“Does now work?”
Typical fae. There was only one schedule, and it was their own.
I chewed on my lower lip. It was getting close to dinner time. I needed to question anyone who’d been around when Gary was attacked before their stores closed. But I also needed to earn enough to pay my rent.
“Give me an hour.”
I drove back to Gary’s store and went from door to door along the street, displaying the useless picture of the man in the cloak and generally making a nuisance of myself. No one could give me anything even remotely helpful. The bar on the corner had been hosting a private party, which had gotten loud. Any sounds Gary may have made, or any smashing of his store, had been lost to the bad pop music that night.
Pissed off, I scowled down at my phone. My mood turned darker. Instead of heading to the fae representative’s office, which was close to Samael’s tower in the center of Durham, Mariam had instructed me to go to Hope Valley, where many of the high fae lived.
It had added ten minutes to my trip each way, but I was more concerned with the neighborhood itself.
Before the portals opened, Hope Valley had already been one of the most prestigious areas in Durham. And many of the residents had been just fine while the world turned to shit, retreating behind their huge gates and into their panic rooms. I’d seen an interview of a human who lived in the area after the portals fell, and he’d been most befuddled by the fact that people had attempted to break down his door while fleeing from the werewolves who’d rampaged through the city.
When the fae arrived, many of the high fae decided they enjoyed the neighborhood. Something about the sprawling homes had obviously reminded them of their world. The light fae, in particular, tended toward the gaudier mansions, and they offered humans deals they couldn’t refuse when they wanted their homes.
Within a decade, almost all the humans had left the neighborhood. The holdouts had soon discovered that living in a fae neighborhood meant dealing with pixies stealing their food, goblins terrorizing their children, and the occasional banshee screaming bloody murder.
I didn’t mind the lesser fae. It was the high fae– and their deep sense of entitlement– that rubbed me the wrong way.
Dover Road backed on to what had once been a country club but was now a small forest. I slowed my car and crawled along the road, fascinated despite myself. Then I double-checked the address. Yup, I’d gotten it right.
My car couldn’t have looked more out of place in this neighborhood, and a light fae couple who were out for a walk sneered at me as I pulled into the drive and pressed the intercom.
“Name?”
“Danica Amana.”
The gate slid open, and I drove up the long drive, my mouth falling open. It looked like a hotel. The sand-colored house sprawled over what had to be twenty-five thousand square feet. Multiple columns supported the four-storied monstrosity, and a group of light fae guards waited for me outside the front door.
I parked and stepped out of my car, finally closing my mouth.
One of the guards stepped forward, his pale blue eyes intent as he took in my weapons.
“This way, Ms. Amana.”
The fae’s pointed ears told me he was high-fae, but he registered as low on the power scale. I followed him into the cool of the house and up one of the two staircases leading to the second floor.
We stopped outside the first door on the left, and he rapped his knuckles on the door.
“Come in.”
Mariam was sitting behind a commanding wooden desk. My gaze skipped the rest of the room and got stuck on the desk. The grain of the wood swirled in a way that made it almost look like marble.
The polished wooden floors gleamed, while the walls were done in crimson. The furniture was solid, clearly expensive, and mostly wood. For all their love of the ornate, the fae preferred to surround themselves with natural textures like stone and wood whenever possible.
Mariam smiled at me and gestured for me to take a seat. I wasn’t sure what kind of powers she had, but she’d always smelled of salt water to me. Her blonde hair had been pulled back in a simple braid, highlighting her impeccable face and sharp cheekbones. Her eyes were so blue they appeared almost violet.
“Nice place you’ve got here.”
If she heard the sarcasm in my voice, she didn’t respond to it.
“The seelie king occasionally uses this home when he visits. Thank you for meeting me here. I appreciate it. The subject we are about to discuss is… delicate.”
Delicate and clearly confidential. I was officially interested.
The fae male left, closing the door behind him. Mariam took a moment to examine me, and then finally let out a long breath.
