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“You can trust Sage,” I told him. “Whatever this package is, she can help you get it.”
Gran ambled into the room. “I thought I sensed someone of interest.”
I smiled. “I’m flattered.”
Her gaze skimmed over me. “Not you, Lorelei. I mean the handsome gentleman from the old world.”
Right.
Sage passed her cup and saucer to her grandmother. The teacup clinked against the saucer as the old fairy’s hand trembled.
“Our family emigrated from Faerie over a century ago,” Gran said. “Came through the crossroads and liked the looks of Fairhaven, so they stayed.”
Sian glanced at Sage. “And where are your parents?”
“Dead,” Sage replied, in a tone that left no room for follow-up questions.
“It isn’t every day we get a strapping young fairy like yourself in our neck of the woods,” Gran said. “My beautiful granddaughter has been deprived of such company.”
Sage’s cheeks burned pink. “I have plenty of company, Gran.”
Gran perched on the arm of Sian’s chair. “Tell us about your family, young man.”
“And then you can tell us why you’re here,” Sage added.
Sian sipped his tea. “As the stories are intertwined, I can do both at the same time.”
Finally, we were getting somewhere. It was too late for chili, but I could bake salmon. That only took about twenty minutes in the oven. I calculated the time it would take to walk home on top of the prep time. My stomach would make it.
“I was supposed to meet someone at the place in the woods where Lorelei happened upon me. They had agreed to bring information for me.”
“What kind of information?” Sage asked.
“About a child from many years ago,” Sian said. He fiddled with the handle of his teacup.
Gran’s eyes sharpened. “You mean a changeling?”
Sian’s gaze lowered. “My younger sister, Rhiannon.”
I swallowed a mouthful of tea and wished to the gods Sage would bust out a Bundt cake or a lemon-poppyseed muffin. At this point, any baked good would do.
“Your sister was swapped with a human child?” Sage asked. “I thought that practice died out ages ago.”
“I do not know the details. My mother has been unwell ever since my father’s passing. I only learned of my sister’s existence when I heard my mother crying out in her sleep. When I went to rouse her, I stopped to listen. She was lamenting the child she’d lost, the one she gave to a human family as a changeling. I long believed Rhiannon died in infancy.”
“You said your mother made the arrangements to meet someone in the woods.”
“I said I acted in her stead, which is true. The information was to be delivered at the appointed place and time. I was to learn whether my sister still lived and, if so, where she can be found.”
“How did you find out the details?”
His head sank lower. “I found her account on the changeling forum and logged in as her.”
“There’s a forum for changelings?” Because of course there was.
“It’s how many arrangements are made this century. My mother’s login details were saved, so I was able to open her account. It was last active eighteen years ago.”
Which would make Rhiannon about nineteen now.
