While Dermot and I were hugging each other, an embrace that was lasting a bit too long, I could hear Bellenos outside. He was circling the house in the rain (which had begun again) and darkness, and his voice rose and fell. I could only catch snatches of what he was saying, but it was in that other language and its meaning was lost on me. Dermot seemed satisfied, and that was reassuring.

“I’ll make this up to you,” Dermot said, releasing me gently.

“No need,” I said. “I’m good, and since you didn’t have any permanent damage, we’ll just say that was a learning experience.” As in, Don’t erase wards without putting in new ones.

Dermot stood, and he seemed very steady on his feet. His eyes were shining. He looked . . . excited, as if he were going to a birthday party or something.

“Don’t you need a raincoat?” I suggested.

Dermot laughed, put his hands on my shoulders, and kissed me. My heart leaped in shock, but I recognized the stance. He was breathing into me.

For a few seconds I thought I’d strangle or suffocate, but somehow I didn’t, and then it was over.

He smiled down at me and then he was gone. I heard the back doors slam after him, and I turned to the window to see a blur as he and Bellenos disappeared into the dark woods.

I couldn’t think of anything to do after such a crisis. I got the blood off the floor in the attic, I put the shawl in the kitchen sink to soak in some Woolite, and I changed the sheets in the guest bedroom.

After that I showered. I needed to wash the fairy scent off me before Eric and Pam got here. Besides, after being rain soaked, my hair was just a mass of nastiness. I got dressed—again—and sat down for a minute or two in the living room, to watch the Weather Channel gloating over the big storm.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up with sand in my mouth. The Weather Channel was still on, and Eric and Pam were knocking at the front door.

I staggered over to unlock it, as stiff as though someone had kicked me while I slept. I was feeling the result of my desperate run through the rain.

“What’s happened?” Eric asked, holding my shoulders and giving me a narrow-eyed look. Pam was sniffing the air, her blond head thrown back dramatically. She gave me a sideways grin. “Ooooh, who’s been entertaining . . . Wait . . . An elf, a fairy, and Bill?”

“You been taking tracking lessons from Heidi?” I asked weakly.

“As a matter of fact, I have,” she said. “There’s an art to drawing in air to sample it, since we no longer need to breathe.”

Eric was still waiting, and not patiently.