Free Iron Kin: A Novel of the Half-Light City by M.J. Scott Page B

look in his eyes turned amused. “Besides, you look like you haven’t been to bed at all. That’s hardly sensible.”
    “I’m half Fae,” he reminded me. “I need less sleep than a human. I work best at night.”
    His eyes gleamed with even more amusement. I ignored his innuendo. Fae blood or not, something told me that he was desperately tired. His shirt cuff obscured the chain around his wrist, but I could feel it, the purity of the iron singing to me cleanly through the myriad other notes of metal in the room. If nothing else, wearing iron had to drain him. He’d left the ball early, same as me. Who or what had occupied the rest of his night?
    No. I wasn’t going to think about how he might or might not spend his time. Find out what he’d come for and send him back on his way: that was the only sensible plan. “Less sleep isn’t no sleep. But your sleeping habits are no concern of mine.”
    That made him look amused again. Sainted
earth
. I was turning simpleminded around this man. To his credit, he didn’t say anything. He was being the perfect gentleman, mostly. I judged his flirtation to be mostly instinctive, something he used on any female—or male perhaps—to get what he wanted.
Nothing to do with me personally
, I told myself firmly.
    But the not tellingme why he was here was growing tiresome. My own lack of sleep was starting to take its toll now that the adrenaline of this morning had subsided. Fen’s presence was still making me nervous enough to hold it at bay, but I could feel fatigue waiting to descend on me like an anvil dropped from the sky. I rested my hand on the copper trivet lying on the bench nearest me, drawing strength from the metal. Just a little. Not enough to damage it, just enough to keep my wits about me.
    “What my concern is,” I continued, “is why you’re here. Are you going to tell me, or are you going to leave?”
    He watched me for a long moment, then seemed to come to a decision. He straightened his shoulders, tugged his tie into a slightly more orderly position. “I came here to test a theory.”
    “A theory? You have some sort of metallurgical problem I can help with?”
    He snorted. “Hardly. No, I have an entirely different sort of problem.” He stepped forward. I moved back without thinking, but there was a high stool in my path. I couldn’t go any farther without making it obvious that I was retreating. And really, what did I have to retreat from?
    “Perhaps if you share it with me, it will make it easier to determine if I can help?” I sounded calm at least. That’s one thing that years of being trained to be a properly behaved young lady does for you—teaches you to hide your feelings well. Though I was hoping for something closer to Lily’s intimidating silent stillness than the studied politeness of a well-bred human girl. I got the impression that Fen would eat well-bred human girls for breakfast. Break their hearts and step over the pieces.
    Sainted earth
. There it was again. I didn’t care what he did to women’s hearts. Not in the slightest.
    A few more steps and he paused, within arm’s reach of me. I couldn’t interpret the expression on his face; it was outwardly as calm as I was trying to pretend I was, but there was something strained in his eyes, making the dark circles and lines of fatigue suddenly more prominent.
    “Forgive me,” he said. “I haven’t offered you a proper greeting this morning.” He held out his right hand and automatically I took it.
    Our skin met with a faint buzz and suddenly Fen looked ten years younger, his eyes unshadowed, the strain in his face vanquished.
    Startled, I pulled back, but his fingers tightened around mine, warm and strong. His eyes looked past me—or through me. One breath. Two. Then he seemed to come back to himself and stepped away with a shallow bow.
    When he straightened, he looked tired again, though not as tired as he had.
    The room seemed distant around me as I closed my fingers to