Grave Dance (Alex Craft, #2)(20)

“Nekros City hardly has a proper winter. I can count on one hand how many times it’s snowed here and the snow stuck to the ground more than an hour. Hel , half the trees don’t have the decency to lose their leaves. Shouldn’t the winter court hold territory somewhere, I don’t know, cold?”

winter court hold territory somewhere, I don’t know, cold?”

Caleb shrugged. “Faerie is the ultimate contradiction. It is unchanging and yet ever in flux. Doors in Faerie are . . .

inconsistent. For the past few years the door from Nekros into Faerie has opened to the winter court so Nekros City is part of the queen’s territory. The door wil change soon enough, and al the fae with ties to the winter court wil move on, making room for the next court. Only the independent fae, those who have tied themselves to the mortal realm instead of Faerie, wil remain.”

That was more information than I’d ever gotten out of Caleb at one sitting before. And it was clearer than any of the lessons the one and only fae teacher the academy had hired to teach students fae history had ever been—our teacher definitely had never taught us anything about the doors to Faerie moving. I sipped my coffee, giving myself a second to absorb this information and let it infiltrate my limited understanding of Faerie. Then I put the mug aside.

“If the queen is il egal y gathering the independent fae, shouldn’t you go to the FIB?” After al , if the local court was kidnapping fae, someone with a lot more authority than I had needed to know.

Malik huffed under his breath. “Who do you think is doing t he questioning?” He shook his head. “The FIB are al court-loyal—not an independent in the bunch.”

“Then go to the police.” I knew for sure the NCPD wasn’t answering to a queen.

Malik’s dark eyes widened like I’d said something unbelievable, and Caleb shook his head.

“Al, there are certain . . . restrictions to being independent,” Caleb said, stepping forward. “As we don’t answer to any regent, we had to take vows before leaving Faerie. Involving mortals in affairs best settled among the fae is strictly forbidden. That’s why Malik came to you.”

“That’s why?” The blood drained from my face. If the fae couldn’t involve anyone mortal... “You know.”

Caleb nodded.

Caleb nodded.

So much for my heritage being a secret. “You didn’t say anything.”

“Neither did you.”

True.

“I only suspected in the beginning,” he said. “Even with you living in my house, under my wards, I wasn’t sure. Until a month ago. Now I can hardly believe I missed it.

Something about you changed.”

Don’t I know it. Discovering I had fae blood was only the tip of my problems, but Caleb wasn’t done yet.

“You are in a unique position, Al,” he said, stepping closer. “We can go to you. We can talk to you. But you’ve taken no vows. Yet. You can work as an intermediary with the police, and they already know you, already trust you.”

I swal owed and glanced over Caleb’s shoulder to where Malik had stopped pacing to watch me; his large, unblinking eyes fixed on me, waiting. I didn’t like the “yet”

that Caleb had worked into that little statement, but I didn’t doubt he was right. It wasn’t like I hadn’t noticed the changes in myself since the Blood Moon: the sensitivity to metals, the inability to maintain my shields, and my increased ability to sense fae magic—and that was al on top of the whole seeing multiple planes of existence. Faerie would eventual y notice me.

I grabbed my mug again because I had to do something with my hands or I’d start pacing and fidgeting like Malik. I swirled the dark contents, staring at the liquid instead of at Caleb. I could use something stronger than coffee right now. Stil , coffee was what I had. I drained the mug in two swal ows, barely tasting its lukewarm contents.

Yes, eventual y someone important in Faerie would notice me, but that hadn’t happened yet. The fae couldn’t talk to the mortal police, and the FIB, which functioned as the fae police in the mortal realm, belonged to the courts, but Malik was right that they could talk to me.

“The queen is gathering the independents because I

“The queen is gathering the independents because I revealed those feet?”

Malik nodded. “That was likely only an excuse, but yes.

As long as a fae is suspected of the crime, she has the authority to search for the criminal.”

I sank onto my bed, my mind reeling. Did I real y want to get involved—or actual y, further involved—in this case? I raised shades, got some answers, and then cashed the check. That was the kind of investigator I was. I didn’t hit the street and search for suspects in murder cases.

But the independent fae couldn’t turn to anyone else, and the Winter Queen had free rein to gather the independents as long as the murderer was free. On top of that, since the fae couldn’t talk to the police, there might be information out there that the police desperately needed that I could access and they couldn’t.

I focused on Malik again. “So, what do you know about the feet?”

“Does that mean you’re taking the case?”

“I’m considering it. Do you have some fact I can take to the police that would prove without a shadow of a doubt that the floodplain fae were not involved? Or do you know where the remainder of the bodies are located?”