course, the little imp was adept at hiding. Hob loved ambushing unwary visitors. I hoped he wasn’t offended by the late hour of my visit. Hob’s pranks were legendary.
“Asleep, below the hearth,” she said softly. “Let’s leave him be, for now.”
I nodded, pulling a small gift for Hob from my pocket. I tiptoed to the hearth and set the shiny package on the mantel where he would see it later. Brownies expected an offering for entry into their territory. I wouldn’t risk Hob’s ire by visiting without leaving a gift.
The hearth area was quiet. Hob may be sleeping quietly below the hearthstone, but where were Marvin’s snores? I searched the floor, but we seemed to be missing one large bridge troll.
“And Marvin?” I asked.
Hob, and Kaye, had been letting the orphaned troll crash here until he’d recovered from his injuries. Though Marvin’s face seemed to have healed, I suspected the kid had emotional scars that ran deeper. Those wounds would take longer to heal.
“Trying out a newly vacated bridge,” she said.
She said the news as if it was nothing, but an unoccupied bridge meant Marvin could be getting new digs. I pressed a hand to my stomach where a pang of pain gnawed deep in my gut. I knew the kid needed his own place eventually, but hoped he wasn’t rushing into things too soon. The streets were a hard place to live on your own, and…I wasn’t ready to see him go.
I felt my mouth go dry and cleared my throat.
“In Harborsmouth?” I asked.
“Yes, dear,” she said. “Don’t worry about the lad. He’s just around the corner along Myrtle Street where a footpath crosses the old stream bed. He’ll be fine.”
I shrugged, looking away.
“Who said I was worried?” I said.
“Nobody, dear,” she said.
I glanced up to see her eyes twinkling. Caught in her gaze, I shifted from foot to foot wondering where to begin.
“Jinx went shopping today,” I said. I let out a heavy sigh. “Which means I had to go shopping too.”
“Why would you…?” she asked.
“She went shopping on Joysen Hill,” I said.
“Oh, well then,” she said. Kaye harrumphed and shook her head. “I don’t see why you like the foolish, clumsy girl so much anyway. She’s likely to get you into trouble.”
“Is that prescience or just your dislike for her?” I asked.
“It doesn’t take a toss of the bones to know the girl’s trouble,” she said. “But I’m guessing you didn’t come knocking at my door, rousing me from my bed, to talk about roommate troubles.”
Kaye didn’t look like she’d tumbled from her bed, but I grit my teeth and kept the thought to myself. Starting things off with an argument wouldn’t get me answers. In fact, it wouldn’t be good for my health. Whether or not Kaye had been asleep, I was calling on her at an inconsiderate hour. Her wry amusement could easily turn to annoyance if I didn’t pick my words carefully.
“I have questions,” I said.
Kaye sighed and tossed a hand in the air. She waddled over to a wood table and dropped onto a long bench to hunch over her mug.
“Questions, questions, questions,” she muttered. “Go on then, ask away before I change my mind.”
I remained standing and focused on the mug in Kaye’s wrinkled, tattooed hands. It was easier than meeting her eyes.
“I need to find a cat sidhe,” I said. “I’m hoping you can help me find him.”
“The streets are crawling with faerie cats,” she said. “I’ll need more to go on, but why would you want to find a cat sidhe? Start at the beginning, girl.”
I told Kaye about sighting Melusine, the lamia’s apparent anger, my descent into traffic, Melusine’s sudden disappearance, my glowing skin, the crowd of bystanders, the human cop, and the appearance of the cat sidhe.
“I started to glow out on a public street today with a crowd of people, and a cop, watching,” I said. I wet my lips and met Kaye’s eyes. “I didn’t even realize that I was doing it. I need to learn how to control my wisp abilities.”
“And you think this cat sidhe can help you with that?” she asked.
“So far, we’ve had no leads in locating my real father, but the cat was aware of who and what I am,” I said. “He knew I was both fae and a princess. That’s more than I knew up until this year. So I want to know who he is and what else he knows about my past.” I clenched my fists, the leather creaking loudly as I squeezed. “If he has information about my deadbeat father, I need to talk to him. I have to learn how to create a glamour, and control my wisp powers, before one of the faerie courts decides I’m a threat to their secret. They won’t hesitate to kill me or, worse, send me to live in the Green Lady’s realm.”
I shuddered while imagining what it would be like having humans gawk at me all day, a carnival freak for their petty amusement. The Green Lady provided asylum to those fae who could not conjure a glamour to hide their true forms, but the price was eternal servitude. Working forever as an indentured freak in her carnival was not the future I wanted. It didn’t feel like a future at all.
But if the fae courts discovered I was an unglamoured faerie living amongst humans, the alternative was death.
“Yes, this does seem serious,” she said. Kaye stared at me over her mug, the steam giving her face an eerie cast. “Looks like I won’t have to turn you into a frog for interrupting my sleep after all.”
I was pretty sure that Kaye was yanking my chain. There was that twinkle in her eyes again. But the sorry fact was that she could have me eating flies faster than I could run out the door. I swallowed hard.
“So you’ll help me find this cat sidhe?” I asked.
“Yes, but I’ll need a more detailed description,” she said. “As I’ve said, there are many of the cat faeries in Harborsmouth.”
I described the cat sidhe, from his torn ear and scarred face to his shadow-winking tail. Kaye closed her eyes and nodded as I spoke. Would she be able to identify the faerie cat? I felt foolish in hindsight for not asking his name. I stared down at my boots and clenched my fists. Not asking the cat sidhe’s name was a rookie mistake. A good detective relies on information, no matter how small. I should have asked, but I was too distracted by the disappearance of Ceffyl’s ex.
Kaye opened her eyes and smiled.
“Few cat sidhe can speak telepathically to a human,” she said.
Kaye placed a finger alongside her nose and winked, but I had no idea what she was getting at. I crossed my arms and tapped my foot against the kitchen floor. Why did faeries and witches take so long to get to the point?
“But I’m half wisp,” I said.
“Yes, but most cat sidhe cannot speak to any fae outside their own race,” she said. “Only those in the top echelons of the cat sidhe hierarchy have the ability. Even fewer have the ability to shapeshift into human form.”
“But he was in cat form the entire time,” I said. I shook my head. “How would I know if he can shift or not?”
“Yes, I get ahead of myself,” she said, waving a hand. “You said the cat sidhe spoke telepathically, had a scar above his left eye, and his right ear was a lump of scar tissue where it had been torn from his head.”
I nodded.
“That would be Torn,” she said.
“Torn?” I asked.
“Sir Torn, Lord of the Harborsmouth cat sidhe,” she said.
Oh. I’d held a faerie lord in my arms—and insulted him. I swallowed hard, not so sure I wanted to find him now after all. But, of course, I didn’t have much choice. I had to learn if he knew where my father was.
“Where can I find this Sir Torn?” I asked.
“The Lord of Cats can be found holding court at Club Nexus,” she said.
