“You’re saying he had to have a supplier,” Greyson said.
“And that there is a very good chance he wasn’t the only one taking it,” Gigi grimly added. “With that, I need to head out. I’m calling on a friend of mine—a fae lawyer who helped me put your defense together. He’ll want to know how it went, and he has offices here in Magiford.” Gigi slipped into her car and yanked the door shut, then immediately kicked it open again. “Thank you, Alpha Greyson, for coming. It made my argument airtight. I hope you both have an uneventful trip back to Timber Ridge.”
“Thank you for helping Pip,” Greyson said.
Gigi smiled—this one with a touch of sadness. “Of course,” she said. “The Quillons always will. Call me when you need me, Pip.”
“Will do. Thanks again, Gigi.” I waved as she started her car up, but once she pulled out of her parking spot I turned to Greyson.
“I’m assuming you’ve got some Alpha business to take care of?”
“There are a few notices that need to be posted in the Curia Cloisters—the Night Queen has offered us an official alliance. I need to sign it, and a few other similar things.” He glanced warily at the Curia Cloisters building, then me. “It might take an hour or two.”
“That’s fine, I’ll head to downtown Magiford,” I said. “I want to tour the place and see if they have a welcome center. I think ours needs an update, so I’m looking for ideas—oh! And I want to visit the Queen’s Court! Chase told me it was the best café in Magiford.”
“You talked to Chase?” Greyson stared me down with his golden eyes, but he didn’t loosen his powers or anything so I was going to take that as a win.
“Yeah, I asked him if we could drop in for a quick visit. He’s on duty today, but he said he could take a break when we stop by…if that’s okay? I figured you’d be busy so I could use Uber or something to drive me out there.”
Greyson tilted his head. “It’d be good to check on him,” he finally said. “I assume he is the reason why the Night Queen has offered an alliance to us. I’ll drive us out there after I finish my work, but first I’ll take you downtown.”
“It’s not that far,” I said. “I think it’s only a few miles away. I can walk it.”
Thanks to the wolves and their obsessive training—or “playing”—anything less than five miles was just a stroll for me, especially if I got to walk it.
“I’ll drive you.” Greyson sauntered off in the direction of the car. “You can call me when you’re done at the café.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked. “We don’t own the cellphone store here. If you break yours, you’ll be without a phone until at least tonight—and that’s only if I call Aeric on my phone so he has one waiting for you.”
“That won’t happen,” he said.
“Why not?”
Greyson scoffed, a piece of his true personality breaking through. “Because if I break mine, I’ll take yours and break it, too.”
“Why would you do that? Then we’d be stranded without phones!”
Greyson unlocked the car. “It would make me feel a lot better. Get in.”
“I said I could walk.”
“Get in.”
“Oohhh, there’s the Alpha voice! You bust it out a lot more easily here. I assume that means you don’t care what people think about you in Magiford? But it would be bad PR for your future.” Despite my verbal prods, I hopped in the car.
Greyson slid in and turned the car on, which blasted hot air on us as the car had heated up during our brief time inside. “I don’t need to care for my future when you care enough for the both of us, Packmate.”
“Of course, Alpha,” I said in my chirpiest tour guide voice. “Do you need me to tell you where to drive, Alpha, or do you know where the Queen’s Court Café is?”
“Stop talking like that—and I know where I’m going.”
“Yes, Alpha!”
*
The wolves in the Curia Cloisters must have hopped to it under Greyson’s command like the Northern Lakes Pack, because I only had about two hours to explore downtown before Greyson showed up and chauffeured me off to the mansion that served as the Night Queen’s base on human lands.
We parked in a huge garage, that could have held dozens of vehicles but oddly only held one slightly beat-up looking truck that wouldn’t have been out of place in Timber Ridge, one Lexus SUV, and a Bentley car.
“Why do you think the garage is so big?” I asked Greyson, my voice echoing in the vast emptiness.
I felt a wolf somewhere behind me and was already turning around when Chase spoke. “Because the Night Queen sold the dozens of cars previous rulers owned in an effort to pay off some of the Night Court’s debt.”
Chase stood with his arms clasped behind his back, wearing a black, military-esque uniform with accents of dark purple and silver that emphasized the warmth of his sepia-brown skin and the broadness of his build. His eyes—a bright shade of yellow—held a gleam of humor that hadn’t changed since he’d joined the Night Court over a year ago. His hair was the same style it had always been in since I’d been adopted: short on the sides and slightly longer on top so it showed the tiniest hint of curling.
But there was something…looser about him.
Chase was diligent—almost to the point of ridiculous. Even when I’d been younger and had a crush on him, I thought if he lightened up just a touch, he’d have so much more fun. Studying him now, I could see that had changed. For the better.
“Chase!” I paused, not sure if I should hug him like most wolves would, or stay back if he was working. (It was Chase, after all.)
Chase decided for me by sweeping me up and hugging me, petting me on the top of the head like a puppy.
“If you say Pomeranian Power-up, I’m going to bite you,” I muttered into his chest.
“I would never say such a thing out loud.” Chase gave me a brotherly pat on the back, then stepped back.
“Ah-hah! That means you’ve thought it.” I scrunched my mouth up and narrowed my eyes at him.
“I don’t know that there is a packmate who hasn’t thought it.” Chase ruffled my hair one last time, then turned to Greyson and bowed his head. “Alpha Greyson.”
“Chase.” Greyson nodded at him. “Have we come at a bad time?”
“Not at all,” Chase said. “This is the start of my lunch break. I’ll show you two to my office.”
“You have an office? Sweet!” I shielded my eyes from the hot afternoon sun as we left the garage and headed for the mansion.
The landscape was swept with a lush green lawn, and I could see a hedge maze peeking out from behind the mansion, and even farther back a stable that was so luxurious—I could see the glass skylights from the driveway—it could have been a really nice house.
I whistled. “Wow, this is a really nice place.”
Chase lifted an eyebrow at me. “You’ve seen it before.”
“Yeah, after dark,” I said. “These gardens are gorgeous—you can’t possibly do them justice at night!”