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Elowen reached for the napkin holder, dabbing off the blood before vanishing the napkin. A second later, her glamour was in place and she looked perfect. Clothes pressed. Not a hair of her long, dark hair out of place. Her green eyes looked alert. The only way I knew she was hurt or tired was the slight hunch of her shoulders.
“Your mother called me in for questioning,” Elowen said after a moment. “She wanted to examine the magic that formed the bond.”
Of course she did. It was odd that she hadn’t asked me about it at all, but I’d been too busy running around, trying to find information about Chris, to really examine my mother’s behavior.
I felt like such an idiot. “I should’ve known, but I didn’t. Your mother turned you in?”
She nodded.
“Kyra? Have you heard anything from her?” Kyra was from Solar, so she shouldn’t have a reason to go to Lunar. Her court was arguably just as strong as Lunar, which meant she could fight against my mother’s summons. She should be safe, but I would’ve thought Elowen would’ve been safe, too.
Elowen shook her head. “She left with Blaze. There was something that came up, and they left together. I went home, and then…” She shrugged. “What I don’t get is why you sent Van? How did you know to come get me?”
The waitress approached carrying a tray with four iced teas and four waters. The ice in the glasses were rattling so bad that I hoped the whole thing didn’t topple to the ground.
“I, um… I brought waters and teas for all y’all? ’Cause I wasn’t sure what y’all would want but if you—”
“That’s fine.” I smiled at her, and then turned to Elowen. “Are you hungry?”
Elowen nodded as did Van.
“They’ll have what Chris is having.”
“Four servings each?”
Elowen’s mouth fell open, but I stopped her before she could say anything. “No. Just one each.”
“Oookay. I’ll be back with the food. Um…Just um… If you need anything else, I’ll be over there again.” She waved toward the kitchen and hustled away.
I’d been so consumed with Van and Elowen that I hadn’t realized the rest of the customers were slowly, carefully paying their bills and leaving. I hated that we’d caused such a scene, but I’d have to deal with that later. I had to hope that we’d have plenty of time to earn their trust if—when—we came back.
“What do you need, Cosette?” Elowen said as soon as the waitress was gone. Her tone had a rough edge that I didn’t appreciate. “If you didn’t know what your mother was doing, then why did you come get me?”
She was mad for a very good reason. And she was right. I did need something, but I also felt like I owed her an apology. “If I’d known what my mother was doing, I would’ve—”
“Stop. It came out bitchy because I’m tired. Your mother beat me, magically and physically, for the last four days. What your mother’s done…well, she’ll pay for that. But you only talk to me when you need something. So, what do you need this time?”
Harsh. She was being harsh, but maybe I deserved it. “I hope that one day we can just enjoy each other’s company. We were friends—”
“Life will never be that simple for us. We’re fey princesses who created a supernatural alliance with an archon as backing. If we were ever going to escape the life-and-death political games we were born into, that hope is gone now.”
I wanted to snap something back at her about how it didn’t have to be that way. That if she wanted to give up hope, fine. But I was just finding my hope. I had Chris, and we weren’t giving up as easily as she was.
But then I remembered that it was only glamour that had her looking so pristine. The image of her greasy hair and torn, bloody clothes killed any anger that was starting to build up. “The bargain that Chris made with the pixie. You have it?”
Elowen grinned and her magic brightened, filling the room with the scent of fresh pine and earth. Leaves fey always smelled fresh.
She turned to Chris. “I wondered when you’d come for it, but I’m not going to let it go easily.”
Chris relaxed back in his chair. “What do you need?” He seemed to trust her, but I wasn’t sure I did. Not after what she’d said about never escaping political games.
I put my hand on his leg, needing the comfort to get through whatever bargaining we needed to do.
“I don’t need anything at the moment.” Elowen leaned back in her chair, mimicking Chris’ casual posture. “Especially now that Van took me from the Lunar Court. But having this chip means having a direct link to Cosette. It’s why I traded the pixie for it. You see, he came to show me that the coin was growing in size. The pixie couldn’t figure out why, and he was scared of it—of what it was turning into. But once I knew where it came from, I knew it was going to keep growing.” She grinned and there was no happiness in it. I could almost smell the bitterness in the air. “I’m not going to give up my very large, very powerful save-my-life-for-free coin without getting something better in return.”
“How very fey of you,” I said. It wasn’t an admonishment. I didn’t blame her for it. I would be doing the same thing.
“Leaves might not have all the laws and rules about bargains as you do. We give some things freely, but I’m not stupid. I’m not going to hand it over with nothing in return. So, shall we make a deal?”
