Free Face Off by Mark Del Franco Page B

You are already on sovereign territory of the Seelie Court. Your transfer is a matter of a plane ticket.”
    Moor’s eyes bulged. With a few breaths, she fought the rise of her boggart mania, and her face relaxed. Laura was impressed with the level of control and noted it for the future.
    “I demand a lawyer,” Moor said.
    “For which? Your deportation or your acceptance of asylum?”
    “I have rights,” Moor said.
    “So did the people who died in the bombing you participated in at the Dublin airport. I’m sure you can clarify that with the Seelie Court when you get back to Ireland.”
    Moor set her jaw. “What do you want?”
    Laura took her seat again and slid the asylum documents out. “Your cooperation.”
    Moor’s eyes became hooded. “For what?”
    “Legacy,” Laura said.
    “I work there. It was a convenient place to hide,” she said.
    Laura leaned back, tapping her pen on the table. “Legacy claims they want unity among the fey and humans. They think abolishing monarchies is the way to achieve that. You have a career of antimonarchial activities that involves violence. I get your excuse for being there. What I want to know is why they want someone like you.”
    Moor smiled. “I’m very good at keeping people on message.”
    Laura arched an eyebrow. “So what’s the message this time? Extortion? Murder? Another bomb?”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.
    “We’ve got a dead shopkeeper and a dead suicide bomber, Moor. It’s only a matter of time before we connect them to the other acts of anti-fey violence, then to Legacy. We’re almost there already.”
    She sneered. “Then what do you need me for?”
    Laura released some essence into her eyes, letting it shimmer in the manner of an Old One. Moor didn’t try to hold the gaze but looked away, easily cowed by the power in front of her. “I want to know what’s being planned, Moor. Whatever your goals are, they won’t be accomplished with murder. I’m going to stop it with you or without you.”
    “Go ahead, then. You can’t connect me to anything,” she said.
    Laura nudged the folder. “I don’t have to. Whatever is going to happen, you’re out of the game. For good. The Dublin case against you is open-and-shut. You want the justice of the Seelie Court, I will be more than happy to accommodate you.” She pushed the folder closer. “You want to live, I can accommodate that, too.”
    “I want time to think about it. And I want a lawyer,” she said.
    Laura placed a pen on the folder. “Fine. I’ll give you time. You have thirty seconds. After that, the deal is permanently off the table, and you go to Ireland. I’ll pay for your lawyer’s flight myself. I don’t have more time than that, I’m afraid.”
    Moor stared at the documents in front her. Laura weighed the options herself—humane treatment in a U.S. jail in exchange for the betrayal of her associates or certain death at the hands of Maeve’s justice. The Seelie Court was not a kind and gentle judge. It didn’t take Moor long to decide.
    “Where do I sign?” she asked.
    Laura spread the documents out and handed her a pen. “I’ll walk you through it.”

CHAPTER 9
    LAURA HAD PLANNED the detention of Fallon Moor for early in the morning in order to free up time for the rest of the day. She was glad she did, since between the initial interview of Moor and the subsequent paperwork, she didn’t get upstairs to the public-relations department until noon.
    The chaos on her desk did its best to depress her, but she retaliated by remaining focused. The reception for Draigen macCullen produced layers of pressure that she hadn’t anticipated. Working for Guildmaster Orrin ap Rhys as his public-relations director and for Terryn macCullen as his top undercover agent created conflicts that were becoming harder to ignore. At this point, she recognized that Rhys was no fan of the Inverni—neither past nor present—and enjoyed fanning the flames of