“You mean Seif?” she asked, snorting. “He’s reckless and stubborn and just like his father.”
“Which is why you adore them both.”
“Absolutely.” Her expression radiated pride. “But yeah, he’s good. I’ll tell him you were asking after him. He’s been a bit busy lately with his errant Omega. She’s giving him hell, which, of course, means I approve.”
“Omega?” I repeated, frowning. “Like a Fortune Fae?”
“Yeah, Seif chose the seer life over his dark magic and blood. Crazy, right?” Tray winked at Anrika as he spoke.
I took a sip of my spritemead as Anrika replied, “He’s always had a mind of his own, that one. But Gina’ll be a good match once he calms her down.”
I coughed, the liquid going down the wrong pipe, causing Ella to thump me on the back. Three sets of eyes looked at me in confusion, Tray arching a brow. “Not up to your standards, princess?”
“No, not that,” I managed to say, my voice hoarse from the drink flowing in an inappropriate direction. I cleared my throat twice before asking, “Gina?”
“Yeah, that’s his reluctant mate’s name. I’ve not met her yet. Why? The name mean something to you?”
The vision of a coffee shop and a dark-haired Fortune Fae sprang into my mind. Gina, she’d told me. Just before adding something about our paths crossing as a happenstance of fate.
“It’s going to be an interesting year for you, Aflora,” she’d said.
I hadn’t thought much of it at the time.
But now…
“You’re in his thoughts now, after all.”
I blinked and found all three of them staring at me expectantly. “Uh, I may have met a Fortune Fae named Gina recently. In a coffee shop in the Human Realm.”
“Huh, well, I’ll be,” Anrika murmured, a distant gleam giving her that elderly aura once more. Such a strange contrast to her otherwise youthful features. Like her age was somehow trapped in a young Midnight Fae form.
Of course, all the Midnight Fae appeared young. They stopped physically aging in their twenties. This woman could be thousands of years old. Perhaps that was the reason I caught such an ancient quality to her appearance.
It would probably be rude to ask, so I didn’t.
“You’re Aflora,” she said suddenly, that odd aura disappearing in a flash, replaced by her young self once more. “Ah, yes, I’ve heard all about you.”
“From Gina?” I asked, slightly taken aback by her age-shifting trick. Am I the only one seeing that?
“Oh, no. From a very old friend.” Her eyes sparkled. “I’m most excited to have you here, sweetheart. And I imagine you’re in the mood for something from home, yes?”
A very old friend? I wondered. However, she’d asked me a question. Etiquette dictated I needed to answer that first. “Yes, please. I would love a proper sandwich.”
“I have just what you’re looking for,” she beamed. “Wings for Tray, yes?”
“Always.”
I almost asked what wings were, when Anrika asked, “And what about you, Ella darling? Wings, too?”
“Sure. It’s been a while since I had some good buffalo sauce.”
“Anrika’s wings are the best,” Tray vowed.
“Yeah?” A glimmer of humor entered Ella’s gaze. “All right. I trust you.”
Anrika clapped her hands, causing the menus to disappear before we ever had a chance to read them. “I’ll be back in a shuffle,” she announced, vanishing into a cloud of glitter that left me coughing in her wake.
Tray laughed.