Why are you offering me so many reasons not to come with you?”
“I’m not, I’m just trying—”
“What if I asked you live in Otherworld with me?”
“I...”
He smiled as she stuttered into silence. “It’s all right, I’m not that stupid. Forcing you to make such a choice at this moment would only result in you storming back to San Francisco alone.” He studied her. “Perhaps that is what you’d prefer—an ultimatum, a reason to walk away.”
“That’s not fair. I haven’t insisted you come back with me, have I? I’ve tried to give you a choice.”
His eyes flashed fire. “You won’t force a decision on me, because you’re afraid I’ll take you up on it. You’re afraid I’ll walk and leave you, like everyone else has done.”
That hurt. She drew in an unsteady breath. “I’m scared, Morosov.”
“Of me?”
“No. Of myself.”
“I can’t fix that, can I?” He sighed and walked toward her and she tensed. He held out his hand.
“We still have a job to do. The rest can wait until later. Let’s go back to the SBLE and close this case once and for all.”
They materialized in her office. Ella blinked up at Vadim, who had already resumed his human form. She touched his starched white shirt.
“I actually miss the feathers. How weird is that?”
He stretched and rolled his shoulders. “It feels strange to be back in this form. I miss my wings.”
“What about your immense powers?”
He smiled. “Oh, I still have those.”
“Not all of them, right?”
“Why, are you worried? I don’t intend to use them unless I’m provoked.”
“Seeing as I’m the person who provokes you the most, that isn’t very reassuring.”
She went around the desk to turn on her laptop. “Time is weird in Otherworld. How long have we been away? Five days?” She looked back at him. “Does that feel about right? It seems like a long time to me.”
“I have no idea.”
“And it’s about two in the afternoon, so we missed lunch. Dang it.”
“I’m sure you’ll survive. Let’s see the boss first, and then you can eat.”
She headed toward Feehan’s office, Vadim at her side. It was strange not having him towering over her. It was also strange the way he’d resumed his chilly personality so fast. The door was open, so she gave a perfunctory knock and kept on going.
“Hey, Mr. Feehan.”
“Come in—Ella! Vadim! Good Lord! How good to see you! Sit down!” Feehan jumped out of his chair as he waved them into the uncomfortable seats in front of his desk.
“I must confess, I didn’t think you were going to make it out alive.”
“Neither did we,” Ella said. “But here we are, like two bad pennies.”
He resumed his seat and beamed at them. “I’m delighted to hear that.” His expression faltered. “Unless...well, I suppose, of course, you’ll both be wanting to resign, being as you’re Fae royalty.”
“Not really.” Ella didn’t dare look at Vadim in case she cracked up. “Unless you want us to resign?”
Feehan glanced covertly at Vadim and then away. “Not at all!”
“It’s all right, you know. He won’t hurt you.”
“I never thought he would. Although—” Feehan studied Vadim more closely, “—I never realized what you concealed beneath that perfect human exterior. You were quite impressive. What exactly do you shape-shift into?”
“I can shift into virtually anything. The being you saw in Otherworld is actually my true form.”
“True form.” Feehan swallowed and straightened his tie. “Okay. Well, that’s a new one on me.”
“I don’t expect to revert to it in this world, unless it is absolutely necessary.”
“Good to know, because
“By the way, we solved the case,” Ella said brightly.
“I did wonder about that, since you have your face back.” He stood up. “Shall we gather the rest of the team in the conference room?”
They followed him out into the bigger room across the hall and waited as Rich and Andrew filed in and high-fived Ella. Liz was next.
“Oh, you’re back! We thought you were dead!”
She hugged Vadim and then Ella, who grimaced at her partner. “I love the confidence everyone has in our abilities, don’t you? Of
“My Fae-Web said differently.” Liz took a chair right next to Ella. “In fact, there were a couple of times when one or other of you was almost dead.” She shivered. “I hate that.”
“It was close at some points, but we made it.”
Feehan stood at the door, gesticulating to someone. “Come on, Sam! We haven’t got all day!”
Sam appeared, carrying a greasy paper bag that smelled suspiciously like fast food.
“Dudes!”
“Do you have fries in there?” Ella reached over and poked the bag. “Can I have some? You can’t get a decent meal in Otherworld to save your life.”
Sam tossed her the bag. “You can have them all. It’s so cool that you’re okay!” He turned to Vadim. “And I hear that you’re, like, some awesome winged black devil, man.
Between mouthfuls of fries, Ella managed to mutter, “Trust me, he’s more chicken than devil.”
Feehan shut the door and sat down, his expectant gaze turned toward her.
“So tell us what’s been happening.”
Vadim opened his mouth, but Ella hastily swallowed down her fries and started talking.
“We killed Adam and I got my face back. That’s it, really.”
“I’m sure there’s more to it than that, Ella.” Feehan said encouragingly. “Can you elaborate?”
“Adam was the leader of an ancient Fae sect that liked to collect things. One of the things he wanted was three humans with blond hair, so that he could steal their faces.”
“Which is why he targeted Brad, Ms. Phelps and you.”
“Exactly.” Ella nodded. “Morosov went ahead of me to Otherworld to liaise with his family members about Adam’s whereabouts. With our combined information, we tracked Adam down to a palace where the sect had its headquarters.”
“So how did Vadim end up on trial?”
Her partner sat forward. “Well—”
Ella cut across him again. “It was Adam’s doing. He convinced the Fae council that Morosov was responsible for a murder.”
Sam chuckled. “Like Vad would hurt a fly.”
“That’s when Mr. Feehan and I were called as character witnesses.” Liz frowned. “How the hell did you get out of that? With Spencer moderating, I thought you were both goners.”
“Morosov managed to convince the jury to commute the murder charges into combat to the death. Adam agreed.”
“
Ella ignored Vadim’s sharp question. “He was totally nuts. I think he really wanted to kill Morosov with his bare hands for messing up his trophy hunt. He also blamed me for coming after him. I wasn’t supposed to do that, and I’d spoiled his fun.”
“So what happened then?” Feehan asked.
