Borderline (The Arcadia Project, #1)(56)

“Do you recognize any of these people, aside from Vivian?” Caryl asked me.

I glanced over the photos and shook my head. “Not in the least.” I pointed at a lumpy-nosed old woman. “That’s a weird facade for a fey to choose.”

“Thus far you’ve only seen the sidhe; they share our standards of beauty, for the most part. Commoners, especially Unseelie commoners, have a different aesthetic.”

“Who are these people?”

“These are the only four Unseelie fey who are currently in Los Angeles. Seelie magic is designed to attract attention, not divert it, so these four and myself are the only beings in the city who might have cast spells to assist in removing Rivenholt from the train station.”

“Is it safe to assume that our fake cop knows about Arcadia?”

“Not necessarily. For example, he could be conspiring with Vivian in some mundane criminal capacity and unaware of exactly how she managed to get them all safely out of the station. A spell caster of Vivian’s skill can be subtle.”

“But given the amount of blood loss, Teo said Rivenholt’s facade would have dropped.”

Caryl nodded. “It does seem likely that if the man was unaware of the existence of fey before, he has just had a very shocking introduction to the concept.”

For a moment I almost felt bad for Clay, but then I remembered that he was a lying sack of crap who was probably in cahoots with the queen of the damned.

“Is there any reason that Vivian would want to harm her business partner’s Echo?” I asked Caryl, perplexed.

“Leverage, possibly?” she mused. “You say she promised not to hurt Berenbaum, but if she didn’t extend that promise to Rivenholt, she could still use him to ensure Berenbaum’s cooperation with something.”

“That means Rivenholt is almost certainly still alive, then, because if she killed him, she’d lose the leverage.”

Caryl gave me a long look. “If he is in Vivian’s custody, you had best hope she has already killed him.”

“Caryl!” scolded Gloria, approaching the two of us. “Look at her face. This is exactly the sort of thing I’m talkin’ about.”

I eyed Gloria, suspicious of this sudden defense of me.

“I appreciate your concerns,” Caryl said, “and I share them to some extent. But Millie and Teo have done a tremendous job of getting information thus far.”

I made an incoherent sound of disbelief. “She wants to take the assignment from us, doesn’t she.”

“Aw, don’t take it personal, honey,” said Gloria, and gave me a sugary smile.





26


I looked down at Gloria’s smug, pretty face and felt equal parts panic and fury. She wore sweetness like armor; I could fight, too little too late, and it would only make me look petty and threatened. I’d done this dance a thousand times with a thousand saccharine Southern girls, and I always ended up getting danced right out the door.

“What’s in this for you?” I asked Gloria, making no apology for towering over her.

“It’s not about me, hon,” she said with an expression of tender concern. “It’s just, you haven’t been here a week, and already Caryl’s got you interviewing Unseelie bloodsuckers and mopping up at crime scenes?”

She actually sort of had a point, which made me more furious. “You didn’t answer my question,” I said. “Is there money in it for you or something?”

Gloria looked like someone had dropped a worm down the back of her shirt. I looked at Caryl, who only gave a weary sigh.

“Because fey blood was shed,” Caryl explained, “I had to alert my contact at the Department of Homeland Security to the possibility of Arcadian retribution.”

“Wait, the government knows about fairies?”

“Not most of the government, no. But we have people at the DHS, and they will be paying us a substantial cash reward if we can keep the Accord intact.”

“To whom would this reward go, exactly?”

“To the Los Angeles Arcadia Project. Generally, when we are paid for resolving a conflict, I give most of the proceeds to the employees involved in the resolution.”

I gave Gloria a hard look. “Oh, is that so.”

“Don’t make it sound like that,” Gloria chided, giving me a disappointed-mom look.

“I don’t have to make it sound like anything,” I said. “This is my assignment. There is no one, not even Teo, who could do it without me at this point. In the few days I’ve been, here not only have I become best buddies with David Berenbaum, but apparently Viscount Rivenholt has fallen in love with me.”

“What?” said a few people at once. Then the room got very quiet.

I pulled the drawing out of my pants pocket and showed it to Caryl. “I already touched this,” I said sheepishly, “but Teo can attest to the feeling that used to be in it.”

“Yup,” said Teo. “He seriously wants to hit that.”

Caryl looked at the drawing for a moment. “I’ll confess this development surprises me,” she said evenly, “but between the viscount’s inexplicable infatuation and your magic-canceling abilites, I will admit you have become valuable. The best solution would be for the four of you to work together.”