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The room felt a degree cooler—the change so slight it was barely noticeable. But the Paragon must have picked up on it, too, because he stood up. “Understood. Thank you, Noctus, for the use of your resources. Chloe appreciates it, as do I.”
“Yes, thank you so much.” I bowed my head to avoid looking at Noctus, then started marching toward the door, sensing now was the time to leave.
Charon opened the door for me and stepped into the hallway first, but Aristide remained in the drawing room, his head cocked as he listened.
Ker wasn’t in the hallway, but I did feel the furry sensation of werewolf magic, so she was probably changing in a nearby room.
I have to get out of here, I don’t think I can face her. She’s too kind.
Charon waited until the Paragon passed through—the fae paused in the doorframe to wave at Noctus before he charged after me—then closed the door.
“Where can you be reached?” Charon asked as he led the way back to the gold gate.
“I have an apartment, so you’d have to drop the translations off at the main office. Otherwise, I work at the Book Nookery book store, so it might be easiest to drop everything off there,” I said, knowing Charon knew exactly where I lived and worked. “My boss knows what I am, and that I’m working with the Curia Cloisters to find out more about my heritage. The material would be safer there, too.”
“Book Nookery,” Charon repeated. “Very well. It will be sent there. Good day to you, Paragon, Miss Chloe.”
Charon opened the golden gate, and practically shooed the Paragon and me through the portal so we stepped out onto the cement front porch of the Cape Cod.
“Well, that went marvelously!” the Paragon declared as he scuttled down the sidewalk.
“Marvelous?” I repeated, incredulous.
“Oh yes,” the Paragon said. “I was fully prepared to beg and cry and have to come back at least twice more before he shared any resources with you. He’s an elf, but he’s as stubborn as a goat.” He glanced back at the Cape Cod, then led the way to the Drake SUV that was parked on the street. “It’s astounding, really, that he was so affable today. Something good must have happened to him. Unless maybe he really does like shadows?”
“Is that possible?” I asked. “He’s an elf.”
The Paragon squinted in the afternoon sun. “Maybe, but he’s unusual—he’s got a conscience, and the legacy to prove it.”
I blinked in surprise.What, exactly, is that supposed to mean?
“Come along, then. We’ll drop you off home. And congratulations on your good luck,” the Paragon added. “Those translations will be your best resource—the elves wereobsessedwith shadows. If anyone remembers them, it would be the elves.”
I opened the back door of the SUV as I planned how to drive a very necessary point home. “Yes, except they’re all gone.”
“Yes,” the Paragon sighed. “They are.”
Reluctantly, I glanced back at the home I’d vowed to avoid. I thought I saw something move in the window that was connected to Noctus’s office, but I couldn’t be sure.
I miss having a place among supernaturals—a place with them. But how could I make it happen? Should I become a vampire blood donor and hope that the vampire would be willing to lengthen my life, and then when my family gets old I disappear myself? But that’ll be decades…
“Chloe?”
“Yes, sorry.” I hopped in the car, closing the door behind me, and focused on the Paragon, forcibly dragging my mind from thoughts of Noctus, and his friends.
Chapter Nine
Noctus
The day Chloe and the Paragon visited, I knew Aristide was going to be intolerable and Charon would barely be any better. So, as soon as they left, I arranged to do a barrier patrol and eliminate a few monsters that had attempted to intrude on Calor’s boundaries to take myself out of the house.
I stayed out until the late evening, and then loitered in the shadows of the town—hiding, because if my people knew I was present they’d stiffen up, bow at me, and generally be afraid.
It wasn’t until after midnight—when I knew Aristide would be busy with his podcasts and Charon would have stopped working—that I wandered up to the highest level of the town.
I sat on a stone bench near one of the back door entrances to my villa, to all appearances watching the way the starlight struck the waters of the gurgling phoenix fountain that my bench was planted in front of.
In reality I was enjoying the silence—since seeing Chloe wild magic had, mercifully, shut up. Though I was betting the effect was temporary since already I heard the occasional chirp and note.
