Page 28 of Wicked Deeds

That was one Fae word I knew. It was their equivalent of hello.

“Hael,” I thought back. “Hello,” I added out loud so Callum would know I’d heard something. The nixling blinked at me and I got a sense she was pleased. Her voice was not like Callum’s. He came through clear as day. This was more subtle. Like a voice carried on a breeze or twisted through the rustle of leaves. I was going to have to pay attention.

Though Lianith could probably shout if she wanted to.

“Any Fae words you think I should know to make this easier?” I asked Callum. “Like what she wants to eat?” Most of the Fae I knew revolved around being polite to Fae or magic and fighting demons. We’d skipped over things like cooking terms.

He ran quickly through the various words for beef, lamb, chicken, and salmon. Then added inside and outside.

“Okay,” I said, “I can remember those. Send me a voice note with any others I might need.” My datapad, still in my leather backpack, chimed suddenly. Reminding me I was supposed to be home, getting ready for tonight. “I need to hit the road. Is there a carrier?”

Lianith’s ears flattened slightly, her eyes sparking brighter gold.

“She knows how to behave in a car.” Callum said, “She will sit on your lap.”

I was fairly sure that was illegal. Pets were supposed to be restrained in vehicles. But I wasn’t going to try and shove a Fae creature her size into a cardboard box or crate against her will. Even if the thought of her digging those claws into my leg if she spooked wasn’t appealing.

I nodded at Callum, then focused on Lianith. “Time to go. Let’s put this collar on and then I can carry you or you can follow me? To the car.”

Callum must have translated for me, because the nixling stretched out her nose toward me and sniffed my hand and pressed her head into my palm, like a cat or dog asking for scritches.

I scratched her ear tentatively, and, when she didn’t object, slipped the collar on, fastening the buckle. The shift in her appearance was instantaneous. Suddenly there was a large long-haired gray cat, with similar silvery tips to her ears and her single—albeit very fluffy—tail sitting on the table. I blinked twice, startled by how well it worked. Though I shouldn’t have been if Cerridwen’s magic was involved. Cerridwen could change the appearance of the realm around her with a thought. Charming a relatively small animal was hardly a challenge. I reached to pick Lianith up and almost staggered when she weighed more than my brain expected. Illusions can’t change the mass of an object. So I had to remember I was lifting a nixling, not a cat. I hoisted her more securely in my arms and carried her out to the car.

Lianith sat on my lap, ears pricked and occasionally flicking back and forth, gaze fastened on the scenery passing by as we headed back to the city. She didn’t offer any comments. Probably just aswell. My Fae wasn’t up to translating nixling feelings about the San Francisco skyline.

Maia stayed silent until we were back across the bridge, when her curiosity got the better of her. “So is this a case of nixling versus nixling?” I’d explained what Lianith really was when I’d carried the seemingly-a-cat out to the car and Maia had hit me with a ‘why the hell do you have a cat?’ face.

I shrugged. “That’s what Callum said. Lianith here should be able to scare off any others that try to make it past our wards.”

“Right. Well, it’s a reasonable plan,” Maia agreed. “But I don’t think Mitch is going to like it.”

I was sure he wouldn’t. But I’d rather have Mitch cranky at me than Cerridwen, and she must have given her blessing to Callum’s plan. He wouldn’t take a nixling from the realm without her permission.

At least I hoped not.

The real wild card was Damon. He mostly rolled with the magical punches these days and I figured he’d be happy to trade one Fae creature who was on our side for a random assortment of others that weren’t. If he wasn’t, I had ways to make it up tohimthat I couldn’t use on Mitch.

Still, I was somewhat nervous when I arrived home. Madge informed me Damon was in his office. I walked down the hallway, Lianith padding behind me, head swiveling from side to side taking in her surroundings. Damon’s office door was closed.

I bent down to Lianith and slipped her collar off. I wanted Damon to see her in her true form for this introduction. She made a soft inquiring chirrup noise at me as I tucked the collar into one of the pockets of my workout jacket.

“I hope you understand this, but I need you to wait here, okay?” I said softly, wracking my brains for the Fae word for wait. When it finally popped into my head, I repeated it silently to Lianith.

She sat back on her haunches, tails curled around her feet. Message received.

I hoped. I knocked on Damon’s door, slipping inside when he told me to come in in a distracted tone.

He had all the screens in the room up and they were displaying a bunch of different data analysis sets that made me glad, once again, that I wasn’t him. Code was fun. Running a global empire was not my jam.

“Hey,” Damon said, pushing his chair back from the desk, looking vaguely guilty. “You’re home. Have I lost track of time again?” He tugged at his white T-shirt. “Do I need to get ready?”

“Not yet.” I swept a hand down my active wear. “But ask Madge to ping you an hour out if you’re in data absorption mode.”

He grinned, which I was happy to see. His smiles had been few and far between the last few days. “Don’t worry. She won’t let me be late. Cat will have set reminders. Cinderella must get to the ball on time tonight.”

“Personally, I’d be happy to miss it all together,” I said. “If you’re too busy….”

“Nice try. But no. Though I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

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