From Dead to Worse

very disciplined vampire could behave when a fairy got within smelling distance. My fairy god-mother, Claudine, was terrified of being anywhere around a bloodsucker.
    “I can suppress my essence,” Niall said. “They can see me but not smell me. It’s a convenient magic. I can keep humans from even noticing me, as you have observed.”
    The way he said this let me know that he was not only very old and very powerful, but he was also very proud. “Did you send Claudine to me?” I said.
    “Yes. I hope she’s been of use. Only people of part-fae blood can have such a relationship with a fairy. I knew you needed her.”
    “Oh, yes, she’s saved my life,” I said. “She’s been wonderful.” She’d even taken me shopping. “Are all fairies as nice as Claudine, or as beautiful as her brother?”
    Claude, male stripper and now entrepreneur, was as handsome as a man could get, and he had the personality of a self-absorbed turnip.
    “Dear one,” Niall said, “we are all beautiful to humans; but some fairies are very nasty indeed.”
    Okay, here came the downside. I had a strong feeling that finding out I had a great-grandfather who was a full-blooded fairy was supposed to be good news, from Niall’s point of view—but that it wasn’t a completely iced cupcake. Now I would get the bad news.
    “You went many years without being found,” Niall said, “in part because that was what Fintan wanted.”
    “But he watched me?” I almost felt warmth in my heart at hearing that.
    “My son was remorseful that he’d condemned two children to the half-in, half-out existence he’d experienced as a fairy who wasn’t truly a fairy. I’m afraid the others of our race weren’t kind to him.” My great-grandfather’s gaze was steady. “I did my best to defend him, but it wasn’t enough. Fintan also found he wasn’t human enough to pass as human, at least not for more than a short time.”
    “You don’t look like this normally?” I asked, very curious.
    “No.” And just for a split second, I saw an almost blinding light, with Niall in the middle of it, beautiful and perfect. No wonder Einin had thought he was an angel.
    “Claudine said she was working her way up,” I said. “What does that mean?” I was floundering through this conversation. I felt like I’d been knocked down to my knees by all this information, and I was struggling to get to my emotional feet. I wasn’t having a very successful time doing it.
    “She shouldn’t have told you that,” Niall said. He debated with himself for a second or two before continuing. “Shifters are humans with a genetic twist, vampires are dead humans transformed into something different, but the fae have only a basic shape in common with humans. There are many kinds of fae—from the grotesque, like goblins, to the beautiful, like us.” He said this quite unself-consciously.
    “Are there angels?”
    “Angels are yet another form, and one which has undergone an almost complete transformation, physical and moral. It can take hundreds of years to become an angel.”
    Poor Claudine.
    “But enough about this,” Niall said. “I want to know about you. My son kept me from your father and your aunt, and then from their children. His death came too late for me to know your cousin Hadley. But now I can see you and touch you.” Which, incidentally, Niall was doing in a way that wasn’t exactly human: if his hand wasn’t holding mine, it was placed flat against my shoulder, or my back. This wasn’t exactly the way humans related, but it wasn’t hurting me. I wasn’t as freaked out as I might have been, since I’d noticed Claudine was very touchy-feely, too. Since I couldn’t get telepathic vibes from fairies, this much contact was tolerable. With a regular human being, I’d be bombarded with thoughts, since touch increased my sensitivity to telepathic contact.
    “Did Fintan have any other children or grandchildren?” I asked. It would be nice to have more family.
    “We’ll talk of that later,” Niall said, which sent up an immediate red flag. “Now that you know me a little,” he said, “please tell me what I can do for you.”
    “Why should you do anything for me?” I said. We’d had the genie conversation. I wasn’t going to revisit that.
    “I can tell that your life has been hard. Now that I am allowed to see you, let me help you in some way.”
    “You sent me Claudine. She’s been a big help,” I repeated. Without the crutch of my