Beguiled by Maureen Child

don’t get lost, I’ll give you the same right here.”
    “We’re going to kill you,” he said, and finally, the guy in front of Maggie reacted. He jerked a look at the Gray Man, looked like he might bolt, then changed his mind, unwilling to give up his place in line. She so understood.
    “You know what,” Maggie said with a sigh, suddenly tired of all the nuttiness surrounding her. “If you’re gonna kill me, just do it already. Anything’s gotta be better than spending the rest of my freaking life in line .”
    “Step away from the Queen.” A new voice. Commanding. And completely female.
    “What?” Maggie looked to her left. A tall woman in jeans and a black sweater walked up. She had a hard look in her silver eyes and her waist-length brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail from her sharp, elegant face. Fae. Those silver eyes were a dead giveaway, even if the woman hadn’t been tall and gorgeous.
    “Hey,” the Gray Man protested with a glare, “I didn’t do anything to her. Though I could. I’m just standing here.”
    “Stand somewhere else,” the woman said, and waited until the bookish looking little Fae backed away and wandered off somewhere.
    Poor bastard would now have to go to the end of the meandering line and probably wouldn’t get to the counter before summer.
    “Thanks,” she said to the Fae. “But what’re you doing here?”
    “Majesty,” the woman said, with a bow of her head.
    “Cut that out, okay?” Maggie hissed the order, hoping no one else had heard the whole majesty thing.
    The Fae female frowned, then glanced around at the people crowding the old building. “You should not be unprotected. Where is your warrior?”
    Apparently, gossip was alive and well in Otherworld as much as it was here. There was no doubt in Maggie’s mind that the woman was referring to Culhane. But talking about him as if he were a toy poodle on a leash was so out-there, Maggie almost laughed. If Culhane were to be a pet, he’d be more like a Rottweiler.
    “I’m just fine on my own, thanks, and besides, Culhane’s not my warrior and”—Maggie looked at her—“who’re you?”
    “Forgive me.” The elegant brunette dressed like a biker chick inclined her head again. “I am Ailish, secondary commander in your guard.”
    Guard. The palace guard. The female security force who used to work for Mab and who now worked for Maggie. She didn’t really know any of them very well and couldn’t remember having seen Ailish before. But then she hadn’t actually spent much time with the Fae females, since she spent as little time as possible in Otherworld altogether. And in spite of everything, a small twist of guilt tugged at her insides.
    She hated to admit, even to herself, that Culhane was right, but she did have commitments in the Fae world and she should be paying closer attention to them. Especially since every Fae and demon in the world seemed to be seeking her out for a little one-on-one time. Which, at the moment, made Maggie really glad to see one of her personal guards show up. With Ailish at her side, fewer demons and Fae would be willing to bother her.
    Still, she had to ask. “What’re you doing here?”
    The line inched forward. Hallelujah. One less person between Maggie and freedom.
    “I came to speak to you on behalf of my sisters,” Ailish began, keeping her voice low enough that even the guy in the next line making eyes at her would have had a hard time hearing. “We want you to know that we’re happy guarding the palace.”
    “Oh, that’s good.” Maggie nodded, pleased to hear that at least one faction in Otherworld was happy enough.
    “But we want more.”
    And, here we go, Maggie thought tiredly.
    “We want to fight,” Ailish whispered.
    “You already do, don’t you?”
    Ailish frowned and waved one hand as if dismissing anything they had done to date. “We do, when our Queen or the palace is in danger. Small skirmishes all, though we have been trained for