Page 35 of Sincerely, Secretary of Doom

“Now we’ll make a bargain,” Mor stated as he followed the fairy and stood over him on the stairs. “I know you rarely make bargains, Luc. But I watched you ruin a few fairies’ faeborn lives with them, so I know you’ll do it if pressed. And don’t try to airslip, you’re far too weak.”

But Luc rolled onto his side. “You fool. You should have made the beverage sweeter so I would have drunk it all,” he said.

Mor flinched as the fox heaved and spat up the contents of his stomach down Mor’s front stairs. In the same instant, Luc vanished, always one step ahead. Mor released an ancient curse and charged into the wind after him.

16

Violet Miller and the Great Fairy Debate

Apparently, the names of the Fae Café owners wereKateandLily. TheLilyone was nowhere in sight, but Violet watched Kate from across the café, studying the girl’s nonchalance about the memory-thieving brutes travelling around her, pouring coffee and coming out of the kitchen with steaming trays of baked goods that made the place smell amazing. Violet’s stomach growled.

The late afternoon sun melted over the tables, bleaching them gold after the most bizarre three days of Violet’s life. Every so often, Violet glanced at the door and considered making a run for it. But the white-haired whack-a-mole fairy popped up at random intervals throughout the hours like he was waiting for her to try. Like hewantedher to try.

She’d considered more than once that if her touch really burned them, she could probably get past him. She just wasn’t sure if she was in the business of hurting someone without a really good reason.

Though… seeing if Zorah was okay in that pebble-covered house felt like a pretty good reason.

The most annoying part of Violet being trapped here was that the person Mor was worried about Violet crossing was the very person she’d been studying for half a year. She probably knew more about the redhead guy than anyone—apart from Mor. It was the reason she agreed to take the secretary job. Because as strange as everything was, she wanted to catch the serial-attacker more than anything.

Violet startled when Mor’s phone rang in front of her, vibrating against the table. She looked around, wondering if one of the Master of Doom’sfriendsshould answer it—in case it was official fairy/Doom business or whatever. But everyone was busy serving coffee, washing counters, and taking orders.

Violet grabbed the phone on the last ring and answered. “Hello?”

“Good evening. I’m Fil Selemini calling on behalf of The Sprinkled Scoop. I’m wondering if I can speak to whoever is in charge of The Fairy Post about coming to our station for an interview?”

Violet stood, her chair scooting out behind her. A few choice words punched against the inside of her sealed mouth. Shayne glanced over snoopily from where he hovered by the café door.

“Hello?” Fil said again in his thick, nasally voice that sounded condescending even over a phone. “I’m just calling as a courtesy—” Violet rolled her eyes, “—because getting an interview with us would be big exposure for you—”

Violet hung up the phone. She tossed it back onto the table and folded her arms. She would die before she let Mor’s considerably better andfarmore entertaining Fairy Post be heckled by The Sprinkled Scoop—which was definitely what Fil Selemini intended to do. Her finger tapped on her bicep as she began to pace.

A second later, she grabbed the phone again and punched in the number she knew by heart.

It rang a few times before one of the interns picked up. “The Sprinkled Scoop, how can I help you?”

It seemed they’d put Alice on the phones again, instead of giving her real journalist work.

“I’m calling from The Fairy Post to speak with Fil Selemini,” Violet said in a cool, even voice she hoped wasn’t recognizable.

“Of course. I’ll see if he’s available.”

In other words,“I’ll go see if he even wants to talk to you, and if not, I’ll come up with an excuse about how busy he is.”

Violet paced as she waited, her heels tapping over the floor. She almost walked right into Shayne’s chest when he appeared in front of her. His arms were folded. “I’m needed until tomorrow morning on a quick errand, Human,” he said. “I expect you to stay put. Dranian will be watching you closely.”

“Shh.” Violet put a finger to her lips. “I’m on a call.”

Shayne raised a brow. “For what?”

“For The Fairy Post.” She cast him a look that said,“What else would it be for?”

“Huh.” Shayne looked amused. “So, you really are his secretary. Queensbane, I thought he made that bit up.” He grinned.

“Hello, Fil Selemini here.”

Violet turned away from the fairy and focused all her attention on her journalist nemesis. “Hi, I’m returning your call on behalf of The Fairy Post. I apologize for the last call, but we’ve been experiencing some technical difficulties due to the volume of phone calls and emails we’ve been getting from our fans. I hear you’re interested in an interview?”

“Yes!” Fil sounded maliciously excited. “Who am I speaking to?”

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