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The wriggling intensified.
Oooh. It was stuck!
Beaming at my impressive mental acuity, I grasped the little hand and pulled.
A kid of eight or nine popped free of the goo and landed at my feet. She scrambled up, dusting her brown linen pants and white shirt. Her hair was a dark midnight-blue, braided around her head, and her green eyes were bright with determination.
The black goo portal on the wall shrank out of existence, leaving gray cement behind.
“Hello,” the girl said in accented English, hands fisted on her hips. She gave my sneakers-jeans-hoodie ensemble a haughty look.
“Uh, hi.”
I had visited Faerie on many occasions and had encountered my fair share of Fae, but I had never seen one of their children. As far as I knew, they were extremely rare and very protected.
How had this one made it into my basement office?
“Did you open that goo-portal?” I asked, amazed. I almost wanted to poke her again, check if she was real.
The girl huffed.
“Do your parents know you’re here?”
She gave me a cutting what do you think look, and I was immediately reminded of Marta. The thought made me grin.
“What?” she demanded suspiciously.
“Nothing,” I said, my grin widening. “Want a snack?”
The girl’s eyes widened into saucers. “Human snacks?”
“You don’t get many of those in Fae, huh?”
Her head shook so violently I thought it was going to snap right off and fly through the door.
Speaking of which… I closed the door, turned the lock, and returned to my cheap desk and the equally cheap metal file cabinets stacked to the side. Whoever had used the office before me hadn’t really cared for comfort. Then again, I doubted they’d lasted long in here, and at least they’d left me the rainbow cat.
I opened one of the drawers and took out a chocolate bar. The huge, labyrinthine basement of the Hub was always cold, which made it perfect for saving money on a mini fridge.
The girl’s eyes followed the chocolate bar like it was the finest, most impressive artifact to ever grace the world of Fae.
“Sit.” I pointed at the visitor’s chair—a slightly uncomfortable thing I’d stolen from the neighboring office.
The girl plopped down with alacrity.
I sat across and held the bar just out of her reach. She tried to take it anyway, almost falling off the chair.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Lila.” She looked really vexed now, so I gave her the chocolate bar before she tried to put a spell on me.
She tore the packaging open and took a huge bite. Her eyes got so big and bright as the chocolate hit her taste buds that she entered anime territory.
Watching her eat her chocolate bar—tiny bites now to make it last longer because nobody had ever said the Fae weren’t smart—I wondered what to do. Should I take her to Lord Velei? But what if she belonged to a different Fae faction? The Fae loved to spend their time on political machinations and the occasional assassination attempt. A totally normal and healthy hobby, I had been told.
I didn’t think Lord Velei would harm a child, but I had no doubt he’d use her as a political pawn if he could. On the other hand, if someone else found her first, I didn’t know how they’d treat her. I had seen the inside of Fae jails, and they were nothing to write home about. Awful bathroom facilities, one star, would never visit again.
“I’m hiring you,” Lila said between bites.
