City of Fae

“Where did you disembark the train, Miss O’Connor?”


I blinked: if he was trying to confuse me, he was doing a damn good job. “Mile End. Look, should I be worried? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

He blinked, gave me a second to think he’d let me have room to breathe, and then asked, “Did you touch your card out?”

“My what? Oh, my travel card. Um, well, yeah, of course I did. I mean, I must have.” If they checked, they’d know I hadn’t. My shoulders bobbed in a shrug. An awkward silence descended. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“We’re not implying that you have. These are just routine questions while we try to establish a timeline of events.” Andrews blinked, so unassuming. “Did Sovereign say anything unusual?”

I swallowed. The entire conversation with Reign in the train car had been unusual, from fate to mistakes. “I, uh … No, small talk mostly, ya know, the weather.” The British liked talking about the weather, so he’d buy that.

“How did he look?” It sounded like a simple question. All his questions did. But there were layers behind his words. Meanings I didn’t understand. So relaxed, so polite. Maybe I should trust him. Tell him everything. Clearly Reign was in serious trouble if the Met were searching for him too. And yet, if I told Andrews all the details and Reign discovered I’d talked, he’d never trust me enough to tell me why he’d been sprawled on the platform. My story would be dead in the water.

Miles tapped his pen on his notepad: Tap-tap, Alina … We know you’re lying … tap-tap.

“He uh … He … looked like a fae?”

Andrews’s unimpressed frown said, Try again.

I licked my dry lips. “I don’t know, untidy, I guess.” The dark splatters on Reign’s clothes had probably been spilled wine. Yes, wine, definitely wine, and not blood.

“He didn’t get off at your stop?”

“No. I left him on the train. Is he in trouble or something?”

“You could say that, yes. Whilst we can’t officially arrest a fae—they have their own method of operating—we do have permission to investigate his whereabouts. He is deemed a danger to the public; we’re trying to locate him sooner rather than later.”

“A danger to the public?” I snorted, and then remembered how Reign had held his own against the general. Had I not pulled the alarm, only one of them would have walked away from that fight, and I suspect it would have been Reign. “What did he do? Upset some love-struck fan? Trash a hotel room?” Stony faces peered back at me until my smile withered and died.

“We’re not at liberty to release the details.” Andrews dug into his pocket, withdrew a wallet, and plucked free a Metropolitan Police card. “I strongly advise you call us if you see him again.” I got a glimpse of a photo in his wallet, of him with a young girl, early teens, and an older guy with the same eyes as Andrews, his arm looped around the girl’s. Easy smiles all round. Older brother and younger sister perhaps?

He flipped his wallet closed and placed the card neatly on my coffee table. He stood, and Miles followed. They thanked me for the coffee and headed for the door.

That was it? Had I missed something? I followed after them, eager to shut them out and Andrews turned. “You don’t recall seeing a fight break out? The train didn’t stop suddenly? There was nothing remarkable about that journey home last night?”

My shallow smile wriggled as I fought to keep it hooked on my lips. “Nope. Like I said, I was pretty whacked-out after a long day.” He knows.

“How did you get the bruise?” He gestured lightly at my forehead.

My hand reflexively shot to the bruise. Don’t say you walked into a door, don’t say it … “I … it’s stupid really, kitchen cupboard, door open … I’m a klutz.”

A smile cracked Andrews’s neutral face, softening the stalwart detective. It was a gentle smile, but honest. “Give me a call, Alina, if you think of anything, anything at all. Or if you see Sovereign again.”

“Sure thing, Detective.” I closed the door behind them and sighed. They knew I was lying. Probably saw the whole thing play out on CCTV, complete with Reign’s vanishing trick. So why didn’t they call me out on it? Whatever this had been about, it wasn’t over. The arrival of the Met confirmed what I already knew. I needed answers.

I gave the cops ten minutes to get clear, grabbed my coat and left my apartment. There was one place I’d get the lowdown on Reign. The Metro offices in Kensington. I needed to clear out my desk; while doing that, I could do a little investigating of my own. Whatever crime Reign may or may not have committed, the Metro’s database would have it. There was information in their network that would make politicians blush. I was about to discover everything Mister I Don’t Pay for Anything had to hide.





Chapter Four