Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Clover blinked in surprise. She looked at Queen Celandine, whose smirk had faded into what looked like genuine confusion before she pulled a blank mask over her face.
“Windrose, I am not sure that I understand the question.” Clover cleared her throat. “A sentient parasite? Alchemy?”
She looked at Nick as though he might have answers. He opened his mouth, the part of him that loved explaining alchemy warring with the part of him that knew giving the fae anything was a bad idea.
“Sentient parasite. Sticking to people in San Amaro like it’s made of glue. I need to know how you did it and how to stop it. Why would be important, too, but let’s stick with the important things for now.” Parker was glaring, his eyes as incisive as razor blades.
Clover blinked, Parker’s explanation seeming to confuse her more than anything else. “Is this in the escape room? Someone has done something to my escape room?”
Her voice went up, alarmed at the turn of events.
“Why don’t you tell us about the escape room?” Nick asked.
“One of my previous clients suggested that I start one. They said it would be a good way to make money in the human realm and to truly see what humans are like when backed into a corner.” Clover’s lips curled up.
“They were not wrong. I greatly enjoy watching the videos when I am allowed into the human realm.”
“Which is only during the Spring Court’s ascendancy, correct?” Parker asked sharply.
“Of course, Windrose!” Clover gestured to the queen. “When it is Queen Celandine’s turn to rule, I join my fellows in the human realm. I learned a great deal about humans, watching them.”
“Well, someone tried to off one of your employees by giving them a sentient alchemy spell that almost blew her up. Do you have any idea who could do that?” Parker looked between Clover and the queen.
Clover blinked, her eyelashes almost exaggeratedly long.
She opened her mouth, then closed it. Finally, she said, “I know of no one who bears any of my employees ill will. Granted, I am only present for a short flicker of their year. And it is hard for me to keep track of their names or what they do when I am not around.”
“What about the name Cayo Durkavic?” Nick asked, the cop in him needing to steer them back on track. “Does that name ring any bells?”
Clover’s eyes lit up, and she smiled eagerly. “Yes, yes. Him, I know. He worked next door and was sent over to negotiate a treaty.”
From the way Clover’s eyes crinkled in the corners, Nick had the feeling that the “treaty” hadn’t gone as well for the yoga studio as it had for the fae. Granted, he doubted that the owner of the yoga studio had any idea she had been negotiating with a member of Queen Celandine’s court.
“What did the yoga studio want?” Nick asked.
“Space in our shared storage room, less noise. For us to stop using their parking.” Clover smirked.
“And did they get what they want, or did they find out that they should have gone to law school before negotiating with you?” Parker raised both eyebrows. “Maybe even clerked for the Supreme Court before even considering taking you on?”
“I gave them nothing. And in return, I acquired two of their parking spaces!” Clover giggled, clapping her hands in delight. “I even gained an obligation!”
“From who?” Nick asked, taking out his notepad and writing down a few details.
“Cayo, of course.” Her eyes went distant. “He wanted money, and I gave him the ability to obtain it.”
“By making him irresistible to older, rich women?” Parker asked suspiciously.
“Exactly!” Clover nodded. “Even after he paid off his debt, he still continued to come by.”
“For the illuminating company?” Parker asked dryly. “Or because he liked cutting off pieces of his own soul for a handful of silver?”
“No. Because he liked one of my other employees. The boy.” At Parker’s alarmed look, she clarified, “He was only twenty-five. A child! Still, he brought in plenty of business.”
“Do you remember his name?” Nick asked.
“No. No. He left. It made me sad, I think.” Clover’s lips firmed. “He left about the same time that Cayo stopped coming around. I suppose he was jealous. Humans get that way very easily, wouldn’t you say?”
This time, she reached out, stroking a finger up Nick’s face until he shivered, trying not to jerk back.
“What would your employee have to be jealous of?” Parker practically growled the words, his eyes snapping, focused entirely on the slide of Clover’s finger on Nick’s cheek.
“I offered to teach Cayo.” Clover blinked innocently, withdrawing her hand.
“You offered to teach a human?” Nick glanced at Parker, who seemed just as surprised. “I thought fae didn’t do that.”
“We don’t,” Celandine said severely, glaring at Clover unhappily.
“Well, he wasn’t really a human.” Clover looked down, her long ears drawn back, alarmed for the first time. Nick supposed it was different, having her monarch angry at her rather than annoying the Windrose at Celandine’s command.
