“Chrysanthe is a dear friend of my daughter’s,” Lord Linus said to me and Greyson. “She’ll be glad to help me—won’t you, Chrysanthe?”
“Yes, of course.” Chrysanthe pulled off a beautiful curtsey I wouldn’t have been able to imitate if my life depended on it. “I would love to help.” She smiled, but this time it was aimed at Chase.
Chase bowed his head to her. “Thank you, Chrysanthe. I appreciate it. I will have to thank Queen Leila for informing you.”
“Oh.” Some of Chrysanthe’s fae poise left her. “Um. She didn’t. I heard that you had guests…from your Pack. Good manners would say they must be greeted.” She straightened her shoulders and smiled again.
“Mmhmm,” Lord Linus said. “Good manners. Yes. That is certainly one of your main concerns.” He winked at Chrysanthe, who blushed bright red, but ignored him as she kept smiling at Chase.
Woah—a fae, batting her eyes after a werewolf?
Supernaturals romancing outside of their own race wasn’t taboo…but it just wasn’t done. Everyone was too focused on trying to slow the death of wild magic to be concerned with other supernaturals, much less find them attractive.
Maybe that’s my problem. I need to mingle with other supernaturals and look outside my regular social circle. I think I remember watching a dating coach say that on YouTube once when I was despairing over human guys disliking my strength.
I didn’t normally care about romance too much. I mean, I was young. I wanted to figure out if I could leave Timber Ridge before I really gave a relationship a thought.
But if Chase was making even an inch of progress in the field of romance, that drastically changed things. Chase had the emotional awareness of a fungus growing in the woods. If he was moving faster than I was, things were way more dire than I thought.
“Do you need us to leave now?” Greyson asked. He stopped pacing directly in front of my chair, blocking my vision of everyone like the annoyance he was.
I leaned out of my chair in time to see Chase check his phone. “I still have ten minutes left of my lunch break,” he said.
“Yeah, but you need to eat!” I tapped the back of Greyson’s knees, getting him to move a step forward before I stood up and slithered out from behind him. “We can head out now, and you can eat.”
“Excellent! A jolly plan,” Lord Linus said.
Chase furrowed his forehead at Lord Linus. “You know how to drive?”
“Of course!” Lord Linus said. “Mind you, I’ve only driven in Europe, but as long as the night mares keep us off roads, the source of my experience won’t matter.”
“I see. Then I guess this is goodbye.” Chase tilted his head at me. “I know better than to ask you to listen to Greyson.”
“Good,” I said.
Chase frowned. “Could I at least ask that you increase your running speed or physical strength?”
“Heck no,” I said. “I’m fast enough to survive. That’s good enough.”
It was an odd request, but I knew it was just Chase’s way of saying he wanted me to be safe.
Chase’s frown grew more pronounced. “I see.”
I laughed and threw my arms around his broad shoulders in a hug. “It was good to see you, Chase. Come visit soon!”
“If work allows,” Greyson added.
Chase slightly tipped his head. “Of course. It was a pleasure to see you both.”
Greyson nodded, then gave Chase one of those painful sounding hug/backslaps the wolves commonly exchanged that I was pretty sure would crack the spine of a normal human.
Lord Linus elbowed Chrysanthe. “See that? Wolves hug a lot and are affectionate.”
“I see that,” Chrysanthe said.
“Mmhmm.” Lord Linus stuck his hand out to Greyson. “Might I have your keys while the lovely Chrysanthe guides you out to the lawn? I shall inquire of the night mares if they’re available, and we’ll be off!”
Greyson mutely fished the keys out of his pockets and tossed them to Lord Linus, who caught them in one hand.
“Let’s begin, then, shall we?” He put his sunglasses back on with a flourish, then waltzed from the room.
“This way, please.” Chrysanthe motioned for Greyson and me to leave the room ahead of her. She grabbed the doorknob and started to swing it closed, but just before it clicked shut she added, “I hope you have a pleasant lunch, Chase!”
She closed the door, released a high-pitched squeal I’m pretty sure she didn’t think Greyson or I would hear—I pretended not to, but Greyson couldn’t entirely mask his wince at the pitch—then cleared her throat, and slipped in front of us. “This way, please!”
She led us through the maze of the mansion and popped us out at the circle/turn-around portion of the driveway at the front of the house.
“So.” I clapped my hands together as we awkwardly waited for Lord Linus. “Chase seems to be thriving here.”
I’d chosen the right topic. Chrysanthe visibly brightened. “The Night Court is a lovely place to live—and be a part of,” she said. “And Director Washington—Chase—is vital to My Sovereign’s safety.”
Greyson eyed me—attempting to nonverbally communicate with me. Luckily, I wasn’t a wolf, so it didn’t work.
I ignored him with glee. “I can imagine it must be fun to live in the mansion. It’s beautiful.”
“It is, but the Night Court is even better,” Chrysanthe said. “You’ll see when the night mares cross us. They have to take us to the Night Court before they can open up a portal close to your home. When we travel by portal, you’ll need to closely picture where you want us to drop you off.”
“So it should have easily recognizable landmarks to make it easier, I’m guessing?” I asked. “Greyson, where do you think we should go for? I’d say downtown, but I’m pretty sure that’ll bring Mayor Pearl running, and we’ll get a fine for sure.”
“A fine?” Chrysanthe asked, bewildered. “Whatever for?”
“She’ll come up with something—disturbing the peace, probably,” I said. “I’m pretty sure most of the police budget is propped up by all the fines the Pack keeps getting.”
“How interesting,” Chrysanthe said.
An engine revved, and Lord Linus coasted up the driveway in our car, the front window rolled down. “We’re all set! Eclipse and Solstice have agreed to guide our travels today!” He leaned out of the window and peered back behind the car, to the two unicorns—yes, straight up unicorns—following him.
They didn’t look like the pretty, white, mild tempered unicorns humans show in their historic texts, tapestries and the like. Nope, these night mares looked too deadly-gorgeous for that.
Their coats were more of a silvery color than white, and both of them had black manes and tails—though the larger one’s mane had been cut short so it looked like a mohawk—and black hooves and socks. Their horns were ebony and a lot bigger than what you’d expect on a regular unicorn, too. All of them was bigger than what you’d picture for a unicorn in general.