"Nothing. I'm just sick of other people's f.u.c.king rules, Other People." He glared at me, defiant orange flames flicking around his lashes.

I scowled back, his att.i.tude scratching like a burr. "If Other People didn't watch out for your a.s.s, you'd be crucified to cardboard in some human's b.u.t.terfly collection by now."

"Uh-huh. You, watching out for my a.s.s. I'll remember that next time we go to Quang's."

Discomfort swelled my blood. I still felt bad about that. But irrational ire twisted my tongue, and words spilled out, coated with un-censored truth. "Yeah, well, maybe you should just let Sonny Valenti suck you off instead of giving him the four grand, if you liked it so much."

I held my breath, blood hurtling too fast in my veins. Uncalled for, Ice. Nasty. Say you're sorry. Uncalled for, Ice. Nasty. Say you're sorry.

But Blaze just laughed at me, spite smoking from his claws. "Nah. We'd get more per hour for you, seeing as you're so keen on arrogant a.s.sholes with no manners. Is it true you come harder when you're crying?"

"Stop it, you two." Azure jumped up in a whirl of silken skirt, her nose twitching. "Someone's coming. Blaze, put your d.a.m.n glamour back on."

I swallowed angry words and jerked up from my chair. Az always knew when business was coming. She could smell their intent on the air from down the street.

Fine. We'll do this one and then I'll get the h.e.l.l out and go to the beach. Alone.

Stormy static zapped behind me as Blaze ignited his glamour. The doorbell tinkled, and a fat woman waddled in. Sweat sprayed from her rolling limbs and stained her stretched white dress, the colossal outlines of damp underwear clearly visible. White canvas bag with wooden handles, no separate purse. An easy one.

I wrinkled my nose at the sour stink, still smarting from the truth of Blaze's accusation. "Great. The incredible doughnut woman."

Oops. I said that kinda loud. Giggle.

"Shut up!" hissed Az between her teeth, and raised her voice, wafting her glamour-cloaked wings to puff a cool draft over the sweating woman. "Welcome, lady. Blessings of the stars upon you. How can we be of service?"

The woman shifted, uncertain, the floor creaking under her squashed rubber flip-flops. "I want to know the future."

Azure flashed her dazzling smile, and irritation crawled under my skin. "Of course. Sister Ice will consult the magic crystal. It never lies."

It never lies.

An epiphany washed over me, refreshing like lazy ocean swell, and a cool iron whisper of truth feathered my skin.

It never lies. How wonderful. How . . . liberating.

I snorted, fortified. "Don't need no stinkin' crystal to see your future, lady. An early heart attack and a triple byp-"

"Step this way," interrupted Azure loudly, pushing in front of me to usher the fat woman inside.

I gaped at myself for a moment, remorse stinging my cheeks. What a horrible thing to say. Stupid, too. We needed the cash. She didn't look flamboyantly rich like the last one, but the stones in her rings were large, and that was a Rolex digging into her flabby wrist. She could have treasure at home.

But alien mirth erupted in my chest, and I spurted laughter. Horrible, but funny. And true. I was sick of pretending. So, so sick.

Azure speared me a warning frown, her mouth tight.

I widened sarcastic eyes at her and flounced into my seat in front of the crystal ball. We found it in a dusty junk shop months ago, when we first came up with this scam. For all I know, it really is magic. "Okay, lady. What's the story?"

She lowered her sweating turnip-shaped body into the chair. "Well . . . I've met this wonderful man, you see. He says he loves me, and that we should get married. I must know if he really . . . If it'll work out."

Her tired blue eyes shone with hope, and I winced. Ten to one he was stinging her for her fortune. "Okay. Sure. Give me your hands. . . . What's your name?"

"Noelene," snapped Blaze, staring out the window. "Can't you smell it?"

I glared. He knew I couldn't sniff out names like he could. "You know what? Screw you, Blaze. Sorry, Noly-poly. Give me your hands-Okay, yuck. That's gross. Wipe 'em first, can't you?"

Bewilderment hurt Noelene's eyes, but she did as I asked.

Azure swiped frustrated claws through the air at me. But I ignored her, satisfaction lightening my heart for the first time since Quang's. It was sn.i.g.g.e.ring, alien satisfaction, but I didn't care.

I wasn't on this earth to care what other people thought of me. Screw it, and screw them.

I dragged Noelene's clammy hands around the gla.s.s ball, and as her flabby arm lifted, a petroleum whiff of sweat and overworked deodorant dizzied me. "s.h.i.t." I coughed, but too late. My vision wobbled, and the images poured in.

