“It’s about damned time!” Lavender Seelie snapped when she answered. “I was about ready to send out a spell to search for you! Is everything okay? Seth and I stopped by your apartment and it looked like a tornado had hit. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all morning! I even thought about calling Tess precoffee to see if she knew where you were.”
I laughed a little in spite of her obvious concern. “You were desperate if you thought about calling Red in the morning. She only gets one cup of coffee per day with the pregnancy, you know. She’s already a little testy.”
“This isn’t funny, Trish,” Lavender retorted. “We were worried. My magic has been popping sparks all morning.”
I ran a hand through my curls, feeling like the worst friend alive. “I’m so sorry, Lav—there’s some really crazy shit going on right now. I totally forgot that you guys were going to be in town today. Where are you right now?”
“At FMA headquarters,” she said. “I had to give my statement for James Charming’s hearing on the fraud and racketeering charges.”
I had to grin a little at this news. Cinderella’s ex-husband and Lavender’s former employer deserved everything he got, including the years he was looking at in FMA prison for all the shady deals he’d cut in the past and the people he’d screwed over. He’d already been serving time for his assault on Lavender the previous fall, so it looked like he might be hanging out in a cell for a good long while.
“I’m at headquarters, too, but I’m getting ready to leave,” I told her. “I can meet you in the lobby if you’re finished with everything.”
“See you there in five,” she said before hanging up.
I was so relieved to see Lavender and Seth standing in the FMA lobby that I had to choke back tears as I hugged them both. “God, it’s so good to see you guys,” I said, blinking the blur from my eyes.
“What’s going on, honey?” Lavender asked, putting her arm around my shoulders and leading me toward the doors that opened up to the street.
I covered my face with my hands for a minute, wondering where the hell to start and desperately wishing I had Nicky with me at that moment to at least remove one concern. “I can’t talk here,” I said, glancing around. “Can we go somewhere else?”
She nodded. “Of course! Have you had lunch yet?”
I shook my head. “No, I—”
“Not leaving without me, are you, doll?”
I whirled around at the sound of Nicky’s voice and relief washed over me like a tidal wave when I saw him strolling toward me, wearing that lopsided grin of his. I rushed to him, throwing my arms around his neck and squeezing tightly as his arms came around me and he buried his face in my hair.
He chuckled a little as he pulled back to peer down at me. “Don’t think I could ever get tired of you throwing yourself in my arms.”
“Where the hell have you been?” I demanded. “Mary told me they released you almost right away.”
He shrugged. “Had to stop by and say hi to an old friend, thank him for doing me a favor.”
I frowned at him, curious whom he meant and assuming he was talking about one of his friends in high places, but before I could ask about it, I heard a polite cough behind me and turned to see Lavender standing there, trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile. “I see you do have a few things to tell me about,” she drawled. Then she grinned at Nicky. “Hey there, stranger. We were just going to take Trish to lunch. Care to join us?”
“I don’t like this,” Lavender was saying, shaking her head stubbornly. “You can’t do this on your own. It’s not safe—especially now that you’ve quit the FMA.”
“We’re just looking for answers right now,” I assured her. “There’s more going on than Al understands. The Agency isn’t being straight with him, and for all their claims of trying to stop the vampires that have been popping up all over the place, they haven’t actually done much. They didn’t do a goddamn thing when I was being attacked.”
“Maybe they didn’t want to get involved because Dracula is a Tale,” Seth offered. “You said the FMA and the Agency have an agreement to stay out of each other’s sandbox, right?”
Nicky was frowning, his expression darker than I’d ever seen it. I wasn’t sure if he was more upset about the pictures Al had showed me or the fact that I’d quit my job over him. Both had brought out a flash of rage in his eyes that made me a little nervous. I was still getting to know him, still trying to understand him completely in spite of everything I’d already seen of his soul. There were still places that had been out of my reach, dark corners that my sight hadn’t penetrated. And he was careful to keep those hidden.
“I don’t think that agreement means shit to the Agency,” I said. “They obviously didn’t care what lines they were crossing when they showed up at Halloran’s and took out Sophia.”
Lavender glanced between Nicky and me, her concern written all over her face. “Okay, so how can we help?”
“You can’t,” Nicky snapped before I had a chance to respond. “I don’t want to involve anyone else in this.”
“Well, I think it’s a little late for that,” Lavender shot back. “We care about Trish.”
“You think I don’t?” he spat.
Lavender met his gaze evenly. “I’ve known you for a long time, Nicky Blue. And I know a lot about you, more than you probably realize. If I thought for a second that you were just dicking around with Trish and felt nothing for her, I’d have already turned you into a toad and sent you hopping. So stow all this brooding bullshit and tell me what we can do to help you out. Otherwise, you can get used to dealing with warts.”
Nicky’s eyes narrowed at her as if he was trying to figure out whether she would carry out her threat, but then his face suddenly broke into a smile. “Glad to see you’re back to your old self, Lav.”
She winked at him. “Back atcha. So, what do you need?”
“Gideon still hasn’t gotten back to us about the audience with your father,” I reminded her. “Could you get us in to see him?”
Lavender’s smile faded to a grimace. “I can, but you’ll have to see my mother, too, I imagine.”
I heard Seth groan, but gave Lavender a terse nod. “We’ll just have to grin and bear it.”
Nicky glanced at all of us with a confused frown. “Come on—it’s Lav’s mom,” he said. “How bad can she be?”
Chapter Fifteen
“Are you sure about this?” Lavender asked sotto voce, taking my arm as we walked up the marble steps to her parents’ manor.
I nodded. “If dealing with your mom again means we’ll get a few answers, then I’ll suck it up.”
“That’s not what I mean,” she said, glancing over her shoulder where Seth and Nicky were hanging back while Seth filled Nicky in on what to expect from the Seelies. “I’m talking about Nicky.”
I frowned at her. “He’s not what a lot of people think.”
“I know that,” she replied. “He’s a great guy at heart. But he’s been through some serious shit, Trish. I don’t want you to be his rebound. I know how much you—” She paused for a moment, considering her words. “I saw his handkerchief last fall when you were asking me about how it felt being with one of Red’s exes, remember? I knew then that you were in love with him.”
I felt my cheeks going warm. I knew exactly which conversation she was talking about. “It’s not what you think,” I mumbled.
“For your sake, I hope not,” she said on a sigh. “Just be careful, sweetie. I don’t want you to get your heart broken.”