“Hey!” Niko straightened from where he’d been sweeping under a table along the wall. “Anybody know what this is?”

  He held up a slightly blackened silver disk. Even from a distance, I could tell it wasn’t a normal part of the club decor.

  Seamus walked over and plucked it out of Niko’s fingers, eyes narrowed as he flipped it over a few times.

  “Kira?” He held it out towards me.

  Both sides were etched with markings I didn’t recognize. For some reason, I felt reluctant to touch it, but one sniff told me everything I needed to know.

  “Fae,” I confirmed. “Were there any fae in here last night?”

  “Two,” Seamus mused thoughtfully. “Two that I saw. But they were on the other side of the room. And they left before everything went down.” Obviously, he kept a sharp eye on more than just his bar.

  “What is it?” Faris loomed over my shoulder, peering down at the object in Seamus’ hand.

  Suddenly I recalled the moment I’d hit the second of the two mercenaries. He’d fallen to the floor, and the magic dampening the lights had suddenly lifted. When I first caught sight of him, he’d been hiding one hand in the folds of his cloak…

  “Faris, is it possible for an object to hold magic that can be used later? By someone else?”

  His brow furrowed for a moment. “It’s certainly been tried, but as far as I know, with only patchy success. Why would you ask?”

  “This thing…” I leaned in closer and took another sniff. “It smells like fae. And I was sure the guy I hit last night was hiding something in his hand. When he went down, the lights came back on, so what if we’re right about no fae being involved? What if the mercenary was just using magic that didn’t belong to him?”

  Faris’ eyes went sharp and cold as he stared at the disk. “It’s not something I would ordinarily consider,” he said slowly. “Idrians in general don’t innovate in the same ways that humans do. At least, we didn’t. Much of Idrian society has remained static for hundreds of years. But…”

  His mouth twisted a little. “Humans are changing us. And that’s not all bad. But it may be that some of us are thinking in ways we never would have before. If you’re right?” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine something like this being intended as anything but a weapon. And if we’ve begun forging weapons as objects of commerce?”

  He didn’t need to say anything else.

  If it was true, it meant someone was poised to benefit from a war.

  Idrians didn’t always get along with each other, but they knew better than to start any open conflicts. The humans accepted us because we mostly kept to ourselves and didn’t allow our squabbles to spill over and impact them.

  An all-out war between Idrian races would completely obliterate that unspoken agreement. There would be incredible collateral damage among humans, and the only response I could imagine would be a violent one. The humans would rise up and crush us, never mind that most Idrians were innocent and just trying to survive in a world not truly their own.

  “But why start a war?” I wondered aloud. “That ends badly for everyone as soon as the humans get involved.”

  “Unless that’s ultimately the goal,” Seamus suggested. “There have always been a few folks out there crazy enough to think we should just take over all of Earth. Live the way we used to.”

  My cousin Skye had told me there were a few dragons who thought that way, but fortunately, they were in the minority. Dragons were powerful and scary enough to make an awfully big mess if they ever decided they should run the world.

  But what if it wasn’t just dragons?

  What about fae? More specifically, fae who’d been caught building an army intended to be impervious to both fae magic and dragon fire? What else might Llyr have been experimenting with beneath that castle?

  A shudder rolled across my body as I recalled the shadow beasts I’d confronted on numerous occasions. If they were ever turned loose on unsuspecting humans, the carnage would be unimaginable.

  I hoped I was crazy for even thinking it. Most likely, I’d hopped on a thought train going in entirely the wrong direction. And I couldn’t imagine trying to explain to anyone else how my brain had gone from a mysterious silver disc to the wholesale slaughter of humans by rogue Idrians who wanted to rule the world.

  So for the moment, I kept my thoughts to myself.

  But as the day wore on, and the club slowly returned to its usual state of order, I couldn’t quite put those concerns out of my mind. I needed to ask someone who wouldn’t laugh at me for my suspicions. Honestly, there weren’t very many candidates, and the best one probably wasn’t very happy with me right now.

  But Hugh had proven to be an unexpected fount of information in the past, so maybe I could convince him to talk to me about his experiences at his previous home. Even if he hadn’t known what Llyr was planning, he had to have seen things that could give us clues.

  I still felt a little ashamed about how much I’d avoided really talking to him during those months he’d lived with me. It wasn’t until after I wound up at the dragon enclave that I discovered he’d been the one to reveal Morgan as a traitor. Maybe he just hadn’t realized how important that information was. Or maybe I’d been so hostile, there was no reason for him to share.

  But even if he’d told me, the truth was, I hadn’t really been ready to hear it. Now that Morgan’s betrayal was out in the open, it was probably past time for a heart-to-heart with my gargoyle roommate.

  Hopefully, by now, I would find that I was strong enough to listen to whatever he was willing to say.

  The real challenge, I quickly realized, would be our temporary living circumstances. How could I find a time to chat with Hugh when Faris wasn’t listening in? It wasn’t that I didn’t want Faris to know what Hugh had to say, but more that I wanted a chance to deal with it on my own before I shared it. And I suspected having Faris around might make the gargoyle less likely to talk.

