Chapter 3 #2
He took a deep breath. “The investigator has confirmed that there has been no contact between Juliette and anyone who fits Connor’s description, but we already know he is in Faerie, hopefully in my mother’s custody, and Juliette is currently consumed with making arrangements for an important party.
” He nodded towards the invitation I had thrown across the table.
“If our luck holds, this will be the end of Juliette’s involvement in our affairs.
But we will keep an eye on her, just in case. ”
“Good.” I nodded. “We can’t underestimate her.
She might not be magical, but Juliette could destroy the whole world if she set her mind to it.
It’s a shame she chooses to focus on petty, selfish things like gossip and getting laid.
” My eyes fell on her charity ball invite again.
“But to give her credit, she raises millions of dollars for that charity of hers.” A twinge of guilt pricked me.
“I’ll send a donation along with Bart. He’s going.
Everyone goes. It’s the highlight of the San Francisco social scene. ”
Cecil slipped a plate in front of me. A pile of pancakes, four deep, covered in butter and maple syrup. The smell was divine. “Thanks, Cecil.”
He placed an even bigger plate in front of Donovan, a stack of eight syrup-drizzled pancakes with a side of crispy bacon. Donovan picked up his knife and fork and attacked the pancakes like they were his enemy, devouring them with obvious relish.
I loved watching Donovan eat. The skillful way he flipped his knife and sliced, the firm, confident stab of the fork. The shape of his mouth as he opened it, the line of his jaw as he chewed. Who would have thought watching someone eat pancakes would be so damned erotic?
I turned back to my stack of mail between bites, trying to distract myself. The other thick card caught my attention, so I pulled it out and flipped it. I recognized the return address—care of Hyacinth Hottits, Karaoke Cove, San Francisco. “Huh.”
Donovan chewed and swallowed. “Who is it from?”
I ripped open the envelope and scanned the wrinkled, water-stained card, and smiled.
“It’s not from Hyacinth. It’s from the sea witch.
” I read the note out loud. “Thanks for everything and sorry for trying to eat you. If you need anything, let me know. In love and sisterhood, Jengrakenzlore.” I let out a giggle.
“Last I heard, the mermaids were all trying to pretend I didn’t exist. I wonder what brought that on? ”
“Ooh, I can answer that one,” Cecil trotted over with more syrup.
“I heard some gossip from a mer fishmonger at the market this morning while I was picking up some salmon. Apparently, the sea witch got attacked the other day by a mob of angry mermen, who tried to overthrow her and take the siren spark stone.”
I blinked. “But I closed their spark stone.”
“Maybe they didn’t know that. Maybe they just wanted her gone. Whatever the reason, the sea witch is reportedly furious about being attacked by mermen. She fought them all off, left her cave, and is now scheduling lectures on the evils of patriarchy at the local Mer University.”
I opened my mouth and shut it again. Then, I opened it. “Oh.”
Donovan let out a snort, his mouth still full of pancake. “You made an impact on her.”
“Well…” I cringed a little. “I can’t really take credit for it. I thought the whole thing was a hallucination. I was just empathizing with her so I could hurry things along and get back to work.”
Donovan’s eyes were warm. “Yet you navigated the situation with patience, wisdom, and grace and succeeded in protecting a powerful spark stone from my brother. Even though she tried to eat us afterwards, the sea witch has obviously realized you were right about everything.”
A warm glow of pride filled my chest. “Well, this is good news. It’s nice to know we have powerful allies, just in case Connor escapes your mom and comes back to the Middle World.”
“We have respite to devise a plan and summon our allies, if we need to.” Donovan paused his attack on his breakfast for a second.
“My emissary has alerted my father’s men, so if my mother is arrogant enough not to see fit to detain Connor, I know the King Consort will do it.
As soon as the gateway can be opened wide enough, I will return to the Upper World to make sure.
” He stabbed another pancake with his fork and threw it into his mouth.
Instead of being comforted, a tingle of apprehension ran through me. “Connor was headed to your castle to tell the Queen you were dead and claim the heirdom, and, following that, he was going to take command of your army. Are we sure that he didn’t do any of that?”
