Page 36 of The Fae Menagerie
I could have poked a nail right through the clear plastic, but I didn't want to destroy Parker's card. It had done its job beautifully, and we might need it again.
Aidan twitched, and Horace quickly shut his cupboard doors to hide us from view. I motioned for Parker to sit at the table and eat his breakfast while I ran to the bathroom.
The bottle I needed had been shoved into a corner, long forgotten. I evaluated every single item in the cabinet before finally spotting it behind a pair of tweezers and a nose hair trimmer, holding my charmed flute in place.
Finally armed with the right tool, I wrapped the bottle in the extra material at my hip and returned to the kitchen.
"He left," Parker said.
Horace paced before his window. "He said he would be back," Horace signed. "I don't like this."
I didn't either, but I didn't know what to say. Nothing I could sign would ease Horace's concern.
After a few swipes with the soaked cloth, the piece of plastic tipped up on its side. I pried a claw beneath it and removed it from the wall, uncovering the hole once more. The sweet scent of night-blooming jasmine lingered in the air, and I recoiled while trying to disperse it by waving both hands.
"He's been using toxic aromas on us." That explained Horace's agitation overnight, and Parker's nightmares. In an intense enough dose, the fae variety of jasmine could kill Parker as quickly as nightshade. I couldn't imagine how strong it must have been to knock Aidan on his ass without warning.
"First, my ex was trying to kill me," Parker said. "Now, your ex is trying to kill me."
"My ex." Parker most likely meant Aidan, but I needed to get a message to Prince Drummond.
Once we were seated in the viewing area with our books, I signaled for the cuddlebug children to gather around. Parker brought the tea service to draw further attention to those who could read lips.
"I need to contact Prince Drummond."
One of the lip readers spoke my words aloud, and my mother sat up straighter. She frowned.
"Why?" She kept her signs close to her chest.
"Aidan is trying to kill Parker. He's using sleeping potion with jasmine in it." I didn't have to tell my audience. They recognized Prince Drummond's calling card. "I thought he would want to know someone is trying to commit murder in his name."
I didn't hide my signs. I wanted everyone in the green space outside our walls to know my warden was trying to kill Parker and blame it on my former lover.
The prince's earlier appearance in my bedroom must have slipped Aidan's notice. The wards and charms on my enclosure weren't as strong as I'd originally suspected. I wondered if Drummond could even help us escape, if he so chose, or if my mother had given him a loophole because she wanted us to get back together.
Before the final viewing hour was up, Prince Drummond himself walked into the menagerie, drawing everyone's attentionaway from my enclosure. I felt him coming like a storm cloud. So did everyone else. He carried with him a pallor of dread. Even Parker shivered and pulled his knees up to his chest while he read.
"So this is where they're keeping you."
Parker startled at the sound of Drummond's voice behind us and nearly fell off the couch.
"Your Highness," I greeted him with his title only instead of the simping compliments I once showered upon him.
"And this is your little human pet, the one whose dreams I touched all those weeks ago. Hello, pet."
"It's Parker." He'd recovered from his fright and glared over his shoulder at the shadow creature who had haunted his nightmares.
"Ah, yes, Parker. You have tamed my beautiful anthousai when no one else could. I am impressed."
"I haven't tamed anything."
"Oh, but you have." Prince Drummond floated through the room on his shadows, stopping to caress my cheek before helping himself to a cup of tea. Instead of straightening, he leaned over the table and sniffed Parker. "Interesting. He hasn't claimed you yet."
Parker glared at him over the top of his book, but Prince Drummond turned his attention to me.
"He isn't mine to claim," I said, drawing Parker's glare.
"Yet you protect him. You ask for my protection for him as well. Why?"
