"All right," she said finally. "But if it doesn't work, I will confess."
I got up and hugged her. "Thank you."
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
I was outside the prison, looking for Gabriel. He'd had business at the office but was coming to pick me up. Then I heard the familiar sound of a very different motor as Ricky pulled up.
"Hey," he said, taking off his helmet. "Change of chauffeur. Gabriel got held up at the office."
"He could have just texted. I'd have been fine taking a cab." I caught Ricky's look. "Ah, he's not really held up, is he? And you're not taking me back to the office. We're going to see Ioan."
"You need to do it. Rip the bandage off before the sliver starts festering." A pause. "Yep, that analogy totally didn't work. But you know what I mean."
I smiled. "I always do. And yes, I get it. Is Ioan waiting?"
"He is."
I took a deep breath. "All right, then. Off we go." I looked at the bike and hesitated. "Maybe...I should probably stop riding..."
A look passed over his face, eyes beginning to shutter. Then he stopped. Waited a beat and said, evenly, "Okay. If you'd prefer that."
"Not at all. But I don't know what's right, and I don't want to keep doing something that might put you in a bad position--"
His finger pressed to my lips and he said, "No." Then he looked at me. "You have a spot on the back of my bike for as long as you want it. The only question is whether you want it."
I grabbed the helmet, swung my leg over the back seat, and climbed on behind him.
--
"Have you told them?" a voice asked behind me.
I looked up from petting Lloergan, both of us sitting in front of the roaring fire. I rose, along with Brenin, as Ioan walked in.
The Cwn Annwn leader stopped to pat the hound's head. "Have you?" he asked.
I shook my head. "I wanted to talk to you."
"Ah." He tried for a smile. "Inform the losing party first. Best they hear about it directly, and not through the crowing of the winners." He shook his head and lowered himself to a chair. "No, that's unkind. The Tylwyth Teg won't crow. This isn't that kind of battle. It may have been once, but it is no longer."
When I sat on the sofa, he said, "If you're going to apologize, don't, Liv. You couldn't make any other choice after what Ida did. I'd love to claim she snuck in and stole the banner after we'd won the war, but that, too, is unkind. We assisted. We did not win. We never could have won against that thing. She did."
"She asked me to choose the Tylwyth Teg. Those were her final words."
A sharp laugh. "Of course they were. While I'd like to fault her for that, I can honestly only say that I hope you agreed in time for her to hear it. She did deserve that."
"I told her I wouldn't turn my back on them. But I'm not turning my back on the Cwn Annwn, either, Ioan. I can't."
He looked over at me, frowning. "You have to choose, Liv."
"So I've heard. I've also heard that the Persephone solution isn't an option. Too bad--I'm making it one. And yes, I know what that means--that neither of you gets the golden key to survival. If I split myself between you both, I split whatever power I have. The sum may not even equal the whole. Patrick has explained it. But that's my choice. Live in Cainsville; hunt with the Cwn Annwn. Give enough power to both sides to buy you time while you figure out your own survival plan. Because I'm not it. I won't be it. Stick together--that was the lesson Gwynn and Arawn and Matilda taught us. That's what I'm applying here. Matilda divided her time between the fae and the Hunt. That's how it was. How it should have been. And how it will be. Even if it's not what either side really wants."
He rose and walked over, motioning for me to get up, and I braced for a lecture on how I had to choose.
"This is a choice," I said. "It's my choice."
He reached out and pulled me into a tight embrace. "Then it's the right one."
--