Young, dark, boyish curls and swift cunning smile, silky black suit and a white tablecloth at some gla.s.sy restaurant that smells of patchouli. Eyes like hot chocolate, intent, she's mesmerized, her heart fluttering when he brushes his gold-ringed hand over hers. Lobster and champagne, lemon sorbet on an icy silver tray, she's paying, thrusting her bra.s.sy credit card forward, no, I insist, my pleasure. Driving her home in the sporty car she gave him, breeze tugging her lank hair, the smell of leather and designer aftershave and freedom. Kissing in the dark on the veranda of her rambling suburban mansion, her fat body wet and aching with need and loneliness, he tastes of Moet and heaven, he's pulling away too soon, we can wait, soon we'll be married and I'll make love to you in Paris. He leaves, too quickly, and she waddles into the dark house alone with her dreams.

I spluttered, shiny gla.s.s chaos raging against sensibility in my blood. So lonely, this poor woman, so in love with an untouchable prince who doesn't care. My heart hurt for her. I wanted to break it gently, warn her to leave before he broke her heart.

But the truth isn't my concern. Remember Sonny's trolls. We need her money. Keep her sitting here so Az can s.n.a.t.c.h her purse, get her address, her credit card numbers. Now's the time for a big fat lie. I'm good at those. Yeah, sure he loves you. Congratulations. Go home and plan your wedding. Yeah, sure he loves you. Congratulations. Go home and plan your wedding.

I took a deep breath, and the words spilled out before I was ready. "Christ. Are you kidding? He didn't even have a hard-on."

"What?" Her damp forehead creased, confused, and behind her Az inched forward, crafty fingers reaching for the bag.

I stared into the blank gla.s.s, shaking. Tell her he loves her, that he doesn't care about her riches. Tell her he's a nice Christian boy looking for a good woman. Tell her he loves her, that he doesn't care about her riches. Tell her he's a nice Christian boy looking for a good woman. But my poisoned pulse thudded in my ears, whipping me to careless truth, and before I'd even opened my mouth, I knew it was no good. "Lady, look at yourself. You think a guy like him wants to marry you? He doesn't even wanna f.u.c.k you. Tie the knot with him and you'll be over a cliff in your Audi by year's end." But my poisoned pulse thudded in my ears, whipping me to careless truth, and before I'd even opened my mouth, I knew it was no good. "Lady, look at yourself. You think a guy like him wants to marry you? He doesn't even wanna f.u.c.k you. Tie the knot with him and you'll be over a cliff in your Audi by year's end."

Muscles clenched in her wobbly jaw, and she dragged her bag onto her lap in sweaty hands, out of Az's reach. "How dare you?"

I felt like crowing, or hiding under the table. Az waved her hands frantically, but pleasure chemicals thrust into my blood, hot and s.e.xual. I couldn't keep my mouth shut, and it felt awesome. "Trust me, he's playing you. Dump his lying a.s.s and find another boy toy. Here, our Blaze is free. He's cute, and he'll f.u.c.k anything for money."

Tears washed her eyes, and she clambered to her feet, sobs shaking her jowls. "You horrible little girl. You could at least have said it nicely." And she hove to, brushing Azure out of her path, and lumbered out, sniffing.

The bell tinkled, and the gla.s.s door slammed shut.

A grin splattered across my face like a custard bomb, and stuck there.

Azure rounded on me in a breezy storm, her face darkening to cobalt. "She didn't even pay. What the h.e.l.l's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." I laughed, the expression on her face needling mirth between my ribs. G.o.d, it felt good not to give a s.h.i.t.

"Plastic dogs.h.i.t. You've got to be kidding me! You just broke that woman's heart!"

I folded my arms across my sequined chest, defiance steeling my spine. "So? It was the truth."

"I don't care! How about not getting my wings ripped off, Ice? How about not getting b.u.t.tf.u.c.ked to death by some warty troll?"

Blaze snickered, and she shoved him, fury bleeding her wings white. "Don't you start."

He fluttered back cheekily. "You gotta admit, the look on that fat chick's face was kinda cool."

"Have you both gone totally insane? We need the money, Blaze. Think she's gonna tell her friends good things about us? What are you gonna do, Ice? Sell yourself on the street? Get a real job? I don't think so." Az glared from Blaze to me and back again, and her pretty mouth dropped open in a gasp. "You're in this together, aren't you?"

"What?" I gave her a sarcastic frown.

"Razors on a waterslide. The two of you. You're doing things behind my back. Playing tricks on me." She lifted her tight little chin, greenish hurt flooding her face.

Blaze laughed, cruel. "What if we are?"

"That's ridiculous," I cut in, glaring at him. "We're doing no such thing."

