Well, it did nothing to postpone the inevitable. Might as well get this over.
I stood, grabbing the bike and maneuvering it carefully out of the bathroom, careful not to scratch the walls. Bad enough I was trespassing where I didn't belong, no need to damage their home as well.
The apartment had the same set up as mine, so it only took a few steps until I was in the kitchen and living room area. The man who'd found us in the bathroom stood in the middle of the space, coffee mug in his hand. Another man with eyes of the brightest green, the type you find in spring after weeks of rain, sat in an armchair near him. His hair was ash-blond, and his features delicate where the other man's were hard.
Inara and Lowen perched on a set of floating shelves that had been screwed into the wall, various types of potted plants dotting the space.
All eyes were on me. Again, I wished for a time machine or a way to gracefully exit without ever having to speak. Even now, my mind was blank.
"Your guests have mostly left," the blond said, his lips curving in a charming smile. "Although they have left sentries across the street who are on the lookout for your return."
I blinked at the statement and looked between the two again, noticing for the first time that Lowen and Inara had made no attempt to disguise their presence and that the two strangers did not look particularly surprised to see pixies flying about.
Obviously, they weren't human, but I didn't have enough information to guess what they might be. When the two men had moved in at the beginning of the summer, I remember suspecting they might be spooks but had somehow managed to forget in the months since. That wasn't like me, and I had to wonder if maybe I'd had a little help in forgetting.
I turned a troubled gaze on Inara and Lowen where they swung their tiny feet as they watched the room with curious eyes. Could pixies affect memory? It would make sense, given how they liked to play pranks on anything bigger than them. If they had messed with my memory, their time as my roommates was about to come to a very violent end. I had enough troubles without bringing a spotty memory into it.
"That's good to know," I finally said. It was the only thing I could think of, given the circumstances. Whether they were human or not, I was still an unexpected visitor, one who hadn't received permission before I'd appeared in their bathroom. If it'd been my apartment and one of them had appeared unannounced, I would have attacked before they even cleared the bathroom door and asked questions later.
There was another awkward silence.
"This is Cadell," the blond said, gesturing at his copper haired friend. "I am Niall."
"Aileen." I fidgeted with the bike handlebars, my eyes going between the two.
Niall and Cadell shared a look that was hard to interpret. Niall's gaze held meaning as Cadell shook his head slightly before he looked away, his lips tightening.
Niall gave me a small smile. "You're welcome to stay here until it’s safe to leave."
I stared at him for a moment, considering. The people watching my apartment were unlikely to leave anytime soon. I had a feeling they were there until I was located. It's how I would have done it, had I the resources and desire to find someone so I could lock them up.
"I doubt they're going anywhere. Is there a back way out of this place?" I asked.
Cadell moved, seeming to uncoil from where he stood. "Yes, the downstairs apartments all have a front and back door."
That's what I figured. The apartments on the bottom had a few more amenities than the ones on the top, which was why my little place was significantly cheaper.
I hesitated to follow him to the back door, curious about them and how they seemed to know Inara and Lowen—because they did know the two pixies. I was willing to say quite well, given the familiarity Inara and Lowen treated the space with.
As I turned, I noticed an item on their kitchen counter, a piece of paper bent in complicated folds until it formed a crane.
"Caroline was here," I said. She was the only person I knew who folded paper into weird shapes when she was stressed. She'd picked up the habit after reading an origami book when we were kids.
I turned back to Cadell and Niall, fire in my eyes and ready to do some damage. "Where is she?"
"For someone we did a favor for, you're awfully demanding," Cadell said, his chin tilted down and his body posed to intercept me should I offer violence.
I regarded them with narrow eyes. That was not the answer I was looking for.
"Inara?" My voice cracked through the air like a whip. She or Lowen were the ones responsible for this. There was no doubt in my mind.
"She got here the same way you did," Inara said after a pregnant pause and a look from Niall. He was clearly the one in charge.
"Why?"
Inara shrugged. "The wolves were at the door, and she was frantic to get out without them catching her. I just facilitated the escape."
I closed my eyes and dropped my head. I'd missed her by minutes when Brax pounded on my door. "When did she leave?"
"That night. A few hours after you did," Niall said.
I sighed. So close. If only I'd remained at home, I might know where she was right now, and this whole situation could be resolved.
"Did she tell you where she was going?" I asked, hoping, but knowing it was probably a futile question.
He shook his head. "Nothing beyond what your pixies have already told you."
"They're not mine," I said, shooting the two in question a dark look.
"It is considered an honor to have a pixie queen and her consort deem you an acceptable companion," Cadell said in a stiff voice.
I arched an eyebrow and shot Inara a considering look. "A pixie queen?"
Yeah, I could see that. She had the air of royalty and certainly treated others with the attitude I'd expect of a queen. And now I owed that queen a favor. When would I learn?
"How did Caroline seem when she left?" I asked, turning the conversation back to what was important at the moment. I'd worry about unnamed favors later. Perhaps when that favor was being called in.
"Upset. Anxious," Niall said. "Her control over her second form is still shaky. We gave her a glamor to help, but it will not last long and won’t keep her from the change in the event of strong emotions."
"Glamor? You're fey?" I didn't know much about the fey, but I seemed to remember that you weren't supposed to say thank you unless you wanted to owe a huge debt they could call in, however they wanted. I tried to remember if those words had crossed my lips tonight.
"Sidth," Cadell snapped, his eyes flashing dangerously.
I held up my hand. "Okay, sidth."
I didn't know the difference between fey and sidth or why he seemed to dislike the first term. I'd always thought fey covered all the categories in their brand of spook. Guess not. That was good to know, if only so I didn't step on any land mines with my customers in the future.