Keeping It Real Read Free Page B

of his otherness, the combination of how
    nearly human he appeared and how inhuman he really was.
    He'd made no effort to hide, but she hadn't seen him. His natural magical aura had concealed him from
    her attention and now her technologically-assisted senses could feel the slight charge of it as he stepped
    closer. This elvish aetherial body, larger than his physical body and moving independently of it, reached
    out ahead of him and touched her with slippery, invisible coils. His andalune, after which the greatbridge
    of Bay City was named, was as natural to him as her own skin was to her. Its curious touch was another
    kind of glance, nothing more, butthe unwanted investigation made her back away one step even under
    her tightest control and she had to look away. Lila remembered other andalune touches like this one that
    were neither kind nor merely indifferent . And then, almost before it was there, it had gone away,
    satisfied thatitknew everything it wanted to know about her. She could still taste a snap of lime in the air
    and some half-remembered warning tried to rise in her mind, though she was so slugged on adrenal
    suppressants it had nowhere to go. Her body wanted to run. Her mind was frozen. She gave him a
    casual nod of recognition with a dip of her chin, as though she couldn't be more comfortable.
    For a second she thoughthe looked surprised. She saw a momentof curiosity burning in the slight
    widening of his large, slanted eyes.
    'Hello, Lila,' Zal said. He didn't have an ordinary elf voice. Their normal speaking tones were very like
    human voices with subtle harmonies buried inside but this one was smoky rather than bell-like. He didn't
    exactly fit the mould of serene snottiness she had been braced for either, although his long ash-blond hair
    and attenuated, pointy ears were exactly on theme. Lila had never seen an elf with dark eyes before.
    Zal's were chestnutbrown with darker rings around the iris. She was staring into them like any fool for a
    good half a second before she composed herself. She turned aside and felt her face heat. The feeling she
    was experiencing was startling, and nothing like loathing.
    Zal arched one dark eyebrow at her in a laconic expression of amusement at her clear efforts to repel
    all his natural glamour and Lila seethed with annoyance.
    'I don'trequire your services,' he informed her. He took his coatup and putit on with insouciantease,
    then tilted his head, waiting for her to do something.
    They always wait, Lila recalled, all trace of blush gone. They have the time. They like to watch and
    see what silly things humans will do, given the opportunity. He could stand there till Christmas with that
    false pretend-polite expression on his face.
    Lila picked up the ring. It was a stupid thing to have given him in the firstplace, butDoublesafe hadn't
    thoughtpasttheir human security procedures with any imagination. There was no way he would wear it.
    'Yeah well, you're not paying the bill,' she said calmly. She wished she could take the ring and stuff it
    down his throat, but that would be only a short-term solution. Instead she put it in her jacketpocket and
    hoped she'd think of something. 'It won't make any difference . Until Jelly is happy that all threats on your
    life are gone, then where you go, I go.'
    'Until you die?' he asked, both brows up for a second, taunting.
    'Or until you do.'
    Lila saw the ghost of a smile cross his face as he walked past her. His
    gaitwas deceptively slow to look at, but he was fast. It was all she could do not to trot in order to keep
    up.
    At the bike he didn't pause, put his hands on the beautiful sunrise paintwork of the gas tank and swung
    his leg over into the riding position . So much for the legendary elf aversion to machinery.
    Lila knew thatthis was the moment when she had to take some control if she were ever going to stand
    a chance. She didn't hesitate: walked up, put her hands on his waist and lifted him off her place and onto
    the