I lifted my head to gape at him.
“Faeries snowboard?” my dad asked.
“Is this what you call it?” Gaheris shrugged. “We like to go fast.”
We all absorbed this information for a moment.
“Miri, why didn’t you tell us you were trying to escape?” my dad asked, shattering the silence.
“I didn’t want you to worry.” I stared down at my knees.
“We’re your parents, and that’s our job,” my dad said.
“I didn’t want you to try to storm Faerie and rescue me,” I tried again.
My dad looked at my mom.
“What?” she snapped, indignant. “You think I would try to storm Faerie and rescue her?”
My dad and I shared a look.
Sahir squeezed my thigh with his free hand, and I jumped. “We must continue on, Miriam. We need to update the Princeling, and I do not want to expose Gaheris and Lene to more of this world than is absolutely necessary.”
“Right.” I looked at my parents. “We’re going back to New York. Any chance you could drive us to the train?”
“I’ll take you into the city,” my dad said. He nudged my mom and nodded at my grandma, which meantCan you stay with your mother?
She nodded, unsubtly. Grandma had her hand in Sahir’s hair.
I stood and the faeries followed suit. I pressed my lips to the top of my grandma’s head. She looked a bit distraught that Sahir was leaving, until he knelt before her and kissed her hand, his hair falling in curtains around her knee.
My mom hugged me, then let me go.
We went as a group into the entryway.
My dad gestured to the front door, and I led the way outside toward the driveway. His car was parked in front of the garage.
“Lene, this is like the train, but smaller,” Sahir said. My dad unlocked the car. I gestured for Gaheris to get in the front—he had height advantage—and slid into the back seat with Lene and Sahir. I buckled her in between us. My dad reached around Gaheris, heedless of his fiery hair, and buckled him in, too.
Sahir buckled himself.
My dad backed out of the driveway, and Lene stuck her claws into my thigh, but when he put the car in drive, she relaxed slightly. “I can see forward,” she said, staring out the windshield. “It is like a horse without the wind.”
“Thank you for escorting us in your chariot,” Gaheris said to my dad, showing off his human class skills. “We are in your debt,” he added, like a faerie.
“It was selfish,” my dad said. “I wanted to spend more time with my daughter.” Our eyes met in the rearview mirror. “Are things okay otherwise, Miri? Is work getting any… easier?”
I looked away as we pulled onto the highway. “Jeff’s just a little grumpy,” I said, reluctant.
“The human man is insignificant and miserable,” Lene chimed in. “His requests are extraneous and unwarranted. His attitude is abysmal. He is rude without reason, and he is not even clever about it. Doctor Kitten and I sit through all of Miri’s meetings with her, and we find him unsatisfactory.”
The top of my dad’s cheek lifted as he smiled. “Do you and Doctor Kitten chat very often?” he asked.
“Oh, yes,” she said, growing animated. “We share many opinions. In fact, we are even contemplating starting our own business, a human invention called a cat café. He is the most sensible of all.”
She patted Sahir’s knee. “Please do not take offense, Sahir. I like you, though you lack sense.”
“Doctor Kitten is a very excellent cat,” Gaheris added, perhaps incorrectly interpreting my dad’s reaction to mean that everyone should heap praise on Doctor Kitten. I caught Sahir’s eye and shook my head so that he wouldn’t jump on the bandwagon, too.
