“I don’t care what you say to me. The fine stands.”
“No, you stink. You smell.” She lifted her nose and made a big show of sniffing the air, then pulling her horsey head back and rolling her eyes. “Leprechaun. Eww.”
“What do you know about leprechauns?”
“I’ll tell you if you pay me five hundred dollars.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “I’ll give you my undivided attention.”
She camped back on one foot, which pushed her butt out to one side. “You’ve been around one, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Hogan was around one.”
It wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway. “Yes.”
“There’s one in town. I thought so. They bring luck. Good luck, bad luck, mostly luck that goes their way.”
“They fall into contracts too easily,” Avnas added. “They assume everything will always work out in their favor so they will sign anything you put in front of them.”
“Do demons make contracts with leprechauns a lot?” I asked.
They both winced like I’d just squirted lemon juice in their eyes.
“No,” Xtelle said. “Not because leprechauns are smarter or stronger. But luck follows them. They stink of it.”
“Also, everything works out in their favor,” Avnas said. “They are very lucky. Even when they’re unlucky.”
Xtelle nodded. “They are not a good bet for the concerns of demons.”
“Do most leprechauns know they’re leprechauns?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Always? Is there a chance someone could be a leprechaun and not know it?”
They exchanged a look again.
“No?” Avnas said, then stronger, “No. Unless for some reason it is luckier for them not to know?”
“I don’t think…” Xtelle mused.
“No,” Avnas said firmly. “Leprechauns know their nature.”
“Thank you, that’s helpful.”
“Who is it?” Xtelle asked. “Which leprechaun is here?”
“Patrick Baum.”
Xtelle’s mouth fell open. “Road Bomb? He’shere? But he only goes to wonderful, amazing places. Why is he in Ordinary? Did you kidnap him? Oh, that issolike you, Delaney. Trapping a delightful man like Road Bomb in this dreary little town.”
“One, I didn’t trap him. I didn’t even know who he was. Two, Bertie brought him here to give Ordinary some good press.”
“He reviewed Boring, my queen,” Avnas said.
Xtelle chuckled. “I see. This is a war between Valkyries. Isn’t that so very…traditionalof them? A battle over two terrible little towns no one wants anyway. Dead bodies everywhere.”
