too,” Chase confirmed.
Lord Linus crouched down. “I don’t get it. Leila is queen—they shouldn’t be able to hurt her like this.”
“If they can make it into an accidental death, it seems the magic won’t stop it,” Skye said. “Given the experience at the restaurant.”
“The amount of work it takes to set something like that up is incredibly difficult, though, and they shouldn’t be able to pull it off with this frequency,” Lord Linus argued.
“Maybe we’re looking at this wrong?” Indigo asked.
“I don’t see how.” I tapped my chin in thought. “I’m pretty clearly the target.” I paused and looked at my free hand.
Why is it empty?
I glanced at my other hand, holding my clutch, and slapped my thigh. “No!”
“Queen Leila?” Skye quizzically asked as Chase took a phone call.
I ran around the giraffe, stopping with heartbreak when I saw my travel mug tipped over with my precious coffee splattered on the ground. “My coffee.”
Skye heaved a sigh with relief, then started patting her pockets—probably in search of her tin of antacids.
Indigo shook her head in disgust. “Serves you right for partaking in that sacrilegious drink!”
“You’re just ignorant,” I said. “Your eyes haven’t been opened to the glories of coffee.”
“I’m fine with that,” Indigo said. “In fact, I’d prefer they stay shut.”
Lord Linus had been glancing out at the Court, and seemed tuned out of Indigo’s and my play fight. He ended it by awkwardly patting me on the shoulder. “I’m glad you’re safe, pumpkin. But it’s getting crowded up here, and I see a lord I owe—er, I should mingle.” He winked, then glided off.
“Pumpkin?” I snarled at his retreating back.
He waved, and I was half tempted to pick up my fallen travel mug and pitch it at his head, but Chase forestalled me.
“The man I set up at the security cameras called.” He returned his cellphone to the holster on his pants belt—a very dad-ish gesture of his.
I whistled in appreciation. “Whoa—you had someone stationed there? You’re thorough.”
I’m so glad I hired Chase instead of a wizard. He’s worth his weight and his wolf form’s weight in gold!
“The camera caught the ball that hit it. He was able to trace it back to the hole where it was putted,” Chase continued.
I straightened in surprise. “Really?”
“Yes.” Chase’s voice turned grim. “The fae who hit it was with Lady Chrysanthe’s group.”
I leaned back on my heels. “Ahhh. Why does that not surprise me?”
“My men are taking the fae aside for questioning,” Chase said. “You should head back to the mansion.”
“Nope,” I said. “Not going.”
Chase rubbed the back of his neck. “And why won’t you?”
“You don’t have to put a brave front on,” Indigo said. “You said you wanted to break the way the Court operates.”
“I do,” I acknowledged. “But this is a lesson I’ve learned living on a farm. You don’t turn your back on an animal you can’t trust. I need to stay.”
Chase sighed. “Very well. But you’re going to have guards stand with you while I talk to the fae.”
“Sounds good. Thanks, Chase.”
He nodded, then started barking orders at his men that were taking photos of the giraffe feet and sweeping the area.
Four of them split off, discreetly moving into place around me.
Skye eyed them, then bowed to me. “I’ll see what reconnaissance I can do.”
Indigo picked up my silver travel mug. “And I’ll get you another beverage—not coffee!” She shook my mug at me with such a fierce look I couldn’t help but crack a smile.
“Thank you, both of you,” I said.
Another shake of the travel mug and a bow, and they were off, leaving me alone with my guards.
I made a point of mingling around the top for a few minutes—I spoke to Lord Dion for a while, and some of his acquaintances—but around the time my Court’s interest had finally waned and they were returning to their games, I escaped out of the hot sun, and moved closer to the entrance shaded by trees—with my guards, of course.
I took my sunglasses out and fished my prism out of my purse, noting with disappointment that my can of bear mace wouldn’t have done much against the statue.
I pulled the bear mace out as well and was studying the bottle, when I felt something behind me.
I popped the lid off my can and had my finger on the spray part, when I realized I was staring into the unimpressed eyes of the Wraith.
My movement caught my guards’ attention, and they all turned inward, grappling with their weapons when