“I will end you.” I slapped the top with my open palm. “Give me my coffee.”
“That model is worth a few grand.” Midas padded into the kitchen, skin light pink in spots but steady on his feet. “You can always sell it and use the cash to buy a machine like the one you had. Or you could use it to pay one of the twins to bring you coffee every morning from the shop around the corner.”
“I thought they only did laundry.”
Simply known as The Twins, sons of one of the pack enforcers, they had absconded with the rolling laundry cart Bishop acquired for us to smuggle Bonnie Diaz, in gwyllgi form, into the Faraday. They used it to launch their own laundry service for single, busy, or just plain lazy gwyllgi in the building.
I wasn’t gwyllgi, but I was plain lazy enough to use them when I got tired of scrubbing out the stains that came with the job and wanted to dump that pleasure into someone else’s lap for a change.
“They’ve expanded to delivering coffee and pastries.”
“I’m impressed, and also hungry.”
Another text reminded me I had been about to read Reece’s update when the lack of caffeine sent my brain into meltdown over the absence of café mocha in this joint.
“Whoa.” I leaned a hip against the counter. “Reece says Doughty has synthesized an antidote.”
“Good news then.” A frown pinched his forehead. “That happened fast.”
“Doughty is very good at what he does, and with magic to speed things up, he delivers results fast.” That’s why he charged a small fortune for consultations, and this went far beyond that. “Abbott elected to stay put, thanks to recent events, but Reece says he’s driving the antidote and their notes to Savannah to consult with Linus and Grier before administering it to a volunteer patient.” I kept reading. “Doughty referenced the formula for creating Atrax robustus antivenom, and it appears to be effective in simulations.” I Googled that real quick. “That would be the Sydney funnel-web spider.”
“How soon do you think he can have it ready for distribution?”
“Within the week.” I set my phone aside. “I’m sorry I don’t have better news.”
“They’re making progress. That’s all we can ask of them. Magic isn’t a cure-all.”
“Sadly not,” I agreed. “What are your plans for the night?”
“I’ve been recalled to the den to brief Mother and the other elders on recent developments.” He waited a beat then prompted me. “How about you?”
“Patrolling the streets, searching for coven members, and hoping not to run into any naked wargs.”
“Bishop going with you?”
“Yes.” I rolled my eyes. “He’s attached at the hip until our heart quota is met. No one else can guarantee they’ll reach the box before they stop beating.”
He’d timed me with a potato enchanted to beat like a heart, which put me off French fries forever, give or take a week. First, I had excised the organ from a dummy, taking care not to damage it. Then I ran like heck or called a Swyft to carry me to HQ. The potato was DOA every time.
“Any new leads on that front?”
While the espresso machine mocked me, I filled him in on the fae at the club, the trail, and the visit from Lizzy. I had been too preoccupied with getting him safely into bed to brief him last night. Then he went and dropped the bomb about wanting to learn more about me, and everything else scattered.
I had worried we would come to this, and I still had no clue what to do about it.
Mortifying as it would be, I might have to ask Linus for romantic advice.
Gulp.
“Bishop is breathing down my neck now that he thinks that fae has a vested interest in me, so I can’t go to him and request another dose of the sight.” I turned it over in my head. “I’m not sure if he led me to the Martian Roaches because he guessed that was my more immediate need, or if he just wanted me out of his hair and figured that was the quickest way since there were so many of them.”
Given the debt we had racked up with Natisha, I ought to nix the idea of incurring more with another fae, but I feared the day might come when I had no choice.
A knock on the door drew my ire away from the espresso machine, which had earned itself a one-way ticket to the new storefront’s breakroom, whenever Remy got it up and running. Assuming I didn’t murder it for denying me that which was rightfully mine before then.
“Listen to Bishop.” Midas headed to the bathroom. “He knows what he’s talking about.”
Unsure if that meant Midas was aware of Bishop’s fae nature, or if he just assumed that since Linus had left Bishop in charge of the final stages of my education that meant he knew what he was talking about when he warned me away from the fae in general.
Ambrose slid toward the door, announcing the arrival of a person of interest, and I could guess who.
“I’ll consider it.” I crossed the room, pitching my voice louder as I traveled. “I don’t want to give him a big head. His barely fits through the door as it is.” I opened the door and gasped. “Oh, hey, Bish.”
“I brought you this.” He lifted a tray with four steaming cups of what smelled too chocolatey to be anything but café mochas. “But since my head won’t fit through your door, I guess I’ll take them and go.”
“How long were you listening in before you knocked?”
“Long enough to know that espresso machine’s days are numbered.”
“I apologize for my rudeness. I haven’t had coffee, chocolate, or caffeine in any form today.”
“Poor baby.” He thrust the tray at me. “That’s why I made