But Azure wasn't listening. Tears trickled blue on her cheeks, and her throat caught in a clutch of sobs. "You're so mean to me! It's not fair!" And she yanked the door open and ran out in an indignant whirlwind, skirts trailing a whiff of lemon blossom.

I let my head fall back and sighed. "Real clever, Blaze. What'd ya do that for?"

"Do what?" He pressed his nose flat on the window, craning his neck to follow her exit, a curious little grin on his lips.

"Let her think we're throwing some big conspiracy party behind her back, of course."

"Well, aren't we?" He threw me a casual glance, but it fixed me in place like a corkboard pin.

I laughed, uneasy. "What are you talking about? I didn't tell her, if that's what you mean."

I tried to brush past him, but he slid bony fingers around my elbow. His hand shook, tense. No levity in his voice. No teasing smile on his lips. "I don't mean us nearly s.h.a.gging. I mean this. She's jealous. You're careless. I'm . . . Well, I'm kinda twitchy, you know." He jerked his head, and vertebrae crackled. "Nothing's any fun anymore. Having a hard time keeping still. Don't ya think something's a bit wrong?"

I swallowed, and the echo of a soft metal whisper chilled my blood. Ice crystals crackled on my wings, and I tried to shake them off but they froze fast. "No, it's not possible. The mirror's gone. We got rid of it."

Blaze chewed his lip, and his bold black gaze flickered. "Did we? You sure?"

I remembered my delight at that woman's misfortune, the way I wanted to laugh at her and needle her and taunt and sneer and bait until the truth burned out of me like acid through a plastic cup.

I shuddered. I've always wanted to be brave. But not cruel.

My pulse gibbered at me, hot and seductive and in vehement disagreement.

I've always been terrified of consequences, mistakes, making an idiot of myself. Why's everything about me all of a sudden? What if Blaze was right? What if that spiteful squidgy cast a spell on us?

Stupid, right? I was a fairy, not some witchy magic chick. h.e.l.l, I didn't even believe in magic.

But what if it had?

Blaze brushed his finger under my chin, searing. "Think about it, Ice. Before it's too late."

My treacherous skin sparked alive at his touch. Discomfort scratched in my bones. I shook him off and pushed past him, his arm smooth and sweet on my fingerpads. "I don't wanna know, okay? I feel fine."

And I walked out, my body tingling with alien sensation and the dark whisper of denial.

9.

Another midnight at the Court, the same as last and next, a carbon copy oblivion. Water throbbed in my ears to the beat, dizzying me pleasantly like alcohol, and starry lights dazzled my retinas in the primal smell of smoke and sweat.

But tonight colors swerved at me, objects jumping eagerly into my vision like magical apparitions of things I'd always craved but couldn't identify. Seductive tastes a.s.saulted my mouth with every breath, flesh, ozone, fruity fairy glitter. My eyes rolled everywhere, covetous as I slunk through the undulating crowd, my gaze draping l.u.s.tfully over figures and clothes and jewels, and half the time my fingers followed, earning me slaps and pokes and gleeful grins. If h.e.l.l exists-and there's no denying it does, not in a sweltering black city ruled by demons-then there must be heaven, too, and surely fairy heaven's a nightclub, jammed with colors and sounds and sensory candy.

Wow. Look at that banshee's gla.s.sy earrings, that vampire girl's blue satin dress, that fire sprite's fabulous black wings. I wanted everything I saw, craved every smell, longed for every sweet vibration. And maybe it was just me, but there seemed to be an excess of screw-me-senseless gorgeous guys here tonight. Will you look at that green fae boy's b.u.t.t? So tight, it'd burst like a cherry in your mouth, and the glowing green veins in those wings . . . Gosh.

My palms dripped, a greedy ache growing inside me. Mmm, sly vampire twins in identical white velvet suits, all long limbs and loose blond hair, tiny red jewels set into their teeth. And someone water me down, that fae-struck human boy was hot, dusky ruby-stained skin and double-jointed fingers and wet cocoa hair. Yeah. If there's heaven, it was definitely like this, anonymous and exciting and darkly beautiful. I just hoped the drinks were cheaper there.

At the bar, a tall, tanned human kid in black leathers and a ruby skull necklace stared at me, ultrablue eyes intense. My hungry gaze drifted over him, and I dragged it away. Luscious muscles, inked pretty with curls and arrows. Great a.s.s. But human boys are trouble, clueless if they can't see us and nasty if they can. And besides, they just don't measure up, even big boys like this one. You want some serious anatomy, get yourself a fae boy.

I slid my last twenty across the glowing gla.s.s, my limbs still jittering. I'd walked the street for a while and headed home to work this madness off, but even washing the walls down from our custard-throwing party hadn't calmed me down or cheered me up. I kept thinking about how I tore that woman's heart out today, about what Blaze said, the way I leered with strange selfish eyes at everything.

