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had one, my attention hadn’t exactly been focused on her arms.
    I ran a gloved finger up the bruises, anger burning inside me. “I’m glad you weren’t seriously hurt.”
    She covered her arms. “After the attack I sought refuge at the church, where I thought no one could find me. Until you led them right to me . . .”
    A part of me—a very small part—wanted to argue with her last statement. Unfortunately, it was all too true. It was obvious I’d guided the would-be assassin right to her. “You’re right. It is my fault.” I took a drink of my mead, enjoying the grapy aftertaste. “The question now is what the hell do we do about it?”
    A satisfied smile formed on her lips. “Tell the Fairies you failed. Tell them you couldn’t find me.” She reached across the table for my gloved hand, but I pulled back. No sense in getting too touchy with the client. Not when I would never know if her skin was as soft and warm as it looked.
    I couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched me or I them, truly touched without protection, and I’m not referring to a condom. I’m talking full-on electrical tape and surge protectors.
    I quickly glanced away from her soft, freckled skin, disgusted by my desire. I wasn’t some little boy with blue balls. I was a man, a man with blue pubes sure, but a man nonetheless. Isabella Davis wasn’t the first beautiful woman I’d encountered, just the first with a nice pair of wings.
    â€œLying to the Fairies won’t do any good.” I rubbed the indigo hairs on my chin. “They’ll just send someone else to find you. What we need to do is figure out who wants you dead.”
    Her eyebrow raised a fraction of an inch. “We?”
    I nodded. “We.”
    The smile on her lips should’ve put me on full alert, but instead, I returned her grin, happily oblivious to what was to come.

CHAPTER 9
    A s Izzy and I finished our first round of drinks a hush swept through the bar. Two men, at least from what I could tell, entered The Mother Goose, their bodies merely blobs of blackness more formally known as Shadows.
    By the look of them, these two were potent specters, for only the most powerful of Shadows could appear in near-solid human form. In fact, legend said the leader of the Shadows walked among us, as dense as rock. I wasn’t sure if I believed that.
    But I knew better than to ask.
    The Shadows floated across the room toward the back of the bar. I watched them until my uneasiness subsided. In a city filled with creepy, often winged things, I’d learned long ago the dangers of crossing a Shadow. And in case I ever forgot, the six-inch knife scar on my side served as a vivid reminder.
    Izzy apparently shared my distrust. Her stare stayed planted on the two phantoms as they faded into the darkness of the bar. Like all Fairies, she’d instantly reacted to the apparitions. After all, Fairies and Shadows had been warring for the last century, ever since the day the Shadows physically separated from the Fairies, causing a bloody hundred-year battle known as the Fairy Wars.
    From Izzy’s reaction I guessed a cease-fire wasn’t in the near future. However, her distraction gave me time to study her, not in a weird way but through a trained investigator’s eyes.
    Not only was Isabella beautiful, with her curly red hair and trim body, but she had a spark in her eyes that warned of intelligence and stubbornness.
    Both of which promised to cause me endless problems.
    A stupid client equaled a good client.
    A stubborn client usually ended up dead.
    When her attention returned to me, I sneered, “So tell me about this perfect life of yours.” Nobody’s life was perfect. Believe me. Everyone had secrets. Those who claimed otherwise held the deepest, darkest ones. “What happened to the fiancé? Mr. Right?”
    Slowly, she turned to me. For a second she