Marian smiled, the first real smile Adonis had seen on her face since her arrival. “You are stunning, Ivy. I do hope we’ll have a chance to spend time together under different circumstances soon.”
“Different circumstances?” Ivy sighed. “Are Etienne and Kirill fighting again?” She paused, looked at Adonis. “Or is it Patricio?” Her brows fell into a heavy V. “If he’s been picking on you again, I’m going to have a word.”
Marian leaned forward on a whisper, “So there’s always this much tension?”
“More often than not,” Adonis admitted.
He glanced a the mirror just in time to see Marcela surfacing from the portal. She was the shortest of all the women, her body lush with thick curves and powerful muscle. Her eyes changed with her mood, reflecting a range of blue and green as varied as the sea. Right now, they were a stormy shade of green, a compliment to her silvery dress that clung to her curves. Her hand was wrapped tightly around the shaft of a shell-tipped spear, and she looked around the room with the steady surveillance of a warrior perusing the battlefield.
Robin lifted his eyebrows. “Who is that?”
“Marcela, Patricio’s wife. A good person, but a little too serious.”
Marian's nostrils flared. “And what is she?”
“Formerly a mermaid, now an air elemental,” Ivy supplied helpfully.
Robin took another sip of his whiskey and held it in his mouth for a moment before swallowing. “How did that happ—“ He stiffened, fingers whitening around his glass. “Oh, bugger.”
“What?” Adonis reached for Ivy, instinctively drawing her closer. He didn’t like the tension singing from Robin’s body all of a sudden, the way his friend was watching his foster mother. Come to think of it, he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the intense look on the Unseelie queen’s face as she leaned toward Marcela. He raised a clawed hand and scratched his chin, hiding his mouth as he whispered to his friend. “Robin, what is it?”
“My foster mother is the Queen of Air and Darkness. Air and Darkness.”#p#分页标题#e#
The insinuation dawned on Adonis a split second before the Unseelie queen spoke.
“Why hello, my dear. And just who might you be?”
Marcela hadn’t moved from in front of the portal, her study of the room not complete enough for her to risk crossing to her husband and giving the rest of the room her back. She frowned at Dubheasa and her pale hand tightened on her spear. “Who are you?”
Dubheasa took a step toward her, the shadowy edges of her skirt reaching ahead as if wanting to touch the redhead before her. Power pulsed through the room, a tactile sensation like humid air rolling off the ocean. Marcela blinked and raised her free hand to her temple.
“You are…the angel’s wife.” Dubheasa tilted her head. “I thought you were a mermaid.”
Her voice had fallen to a low near-whisper. She looked straight at Marcela, but it was as though she couldn’t see her, was still straining to make out what she was looking at. As if she were looking inside Marcela.
“I…” Marcela swayed on her feet, shook her head. She started to raise the spear from the floor, but then slammed it down again, leaned on it for support.
Patricio had straightened from his position reclining against the wall when Marcela had come through the portal, setting his glass on the bookcase behind him in preparation to greet his wife. He’d seemed content to wait for Marcela to come to him, but suddenly his wings rose and his hand closed around the hilt of his sword. The muscle hardened around his jaw as he took a step toward his wife, dividing his attention between her and Dubheasa. “What are you doing to her?”
Etienne was still engrossed in his conversation with Loupe, wholly unaware of what was going on less than ten feet away. Saamal watched with all the concern of someone observing an approaching storm while safely tucked behind thick walls. And Kirill was watching with the unmistakable light of interest in his eyes.
No help from any of them.
Adonis looked at Robin and without a word his friend put his own glass on the floor next to Adonis’. He stood beside him and Adonis gestured for Ivy to stand next to Marian. Ivy did so, though she kept watching Marcela and Dubheasa, her concern plain to see on her soft features. Marian frowned as Ivy moved next to her, obviously not happy with the silent suggestion that she act as guard dog. Part of Adonis wanted to point out that Ivy could wipe out most of the people in this room if she wanted to, but he refrained, instead kept his attention on Patricio—and the sword that was no longer in its sheath.