Leanansidhe looked at Lise, and a shadow crept into her voice, making it dark and ominous. "Darling, Ive seen whats been happening in the mortal realm. Unlike Oberon and Mab, who hide in their safe little courts, I know the reality pressing in on us from every side. The Iron fey are getting stronger. Theyre everywhere: in computers, crawling out of television screens, massing in factories. I have more exiles under my roof now than Ive had in the past century. Theyre terrified, unwilling to walk in the mortal realm any longer, because the Iron fey are tearing them apart."

" so you're doing this to stop the iron fey? "

Isieas head thuds loudly on the table as she goes limp.

Most of the 'minions' jump at the loud noise.

Leanansidhe paused, and nothing could be heard except the faint skittering of things unseen in the pressing darkness.

"If Summer and Winter go to war, and the Iron fey attack, there will be nothing left. If the Iron fey win, the Nevernever will become uninhabitable. I dont know what that will do to the Between, but Im sure it will be quite fatal for me. So you see, darling," Leanansidhe said, taking a sip of wine, "it would be advantageous for me to help you. And since I have eyes and ears everywhere within the mortal realm, it would be prudent of you to accept."

Ironhorse shifted, then spoke for the first time. To his credit, he tried to keep his voice down, but even then it echoed around the room. "YOUR OFFER IS APPRECIATED," he rumbled, "BUT WE ALREADY KNOW WHERE THE SCEPTER IS LOCATED."

"Do you now?" Leanansidhe shot him a vicious smile. "Where?"

"SILICON VALLEY."

"Lovely. Where in Silicon Valley, pet?"

A pause. "I DO NOT--"

"And how do you plan on getting to the scepter once you find it, darling? Walk in the front door?"

Ironhorse glowered at her. "I WILL FIND A WAY."

"I see." Leanansidhe gave him a scornful look. "Well, let me tell you what I know about Silicon Valley, pet, so the princess has an idea of what shes up against. And once her sister wakes, she'll be able to warn her, as well. Its the gremlins spawning ground. You know, those nasty little things that crawl out of computers and other machines. There are literally thousands of them down there, perhaps hundreds of thousands, as well as some very powerful Iron fey who would turn you into bloody strips as soon as look at you. You go down there without a plan, darling, and youre walking into a death trap. Besides, youre already too late." Leanansidhe snapped her fingers, holding out her glass for more wine. "Ive been keeping tabs on the scepters movements ever since I heard it was stolen. It was being held in a large office building in San Jose, but my spies tell me its been moved. Apparently, someone already tried to get in and steal it back, but didnt quite succeed. Now, the building has been cleared out, and the scepter is gone."

she sighed. " where is it now? "

Shes bleeding all over the table.

"I'm not sure. Let my people search the valley. I know a sluah who is simply fabulous at finding things that dont want to be found. Ive sent for him today. In the meantime, I have all my minions scouring the streets, keeping their heads down and their ears to the ground. Theyll turn up something, eventually."

" So we just wait? "

Its quite a bit of blood. Thats not going to be fun to clean.

Leanansidhe smiled and blew me a smoke rabbit. "I suggest you get comfortable, darling." It wasnt a request.


Well, Leanansidhe wasn't the one who was going to have to clean it up, so she wasn't exactly too worried about it.