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to warn the Watcher so he could get her released.
    I grinned. After Ian and I were safely away.
    We walked right past a full complement of guards on the steps of the palace and down a long, marble hallway, toward a tall set of gold doors at the end. The two guards at the door, armed with crossbows and swords, were discussing the women they’d had the night before as we walked through…I mean literally through, the golden doors and into Queen Tana’s rooms.
    She was standing before a roaring fire, staring into its depths. Suddenly she stiffened and turned, starting directly at us. “Ian? Show yourself.”
    Ian suddenly disappeared from the layer and reappeared in the room with the faery queen. Stuck in the deep travel layer by myself, I panicked. Then I realized I could probably extricate myself in the same way I usually did, when I’d been traveling in an alternate layer. A second later I was in the room with them, much to the queen’s surprise.
    “Why is she with you?”
    Ian shrugged. “She seems very fond of me. She’s always throwing herself at me.” He grinned in my direction and I scowled.
    “Your highness.” I bowed. “I have been sent by the Council of the Gods to fetch this human and get some answers from him. I won’t leave his side until I get those answers.”
    Ian’s grin widened. “Interesting.”
    I ignored him. Queen Tana stared hard at me for a moment and then nodded. “I have spoken to the Watcher. He assured me of the same. But I too have business with Ian Lavelle. Your business must await mine.”
    I opened my mouth to argue but Ian’s voice stopped me. “We haven’t much time, Tana. I have been away for too long. They’ve been suspicious of me since I refused to bring them here.”
    She nodded, turning back to the fire. I opened my mouth again…
    “I feared as much. Have you learned who in my kingdom betrays me?”
    Ian put a hand up to still me. “Not yet. But I’m getting close. Very close.”
    I watched his nose to see if it grew visibly from this whopper.
    Tana handed him a small cloth bag, tied at the top with faery twine. “I’ve filled this with the altered dust. That is the last of my special mix.”
    Ian nodded. “Shall we communicate in the normal fashion then?”
    Tana threw me a speculative glance and turned to Ian, her startlingly beautiful eyes filled with communication I couldn’t decipher. He returned her gaze and I felt a subtle change in the air that told me I was outnumbered and soon to be outmaneuvered.
    Tana’s next words confirmed this. “The Monad must not be allowed to interfere.”
    Ian threw me a speculative glance and frowned. He opened his mouth but didn’t get a chance to say whatever had been on his mind. I leapt on him, the weight of my body and the element of surprise bringing him to the ground beneath me.
    His mouth came open in a grunt as he hit the floor hard with me on top and I quickly emptied the contents of the vial the Watcher had given me down his throat.
    He choked and sputtered and spewed some of the contents back into my face. But I saw his throat working convulsively and I knew some of it had gone down.
    Suddenly a blinding light encompassed us and invisible bands of steel wrapped themselves around me and yanked me away from Ian, dragging me upright to dangle in the air above him, twisting painfully.
    I jerked against the bonds that held me. To no avail. Queen Tana’s power was legendary and she’d had thousands of years to hone it to perfection.
    Ian pulled himself off the floor, wiping a hand across his lips. He strode toward me, anger riding his dark features. I forced myself not to flinch as he brought his face within an inch of mine. I could feel the anger rolling off him in waves.
    “What did you give me, Monad?”
    I smiled, at last I had the upper hand. Though to look at me, arms locked against my body with invisible power bands and hanging helpless in the air, it might be hard to see it. I figured it was all a matter