The others hadn't come home, and our little house loomed lonely, shadows making me jump, every sound I made echoing in empty rooms. So in a fit of sulks, I'd pinned my hair up in a wild mango knot, squeezed boldly into what Azure calls my look-the-f.u.c.k-at-me-now outfit-it's a slinky silver Lycra number up to my a.s.s with crisscross string straps over the back and more hole than dress at the front-and come here to the Court alone, to dance myself silly and drink this weird l.u.s.t away. My skin itched, my fingers trembled, my body yearned for some elusive stimulant I couldn't name. I felt weird. It wasn't me. It wasn't right.

But it felt good.

I flicked the cute blond bar boy a wink and scratched my bare midriff, claws tinkling on my belly ring. "How drunk can I get for twenty bucks?"

"You really mean that?" He leant on tattooed forearms, buckled leather bracelets fragrant with his sweat.

My damp nose tingled, and I wanted to bend forward, sniff, run my tongue over the rough leather edges, tell him how nice it smelled. "h.e.l.l yes, I mean it."

"She's selling. She'll want more than your twenty, though." He gestured with his chin a few stools to my right, where a dusky earth sprite broke off a kiss with a pale-limbed vampire girl, their wet lips peeling apart like sticky tape. White flowers tumbled through her long caramel hair, her golden wings shedding bright dust. The vampire wobbled on her heels, thin black dreadlocks dangling, and the fairy spat something that looked like dark purple grape juice into a gla.s.s and handed it to her in exchange for a fifty.

Memory trade. Swap them something precious from your past and they'll use it to brew you a high you'll never forget, delirium or forgetfulness or plain oblivion. Whatever you like. Hot temptation licked my skin, and my dress stuck on my damp b.r.e.a.s.t.s as I shifted, but I wrinkled my nose and dragged my gaze away before I did something stupid.

I don't like people s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with my mind, even if it does feel good. You never know what they'll erase, or insert. Besides, I didn't have enough cash. "No, thanks. I'll keep my memories. It's tonight I wanna get rid of. Gimme a vodka raspberry, babe, and keep tippin' it in 'till the money runs out."

"Comin' up." He poured, three shots and a splash for luck, and I drank, swallowing until it was all gone, vodka sliding down like cool syrup in my throat. The alcohol hit my stomach, and warmth slid into my blood like a slow needle. I didn't know if Blaze had paid Sonny Valenti his five grand or not. He could let Sonny suck his c.o.c.k for all I cared. This was mine, the last of my stolen cash. Might as well get the most out of it.

I plonked the gla.s.s on the bar and burped, my sinuses already stretching. "That'll do it. Cheers, sweet pea."

He winked at me, and I headed for the dance floor, pleasantly unbalanced, warm comfort spreading inside. The crush tightened around me, slick limbs and sweat-fragrant bodies and the glittering flutter of wings, all pulsing like blood to the flooding sound. My heart skipped faster, and I wriggled in farther, my skin a tingling glory of contact. I didn't care if no one talked to me or tried to pick me up. I just wanted to dance, punish my disobedient body, thrash my eardrums ragged on this gorgeous noise, sweat out this madness and puddle it on the floor for someone else to drink.

I closed my eyes, letting the music fill me, caress me, seep into my burning blood. Damp throbbing air sizzled my senses, glorious, sparking my nerves in time with the beat. I stretched, writhed, jumped, twisting my arms and jerking my legs until I ached, wrapping my sensitive wing membranes over the glowing smell of hot living flesh. Water crept under my skin, drawing secret pleasure from within, filling me, drowning in the glory of motion. My sweat sprayed in droplets, clumping my flinging hair.

Light fingers, sliding hot over my bare waist. "Are you Kane's?"

Warm voice rough with smoke or whiskey, intriguing. A tempting caress on my hip. I cracked my eyes open. Blazing blue eyes, dark hair, ink, and black leather. That tasty human boy who'd stared at me at the bar. Trouble. I swallowed. "Look, I'm not interested, okay?"

Scarlet gemstones glowed in silver eye sockets along his necklace. A skinny dark girl clung to his muscled arm, the same glaring blue eyes shining from her bruised face. He smiled, scary handsome, his fingers lingering on the curve of my waist. "Come with us. Show us."

I backed away into a squirming pair of banshees, their nails raking my wings. "No way. I am so so not up for a threesome. b.u.g.g.e.r off." not up for a threesome. b.u.g.g.e.r off."

"You must show us." He bent to sniff my bare belly, tugging curiously at the ring there, and my skin squelched in alarm. Freakin' weirdo.