by Karen Lynch
“Maybe,” he replied vaguely, but the air of excitement around him told me it meant more than he let on. “Did she mention her brother and Hunt dealing in Fae antiquities?”
“What kind of antiquities?” I frowned. I thought we were talking about drug dealing.
He tapped the pen against his notepad. “Black market items. Cecil Hunt is being investigated for illegal trafficking of stolen property.”
I thought back to my conversation with Raisa. “No, she never mentioned it.”
“Are you sure? You’ve been through an ordeal and you might be forgetting details.”
I clasped my hands together on top of my blanket. “Agent Curry, I can safely say I won’t forget a second of my time as Rogin Havas’s guest.”
“Knock, knock,” called Trey cheerfully as he and Bruce entered the room. Their smiles faltered when they saw my other visitor.
“We can come back,” Bruce said.
Agent Curry closed his notebook and tucked it in his breast pocket. “No need. I was just leaving.” He looked at me. “I’ll need you to come in and give a detailed statement. The sooner the better.”
“I will.” The last thing I wanted to do was go to the Agency and spend hours being grilled by them, but there was no getting out of it. And if my statement could help them track down Rogin, it would be worth the trouble.
So far, I hadn’t told him or anyone else about Faris or Lukas, but I’d have to when I gave my official statement. Right now, it hurt too much to speak of them.
As soon as the agent left, Trey set the vase of flowers he was carrying on a table and stood back to take in my bruised face and the pretty shiner I’d be sporting for a few days.
Remorse darkened his eyes. “If we’d only gotten there a few minutes sooner.”
“It’s not your fault.” I swung my gaze to Bruce. “Neither of you. It was just bad timing. But I’d go through it all over again to find Mom and Dad.”
Bruce’s expression lightened. “How are your parents?”
“Not good, but the doctor told me they’ll recover.” I let out a heavy breath. “They were given goren every day, so detox is going to be hard.”
“I heard,” he said solemnly. At my questioning look, he said, “Levi talked to someone at the Agency.”
“What about you?” Trey asked. “How are you doing, aside from the bruises we can see?”
I attempted a smile. “You know me. Takes a lot more than a goren dealer to keep me down. I’m waiting on the doctor to release me so I can go home.”
Bruce frowned. “They aren’t keeping you overnight?”
“They were going to, but I asked to go home, and they have no reason to keep me here.”
“Is someone coming to pick you up?” he asked.
“Um…” I trailed off when I remembered I didn’t have my Jeep or a ride home, or even my phone. “No.”
Trey played with the remote to the TV I hadn’t bother to turn on. “We’ll take you home. Oh, and your Jeep is at the police impound, so it might take a few days to get it.”
“Great,” I muttered. One more thing I’d have to deal with.
Bruce laid a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry about that now. All you need to focus on is you and your parents. Trey or I will take you to get the Jeep and whatever else you need.” He pulled a familiar set of keys from his pocket. “All your keys are here except the one for the Jeep.”
I swallowed around the tightness in my throat. “Thanks.”
It was another thirty minutes before a nurse came in with my discharge papers. I was eager to get home to Finch, but I hated leaving my parents. What if something happened to one of them during the night, and I wasn’t here? Knowing they were in the best possible hands didn’t make it any easier to walk out of the hospital.
I was shocked to find reporters from two local TV stations waiting when I walked outside with Bruce. Trey and Bruce had told me the story about my abduction and rescue was on the news today, but I wasn’t expecting this. I ignored their requests for an interview and hurried to Bruce’s SUV, grateful Trey had gone ahead of us to get the vehicle.
“Don’t mind them,” Bruce said once we were all inside the SUV. “Prince Rhys is coming to town tomorrow, and he’ll be all the press cares about.”
“They do love their royals.” I stared blindly out the passenger window as a fresh wave of bitter hurt washed over me. If I hadn’t found out Lukas was Prince Vaerik, would he ever have told me? Or would he and his men – or should I say his royal guard – have kept up the lie?