  Besides, Faris had way too many other things going on right now. I looked across the club to where he stood beside the bar, surrounded by employees, answering questions, dealing with problems, and directing operations with grim efficiency. Frustration and worry gave his words a sharper edge than usual, and I quickly concluded that I was right to leave him out of this.

  He had his club to get up and running, and he’d promised to be working on baiting Morgan into returning to talk to him. And no matter how much I chafed at waiting, I had to trust him with that part, because I honestly had no better ideas.

  But aside from questioning Hugh about magical weapons, we also needed to find Rath, and who better to answer my questions than someone who’d once worked for Rath’s brother? True, Hugh had been little more than a butler. But if Elayara or Llyr had a second hidey-hole in Idria, Hugh might have heard or known of it.

  Draven was my next possible lead. He would probably know where to look for Elayara, but I had yet to come up with a way to ask him about her without somehow tipping him off about why I was asking.

  But even if I couldn’t ask him my questions, I desperately needed to know how he was doing. He’d sounded odd the night before, and then he’d hung up so abruptly. Like there was something he didn’t want to tell me, but probably should.

  I didn’t want to be that girlfriend, but was it so awful if I just needed to hear his voice?

  I argued with myself for about an hour, then called him. You know, for practical reasons.

  His phone went straight to voicemail, which really didn’t surprise me, but it was deflating.

  So I decided to call someone else.

  Ryker picked up before the phone even finished its first ring.

  “Hey,” I said, feeling my eyes begin to burn a little with stupidly inconvenient emotions. How could I miss everyone this much when I hadn’t even been gone for forty-eight hours?

  “Took you long enough to call,” he grumbled.

  “Well, you didn’t call me either,” I retorted.

  “How was I supposed to know that I had to call first?”

  “How was I supposed to know you were suddenly going to be indecisive?”

  He chuckled. “Missed you. How are things?”

  “Okay,” I lied.

  “Liar.”

  “Did Faris already call you or something?”

  “No, I was guessing, based on my extensive knowledge of your ability to attract disaster. But looks like I was right, so maybe you should fess up.”

  I rolled my eyes and sat down in an empty booth at the back of the club, sliding all the way to the end of the seat and tucking myself into the corner. “Oh, nothing big. There have been two attacks since I got back. Last night was a bit more serious. One of Faris’ employees got hurt.”

  “So you’ve decided it’s your fault, and you’re currently trying to figure out how to save everyone single-handedly.”

  “Oh, shut up,” I muttered. “I called about that little job you guys were going to work on for me. Any luck?”

  Ryker groaned. “Kira, I promised we’d let you know. We’re good, but not quite that good.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m sorry to be so impatient. It’s just… I hate sitting here, not being able to do anything.”

  He paused. “I really don’t know that it means anything, but if it helps you feel like we’re actually making progress, we don’t think Elayara is currently in residence at the royal enclave.”

  I perked up a bit. “Really? Did anyone see her leave?”

  “No, but she canceled all court appointments and appearances two days ago.”

  “Does she have any other places she normally goes when she leaves? Vacation spots? Does the royal family have a summer palace or something?”

  “Callum says she and Dathair kept separate residences. Maybe your boyfriend could tell us whether hers is off enclave property.”

  I sighed, a bit more deeply than I intended.

  “Dramatic, much?” Ryker laughed at me. “I take it he’s not answering his phone.”

  “Not today, anyway. Which is probably a good thing. I was going to ask him about this, but I don’t really want him to know why I’m asking.”

  “Because if he knew what you were planning to do, he’d be furious?”

  “He wouldn’t…” I didn’t finish that statement because I had to stop and think about my answer.

  Draven had said he didn’t know how to stand by and watch me get hurt. But he’d also said he trusted me. He knew me, and I had to believe he accepted me not just in spite of my quirks, but because of them. That rather than be angry with me for looking for answers, he would help me in whatever ways he could.

  But there was also a solid chance he would try to protect me when he should be focusing on his own task, which was why I really didn’t want him to find out what I was planning to do.

  “I don’t want to distract him,” I told Ryker instead. “So I’m trying to figure this out on my own.”

  Ryker didn’t answer for a second, then a new voice came on the phone.

  “Whatever you’re planning, you’d better not,” Callum said.

  “Your lack of faith hurts, bro.”

  “It’s not lack of faith, it’s lack of desire to have an aneurysm before I’m forty.”

  I chuckled. “Nice to know you miss me that much. How is everyone else?”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “That good, huh?”

  “It’s only been two days,” he said, sounding a little weary. “You know most dragons don’t handle change that easily.”

  Yeah. I did know. Or at least, I was learning.

  “Say hi to Declan for me,” I said wistfully. “And Skye.”

  “I will. And Kira? Be careful.”

  I offered as many non-committal responses as I thought I could get away with, made kissy noises into the phone, and hung up.

  Faris slid into the booth across from me and shot me a questioning look.

  “Calling the boys,” I said, striving to sound cheerful.

