Bloody Fairies (Shadow) Read Online Free Page B

happy. “Even if it did have a chance of working, who’s to say you’d even find it? We’re talking about a legend here!”
    “My dear girl, Shadow is made of legends,” Pierus said. “And I can assure you this one is very real.”
    “ I may be untried,” said Nikifor, “but I swear to you I can defend Shadow as my father did before me.”
    “My dear boy, your father spent one hundred and fifty years defending Shadow, and he still got himself killed. What chance does a librarian barely out of Muse College have against this horde?”
    There was a brief, raw silence. Hippy winced in sympathy for Nikifor.
    “That’s why we need it,” Pierus said into the silence.
    “But did you not say you cannot wield it alone?”
    “There’s the rub, Nikifor my boy. The ancients didn’t trust anyone with it, not even me.”
    “Then one of us should go with you,” Flower said.
    “Not a muse.” Pierus paused. “It has to be someone of the blood of the first guardian.”
    “What does that mean?” Nikifor asked.
    “Wait,” Pierus said. “Something’s not right.”
    Silence. Something moved. Hippy held her breath. The quiet stretched out.
    She closed her eyes and pretended to be invisible, but that only lasted until Pierus yanked the curtain open and glared down at her. His eyebrows met like the wings of an angry bird. He reached down and hauled her out by the front of her tunic.
    Hippy squeaked. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to come in here! I was hiding from my sister and then someone came along so I hid under the silk and I just ended up here and I didn’t touch anything, honest!” She blinked at Pierus, who still had hold of her shoulder.
    Flower and Nikifor looked stunned.
    The corner of Pierus’s mouth twitched. His brows receded the merest millimetre.
    “Why were you hiding from your sister?” Flower’s voice was gentle, but there was a flicker of amusement behind it.
    Hippy’s cheeks grew hot. She couldn’t look away from Pierus. “I-” she stopped.
    “Leave us.” Pierus never took his eyes off her.
    Relief made Hippy’s knees weak. She went to move, but he didn’t let go of her. “Not you.”
    Hippy gulped. Flower and Nikifor left the tent without another word.
    Pierus steered her to a low-slung chair covered in furs and unceremoniously dropped her into it. Then he went over to a table and poured two glasses of pink wine from a tall, slim bottle.
    Hippy watched his every move. She cautiously accepted the glass when he came back and sat across from her.
    Pierus fixed her with a stern look. “Why were you hiding from your sister?”
    “I-” Hippy looked away. She clutched her glass. “I can’t tell you.”
    “Why not?”  
    “I just can’t.”
    “Have a drink, my dear.”
    Hippy obediently gulped a mouthful of wine. It was very nice and sweet and it made her feel more relaxed.
    “I need to know what you were doing behind that curtain,” Pierus said. “If you won’t tell me why you were hiding from your sister, I’m going to start thinking you’re a spy.”
    “I’m not a spy!” Hippy flushed a deep crimson. “It’s just–I mean–”
    “Just tell me.”
    “I’m scared of blood,” Hippy burst out. “It’s horrible, it makes me want to throw up and I can’t think or move and Ishtar knows, so every time we kill a vamp she stabs them and you know how much blood that means, and tonight she smeared it all over her face and chased me.” She closed her mouth abruptly, mortified.
    Pierus went bright red. Then he went white. His lips trembled. He snorted. Then he burst into gales of laughter. 
    Hippy folded her arms and glared. “It’s not funny!”
    “I know my dear, it’s just–you Bloody Fairies–” he leaned back in his chair and grinned at her like she’d grown a second head and told a joke with it.
    Hippy got to her feet, cheeks flaming. “Don’t you dare tell anyone!” She burst into tears and ran for the door.
    For a three thousand year old muse, Pierus was