She looks at me, and her jaw drops. “Mae! Yes! I mean, technically, no, but you should give him a chance like you’ve given everyone else.”
“It’s just getting so hard already, and I’ve only had one date with each of them.”
She steals a piece of my bacon and nods. “I can see that. I can’t imagine dating five different males at the same time. All of them gorgeous. Poor you.” She rolls her eyes at me.
I snatch back the piece of bacon still in her hand. “You don’t get to eat my bacon and make fun of me.”
“Sorry,” she says with a pout.
“Apology accepted,” I say, and hand her back the bacon.
Elle grabs it, smiles, and shoves the whole thing in her mouth. “You’ll have fun tonight, though. Barrett is a sweet guy, and he’s a lot of fun.”
“Can you come with me?” I plead.
“And crash your date? No, come on. You’ll be fine. Hey, what are you thinking for your group date on Saturday? I was thinking of a pool date. It will be cold soon, so this is kind of the last chance to do it. Plus, it’ll be fun to see all the princes shirtless.” She winks at me.
I shrug and say, “Sure, let’s do it.” I finish my pancakes and move on to the eggs.
I look around the room, searching for coffee but not seeing any. “Coffee?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I’ve been up for hours. I didn’t even think about it.”
I level a glare at her.
“Sorry,” she says with a shrug, grabbing another piece of the crispy bacon. “Maybe don’t sleep through training,” she says with a smile.
I set my fork on the tray. “Elle, those things were freaky,” I say quietly.
Her smile fades. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that. I can’t imagine how scary it must have been.”
“Asmo said they’re created by witches using dark magic. Is that true?”
She places both hands behind her and leans back on the bed. “Yes, he’s right. I’ve never seen one before. They and other creatures used to roam the land when witches were plentiful. It’s been hundreds of years, though.”
“What happened to the witches?”
She shrugs. “Well, before they overtook the Fae Kingdom, they were hunted by the Fae and went into hiding because of it. That’s why we assume they targeted the Fae Kingdom.”
My jaw drops. “What? Why would the Fae do that?”
“Well, like Asmo said, the witches were notorious for using dark magic. They were persecuted for it,” she says nonchalantly. Her tone doesn’t sit right with me, but I don’t ask any additional questions. Not right now, at least.
“Do you think that my father was killed by one of those things?” I ask instead.
Elle tilts her head and purses her lips as she considers it. “It’s possible. It’s not an angle that we had considered. We haven’t seen one of these creatures or anything created with dark magic in our lifetimes. These things respond to the witch that created them, so it’s possible there’s a witch out there that sent them after your father.”
“They’d have to be invited to the house, right? Because of the spells preventing portals and funneling?”
“Yes…” She trails off, bringing her hand to her mouth in thought. “If the witch was invited to the house or accompanied someone who was invited to the house, she could have summoned the cambions and set them loose on the estate. That’s great thinking, Mae. You’re a genius.”
I smile, finally happy to provide something of value to the investigation. “Is there any way to test that theory?”
Elle frowns. “No, not that I’m aware of.”
My smile falls. “Then how does it help?”
“I don’t know. Not my job, but I’m sure it will. I’ll pass it along to Ivan.” She eyes the last piece of bacon. “Just likeyou’reabout to passmethat bacon.” She beams at me.
