Logan snorted. "If the two of you are done posturing, Ferzzz has some news. Queen Viviette has intensified her feud with Kal'andel and might be willing to retract her threat against Dead End, if you promise to help her."
I didn't even blink, because giving anything away in the presence of potential enemies was a hard no.
But.
I knew the Fae had bandied my name around in some circles during and after the war, but this was unexpected.
"I'd be willing to talk," I finally said.
Takethat, na Garanwyn.
Ferzzz, who had to be at least part troll, scowled. Or at least I think he scowled. With his face, he may have been giving me a pleasant smile.
"You would align with that one against our great lord Kal'andel na Garanwyn?" he spat at me.
"I'd align with Morgana herself if it would save my town and my people," I said, the rumble of my tiger's roar underlining my words.
Ferzzz's hands clenched into ham-sized fists at his sides, but he didn't make a move. Either he was smarter than he was belligerent—and I highly doubted that, having known more than a few trolls in the past—or he was under orders.
And wasn't that interesting?
"Is that all? You're carrying messages for the Autumn queen now? How will your great lord react to that?"
"I reported a foul rumor, nothing more. If you want my advice, tiger—"
"I don't."
"—you'd be wise to stay out of the games of Fae royalty, in any of the Courts."
It was the first time I'd ever agreed with a troll.
Ferzzz turned and raced off in the opposite direction from Tess's house, and Logan swore beneath his breath, pacing up and down in the clearing. After a minute or two, it quit being entertaining and started being annoying, so I waved him to a stop.
"Anything else? Any news at all about Iona?"
He swung around to face me, and I saw genuine anguish on his face. "No. Not a thing that's credible, or that I can act on. We must find that dagger, so you can concentrate on helping me. And maybe this damn Viviette knows something."
"We're doing our best." I didn't give him any details, because I didn't trust him not to go find Mr. Washington and torture the man.
"Fine. Fine," he muttered. "I'm going to sleep at your house, if that's okay. Catch up in the morning?"
"Yes and yes." Then I watched him shift and wing his way up into the night sky.
It was turning out to be quite the week. A long-dead relative came back to life, a Fae queen threatened my town, an old enemy turned up asking for a favor, and one of my high school teachers might solve at least part of it.
Just for the heck of it, I shifted back to my tiger form and ran around the woods for a while, enjoying the sounds and sights of the night. Then I snuck up on a rabbit and chuffed at it, silently laughing when it bounded away from me.
The rabbits around Dead End had never encountered anything like me.
But neither had Queen Viviette.
My smile had a lot of very sharp teeth.
With that thought, I returned to Tess's house, lay down on the couch with my head on my paws, and prepared to stand guard for the rest of the night. And in the morning, we'd find out if a teenaged Macbeth was wielding a powerfully magical Fae artifact.
Gotta love this town.
27
