by Karen Lynch
“They are.” I bent low to look under the couch, but the drakkan wasn’t there. How the hell had he gotten past me? Standing, I swung my gaze in a wide circle. “Where did he go?”
Finch whistled and pointed to the kitchen. I swung in that direction, and it took me a moment to spot the drakkan squeezed into the narrow space between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling.
I walked into the kitchen to stare up at him. How on earth had he managed to get up there so fast without making a sound?
Grabbing the stepladder from the hall closet, I attempted to lure him down with some raw bacon. He sniffed it but refused to move. Abandoning that idea, I reached up to lift him down and was rewarded with two nipped fingers.
“Ouch!” Blood beaded on one fingertip, and I stuck my finger in my mouth as I glared up at him. Some bounty hunter I was. I couldn’t even capture a drakkan in my own apartment.
I climbed down from the ladder as the doorbell rang. Casting a resentful look at the little beast, I went to answer the door.
“Tennin,” I said when I opened the door. “I forgot you were coming by today.”
Behind me, a crash came from the kitchen. I spun to see the drakkan sitting on the counter, gobbling up the bacon I’d left out.
“I knew you liked bacon,” I yelled accusingly at him.
Tennin snickered. “Do I want to know why you have a young drakkan sitting on your kitchen counter?”
I turned to face the faerie. “He flew into my windshield last night and hurt his wing. I’m taking him in today to be sent home.”
“I think he might have other plans.” Tennin grinned at something over my shoulder.
I cast a look back at the kitchen in time to see the drakkan wedge himself on top of the cabinets again. Groaning, I stepped back. “Please, come in.”
Tennin’s laugh trailed off as he passed through the doorway. He lifted his hand, and a stream of his pale green magic flowed from his fingers.
“What is it?” I tensed, waiting for him to tell me he wasn’t strong enough to replace Conlan’s ward.
“I know why the faerie you hired couldn’t take down the old ward,” he said as he tested the magic protecting the apartment.
“Why?”
He dropped his hands and looked at me. “This is not Conlan’s magic. This ward was made by the same faerie who warded your parents at the hospital.”
Shock rippled through me. A faerie had gotten past Conlan’s ward and entered my home. Who is stronger than a member of the Unseelie royal guard?
I hadn’t realized I’d spoken my question aloud until Tennin answered it. “Someone with bluer blood than his.”
“A royal? Why would a royal faerie want to help my family?”
Tennin quirked an eyebrow.
“No.” I shook my head emphatically. “It wasn’t him.”
“Why not him? He’s one of the strongest of my kind, and he has a personal connection to you.”
“He had a connection to me, but he severed that, and I’ve made it crystal clear that I want nothing to do with him.”
Tennin shrugged. “Maybe he has other ideas.”
“And maybe this is Conlan’s ward. You haven’t been here since he created his.”
“Trust me, this ward was not made by Conlan,” Tennin said with a touch of swagger. “His blood might be a tad bluer than mine, but my magic is as strong as his.”
I stared at him. “Conlan is a royal?”
“The royal guards are always blue bloods. Their official title is prince, but they never use it. They’re lower royals, similar to an earl here,” he explained. “Most other royal faeries use their real titles in this realm, but the guards don’t want to be distracted by unwanted attention. I’m surprised you didn’t know that, having spent so much time with them.”
“They weren’t exactly forthcoming about certain things.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Now you know.”
A scraping sound came from behind me, and I turned to see the drakkan on the counter again, trying to swallow the keys I’d left there earlier.
“No!” I ran over and snatched the keys away from him. “Bad drakkan.”
Tennin snickered. “Nice pet but you better hide anything that will fit into his mouth.”
“He’s not staying.” I made a face as I grabbed a paper towel to clean the slimy keys. “The metal doesn’t hurt him?”
“Drakkan are not like other creatures from our realm. The fire in their belly protects them from just about everything.”
As if to illustrate his words, the drakkan burped, and a few sparks flew out along with a wisp of smoke.
I glanced nervously around at all the flammable things in the apartment. “The new ward didn’t remove my fire ward, did it?”
Tennin waved a hand in the air to test it. “You’re good.”
I walked back to him and hung the keys on the hook by the door as a new realization hit me. “You said Conlan’s blood is only a little bluer than yours. Does that make you a royal, too?”
He took a tiny bow. “Prince Tennin at your service, although no one calls me that.”
A prince. That explained why he was able to create a ward strong enough to keep Lukas’s men out until I’d let them in. “But you warned me to stay away from Lukas and his men.”
“I said they were dangerous, which they are when they need to be.”
I was a little dejected that Tennin, like all the other Court faeries I knew, seemed to have perfected the art of speaking around the truth. When I had asked Conlan if Lukas was in service to the crown, he’d vaguely replied that they all were. Lukas had once told me that Prince Vaerik owed me a debt of gratitude, and I’d had no idea he’d been referring to himself in the third person.
“You know, most human girls would be thrilled to know they were in the presence of Fae royalty. Your disappointment is most humbling.”
I laughed. “I’m sure you get your fair share of adoration.”
