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started inching her way around him.
    “I wanted you to hear everything,
Nicole.  Don’t you understand?  I’m on your side,” Slade pleaded.  “I had to be
drunk for my power to weaken enough for you to use your abilities.  That’s the
only way to turn off what I have,” he struggled to turn his head toward her,
fighting against the winds that were holding him in place.
    “You expect me to believe that.  After
all I’ve heard tonight, the only thing I know about you is that you’re Loch’s
prized pupil,” Nicole sneered through her gritted teeth.  “You’ve been using
your powers to make me weak so I would stay by your side until you could take
me to Loch.”
    “It’s not like that,” Slade yelled. 
“Give me a chance to explain, you stubborn woman.  Don’t you think I would have
already turned you over to him if that was my plan?  I would have driven you
straight to him from the airport.”
    Nicole stood for a moment in silence,
processing Slade’s words.  Maybe that was true, he did have the perfect
opportunity then, especially since she didn’t know anything about Ireland.  She
wouldn’t have known until she was standing in front of Loch that Slade was the
enemy.  So why wait?  Why flaunt her in front of people who were loyal to
Loch?  She sighed with frustration when she realized nothing was adding up. 
“Why?  Why are you showing me off to his people then?”
    “Because I need them to believe that I
am one of them.  They need to think that I am loyal to Loch so I can get close
to him.  The closest I’ve ever been is via phone call; the first call was when
he sent me to retrieve you from America and the other today when he called to
tell me we will be meeting in a few days.  I need to get close enough to kill
him.  Don’t you see, we want the same thing,” he pleaded with his eyes as he
searched Nicole’s face for any sign of understanding.
    Nicole’s brows crumpled together as she
paced in front of Slade.  “How do I know you’re not telling me a lie?  You keep
me blocked from inside of your head so you must be hiding more from me?”
    “Didn’t you hear me?  My power is always
on, like a constant protective force-field that I can’t turn off.  The only way
you were able to hear what you needed to tonight is because I drank so much
alcohol.  It dulls my powers, but it takes a lot for it to allow someone inside
of my head.” He sighed as he tried to shift his body into a more comfortable
position.  “You can think of me as a peace keeper.  I’m useful in heated
negotiations where people of both fae and warrior origins would be tempted to
kill each other.  I neutralize everyone’s powers so hopefully a peaceful
solution can be found.
    “That still doesn’t prove I can trust
you, Slade.  It just proves that you can make me a weak lap dog if I stay
around you.  I can’t be weak, I can’t afford to be weak.  There isn’t time.”
    “So you’re going to do this alone?  Just
go out there and try to find Loch by yourself?” Slade chuckled.  “Sage told me
you were hard headed.”
    Nicole’s eyes widened at the sound of a
familiar name, “Sage told you about me?”
    “Yes, my sister told me a lot about you
and how powerful you are.  And if you would let me go I will prove it to you.”
    With a sigh Nicole sent the wall of wind
up into the star filled night sky. She watched as Slade smoothed out his tux
then faced her again.  She tensed as he slowly moved his hand.  He push back
the curtain of silky blond hair that covered his ear revealing a pointed tip — the pointed ear
that is found on all fairy kind.
    “I guess that’s why I couldn’t do it?”
said Nicole softly.
    “Do what?
    “Hurt you.  I couldn’t figure out why I
hesitated but now I know it’s because you remind me of Sage.” Nicole smiled
softly as she realized she missed that crazy gothic fairy almost as much as she
missed her dad and her best friend, Kat.
    Slade beamed a