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I appreciated that he was looking out for my friend, but my mind was still blown with the whole he used to date the Lunar Queen thing. “Did you at least end it on good terms?” I couldn’t imagine a pissed-off, heartbroken fey helping us in any way.
“Of course we ended on good terms.” He tapped the steering wheel. “At least I think we did. It’s been a while.”
Well that sounded exactly not at all promising. He didn’t even remember how they’d ended things? “How long ago was this exactly?”
“It’s been a very, very long time. And I don’t think she was upset, but even if she was, Helen wouldn’t show it. She’s a queen. She can’t show weakness. Not even to me.”
So she could’ve been heartbroken, and he’d never have known. “Why would she help us? I mean—let’s say for a second that the breakup was totally amicable—isn’t she pissed about how I was on the news with Cosette? Again.”
“I doubt she’s thrilled her daughter was caught again, but Helen always believed it was only a matter of time before her people were exposed. We were in complete agreement on that. I don’t think she’d be the source of any unrest within the fey.” He glanced at me, with a bit of a sheepish shrug. At least he understood how weird this was for me. “I can feel your worry, but please don’t. We had a connection a while back. It started out sharing information and maintaining peace. The friendship eventually grew into more, but ultimately, I had to put my pack first and she had to put her court first. Neither appreciated our relationship. When unrest started, we cut off contact. Better to have no questions about what was happening or not.”
“So you would’ve kept seeing her if the pack approved?” I hated to ask, but a part of me needed to know.
“No. It would’ve ended one way or another. We didn’t suit.” Donovan was quiet for a second. “Plus, the pack was concerned—and rightfully so—that she was queen of the Lunar court.”
“Why would that matter?” We’d learned about the courts at St. Ailbe’s, but only a quick overview. There wasn’t a lot of information about them, other than who was in charge and the basic differences between each of the seven groups.
“You don’t know? And your good friend is princess of it?” Donovan gave me a long look that I didn’t appreciate.
“Why does it matter that she’s Lunar rather than Midnight or Gales?”
“Lunar has control over the moon. Our kind are tied to the moon. Some believe that the lunar fey have power over us.” He let that sink in for a second. “The pack didn’t like Helen because they thought she’d make me favor the fey, and force my wolves to do her court’s bidding. The pack will be slaves to no one.”
I had to pick my jaw up from the ground. Not literally. But holy shit. “Tessa’s always bitching about how bad the Weres are at sharing information, and for the first time, I agree with her. Why the hell wasn’t that covered in class during our section on the fey courts? It seems pretty damned important.”
“Ehm. Well, might be that not all Weres know. The Seven have kept that bit quiet. It wouldn’t sit right with most Weres and we’d prefer to avoid a pre-emptive war with the Lunar court. I thought that with you being friends with Cosette, you’d know about all of this.”
“No. I had no idea.” I went back through my time around Cosette. Had I felt like she was making me do anything? Had she forced me to be her friend?
I couldn’t recall anything like that. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn’t have to worry. Siding with the Weres and staying friends with us had hurt Cosette more than anyone. If anything, she’d gone out of her way to help me, not the other way around.
I felt better until I remembered how the unattached males at St. Ailbe’s had acted around her. They’d followed Cosette around like sick little puppies. I’d thought it was because she was gorgeous and smelled like sugar water in the moonlight, but maybe it was because she was a Lunar fey? “Can they? Control us?”
He shrugged. “Maybe a little bit if they want to and you’re open to it. For me, it was more like when you’re a little hungry and walk past a pizza place that smells amazing. Enticing. Helen would occasionally entice me to do something, but I still had my full head about me. I could decide if I wanted to give in to that desire or not. It gets trickier with the pack members who are fully submissive.”
I swallowed. “That’s good to know.” I was in the upper-middle when it came to power, but from now on, I’d keep my guard up around the Lunar fey. I was sure Cosette wouldn’t try to use her influence on me, but you never knew. “Do you think the queen will tell us anything?”
He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he thought. “Won’t know until I ask. Hopefully, she’ll give us a clue as to what we’re up against. I wasn’t certain this attack came from within the pack, but after Thomas’ death, I’m sure it did.”
“So, we find the mirror and get the queen on the line. Then, we somehow try to dig information out of her. And maybe—just maybe—she tells us how to get rid of the fey creature. And if we’re lucky, maybe she’ll know who from your pack has been buddy-buddy with her court and will be nice enough to tell us that, too?”
“Right.”
“Easy-peasy.” Yeah, right.
Donovan laughed. “Exactly.”
That left the harder problem. “Do you think it’s someone from your pack working with the fey beast?”
“I’m leaning that way, yes.”
Yeah. That was what I thought, too. “So, how do we find out who from your pack is responsible?”
“I’ve no idea.”
That wasn’t a good start. “Can you feel along the bonds? Anyone standing out to you?”
“There’s the problem. The bonds are a mess. Since John died, feels like everyone is angry at me. Some more than others, but rage is there in every tie. I can’t sort out who’s generally upset, who’s angry at me, and who’s so furious that they’d go to these lengths.”
