"Where it should stay. You will be asking them for a favor. That is not free."
"It shouldn't be a favor," I said. "Melanie and Pepper may not really be street kids, but they are vulnerable. I'm not asking the elders to throw open the doors to all lamiae. I'm asking them to take in a small group, just until we solve these murders."
"Then let Melanie plead their case to the elders. Agree to arrange that meeting. Do not otherwise intercede on their behalf."
Silence ticked past. Then he said, "This is why I was reluctant to bring it up, Olivia. I know how it looks. You want to help vulnerable fae. In saying you shouldn't, I appear cold and heartless."
"I never said--"
"It is cold. It is heartless. And it is exactly the advice I will give, because my concern is for you. I do not want to see you invoke favors from the Tylwyth Teg on behalf of strangers. I do not even particularly want to see you putting yourself in danger on behalf of strangers. But I understand that you cannot stand idly by when you feel you have the power to help. I will help you solve these murders, and I will accompany you to speak to the elders. But I'm going to ask you to be careful, Olivia." He turned to me. "Be very, very careful what you give up to help these girls."
I remembered Gwynn and Arawn counseling me to forget the lamiae, while saying they knew I would not. I could not. It was what kept me human. Yet Gabriel wasn't really telling me to forget the lamiae. Just don't go falling off bridges for them. Don't go putting myself in the elders' debt for them.
"Will you keep me from doing anything stupid?" I asked finally.
"Unwise. Not stupid."
I smiled for him. "Okay, will you keep me from doing anything unwise?"
"I will."
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
"They're going to give you the house," Gabriel said.
Gabriel and I were sitting in the garden behind the Carew place. That's where the elders wanted to hold our meeting. They'd be here shortly. Until then, I was poking around the garden, tugging vines from statuary, saying, "Oooh, a dryad. And a baby griffin." Gabriel sat on the bench, watching me, saying nothing until...
"They're going to give you the house."
I glanced over. "Hmm?"
"Why do you think they asked you to meet them here?"
I straightened. "It's a reminder of my roots. Yet another way for them to tell me I belong in Cainsville." I sat beside him on the bench. "Should I fight that?"
"Not if you agree."
"I could argue, just to be contrary, but they know it's bullshit. I moved back to Cainsville because this is where I want to be. For now it's home. If I don't do what they want and they kick me out..." I shrugged. "It'll hurt, but I'm not going to choose their side just to stay."
"They won't force you out. No matter what you decide. They'll want to retain some influence over you, and in return, if you choose to make Cainsville your permanent home, it will be. Which is why they're going to give you this house."
"That would be quite the bribe."
"Perhaps 'give' is the wrong word. They would do so, if necessary, but you have your trust fund coming due shortly and accepting the house as a gift puts you too far in their debt. So they will make you a very reasonable offer."
When I didn't reply, he said, "It's what you want, isn't it? This?"
I looked around, imagining what I'd do with the gardens, with the house, how I'd make it mine, this magical perfect place.
Six months ago, I'd been living in my family home. Now I was on my own, having started a career I'd never imagined, living a life I'd never imagined, and considering buying a house, putting down roots in a town where I already had deep ones. Embracing this new life. Making it mine. Was I ready for that?
After a minute of silence, he said, "What's that one?"
I followed his finger and could see the barest sliver of gray through a thick tangle of undergrowth. I hunkered down and began pulling back a branch, but he said, "Careful," just as a thorn pricked my finger.
"Wild roses," he said as he came up beside me.
"Not cranky gargoyle babies?"