Page 51 of The Unseelie Wish

“Don’t give me that look. It’s about Pumpkin.” She walked out of the bedroom, heading toward the main living space. “I can’t just leave him here without knowing he’ll be okay.”

Scratching the back of his neck, he followed her into the living room. That made sense, he supposed. But he disliked bringing the half-breed into anything. It always complicated matters. “Be wary of what we tell him.”

“Why?” Alex sat on her sofa, reaching out to scratch the head of the cat in question. Pumpkin let out a mrrp before yawning and shifting to curl up closer to her. “I’m betting he’s eavesdropping, anyway.”

“Am I that predictable?” Puck appeared in a blink, sitting in a chair in the living room across from Alex.

Izael grimaced. Despite their…moments, he deeply disliked the half-breed.

“Kind of?” Alex chuckled. “Hi, Puck.”

“I’ll have to try harder to be random.” The silver-eyed, silver-haired fae grinned back at her. “So! How’s the suicide pact planning going?”

“Do you have any other ideas?” Alex seemed to adapt to Puck’s nature far easier than Izael. She might even be a little fond of the half-breed. That thought made Izael dislike the other fae even more, if it were possible. “If so, I’m all ears.”

“Nah, sorry. I’m all out of clever plans.” Puck paused, his chipper demeanor turning dour. “I’m sorry. But limiting the blast radius of all this is the right thing to do.”

Alex took a moment to watch Pumpkin as she petted the orange ball of fur. “Are you going to warn Abigail?”

“I would, if I thought you actually stood a chance. But no. No need to get her all worked up over this. Besides, she’s fond of you, Alex—she’d meddle and slam the brakes on the whole thing. Which means Valroy would learn what was happening, you’d get clapped in irons and chained to the front of the Unseelie war machine, yadda-yadda-yadda, everybody dies.” Puck gestured dismissively. “It’s a shitty timeline.”

“Sounds it.” Alex paused again, her shoulders slumping just slightly as she clearly braced herself for what she needed to say. “Puck, can you take care of Pumpkin when we’re gone? I don’t want him to go back on the street. He likes it here. And he deserves a home.”

“That little shit owes me twenty bucks, so sure.” Puck plopped his feet up on the coffee table.

Izael walked up to the half-breed to shove his feet off the furniture. Izael did it all the time, but it was his right. Puck was an interloper.

The silver-eyed fae huffed and crossed his legs underneath him instead, muttering something under his breath that Izael was happy he didn’t catch.

“How does a cat owe you twenty bucks?” Alex laughed, bemused.

“He cheated at chess. Lost the match.”

“I did not lose, I walked away.” Pumpkin replied, yawning. “A boring opponent is not a worthy one.”

Alex’s expression was one of vague horror. She was still adjusting to “hearing” animals talk. Especially since Pumpkin wasn’t particularly talkative, and the moments were few and far between. “That’s still so fucking weird.”

Puck ignored her and replied to the cat. “No, you picked up my king in your mouth and put it underneath the fridge. That’s cheating. You lost.”

Pumpkin didn’t reply, except to lift his rear leg and start cleaning his asshole.

Cats.

Puck rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You still owe me twenty bucks.” He turned his attention back to Alex. “I’ll make sure he’s safe. I promise. I’d take him back to Tir n’Aill to live with Abigail, but cats are definitely Unseelie.”

Alex snickered. “That’s fair.”

“And who knows!” Puck grinned, pushing to his feet. “Maybe you’ll win. Maybe you’ll kill Valroy and Abigail, and then the Duke here ends up being the Unseelie King.” There was a beat before he busted out laughing.

Alex was trying not to laugh as well, but the feeling of impending doom was probably keeping that at bay. Izael wanted her all to himself—for as little time as they had left. “All right. Your business is concluded. The cat will be fine. Now go away, Puck.”

The silver-haired fae looked up at him with a pout. “But I wanna go to the club.”

“No.” He glowered back.

“I’ll tell you what, Puck. If we live, we’ll go to the jazz club, all three of us.” She stood from the chair, smoothing her dress down again. “Iz just wants to spend as much time alone as possible, given the situation.”

“Alone together. In a crowd of people.” Puck wrinkled his nose. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

---