“I can’t complain, and I do get invited to the best parties.” He pretended to preen.
“Even though you’re a paparazzo?”
He shook his head like I’d said something amusing. “No one cares about that when you’re Fae royalty. Having any royal, even a lower prince like me, at a party is a status symbol.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that people invite you to increase their popularity?” I asked, annoyed on his behalf.
“Not really. I’m choosy about which ones to attend. In fact, I’m going to one tomorrow night.” He grinned. “The host is over-the-top eccentric, but there are always celebrities and politicians to eavesdrop on.”
“Eccentric, how?”
“He’s what you would call obsessed with faeries, and his homes are filled with things from our realm. At his estate in Italy, he even has a lake full of fish from Faerie. It’s his own little faerie world. A bit ridiculous, but he’s entertaining to be around.”
“He must be filthy rich.” I tried to imagine having that much money to throw away on a fantasy.
Tennin nodded. “He has enough money to buy his own country, but the one thing he wants can’t be bought.”
“And what is that?”
He leaned in conspiratorially. “To be Fae, of course. He’d give up his entire fortune to anyone who would change him, but no faerie will even attempt it. To do an unsanctioned conversion would be to risk banishment from Faerie, and banishment means death.”
“Princess Nerissa tried it with Jackson Chase.”
His smile dimmed. “Desperate people will do desperate things for love.”
“Do you know her?” I remembered hearing somewhere that Princess Nerissa was Unseelie, but there were hundreds of royals in each region.
“Yes,” he said grimly.
A shiver went through me, and I didn’t want to know what her punishment had been.
Tennin slapped his hands together. “Anyway, you look like you have your hands full here with your new pet. Unless you need something else from m
e, I’ll leave you to it.”
He turned to go as it struck me that there was something else he could help me with.
“Wait.”
He shot me a questioning look.
“I’m working on a job, and I’m wondering if you could tell me something about a particular Fae object.”
He hesitated. It was small, but I caught it. “Sure.”
“What can you tell me about the ke’tain?”
“The ke’tain?” He reached behind him and quickly shut the door. “How do you know about that?”
His reaction confirmed my suspicion that the ke’tain was a bigger deal than the Agency was letting on. He obviously didn’t know the bounty hunters had been informed about its disappearance. I filled him in and told him what little I knew about the artifact.
“How do they expect us to find it when they won’t tell us anything beyond what it looks like?” I grumbled. “Who had access to the ke’tain in the temple? Why would someone take it and bring it here? I can’t believe a faerie would steal something sacred to your people only to sell it to a human collector for money. There has to be more to it.”
Tennin stuck his hands into his pockets, looking uncomfortable. “This is something you should ask Prince Vaerik – Lukas – about. He can answer your questions better than I.”
“You know that’s not an option,” I said tightly.
He tried a different approach. “Whoever has the ke’tain went through a lot of trouble to obtain it, and they will not take lightly to anyone poking around. Is the bounty that important to you?”
“This isn’t about the money. I’m doing this to keep my parents safe.”
His head jerked back in surprise. “What do your parents have to do with it?”
I looked around for Finch and lowered my voice. “The Agency thinks whoever took the ke’tain also took my parents because they found out about it.”
“The Agency told you that?” Tennin asked in disbelief.
“In so many words. After a faerie tried to get to Mom and Dad at the hospital, I guessed it was connected to the ke’tain, and the agent I talked to didn’t deny it.”
He uttered a Fae word. “You didn’t think to tell me this before now? Are they okay?”
“Yes. Whoever it was couldn’t get past the ward, so Mom and Dad are safe for now. The only way I know to protect them is to find the ke’tain and turn it in. Then no one will have a reason to go after them.”
His eyes grew troubled. “Does Lukas know what you are up to?”
“Why? It has nothing to do with him.”
“Everything is Lukas’s business.”
I crossed my arms. “Then I’m sure the Agency has already told him everything he needs to know. And if he wants to know the name of the bounty hunters searching for the ke’tain, they will give him a list.”
Tennin didn’t look convinced.
“You don’t want to talk about the ke’tain, but can you at least tell me if the goddess’s temple is open to everyone or only certain people?” I asked hopefully. “That might help narrow down the search.”
Indecision played across his face before he finally said, “Any faerie can visit the temple, but the ke’tain itself is kept behind a powerful ward. It would take four or five strong faeries working together to get through it.”
“So, they would have to be Court faeries?”
He hesitated. “Yes.”
Like the Seelie royal guard. I kept that thought to myself. “So, basically, any Court faerie could have brought it to our realm, or they could have given it to a lower faerie to carry it for them. Which brings me to my other question. Why would someone steal the ke’tain in the first place?”
“I have asked myself that many times.”
I held back a groan of frustration. I was getting nowhere on this job, and I wondered if anyone else was having luck. I hoped so, for my parents’ sake.
Tennin’s phone rang, and he chuckled when he looked at the screen. “Ah, and there is Davian now. He wants to know if I’m coming solo or bringing a plus one. It’s his way of asking if I’m planning to go since I missed his last party.”
