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“Okay,” I said. “Tell me about this pet of yours.”
Lila’s brows dipped, her expression all business now. She reached under her shirt and pulled out a folded paper. “I made a drawing.”
“Let’s see it.”
Small pink tongue peeking out between her teeth, she concentrated on carefully unfolding the paper on the desk. Adorable.
I switched my gaze to the sheet, expecting to see a mass of black crayon with red eyes and a drooling mouth or some similar monstrosity, and instead found something resembling a five-year-old’s rendition of a cow with long ears.
“Ahm,” I said. Maybe it was upside down? I turned the paper around, but Lila returned it to its original position with an imperious tug of her hands.
Okay, then.
I studied the blobs on the paper. At least it didn’t look dangerous? “Do you know what it is?”
“It’s Squibbit,” she answered with an implied duh.
“Ah…uh, squibbit?”
She tapped the drawing impatiently. “A squirrel with rabbit ears. Squibbit!”
“That’s not a cow?” I asked, amazed.
Lila’s mouth fell open in outrage. “Squibbit!”
“Okay, okay,” I said, fighting a grin. And Marta thought my drawings were bad. Hah! “Why do you think it’s missing? If you met it—”
“Squibbit,” she repeated obstinately.
“If you met Squibbit outside your home, maybe it just moved on,” I finished kindly.
She shook her head. “She’s my friend. She always comes for her food.” Suddenly, her expression broke down, and she stifled a sniff. “She hasn’t come in three days.”
I passed her a tissue. “Maybe she’s just taking a break? Give it more time.”
Lila blew her nose. “No. I found her ribbon collar on the floor. Something has happened to her. I know it!”
“Maybe one of the adults found her and relocated her?”
“No. Something’s wrong.” She looked up at me with renewed determination. “You have to help me find her. What if she’s gotten lost, or someone captured her?” Her lips wobbled. “What if she’s hurt?”
Or dead. But I wasn’t about to say that out loud. Besides, Fae creatures could be pretty sturdy—I had reason to know.
“I’m sure Squibbit is safe.” It was a miracle I managed to keep a straight face saying that name.
“But what if she’s not?” Lila insisted.
“No point in assuming the worst,” I told her sagely as I stood. “I’ll figure this out. For now, let’s get you back.”
She scowled up at me. “I’m going with you.”
Uhh. “No, you aren’t.”
She crossed her arms and hooked her feet around the chair’s legs. “I am!”
There was no way I was taking her around with me. It’d be hard enough to keep myself out of danger; I didn’t want to endanger a precious Fae child on top of that. Things could get dicey outside Fae lords’ mansions and their protected patches of land.
Plus, what if someone from another faction found her and used her as leverage?