Looking back now, I could recall multiple instances where his men had been overly protective of him. I remembered Faolin jumping in front of him that night outside the Ralston when he thought I was reaching for a weapon, and how angry he’d been when he’d dragged me to Lukas’s for interrogation. I couldn’t forget how Conlan had reacted when I’d told him about the threat on Vaerik’s life or how fast he and Faolin had gotten to the diner. A snippet of our conversation that day came back to me.
“Are you in service to the crown, too? And Lukas?”
“All of us are.”
I scowled at my reflection in the window. I’d been such a fool, and it stung.
Before I knew it, we were pulling up in front of my building. I thanked Bruce and Trey for the ride home and assured them I didn’t need them to come up with me.
“You call if you need anything,” Bruce said when I opened the door to get out.
“I will. Thanks again.”
They waited for me to enter the building before driving away. I hurried upstairs so Mrs. Russo wouldn’t come out to intercept me. She had to have heard about what happened on the news, and she would have lots of questions I didn’t feel up to answering.
Holding my vase of flowers in one hand, I unlocked the apartment door with the other. I’d barely taken two steps into the apartment when a small blue body tackled my leg.
“I’m happy to see you, too.” I set the flowers on the table and picked up Finch, who was whistling and signing so fast I couldn’t keep up. I put him on the table so I could remove my jacket. “Slow down, Finch.”
He let out a sharp whistle and slowed his hand movements. Where are Mom and Dad? On the television, they said Mom and Dad were at the hospital. Why didn’t they come home with you?
“Mom and Dad have to stay in the hospital for a while.” I’d forgotten he liked to watch TV when he was home alone. Of course, he would have seen the news stories.
Why? he asked fearfully.
Wearily, I pulled out a chair and sat. “They’re going to be okay. But they were given something that made them sick, so they have to stay in the hospital to get better.” Finch didn’t understand drugs, so it was no use trying to explain goren to him.
His eyes grew round. The bad people gave them poison?
“Kind of.”
He stomped his tiny foot. Did you get the bad guys?
I rubbed my eyes. “No. But they’re gone, and we don’t have to worry about them anymore.”
Good. He gave me an expectant look. Can we go to the hospital to see Mom and Dad?
“We’ll go tomorrow. The doctor said no one can see them tonight.”
His shoulders drooped, but he nodded. Are you okay, Jesse? You look sad.
“I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.” Normally, I could hide my emotions from him, but I could feel all my defenses coming down. “I’m going to shower, and then we’ll have dinner.”
In my room, I moved about in a daze from the mental and physical exhaustion. I showered and dried my hair on autopilot, and then I heated up a frozen meal for my dinner.
Finch signed excitedly about seeing Mom and Dad as he ate his fruit, and I tried to work up the same enthusiasm. I was overjoyed to have them back, but my happiness was marred by thoughts of the difficult journey they had ahead of them. When I’d imagined finding them, I’d never considered a scenario where I couldn’t talk to them or where it would be months before they could come home.
Afte
r my meal, I decided to turn in early since I could barely keep my eyes open. I went to double-check that the door was locked, and it occurred to me that Lukas and the others could enter the apartment whenever they wanted. I doubted I’d see any of them again, but I hated the thought of anyone being able to come in here uninvited.
I heaved a sigh and headed for bed. First thing in the morning, I would call a locksmith and hire a faerie to put up a new ward to keep Prince Vaerik out of my home and out of my life.
Now I just needed to find a way to get him out of my heart.
* * *
A soft whistle pulled my attention from the crossword puzzle I was working on. I looked at Finch, who sat on Mom’s pillow, stroking her hair.
Will she wake up soon? he asked.
Remember what I told you? I signed back so no one could hear me. The doctor said Mom and Dad will be asleep for a while so they can get better.
Finch’s eyes grew sad, and he nodded. Do you think they know we’re here?
