It was the oldest trick in the book. “He should have known.”
“I can be convincing when I want to.” Her eyes went wide and tears formed there. “Please, Trent. I have friends in safe houses. I could go instead. I could take care of it.”
My hand drifted to my stomach, the reality of being a mom washing over me once again. “I’m going to have to be the authoritarian with this baby, aren’t I?”
The tears were gone. “Absolutely. And I’m sure he’s annoyed with us, but we took the chance that Rhys was right. He’d read the signs. I know the academics think they’re good with prophecy, but give me a Green Man and a wriggly mystic pig any day of the week. Here we are.”
We stood in front of an ornately carved wooden door. The arced double doors were adorned with a massive tree of life.
I’d seen that tree once when Gray and I had been transported to a place where all fates were possible, where the world was nothing but a seemingly endless string of prospective futures. It had been the place that imbued my demon husband with his dark prophet powers.
It was also the first time I’d thought of having children. Because I’d seen them in that space, seen their smiling faces and felt the love I had for them and their fathers.
Where the hell was Gray? What was I going to do about this boy’s father?
“Kelsey? Are you okay?” Evan asked.
I wasn’t but it didn’t matter. I had a job to do. I steeled myself and nodded and Evan rang the bell.
* * * *
“I can’t believe he’s gone.” Relda Tolk was a statuesque woman, the long gown she wore gliding over her slender limbs. She definitely had a hippie witch vibe, but then that would describe her whole domicile, as Eddie would put it. “Alvis has been a member of our community for as long as I can remember.”
“Which isn’t long compared to the life of a primal.” Jade looked like a typical teen/young adult in her jeans and T-shirt, long curly hair in a pile on her head. She settled a tea set on the table that sat between them and Evan and I in their living room.
Though it seemed more like an art studio. There were several unfinished canvases around the room. I hadn’t seen what the artist was painting. I’d had a glimpse of one black canvas with dots of light before we’d taken our place here on the comfy couch.
“Yes, it’s true.” Relda used an old-school handkerchief to dab at her eyes. “The breadth of knowledge and wisdom we’ve lost… Well, it hurts my heart.”
Relda began to pour out cups of tea with a practiced hand.
“I was told he was quite popular down here.” I wasn’t sure I should drink that tea. “None for me. I’m trying to avoid caffeine.”
“Oh, it’s green tea, dear,” Relda promised. “No caffeine for me either. I have to keep my system pure. It’s the only way to truly mirror the goddess and what she wants for us. Clean body, strong spirit.”
Jade snorted. “She’s worried it’s poisoned, Rel.”
“No, she’s not.” Evan shook her head and obviously wanted to play the politician.
I’d tried polite. It never works. Best to be upfront. “Your friend is right. I don’t know this place or the people down here, and while I adore Evan, I have to make my own decisions. I’m fairly certain poison was used to weaken Alvis to the point someone could kill him. The dude is probably still on my shoes. I’m not drinking anything my butler didn’t make for me. No offense.”
But it was obvious I had offended the witch.
Jade simply sat back. “I think that’s a smart call for a woman whose job is to guard the supernatural world. You know if you hadn’t been galivanting across the planes, we might not be in the shithole we’re in.”
Relda gasped. “Jade, you can’t talk to people like that. And in front of the princess.”
“Oh, the princess can curse up a storm, and Jade knows that.” Evan reached into her seemingly never-ending pockets—I had to wonder if that jacket of hers wasn’t enchanted—and pulled out a small package. She flipped it open and brought out a tiny dropper she used to extract some liquid from the cup she’d been given. She quickly dropped it on something in the package and then turned it my way. “See. Perfectly fine. This device is something Casey cooked up using one of those smart watches and some tech I don’t understand. I only know it works on pretty much everything that can poison a chick. Even not actual poison. One time I tried it on the meat the trolls said was chicken. It was not. You gotta be careful with trolls. They do not mind eating a pet or two.”
I wanted one of those. Like most academics, Casey’s strongest talents were in one intellectual discipline. If I needed medical knowledge, Henri was my guy. Same with legal for Hugo. Casey had a talent for technology. He could fix machines he’d never used before, and he could gadget up a chick. “Excellent.”
Relda frowned and continued pouring the tea. “It seems a bit rude to assume someone is going to poison you.”
“Well, it happened to Evan’s mom, and it was in tea,” Jade said, sitting back. “Queen Zoey lost a child to that tea. I think the Nex Apparatus is smart to be on the lookout. She doesn’t know us. We’re witches. We’re kind of the poster children for evil right now.”
“We certainly are not,” Relda insisted. “And now she knows my tea is perfectly fine and she can have some.”
I frowned. See, politeness doesn’t get you out of shit. “Well, it’s still tea.”