  “We need to head over and pick up Hugh, then I think we should relax for the rest of the night.”

  I wanted to protest. How could I sit around and do nothing while Draven was out there meeting with dangerous people and preparing for a fight he might not be able to win?

  “I’ve made some calls,” he said, green eyes resting on mine with something like sympathy. “About Morgan. Established contacts. Dropped hints. It may take a few days for word to get through the proper channels that I’m looking for a meeting.”

  Could Draven possibly find her before then? Should I feel guilty for doing all this behind his back?

  I did, a little. Like I was doing to him what he’d tried to do to me—hide the truth out of a desire to protect me. But if this went well, we could help each other. And it wasn’t like we could combine forces—Morgan had to believe Faris genuinely wanted to talk, which wouldn’t seem very credible if she found out he was working with a fae assassin.

  No, this was the right course. I might not be able to talk to Hugh tonight—not with Faris around—but I could catch him tomorrow, while Faris met with the contractor.

  And it wasn’t like one night was going to hurt anything. I’d been on the move ever since the challenge with Weldon. A little rest would probably be good for me. Maybe I could even talk Faris into picking up my favorite BBQ on the way home. And if I was at home, laying low and eating too much brisket, I was less likely to be attacked again. Less likely to endanger anyone around me.

  Or so I told myself.

  SIX

  The next morning dawned gray and ominous—the air was heavy and humid, and a little too warm for the season. Weather reports called for storms later that night, so our first stop for the day was back at the Portal to ensure that no windows had been cracked during the attack.

  Afterward, we stopped for a late lunch, then headed to my store to meet with the contractor.

  I had to swallow my instinctive protests as I took in all the work that was still being done. Faris hadn’t just fixed what was wrong—he’d ordered a complete remodel. And yet, as I went in through the open front door, I realized that it still felt like home. It just happened to be a home with new windows, new paint, new siding, new doors, new electric, new plumbing…

  I jogged up the stairs, stepped into my apartment, and sucked in a quick, surprised breath. It was almost finished. The carpet was new, and there was tile in the kitchen instead of cracked linoleum. But the paint on the walls was practically identical, and the original wood of the cabinets had been beautifully refinished.

  And my couch was still there. My sagging, faded couch, with Chicken’s claw marks on both ends. Even the tasseled pillows I’d hugged to my chest more than one night, wondering when my aunt was going to come home…

  Home.

  I dropped onto the cushions and curled my legs up under me just as Hugh came wandering out of one of the bedrooms.

  “Oh,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “It’s you.”

  It was like fate had arranged this moment just for me, and since fate kind of owed me after the last few months, I decided to seize the moment with both hands.

  “Um, Hugh, can we talk?” I patted the cushion next to me. “Faris is meeting with the contractors, and there are some things I’d like to ask you. Some things I need to say.”

  His expression didn’t change much, but he came, and he sat—facing forward instead of looking at me, his back straight and his hands on his knees.

  “What do you wish to ask?”

  “First…” I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I need to apologize.”

  His head swiveled to look at me, and I think it was the most incredulous expression I’d ever seen him wear.

  “Why would you apologize to me?”

  “Because I haven’t been a very good friend.”

  He looked puzzled. “We are not friends. I am a part of your house, and I meet its needs in exchange for shelter. You shelter me because of the debt you owe for destroying my previous home. It is a transaction.”

  I fought a wince as I wondered… Was that really how he saw me?

  “Is that what you want this to be? A long-term exchange of debts between two strangers?”

  He tilted his head to the side and regarded me, unblinking. “What else is there?”

  I felt like I’d wandered in way over my head here. For one thing, I had no idea what was normal in gargoyle society. So I had no way of knowing how much of this was his culture, and how much was the completely awful existence he’d led as the caretaker of Llyr’s castle.

  “Hugh, I don’t know how gargoyles normally do things. All I know is that I should have been a better friend to you since you moved in. You had no friends, no family, nowhere to go. I might have let you live here, but I didn’t try to get to know you or treat you like a real person. And I’m sorry for that.”

  Light dawned in his eyes. “Does this mean you owe me a further debt?”

  “If that’s the way you choose to see it,” I agreed. “But I’d rather just ask for your forgiveness and see if we can move on and do better.” I paused. “I’d also like to ask you about some of the things you told the fae court after… well, before you came here.”

  “What things?” Suspicion narrowed his eyes.

  “Like when you told them that Morghaine was a frequent visitor to Llyr’s home, rather than a prisoner. That she and Llyr were working together.”

  His arms crossed over his chest. “That was not a secret. I betrayed no one.”

  Yikes, but he was touchy. I was going to have to proceed with extreme caution.

  “No one suggested that you did—”

  “I do not owe you a debt for that,” he interrupted. “But I do owe a debt for revealing your nature and identity to the High King.”

  We hadn’t known for sure how much the fae court had been aware of after Llyr’s death, but at least this confirmed their source.

  “You don’t owe me anything, Hugh. You only did what you were asked to do. You had no loyalty to me then, nor do I expect you to feel any towards me now.”

 

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