“You’re a treasure, Kim.”

“So they tell me. I won’t ask you what you’re trying to keep from Sean, but take some advice.” Kim looked up at Andrea with dark blue eyes that had seen and accepted much. “Trust Sean. He’s an amazing man, and there’s much more to him than he lets anyone see. He feels things, deeply.”

Andrea had seen that already. “I know his brother’s death hit him hard and that Sean blames himself for it.”

“It didn’t so much hit him hard as change his life. Sean was close to Kenny, and having to watch him die makes Sean doubly protective of everyone he cares about. Sean’s never said all this to me; but you live in the same house with someone a while, and you notice things.”

And now Sean was trying to move in with Andrea. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

Kim and Andrea shared a hug, and Andrea departed with her maps.

The most interesting thing she’d found, she thought as she descended, was that a ley line streaked right through the heart of Shiftertown.

Not surprising, really. This entire area had fallen into disuse and urban decay long before it had become a Shiftertown. The Shifters had been put here precisely because no one wanted the real estate. In the twenty years since then, real estate a mile away had shot sky high, then dived again when the market crashed. But Shiftertown remained unchanged.

A half-Fae human had worked with human governments to devise the Collars that kept Shifters tamed. Had he also advised humans where to put the Shiftertowns? Maybe he thought a bit of Fae magic running through it would keep Shifters quiet?

It also could open a gate to Faerie.

Andrea stashed her file in her room and then went back out to the place where she’d seen the Fae.

The ley line, according to the maps, ran in a more or less straight line behind the houses on this street. Walnut trees, which caught the mists on still, wet days, towered overhead.

Gates to Faerie were rare. There were places in the world, Andrea had learned, where the gates could always be found—in stone circles in northern Europe, near temples and other sacred places in South America, in deep canyons of the American Southwest, in the soaring mountains of Asia. Fae who knew the spells could cross between standing stones and other thin places in the fabric of the universe, but this ley line wasn’t that strong.

But gates could be created with a burst of very strong magic along a ley line, or possibly through the dreams of someone loaded with Fae magic. The link to this Fae was Andrea and her nightmares.

Andrea stood on the very spot the Fae man had appeared, closed her eyes and concentrated. Nothing. If there had been a gate here last night, it wasn’t here now.

What had the Fae wanted? Was he really her father, and had he, after so many years, had a sudden jones to see his daughter?

Not likely. He’d wanted the sword, and now Andrea was in a position to steal it for him.

As a child, Andrea had envisioned her Fae father as a great prince, a beautiful man who would one day reach out from Faerie and take Andrea into his kingdom. There, she’d become a princess at his side. She’d wear gossamer robes and ride a beautiful white horse and be loved by one and all.

As Andrea had grown older and learned more about the Fae, her childish dreams had died. As poorly as the other Shifters treated her, the Fae likely would be even more vicious to a half breed. Fae apparently didn’t like diluted blood, being very snobbish about breeding with “lesser” beings. Besides, Andrea had grown to love her stepfather deeply and couldn’t imagine him not being part of her life.

So here she was, standing in a grove of trees in a Shiftertown far away from her beloved stepfather, trying to figure out whether the man she’d seen last night was her true father.

Not likely. And damned if she would simply hand the Sword of the Guardian to a complete stranger because he claimed to be her long-lost papa.

“Hey, Fae-girl.”

Andrea snapped her eyes open to see four male Shifters drifting her way. One of them was a guy called Nate, who had a military haircut and build. He worked for Liam as a bodyguard and tracker or in situations when Liam needed extra muscle. Nate didn’t have much in the way of brains, but he was fiercely loyal to his clan leader, whoever it might be.

He was also a shit who shared Jared’s idea that females should be kept shut away to be screwed as often as the male Shifter wanted, plus he thought half breeds should be neutered. He let his opinions be known to Andrea, though never in Sean’s hearing. Nate was at least that smart.

Andrea hadn’t mentioned his shit-ness to Sean, because she refused to go running to him every time someone said something mean to her. Nate couldn’t do anything to her, because the mate-claim made Andrea off limits, and Nate knew it.

Andrea folded her arms and stood her ground. She had a perfect right to wander back here, no need to scramble home because Nate and his bully-boys showed up.

Nate didn’t like her blatant eye contact, but she refused to look away. “I heard you brought Ely Barry back from the dead,” he said.

“He wasn’t dead,” Andrea said coolly. “He was almost dead. Big difference.”

“I heard you stuck your hand above his crotch, and wham, he was all better.” Nate held up his finger. “I cut myself this morning. Want to touch my crotch and see if you can heal me?”

Yuck. “Sorry. Not interested.”

“Why not, sweetheart? Because the healing magic thing is all bullshit?”

“No,” Andrea said. “Because you’re a dickhead.”

Nate’s friends guffawed, and Nate’s look turned ugly. “You need to learn your place, Fae-bitch.”

His eyes went white blue, but Andrea held her ground. If she broke gaze first, he’d establish his dominance over her, and then she’d never have any peace from him.

“This is my place,” she said.

Nate’s Collar emitted tiny sparks in his fury. “Morrissey only made the mate-claim to make himself look generous. The minute he dumps your ass, you are so screwed. Once he cuts you loose, I’ll f**k you until you remember you’re nothing but a submissive Lupine Fae-get.”

Don’t look away. Glory wouldn’t look away. “A Lupine Fae-get whose healing ability might be your only hope for fixing your very small penis.”

More snickers from his friends. They were enjoying the show, but Andrea had no illusion that they wouldn’t help him beat her if they thought they needed to.