“Why do you insist on calling me that ridiculous nickname?” Lilly asked, purposely ignoring the high fae’s question.
“Because I like you. People I like get nicknames.”
“And those you don’t like?”
“Become inanimate objects such as rugs so they can be stepped on like the cockroaches they are. Stop avoiding the question.”
“I’m just having a good day,” Lilly answered. “Woke up on the right side of the bed and all that jazz.”
“I have no idea what ‘all that jazz’ means. I do, however, feel the magic of another fae in this room, one I haven’t seen in a very long time. And the magic of an unknown djinn. Care to enlighten me?”
“Ummm, no. Not really.” Lilly continued to stare at the door, wondering if at any moment it was going to crumble under the weight of the fae’s irritation, which Lilly swore she could feel coming through it.
“Do you know what I had to do this morning before I came to see you?” Peri asked.
“Why no, Peri. I don’t. Please tell me.” Lilly kept her voice light and curious. Maybe if she got Peri talking on her favorite subject, which was anything Peri could gripe about, Lilly could put off the conversation she was dreading.
“You didn’t have to ask,” Peri assured her. “I was going to tell you whether you wanted me to or not.”
“Perfect. I’m all ears.”
“You’re all something,” Peri muttered. “I had to break up five fights at the Romania pack mansion. Five. Five stupid males who thought they have a chance at taking Fane on to claim the alpha position. Do you know how much I like dealing with stupid male Canis lupus?”
“About as much as you like dealing with headstrong healers?”
“Exactly,” Peri agreed. “My patience is officially gone. Fane didn’t let me so much as zap their asses, so I’m feeling a little zappy.”
Lilly pressed her lips together before she asked. “And what exactly does zappy mean?”
“It means that regardless of whether I like you or not, at this point, I’m happy to zap anyone who has an ass to zap.”
Lilly bit her lip to keep from laughing. She couldn’t help it. The high fae sounded so put out, as if being unable to punish the male werewolves was akin to telling her she was weak. Everyone knew Peri was not weak.
The queen sighed, deciding she didn’t want her door destroyed. Lilly slid off the counter and opened the door. She had to take a step back because Peri’s face was inches from her own. “That’s not cool, Peri.” Lilly said, shaking her head at the female. “You can’t start acting weird. I have too much weird going on in my life right now.”
“You sound like your daughter,” Peri said. She took a step back and motioned for Lilly to exit the bathroom.
“Or maybe she sounds like me.” Lilly raised her eyebrows.
Peri shook her head. “No. Jacque is much cooler than you. You definitely get your material from her.”
Lilly walked over to the couch and plopped down in what she was sure was a most un-queen-like fashion. She looked up at Peri, who stared down at her with her hands on her hips.
“Well?”
“What?” Lilly’s eyes widened as she tried for the innocent look she’d seen her daughter and her two best friends use on her over the years.
“Do not ‘what’ me, Lilly Pierce,” the high fae growled.
“Uh-oh,” Lilly grinned. “Bringing out the full name. Things just got real.” When Peri continued to stare at her, Lilly sighed. “Would you believe me if I said that in my grief-crazy state, I got drunk on fairy juice and had a fae and djinn over, and we had a wild orgy?”
“There’s no such thing as fairy juice,” Peri said, waving her off as she moved to sit across from Lilly. “An orgy with two supernaturals would likely cause property damage, and maybe personal damage, too. Your room is fine, and so are you. Not only that, Cypher’s soul would have brought this mountain down on top of everyone.” Peri smiled. “I will, however, give you points for creativity.”
“Sometimes the more outlandish the tale, the more believable,” Lilly said. “At least it was for the girls.”
Peri snorted. “I can only imagine what Jacque, Jen, and Sally got into when they were younger.”
“My life was never boring, that’s for sure,” Lilly said, remembering all the escapades her daughter and her two tag-alongs got caught up in.
“As much as I’d love to go down memory lane with you—”
“No, you wouldn’t.” Lilly laughed.
“You’re right. The past is boring. How about you tell me who has been in here?”
Lilly pinched the bridge of her nose. “Only if you promise not to move from that spot on the couch. You cannot freak out. You cannot do anything but sit there.”
“I don’t freak out,” Peri said, indignant. “I’ve never freaked out.”
“Sometimes you do. And, as you so helpfully pointed out, my bedroom has no property damage. I’d like to keep it that way. Promise me, Peri.”
After a full minute, Lilly knew because she counted, Peri finally nodded.
Here we go. “So, yesterday, I had a djinn and a fae, as you already ascertained, request a parlay.”
“Stop,” Peri said, holding up her hand. “Don’t bullshit me. They didn’t request anything. And don’t say words like ‘parlay.’ It’s the twenty-first century. They flashed their magical asses in here. I know the signature of magic, Lilly. If they had requested a ‘parlay’”—she made air quotes around the word—“then they would have knocked on your front door.”
“We don’t really have a front door,” Lilly pointed out. “It’s a mountain.”
Peri narrowed her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Okay, fine. They flashed in.”
“Aaaand…”
“They tossed a lame shot of power at me, which I totally was ready for. So I ‘zapped’ them, as you like to put it”—now it was Lilly who made air quotes—"which they totally blocked, and then we were like ‘hey, let’s
