Rituals (Cainsville 5)

"My name. In order to tell Liv you met me, you'll need to know who I am first."

He stepped between her and the door, full under the light. Her eyes widened. Then they narrowed.

"You do remember me," he said. "It was such a brief encounter, and how long ago? Thirty years, at least. But you don't forget a fae face, do you?"

&nbs

p; "I don't know what you mean," she said evenly. "If you'll excuse me--"

"I'm afraid you won't find Liv there. She moved into the old Carew house. Kids these days." He shook his head. "Communications options we only dreamed of--text, e-mail, voice mail. But they still don't talk with their parents nearly enough. Of course, in your case, I guess there's an excuse. You don't have Snapchat in prison, do you, Pamela?"

Pamela went still.

"Regretting the fact you can't kill me?" he said. "You could, but I haven't done anything to warrant it, and you need a good reason, don't you, Pamela? Well, maybe not good. You haven't quite sold me on your motivation for conspiring to kill James Morgan. I suspect a large part of that was just the opportunity to frame Gabriel. Which, between you and me?" He leaned closer. "Puts you squarely in my bad books. You'll understand that, though. Paternal instinct can be just as strong as maternal."

"Pater...?" She trailed off and then curled her lip. "You're Gabriel's father." A contemptuous snort. "I knew there was more than a few drops of fae blood in him."

"Much more. Almost as much combined fae as is in your daughter, with her fae and Cwn Annwn blood."

"The Cwn Annwn are not fae."

"They are, too, but we won't debate that. I will only say that if you go after my son again, I will crush you."

"I won't. I've already promised Eden that."

He smiled. "Excellent. Liv looks out for Gabriel, as much as he looks out for her. He jumped off a bridge for her. You know that, don't you?"

"I know he fell off one, but I'm sure he's telling a very different story. And if he did jump? Well, her trust fund wouldn't have paid out if she died before her birthday."

"Pamela, Pamela, Pamela. You are a bright woman. As clever as your daughter and even more underhanded. Yet when you sing that particular song, you seem as foolish and thickheaded as the woman you've come to kill."

"I don't know what--"

"No time," he said. "Liv and Gabriel are coming to stop you, and having been in a car with my son, one cannot presume normal travel times. We must hurry. You're here to kill Seanna. But you'll never get to her without help. That's why I'm here. To make sure you can do it. And make sure you get away with it."

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

I burst through the front doors of the apartment building. Grace and Pepper stood just inside, deep in conversation.

"Where's Seanna?" I said.

"Right where you left her," Grace said. "What's the emergency-of-the-moment?"

"Didn't Patrick--?" I bit that off as I strode to the stairwell, Grace and Pepper following. "Patrick didn't talk to you, did he? Has he even been here? Damn him. If he's sitting on his ass, thinking I'm overreacting..."

"Where's Gwy--Gabriel?" Pepper asked as I pushed through the stairwell door.

"Parking." I'd also sent him on a bit of a wild-goose chase, giving him a few places to look for Pamela while I talked to Patrick. The truth was that the closer we'd gotten to Cainsville, the more I wondered if Patrick would actually do anything.

Which meant that Pamela might have already succeeded. If she had, then Gabriel shouldn't be there.

"Can you stall him?" I asked Pepper. "Please?"

"Gaze up adoringly at him," Grace said. "Like you did when you first arrived. Call him Gwynn, mighty king of the Fae. He loves that."

Pepper shot her the finger.

Grace cackled and said, "Just stall him, girl. He has a soft spot for you. Play up your disability. It's good for that, at least."