Page 94 of Twist of Fate

Gomez sent Fizzwick to find Fred. The pixie shot through the doorway and returned moments later with Igneous, Balthazar, and Fred behind him. All three gargoyles stopped when they encountered the gathering around the bed.

Gomez held out the box. “Fred, my friend, Luke brought you a present.”

Fred approached and accepted it in both hands.

Luke showed him how to open the top. Fred removed the food first, examining each item before setting it carefully back inside. Then he found the brightly colored packet concealed beneath it. He opened the wrapping and withdrew a small plastic creature with oversized eyes and movable wings.

Fred stared at the toy.

The toy stared back.

Gomez leaned toward him. “Do you like it?”

Fred nodded once and held it against his chest.

“I knew you would.” Gomez looked around at the food, warriors, gargoyles, and pixies filling his chambers. “And this is why chicken nuggets are the cornerstone of modern civilization.”

Luke grinned and glanced toward Connal, who was examining the sandwich Luke had chosen for him as if it might be concealing a threat. He finally took a bite.

His expression revealed nothing.

Then he took another.

Luke hid his smile and reached for his own food.

Conversation filled the room as the bags emptied. Even Igneous accepted a fry after watching Balthazar consume three without suffering any obvious harm. Asterius attempted to trade half his sandwich for Fred’s toy and received a silent look severe enough to make him withdraw the offer.

The chamber doors opened. Tyson entered with Keir behind him—and stopped.

Two pixies flew past carrying a chicken nugget between them. A third rode on top, brandishing a fry like a sword and shouting directions neither of the others appeared to be following. They banked around Tyson, narrowly avoided Keir, and dove toward Gomez’s bed.

Tyson surveyed the wrappers, the sauce-covered pixies, the gargoyles sampling human food, and Asterius searching through an empty bag for anything the others might have missed.

He closed the door behind him with deliberate care.

“What,” he asked, “is happening?”

“Dinner,” Gomez said.

Tyson looked toward Connal as if expecting a translation.

Connal took another bite of his sandwich. “Do not involve me.”

Asterius grinned. “That means he likes it.”

“It means I do not wish to be involved.”

Luke glanced at the sandwich in Connal’s hand. “You’re eating the evidence.”

Connal gave him a look that promised retribution.

Luke smiled. “Thought so.”

Tyson appeared to decide that the argument posed no immediate danger to the realm. He crossed the chamber, sidestepping a falling fry, and stopped beside Luke.

“The king has received our report. He agrees that you should remain in the Unseelie until your next contact with Hale.”

“That’s the plan,” Luke said.