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“Yes, and he’s free to be friends and find a home wherever he likes.” Leila tilted her head as she studied French Fry. “Everyone in my Court treats them like pests, and they can be quite stupid, but I do think they’re smarter than we give them credit for.”
Considering he was able to find me in Noctus’s realm, yes. He’smuchsmarter than everyone assumes.
I couldn’t say that, though, so I nodded. “Yep!”
I sensed Joy edging toward the front counter, knocking my manners into me. “Oh, Queen Leila, this is my sister Joy,” I said.
“Hello, Queen Leila. It’s an honor to meet you.” Joy smiled before she hissed to me. “I told you this was a good place to see supernaturals!”
“Hello,” Leila smiled. “Chloe mentioned you when we discussed her particular background. It’s lovely to meet you.”
“Why thank you,” Joy said.
“Joy works for the human City Hall,” I said.
“Ahh, so you also deal with politics,” Queen Leila said. “Someone to appreciate my pain.”
Joy laughed. “It can be a pain, yes, but I’m grateful for the opportunities and chances my work has provided me.”
Leila looked from Joy to me and back. “Yes, I imagine so…”
Everyone was silent for a moment, and I felt the awkwardness start to slip in.
“I’m surprised to see you here, Queen Leila,” I said after several moments of silence, struggling for a conversation topic. “Lord Linus stopped by my workplace with a tour bus, he mentioned you’d be leaving soon on another trip to visit the other fae Courts.”
“Yeah, it got delayed after the incident downtown.” Queen Leila reclaimed her drink and took a big swig of it. “But since we don’t seem to have any new leads, I’m leaving tomorrow. Today I’m just tying up a few loose ends, though I’m glad I ran into you, I wanted to make sure Lord Linus and the tours weren’t being too pesky.”
I absently cuddled French Fry to my chest. “No, not at all. I should be thanking you, since the tours make a visible connection between us.”
“Yeah, that was how he tried to win me over to the idea when he first suggested it.” Queen Leila threw her now empty drink cup away, but made no motion to finish off the second drink. “Though I won’t lie, I was all for it even before then. Anything that gets my Court out of my hair and under someone else’s supervision for even an evening is a win. Though I wish Linus didn’t know that, as that’s how he’s made a case for not giving me any kind of cut from all the money he’s rolling in.”
Leila shook her head at her fae father, most likely unaware that she was displaying some of the same mannerisms as him from the way she shook her head all the way to his same magnetic charisma.
Leila looked around the shop, her eyes lingering on a shadowed area in the back corner before she nodded. “I met with the Paragon briefly,” she said, her voice lowered. “He mentioned hiscontactwas going to share some resources with you. Did you get them yet?”
“Yes,” I nodded. “I got them last week.”
“Did you have any problems with the materials?” Queen Leila asked.
“No,” I answered her slowly, slightly confused by the question.
“Good!” The fae queen smiled. “The Paragon mentioned he’s had…not trouble with him, but that contact has been evasive in his answers before.”
“Really?” I asked, faking surprise when I’d witnessed firsthand how much Noctus annoyed the Paragon.
“Yeah.” Queen Leila slightly shook her head. “He’s been helpful before, giving us insight into magic we’d know nothing about.” She fidgeted, moving the second to go drink around on the table before she itched a spot behind Muffin’s ears.
I stayed silent as I waited for her to go on.
“But it’s always a reminder…of their capacity,” Queen Leila said.
I worked hard to make sure my voice sounded unbothered. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve encounteredthattype of magic multiple times,” Leila said. “It has different forms, but it’s always deadly.”
I had to bite my tongue to keep from talking.
Deadly, really?
