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“No shooting lawyers,” I said.
Ally stuck her tongue out. “Fine, I’ll send Tres to talk to them.”
I wasn’t sure which was worse. Send adraugr? Wave a gun? I suppose it was a toss-up. “We’ll discuss it, and Ally?”
“Mmmm?”
“Tres is missing time. Devolved a bit. Knows he was in Houston. Knew he was to attend my meeting with NOPD, but he cannot recallwhyhe knows.” I watched Ally’s expression grow darker.
“I could just kill Lydia! The trouble that woman created for my family—”
“Ally? You did kill Lydia,” I interrupted.
“I did, didn’t I? I shot Lydia. A lot.” Ally grinned. “No one messes with my family.” She shot a glance at the door where Iggy had gone. “I think that’s why I like Ignatius. He’s here to protect you, and you and Prince Eli are my new family.”
“Look up what you can on where Tres was,” I said, skirting right past her proclamation of family. “Call him. Find out what he knows. Track credit cards, and—”
“Boss! I know how to track people.” She rolled her eyes. “I was a society wife. I have connections all over.”
I turned back to packing.
I pulled out the frothy bit of lace and gauze from my bureau drawer. Like everything Ally added to my closet—or Eli added to the closet for me at his place—this was likely to have cost more than I ever spent on clothes. I made a point of holding it up so that Eli could see part of it.
“Panties to match,” Ally said off-hand.
Maybe I ought to be embarrassed to discuss lingerie with Ally. But neither witch nor fae was particularly repressed when it came to sex. Eli was private, but I figured that if he was uncomfortable with the conversation, he’d have left as Iggy had.
As Ally wandered off to book wherever it was that I’d be sleeping that night, Eli came over to join me as I packed.
“I find myself incredibly motivated to solve these problems,” Eli whispered as he stood behind me.
“Agreed.” I leaned back as his hands gripped my hips so hard that it reminded me that he was strong enough to toss me wherever he wanted me.
We stood for a moment, and then I grabbed the light blue lingerie, one of Eli’s shirts, and a pair of jeans. “Let me get changed, and we can hit the road.”
When I returned, Ally held out another piece of paper. “Boutique Hotel. Caters to high end clientele. I booked a suite since the boss keeps different hours.”
Eli took the note. “You are a gem at handling matters.”
Alice paused, blinked, and immediately hugged him. “You said something nice to me!”
He peeled her off him without frowning. “I shall not make it a habit of doing so if you accost me, Alice.”
She cleared her throat, but she sounded extra cheery as she said, “I texted the info to you, Boss.”
I opened my arms for the rest of the hug she wanted to give someone, and she squeezed me hard. “Ooof.”
Eli had my weapon bag in hand, leaving me with the overnight bag and a sword to carry. I glanced at Ally.
Feeling a little silly, I asked, “Will you be here or at home?”
“I’ll keep an eye on Ignatius.” She smiled at me in a way that should be irritating but wasn’t only because she was Alice. “And I’ll be careful. And I’ll watch out for Tres. He’s been super weird lately, and this explains why.”
“Check his holdings,” I told her.
“Already planning to.” Ally sighed.
I knew that they had a complex friendship, former classmates turned stepmother-stepson, but I thought he resented her. She was why he was dead, and yet she was the one who had my attention.
