to do my own thing, make art, have a good time.”
"Well, he must have some kind of plan, right?" Ian said. "It is weird. All this just to get Flor to go with Shaw?"
"Well...unless...Darius is a consort," Frankie said. "Viktor said we would all be drawn together and so far that's been very true. And you're a good friend to Flor and Ian likes you too.”
"A consort? To what? Or who? Is that what you're all doing? Wait--you're not all sharing a woman, are you? Is this a sex thing?"
"When you put it that way, I think it is a sex thing," Ian said, turning slightly pink.
"It's a save-the-world thing," Waylon said. "But what thing isn't also a sex thing? I mean, you might as well."
"You're not Frankie's consort," I said. "But...it's true. You might be someone else's. Maybe. Or maybe you're just a friend."
"But...Viktor said that he and Decker were both cat consorts. So either one of them isn't a consort, or Darius isn't," Frankie said. "Either way, we should still try to help out his sister. I hate to think what could happen to her."
"She really is tough," Darius said. "I can't imagine anything happening to her. But...I'd better save her ass because now I can finally get her off my back about not wanting to be a...royal lion." He shook his head. "But enough about me. I need to know what you did to those guys. No wonder Ian missed you."
"I'm the Black Queen from the prophecy," Frankie said. "You've probably heard of it and thought it couldn't be true, because that's where I was at until...the day I first did that." She looked at her little gloved hands. "That was only the second time ever. I don't enjoy it, but I know now that it's necessary. And--" She lifted her head higher, showing a bit of pride. "I'd do it to save your sister too. I'm partial to feline royalty.” Her eyes were bright, showing her growing strength.
"All right, I like her," Darius said to me. "Maybe the consort thing is something I'd like to hear more about. Do you hand out pamphlets or anything?"
"Maybe we should," Frankie said wryly. "I am explaining the same thing a lot of times..."
My phone rang. "Alistair?" I answered. "How's it going?"
"Not great," Alistair said. "Look at the Hive and then get back to me. I told you to get Viktor at all costs and instead…I don’t even know what to say. When we get home, you're all grounded."
"Aw, he's learning humor," Ian said, as I opened the app that always made me want to scrub my brain afterward. I already had a feeling we all knew what was coming.
"Well...they didn't get Frankie turning anyone to dust, but maybe they got enough," I said, "to make trouble."
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Frankie
Alistair called back and told us to head right for the airport. He felt we didn't have much time to get out before the video had matched my face and my name with the rumors of the queens and they tried to detain me.
I really hoped he was overreacting a little bit. Alistair was pretty high-strung.
Another part of me wondered how I'd survive this. Couldn't they just kill people with drones while they slept these days? Wasn't facial recognition technology getting really good? I worried that the ancient mystical prophecy had failed to account for how much modern life could match magic. At least my low-key profile might buy me a little time.
We reached the executive airport just fine and the rest of our crew had Decker in hand.
“All thanks to Sylvia, really,” Shawn told me, patting the back of Waylon’s old lady witch. “She gave us all some charms to keep us alert and when Decker left the mansion we were on it.”
“I told you Sylvia would pull it out,” Waylon said.
“I’m sorry, but none of this even sounds hard at all,” I grumbled. “They kept alert? That was the big finishing move?”
In fact, it was all good right up until we were walking to the plane.
"Hey, guys," Decker said, greeting us with one shrugged shoulder. They had put his hands behind his back in cuffs. I couldn't blame them. Decker was a big guy. "It's good to see you again, even if this is awkward. Ansel and Mina are fine."
I was thrown by his usual friendliness. "Oh...good. Um, I am sorry about the kidnapping thing."
"It's fair," Decker said. "I'm sure my kidnapping experience will be as enjoyable as I hope yours