“Your father is looking for you,” Rigel said.
“So?”
“He’s concerned.”
Yeah, for his meal ticket.
I sighed. “I suppose I should go back inside. Indigo is probably looking for me by now anyway, and if Chase finds out Lord Linus left my side he’ll never take another day off again. It was a pleasure to meet you Angstra, Manith. I’ll see you around, King Solis?”
“Most assuredly, Queen Leila. In fact, let me accompany you. I was hoping to see if I might speak with the Paragon for a bit. I have a few questions I’d like to ask him about this year’s Summer’s End Ball.” He strode after me, and together we ambled back to the French doors.
“Good luck with that,” I said. “Last I saw him, he and Killian were playing laser tag in the gardens around sunset.”
“Ahh. Killian won?”
“And kept winning, until the Paragon started crying,” I confirmed.
King Solis opened the door for me, and I glanced back, a little surprised to see that Rigel was not following us.
He’d remained behind, thoughtfully studying Angstra and Manith. His hand strayed to his bracer for a moment, before he dropped it, then turned in my direction and stalked after me.
Curious, I glanced from him to the fae couple, but waited until I stepped inside and the loud music and whooping wizards could screen our voices.
“Something wrong?” I asked.
Rigel shook his head.
I hesitated, but while I was reasonably sure Rigel wouldn’t hurt me, and I wasn’t too afraid of him, I was very aware of the hard boundaries between us, and I wasn’t going to push it for the sake of seeing how he felt about the pair.
No—I’d save that little push for something far more important.
Like figuring out who had hired him to try to kill me when the night mares first started showing up around me.
* * *
The party lasteduntil the early hours of the morning and—according to Skye and Indigo—it was a hit.
I was just glad everyone had fun—the Drakes wouldn’t have stayed that long if they weren’t—and I’d even found a spare half hour with Josh, who took me out to the shooting range for a quick practice session.
Everything I’d learned about pistols and sidearms—including the one I owned and carried to all Night Court social functions—was taught to me by Josh. Needless to say, it was an extremely instructional half hour.
As a result, I was in a really good mood the following day, whistling to myself and jingling my truck keys as I left the cool, air-conditioned mansion for the hot, mid-morning, August air.
I clutched my folder of papers and made a noise of dislike at the back of my throat as the day’s building humidity swept around me like a soggy blanket. “Steve, Muffin, are you two sure you want to come?” I asked.
The shade and gloom—who’d spent the scant hours I’d slept silently prowling around my room—skulked after me. Steve’s shadowy black fur was more of a charcoal color under the glare of the sun, and a tuft of fur fell off Muffin as I watched.
Both of them determinedly followed me down the excessively long driveway—Steve’s front paws were a distinct shade of gray, which made her trot adorable.
“I’ll leave the truck running for you so it won’t get hot, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a boring wait,” I said.
Steve peered back over her shoulder, looking at something behind us, so I wasn’t too shocked when Rigel spoke.
“Where are you going?”
I paused at the edge of the driveway, next to a bunch of tulips that were flowering out of season—fae magic! “Rigel—good morning.”
Rigel stood behind me, a well cut figure of black in the bright and cheerful morning. I wasn’t thrilled to see he’d changed to the long, fitted jacket with the slit going up the back which he only seemed to wear when doing assassin-y things, but his silvery hair was pushed back, giving him a slightly more casual air as he stared me down.