“If he wasn’t a human, what was he?” Parker asked.
“Fae. At least partially. It ran in his blood. He easily took to the lessons; he was naturally doing some of the magic himself. I taught him the magic of attracting those he wanted to attract. For him, powerful, lonely women.” Clover looked back at her mistress.
“It was a good bargain. A debt where I paid nearly nothing and gained a great deal. Now that he has more money and power, I can call in the obligation.”
“That’s going to be real hard, unless you’ve learned how to talk to ghosts, too.” Parker leaned back, shrugging his shoulders at Celandine’s sharp look. “Durkavic is dead. He was the first one to fall victim to our sentient alchemy parasite.”
Celandine made a considering noise, and the slight twitch of her brows toward each other was enough to have Clover shrinking back, murmuring apologies.
“Was there any more information you needed?” Celandine asked.
“Yeah. How good did Durkavic get at his after school piano lessons?” Parker asked. “Good enough to catch all the rich widows he wanted?”
“Yes.” Clover nodded her head. “As I said, he was naturally doing much of the magic himself. I simply gave him the framework.”
Parker nodded, his shoulders lowering.
“And you don’t have the name for your employee?” Nick tapped his notepad. When Clover shook her head, he asked, “Is there anywhere that you would have written down the information? A W9?”
She shook her head again. Of course a fae wouldn’t be worried about tax laws.
“Wait.” Clover narrowed her eyes. “Learn? Was that his name? Frederick Learn?”
Nick closed his notepad, looking over at Parker.
“Well, Queen Celandine. The tea was delicious. I’m going to need a recipe on those sandwiches, as long as one of the ingredients wasn’t someone’s firstborn.” Parker stood. “Your assistance was useful and will be remembered.”
The queen rose gracefully, gesturing to the side, where vines slithered out of the ground, forming an oval. When they braided together, Nick could see the dark room they had come from on the other side.
“We wish you well, Windrose.” It was clearly a dismissal, but Parker hesitated.
“I probably won’t have time to alert the other monarchs, but you need to tell them that there is something wrong in the human realm, and unless they want it infecting their own people, they need to stay clear for the time being.”
“I will alert King Balsam, but King Hawthorne is ascendant, and I doubt he would take a warning from me in good faith.” Celandine tilted her head, eyebrows raised apologetically. “Perhaps that is news best heard from the Windrose.”
Parker’s shoulders went back, chin going up. “Yeah. Probably is.”
He led the way through the portal, and when it disappeared, his whole body seemed to collapse forward.
Nick caught him because Nick knew how to read the brittleness in Parker’s words, the sheer exhaustion he felt.
“How many items need to be on a to-do list before you accept that it’s become a to-do novel?” Parker’s words were muffled in Nick’s shoulder, and Nick rubbed a hand up his back.
“We know more information than we did when we left.”
Parker reared back, giving Nick an incredulous look. “Really? Because I would say we’re batting zero here. Lots of pitches, lots of opportunity, the hitter has officially struck out. Call the Guinness Book of World Records—worst baseball game ever.”
“We know that Durkavic was part fae, and we now know why he might have been visiting the smoke shop if his old friend worked there. We also know that the fae weren’t behind this.
” Nick listed what he remembered, part of his mind focused on the facts rather than the pure scream of terror he had felt.
“Do we know that? All I know is that Celandine isn’t behind it, or she’s a really good actress, which I have suspected for a while.” Parker leaned back, some of himself coming into his expression. “Not, like, Cate Blanchett good. But I think she could still get an Oscar for Best Supporting.”
“When you told them what the spell was, neither one of them showed any recognition.” Nick waited for Parker to nod. “So, if it was something that the fae could do, even if they weren’t doing it, one of them probably would have known what you were talking about. Right?”
“Maybe,” Parker gave in.
“And”—Nick ticked off his fingers—“the Spring Court is the only connection we found between the case and the fae. Meaning, if it’s not them, it’s probably not any of the courts.”
“That’s a lot of ifs in there,” Parker said. “With the fae, we might not see the connection yet. Or it could be an obligation that’s twenty years old. We don’t know.”
Someone knocked on the door, and Nick disengaged the circle he’d used to lock it, opening it for Zahide.
She looked between them. “I hope you got what you needed. They want you back at the station.”