You shall not pass.
“I’m telling you that by all appearances, Jean was at the Carousel Bar with Truman Capote when the fire took place. I can’t say for sure, of course, because I was hibernating.”
Alex wanted to roll his eyes; I could see it on his face. “That’s the testimony you’ll be giving tomorrow morning at the council meeting?”
God help me. “Yeah. I mean, maybe Jean set the fire or maybe he didn’t. But innocent until proven otherwise—isn’t that the way it goes?”
Alex leaned back in his chair, and we stared at each other for what seemed like a month. Finally, he shook his head and almost smiled. “Okay then, that’s the way we’ll play it. Nobody was hurt, and it’s good to know Boulard is hanging around. I’ll put a couple of guys at the bar to see if he comes back. See if I can get my hands on one of those old trackers I used to carry.”
“What about the council meeting?”
Alex shook his head. “I’ll have to get a subpoena for Truman Capote. That should liven things up.”
I tried to imagine Capote testifying, and couldn’t. Jean’s alibi was his problem, however. I’d done my part. I felt guilty for lying by omission, but not that guilty.
“There’s something else we need to talk about,” Alex said, and my senses picked up his elevating tension. “Eugenie.”
I snorted. “You mean Eugenia? Or would that be Eugenita? Zrakovi can’t even remember her name.”
“It’s not funny.” Alex raked a hand through his hair, a sure sign he was stressed.
This was why he’d been calling me, then. My heart began a steadily growing thud that pounded in my ears. Alex usually had better control over his emotions, but he was stressing like mad. “What’s happened?”
“Zrakovi had been trying to get in touch with you and, when he couldn’t, he finally put it on me to tell you.” Alex looked into the living room, then at the light fixture. He wouldn’t meet my gaze.
“You’re scaring me. What does he want?”
“He wants her to get rid of the baby. Well, he wants you to do it, actually, with a potion that he’s authorizing as First Elder. He’d like it done before the meeting tomorrow, but I told him that wasn’t possible. I tried to buy you some time.” Alex finally looked at me, and I could tell he was miserable, and maybe a little afraid. “I’m sorry, DJ. I think he’s wrong, but he’s convinced it’s the best solution for everyone.”
I tried to wrap my mind around the idea that Zrakovi would even think I’d go along with such a plan. “It’s not the best solution for Eugenie. She’ll never agree to it.” Even if she agreed to it, I didn’t. I wouldn’t make a killing potion for my best friend’s unborn child, even if its father was a scheming elf.
Alex cleared his throat. God, there was more.
“What?” My hand gripped the soda bottle so fiercely that I almost knocked it over.
“Zrakovi said if Eugenie didn’t agree to it, you were to do it anyway.”
A chill that had nothing to do with the Winter Prince of Faery raced across my scalp. “By ‘do it,’ you mean kill that baby? Using a potion? Without Eugenie’s consent?”
“Pretty much.”
I searched Alex’s face for any sign that he agreed with Zrakovi, but he looked miserable. “Alex, I can’t do it. I won’t.”
He took a deep breath. “I don’t like it either, DJ. Eugenie’s in way over her head and it’s not her fault. But Zrakovi wants Quince Randolph focused on council matters, and Mace Banyan sees the baby as a threat—a new generation of elves with no loyalty to his clan.”
My voice was calm, but the rest of me grew angrier by the second. “Did Rand do something to change Zrakovi’s mind? I thought we’d all agreed that an elven midwife would take care of Eugenie at her house, and once the baby came, we’d deal with it.”
Alex shook his head. “Randolph’s insisting that the council give him formal assurances tomorrow that he will get custody of the child. Mace will be livid, so Zrakovi wants it to be a non-issue by then, or at least soon afterward. Of course, it should go without saying that Randolph can’t know anything about this.”
I fumbled in my pocket for my cell phone. “I want to talk to Zrakovi.”
Alex hesitated a few seconds, but then nodded. “He has a new cell number. I’ll text it to you. But DJ, it isn’t going to change his mind. I really did try.”
I had no doubt that he had tried, nor that Zrakovi wouldn’t budge. But I wanted to hear the order directly from the First Elder. This wasn’t Alex’s fight, and he didn’t deserve to be stuck as the messenger. In fact, I thought less of Zrakovi for trying to put Alex in the middle.