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Authors: Cindy Spencer Pape
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suspicious.”
“Which guests came via the portal?” Aidan asked. “Or staff?”
“The extra security I pulled in from Oakwood,” Wallis responded immediately, needing no time to stop and think. Good. “Along with extra cleaning and waitstaff from both Oakwood and Rosemeade. I’ve recalled all of them and you’ll find most of them waiting for you in the kitchen, though half the guards are patrolling the grounds. Guests, we’ve got a handful. Lord and Lady Willow, a few of Lady Rose’s personal staff and three invited by Sir Alaric. Looks like two other council members and their families showed up.”
Aidan turned to Desmond and translated. “We pulled in extra staff from both my estate and Meagan’s to help out. Ric’s guests were Lady Night Sky, the guardian of the Chicago portal, her husband and her sister, a healer who saved Ric’s life after an attack. Lady Willow is a human married to a council member, who took Meagan under her wing at Court. I can absolutely guarantee they are not involved in the purity movement, if that is what this is about. In fact,” he tipped his head at Wallis, “get a message to Lord Willow, asking him to contact me as soon as possible. He needs to be warned.”
“What makes you think this has anything to do with your elven purity bullshit?” Desmond helped himself to a cup of coffee from an urn in the corner.
“No ransom note, for one thing.” At least not yet. “And the timing, for another. It had to be a spur-of-the-moment thing. Somebody saw her at the wedding, jumped to the same conclusions I did and snatched her. The only question is why. What do they want from me? Money would be just too gods-damned easy.”
“Maybe they want to eliminate half-bloods,” Desmond suggested darkly. “Your people aren’t known for being fond of mongrels.”
Aidan’s stomach lurched, but he swallowed hard and managed to make it stop even as he shook his head. “I don’t think so. They could have killed her while she slept. Taking her was far riskier, so they have to have a different motive.” At least he hoped so.
Desmond mulled that over for a bit then grunted his agreement.
“Have you contacted Her Majesty?” Wallis asked tentatively.
“No and I need to.” Aidan nodded at Desmond and Greg. “Give me a minute, would you?” He didn’t want to get chewed out by the queen in front of the other men.
“Go on.” Greg pushed him toward the door. “Wallis and I will fill him in on what we know so far.”
Aidan turned and opened a door on the back side of the room. This one led directly into the library. From this side, it was simply a door, but from the library, it was completely disguised as one more section of paneled wall. A similar arrangement connected his private office with his secretary’s, which was the next room over from security headquarters. After nodding to the guard in the library, Aidan moved through into his office and flipped open his cell phone.
For the most part, modern technology and Fae magic didn’t work together well. Underhill Industries, however, had come up with a few gadgets that managed to blend the two successfully. Aidan’s phone was one of those. He and each of the other hundred or so portal-house guardians scattered around the world had direct contact with the queen—or at least her personal staff.
“Lord Green Oak.” The voice on the other end of the device belonged to Baldric of the Fjords, Lord Chamberlain. He was Queen Llyris’s first cousin and essentially her chief of staff and personal assistant. Baldric was a sneaky bastard, who was always looking out for himself, but Aidan was relatively certain the man was loyal to the queen, maybe even above and beyond his own interests.
“I need to know if any of the council members have had family members go missing in the last few days,” Aidan said. “Particularly those who sided with the queen in the recent vote.”
The Seelie Council was composed of the heads of the
“Which guests came via the portal?” Aidan asked. “Or staff?”
“The extra security I pulled in from Oakwood,” Wallis responded immediately, needing no time to stop and think. Good. “Along with extra cleaning and waitstaff from both Oakwood and Rosemeade. I’ve recalled all of them and you’ll find most of them waiting for you in the kitchen, though half the guards are patrolling the grounds. Guests, we’ve got a handful. Lord and Lady Willow, a few of Lady Rose’s personal staff and three invited by Sir Alaric. Looks like two other council members and their families showed up.”
Aidan turned to Desmond and translated. “We pulled in extra staff from both my estate and Meagan’s to help out. Ric’s guests were Lady Night Sky, the guardian of the Chicago portal, her husband and her sister, a healer who saved Ric’s life after an attack. Lady Willow is a human married to a council member, who took Meagan under her wing at Court. I can absolutely guarantee they are not involved in the purity movement, if that is what this is about. In fact,” he tipped his head at Wallis, “get a message to Lord Willow, asking him to contact me as soon as possible. He needs to be warned.”
“What makes you think this has anything to do with your elven purity bullshit?” Desmond helped himself to a cup of coffee from an urn in the corner.
“No ransom note, for one thing.” At least not yet. “And the timing, for another. It had to be a spur-of-the-moment thing. Somebody saw her at the wedding, jumped to the same conclusions I did and snatched her. The only question is why. What do they want from me? Money would be just too gods-damned easy.”
“Maybe they want to eliminate half-bloods,” Desmond suggested darkly. “Your people aren’t known for being fond of mongrels.”
Aidan’s stomach lurched, but he swallowed hard and managed to make it stop even as he shook his head. “I don’t think so. They could have killed her while she slept. Taking her was far riskier, so they have to have a different motive.” At least he hoped so.
Desmond mulled that over for a bit then grunted his agreement.
“Have you contacted Her Majesty?” Wallis asked tentatively.
“No and I need to.” Aidan nodded at Desmond and Greg. “Give me a minute, would you?” He didn’t want to get chewed out by the queen in front of the other men.
“Go on.” Greg pushed him toward the door. “Wallis and I will fill him in on what we know so far.”
Aidan turned and opened a door on the back side of the room. This one led directly into the library. From this side, it was simply a door, but from the library, it was completely disguised as one more section of paneled wall. A similar arrangement connected his private office with his secretary’s, which was the next room over from security headquarters. After nodding to the guard in the library, Aidan moved through into his office and flipped open his cell phone.
For the most part, modern technology and Fae magic didn’t work together well. Underhill Industries, however, had come up with a few gadgets that managed to blend the two successfully. Aidan’s phone was one of those. He and each of the other hundred or so portal-house guardians scattered around the world had direct contact with the queen—or at least her personal staff.
“Lord Green Oak.” The voice on the other end of the device belonged to Baldric of the Fjords, Lord Chamberlain. He was Queen Llyris’s first cousin and essentially her chief of staff and personal assistant. Baldric was a sneaky bastard, who was always looking out for himself, but Aidan was relatively certain the man was loyal to the queen, maybe even above and beyond his own interests.
“I need to know if any of the council members have had family members go missing in the last few days,” Aidan said. “Particularly those who sided with the queen in the recent vote.”
The Seelie Council was composed of the heads of the
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