“Davian?”
He nodded. “Davian Woods, the tech magnate. Have you heard of him?”
“Who hasn’t?” Davian Woods became famous for reaching billionaire status at the tender age of twenty-five. At thirty-one, he now owned half of Silicon Valley, and he had been trying for years to convince Faerie to share their portal magic with our world. I’d always assumed Woods wanted to make money off the portals, but after hearing Tennin’s account of him, I suspected his real motive was to gain access to the realm he obsessed over. Someone with that much money and determination would probably do anything to get what he wanted.
Out of nowhere, a memory surfaced of a crumpled handwritten invitation on the floor of Lewis Tate’s office. A New Year’s Eve party invitation on expensive stationary signed with the initials DW.
Davian Woods.
Chapter 7
My mind whirled as the puzzle pieces snapped together.
The Agency had raided Lewis Tate’s house because they believed he might have the ke’tain. Lewis Tate knew a DW, who used expensive stationary and threw lavish parties. Davian Woods collected Fae objects and had the money to buy almost anything. Lewis Tate trafficked in the very things Davian would want.
Tennin snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Jesse?”
I blinked and realized I’d been staring blankly at him. “Did you go to Davian’s New Year’s Eve party?”
“I missed that one because I was in Faerie.” He gave me an inquisitive look. “What is brewing inside that head of yours?”
“Last night, the Agency raided the home of a black market dealer looking for the ke’tain. When I was in the dealer’s office, I saw –”
“Why were you at an Agency raid?” Tennin cut in.
“I was called in to catch the creatures he set free.” I jabbed a thumb in the direction of the drakkan. “Anyway, I was in the dealer’s office, and I found an invite for a New Year’s Eve party from someone named DW. I think it was Davian Woods, and the dealer sold him the ke’tain or was planning to.”
Tennin did not look surprised by my theory.
“You knew?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “Not about the dealer, but I do know Davian was investigated. All the top collectors of Fae culture were. He was clean.”
“Just because they didn’t find anything doesn’t mean he’s clean.” The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that I was onto something.
Tennin shrugged. “The Agency is very thorough about these things.”
“They also thought my parents were in cahoots with a goren dealer,” I reminded him. “They make mistakes.”
“True,” he said thoughtfully. “But do you think they will listen to you if you go to them with your suspicions?”
I scoffed. “No. Besides, Davian has to be wary of the Agency now. If he has something to hide, he’s definitely not going to let his guard down around them.” I scratched my chin. “I need to figure out how to talk to him, maybe see inside his home.”
Tennin let out a burst of laughter. “You don’t walk up to Davian Woods and introduce yourself. And forget getting into one of his homes. The only way into his sanctuary is by invitation.”
He was still talking when inspiration struck me. I grinned like the Cheshire Cat.
Tennin’s laughter died. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I figured out the perfect way to meet Davian Woods.” I let the words hang in the air between us.
“How?” He stared at me for a few seconds, and something like horror crossed his face. “No. Absolutely not.”
“You haven’t even heard my plan yet.”
He backed up a step with his hands raised. “Let’s leave it that way.”
“You don’t want to help me?” I gave him the same sad face Violet always used on me.
“It’s not
that I don’t want to. It’s that someone I have a healthy respect for would have my hide if I put you in a potentially dangerous situation.”
I waved a hand. “It’s a society party, not a drug den. And my dad won’t know if neither of us tells him.”
Tennin opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it once more. “I’m sorry.”
“I understand.” I pasted on a smile. “I can be resourceful. I’ll find a way to meet him on my own.”
Alarm flashed in his eyes. “What part of it’s too dangerous don’t you get?”
“What part of my parents’ lives depend on this don’t you get? I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them safe.”
He swore softly in English and hung his head. “I’m going to regret this.”
* * *
“Stop fidgeting.”
I let my hands fall away from the neckline of my dress and met Tennin’s eyes in the mirrored wall of the elevator.
He smiled and mouthed, “Relax.”
I returned his smile and took in our reflections. He wore black jeans paired with a black jacket, gray shirt, and tie. I wore a sleeveless, pale blue dress with a bateau neckline trimmed in delicate filigree that resembled white gold. The knee-length dress was made from soft Fae fabric, and when I moved, it subtly changed to different shades of blue.
One of Tennin’s stipulations for bringing me here tonight had been that he chose my outfit. I hadn’t known what to expect when he’d left my apartment, but he had returned a few hours later with the beautiful dress. I had protested until he’d pointed out that Davian Woods would recognize the dress as Fae-made, which would please the billionaire.
Violet had come over to help with my makeup and to wrangle my hair into a smooth knot at my nape. She’d insisted I leave my glasses at home since I wasn’t driving. A small sacrifice in the name of fashion, as she’d put it. She didn’t know my real reason for coming tonight, just that I was working on a job I couldn’t talk about.
The elevator stopped on the penthouse level. Tennin and I stepped out into a pink marble foyer with a single door on either end and a pair of open double doors facing us. From beyond the doors came strains of music and the murmur of many voices. I resisted the urge to adjust my dress one more time.