“And getting Morgan’s soul out of hock,” Gisele reminded her.
Fiona dropped her chip. “You made a Deal?” She turned to Luke accusingly. “You made her make a Deal?”
Morgan glared at Gisele.
“You told her the rest and not that part?” Gisele threw up her hands.
“It wasn’t Luke’s fault. I got trapped on the Infernal Plane and it was the only way back,” Morgan admitted reluctantly, bracing for the lecture.
But Fiona was motionless except for a few hard blinks.She said softly, “You didn’t trust me enough to tell me?”
Morgan looked away from her mother’s quiet devastation. “I’m working on it.”
“Is it,” her mother paused, searching for a question. “Is it timebound?”
Morgan shook her head.
“OK,” her mother said, slowly nodding, trying to absorb the information. For once in her life, Fiona seemed to be trying to follow her daughter’s lead. “We just need to make sure you stay alive until we solve some of the rest of this.” Fiona took a shaky breath, and then a steadier one. “Now. What are our advantages over Valefar?”
Grudgingly, Luke raised his hand.
“Good point,” Fiona said, sounding a little more confident. “We need to take advantage of the fact you’re here, and you’re basically invisible while you’re not actively casting.”
“Can you guarantee my safety? Some kind of immunity for cooperation?” Luke shot back. Morgan wanted that for him. Even if it meant he didn’t need her after.
“There’s no precedent for interplanar amnesty, but we have rules for protecting political refugees from this plane. I can’t make any guarantees, but I can try,” Fiona said honestly. She tapped her teeth thoughtfully. “So… what are your intentions toward my daughter?”
“Don’t answer that,” Morgan shot Luke a glance. She did want the answer, but not under these circumstances. She turned back to her mother. “Stop trying to use his nature against him. That’s between him and me. Also, if you try to pull out the pictures from the Penguin Incident, I’m kicking you out.”
“But the one with the fish was so cute,” Fiona protested. “Gisele, tell him she was cute.”
Gisele opened her mouth, but Morgan held up her hand. “Only if you reimburse her for a hundred bucks’ worth of squid sashimi.”
“I thought you didn’t like squid.”
“I hated squid. Now I hate squid even more. We’re here to try to stop a demon war that might end the world, not discuss my love life or feelings on seafood. How do we help the Shadow Council stop Valefar?”
“The way I see it,” Luke said slowly as he thought it out, “if Valefar is really making GreenField mirror Zabloom, then if we keep Brad from making his latest pivot announcement until the conference is in full swing, GreenField will need to move fast.”
“Fast enough that they have to summon their own demon to keep up?” Fiona said, looking mildly impressed.
“And that’s the evidence you need, right? So your Council can do something about them,” Luke said.
“Only works if they cast on the show floor, though,” Fiona said. “Maybe in the office. But if your guy goes home to make his calls, I’m going to have a lot more trouble getting the Council to move.”
She was sitting in her own apartment, watching her mother and her boyfriend conspire to fix her problem, and she didn’t enjoy feeling like she’d been sidelined. Again. Like every other time her mother had had anything to do with Morgan’s life. She tried to think of something she could contribute. “What if I asked Stavrula to ask them for a comment on the floor?”
“So they have to revise their product strategy?” Luke looked thoughtful.
“The only way we’re handling the shift from B2B software to B2C consumer electronics is with magic and giving Carter anulcer,” she pointed out. “We have to put enough time pressure on them that Hawk feels like he has to duck into a booth conference room or something to get immediate results.”
“Could work,” her mother said thoughtfully. “I’ll be able to get at least some of the Council fixers on the floor as backup.”
“The show tickets are more than a thousand bucks a head,” Morgan pointed out dryly.
Fiona smiled. “Oh, your old mother has her ways.”
“I’ll come, too,” Gisele said. “You need your own backup.”
