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“In that case…” Joy straightened up and smiled at Noctus. “Perhaps in a month or two, I will make the move. I’ll have to decide if I want to break the lease or find a subleaser.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Noctus said. “I own the building. I’ll let you out of the lease.”
I choked on my cabbage roll. “What?”
Noctus tapped a finger on the stem of his crystal wine glass. “Didn’t I tell you? I bought it when you were staying here.”
“Whywould you do that?!”
“Because it badly needed a security upgrade since the tracker was on your tail, and I knew the original owner wouldn’t be open to the suggestion,” Noctus said. “It’s just as well. When we go public, my people won’t be forced to live in Calor anymore, but I’d need to offer an equally safe and secure alternative.”
I almost stood up in my shock. “Wait, you own it! That’s how you got in when you brought me home from the pet shelter!”
“Indeed,” Noctus said.
“What did I tell you, Pat? A rich Legolas,” Joy muttered.
Pat didn’t acknowledge Joy’s observation, but he did look at Noctus. “Unlike my sisters, I’ll have to stay where I’m at.” He awkwardly stared at the butter—which had been sculpted into a flower shape and drizzled with honey. “As much as I complained when I first moved, having an apartment close to work has been a huge advantage. But, thank you for the offer.”
“Of course,” Noctus said.
“You’ll just have to visit lots,” Ker said from farther down the table. “The elves have all kinds of fun festivals you don’t want to miss!”
The scent of the rose bush behind me tickled my nose as I took a thick slice of what I recognized from my previous stay as elven sweet bread.
“Chloe, don’t you want any chicken kebobs?” Joy asked. “They’re amazing, and I don’t think you’ve tried them.”
“Sure, I’ll take a skewer, thanks.” I took the plate she passed and added a marinated chicken kabob to my plate.
“Finally got over your avoidance, hmm?” Aristide lifted his wine cup of blood and smiled enigmatically.
“Her what?” Pat asked blankly.
“I suppose she hasn’t had time to tell you.” Aristide’s chuckle worried me. “When Noctus first adopted her and didn’t know she wasn’t a cat, forweeksall we fed her was roasted chicken.”
“Is that why you refused to eat chicken for several weeks after we first moved here, Chloe?” Joy asked.
“Yes,” I slowly said, half unwilling because I knew my siblings were going to rib me about this for weeks.
“It took us some time to realize she had a wider palate than we gave her credit for, considering she would not eat the cat food or raw meat the internet told us to offer,” Noctus said. “She nearly fell out of my arms in her exuberance when an elf child offered her a strawberry.”
Pat found this so funny, he made a honking noise.
I scowled at him. “It wasn’t funny. I didn’t even get any milk because they knew cats are lactose intolerant. I’m still bearing a grudge over that,Aristide!”
“I’d apologize, but if you had gotten sick, Noctus would have turned the entire villa upside down trying to cure you,” Aristide said. “And that sounds messy.”
Pat nodded in approval. “Diligent pet ownership is important.”
Desperate to change the flow of the conversation, I cleared my throat. “Hey, Pat, were you able to close the case on the tracker in a way that the Curia Cloisters accepted?” I asked.
“The guy is dead,” Pat said. “There’s not much they can do.”
Aristide snorted into his wine glass of blood at the observation.
“It’s good timing, actually,” Pat said. “The Regional Committee of Magic isn’t happy about all the artifact incidents, so we’ve been wanting to put more resources on the issue. This will free some up.”
“It’ll freeyouup,” Joy corrected.
