Chimes at Midnight
Page 38
“I appreciate it.” I glanced toward the Lordens. “Nice seeing you, Patrick, Dianda.”
“Always a pleasure,” said Patrick. Dianda just smirked, which somehow seemed like the perfect answer from her.
I walked back to Tybalt and Quentin. “Let’s go upstairs. I have some pixies to bribe.”
“It is a terrible thing that this statement seems completely reasonable to me,” said Tybalt.
We walked back up the spiral staircase to the hall upstairs. Marcia was there, viciously sweeping the pristine-looking floor. I stopped, blinking. I hadn’t realized she wasn’t downstairs with the rest of us. In the crowd, it had been hard to see who was and wasn’t there.
“Marcia?”
She jumped, expression seeming oddly mired between guilt and terror as she whipped around to face us. Then she relaxed, somehow forcing herself to smile. “Toby. You scared me. Are you leaving so soon?”
“For a little while. Dean has everything taken care of with Arden, and I need to keep moving, or the Queen’s going to get suspicious. Speaking of which . . .” I held up my handful of ribbons. “Do you know where the pixies are? I have a business proposition.”
Marcia blinked, blue eyes going puzzled within their protective mask of fae ointment. “What kind of proposition?”
“Simple: I want them to take these ribbons and scatter them around the city. That way, when the Queen sets her men on me, she’ll be able to find traces of my presence everywhere, not just where I’ve actually been.” I shrugged. “If she’s going to insist on transforming my clothing without my consent, she can deal with the consequences.”
“That’s . . . actually pretty clever,” said Marcia.
“I try,” I said, and watched as she raised her broom and rapped it against the rafters. Tiny, multicolored heads popped into view as the pixies that had been lurking overhead checked to see what was going on. I offered them a little wave. “Hi. You guys want to do me a favor?”
The pixies left the rafters in a swarm, surrounding us. Some landed on my shoulders and head. More hovered in front of my face, waiting to hear what the “favor” would constitute.
“I need to mess with the Queen,” I said. “Can you take these ribbons and scatter them around the city, so she can’t tell where I am?”
One of the pixies rang in a questioning tone.
“I’m prepared to pay you three bags of cheeseburgers from the fast food joint of your choosing.” They’d choose McDonald’s, if the swarms of pixies around the dumpsters were anything to go by, but that was no big deal. There are several in the city, and they’d all seen stranger things than a woman buying half her bodyweight in food.
The pixie rang again.
“Three bags a week for the next month,” I amended.
A third ring.
“With fries.”
That seemed to satisfy her. She turned to the other pixies, ringing turning strident. I held out the fistful of ribbons. Pixies darted in from every direction, each snatching a single ribbon before darting away. A few even went for my hair, fishing out ribbons Tybalt had missed. It was like being at the center of a very accessory-oriented swarm. I didn’t move until they were done. Neither did Tybalt and Quentin. Pixies are nowhere near as harmless as they look. If I didn’t keep up my side of the bargain, they’d begin invading the house, and their homemade spears were frequently tipped with poison. I made it a rule never to break a bargain with a pixie.
After the last ribbon had been whisked away and the last pixie had vanished down the hall, I turned back to Marcia and said, “We’re going to take off. You okay here?”
Marcia worried her lip between her teeth before she nodded. “I’ll be fine. I’m just not sure how Dean is going to handle all this. He’s only been Count for a little while.”
“He’ll be fine,” I said. “He’s had way more preparation than I did, and I didn’t get us all killed. Besides, he has you to help.”
“That’s not as encouraging as you think.” She flapped her free hand at us. “Go. We’ll call if there’s any trouble.”
“Okay. Can you also call if Arden decides to cut bait and run? I need to know if I should start packing my things.”
“We will,” she pledged.
“I know she’s in good hands,” I said.
She smiled a little. “I do my best.”
We could have kept on saying good-bye for hours, since none of us were in a hurry to go back into the Queen’s line of sight. With a sigh, I turned away from her, offering Tybalt a wan smile, and asked, “Shadowed Hills?”
“I’ve been waiting for that particular request, since I know the Queen will be expecting you to be seen there,” he said. “May I suggest, instead, that we return to your house? Once there, you can drive yourself and Quentin to Duke Torquill’s domain, and I can handle certain necessities at the Court of Cats before I come to collect you.”
Moving the car would certainly lend credence to the idea that I was desperately racing around the Bay Area, looking for a way out of my banishment. And Tybalt didn’t need the strain of transporting two people along the Shadow Roads for more than a few miles twice in one night. I nodded. “Works for me.”
Quentin and I each took one of Tybalt’s hands, and together, we stepped into the dark, leaving the warm, uncomplicated halls of Goldengreen behind us. It was a shorter passage through the darkness than many of them, maybe because we were traveling such a short distance, maybe because we were moving from one familiar location to another. Whatever the reason, we stepped out into my living room not much later.
I wiped the ice from my eyelashes and called, “Hello, the house!” A rattling noise answered me as Spike—my resident rose goblin—woke up and jumped onto the back of the couch, making a puzzled mewling sound. I leaned over to scratch behind its thorny ears. “Hey, buddy. Where are May and Jazz?”
“Jazz is getting some sleep, and it’s my turn to keep watch,” said May, stepping into the living room with a cup of coffee in her hand. She held it out to me. “She’s gone to bed. We’ll switch off in an hour or so. Where’s Raj?”
“We left him at Goldengreen,” I said, taking the cup. “What are you up to?”
“I did laundry, I cleared some things off the TiVo, and I waved to the men the Queen has lurking around the edges of the park, trying to look unobtrusive.” May grinned. “I mean, to be fair, I probably wouldn’t have known they were there if I weren’t, you know, a Fetch, but wow, did I freak ’em out.”
