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…and the fae empress was wearing jeans, farm boots, and a blue flannel shirt, and had dark bags under her eyes. She clutched two large Karuba coffees that I was pretty sure she must have bought at a Kwik Trip gas station—one in each hand.
“Hey!” Queen Leila smiled at me before taking a slurp from her coffees—or lattes? I couldn’t tell which. “You must be Chloe Anderson. I’m Leila, Queen of the Night Court.”
“Queen Leila, it’s an honor to meet you.” I bowed to the fae queen, who stopped guzzling her drink long enough to shake her head.
“Oh, formalities aren’t necessary. Believe me, it’s fine.” Leila gestured at me with one of her coffees. “We’re just so excited to talk with you—Paragon, if you take even asteptoward your tea cabinet I will smack you with so much paperwork you’ll have to get an office at the Cloisters.”
The Paragon had been scooting toward the kitchen space, but he guiltily twirled around at Leila’s growl. “Whatever do you mean, Queen Leila?” He cuddled Aphrodite against his chest, and the bald cat purred.
“I mean I’m not letting you drug your guest.”
The Paragon huffed. “We’ve been over this. My teas are notdrugged, they are sprinkled with a variety of charms that seek to help and aid a person!”
“Yeah, but that person isn’t necessarily the poor soul whodrinksthe tea.” Leila glared at the Paragon over the top of one of her drinks before taking a slug of it.
The Paragon sniffed. “You’ve been touchy ever since you came back from your most recent excursion to the other fae Courts in America. Was it because the golden eagle of the Mountain West Summer Court bestowed a fae kiss upon you after eating carrion?”
“I’m not touchy, I’m tired,” Leila said. “All the fae wordsmithing and politics is enough to drive a person insane. But!” The pretty queen straightened up and smiled at me. “This is an important meeting, not just because you’re a shadow, Chloe, but because I owe you my personal thanks for taking care of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts this summer. I didn’t know how much chaos they were causing, or I would have come back.” The slant of her smile shifted, tinging it with regret. “Thank you for taking care of Harnel and Darina. I’m so sorry for what they did to you and your siblings.”
“Um,” I said, wilting slightly under the intensity of Leila’s purple-y eyes. “You’re welcome?”
The Paragon must have sensed my discomfort. He propped Aphrodite against his side—she was a hefty cat, so his arms were probably starting to get tired—and made a noise in the back of this throat. “I see how it is,” he said. “I do so much for fae kind, and I don’t even get a thank you!”
Leila rolled her eyes. “That’s because you’re a fae, not a human, and I know Chloe won’t use my words against me. Now let’s get this chat started. I have a meeting with some of my fae lords in an hour to squelch a Court uprising against me.”
I widened my eyes at the statement, until Leila tapped one of her Karuba cups. “They’re trying to bring back the dratted Court ski trip—over my dead body. That trip is ridiculously expensive. The Court budget says: never!”
The Paragon nodded. “I see. In that case, let me just brew a pot of tea, and—”
“What,” Leila barked, “did I say about the tea?”
“You’re being rude and answering for my guest,” the Paragon said. “Chloe, don’t you want tea, personally selected by Aphrodite and brewed by…a machine I own?” The Paragon pointed at a glass teapot that sat on a special base and seemed to have a brewing basket—the tea version of a coffee maker.
“It’s charmed,” Leila warned me. “It’ll make you talk, or maybe make you goofy for an hour. I wouldn’t recommend it.”
I awkwardly shifted where I stood. “Actually, charms don’t work on me.”
Both the Paragon and the fae empress stared at me.
“Really?” the Paragon asked. “All charms?”
I nodded. “Healing magic is pretty much the only magic that affects me.”
Leila whistled. “Wow. Now that’s a neat trick.”
“Oh.” The Paragon drooped. I guess he really had wanted to charm me.
That’s not too surprising, based on what I saw of him at Noctus’s place.
The older fae abruptly straightened. “Well, it matters not. You are still a guest. Tea?”
I briefly rubbed my eyes—they were watering again from the strength of his glamour. “Yes, please. Thank you, Aphrodite, for picking out a tea.”
Aphrodite extended her two front paws at me, reaching for me.
The Paragon squawked and marched over to the cabinet by the kitchen area, muttering under his breath. “You capricious creature! How dare you be so willing to abandon me? Now, choose the proper tea for your new friend—and perhaps a cup for myself.”
“Mmert!”
