His fingers clenched his mug. “To avoid the very scrutiny you have brought to my home!”
At Malik’s outburst, PC, who’d fal en asleep on his usual pil ow, jumped to his feet with a yelp. Then he dove off the bed and ducked behind the bedskirt. Not exactly a guard dog. Malik set his mug on the counter and took a deep breath.
He released the breath slowly, and when he spoke again, his voice was calmer. “That scrutiny is unavoidable now.
But you’ve also drawn attention. The best thing for both of us would be if the murderer is caught as soon as possible.”
Wel , I couldn’t argue with that. There were seven left feet in the morgue—it would be best for everyone if the kil er was found before he or she kil ed again. But . . . “What is it you think I can do?”
Malik frowned. “You’re an investigator. Investigate.”
Right. Searching for a serial kil er was way out of my job description. If enough of one of the bodies was recovered that a shade could be raised, I would gladly help the police question the victim, but the last time I’d gotten actively involved in a major investigation I’d nearly died. And then I’d been arrested.
I pushed myself off the wal . I’d heard enough. Malik had said he’d found—and hidden—the feet but didn’t know said he’d found—and hidden—the feet but didn’t know anything more about them. Fae couldn’t lie, so I had no choice but to believe him. John, and most likely the FIB, since they had taken over the case, would stil want to question Malik, but I wasn’t going to antagonize him by cal ing the police while he stood in my loft. I’d kick him out first.
“I don’t think I’l be able to help you,” I said, giving him a wide berth as I headed for the door.
“You’re the only one in the position to help us.”
I stopped, my hand hovering over the doorknob. That whole not-being-able-to-lie thing meant that when Malik said I was the only one who could help, he honestly believed that was true, and considering everything Caleb had done to make this conversation happen, I assumed he agreed. I turned back around.
“Why me, and who is included in ‘us’?”
“‘Us’ would be the fae in the floodplain in particular, but also extending to al the independent fae in Nekros.” Malik paced across my smal apartment. “Yesterday she ordered the floodplain cleared. Al fae inside were to be taken to Faerie for questioning, but the brutes she sent came with iron chains, and none of the fae they captured have returned. There’s war brewing in Faerie and she’s bolstering her court with our numbers.”
“That is only speculation,” Caleb said, but he didn’t sound sure. In fact, I thought I caught an edge of fear in his voice.
“She?” I asked because they obviously both knew what woman they were talking about, but I surely didn’t.
Caleb pushed away from the counter. “The Winter Queen. Nekros City is part of her territory.”
“The winter court? Seriously?” I frowned at Caleb.
“Nekros City hardly has a proper winter. I can count on one hand how many times it’s snowed here and the snow stuck to the ground more than an hour. Hel , half the trees don’t have the decency to lose their leaves. Shouldn’t the winter court hold territory somewhere, I don’t know, cold?”
winter court hold territory somewhere, I don’t know, cold?”
Caleb shrugged. “Faerie is the ultimate contradiction. It is unchanging and yet ever in flux. Doors in Faerie are . . .
inconsistent. For the past few years the door from Nekros into Faerie has opened to the winter court so Nekros City is part of the queen’s territory. The door wil change soon enough, and al the fae with ties to the winter court wil move on, making room for the next court. Only the independent fae, those who have tied themselves to the mortal realm instead of Faerie, wil remain.”
That was more information than I’d ever gotten out of Caleb at one sitting before. And it was clearer than any of the lessons the one and only fae teacher the academy had hired to teach students fae history had ever been—our teacher definitely had never taught us anything about the doors to Faerie moving. I sipped my coffee, giving myself a second to absorb this information and let it infiltrate my limited understanding of Faerie. Then I put the mug aside.
“If the queen is il egal y gathering the independent fae, shouldn’t you go to the FIB?” After al , if the local court was kidnapping fae, someone with a lot more authority than I had needed to know.
Malik huffed under his breath. “Who do you think is doing t he questioning?” He shook his head. “The FIB are al court-loyal—not an independent in the bunch.”
“Then go to the police.” I knew for sure the NCPD wasn’t answering to a queen.