Page 44 of Wicked Deeds

“Just Fae,” she said. “In London, there, there are too many of them. I don’t want to have...I don’t want to go back there.” She pushed her plate away

Was she worried about being taken or being tempted?

I rubbed my temples for a moment, starting to feel frazzled myself. “Eat,” I said again, pushing the plate back. “You’ll feel better with a full stomach, and then I can get someone to take you to your hotel. Or,” I added, wondering if she might just runagain if left to freak out on her own, “you could stay here for a few nights.”

“Damon wouldn’t mind?” Gwen sniffed and wiped her eyes again.

“No.” I pulled a box of Kleenex out and passed it to her.

“Alright. Thank you. “She blew her nose and picked up her silverware, taking a bite of bacon. She made an appreciative noise then attacked the food like she was starving.

“Good. You finish that. There’s plenty more if you want.” I said. “I’m going to let Aubrey know you’re here.”

Gwen looked up. “Why?”

“Because the Cestis have been helping you, and they’re going to freak out if one of them tries to contact you, and you’ve vanished. Aubrey mentioned you’re still seeing Padma? So you must have a schedule.”

Gwen hunched. “They can’t make me go back.”

“Of course not. You can go where you want. You haven’t broken any laws—” that I knew about “—so the Cestis don’t have authority over you. But they were helping you, so I’m going to let them know where you are.” Along with Cassandra.

Gwen looked mutinous.

“And,” I added, “Aubrey helped get you out of Fae. Without her, I wouldn’t have known how to get Lord—” I stopped as Gwen flinched.

Right. Don’t talk about Usuriel.

“About how to getyouout of the realm. So we will do her this common courtesy and let her know you’re safe. They can’t make you go back if you don’t want to. You got this far, so I’m assuming you have your passport and a tourist visa. That won’t last forever, but we can deal with that when it comes to it, if you decide you want to stay.” I tapped my finger on my now-cold mug of coffee. “You were studying game design, weren’t you?”

She nodded, then flinched again. “I don’t want you to think I came here to try to get Damon to help me with that. I knew you were here and I knew you were kind to me back in England and—” She waved a hand in a vague ‘over there’ gesture, which I took to mean in the realm.

She was in a bad way if she couldn’t even say the words.

“Damon might not mind if you stay here a few days,” I said. “And he will know what programs are best, if you were interested in going back to school. There are international scholarships and things.”

“I have money,” Gwen said. “I’m not a beggar.”

“Well, that’s great to know,” I said, “but school’s expensive here. San Francisco’s an expensive city in general.”

“So is London,” Gwen pointed out.

I couldn’t argue with that. “Eat,” I said again sternly. “Lianith might come back. She won’t hurt you. She likes bacon. Give her some and she’ll leave you alone. Do you know how to talk to nixling?”

Gwen nodded.

“Well, tell her to leave you alone if you want.”

I went back into my office to call Aubrey.

Thankfully, she picked up. This was not news I wanted to break in a voicemail.

“Maggie,” Aubrey said. “Is something wrong?” She was sitting in a car. Driving in fact. Flashes of other cars moved in and out of the background.

“Does something have to be wrong for me to call you?”

“No,” she said, “but it’s the nature of the beast with my job. I tend to assume the worst when someone from your part of the world calls me out of the blue.”

“Ah,” I said, “sorry.”

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