can't break law

In the dark it was hard to tell, but I think his cheeks turned a few shades of color. It was actually kind of adorable. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Talking to the Miksani,” I said, or tried to say. To my intense surprise, what came out was, “Talking to prospective make-out partners.”
Carlos grimaced. “I’m serious.”
I tried to say, Miksani, but what came out was, “So am I.”
“Fine,” he said, “be that way.”
Why the hell would that be happening to me? Unless … it was a part of Winter Law.
The Winter Court of Faerie had an ironclad code of law laid out by Mab herself. It didn’t work like mortal law did. If you broke it, you didn’t get punished. You didn’t break it. Period. You were physically incapable of doing so. When Mab laid down the law, the beings of her Court followed it, whether they wanted to or not. They actually knew the law, on a subconscious level, but it took a real effort to summon it to your conscious mind. I took a slow breath and realized that any of the Hidden Peoples of the Winter Court were entitled to their privacy and could not be outed to the mortals or anyone else without their prior consent.
I let out a breath through my teeth and said, “It’s not personal. I can’t talk about it.”
He frowned at me for a moment and then said, “What about a trade?”
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?” I asked. “I like the way you think.”
“Wow,” he said, and now I was certain his cheeks were flaming. “Wow, Molly. That’s not … It isn’t … Could you please take this seriously for a minute?”
I smiled at him, and as I did, I realized that a trade changed everything with regard to the law. Bargains had to be balanced in the proper proportions and in similar coin. That, too, was Winter Law. If Carlos told me why he was present, I’d be free to say more about my purpose in kind.
“Deal,” I said.
“We got a report from Elaine Mallory through the Paranet,” Carlos said, watching the door to the Elbow Room. “Vague descriptions of a strange vibe and unusually odd activity here in Unalaska. People going missing, weird behavior, energy out of whack—that kind of thing. Someone had to check it out.”
“Huh,” I said.
“Your turn.”
“Mab sent me,” I said. “I’m here to collect on a debt.” I felt his eyes on me for a moment, and then he said,
“You’ re … Mab’s bagman?”
“Bagperson,” I said. “Though I think it’s more like a tax collector.”
“They’re just bagmen for the government,” he replied. “What happened? One of the Miksani piss Mab off?”
I lifted my eyebrows at him. “You know of them?”
“Duh. Wizard,” he said. “Jeez, Molly, give me a little credit.”
I found myself smiling at him. “It’s internal Winter Court business.”
He nodded. “It occurs to me that if there is a tribe of Fae here, they probably know a whole lot about strange things happening in their town.”
“That does seem reasonable,” I said.
“It seems like we both might benefit from mutual cooperation,” he said. “If I help you with your job, maybe you could help me with mine.”
Help from a mortal, on my first job? Mab wouldn’t like that.
On the other hand, I was pretty sure that when it came to me filling the role of the Winter Lady, Mab wasn’t going to like a lot of things I did. She might as well get used to it now.
“I think that could work out,” I said. “Provided you help me with my job first.”
“Molly,” he said, and put his hand on his chest. “You wound me. Do you think I’d welch on you?”
“Not if we do my job first,” I said sweetly. “You know Winter well enough by now to know that I’ll do what I say I will.”
“Yes,” he said simply. He offered me his hand and said, “Do we have a deal?”
I reached for his hand, but apparently bargains weren’t closed with handshakes under Winter Law. So I drew him toward me by his hand, leaned over, and placed a soft kiss on his mouth.
Suddenly there was nothing else in the world that mattered. Nothing at all. Just the soft heat of his lips on mine, the way he drew in a sudden, shocked breath, and then an abrupt ardor in returning the kiss. Something shuddered through me, a frisson of pleasure like the deep-toned toll of an enormous bell. The kiss was a symbol. Both parties had to agree to a kiss to make it happen like this one.
After a time, the kiss ended and my lips parted from his, just a little. I sat there panting, my eyes only half-open, focused on nothing. My heart was racing and sending bursts of lust running through my body that began to pool in my hips.
I wasn’t sure what the hell was happening to me exactly, but it felt incredibly … right.
That probably should have scared me a little.
Carlos opened his eyes, and they were absolutely aflame with intensity.
“We have a deal, wizard,” I whispered. Then I shivered and rose, stepping away from him before my mouth decided it needed to taste his again. “Let us begin.”


Brief Cases, Cold Case, Page 291-294