Something passed through his eyes, something I couldn't read, then his eyes were back to giving nothing away. "This wasn't your first time, was it?" His voice was soft, gentle.
I looked at the floor, afraid to meet his eyes. "Not me, Detective, not me."
"A friend," he said in that same gentle voice.
I looked up then, and the sudden show of compassion almost did me in, almost made me want to confide in him. Almost. I remembered Keelin's face a mask of blood, one eye socket crushed so that her eye had lolled out onto her cheek. If she'd had a nose, it would have been broken, but her mother was a brownie, and they don't have human noses. Three of her arms had been held at awkward angles like the broken legs of a spider. No sidhe healer would lay hands on her because she was so near death and they would not risk their own lives for a goblin-brownie half-breed. My father had carried her to a human hospital and reported the attack to the authorities. My father had been Prince of Flame and Flesh, and even his sister the Queen feared him, so he was not punished for inviting the humans in. It was on record. I could talk about it without being punished. So good to know there was something I could tell the whole truth on tonight.
"Tell me," he said, voice grown even softer.
"When we were both seventeen, my best friend Keelin Nic Brown was raped." My voice was bland and empty, as Alvera's eyes had been moments before. "They broke the bones around one of her eyes so that the eye was just lying there on her face, hanging by threads." I took a deep breath and pushed the memory away, not aware that I'd pushed it away with my hands, as if that would help, until I'd finished the movement. "I've seen people beaten, but not like that, never like that. They tried to beat her to death and very near succeeded." I had myself under control again. I wasn't going to cry. I was glad. I hated to cry. It always made me feel so weak.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Don't be sorry for me, Detective Alvera. Watching Keelin heal gave me a measuring rod for violence. If it wasn't as bad as what happened to Keelin, then it can't be that bad. It's gotten me through some very harsh things without having hysterics."
"Like tonight," he said in that same talk-the-jumper-down-from-the-ledge voice.
I nodded. "Yeah, like tonight, though I will admit that what happened to Alistair Norton was one of the worst things I've ever seen, and I've seen some bad things. I did not kill him. I'm not saying I might not have killed him if he'd completed the rape. When I recovered from the lust spell, I might have hunted him down. I don't know. But someone else took care of it for me."
"Who?" he asked.
My voice dropped to a whisper. "I wish I knew, Detective. I really wish I knew."
"Do you need to touch me to prove this lust oil of yours is real?"
I nodded.
"You have my permission," Alvera said.
"If I prove that the lust spell is real, you'll bring in narcotics?"
"Yeah."
"You swear it," I said, "your word of honor."
His eyes got all serious. He seemed to understand that his word meant something to me that it might not to a human. Finally, he nodded. "Yeah, I give you my word."
I glanced at Eileen Galan and back to the one-way glass on the far wall. "Spoken before
witnesses. The Gods themselves beware of it if you break your promise."
He nodded. "Should I be expecting a lightning bolt?"
I shook my head. "No, not a lightning bolt."
He'd started to smile, but when I didn't seem to think it was funny, his smile faded. "I keep my word, Princess."
"I hope so, Detective, for all our sakes."
Eileen took me to one side, a few steps away from the detective. "What are you planning to do, Meredith?"
"Are you a practitioner of any mystic art?" I asked.
"I'm a lawyer, not a witch."
"Then just watch. It's sort of self explanatory." I drew away from her gently and walked back to Alvera. I stayed farther away than I would have normally, just close enough that I could touch him. I'd had oil on my fingers, but some of it had rubbed off. I wanted this to work so I drew my fingers across my br**sts where the oil was still slick and shining. Branwyn's Tears had a long shelf life. I reached out toward Alvera's face.
He leaned back out of reach.
I raised an eyebrow at him, hand extended in midair. "You said I could touch you."
He nodded. "Sorry, habit." He moved a step closer to me but maneuvered us so that we were in full view of our audience behind the oneway glass. He visibly steeled himself not to flinch away from me. I wasn't sure if he didn't want me touching him because I was fey or because he thought I'd murdered someone by magic or because of some esoteric cop thing.
I traced my fingertips along his full mouth until they glistened like lip gloss. His eyes widened, and he looked softly stunned. I stepped away from him, and he reached toward me, then stopped himself. He folded his arms across his chest and tried to talk, then shook his head.
I went back to my chair and sat down. I crossed my legs, and the skirt was short enough that I flashed the lacy edge of the thigh-highs. Alvera noticed. He watched every move of my hands as I smoothed the skirt into place. I could see his pulse in his neck jumping under his skin. The wide eyes, the half-parted lips as he fought to control himself were very intriguing. It took more self-control than was pretty to not close the distance between us and make the first move. I was still safe behind Jeremy's runes, but it was an act of will not to go to him.
Eileen Galan was looking from one to the other of us, a puzzled expression on her face. "Did I miss something?"