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Eli nodded once. “He’s been grumbling that I pretend to be a ‘commoner’ in this world.”
“Since the engagement?”
Eli laughed. “No, bonbon. Since I saw my future bride and decided to stay here. . .”
“Oh.”
“Oh, indeed.” Eli reached out and took my hand. He lifted it to his lips, brushed a kiss over my knuckles, and said, “I play the long game, Geneviève. All fae do.”
Awkwardly, I admitted, “I’m far too blunt for that. You realize that, right?”
“Oh, I do. I count on your impatience. It’s a beautiful thing.”
And to that, I had no reply. I wasn’t sure of much in life lately, but I was sure of Eli’s love.
Chapter Twenty
I marveledover how many more people were on the streets of Houston. We had tourists, of course, but this was a city withoutdraugr. It was what life had been like before we learned that there were things out there stronger, faster, and older.
“Geneviève.” Eli’s voice pulled me out of my reverie.
“Mmm?”
“Are you well?” He had that cautious tone again, the one that said there was a distinct possibility that I might lose my calm or that disaster was near.
“I feel like something happened that I missed.” It was an understatement. Something had happened. I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to know. Carefully, I said, “The fae do not lie, and I am confused . . . it doesn’t make sense.”
“Are you asking me to elucidate or would you prefer to remain unaware?”
And that was it, another moment of proof that he understood me.WasI asking?DidI want this clarity that I wasn’t grasping yet? I sighed. “After we deal with Madame Hebert. Right this moment, I can’t . . .”
“Of course, bonbon. Let us hunt.”
Eli relaxed infinitesimally, and I realized that I understood him as well as he understood me. To most people, that flicker of emotion in his eyes, the slight tension shift in his shoulders and the way his hands gripped the wheel differently would not be apparent.
Whatever I was missing was not insignificant.
“So,” I said with exaggerated emphasis. “Do you know where we’re headed?”
He gave a single nod, and we wove deeper into the city. The towering building made New Orleans look tiny and older. Here was sleek steel and glass, modern pinnacles jutting into the sky like teeth in a massive maw, and roads that were as layered as the threads in a blanket.
Steel.I paused several minutes later, realizing belatedly that I’d brought a faery to a steel city. “Are you in pain here?”
“I am royal, truffle.” Eli steered us through the maze of modern atrocities. “It is bearable.”
I was careful in my phrasing. “Will you be uncomfortable entering . . . those?”
As I pointed at the skyscrapers, Eli glanced at me and said, “I would.”
“Right. Well, I can go in and—"
“I know.” He pulled into a lot. “We live in New Orleans. I pass wrought iron each day. It requires re-energizing, but it can be managed. Your bubbly Renfield has booked us into an establishment that caters to such needs.”
A flicker of Eli’s mental image of Ally catching flies while giggling filtered into my mind, no doubt projected by him.
“Hush.” I tried not to laugh as he came around to my door and opened it.
“Nonetheless, if you do not object, I will leave you to handle this on your own if you are amenable.” Eli gave me a tight look, and I worried that he was in far more pain than he’d admitted. “I have other tasks I can manage from here.”
