Free Two Lines by Melissa Marr

sorry,” she told him yet again.
    â€œFor which part?”
    â€œEverything but the running out,” she admitted with a small smile. In the space between words, she paused. Her skin was crawling: Daniel was near. Perhaps he’d stayed away only because Muriel was in the bar.
    Cillian took Eavan’s elbow and led her to a table toward the back of the room. “Are you on something, Eavan?”
    â€œLike drugs? Me?” She felt her mouth curving into a smile at the thought.
    If he knew the truth, what would he think?
    The cocktail waitress, thankfully, chose that moment to stop at the table. Cillian waited while Eavan ordered another drink. Through a tinted window they could see the main dance floor. In the middle of the floor, surrounded by guards, Daniel stood. He stared up as if he could see her through the darkened glass.
    Eavan stood and stepped closer to the window.
    In the crowd below, Daniel waited. Cuddled into his arms was a very malleable young woman. Daniel kept her upright. He kissed her forehead and then looked up at Eavan and mouthed, “I’ll let her go if”—he stopped a group of women, gave the girl over to their care, and then looked back up at Eavan—“you come see me soon, Eve.”
    Cillian came to stand beside her; he peered into the crowd below. “Are you looking for someone? A dealer? Brennan again? If your family is trying to protect you because you’re mixed up in something…”
    She walked away from the window. Daniel was gone. It wasn’t a trap, but a negotiation. What do I do now? She couldn’t chase after him; the idea of seeing him in this state was sheer foolishness. She couldn’t take Cillian, either…or leave him behind. Rage started to build inside her. She was a glaistig, not some child to be toyed with and broken. Daniel had no clue who he was taunting.
    Eavan watched the mortals of the dance floor. It looked so normal. That’s the sort of life she’d used to dream of having; it was the life she thought she could have one day. Nyx had seemed to be giving her a little more freedom. Everything seemed to be going well—until Nyx hired Cillian. Until Daniel.
    She’s been watching me the whole time.
    There was no normal, only degrees of beautiful lies.
    Eavan knew the answer, but she asked all the same: “Did my cousin hire you because of Daniel?”
    Cillian didn’t reply or flinch, but his silence was answer enough for her.
    Eavan held down “1” on her mobile and said, “Grandmother.”
    Nyx didn’t bother with greetings at this hour. “Are you injured?”
    â€œNo.” Eavan watched Cillian as she spoke. “How long have you known?”
    â€œLong enough to see that you were too far gone,” Nyx said. “I don’t like Brennan. Not for you or for anyone. Especially not as your first.”
    â€œYou know what he’s doing?” Eavan asked, still watching Cillian.
    â€œOf course I do.” Nyx sighed. “That’s not your business though, Evvie. Brennan is trouble. The powder he uses…it’s really not good for our kind. It works on some of us, too.”
    Eavan looked away then. She’d been a fool to think she could hide anything from her matriarch, and in that instant, she had to wonder if she truly could do anything beyond Nyx’s control. “This doesn’t change the other thing. I’m done with Daniel because I’m not able to—”
    â€œAsk your Cillian what his real job is,” Nyx interrupted.
    Eavan looked up and caught Cillian’s gaze. “What do you do for real?”
    â€œI’m your bodyguard.”
    On the other end of the phone, Nyx made a rude sound. “Tell him to tell you the rest.”
    â€œNyx wants me to know,” she told him. “She said…”
    Cillian held out his hand for the phone. Silently, she released it.
    He held it up to his ear, listened