Page 31 of The King’s Queen

No, no, no, no. He only knows one elf—well, technically, two—but I don’t want to see either of them!

Yes, I was finally letting myself hope that maybe, his saving me was a sign that someday things would work out.

However!

I didn’t want to pop around—meredaysafter he’d already saved my sorry carcass—when I still didn’t have any plans to put into play, risking blowing our covers and doing the very thing I promised I wouldn’t!

Hope is a distant thing. This is too much!

Queen Leila must have interpreted my gurgles of shock as fear, because she set a hand on my arm. “You might feel weird about meeting an elf since you’ve got one chasing you, and elves are responsible for the extinction of shadows, but he’s safe. He’s not theniceelf you mentioned you were hoping for earlier, but he is an outlier in that he’s decent, and trustworthy enough that we know he won’t harm you. He’s helped the Paragon before in identifying elf magic.”

Yep. Yep, it’s definitely Noctus they’re talking about.

My fingers shook a little, but I determinedly tightened my grip on my mug—I had to be with it so I could steer the Paragon away from this insane idea.

“I can’t imagine how big of a deal this is…but, I’m sorry, I don’t think I’d feel comfortable meeting an elf,” I said.

Especially notthatone!

“I can understand, but, I’m afraid, Chloe, he is the greatest source of information available to us when it comes to shadows,” the Paragon said. “He might even have some materials from when shadows used to be more numerous.”

“Couldn’t you just ask him if there’s a book?” I asked.

“Yes, but I’ll have to introduce you. I can’t just tell him, ‘I have a shadow, please give me some priceless resources that aren’t supposed to exist anymore, thanks!’” The Paragon punctuated his sentence with a big, cheesy wink.

Nope, I’m not giving up. I am not going to be so bad at my personal vows that I’m now just going to show up on Noctus’s doorstep!

“I just found out I’m a shadow,” I said. “And that elves are still alive. This is a lot to take in.” I pushed my clay cup across the bistro table then folded my hands on my lap.

“I suppose it would be overwhelming,” the Paragon said. “But allow me to assure you that he is the best possible source for information, and I don’t take telling you what he is lightly.”

Queen Leila tilted her head. “What is it about the situation that makes you uneasy, Chloe? A few minutes ago you were hoping elves weren’t evil.”

“Aha! Yes! He might surprise you! In a way he can fulfill that hope of yours. He isn’t evil—though he certainly isn’t kind.” The Paragon frowned. “Except to his cat. Oh—but you canturn intoa cat! Maybe he’ll actually like you!”

My hands spontaneously twitched, and I was pretty sure I’d just sweated through my shirt.

I hope I wore enough deodorant, because this is getting ugly.

“Can’t I hope for peace between us, and still be reluctant to meet an elf?” I asked. “I was just brained by one a few days ago. Plus, who’s to say this contact of yours wants to meet ashadow?”

The Paragon scratched his ear.

Queen Leila stared at him.

“I mean, she’s not wrong,” he said.

Queen Leila rolled her eyes. “If you’re that set against meeting the Paragon’s contact, our opportunities for knowledge about shadows shrink drastically. I can have the fae check our libraries, but I’m not very hopeful. Fae kept elven relics—money, artifacts, weapons and the like—more than books.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “Maybe we can rib Killian Drake into finding the oldest vampire in the Midwest and waking them up to see if they remember anything about shadows?”

“I’d rather face the elf,” the Paragon said. “Old, crusty vampires are so disagreeable.”

“I would really appreciate it if you reached out to the vampires,” I said. “Thank you.”

Queen Leila set her empty cups on the table. “It’s no trouble. Thank you for cooperating with us about this tracker.”

“Of course,” I said. “He’s hurt my family. I want him caught more than anything.”

A funny, slanted smile skipped across Leila’s lips. “You’re an interesting one.”

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