“And you gave them to him?” I asked
“Of course.” The Fae shifted to stand. Hugo and I moved to our feet, determined not to put our backs to the dangerous creature.
“It’s been a hoot.” Cole doffed an invisible hat. “And I don’t often mean that.”
I smiled tightly. Hugo looked more wound up than I had ever seen him.
“I wish you the best in your Hunt.” Cole adjusted his lapels. “If you are ever in Avidity, do stop into the Palace of Greed. Mammon would love to add the last of the nightmares to his stable.”
Then Ryn Cole folded into the space between worlds and disappeared.
Hugo and I did not speak until we had sat down opposite each other in the Soup Spoon Diner. Jae and Hart had ordered coffee and pie, and I followed their example.
Hugo looked ready to burst, and his questions rushed out of his mouth before anyone could ask us how our little interrogation had gone.
“What did Cole mean by stables?” Hugo whispered, keeping his head low.
Hart cleared his throat. “Pimps often refer to their collection of workers by the term stable.”
I grabbed a fork and swiped a piece of Jae's blueberry pie. “That’s not it,” I spoke with a mouthful of pie.
“What was he talking about?” Hugo repeated his question.
“It’s not a big deal.” I hedged. “Let’s just put a pin in it, and talk about what we learned.” Look at me, being all responsible and shit. “Daddy Davenport has been ordering Fae-killing bullets.”
Jae shook his head and spooned pie into his mouth. Hart was fixated on something outside the window.
“I need to get this straight in my mind...” I mumbled, holding out my hand so I could tick things off on my fingers. “Someone, claiming to be Davenport, emailed Dermot Dirk three months ago and bartered for information on how to summon and trap an Ifrit.” I folded down a finger. “Team C is attacked. The team is taken out by the Ifrit—but Frankie managed to escape before she fell into a coma. I remember the pain in her memories. She could have been shot.”
“There were no wounds in Frankie's medical files,” Hugo stated.
I snapped my fingers. “Exactly! Want to bet that Frankie was shot with a dissolving bullet by accident, but she didn’t die because she wasn't Fae?”
Jae sipped his coffee. “All of her levels were normal. There wasn't any excess iron in her blood, and there would have been if Corporal Gardiner was hit with a Fae killing bullet.”
I blew a raspberry. “Bear with me.” I swiped his coffee and took a sip. The waitress was taking ages to bring out my order. “Warren Davenport then contacts Dirk and requests a Mimic Sidhe to play the part of Frankie. He wants access to another Fae, to kill them. I was poisoned, remember?”
Hugo winced. “It’s a stretch.” He looked to Jae and Hart for support.
I recited all of our questions to Ryn Cole, and then the answers that he had given us.
“I’d rather know about the original email that Dermot Dirk received,” Hart said. “Is Remi aware of it? Has he been able to track it?”
I sunk down in my chair. “No,” I said sullenly.
“No, he's not aware of it? Or No, he can't track it.” Hart’s eyes shot to mine.
I picked up a fork from the table and pressed the tines into the pad of my thumb. “He doesn’t know.”
Hugo's eyes widened. “Mara...”
“I hate it when you say my name like that.”
Hart pulled a smartphone from his leather jacket and held it to his ear. It took awhile to connect.
“Yeah?”
“Dermot Dirk received an email, supposedly from Warren, three months ago, asking for instructions on how to summon an Ifrit,” Hart explained economically.
“You want me to trace the email?” Remi replied.
Hart glanced at me and asked for the email address. I rattled it off from memory.
“Why would Dirk tell someone how to summon an Ifrit?”
“Why do the Fae do anything?” I shrugged.
“Remington?” A female voice screeched on the end of the line. “It’s rude to take phone calls during dinner.”
“Just a sec, Ally,” Remi replied, there was silence as he waited for her to leave. “Sorry about that.”
“How are the new in-laws?” Jae asked with a smile.
Remi cleared his throat to smother a laugh. “I’ll text when I manage to get to a computer.”
“Remington!” Alicia shouted. “Get off the phone. Daddy wants to talk to you.”
“Thrilling.” I drawled.
“Bye, guys!” Remi said, ignoring me. “See you Monday.”
“She sounds as fun as hemorrhoids.” Jae deadpanned.
“I know, right?” My nose scrunched. I couldn’t help it, I sounded jealous, but Remi belonged to me.
I could be patient. It might drive me insane, but Remi's lifespan was tied to mine. He was the nearest thing to immortal as he could be. He'd marry Alicia, and then when she died, I would swoop in.
I just had to control myself in the meantime. Thinking about Remi and Alicia touching, kissing, fucking, made me want to hurt someone.
The flimsy fork bent and snapped between my fingers.
“It’s Davenport. He sent the email. He ordered the bullets. Done deal. Let’s get ice cream.” I said with a bright smile.
No one moved or acknowledged my words.
The waitress finally came over with my pie. I asked for a new fork.
“I wonder if Cole was lying about the video footage?” Jae stole a piece of my cherry pie. I swatted his hand but allowed it when he showed me his cheeky smile.
“The Fae can't lie,” I said, adding sugar packets to my coffee.
“Warren wouldn’t do this.” Hart shook his head, disappointment crossed his features and hit me right in the chest. “Apart from a Mimic Sidhe, what creature could wear another’s face?”
Hugo glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “Are you sure that it's a Wish Demon?” He asked, tentatively. “There was smoke on the camera footage of Team C. It looked like your true form.”
Hurt flashed across my face, but I hid it quickly. “Why would I want to kill Fae and Hunters?”
Hugo reared back. “I meant that it could be another Drude.”
Pain ricocheted through me.
I put my fork down and pushed my plate away. “I have to go to the bathroom,” I muttered, rushing from the table as fast as possible.
I had done my business and was washing my hands when I caught the washed-out face of my host in the dirty mirror.
I didn’t really believe that it was Davenport. It couldn’t be him. It just did not compute.
The guy's reactions had mirrored my inner thoughts, but I had tried to get a reaction—for fun—and I regretted it.
I splashed some water on my face and adjusted the neckline of my starlight dress. I left the bathroom, ready to finish my coffee and go back to the freshly laundered sheets at Frankie's parent's house. Momma G had promised waffles for breakfast. I planned to eat until it was hard to move.
My steps slowed to a stop when I saw a made-up, coiffed blonde in a tiny skirt hovering over the edge of our booth. Hugo looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. Hart couldn’t care less. Jae's benign mask was entirely in place, but even I could see the unfurling irritation behind his violet irises.
I sauntered over to the table, and hip-checked the blonde out of the way. I slid in next to Hugo and used my shoulder to wriggle under his arm. Hugo got the message and rested his arm over my shoulders in a possessive move.