Donovan chewed and swallowed. “He would not have been able to. I am alive and well. Even if Connor attempted to deceive my mother with news of my death and she believed it, royal protocol dictates that it must be properly confirmed before succession is granted. She would have already sent her advisers to find witnesses to confirm his story, and I expect they will come as soon as the gateways are wide enough. Furthermore, without the evidence of a dead body, she would have mages check the death rolls in the Under before handing the heirdom to Connor.” He stabbed another pancake.
“And even if she does declare him heir, it means nothing. In an hour or two, they will see I am alive.”
I paused for a second. “You’ve sent messages telling them to detain Connor. But nobody has sent any messages to ask if you’re alive or not?”
His mouth was full, so he shook his head. “Either Connor did not approach the throne with news of my death and simply ran, or he did announce my death, and the Queen already knows my name is not on the rolls, and my brother is now languishing in the dungeons.”
I frowned. “But you haven’t heard anything? That’s a little suspicious, don’t you think?”
Donovan met my eyes, a slight smile on his face.
“Do not mistake my lack of alarm for complacency, Chosen. I, too, am concerned as to what Connor might do next if he remains at large. But I confess, now that we are together and we have, er, firmly exercised our bonds, and I am eating delicious fried bread smothered with tree blood, I find myself experiencing a kind of joy I thought I would never be lucky enough to savor. So, I am following Lady Bronwyn’s advice, and I am attempting to stay in the moment.
Although…” His eyes darkened. “My mind keeps returning to the past. I keep thinking of the various entangled positions from last night.”
“Me too.” Cecil clopped back to the table with another coffee for me. “I loved that backwards cowgirl thing you did, Chosen.”
I picked up my top pancake and threw it at him. “Cecil!”
He dodged the pancake. It smacked into the fridge and slid down, leaving a sparkly trail of syrup behind. “I’m only kidding. Lighten up, girlfriend. If I had your mobility, I’d be showing it off, too.”
I took a deep breath in, both trying to keep my temper under control and to also clear the blush from my cheeks. “Cecil, I’m only going to say this once, so listen up. You are not allowed in my room during, er, our private moments. Do you understand?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Is that an order, Chosen?”
“No. It’s a firm request. You can obey, or you can disregard.”
His eyes lit up.
“But if you do not acquiesce to my firm request, you’ll find Violet redecorated in a nineties goth-witch aesthetic.”
He gasped and put a hoof to his chest, clutching imaginary pearls. “You wouldn’t.”
“Purple everywhere,” I said, waving my hands. “Feature walls. Crystals on every surface. Futons with fuzzy comforters, gold stars, tapestries with the Desiderata poem embroidered on them on every wall.”
“You are such a bitch,” he muttered under his breath.
“Speaking of decor...” I paused and checked the time on my phone. I’d have to leave very soon if I was to get to the office two hours early. “I like what you did with Audrina’s quarters.”
Cecil shimmied back to the table with more pancakes for Donovan. “You didn’t go into her room, did you?”
“No. I listened outside the door for a minute, though.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“I had to devise some extra security features for her, oh great leader. I didn’t want you to go stumbling around her rooms before I explained them to you.”
I squinted at him. “What kind of security features?”
He dumped the frying pan in the sink and started spraying it with the hose. “My purpose in this life is to anticipate your needs, provide comfort and, most importantly, safety. And Audrina is not supposed to be here. Her presence represents a danger to you.”
I nodded once, understanding. “From her mother.”
“No, you fool.” Cecil flicked off the tap with his hooves. “From Martina. You could slap the makeup off Jessica’s face with both hands tied behind your back. But your lawyer will beat you to death with her shabby, old leather briefcase when she finds out you broke Audrina out of the psych ward.”
I waved my hand. “I already threw myself on that sword. I called Martina and told her everything this morning.”
I wasn’t planning on keeping anything from Martina anymore; no detail was off the table.
I’d already made the mistake of not stressing just how abusive Jessica was to her daughter.
If Martina had known everything, she might have anticipated Jessica doing something awful to Audrina in retaliation, and she wouldn’t have filed for emancipation in the first place.
“Really? Oh.” Cecil shrugged. “Okay, you’re in danger from Audrina’s mummy, since you abducted her daughter. And the cops, if they come poking around again. We don’t want another rogue werewolf in a uniform fixating on you.”
Apparently, Martina was sorting out my Detective Striker problem, too, but didn’t have any news for me yet. “That’s a good point,” I said. “So, what security features have you put in?”