Edon handed me the phone. “For you.”
“Hello?”
“Kella, if I release you from your oath, will you only tell Edon what you told me? No one else?”
“Sure.”
“No, seriously, Kella. Your life depends on this.”
“I said okay,” I said, a little testier this time. I hated feeling like a pawn in some stupid chess game, maneuvered this way and that with no clue as to what I was supposed to do other than ‘not die.’ And considering I’d ended up in the hands of a rebel, the ‘not die’ strategy didn’t seem to be working.
“Alright. I release you from your oath.” At Mickey’s words, a weight lifted off of me that I hadn’t realized was there, an odd sort of giddy lightness taking its place.
“Now talk to Edon and make it quick. There’s not much time.” Mickey hung up before I had a chance to respond.
I handed the phone back to Edon. He didn’t waste any time.
“How do you know what pixies look like? They—none of us have been able to shed our glamours for twelve years.”
“Well…” I cleared my throat, half expecting my voice to stop working as I continued, “It’s their shadows.”
“Go on.”
“The short of it is I can see through glamours. Details can be a bit blurry, but every now and then I catch a side-view of some of the pixies at school. Those teeth look lethal.”
Edon crossed his arms. “And what am I?”
“Elf.”
“And Louie?”
“I’m not sure. Some big panther-looking thing with feathers and a beak.”
“Griffon,” Edon said absently, his gaze becoming distant, thoughtful.
When it snapped back to mine, there was a quiet acceptance there—along with something that looked suspiciously like relief.
I swallowed.
“I’ll be upfront with you—I was going for a long shot that would have probably ended up with you dead anyway. But this changes things.”
“Well, that’s nice to know. So, um, how does it change things?”
Edon’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I have a different bargain in mind now; You’ll hate it, but at least you’ll be alive.”
“What’s the bargain?”
Edon turned back to his file. “You’ll see,” he said as he continued flipping through pages, avoiding my gaze.
Chapter 17
Deena was in full-on snore mode when Rhino walked by, tossing her car keys into her purse.
A few minutes later, Maeve and two other council representatives entered the station. When they reached Edon’s desk, he nodded at them before escorting us to a meeting room in the back of the building. We left Deena in the middle of police desks, snoring peacefully.
As Edon shut the door, a hand shot out from the hallway, blocking it from closing. Mickey.
“Glad you could make it.” Edon sounded amused.
Mickey strode past him, not bothering to respond.
When Maeve saw Mickey walk through the door, her lips tightened. “He is not on the council, Edon.”
Edon shrugged. “To avoid confusion, I felt it best that all interested parties should be present. Don’t you agree?”
Mickey nodded to the two other council members. “Aaron, Briana.”
Aaron’s human glamour was black as midnight—a sharp contrast to his teeth when he opened his mouth to say, “Miach. How has family life been treating you?”
Mickey took in a sharp breath.
The woman next to Aaron—Briana—shook her head. “Let’s keep our conversation to the facts at hand and not get sidetracked by any untimely conversations. Agreed, Aaron?”
Aaron smiled, his white teeth blinding.
Briana, a tall, willowy woman with wavy brown hair, turned to Edon. “You could have killed her but didn’t. While this is a pleasant surprise, I want to know why.”
My gaze snapped over to Edon. Sure, he’d said something about me probably ending up dead, but for some reason, I hadn’t thought he’d be the one to kill me…and that he could have offed me at any point from when he’d pulled us over.
Him being an officer had put me at ease—even knowing he was part of the rebels. Or maybe it’d just been my anger and frustration at getting towed in when I was so close to freedom—to Caleb—that’d kept me from connecting the dots.
Edon’s smile was without humor. “Oh, believe me, I still intend to kill the girl if she becomes a threat to the fae.”
Aaron shook his head. “The only threat she poses is to you rebels—not to the fae at large. She is the heir. With her investiture, we’ll be able to shed these blasted glamours, and have our magic restored.”
“Funny coming from you since the queen’s pets were the only ones allowed to access some of their powers.”
“Not enough,” Aaron replied. “But that will be remedied soon.”
“Ah, that’s right…I almost forgot. It’s never been about anything other than power for you ‘loyalists’, has it?”
I frowned. It was like I was watching a ping-pong match, and I couldn’t figure out who to root for—rebel fae guy who felt comfortable killing me if needed or power-hungry council member who wanted to use me so he could get more power? My gut was saying Edon, but I’d already established it had issues. After all, Aaron never once said he’d kill me.
“Power is a wonderful thing,” Aaron said. “Much better than the magic tricks the queen’s death reduced us to these past twelve years.”
“Power is only power if you’re free to exercise it,” Edon snapped.
“And those who recognize their place are free to exercise it.”
“If that place is under the witch’s heel along with the rest of you traitors, I think I’ll pass,” Edon said.
Aaron stepped closer to Edon. “I do not tolerate insults.”
Edon unleashed a smirk that might as well have said, “Aaron, you’re an idiot.” “Then you shouldn’t have chosen a side that deserves them.”
Aaron jerked forward another step, his fists clenched.
“What are you going to do, Aaron? Unleash your glamour so you can blast me? Try it. It’ll be amusing.”
“Calm, my Lords.” Briana’s breezy voice cut through the tension in the room. “Might I remind you that we stand on neutral ground. Any physical violence comes with serious repercussions.” Her gaze bore into Aaron before she looked back to
