by Karen Lynch
“No,” Lukas said without hesitation. “Court faeries would never work for an elf.”
I frowned. “So, who are they, and what do they want?”
His face grew serious. “That is what I’d like to know.”
“I’m confused. Why do you even care about someone breaking into my place?” Just because he was suddenly being all hospitable and giving me breakfast, I was under no illusion he was concerned about my welfare.
He pushed away from the counter and came over to rest his hands on the breakfast bar. “The name your informant gave you led us to a person of interest in something we’ve been working on for the last six months. I don’t believe in coincidences, and I think your parents’ disappearance might be related.”
My breath caught. “How?”
“I don’t know yet, but if there is a connection, I’ll find it. And if your parents are alive, I’ll find them, too. You don’t need to do anything but give us information when we ask for it.”
My chest squeezed, and my body felt light as if a giant burden had been lifted from me. Ever since my parents had gone missing, I’d felt alone and adrift in a world I was struggling to navigate. I’d never been on my own before, and I knew I was in over my head here. I also knew Lukas wasn’t offering to help out of the goodness of his heart, but if he could find my parents, I didn’t care what his reasons were.
I cleared my throat. “Thank you. I’ll take any help you can give me, but I can’t sit back and do nothing. No offense, but I hardly know you, and this is my parents’ lives we’re talking about. You’d feel the same way if it were your family.”
His voice hardened. “You’re right. I would do anything to protect my family. Your devotion to yours is admirable, and you’re smart to not trust strangers. But you’re not experienced enough to track down a goren dealer on your own.”
“I know,” I admitted.
He nodded as if that settled everything. “This is what we’re going to do. We will go after the dealer, and you’ll tell us if you learn anything new. I’ll keep you updated on our progress.”
“But –”
“No buts. Don’t mistake my offer for kindness. This is as important to me as it is to you, and I won’t have you impeding my search. If it’s necessary, I will force you to stay here while we work, but I honestly don’t want to have you underfoot.”
My stomach lurched. I couldn’t stay here and leave Finch alone. And I’d go crazy if I was stuck here with all these scowling males, especially Faolin.
I nodded. “I’ll leave the goren dealer to you, but I’m still going to look for my parents.”
“I’ll allow that unless you get in the way of my search.”
“Gee, thanks.”
The door opened, and Faolin entered, followed by Conlan. Faolin, as expected, scowled at me as if my very existence was an affront. I thought about him trying unsuccessfully to get past our ward, and I couldn’t stop the small smirk that curved my lips. His eyes narrowed even more. I was crazy to provoke him, but I’d earned the right after what he’d put me through.
“You’re looking well this morning, Jesse,” Conlan said with his usual smile. “I trust you found the room comfortable.” He shot a sly glance at Lukas.
“The bed was okay.” I scrunched up my nose. “But that shirt I slept in had a funny smell. You might want to change your laundry detergent.” I didn’t look at Lukas, but Conlan’s grin told me my barb had hit its intended mark.
Sliding off the stool. I held out my hand. “Can I have my phone back? I’d really like to go home.”
Conlan pulled my phone from his pocket and came over to hand it to me. “As promised.”
“Faolin will follow you home to get a copy of your security footage,” Lukas announced from behind me.
I spun to face him. “I don’t think so.”
His nostrils flared. “Did you forget our agreement already?”
“Our agreement was that I give you information and let you go after the goren dealer. It does not include allowing him into my home.” I pointed over my shoulder at Faolin, as if there was any confusion about to whom I was referring.
Faolin strode angrily into my line of vision. “I’m the head of security here, and I will decide –”
“You’re in charge here, not at my home.” I drew the line at certain things, and this was one of them. Poor Finch would be traumatized after a few minutes in Faolin’s company. Our apartment had been his safe haven since the day he’d joined our family, and I wouldn’t let this bad-tempered faerie take that from him.
I met Lukas’s hard stare. “I’m grateful you’re going to help look for my parents, and I’ll give you anything you need if it will help us find them. But my brother’s been through too much already, and I’m trying really hard to keep our home life stable for him.”
Lukas crossed his arms. “What do you suggest then?”
I thought for a moment. “Conlan can come instead.” Out of all of them, he was the only one I trusted not to scare Finch out of his wits.
At first, I thought Lukas was going to refuse, but then he gave a curt nod. I could see he wasn’t happy about me setting the terms, but he seemed willing to let it go. I decided to get out of there before he changed his mind.
I looked at Conlan. “Is that okay with you?”
“Whatever you want, beautiful,” he said in a flirty way that made me roll my eyes.
“Does that really work on women, or are you being over-the-top for my benefit?”
Conlan’s cocky smile slipped a little, and Lukas made a sound that was suspiciously like a laugh.
I hadn’t meant to insult him, and I rushed to explain. “That came out wrong. I meant –”
“I know what you meant.” He shook his head and gave me a good-natured smile. “I’m not sure if my poor ego can survive you, Jesse James.”
“Right,” I drawled. It was a universally known truth that Court faeries enjoyed a healthy self-esteem. His ego was in no danger from me.
He held out an arm toward the door. “After you.”
