Spin the Shadows (Dark and Wicked Fae #1) - Cate Corvin Page 0,51

apartment with disgust.

“Bri is like a little sister to us,” Tarragon said pleasantly, but there was a hint of the selkie in his lengthened canines.

Robin shook his hand but didn’t release him. “She’s told me about you.”

The two Fae stood gripping hands while Clove and I watched, holding our collective breath.

“Only good things, I hope.” Tarragon’s arm flexed as he squeezed Robin’s hand. “But we haven’t heard about you.”

Oh, my trees. If Tarragon knew who he was flexing on…

Robin flashed him a brilliant smile. “I’m a close acquaintance of hers. And we really need to get going.”

Clove made a face at me behind Tarragon’s back.

I shrugged and shook my head. There was no way in hell I was owning up to Robin being my boss.

Tarragon finally released his grip on Robin’s hand. He seemed satisfied by something, though I didn’t know what.

Robin pulled his jacket on and opened the door for me.

Before I walked out, Tarragon gripped my arm gently and whispered in my ear. “Well, you really can’t go back to humans after that fine Gentry beefcake, now can you?”

I heard the twins howling with laughter as I closed the apartment door behind me.

Any hope I had that Robin hadn’t heard Tarragon’s parting words dissolved as soon as we hit the street.

“Humans, hmm?” he asked.

Behind him, Carabosse waved to me as she watered her plants. I smiled at her before turning back to Robin.

Then I shrugged one shoulder. I hadn’t thought of Ioin in over a week. “It was a failed experiment. The twins think it’s better if we stick to our own kind.”

Even if that meant sticking to other Lessers from now on. Robin seemed to be deliberately putting space between us now, a far cry from last night.

No Robin, no Gwyn… for some reason Jack’s pale, sensual face flashed in my mind, and I shoved it away in disgust.

I half-expected Robin to shut me out again as we strode up the street, especially after last night, but he was scrolling through something on his phone.

“It looks like the Ghosthand struck again last night, over at the edge of Thornwood and Mothwing,” he said, checking the silver watch on his left arm. “A rusalki found the body and called in the Garda.”

Something rankled at me as we walked. I didn’t pay attention to where we were even going, caught up in my irritation. “Boss, I know our current mission is important, but why aren’t we spending more time on the Ghosthand? Especially now?”

His blue eyes flashed at me. “I know it seems unfair and wrong, Miss Appletree,” he said, pitching his voice low. “But we have other Garda looking into it. I can’t be everywhere at once, and the Queen’s orders are my first priority.”

I swallowed down the rest of my irritation. Catching Prince Brightkin and finding the missing human girls was just as important as finding the Ghosthand. Those girls would never see the light of day again if the prince was allowed to continue funneling them into the Fae underworld.

But still, this one time, I disagreed with Queen Titania’s choice to take someone as valuable as Robin away from the Ghosthand case.

We passed a street cart selling trash newspapers and I caught sight of a headline: Prince Brightkin Secretly Engaged to Princess Enya? Autumn Court Informant Speaks Out!

I huffed out a sigh. Of course we needed to catch Brightkin.

I was so lost in thought I didn’t notice we were walking my usual morning route towards Web and Peaseblossom.

Then I blinked, catching sight of a pair of long legs in shredded denim, and caramel hair hanging down his back. Gwyn was waiting for me, of course.

Bright, white-hot guilt stabbed through my chest. I’d kissed Gwyn only the morning before, and now I was fresh out of bed with Robin.

I took a deep breath. There’s no future between you, Briallen.

It was the truth. Nothing like this could last, not with either of them.

Gwyn smiled at me, but it was tight, not full of his usual lazy amusement. He looked over Robin with an unreadable expression as I pushed past my boss. “Hi, Gwyn.”

I was about to make an introduction when Robin cocked his head. “Interesting company you keep, Miss Appletree. The second of the Wild Hunt… bringing you pastries.”

The guilt in my chest turned to ice. He was that high-ranking?

Gwyn stood up slowly, leaving the box of tarts on the low stone wall. He and Robin were of a height, and giving each other that purely male size-up