He chuckled a low, soft, almost sensual sound. “Is that how you greet someone who is here to help you?”
“You demand to know who I am and then tell me that I belong to Drake—”
The fae hissed—bared sharp teeth and actually hissed. My brows lifted as his lip curled in distaste. “Do not speak his name.”
“Why? He’s not Voldemort.”
“Voldemort?” Confusion filled his expression.
I stared at him for a moment and then shook my head. “Never mind. Who are you?”
The fae inclined his head. “I am Fabian.” The air around him shimmered like a hundred fireflies had taken flight. “Prince Fabian of the Summer Court.”
My mouth dropped open. Prince Fabian? Faye and Tanner sure as hell hadn’t mentioned that one of our guests was a prince.
A prince.
A prince that could impregnate a halfling.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Ren realized the same time I did, because he was suddenly beside me.
“Relax,” Fabian said. “I have no interesting in impregnating you.”
I blinked.
Well then, that was one blunt way of putting it.
“I am happy to hear that.” Tink’s smile reminded me of when it was Prime Day on Amazon.
Tanner cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I know this must come as a shock that our guest is a prince.”
“Damn right it’s a shock,” Ren growled. “You never once mentioned that we were waiting on another damn prince.”
“Or that our guests were really just a guest,” I added.
“I did not travel alone,” Fabian explained, sitting down. “My consuls are not needed in this meeting. They are resting.”
“Consuls. How fancy,” I muttered.
The Summer Prince cocked his head.
Faye shifted in the beam of sunlight streaming in through the window. “We did not know Fabian would come. We assumed he would send—”
“His consul. Got it,” I cut in. “I didn’t know that there was still a prince of the Summer Court, alive and well.”
“Up until recently, you didn’t know the Summer Court still existed,” Tanner gently reminded me, his tone level. He was right. We’d believed that the fae courts had been dismantled. Obviously, we’d been wrong or lied to. “Our Court had all been destroyed in the war with Winter. The safety and location of the remaining royals is not something we take lightly. Forgive us for not telling you such, but our Prince has no interest in fulfilling the prophecy.”
“Even if I was, you wouldn’t be my type.” Fabian leaned back, folding one leg over the other. “Unlike the Winter Prince, my obligation to our world is not worth lowering myself to breed with a halfling.”
Wow.
I was relieved to hear that, but I was also kind of offended. He made it sound like I was a stinky, single-celled organism.
“That’s good to know.” Ren leaned against the wall, appearing relaxed, but I knew better. He was coiled tight. “Forgive us for not rolling out the red carpet. We don’t exactly have the best impression of Otherworld princes, especially since you look like the Winter Prince.”
There. Thank God I wasn’t the only one seeing it.
Fabian frowned. “I look nothing like that bastard.”
“Well,” I drew the word out, “yes, you kind of do. Doesn’t he, Faye?”
She nodded. “I see a resemblance.”
“I’ve seen the Winter Prince.” Tink frowned. “He doesn’t look like him.”
I shook my head. “The hair color is different. Some of the face is, but yeah . . . he does.”
“I don’t know,” Tink mused, his brow knitted together.
The Summer Prince’s gaze landed on Tink, the look appraising. “A brownie. I haven’t seen one of your kind in over a hundred years.”
Tink smiled widely. “And you’ve never seen a brownie like me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’ll have plenty of time to stroke Tink’s ego later—”
“And hopefully other parts,” Fabian replied smoothly.
Oh dear.
Ren choked on what sounded like a laugh.
“Yeah, sure. Um, okay. So, you’re a prince. How many of the royal court are here, in our world, and do all of them feel the same way as you?”
“As in having no interest in ever seeing you naked enough to have intercourse?” he asked.
My eyes narrowed. Jesus. “Yeah. That. Thanks for putting it so kindly.”
“Those of the court that are still alive, and there are few, have no desire to fulfill the prophecy. Just as Tanner stated. We came here to escape Winter’s rule, to live out our lives. We understand what his presence will do to this world. He will destroy it, just like he and his Queen have done to our world.”
“Queen?” Ren asked.
“Mab?” I turned to Tink, recalling how he always said her name.
Tink’s eyes widened. “Mab picked no sides. She’s neither Winter nor Summer. She’s not as petty as Titania or Morgana.”
“Wait. I thought they were all the same person with just different names?” Ren said.
I thought the same, because that was what the Order had taught us. Plus, I was pretty sure Morgana was completely fictional, a part of the King Arthur tales.
Fabian snickered. “If you believe that, then who are we to correct you?”
God, he was so helpful.
“Their names have been interchangeable throughout the years, replacing one another in various myths.” Tanner sat down, resting one arm on the desk. “But those are myths. The truth is that they are not one and the same. Our politics have never been represented accurately in the legends mortals have spun.”
Ren gave a little shake of his head. “Do you think a Queen is also here?”
“We do not know if any Queen has come to this world,” Faye answered. “Let us hope that one hasn’t. That is a complication that none of us need.”
My head was spinning. “But what if one of them has?”
“Queen Morgana sided with Winter during the war. She became their Queen.” Fabian’s lip curled in disgust. “If she has crossed over to this world, I will personally rip the spine from her back.”
I lifted my brows.
“She killed my brother during the Great War and refused us the honor of burying his body.” The Prince’s eyes burned with unholy light from within. “She is, how do you humans put it? The worst?”
“Sounds about right.” Ren unfolded his arms. “Do we have any evidence that she or any Queen is involved in this?”
“No,” Faye answered. “I’ve been with the Prince. I have not seen Morgana or any other Queen.”
“Would you even know what Morgana looks like?” Fabian twisted in his chair. “She is the queen of many faces and has perfected the art of treachery. It would take a royal to recognize that bitch.” He paused. “Or coincidentally, a brownie. Their ability to see through even the strongest glamour was one of the reasons the Winter Court hunted them down.”
In her human form, a sheen of dullness settled over Faye’s dark skin and she looked down.