating the merits of my idea and his
face slowly returns to its normal, slightly sunburnt shade of red.
Finally, just when I think he’s going to yell and posture some more
he says, “Fine. I think that would be good.”

I nod. “Okay. I’ll come by around six and we can walk
over to the park together?” He nods without another word to me and
turns back around. I do my best to seem unhurried as I leave the
area and return to Seamus’ house.

When I walk in their back door, the sight that greets
me is surreal — my little brother with a handgun in his grip. He
looks up when I enter and says, “Thank God, I’ve been going out of
my mind worrying since you left!”

He pulls me into a rough hug, almost smothering me in
the process, and I pat his back. “I’m okay, Eir. I’m here.” He lets
me go and goes back to gathering weapons.

Our plan is simple, really. I will be carrying my
daggers there, like normal, but there will be a smaller gun in the
picnic basket for me if I need it. Eir and Seamus will already be
at the park waiting, so I’ll have them for back up. We’ll question
Sean to make sure there aren’t any more traps or surprises hidden
anywhere that could hurt someone, and then we will shoot him
execution-style and bury him in the park. My stomach heaves at the
thought of taking his life, but this time he’s left me no
alternative. And if I’m being honest with myself, I admit that I
want him to pay for making an attempt on Flint’s life. I’m not
proud of it, but I’ll use it if I have to. I go over the plan again
in my head. It all hinges on me getting Sean to the park without
him becoming suspicious. I hope I can pull this off for all our
sakes.

A few hours later the plans have been finalized,
Seamus and Eirnin have left to get set up in the park and I am
heading around the block to where Sean lives with his mother with a
picnic basket swinging from my grip. The old apartment building is
empty now, except for the two of them. I open the outside door into
a dark hallway and shudder. I hate this place. I climb the stairs
to the second floor where Sean lives in an apartment by himself;
his mother’s apartment where he grew up is on the ground floor. He
moved up here when he turned sixteen, after deciding that he needed
more space and privacy. I have always thought it was more because
he didn’t want to have anyone telling him when he needed to clean
his room. I still can’t believe things have come to this. For a
long time Sean was my only friend, even if he was family. He wasn’t
especially warm or caring, but he was there to listen and go on
adventures around the city with. There was a time when I trusted
him with my life. Those days are long gone now.

I set the basket down at my feet to knock on the
apartment door, but there is an absolute stillness around me that
makes me think there’s no one inside. I knock again anyway and then
call out, “Sean? It’s Fi, are you ready for dinner?”

I put my hand on the knob and the door swings inward
with a squeak. I draw a dagger from a sheath at my waist and enter
the apartment cautiously. Inside it is dark and carries the odor of
trash left too long to rot indoors. I can tell right away that Sean
is gone; his father’s sword that used to hang on the wall is
missing, as are his rucksack and weapons. I do a cursory sweep of
the entire unit and then exit, needing fresh air. I listen
downstairs at my aunt’s door but she’s not normally awake or sober
at this time of day either way, so even if she answers, I doubt
she’ll be much use. Instead of wasting more time at the apartment,
I head for the park to be sure Sean isn’t already there.

I clear the sidewalk in front of Sean’s building and
take off at a run towards the park; basket swinging in my hand. If
it didn’t have a gun hidden at the bottom, I would leave it behind.
People and scenery fly by me and I feel the panic starting to set
in when none of them is my cousin. When I reach the Alice statue I
love to picnic by in the spring and summer, I look around for a
moment and then call out to Eir and Seamus. Eir comes charging out
of a shrub looking panicked. “He’s gone, isn’t he?” he says, and I
realize I have failed everyone.

My uncle comes out from behind a tree with his hand
hovering over his hip where I know he has a gun holstered. “He
wasn’t there?” he asks.

I throw my hands in the air and yell in frustration;
kicking the statue in the center of the area. “No!” I yell, angry
at myself and terrified of what this could mean for my people.
“He’s not there. He’s gone, and so are the things he cares most
about.” I pause and try to calm my breathing, but then tilt my head
back and scream at the sky. “DAMN IT!” My uncle puts a heavy hand
on my shoulder, trying to calm me, and I drop my head into my
hands; pressing my fingers into my eyes and fervently wishing I
could rewind the last several hours and do things differently.

“Fianna — we need to go home, lass. Sean might have
gone there before he lit out,” my uncle says in his deep, calm
voice and my head snaps back up. I hadn’t even thought of Lumi and
Flint at home with no idea of what is even going on out here.

“Oh God, you’re right. Let’s go!” I say as panic
starts to course through me again. How far would Sean go to get
another shot at the Winter princess? And how important was it to
him that Flint was eliminated? I look at my uncle. “I’ll meet you
at the house; I’m running.” He nods and I take off, and I’m not
really surprised to see my brother keeping pace with me, looking
furious.

“If he touches one hair on her head,” I hear him
mutter, and push myself to run faster.

When we tear into the backyard, Aodhan comes to meet
us, asking, “What’s going on? I heard you screaming.”

I grab onto my brother’s elbow when he tries to move
past me into the house. “Wait, Eir!” I look over at Aodhan. “Has
anyone been by here? Have you heard any commotion from inside the
house?” My cousin shakes his head, looking completely lost, and
when I let go of Eir he goes charging forward through the back
door. I look back at Aodhan, and explain, “Sean got away. When your
dad gets here, please ask him to get a team together to spread the
word that Sean is now considered an exile, and if he is seen again
inside the city limits, he is to be executed.”

Aodhan nods to me, looking determined, and takes a
few steps into the yard to wait for his father. I turn, look up at
my home and allow myself to examine the real reasoning behind the
majority of my panic. I have to go confess to Flint that I lied to
him this morning and then screwed up and let Sean get away, and now
we could all very well be in danger because of it. Something tells
me he isn’t going to be thrilled with me, and I feel a different
kind of fear take hold of my heart.