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“How can you afford to just pick up and come check on me?”
“Most of my work is done remotely, and I can check contracts anywhere. Plus, I was worried about you. I know you’re surprised to see me, but would it kill you say, ‘Thanks, Liz. I appreciate you caring enough to stop me from vanishing into the night sky’?”
“Oh. Is that what this is about?” He had a fleeting memoryof telling her that he couldn’t see the point of it all. Modern life seemed sort of futile, so maybe he’d just vanish into the horizon and live out the remainder of his days as a hawk.
“Yes, you jerk! It’s cool that you can fly and all, but I’d miss you if you just…disappeared. We’re friends, even if you’re too dense to realize it.”
“Thanks, Liz.”
“For what?” she asked in a grouchy tone.
“Caring enough to check on me. For that, you get a home-cooked meal, courtesy of me. But I do have groceries, you know. And some of them are even fresh fruit and vegetables.”
He made her a nice meal of steamed broccoli and rice with mushroom chicken, and then he filled her in on how everything had gone terribly wrong. Once he finished the saga, she sighed at him. “That’s pitiful. I don’t blame Iris for being mad at you. But it’s so cute that Henry Dale and Rowan were trying to help you patch things up. Sidenote—I’m totally reading their web comic. You mentioned it last time you texted me, and it’s awesome. They’re so talented. But…have you seentoday’sepisode?”
“What about it?” Eli read Rowan’s web comic about Violet Gables now and then, but he hadn’t looked at the most recent update.
“Apparently…” In a burst of excitement, Liz pulled up the site on her tablet and passed it over.
He skimmed with dawning disbelief. Iris’s fae parents showed up and established Violet Gables as inviolable territory since Iris was their scion and ambassador. That meant normal city regulations didn’t apply, and Iris could do as she damn well pleasedwith her property. Eli stared at Liz, who was bouncing a little in excitement.
“Is that, like, really real? Are you actually in love with a fairy princess?”
Yeah…that would take some getting used to.
“Rowan doesn’t make stuff up,” he finally said. “So if it’s in the comic, then I guess it happened. She definitely didn’t need me to buy her way out of trouble. Things got resolved for her…because she’s Iris.”
“Not trying to be extra, but I need to meet these people. After reading the web comic, they seem like celebrities to me. But don’t worry, I won’t be weird. I can be chill, I promise. Also, unrelated, is Mira as hot in real life as she is in—?”
“Are you sure you’re a licensed attorney?” Eli demanded. “Because you sound like a fangirl at her favorite concert.”
Liz waved that away. “You’ve seen my diploma. Never mind, you don’t have to answer about Mira.”
“Good, that would be awkward. She’s like a sister to me.”
“Then I’ll scout that myself when you introduce me.”
“You seem so sure that will happen.”
“It has to. I have my hopes up and everything. Which means we need to start thinking about how to get you back together with Iris.”
“Now we get to the truth. You weren’t worried about me. You just want to meet Mira and Rowan and meddle in my love life.”
Liz picked up the tiny container of ice cream she’d found in his freezer. He’d planned to eat that alone, but sharing was okay too.
“And Iris and Sally and Henry Dale. Oops, already met him.But the others, yeah. I need their energy in my life. Maybe I’ll move to St. Claire too!”
Eli sighed. “Why are you like this?”
She dug in, waving the spoon to punctuate her monologue. “Because you need someone to counter the level of morose energy you discharge into the world. We’re like magnets with an opposite charge. It shouldn’t work, yet we stick together and wow the world with our friendship.”
“Let’s say I agree with you. I do want Iris back, but I won’t pressure her.”
“Yeah, that’s the issue. But you can’t leave these things too long either, or she might think you were just playing with her, you know? Since that’s not the case, you can’t leave any doubts about your intentions.”
“Please say you’re not thinking of a grand gesture,” he begged.
Liz narrowed her eyes. “None of that quitter talk. We give her two weeks, which is up when?”
