COLD DAYS

Chapter One Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness,
monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, has unique ideas
regarding physical therapy. I woke up in softness. What
I probably should say was that I woke up in a soft bed. But . . .
that just doesnt convey how soft this bed was. You know those old
cartoons where people sleep on fluffy clouds? Those guys would
wake up screaming in pain if they got suckered into taking one of
those clouds after theyd been in Mabs bed. The fire in my
chest had finally begun to die away. The heavy wool lining
coating my thoughts seemed to have lightened up. When I blinked
my eyes open, they felt gummy, but I was able to lift my arm,
slowly, and wipe them clear. Id gone jogging on beaches with less
sand than was in my eyes. Man. Being mostly dead is hard on
a guy. I was in a bed. A bed the size of my old
apartment. The sheets were all perfectly white and smooth.
The bed was shrouded in drapes of more pure white, drifting on
gentle currents of cool air. The temperature was cold enough that
when I exhaled, my breath condensed, but I was comfortable
beneath the beds covering. The curtains around the bed
parted and a girl appeared. She was probably too young to
drink legally and she was one of the lovelier women Id ever seen
in person. High cheekbones, exotic almond-shaped eyes. Her skin
was a medium olive tone, her eyes an almost eerie shade of pale
green-gold. Her hair was pulled back into a simple tail, she wore
pale blue hospital scrubs, and she had no makeup at
all. Wow. Any woman who could wear that and still look that
good was a freaking goddess. Hello, she said, and smiled at
me. Maybe it was just the bed talking, but the smile and her
voice were even better than the rest of her. Hi, I said. My