I’m sure they do.
He returned to touching Mom’s hair. He’d been like that since we’d gotten here this afternoon, going back and forth between our parents.
There were four beds in the room, but the other two were empty, which was fortunate because sprites weren’t allowed in the hospital. I’d had to sneak him in and warn him to hide whenever someone entered the room. With the number of visitors in and out of here today, he’d spent most of the time hidden in a huge basket of flowers on the table between the beds.
All day, bounty hunters and friends had been dropping in to check on our parents, and the room was full of flowers and get-well cards. Even Levi Solomon had stopped by with flowers and to tell me there’d be jobs for me when I was ready to go back to work.
I hadn’t really thought about what would happen with the hunting after I found my parents. But with them unable to work for six months, maybe longer, I decided it would be best for me to keep doing it. I told myself I was doing it to keep their license from expiring, but the truth was I liked the work and I was good at it. And how else would I earn the money I needed for college?
I set aside the puzzle book I’d brought with me and stood. My bruised body ached from sitting still too long, and I rolled my head to ease a crick in my neck.
Finch watched me curiously, and I signed, I’m going to get a coffee. I won’t be long.
I didn’t bother to tell him to hide if anyone came in. It was close to the end of visiting hours, and we hadn’t seen anyone besides the nurses in a while. It was also New Year’s Eve, and most people were out celebrating.
The floor was almost deserted when I left the room and walked to the nurses’ station, where a middle-aged nurse named Patty smiled and asked if I needed anything. Everyone working on this floor had been so supportive since I’d gotten here. They had all heard the story about my parents’ and my abduction and rescue – or at least as much as the media had reported – and they were all rooting for my parents to get better. They were even letting me spend the night here with Mom and Dad.
“Is there a coffee vending machine on this floor?” I asked her. I needed a caffeine boost, and I was even willing to pay for crappy coffee.
Patty smiled warmly. “There’s a machine one floor down.”
“Thanks.” I took the stairs to the floor below, needing to stretch my legs, and found the machine. The coffee was even worse than I’d expected, making me wish I had some of the good stuff Trey had given me. I made a face as I sipped it before I started back upstairs.
I emerged on the floor and stopped so fast I almost spilled my coffee when I spotted a tall, dark-haired man standing outside my parents’ room on the other end of the hall. From this angle, he could be Lukas, and my stomach fluttered from a mix of dread and something else I didn’t want to define.
The man walked away in the other direction, and my mouth went dry. He even moved like Lukas.
I hurried toward the nurses’ station. “Do you know who that man was?”
Patty looked around. “What man?”
“I saw him by my parents’ door, but he left.”
She smiled. “There have been so many people in to visit your parents today that I’ve stopped noticing them. He might have been another one of their bounty hunter friends.”
“You’re probably right,” I said, ignoring a prick of disappointment. It wasn’t that I wanted to see Lukas after what he’d done. It was a normal reaction to someone I used to care about, and it would go away in time.
A chilling thought crept into my head. What if the man I’d seen was one of the Seelie guards who had tried to have my parents killed? There was nothing to stop the royal guard from coming after my parents. How could I protect Mom and Dad from someone that powerful?
My mind automatically went to Lukas, but he was no longer a safe haven for me. That had all been an illusion I let myself believe because it had given me comfort when I was alone.
Tennin. I’d ask Tennin for help. Maybe he could put a protective ward on my parents, or he could give me the name of someone else who could. Or there might even be someone listed in Mom’s contacts at home. One way or another, I had to keep my parents safe until they were well enough to take care of themselves.
Finch was nowhere in sight when I entered our parents’ room. The flowers in the basket moved, and he jumped onto Dad’s bed.
Was there a man in here a minute ago? I signed.
No.
I set my coffee down on the table beside my crossword puzzle book just as the last person I expected came into the room.
Shock filled me, followed by a burst of joy. “Violet! What…? How…?”
