“What?” I can’t help but raise my voice, although challenging Godmother isn’t a wise choice. “But… but I thought you said if I helped Seven, we could stay in Devashire!”
“I saidyoucould stay here.”
“Exactly, a collective you.” I motion between myself and Arden as Godmother chuckles in that deep rich voice of hers.
“Oh, Sophia, you have been away too long if you make such a rudimentary mistake to assume something like that.”
My stomach threatens to turn itself inside out as she refocuses on Arden, and this time I can’t help but shoot a pleading glance at Seven, who’s gone perfectly still. But his eyes are locked on Arden, and it’s clear he won’t be coming to our rescue.
“How old are you, girl?”
“Sixteen.”
“Old enough to pay your own price, I think. What is your name?”
“Arden.”
“Your mother says you are human. We don’t usually allow humans to live among us long term.”
“I wouldn’t be my mother’s daughter if I wasn’t also pixie. It’s true that the pixie part of me hasn’t exactly blossomed yet, but it’s there.” Arden stares directly and fearlessly into Godmother’s eyes. Her grace under pressure is awe-inspiring.
I shift restlessly in my seat. Godmother retrieves a tiny plate from the tea tray I hadn’t even noticed was there. On it sits a brownie the size of a caramel.
“Eat this, Arden. That is my price.”
I shiver and desperately want to beg her not to do it. I have no idea what the brownie does, but it can’t be good.
“What’s it do?” Arden wisely asks.
“Aren’t you a bold one,” Godmother muses.
“I take after my mother,” Arden says, but truthfully I’ve never been as brave as she’s being now.
“It shows me who you truly are.” Godmother studies my daughter’s face.
What does that mean? Will the brownie show the balance of fairy and human in her? Or does she mean spiritually, like who she is in her heart? In tense silence, hands fisted at my sides, I watch as Arden places the brownie at the back of her tongue.
Godmother never takes her eyes off her, but what she’s staring at, I don’t know. Nothing happens. At least nothing I can see on the outside.
“Did you enjoy it?”
Slowly, Arden smiles. “It was delicious.”
The corner of Godmother’s lips twitches. “I thought you would think so.”
“What was in it?” I sound desperate, but anything could have been in that brownie. Godmother once turned a man into a goat with a lemon bar. If she’s hurt Arden in any way—
Godmother gives me a sharp look as if she can hear my thoughts. She stands from the table. “Go now. Both of you may stay with my blessing as long as you fulfill the terms I’ve set forth for you, Sophia.” She nods toward Arden and then in Seven’s direction before striding toward the kitchen, leaving us sitting at the table.
Seven stares at me with a smug, half smile like he’s just won a prize he wasn’t expecting. Like he’s feeling very, very lucky.
ChapterSeven
If you’re playing a poker game and you look around the table and can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.” — Paul Newman
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I stop Arden on the sidewalk outside Godmother’s and take her face in my hands. We’ve just endured the most stressful situation I can imagine, but she’s smiling, her eyes bright.
She giggles. “Mom, I’m fine. My God, after watching what happened to you, I was worried, but honestly, I think it was just a brownie.”
