“Dude and his questions are gonna have to wait,” Babette declared. Despite being the shortest person in the room, Babette had no doubt about her importance.

“I, wait?” he managed an imperial lilt. “On the contrary, it is you who shall have to—ack.”

A flying hellion jumped on him, taking him by surprise and throwing him against the table, hard. She held him by the shirt and shook, a small ball of fury. “Speak!”

“And if I don’t?” he asked.

“Then you shall encounter my rage.” Babette shook, her entire body bouncing, not budging him a bit.

He sighed. “Are you done yet?”

Jumping down, Babette tossed her head. “Not quite. We still need to talk about the missing girls.”

“There is nothing to speak of. I am not responsible.”

“Says you. Boss says we have to keep an eye on you. Watch your every move until we can clear you as a suspect.”

“You plan to spy on me?” He seemed rather shocked.

“Spying is such a harsh word,” Elspeth interjected.

“No, it’s about right.” Babette’s lips curled into a smile, one that screamed: make war, not nice.

“You would blame me without proof.”

“Why not? You’ve already stated you hate our kind.” Babette tossed his words at him.

Arms crossed, Luc declared, “You are no better than your ancestors.”

“Oh, I am way better than them, dude. Want to see?” Babette crooked her fingers.

Luc’s expression darkened, and his forehead dimpled in two spots.

“Play nice, everyone.” Elspeth placed herself between them, breaking the eye contact. Handling two besties was like wrangling playschool children. Get between them before the fists flew. She’d liked that job, getting to be with the younglings all day long.

Pity she hadn’t kept the position long.

Letting a parent know she’d had a vision of their child riding a bike without a helmet and it not ending well saw her fired. Even worse? No one believed her, which led to Elspeth going off her meds for a few hours and slashing the tires on the boy’s bike. Because of her intervention, the boy bypassed his horrible fate. He lived and she was pretty sure he wouldn’t choose the future road where he turned into…no, best not think of that.

Babette pushed off a bookcase and stalked closer. “I don’t see why I have to play nice. There are people missing. Dragons. Which means he needs to tell us now what he’s done with the missing girls.” Babette squinted at Luc.

He glared right back. “Again, I am going to ask, what missing girls? It is just Alfred and me in residence at the moment. I don’t believe the cleaning crew is due until tomorrow.”

“Are you saying they’re dead?”

“Who’s dead?” he barked. “You are speaking in riddles.”

Elspeth could see his temper rising.

“He didn’t do it.” Elspeth rose to his defense. Her visions didn’t tell whodunit, but they did give her a fair certainty that it wasn’t him. Most of the time.

“Didn’t do what?” he said with utter exasperation.

“Stop it with the innocent act.” Babette shook a finger at him. “We know about the missing women. And given you kidnapped Elsie, you’re the prime suspect.”

He glanced at them, one after the other. “Are all your kind so mentally challenged? I have no idea of what you speak. Or whom. I’ve kidnapped no women.”

“But you like locking them up,” Babette accused, making Elspeth almost frown.

When she’d told her bestie about him pretending to abduct her, she’d emphasized the romantic aspects.

“Yes, I did initially imprison some of the staff upon my arrival. However, at Alfred’s insistence, I released them.”

“And buried their bodies so they wouldn’t talk!” Babette accused.

“Again, you’re talking in riddles, but if you’re implying I am to blame, you’re mistaken,” Luc said.

“Where are these people you supposedly released?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t the slightest inkling. Alfred helped me disperse them.”

“Alive?”

“I would assume. I didn’t oversee him personally, but you’ve met Alfred. Very capable for a human.”

“Are you implying Alfred killed them?”

A snort emerged from Luc. “I highly doubt he could dispose of that many able-bodied specimens on his own.”

“Alfred is tougher than he appears,” Elspeth remarked.

“Since you can’t vouch for the staff’s continued health, who can?” Babette wasn’t letting go.

“I can.” Alfred entered the room, pushing a trolley with a steaming pot and cups, along with a plate of cookies. “Tea?”

“You saw these people leave alive, not as the walking dead or in body bags?” Babette asked, snaring a cookie before sitting and accepting a cup of tea.

“The master might lack some of the modern niceties. However, he is amenable to reason. When he realized there was no benefit in keeping them locked in the stalls, he told me to set them free. With severance.”

“How kind.” Elspeth beamed. However, Luc grimaced and rubbed his chest.

Heartburn? Poor thing.

Babette continued to scowl.

“Be careful about all that frowning. You wouldn’t want the wrinkles to stay,” Elspeth reminded her.

“I’m going to have skin like a baby’s ass well into old age. You, on the other hand, probably won’t live to know.” Babette shook a fist.

“You’re probably right,” Elspeth agreed.

“Are you done with your questions?” Luc asked.

“Not quite.” Babette eyed Alfred. “How do we know you’re not lying for your boss?”

The butler stood straight with a hint of a smirk around his thin lips. “Would you like the names and addresses of the previous staff? I can easily acquire a list.”

“That sounds great.” Elspeth beamed. “See how well things can go when we work together.”

“Don’t get too excited yet. Just because he didn’t kill anyone that could be traced back here doesn’t mean he’s not responsible for the others.” Babette glared, and Alfred, with a harrumph, left the room.

“Are we still discussing this?” Luc flopped into a chair.

“Yes, we are, because humans are missing in this area. And according to Elsie over there, who apparently has voodoo dreams, dragons have upped and disappeared, too.”

“Dreams?” Luc caught the word and glanced at Elspeth. “You mentioned that before. Do you have the true sight? The ability to see the future?”

“Only when I forget to take my pink pill.”

“I never met any seers during my life, but I was taught about those who have visions of the future. It was a rare and dangerous gift that, for my people, resulted in death.”

“Nice job not freaking her out, twat waffle.” Babette rolled her eyes.

“You misunderstand. It is not the sight that killed them. In my world, the suzerain consumed anyone with the gift of foresight first.”

“Hold on, shouldn’t they have seen it coming?” asked Babette.

Elspeth shook her head. “We don’t always see what we want. Our own death isn’t always clear.”

“Have you seen me?” he asked.

At his query, she almost blurted out her secret. I’ve seen you for a long time now. Just hadn’t known it was him. Had seen them together in a few possibilities.

She’d also seen death.