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“In the form—cat or human—that she chooses,” Ms. Booker added, closing the verbal loophole I hadn’t considered.
“Deal,” Lord Linus said. “Now, for phone numbers…”
We exchanged numbers—it felt more than a little surreal as I entered the fae lord’s contact information into my contacts list—and then the fae lord turned to address the nobles.
“You heard the bargain,” he said. “Fetch something to purchase if you want a picture with her.”
The fae scattered, drifting off into the other rooms.
I watched Lord Linus with fascination. Fae were charming, but Lord Linus was charismatic to an extreme.
It’s too bad Ker can’t meet him. She’d turn him into a case study.
A few fae still milled around the foyer, perusing the rack of book related stickers, keychains, magnets, and pins with more interest than I would have imagined a fae noble would have for common merchandise.
Lord Linus pushed off the desk. “I’ll go help the night mares move the bus away from the street—wouldn’t want to upset your neighbors if it really is a nuisance,” he said.
“Night mares? The Night Court’s selected animal?” I asked, picturing the silvery and black unicorns that had become famous. “The ones that can create portals?”
“Yes,” Lord Linus said. “Two of them travel with the bus to transport us from location to location.”
“So you don’t even drive around in the bus?” I asked, confused.
“Goodness, no,” Lord Linus said. “Why waste hours of life when the night mares will make a portal in exchange for an apple or carrot? Besides, I’d never be willing to spend so many hours in an enclosed space with other nobles.” He winked, then strolled away, slipping through the door with a jingle of the bell.
Ms. Booker waited until the general volume of the Book Nookery lowered to a quiet murmur before speaking. “You handled that well.”
“Thank you,” I said. “But…you knew?”
“About the tours? No,” Ms. Booker said. “But I knew Lord Linus wanted to meet you. You are wondering why I didn’t warn you?”
I debated pretending otherwise, but I had a good relationship with my boss, and she’d been helpful to me in far more dangerous situations. “Yes.”
“As a shadow, you’re going to find you commend more respect and interest than you’ve previously encountered,” Ms. Booker said. “You need to learn how to navigate it. Lord Linus and the Night Court are relatively innocuous. If you bungled your meeting with them, at worst you’d be fielding fae popping up and bothering you across Magiford until you struck a new bargain with them.”
I pressed on my clipboard’s silver clip, opening and closing it. “I get it.”
Ms. Booker brushed at a nonexistent crease in her dress. “However?”
I glanced out at the gorgeous, well dressed fae who still populated the foyer. “I just want to protect my family. I didn’t really want…this.”
“Life rarely gives us what we want,” Ms. Booker said. “Which is why it is important to learn and shift with what you are dealt. Otherwise you will forever be unhappy, or missing the greatest opportunity of your life because you are certain you could not handle it.”
Her warning seemed particularly heavy for the moment, so I glanced at her in surprise.
Unfortunately, at that moment a fae lord perusing the keychains cleared his throat and doffed his flat cap at my employer.
“I beg your pardon, do you have any cat and book related merchandise?” he asked.
Ms. Booker stepped out from behind the desk and approached the fae lord. “There is a sticker of a black cat on a stack of books—rather fitting as Chloe’s feline form is a black cat.” She minced over to him, turning the rack to point out the sticker as fae nobles crowded around her.
I fiddled with my clipboard as I watched.
There was something familiar about the fae lord who had made the request. Like I’d seen him before…
Wait. I recognize him! He was the fae lord who tried to lure me into his house when he thought I was a stray cat!
I’d attempted staking out several areas as safe zones in Magiford before settling for downtown. One of the areas had been the Night Court Territory—which I’d been forced to abandon after several of the nobles developed a weird obsession with obtaining a pet.
