Iannis chuckled. “Free time is the last thing on my agenda,” he said. “I’m glad you came by, though. I have good news. Fenris calledearlier.”
My jaw dropped. “Hedid? And you’re only mentioning thisnow? What the hell,Iannis?”
“I got caught up in something!” Iannis held up his hands in a placating manner. “It was a very short conversation, so it wasn’t as if I had time to get you. His friend was dying from a rare poison, and he called to see if I could give him the recipe for theantidote.”
“Dying?” I plopped into one of the visitor’s chairs, my head spinning. “What kind of trouble has Fenris gotteninto?”
“I don’t know,” Iannis said, sounding frustrated. “But the lady in question sounded like more than just afriend.”
I raised my eyebrows at that. “Are you saying that Fenris has agirlfriend?”
Before Iannis could answer, the phone rang. “Yes?” he asked impatiently as he snatched itup.
“There’s a call coming through to your line from the same number Fenris called from earlier,” I heard Dira say, and my heart leapt into my throat. “Shall I put himthrough?”
“Right away!” Iannis ordered. There was a click as Dira transferred the line. “Fenris, is thatyou?”
“Yes,” Fenris’s familiar baritone came through the line, and I felt a swell ofrelief.
“By Magorah, it’s really him!” I exclaimed, leaning across the table. “Damn you, Fenris, for worrying us like this! Are youokay?”
“Yes, I’m fine, and yes, the antidote worked,” Fenris said, and he sounded as grateful as I felt to finally hear his voice again. “I owe you a great debt, Iannis—Mina would have died today if not for you. I’m sorry I cut you off earlier, but time was of theessence.”
“I understand completely,” Iannis assured him. “You owe me no debt, Fenris—you have helped me more times than I can count. I am only glad that you and your lady love aresafe.”
“Speaking of lady loves,” I said, snatching the phone away from Iannis. My throat was tight with emotion, and it took me a second to get out the words. “You’ve got to bring her to our wedding, Fenris. I don’t care what we have to do to make it happen—I want you to be there. Imissyou.”
“I miss you both, too,” Fenris said, and he sounded as if he meant it. “But I don’t want to put you in anydanger—”
“You won’t be,” I insisted, “and I don’t want to hear any excuses. Give me your address so I can send you a formal invitation under whatever alias you’reusing.”
Fenris laughed, a tinge of disbelief in his voice. “I’ll get one from you in person, if I decide to go,” he said, though he didn’t sound very convincing. “If I end up unable to make it, you know that my thoughts and wishes are with youboth.”
“What happened with the poison?” Iannis asked, wresting the phone back from me. “Have you found out who is responsible? Croialis is not something that one could take byaccident.”
“We have suspicions, but no proof yet,” Fenris said. “A large fortune is at stake, and greed is likely themotive.”
“I know you can’t tell us exactly where you are,” I called, “but are you in any immediatedanger?”
“No,” Fenris assured me. “Mina is the target, not me. I will be taking extra precautions to ensure her safety, and we will be leaving here as soon as we’ve finished our business. I’ll let you know where I settle permanently when it’s safe to doso.”
“Fine,” I said, holding in a sigh. I wanted to know more, but I knew that this was the best I’d get from him right now. “Butplease, promise to stay in touch. I don’t think we could handle it if you did another disappearingact.”
“I’ll do my best,” Fenris said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. He was just as happy to hear from us as I was to hear from him, and I blinked back tears of relief and happiness. I couldn’t force him to come to the wedding—I knew that—but just knowing for sure that he was alive, that he was safe…it took a weight off my shoulders that I hadn’t even been awareof.
We finished up the conversation, and Iannis hung up with a smile. “I’m glad his lady pulled through,” he said. “Fenris sounded distraught when he called the first time. Croialis is nojoke.”
“Me too,” I said. “I don’t think I could handle it if Fenris had found the love of his life only to lose her. He’s been through so much—he deserves to be happy.” Maybe Fenris wouldn’t be able to come to our wedding, but I damn well intended to go to his. Once all of this was behind us, I was going to track him down so I could hug him in person and meet the lucky lady who’d managed to snag hisheart.
Ispenta few more minutes with Iannis, then went down to the playroom to meet the girls. The three of them appeared right on time, dressed in shorts or summery dresses, as I’d told their parents to make sure they were ready for some outdoor playtime. The playroom was an unused salon that I’d converted for the children, and it was filled with toys andgames.
“Let’s play tea party!” Tinari cried as she bounced into the room on Liu’s heels. “We brought sweets up from the kitchen, so it’ll beperfect!”
“Ooh,” Rusalia said, her blue eyes wide as she stared at the platter of pastries in Liu’s hand. “Those look really good. Did you make themyourself?”
“Yes, but they’re for later,” Liu said, lightly smacking her hand away before Rusalia could grab one. “I like the idea of a tea party. What do you think,Sunaya?”
“A tea party sounds great,” I said, taking the platter from her. “Why don’t you girls get the teacups and pot and we’ll set everythingup?”