I started forward, eager to be out of there, but I stopped and looked at Lukas. “Um… how should I contact you if I find something you might need to know?”
“Conlan put our contact numbers in your phone this morning and took your number,” he said.
“Of course, you did.” I clutched my phone, wondering what else they’d done with it. Had they gone through my photos and texts? My contacts? I tried to remember what could be on there. Thankfully, I hadn’t added Tennin’s number to my phone. I had put his address into my GPS app, but that only showed the street number, not the apartment number.
I exhaled in relief when Conlan and I exited the building. Conlan walked me to the Jeep and told me he would follow me in one of their vehicles. Faolin would have insisted we drive together, not trusting me out of his sight for a second. Those two were like night and day.
I made it to my building a minute ahead of Conlan. I was walking up the street when a silver Mercedes SUV approached with him behind the wheel. He waved, and I returned the gesture before I went to wait for him at the front entrance of the building. Not long after, he jogged toward me.
As soon as he reached me, I asked something I’d always wondered about. “If you guys can use portals to travel, why do you need cars?”
Amusement lit his eyes. “Portals require a lot of magic, and we’d drain ourselves quickly if we created one every time we wanted to go somewhere. We’ll use one for cross-city travel from time to time, but only out of the deepest necessity.”
Faeries weren’t all powerful and able to appear and disappear in the blink of an eye like they did in old books. But they all had some degree of magic, from the tiny pixies to the elegant Court Fae. Court faeries had the most magic, with royals being the strongest. The bluer the blood, the stronger the magic, which explained why they were the ruling class in their realm.
I wanted to ask Conlan more questions, such as what it was like passing betwee
n the realms, but I kept them to myself. He wasn’t here on a social call, and I needed to get upstairs and show Finch I was okay.”
We entered the building where Mrs. Russo was waiting for me. She studied Conlan with sharp eyes before looking at me. “Any word on your parents, Jesse?”
“Not yet, but we’re working on it.”
Two days after Mom and Dad went missing, the old woman had called to ask why my father hadn’t been down to fix her pipes. I’d had to let her and the other tenants know about my parents, and I’d assured them nothing would change in the building. I prayed I was right and that nothing broke. Dad handled the repairs here, and I had no clue about most of that stuff.
She swung her shrewd gaze back to Conlan. “And who might you be? I don’t remember seeing you here before.”
I smiled at her parental tone, touched she was trying to watch out for me while my parents were gone. “Mrs. Russo, this is Conlan. He’s helping me look for Mom and Dad.”
“Is that so?” She eyed him up and down. “I don’t know how your parents would feel about you having young men upstairs, but as long as he keeps his hands to himself, I suppose it’s okay.” She patted my arm and whispered, “I have an extra taser if you want it.”
I swallowed back a laugh. “Thanks, but I’m good.”
Mrs. Russo wasn’t the only person waiting for me. When I reached the third floor, I found Violet sitting at the top of the stairs. She jumped to her feet the second she saw me.
“Finally! I’ve been waiting here for…”
She trailed off as her gaze landed on Conlan behind me. Recognition filled her eyes, followed by shock. She knew I had no romantic interest in faeries. I could see the wheels turning in her mind as she tried to make sense of seeing Conlan and me together.
“Violet, you remember Conlan,” I said as I drew level with her.
She recovered her voice. “How could I forget?”
“Jesse’s ravishing blue-haired friend.” Conlan moved past me to take her hand. Lifting it to his lips, he pressed a light kiss to the back of it. “You are the unforgettable one.”
Violet giggled, swept away by his faerie charm. When he released her hand, she cradled it against her chest and batted her eyelashes at him. What on earth had he done to my self-assured – and very gay – best friend?
Behind Conlan, I made a face at her to let her know she was acting weird, even for her, and she gave me a sheepish look.
“Did we have plans?” I asked her.
Her brow furrowed. “Coffee, remember? I texted you yesterday, and you said to be here at nine.”
“Oh, that’s right.” I shot Conlan a condemning look, which he ignored. “Sorry, crazy night.”
“I bet.” Violet gave me her “you’ve got some explaining to do” look. “I can come back later if you need some time.”
“No, stay.” I went to my door and inserted my key in the lock. “Can you keep Conlan company while I check on Finch and deactivate the ward?”
“Sure.”
I opened the door and entered the apartment, which looked tiny now compared to the building Conlan shared with his friends. “Finch, I’m home.”
I barely made it to the living room when Finch appeared on the back of the couch and dived at me. I caught him easily and gently held his trembling body against my chest.
“It’s okay, Finch. I’m here.”
He let out a series of whistles that told me how upset he was, and it was another five minutes before he released his grip on my shirt and leaned back to look up at me.
Where were you? he signed. Why didn’t you come home?
My heart sank. “You didn’t hear the message I left last night?”
Yes. But you never stay out all night, and I was worried.
“I’m sorry. If I could have come home, I would have.” I set him down on the couch. “I have great news. Someone is going to help us look for Mom and Dad.”
His big eyes lit up. Hunters?
“Not quite. Faeries.”
His eyes grew round, and I smiled.
