Her eyes lit up. “Ooh! Shopping is one of my favorite things. And I can take you to all of the best boutiques.”
“I’m sure we’ll have Finn looking over our shoulders the whole time,” I warned.
She grinned wickedly. “And this would be a bad thing?” she teased. “I got a good look at him before he let me in, and all I can say is, yum!”
“He looks less ‘yum’ and more ‘yikes’ when he’s in Secret Service Man mode,” I warned.
Kimber’s grin was undiminished. “All the better. He can be our little secret.”
A weight lifted off my shoulders as I grinned back at her.
My dad didn’t come home until after seven, by which time my lunch had long been burned out of my system. In other words, I was starving. I’d assumed he’d take me out to dinner, but I wasn’t at all disappointed when I came downstairs and discovered he’d brought Chinese takeout. Yay! I’d get to eat sooner.
There wasn’t actually a dining room in my dad’s house, but he did have a small round table with two chairs hiding in one corner, and that’s where we ate. Finn had left as soon as Dad got home, so it was just the two of us. I thought it was kind of cozy, almost homelike. Until Dad started talking.
“So Finn tells me you ran into Ethan this afternoon,” he said, and the food turned to ashes in my mouth.
I swallowed, then mentally gave myself a kick in the rear. I should have known Finn would give Dad a full report, especially when Ethan made such a big deal about having something important to tell me. I should have spent some time this afternoon deciding what I was going to say to my dad—I was afraid a death threat would make me into even more of a prisoner than I already was—but of course I hadn’t wanted to think about it.
“Yeah,” I said, trying to sound casual as I shoved another bite of sweet-and-sour chicken into my mouth. It still tasted like ashes, but as long as I was chewing, I couldn’t be expected to talk.
Dad leaned back in his chair, and I could feel his eyes on me even though I was looking at my plate.
“Well?” he prompted. “Would you like to tell me what happened? I hear he had something urgent to tell you.”
I wasn’t eager to tell Dad about what happened. But I also wasn’t eager to get killed, so not telling Dad about it probably was a bad idea. I took a gulp of water to help wash the chicken down, then composed myself as best I could.
“On the night that Ethan and Kimber rescued me from Aunt Grace, we were attacked by Spriggans.” Fae reserve or not, Dad gasped softly. “Kimber thought they were after Ethan because he’s so powerful. But Ethan thinks they were after me.”
I had left so much out you could drive a truck through all the holes in my story. Don’t ask me why I didn’t spill the beans about Ethan’s role in the attack. I was hurt enough to want to hurt him back, but some instinct made me hold back.
From the look on Dad’s face, I could tell he knew I wasn’t telling him the whole story. I tensed for the ensuing interrogation, but he surprised me by letting it slide.
He sighed hugely and pushed his plate aside. “I suppose I’ve put this off as long as I could,” he said. “It’s time to talk about your status as a Faeriewalker.”
“You say that as if you know I am one.” I hadn’t said a word about it to him, figuring I’d avoid the whole topic until he brought it up.
He smiled wryly. “It became fairly obvious once I brought you home. You haven’t even glanced out that front window yet. Most people immediately comment on the view, and it was a sunny day today.”
“Maybe I’m afraid of heights.”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t be coy.” He didn’t quite snap at me, but there was definitely annoyance in his voice. “You can see into Faerie.”
I shrugged. Being coy, I guess. It was almost like if I didn’t admit it out loud, it wasn’t actually true.
“And Ethan and his Underground have explained to you what this means?” he prodded.
Another shrug. “To tell you the truth, it doesn’t seem like that big a deal to me. Not big enough for all this drama.”
“Then you haven’t thought about it enough.” He was still pissed