picked up Phin's scent - and four other fae who had been in there. One of them, some kind of forest fae, came back, and Sam killed it. There was another forest fae, a female we didn't meet. She was the same kind as the one Sam killed - I'm pretty sure of it. And then there was one who smelled of swamps and wet things who hopefully is her knight of the water. The fewer allies she has, the happier I am. I met the fourth, who left traces in the bookstore earlier today . . . I guess that's yesterday now. She looked like a happy-grandmother type. I couldn't tell what she was."
"Was it her?" asked Ben, and nodded at the phone.
"I can't answer that," I told him.
"But you can answer me," said Jesse. "Was the old woman the one who took Gabriel?"
"I don't know," I said. I closed my eyes and thought about what had happened and when. "No. She was looking through Phin's records, trying to find out who Phin gave something to. The bad guys had already tried to kill me once - if you didn't pick up on it, the incident at my garage yesterday morning was aimed at me. They knew where they were looking." Maybe if I could have talked to her, we'd know more about what it was that the fairy queen wanted.
"She's not smart, this fairy queen," said Ben. "If she were, she'd have known that you weren't human."
"I don't exactly advertise," I told him. "And, other than my connection to Adam and the Marrok, I'm not important. There's no reason that she should know. Especially since she's been producing shows in California."
"She makes assumptions," Darryl said. "Most people look at you, Mercy, and wonder if you are fae or wolf and just hiding it, because you're mated to a wolf and working with a fae." He stopped and raised a speculative eyebrow. "Or she thinks you are one or the other and might react and tell her which one if she kept taunting you with being human."
"That sounds about right," I said.
"Why not just give them whatever she wants and get Gabriel back," Mary Jo said. "It's not yours, and it sounds like the rightful owner is dead anyway."
Ben snorted. "You aren't usually this dumb. You want to hand a woman like this fairy queen an object of power that she believes can protect her from us?"
Darryl tilted his head and looked at Mary Jo. She flushed and dropped her gaze. "Don't think I don't remember that you disobeyed Adam," he said. "You have no standing here, and you will not leave this house until your punishment." He waited, then answered her question. "Ben's right. Besides, you really think she's going to let anyone live who knows what she has? I don't know a damn thing about what she wants. If the Gray Lords are willing to kill Mercy just because she knows about it - Mercy who has their favor and is beloved by our Alpha - don't you think they'd kill one of those under their power, who has no such protections? If I can figure that out from one phone conversation, this Daphne, she knows it, too. She has no intention of letting anyone go. She'd make the exchange, then kill both Mercy and the boy."
"Or keep the boy and kill Mercy," added Jesse, who had her dad's clear eye for strategy. "Gabriel would rather be dead." She was still a teenager with a streak of drama, though. I wasn't so sure Gabriel would rather be dead than serve the fairy queen - from all accounts it was fairly pleasant from the victim's side because they had no willpower to object.
I'd rather be dead. Maybe she was right.
"Mercy," grumbled Darryl, "she was right about one thing: you need some sleep. Go to bed." His voice softened. "You, too, Jesse. We can all help your boy better on a full night's sleep."
He was right. I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open.
I yawned and hooked my arm through Jesse's. "Okay."
* * *
AFTER DROPPING JESSE OFF AT HER ROOM, I OPENED the door to Adam's as quietly as I could. Someone had stripped the comforter and thrown it on the floor. Adam was sprawled naked on top of the sheet - and he looked horrible. A mass of dark red scabs covered most of his extremities as well as here and there on the rest