“There is no mix-up,” Suits said—he was starting to be a big pain. “You are our queen.”
I scowled. “Could you please stop saying that!”
My mom clutched the shoulder strap of her massive purse. “I’ll go get Paul.” She disappeared around the corner of the house—heading for Dad’s woodshop.
Seconds later, a black SUV with tinted windows pulled into the driveway, rolling to a stop just behind the fae’s cars.
A back passenger door popped open, and an old man hopped out with a shocking amount of spryness.
The Paragon was the epitome of how a human would describe an elderly, aged fae. He had long, silvery white hair, a white mustache that drooped past his chin, spectacles with thin wire frames, and always wore a variation of silk robes. Today’s robes were in muted forest green colors and were embroidered with gold leaves.
Since he was sort of my representative, I’d made sure to research him when I was first formulating my plan of surviving in the human world as a half fae.
He had a reputation for being remarkably good humored for a fae, and his short patience for his own people was legendary, which meant I loved reading about him.
The Paragon put his fists on his hips and beamed up at the cloudy sky. “What a fine day, is it not, Hazel, Killian?”
“It is,” Hazel agreed. “Thanks for coming.”
“Of course!” The Paragon paraded across the yard. When he reached the fence, he yanked his robes up—revealing knobby knees and skinny legs—and casually hopped over the fence despite his aged appearance. “It is always my pleasure to come to the rescue of my dearest friends!”
A wrinkle sliced across Killian’s forehead. “Why did you arrive in one ofmycars?”
“The fastest way here was to use my gate to your house,” the Paragon said. “And though I will do much for you, I willnotwalk over here in this heat. One of your vampires agreed to drive me, and a delightful House Medeis wizard kept me entertained on the drive over.”
“You have a gate that drops you onmyproperty?” Ice formed at the edge of Killian’s words.
The Paragon huffed. “Of course! Do you know what kind of a drive it is from Magiford out here? Annoying, that’s what it is. I don’t wish to waste my time! I invested in making a gate so I can pop over whenever I want.”
“That’s a great idea!” Hazel said.
“No, it is not,” Killian growled.
Hazel pressed her lips together in thought. “Really? Because I think—”
“The Paragon is here for yourfriend, is he not?” Killian said.
“Oh, that’s right.” Hazel grimaced, then came to stand by me.
I was pretty tall for even a half fae, but I felt like a sky scraper as Hazel—a particularly petite wizard—didn’t even come up to my shoulder. “Paragon,” she began, glancing curiously at one of the fae horses. Eclipse and the others had backed off a little, giving us space, but they stayed clustered around us. “This is our neighbor Leila—she helped me the day I took back my House from Mason and is a good friend of mine. These weird cultist fae are bothering her.”
“We are not from acult!” Lady Demetria said.
“Wise and glorious Paragon.” Suits, busting out his best manners for the occasion, bowed deeply to the Paragon. “We have found our new queen.”
“And she’s not cooperating,” Lady Demetria added.
“Because Ican’tbe the next Night Court ruler,” I said. “I’m ahuman.”
“Half human, half fae,” Suits corrected—as if he was the expert on everything me.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “I don’t want to be your queen.”
“The night mares chose you?” the Paragon asked.
“Theyboundher,” Lady Demetria interrupted and thrust her finger at me. “Her! A half fae!”
“You keep saying they bound me, and I still have no idea what you mean,” I said.
