I unlocked my door, dropping my equipment as soon as I was inside and peeling off my black jumpsuit as I walked to the bathroom. At least at this time of the morning the water would be hot. My one indulgence when I moved in was to get a power shower installed with all manner of angled jets and sprays. It was well worth it. It didn’t matter how much money I paid, though – this was still Clan-less territory and I lived in an old building. It was undeniably beautiful, with a solid granite structure outside and cornices and stained glass inside. Perfect plumbing, however, was a luxury reserved for others.

I turned on the shower and got in, yelping as I half scalded my skin. Still, it was so good to get clean. I scrubbed away all the traces of grime and oil from my climb up the building and my ascent down the lift shaft – not to mention the clinging dust from the drill.

It was a crying shame that I couldn’t wipe away my guilt at the same time. I felt guilty for leaving Taylor in the lurch when things looked so dire for him, and guilty for enabling his gambling habit by paying off his debts. I dreaded to think what I would have done if he hadn’t helped me out all those years before. I wasn’t naïve enough to think that he’d not used me but he’d never once judged me for who or what I was, and he’d always been there when I’d needed him. Maybe Saturday would be a good time to mention Gamblers’ Anonymous again.

It was a good twenty minutes before I stepped out of the shower, my skin pink from the heat. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My white hair hung down past my shoulders, an unfashionable length for a Sidhe. My violet eyes blinked back out, with just the faintest trace of shadows underneath them. I looked even paler than normal. It didn’t matter how many hours I spent in the sun, there was never a tan or a blush of sunburnt glow to my cheeks. I never even got any freckles. Other people often commented on my skin, saying that they wished for the same kind of flawless complexion. I just thought it was boring. It might seem strange to desire a bout of acne but I actually did. If nothing else, it would make me appear less Sidhe – although with my eyes and hair, I was probably not going to pass myself off as anything else any time soon.

Giving up on my appearance, I towelled myself off and wandered through to my bedroom, pulling on a comfy pair of worn pyjamas before lying down on my bed and closing my eyes. I was dog tired and should, by rights, have fallen asleep within seconds.