“Oh, joy,” Killian caroled.
Robbie dug out another green stuff sack from the mound of gear in the living room and tossed it to him. Killian caught the air mattress, then dropped it on the floor and fixed his gaze on Raven. “I knew we’d meet again. How about if you and I sneak off for a quick pint, get to know each other better?”
“That’s enough,” Sky said.
Killian shrugged and grinned at me. “Touchy bunch you hang out with. Everyone always taking offense. Are you as bad as the rest of them?”
“Are you playing us off against each other?” I asked, not able to muster quite as much outrage as I should have. There was just something about him that appealed to me. I felt like we were coconspirators. It was a completely alien feeling for me, but I liked it.
Killian’s grin grew even wider. “Well, it would provide a little drama.”
“Oh, I think you have plenty of drama in your life,” Hunter said. “Anyway, you’re not going anywhere tonight. I worked too hard to find you—I’m not going to risk you running off or getting captured.”
“As if you knew anything about it,” Killian said with contempt.
“Would you excuse us for a minute?” I said, motioning for Hunter and Sky to follow me into the study for a quick huddle.
“I think you all ought to go out and leave me here with Killian,” I said.
“Are you mad?” Hunter demanded.
“He and I kind of…get along,” I said. “I don’t understand it,” I added quickly, “but he’s not flirting with me, the way he does with Raven. Bree and Sky both flat-out dislike him. And Hunter, the two of you just irritate each other. I think I might be able to get him to talk if you’ll all just leave us here.”
“It’s too dangerous—” Hunter began.
“I know he’s a pain,” I said, “but I don’t sense any real danger from him.”
“Morgan can take care of herself, you know,” said Sky. “And it’s true. Killian doesn’t have that antagonistic streak with her, while I think the rest of us could cheerfully strangle him.”
“All right,” Hunter agreed at last. “But I’m going to be in the coffee shop in the building. If anything feels dangerous or even a little bit dodgy, I want you to send me a message immediately.”
I gave Hunter my word, and five minutes later Killian and I were alone in the apartment. We sat on opposite ends of the couch, watching each other. I tried to figure out why I liked someone so obnoxious. It wasn’t sexual attraction. It was something else, something equally as strong. Despite his being clearly amoral and self-centered, there was something oddly lovable about Killian. Maybe it was that he genuinely seemed to like me.
“Are you all right?” he asked. The gentleness in his voice took me by surprise.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know,” Killian said. “I don’t know you very well, do I? But I sense you’re feeling weaker than you’re used to. Drained, maybe.”
Be wary of him, I told myself. “I’m just tired,” I said.
“Right, it’s been a long day.” He glanced at the green stuff sack on the floor. “I could turn in, I suppose, behave myself and make the Seeker happy.”
“He’s just trying to protect you,” I said.
Anger flickered in Killian’s dark eyes. “I never asked for protection.”
“You need it,” I said. “Your own father is trying to kill you.”
Killian waved his hand. “The Seeker was going on about the same thing. Let me tell you, right? It’s not likely my dad would go after me. He’s got much bigger fish to fry, as the saying goes.” Killian looked over his shoulder at the kitchen. “Now, there’s one thing the States is lacking, a good fish-and-chips joint. I could use some right now, in fact.”
“You’re out of luck,” I said testily. “Back to the subject. Your father is the leader of Amyranth?”
Killian got up and walked over to the window. He leaned his palms against the sill and stared out into the darkness. “My dad is a very powerful witch. I respect his power. I’d be a bloody madman not to. I stay out of his way. He’s got no reason to want me dead.”
He hadn’t answered the question, I noticed with interest. “What about your mother?” I asked.
Killian laughed mirthlessly and turned to face me. “Grania? The bird’s got generations of magick in her blood, but does she appreciate it? Not at all. She gets her real power from being a victim. No matter what happens, she suffers. Nobly, dramatically, and loudly. I tell you, I completely understand why my dad left that house. I couldn’t wait to get out myself.”
“So you came to New York to be with him?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “I knew he was here, of course. And there were certain…connections for me in the city because of him. But Dad’s a heartless bastard. We’re not what you would call close.” He polished off his soda and looked at me. “What about you? What’s your story?”
I shrugged, not wanting to lie about myself, but knowing I shouldn’t tell him anything of my real story.
“You’re a blood witch,” he stated.
I nodded. That much I couldn’t hide from him.
“Quite powerful, I can sense that,” he went on. “And for reasons that are unfathomable to me, you’re quite fond of that bore of a Seeker.”
“That’s enough,” I said sharply.
Killian laughed. “Right. Didn’t take me long to find your sore point, did it?”
“Are you always this much fun?” I asked, irritated.
Killian put his hand over his heart and looked to the ceiling. “May the gods strike me dead,” he said with mock solemnity. “Always.”
“If you weren’t running from your father, then who were you running from?” I asked, unable to give it up. “And don’t tell me you weren’t running.”
He looked at me again. All of a sudden the mirth went out of his eyes. “All right,” he said, leaning forward. “It’s like this. I don’t really believe the Seeker is right about me being an Amyranth target,” he went on in a hushed voice. “On the other hand, it is true that Amyranth isn’t exactly pleased with me. See, I’d all but joined the coven. Never went through with the initiation, but I was in deep enough to learn some of their secrets, the minor ones at least. Then I…decided that I didn’t want to join. But Amyranth isn’t the sort of coven you just walk out on. And my dad took the defection a bit personally.”
“It sounds like it took courage to defect,” I said, genuinely starting to like him. “What made you do it?”
Killian gave another of his casual shrugs. “I just wasn’t into their whole agenda.”
“Why not?” Finally, I thought, we were getting somewhere.
But he just winked at me. “Too much homework,” he said with a laugh. “Took up all my quality time. New York is a blast. Don’t you think it’s kind of a waste to spend all your time feeling like one of the witches in a bad production of Macbeth?”
I couldn’t tell anymore if Killian was being honest or just playing with me. “I think—”
I never finished my sentence because suddenly my witch senses were on red alert, shrieking in alarm. Killian felt it, too. He was on his feet in an instant, his gaze sweeping the apartment.
“What the hell is that?” I whispered. The sense of menace was so sharp, it was almost physical.
“Someone’s trying to get into the apartment,” he said.
Instantly I sent a message to Hunter. Then I ran to the video monitor in the hall and pressed the button for the doorman. “Did anyone come past you?” I asked him, trying to keep my voice normal. “Did you send anyone up to this apartment?”
“Bollocks to that,” Killian muttered. He peered through the peephole in the door and did a scan of the hallway. “No one there,” he reported a moment later. His face was pale. “But someone is definitely paying attention to us. Someone unfriendly.”
Something thumped hard against the living room window, and I jumped about a foot in the air. Killian and I both spun around. I got a brief impression of feathers in motion.
“Oh, thank God!” I said, weak with relief. “It was only a pigeon. I thought someone was trying to climb in the window.”