“I’ll explain it all later. One of them is outside with Violet, waiting to come in. He’s going to look at the video of those two faeries who tried to break in.”
Finch leaped off the couch and ran to his tree house. I waited until he was hidden from sight before I walked back to the door to recite the words that would allow Conlan through the ward. I’d never used the incantation before, and I hoped I did it correctly since there were no visual signs it had worked.
I opened the door and waved for Violet and Conlan to enter. “Come on in.”
Violet entered first, followed by Conlan. I let out a breath when he was able to pass through the ward.
I watched the faerie’s gaze sweep over my apartment, and I imagined how it must look to someone used to wealth and luxury. Not that I was ashamed of my home. I loved this apartment and the life I had here with my family.
“We have to go to the office to watch the security feed,” I told him. “This way.”
I led him to the office with Violet following. She stayed quiet, but I could tell she was bursting with questions.
I logged into the computer and brought up the clip I’d saved. The first faerie had barely appeared on the monitor when Conlan hissed a Fae word I didn’t understand. What I did understand was the tightening of his mouth and the intense way he was studying the two faeries.
“Do you know them?” I asked breathlessly.
“No. They’re from Seelie.” He pointed at the computer. “Can you make a copy of that for me?”
“Yes.” I dug around in the desk drawer until I found an empty flash drive. Mom had a dozen of them for some reason. As I inserted the drive to copy the file, Conlan took out his phone and made a call.
“You were right,” he said to the other person.
“Right about what?” I asked him.
Conlan kept talking into the phone. “What do you want to do?”
He listened for a minute, making sounds of agreement. “The ward is powerful. I tested it. I’ll take care of that. Okay. See you soon.” He ended the call and looked at me. “Lukas wants to add some extra security here, just a new ward that will alert us if there is trouble.”
“Jesse, who are those guys on the video,” Violet asked, sounding a little scared. “Did they try to break in here?”
“I’ll explain it later.” I ejected the flash drive and handed it to Conlan. “How will the new ward work? Will it cancel out the one we have now?”
“I’ll add it on top of the existing ward, and it will notify us if anyone tries to break in.”
“Will it notify me, too?”
Conlan shook his head. “No, but Lukas will let you know if we get an alert.”
“Okay. Do it.” I wasn’t going to turn down extra security. I’d do anything to keep Finch safe.
We left the office, and Violet and I watched as Conlan walked around the apartment, murmuring in Fae. Every time he stopped at a window or door it would light up briefly, and he would nod in satisfaction.
It took less than ten minutes for him to ward the entire apartment. When he was done, he turned to me. “My number is in your phone. Call me if you need anything, day or night.”
“I will. Thanks.”
I walked him to the door. He smiled at me, but his eyes were troubled. “Be careful when you go out, Jesse. Pay attention to your surroundings, especially at night. This city can be a dangerous place for a young woman, bounty hunter or not.”
“Oh, my heart!” Violet cried the moment the door closed behind Conlan. She grabbed my hand and dragged me to the couch. “Tell me everything, and don’t leave out one juicy detail.”
It took a while to bring her up to speed on everything that had happened since our visit to Teg’s. She already knew about the bounty hunting, but I hadn’t told her about the developments in the search for my parents. Her eyes grew wider with each mention of Lukas Rand and his men, and at one point, I had to reach over and put a
finger under her chin to close her mouth.
“Shut up! You slept in his bed?”
“You would focus in on that one detail.”
“Because it’s a very important detail. You stayed the night in a house with not one, but five male Court faeries. Do you know how many women would kill to be where you were last night? Not me, obviously, but thousands, no, millions of them.”
“I was a prisoner, not a guest. Lukas is only tolerating me because he thinks we can help each other. And Faolin would probably kill me and hide my body if Lukas let him. That guy is seriously demented. Conlan is the only one who is nice to me.”
Violet slumped. “That does put a damper on things.”
“You think?”
She toyed with the ends of her hair. “But they did offer to help you find your parents.”
“That’s the only thing that makes last night worthwhile.” I looked at Finch, who was sitting in his doorway listening to us. “Lukas and his men are powerful, and they know a lot of people. If anyone can find Mom and Dad, it’s them.”
“Great!” Violet picked up her phone and started typing into it. “I wonder if we can find anything about Lukas Rand.”
I leaned in to see her phone as she searched a popular site for Fae gossip. “I thought only royals made the gossip sites.”
“Mostly, but you saw Lukas with Victoria Hart. If he’s hanging with celebrities, he’s someone.” Her fingers flew over the screen. “Aha!”
She opened an article about a black-tie charity event at the Prince George Ballroom, and the lead photo was of Lukas and the sultry actress arriving at the gala.
“Yummy,” Violet breathed.
I poked her in the ribs. “Did you switch teams when I wasn’t looking?”
She snorted indelicately. “I’m looking at his date. Although, he’s hot, too.”
“He’s got the whole sexy, brooding Alpha male thing going on,” I admitted. “But you know those guys are only ideal in books. In real life, they’re stubborn, overbearing, and unfriendly.” And dangerous, I thought, but I didn’t want to voice that with Finch in the room.