Andrea listened in growing shock. “And this guy, this rival. Where is he now?”

“Dead.” The word held triumph, simple and raw. “I myself ran my sword through his black heart. And so now I am free to reveal myself to you, my beautiful daughter, and to bring you home to me at last.”

Andrea stepped back, putting herself well out of the man’s reach. “When you say home, you mean in Faerie, with you?”

“It is where you belong, Andrea Gray. You are the only child of a warrior lord, the warrior who essentially rules the land of Faerie. You belong at my side, a highborn lady in your own right.”

A bubble of hysteria worked its way upward and burst out as a laugh. “You mean I really am a Faerie princess?”

“Essentially, yes. The equivalent rank of one, though you wouldn’t be of the royal house.”

Fionn’s deadpan explanation made Andrea laugh harder. He scowled as she wiped her eyes. “Sorry,” she said. “This is a lot to take in. And to believe.”

“You must believe me, child. Take my hand, come to me, and I will show you. I will give you visions of how I met your mother if you want. If that will convince you.”

“Oh, right.” Andrea took another step back. “Why don’t you just come out here and get me yourself?”

“You know that I cannot. I need your touch to come to you. But why should I? Yours is a dirty world, full of cold iron. You come into Faerie and be with me.”

“And then what happens? You laugh maniacally, say ‘I’ve got you now, my pretty’? Maybe you are my father’s enemy trying to fool me in order to get to him.”

Now, he grew annoyed. “God and Goddess, what will it take to convince you?”

“Let me think about it for a while. What you say could be true, but I’m not gullible enough to drop to my knees, throw my arms around your waist, and scream Daddy.”

He gave her an impatient look. “I was right when I said you were just like your mother. She drove me insane before she’d even let me touch her.”

“Good for her. If you really are my father, you’ll be kind enough to give me time to accept what you say.”

Fionn frowned again, obviously not used to people who didn’t simply obey his every command. He was a bit like Dylan in that respect.

“Time is a mutable thing,” he said. “Don’t take too much of it. And while you are thinking, daughter, let me have the Sword of the Guardian.”

Andrea laughed again. “You are amazing. If I steal the sword—and worse, hand it to a Fae—the Shifters will kill me. Why would you want that to happen?”

“If you don’t bring it to me, Shifters will die for it. The stirrings among the Shifters are dangerous, and disaster could come of it. You need to give me the sword.”

His words, especially after what had happened with Callum at the bar, made her nervous, but she kept her voice steady. “I’ll need to think about that one too. Good night, Father.” Andrea turned around and walked away, pretending nonchalance.

Fionn called after her. “You will regret so much if you do not listen to me.”

Andrea gave him a cheery wave and kept walking. Something flashed behind her, and she knew that if she turned around, Fionn would have vanished, the way to Faerie closed again.

She didn’t turn, though. She also wasn’t surprised to find Sean on the back porch of Glory’s house, scanning the darkness for her, ready to start after her. He growled as she came out of the trees, his eyes Feline slits.

“Don’t even ask me where I’ve been,” Andrea said, walking past him and into the house. “Right now, I’m very tired of males expecting me to do everything they say.”

Andrea went into the house and slammed the door behind her, not waiting to see whether Sean would follow her in or not. He did, but he didn’t ask questions. He simply made love to her in fierce silence until they fell asleep, curled together in blissful exhaustion.

Bloody females made him bloody furious. Sean’s legs were cramped from sitting in the booth at the bar, but damned if he was going to leave until Andrea was done working her shift. She was closing tonight, so that meant he had to stay here at least until two.

She hadn’t spoken to him much today, not to tell him why she’d been running around outside near dawn or whether she’d seen the Fae again, although Sean knew damn well she had. He’d smelled the stink of Faerie wafting in from the clearing when she’d come in, like acrid smoke laced with mint.

Sean had spent the day following up on the Callum problem, visiting his clansman Ben to let him know he was taking a personal interest in the situation. The humans were long gone, Spike had told Sean, and Ben had confirmed, headed back east somewhere. Callum’s clan leader wouldn’t let Sean see him but assured Sean that they were taking care of the problem internally. By Shifter law, Sean had to leave it at that, but he and Liam would watch.

Sean had returned home in time to see Andrea getting ready to go to work. He’d objected, and she’d pointed out that the human shooters were gone. Arguments that who knew whether the humans’ friends or one of Callum’s zealous followers would try to take revenge on Sean and Andrea were ignored. Andrea clearly wasn’t going to stay safely at home unless Sean chained her to her bed. He almost did that, except that Kim and Connor intervened when they came over to see what the noise was about.

The compromise Kim forced on them, that neither of them liked, was that Andrea went to work but Sean went with her. Andrea refused to wait on Sean’s table all night but smiled sweetly at the other customers.

Look at her. Sean watched Andrea over the beer Annie had brought him. Swaying her hips in those tight pants, and her top looking like it’s painted on. The shirt bared her shoulders, making even the Collar around her throat sexy. The humans she waited on liked what they saw, if the drool dripping down the sides of their mouths was any indication. If any of them touched her, they’d lose fingers.

Sean’s view of Andrea was cut off as someone stopped in front of his booth. He looked up to find Dylan gazing steadily back at him.

“Dad,” Sean said as Dylan dropped into the seat opposite. Sean reached for Dylan’s hand, squeezed it. “You all right? Where are you staying?”

“At a friend’s.” Dylan didn’t respond to Sean’s touch, and Sean withdrew, troubled.