“You went hunting instead, didn’t you?” His little mouth pursed with irritation. “You went hunting for one of those fae who hurt you, but you didn’t want me—the most awesome of awesome company to ever be blessed with—to tag along.”
“Tink—”
“Not only am I freaking awesome, I am also pretty damn badass. If you go out there hunting those fae, you take me with you. I can help.”
“Tink—” I tried again, no point in lying. He knew what I was doing. He was the only one to figure it out. “I know you’re awesome company, but the moment they saw you, they’d know what you were. That would kind of throw a wrench into everything.”
“Oh, yeah, and you ending up dead or worse would also throw a wrench into everything.” Tink leaned away from Dixon. “What you’re doing is dangerous. If Ivy knew—”
“Ivy’s not going to know. Neither is Ren or anyone else,” I told him. “Look, I get that you’re concerned, but I don’t want you out there, putting yourself at risk. You’ve already done so much,” I told him, meaning it. “You saved my life.”
Tink shook his little head as he stared at me, gaze somber. “I didn’t save your life. I found you. That’s all I did.”
“You still saved me.”
“No,” he said, louder this time. “It wasn’t me who saved you.”
I opened my mouth, unsure of what to say. The way he said that struck me as odd, but before I could say anything, he spoke again.
“Did you find who you were looking for?”
“Yes.”
“Did you take him out?” Tink asked, holding my gaze.
“Yes,” I whispered.
Tink smiled then. “Good.”
Chapter 7
Miles, the leader of the New Orleans branch of the Order, called first thing Monday morning with a request that both confused and interested me.
The Summer fae had requested a meeting with the Order, but Miles couldn’t spare any of theessentialmembers to go see what they wanted.
Since I was not considered an essential Order member, I’d been assigned the task to figure out what they could possibly want.
Tink was passed out in the living room next to Dixon, so I didn’t bring him along with me. Granted, I could’ve woken him up, but the fae treated Tink like he was some kind of golden calf to be worshipped, and Tink’s head was already overinflated, adorably so.
So, that’s where I found myself Monday morning, staring at the beam of sunlight that shone through the large windows of the office inside Hotel Good Fae, keeping the room nice and toasty despite the chilly March temperatures outside.
That’s what Ivy called this place, and it did remind me of a hotel—a really glitzy, mammoth hotel. To humans and even to the Winter fae, Hotel Good Fae appeared to be nothing more than an abandoned power plant on St. Peters Street.
Based on the old maps I’d found in my mother’s past research clutter, I suspected all the strange markings ofplaces that couldn’t or shouldn’t exist were more well-hidden communities.
This might not be the only one.
Hotel Good Fae was a massive structure set up a lot like a hotel. Several stories tall with hundreds of rooms on each floor and sprawling communal areas outfitted with multiple cafeterias, theaters, shopping, gyms, and even space for a school of sorts, the compound had the ability to house thousands of fae. The Order had no idea exactly how many fae lived in this place, something that I knew disturbed Miles and the other Order members.
The kind of power and magic the Summer fae used to glamour the building was astonishing.
It was a good thing they didn’t want to feed off humans and seemed to like us, because if not, we’d be so screwed.
Then again, I knew that Prince Fabian fed, supposedly on willing humans who knew what he was, because he didn’t age and was capable of extraordinary actions. I assumed that his brother,thePrince, fed too.
Tugging on the neck of my chunky cable-knit sweater, I was beginning to think I would melt in this office before anyone showed up. The sweater had been perfect for when I was outside and it covered the bruises on my neck, but now I was sweltering in it.
If Ivy hadn’t been in Florida with her husband handling some kind of super-secret mission, she’d be here, sitting in the Hotel Good Fae, acting as the liaison between the Order and the fae. Not me. She was better at handling these types of meetings, and right now, the best needed to be here, because things between the Summer fae and the Order were tense.
