We’d gotten halfway across the dark parking lot when Adam murmured, “Someone is watching us. I can feel it on the back of my neck.”

I bent down to tie my shoe and took the opportunity to scan the parking lot behind us. “The nice guy who escorted us out is still watching us. Is that it?”

“She affects a lot of people that way,” said Thomas, as Margaret waved at our observer over his shoulder.

“It’s the tragedy,” said Margaret cheerfully. “Some people can’t stop themselves from wanting to help. It’s a compulsion.” The man waved hesitantly back and left the doorway for the depths of the hotel, presumably to do his job.

“That’s not it,” said Adam in a low voice. “Let’s get to the cars.”

“I don’t scent anyone,” I said after finishing with my shoe. “But I’m with you. There’s someone.”

“They’re around,” agreed Thomas.

Margaret leaned her head against him. “This would be a perfect time for an ambush,” she said, sounding delighted. “Maybe there’s a troll or ogre around.”

“How about a witch?” asked a woman’s voice.

As soon as she spoke, I saw her, a young, muscular woman wearing a summer dress with brown army boots, walking beside Margaret and Thomas as if she’d been beside us all along.

9

As soon as she appeared, I could smell her. Her scent held a mix of cinnamon, brimstone, and honey, but no witchcraft. She smelled like a fae, but with overtones of earth and water rather than a clear allegiance to either, which was unusual in my experience.

Thomas jumped ten feet sideways, Margaret in his arms. Adam moved in front of them like a trained bodyguard. I recognized her scent and stopped my instinctive move to draw my carry gun. Instead, like Adam, I put myself in front of Thomas and Margaret. Zee stood where he was but put a hand on his hip, where I knew he kept one of his bladed weapons. He didn’t just use magicked swords—he made them.

“Dangerous to surprise us like that,” he said coolly, because he, of course, knew who it was.

I did, too. It’s not that I remember everyone I scent. It’s just that some people make a definite impression. Though some of the fae have favorite glamours they wear, visual impressions are not a definitive way to recognize a fae. Scent is much more difficult for them to change.

“What’s life without a little danger?” The woman looked at me, and said, “And didn’t I tell them to keep an eye on you? No one who carries Coyote so strongly is going to be resting on the sidelines. But they never listen to me.”

Thomas set Margaret on her feet.