A Little Night Muse(42)

                “Probably.”

                The way he said it made her think he was telling the truth. Too                     bad she couldn’t afford to do the same.

                She swallowed back the urge to tell him everything. “I don’t                     want you to be hurt because of me.” Merely looking at the rip in his coat, she                     felt as if the tear went through her own chest.

                He must have heard the sincerity in her tone because his gaze                     softened. “I won’t let anyone—or anything—touch                     you.” He went to the couch and patted the seat beside him. “Was that imp after                     you?”

                She wanted to stand on her own, but his big body with the                     strong crook of his arm across the back of the couch was too tempting. She                     joined him and curled into his chest. “I don’t know what it wanted. But nothing                     good.”

                “Yeah, I got that part. So what next?”

                “No one will come looking for it until tomorrow night. They                     prefer to avoid daylight when they might encounter humans who might see what                     they are.” She broke off.

                Josh sighed. “Humans. Right. Like me. Which you are not.” He                     rubbed his forehead as if he could force the new reality into his skull. “And                     who is ‘they’?”

                “The ones who hurt me. I’m here because of them.” She tried to                     stay with the truth, or at least such truth as could be had from the phaedrealii. “Our Queen accused me of treason and                     wanted me dead. I’m trying to avoid that fate.”

                He brushed back her hair. “I’m with you on that. On                     everything.”

                She smiled, though her throat tightened. No one else in a court                     of phae who had supposedly loved her had been with                     her. Not a one of them had spoken on her behalf. Maybe there was a downside not                     knowing anyone’s true name; there was no one to call out to and no one who need                     answer.

                She touched his chest through the rip in his coat and murmured                     in distress when her fingers encountered long scratches. “You took more damage                     than Wolly. Let’s get you cleaned up.”