My best friend ran at me and hugged me so tightly she nearly squeezed all the air from my lungs. For a little thing, she had a tight grip.
“How did you get here?” I wheezed.
She released me. “I charmed the nurses, and they let me in.”
“I mean what are you doing in New York? I thought you guys were staying in China for another week.”
“Right. Like I was going to stay on the other side of the world after I heard what happened.” She hopped up on one of the empty beds. “I made Mom book me on the first flight I could get.”
I sat beside her. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
My voice broke on the last word, and she leaned over to pull me into another hug. The dam holding back my emotions cracked, and for the first time since my parents had disappeared, hot tears rolled down my cheeks.
I shook from the release of all the pent-up fear and pain, while Violet held me and rubbed my back. I was hiccupping, and my eyes felt puffy when I was finally cried out.
Violet, ever prepared, pulled a tissue from her handbag and passed it to me. “Feel better?”
“Yes.” I wiped my eyes and blew my nose. “I’m sorry for all the waterworks.”
“Damn, girl, if anyone is entitled to cry, it’s you. If I’d been in your place, I would have been a blubbering mess weeks ago.”
I let out a tremulous laugh. “Or you would have learned to carve a shiv at the very least.”
She grimaced at the reminder of our stay in the police holding cell. “Thank God your hot faerie friend sprung us from that place.”
All my good humor fled at the mention of him. Violet saw the change in me and handed me a fresh tissue. “Okay, tell me what I don’t know.”
Lowering my voice, I told her everything that had happened from the moment I was taken from the flea market to now. I left nothing out, and she alternated between shocked gasps and sounds of outrage. When I described how excited I’d been to see Lukas and what had followed, she started muttering, “That asshole!” under her breath.
“That’s all of it.” I looked down at my lap so she couldn’t see how much it hurt to relive that horrible moment.
Violet reached out and took one of my hands. “You cared about him.”
I nodded mutely without looking up. I’d known it was stupid to fall for someone like him
, but I’d done it anyway. And he’d broken my heart, just like I’d known he would.
“Oh, Jesse,” Violet whispered.
I lifted my head to smile at her. “Live and learn, right?”
She looked contemplative for a moment. “I think that maybe he cared for you, too.”
“How can you say that after what he did?”
“Hear me out. Up until yesterday, he kept running to your rescue and taking care of you when you were sick. Those are not the actions of someone who doesn’t care.”
“You didn’t see him in that basement or hear the way he spoke to me.” My stomach tightened painfully at the memory. “If you had, you wouldn’t say that.”
She squeezed my hand. “He thought you betrayed him. I’d be hurt, too, and pissed if I thought you lied to me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” I jumped off the bed and faced her. “You would never turn on me the way he did, or think I was capable of the things he accused me of. All it took was the word of a drug dealer for him to believe the worst of me. He didn’t even stop to think that Rogin could have planted that tablet at my place to save his own ass.”
She smiled sadly. “I didn’t say he was smart. He’s a prince who is used to people fawning over him. He got butthurt and lashed out at you, and I bet he already regrets it.”
“I don’t care if he’s the king of England. He lied to me about who he was, and then he turned around and called me the liar. That hypocrite.” I ground my teeth as anger replaced the pain. I didn’t like feeling this way, but it was better than hurting. “Now, can we please talk about something else?”
Violet told me about her visit with her grandparents until she started to yawn, worn out from her long flight. I suggested she take a nap on one of the empty beds, and she was fast asleep in minutes. Finch had dozed off on Dad’s shoulder an hour ago, leaving me alone with too many heavy thoughts.
A check of the time told me it was close to midnight, so I turned on the TV, with the volume low, to watch the ball drop.
Last New Year’s Eve, I’d been there in Times Square with my parents and Violet, blissfully unaware of what was to come. A lot had changed this year, me most of all, but at the end of it, I still had the people I loved most in this world. Maybe I really was goddess-blessed.
