I was surprised that the kids were still going strong, but they were amped up on sweets and they weren't human kids. So when Medea suggested we get some dinner, they were all for it. Star and I laruked the hunters back to their house so they could fetch the vans. We didn't want to risk laruking around Incheon if we didn't have to. I took the opportunity to feed Miri in the van on the way back to Songwol-dong. It wasn't that far, still a part of Incheon, but the ride was long enough for me to get Miri taken care of.
After we picked everyone up, we drove downtown to the hunters' favorite restaurant, one owned by a Niutou—an Unseelie ox-shifter. His name was Bai, his glamour was a tall Chinese man, and his restaurant was called Diyu—something that made me chuckle. There are myths about the Niutou in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese cultures. The entrance to the afterlife is said to be guarded by Niutou, the Ox-Head, and Mamian the Horse-Face. The humans got it a bit wrong as usual. Niutou and Mamian were races, not the names of two individuals. Nor was there a gate for them to guard. Despite that discrepancy, Bai had named his restaurant after the Chinese Hell.
My kids were good eaters and tried more dishes than I did. They even liked most of them. With the cold weather outside, I was partial to the noodle soup. The atmosphere was convivial, just what we needed after our earlier failure. We drank, ate, and didn't worry about what we said since the other customers were all fey.
“How does Bai keep humans from eating here?” I asked.
“He doesn't,” Hunter Ji-woon said. “But fairies flock here. It's hard for the humans to get a table.”
“Ah.” I looked out the window at the street where humans stopped to look in, then moved on when they saw how busy it was. “Are there a lot of us in this city?”
“It's a major city, so yes. Plus, the Underground has a gate here.”
“For the little ones!” Bai declared as he swept over to the table with a tray full of plates, each with a slice of cake on it. He set a plate down before each child and included Henry in theirnumber. “Korean cream cake. Maybe for the adults too.” He winked at me and set a slice before me.
“Thank you, Bai. This looks delicious.”
“My honor, Your Majesty! I'm just thrilled to have you in my restaurant.”
“Your food is delicious,” Sever said. “It's our pleasure to dine here.”
“Ah! Thank you very much!” Bai bowed. “You get the last slice.” He set the last plate down before Sever.
“Aw,” Killian whined.
“Don't worry, Your Highness. I will be back with more!” Bai hurried away.
Cat whined.
“You want some too, Cat?” I asked in surprise.
“I bring some for the puka too!” Bai called. As he headed to his kitchen, he motioned at the other patrons. “You hear that? The royals love my food!”
“He has excellent hearing.” I lifted my brows at Cat.
She woofed and lifted her head to watch for the Niutou's return.
All in all, what had started as an awful day had turned out to be very nice indeed. We may not have caught the murderer, but we saved his latest victim, and there were no more Kumihos in Incheon for . . . him . . . to . . . oh, fuck.
“Kill, do you know if all the Kumihos in South Korea were warned?” I asked.
“We put those in the surrounding areas on high alert, Ambassador,” Hunter Mi-cha said.
“I think we need to evacuate them to the Underground too,” I said. “Without any for him to prey on, our—” I glanced at my kids and adjusted my words. “Our target may move on to another region.”
The hunters exchanged worried glances before they all got up from the table, pulling out phones as they did.
“They'll take care of it,” Kill said.
“What's wrong, Mommy?” Rowan asked, her lips smudged with whipped cream.
I wiped it away with my napkin and said, “Nothing, baby. We're handling it.”
“Okay.” She yawned.
“I think we need to get you all home.” I looked at my phone. “It's way past your bedtime.”
“I'm not tired,” Falcas said, then swayed in his seat, his eyelids drooping.
