Read Strangeness and Charm: The Courts of the Feyre for Free Online Page B

unoccupied. I could let myself in to one of those and watch Angela's house from across the road. As I reached the house I noticed a change. In the front downstairs window of the house there was a white rectangle in the window. As I got closer I could see that a sheet of paper had been taped to the glass. On it was written, 'What are you waiting for?'
      So much for stealth.
      I brought the sword alongside my leg allowing my glamour to conceal it. If necessary I could draw it quickly. I turned into the drive.
      As I reached the front door it opened. Angela's face appeared in the gap.
      "Oh, thank goodness you're here," she said.
      I glanced behind me, wondering if I was being followed by someone else. I was alone.
      "You'd better come in, the kettle has just boiled," she added.
      This was turning into a strange day.
      She opened the door wider and allowed me into the dimly lit hallway. After the heat and brightness of the summer day outside, the cool of the tiled hall was welcome. Angela was careful to keep her distance.
      "Shut the door, you'll let the heat in."
      I pushed it closed behind me, wondering momentarily if I'd just entered a trap. My hand slid down to the hilt of my sword.
      "Come through, I'm making tea, if that's OK?"
      It didn't sound like much of a threat, so I followed her down the hall to the kitchen at the back. It would once have been small, but someone had put in a joist and opened it into the sitting room next door to make a kitchen-diner. There was a large French door looking out over a meticulously cultivated garden. After the dark of the hall it was light and airy, and still much cooler than outside.
      "Is it?" she asked.
      "What?"
      "Is tea OK, or would you prefer something cold."
      "A cold drink would be fine."
      "I have some home-made lemonade if you would like?"
      "Great. Thanks."
      I watched as she opened the tall fridge and took a jug from the shelf.
      "You knew I was coming?" I asked.
      She glanced up, hesitantly, and smiled. "I thought you'd be here earlier." She poured the cloudy liquid into a glass and then added a spoon of sugar. "It's a little tart," she said.
      "You know who I am?"
      "I've known ever since I touched you in the isolation units under Porton Down. Take a seat." She gestured to the chairs around the dining table.
      "I'd rather stand." I glanced at the chairs. "You knew I'd say that?"
      She shook her head. "That's not how it works, but you already know that."
      Placing the glass on the table beside me, she returned to the kettle and made herself a cup of tea.
      "Lovely house," I said.
      She smiled as she added milk to the tea, moving around the kitchen, watching me from the corner of her eye.
      "Have you been here long?"
      "I was born here. My mother had me in the bedroom upstairs. I was a home delivery."
      "Is your mother here now?"
      "She died."
      "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
      "It was a long time ago. She was an old lady."
      I watched her reaction. "How old?"
      "She was in her nineties, so she had a good span. I think she held on for grandchildren. Not to be, I'm afraid."
      "You're married?"
      "No. There's just me if that's what you're worrying about. You won't be needing a sword."
      "What makes you think there's a sword?" I thought I had concealed it. I had been practicing carrying it without anyone noticing.
      "It's in your posture. You stand like a dancer, but you're not here to dance."
      I tried to look more relaxed without relaxing. I didn't work. "So you live here alone?"
      "Company would be nice, but it's difficult finding someone who…" She shook her head. "Touch isn't really…" She looked up. "It's very limiting. I'm sure you understand. Even animals seem to pick it up."
      I sipped the lemonade, looking out of the window at the garden, realising that she must spend a lot of time there. Plants were so much less complicated than people.