I turned to glare at Edon, daring him to weasel out of this.
A deep rumble of laughter made me jump in my seat, reminding me that Officer Louie was still here and standing directly behind us.
“She’s good,” he said. “Maybe better than you.”
Edon shook his head, a wry smile on his face. “She just took me by surprise is all.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Deena asked, and then shook her head. “If you know Kella ain’t this runaway, why’d you bring us here? And why are you kissing a minor? I know you undercover cops get some allowances, but kissing little girls—”
“Hey, I’m not little,” I protested. Yeah, I wanted her to be mad at Edon—he deserved whatever Deena gave him—but I wasn’t some five-year-old in pigtails.
Deena glared at me. “Kissing very little girls probably ain’t one of them.”
“Now, ma’am—”
“Don’t ‘now, ma’am’ me. I want your badge number right now.”
“Ma’am, I kissed her hand.”
After a moment’s pause, Deena turned to look at me. “Kella?” In a single word, Deena promised retribution.
“Oh, come on, Deena. Who kisses people’s hands anymore?”
Deena’s eyes narrowed.
“And the whole kiss thing isn’t what’s important,” I said quickly, knowing I had only seconds to get my point across before Deena roasted me. “What’s important is that he admits he’s met me before—knows I’m not some missing runaway—and he still dragged us back here for no good reason. So how about we just get up and leave? I mean, don’t they have to have probable cause or something? I’m pretty sure it’s unconstitutional to make us stay here without a good reason.”
And it was true—there was zero reason for us to stay here, and I needed Deena to realize that so we could nope on out of here as fast as possible. I wasn’t sure exactly what game Edon was playing—if he was in on everything or doing his own thing—but the longer we sat in the precinct, the smaller my chances of escape seemed to be. If I could get Deena to pull a sorry-but-we’re-leaving move like she did at Maeve’s, I was pretty sure Edon couldn’t do anything to stop us. At least, not legally…if fae had the same laws.
Huh.
I put that question on my “helpful things to have known pre-shit show” list, and put all of my focus on Deena, hoping she’d see through all this BS.
Edon shook his head. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but while I was familiar with Kella, we still need to be thorough.”
Just as Deena opened her mouth to respond, I heard someone say, “Kella.” I whipped my head around to see Maeve making a beeline toward me. I looked back at Deena, whose face had gone from confused to full-on livid.
“You,” Deena said. “You called the police? Because, what? You didn’t want me to take Kella out of your home? What’s your problem?”
Maeve looked past Deena as if she were as inconsequential as a fly. Instead, her gaze snagged on Edon, her face souring instantly. “You.”
“Hello, Maeve,” Edon said, a crooked smile lighting his face.
Maeve looked between me and Edon, her brows pinched, before she shook her head like she was trying to clear it. “However it happened, I’m glad she’s here alive.”
“Why wouldn’t she be?” came Deena’s indignant response.
Both Maeve and Edon ignored her.
“Does the council even know you lost her?” Edon asked.
Maeve’s silence spoke volumes. She finally said, “It hardly matters. I’ll be taking her back now.”
Deena’s gaze swiveled between Maeve and Edon. She looked confused. Very confused.
“Just be glad I picked her up on my land and not anyone else.”
Maeve’s face went ashen. I was missing something here. Something important. What did it matter if we drove on his land? Deena had just made a wrong turn, was all…or did she? Some of the fae still possessed a little of their magic from before—like O’Faolain when he charmed me. Was it possible that a fae had manipulated Deena? Nudged her just enough to get her to go the wrong direction? But that didn’t make sense. Why would it matter what direction we went? We’d been leaving.
“Who? Who did you use to get her to drive onto your land?” Maeve seemed to echo part of my thoughts.
“No one,” Edon said, his gaze flat. “As much as I’d like to claim foresight, it was dumb luck. They intentionally turned onto my land. No persuasion involved.”
Maeve surveyed him, her mouth pinching and fists clenching before she took in a long breath and exhaled. “I’m assuming since she’s still alive, you want to bargain. We’ll need to visit to the council—”
“No. The precinct is neutral territory. The council can come here. And only one more representative,” Edon said. “I don’t want all eight in the precinct, neutral or no.”
Maeve rolled her eyes. “We both know that she crossed over to your land. The council can’t do anything about that.”
Edon shook his head. “I’d rather not take any chances.”
“Fine, then. I’ll have two other council members join me.”
“One hour,” Edon said, “or any possible deal will…expire.”
A chill rolled across my body.
“One hour,” Maeve agreed, turning to leave.
“Ah-ah, aren’t you forgetting something?” Edon asked.
Maeve looked back at Edon, who was pointing at Deena. She shook her head, a small smile on her face. “Can’t. She’s resistant. Best of luck with that.” She turned and left.
Edon looked after her for a long second.
“What the crazy is going on here?” Deena said, breaking the silence.
“It’s too early for this,” Officer Louie said from behind. “I’m getting some ‘brosia. Want a cup?” he asked.
Edon rubbed his eyes. “Yeah. With a shot of mint.”
“That tired, eh?”
“I’ve got a resistant human, the heir to the throne, and a deal to make with the council. What do you think?”
Louie did a mock salute. “One ‘brosia with mint, coming up.”
“So, back to you telling me what all this crazy is about,” Deena said.
Edon weighed Deena for a moment. “Fine.” He leaned forward