“Always a pleasure,” said Patrick. Dianda just smirked, which somehow seemed like the perfect answer from her.
I walked back to Tybalt and Quentin. “Let’s go upstairs. I have some pixies to bribe.”
“It is a terrible thing that this statement seems completely reasonable to me,” said Tybalt.
We walked back up the spiral staircase to the hall upstairs. Marcia was there, viciously sweeping the pristine-looking floor. I stopped, blinking. I hadn’t realized she wasn’t downstairs with the rest of us. In the crowd, it had been hard to see who was and wasn’t there.
“Marcia?”
She jumped, expression seeming oddly mired between guilt and terror as she whipped around to face us. Then she relaxed, somehow forcing herself to smile. “Toby. You scared me. Are you leaving so soon?”
“For a little while. Dean has everything taken care of with Arden, and I need to keep moving, or the Queen’s going to get suspicious. Speaking of which . . .” I held up my handful of ribbons. “Do you know where the pixies are? I have a business proposition.”
Marcia blinked, blue eyes going puzzled within their protective mask of fae ointment. “What kind of proposition?”
“Simple: I want them to take these ribbons and scatter them around the city. That way, when the Queen sets her men on me, she’ll be able to find traces of my presence everywhere, not just where I’ve actually been.” I shrugged. “If she’s going to insist on transforming my clothing without my consent, she can deal with the consequences.”
“That’s . . . actually pretty clever,” said Marcia.
“I try,” I said, and watched as she raised her broom and rapped it against the rafters. Tiny, multicolored heads popped into view as the pixies that had been lurking overhead checked to see what was going on. I offered them a little wave. “Hi. You guys want to do me a favor?”
The pixies left the rafters in a swarm, surrounding us. Some landed on my shoulders and head. More hovered in front of my face, waiting to hear what the “favor” would constitute.
“I need to mess with the Queen,” I said. “Can you take these ribbons and scatter them around the city, so she can’t tell where I am?”
One of the pixies rang in a questioning tone.
“I’m prepared to pay you three bags of cheeseburgers from the fast food joint of your choosing.” They’d choose McDonald’s, if the swarms of pixies around the dumpsters were anything to go by, but that was no big deal. There are several in the city, and they’d all seen stranger things than a woman buying half her bodyweight in food.
The pixie rang again.
“Three bags a week for the next month,” I amended.
A third ring.
“With fries.”
That seemed to satisfy her. She turned to the other pixies, ringing turning strident. I held out the fistful of ribbons. Pixies darted in from every direction, each snatching a single ribbon before darting away. A few even went for my hair, fishing out ribbons Tybalt had missed. It was like being at the center of a very accessory-oriented swarm. I didn’t move until they were done. Neither did Tybalt and Quentin. Pixies are nowhere near as harmless as they look. If I didn’t keep up my side of the bargain, they’d begin invading the house, and their homemade spears were frequently tipped with poison. I made it a rule never to break a bargain with a pixie.
After the last ribbon had been whisked away and the last pixie had vanished down the hall, I turned back to Marcia and said, “We’re going to take off. You okay here?”
Marcia worried her lip between her teeth before she nodded. “I’ll be fine. I’m just not sure how Dean is going to handle all this. He’s only been Count for a little while.”
“He’ll be fine,” I said. “He’s had way more preparation than I did, and I didn’t get us all killed. Besides, he has you to help.”
“That’s not as encouraging as you think.” She flapped her free hand at us. “Go. We’ll call if there’s any trouble.”
“Okay. Can you also call if Arden decides to cut bait and run? I need to know if I should start packing my things.”
“We will,” she pledged.
“I know she’s in good hands,” I said.
She smiled a little. “I do my best.”
We could have kept on saying good-bye for hours, since none of us were in a hurry to go back into the Queen’s line of sight. With a sigh, I turned away from her, offering Tybalt a wan smile, and asked, “Shadowed Hills?”
“I’ve been waiting for that particular request, since I know the Queen will be expecting you to be seen there,” he said. “May I suggest, instead, that we return to your house? Once there, you can drive yourself and Quentin to Duke Torquill’s domain, and I can handle certain necessities at the Court of Cats before I come to collect you.”
Moving the car would certainly lend credence to the idea that I was desperately racing around the Bay Area, looking for a way out of my banishment. And Tybalt didn’t need the strain of transporting two people along the Shadow Roads for more than a few miles twice in one night. I nodded. “Works for me.”
Quentin and I each took one of Tybalt’s hands, and together, we stepped into the dark, leaving the warm, uncomplicated halls of Goldengreen behind us. It was a shorter passage through the darkness than many of them, maybe because we were traveling such a short distance, maybe because we were moving from one familiar location to another. Whatever the reason, we stepped out into my living room not much later.
I wiped the ice from my eyelashes and called, “Hello, the house!” A rattling noise answered me as Spike—my resident rose goblin—woke up and jumped onto the back of the couch, making a puzzled mewling sound. I leaned over to scratch behind its thorny ears. “Hey, buddy. Where are May and Jazz?”
“Jazz is getting some sleep, and it’s my turn to keep watch,” said May, stepping into the living room with a cup of coffee in her hand. She held it out to me. “She’s gone to bed. We’ll switch off in an hour or so. Where’s Raj?”
“We left him at Goldengreen,” I said, taking the cup. “What are you up to?”
“I did laundry, I cleared some things off the TiVo, and I waved to the men the Queen has lurking around the edges of the park, trying to look unobtrusive.” May grinned. “I mean, to be fair, I probably wouldn’t have known they were there if I weren’t, you know, a Fetch, but wow, did I freak ’em out.”
