All right, I wasn’t expecting that.
He opened the file, and I could see a glossy colored photograph of a young man—a young fae. “As you know, many members of the Summer Court do not venture outside these walls. It’s not something that we prohibit, but many find everything they need provided for them here.”
I nodded absently. The fact that most of the Summer fae remained within the hidden, sprawling compound worked perfectly for us. It often meant that the fae we encountered on the streets weren’t the friendly neighborhood sort.
“Some of the younglings want to experience the… human world and all it has to offer. It has become a sort of rite of passage in a way.” Faye propped a slim hip against the desk. “They always keep their loved ones in the loop and they’re never gone too long.”
“Four in the last month have not come back,” Tanner said grimly. “Their parents and friends have not heard from them and the last we’ve seen them is when they left.”
I took several moments to process this. “When you say younglings, are we talking about children size, teenagers or early twenties?”
“Children size?” murmured Faye, blinking rapidly.
“All four are in their late teens, early twenties,” Tanner clarified. “These are their photographs and identification.”
Watching Tanner display four photographs along his desk sort of stunned me. I started searching for the right thing to say and ended up giving up as my gaze glanced off what were similar to driver’s license photos. “You’re sure they’re missing?”
“Unless they’re here and currently invisible, yes,” Faye replied dryly.
“That’s not what I meant.” I scooted forward, getting a better look at the four young fae. All male. Each one named underneath his smiling photo. They were young, probably early twenties, and handsome. I was willing to wager a bet they were even hotter with the glamour and probably were having the time of their lives in the Quarter. “This is New Orleans. There is a lot of stuff they can get into. Crazy stuff.”
“We understand that. Many of our younglings do… have an enjoyable time, but they are always in contact with their loved ones,” Tanner stated.
I lifted a brow. “A lot of younger people get caught up in the party scene here. They meet new people—” And hopefully don’t feed on them. “—and they lose track of time. The city swallows people whole, and I don’t mean that in a bad way—” I sort of do. “—It often spits them back out, exhausted and ready to make better life choices, like, for example, keeping your parents up to date on your whereabouts.”
“Do human children not keep their parents informed of their whereabouts, for days if not weeks?” Tanner asked.
I pressed my lips together to stop myself from laughing, because I could tell that was a genuine question. “Some do, but not nearly enough.”
“Human offspring may have a lack of respect and courtesy toward their elders, but our younglings do not.” Hardness seeped into Tanner’s tone. “Our offspring are not raised that way.”
“Pretty sure eons of human parents have said those same exact words.”
Faye cocked her head. “Be that as it may, that is not the case with our younglings.”
Glancing between the two, I shook my head as I chose my words wisely. They thought… they thought the Order was going to be concerned about missing fae, even fae from the Summer Court? As terrible as it sounded, I knew that the Order could freaking care less. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what this has to do with the Order.”
Tanner didn’t respond immediately. “There is a burgeoning concern that they were… mistakenly targeted by the Order.”
Tension crept into my muscles. “Are you suggesting that these young fae are not missing, but were killed by the Order?”
“As I said, it is a burgeoning concern and hopefully, a misguided one,” Tanner said slowly. “But there have been incidents in the past two years where innocents were slaughtered.”
He was right.
Before the war with the Queen and the reveal of the Summer fae, the Order had been ‘kill first and most likely never ask questions’. There had been no such thing as good fae. Things were different now. Complicated. “There are new protocols in place, Tanner. The Order does not blindly dispense justice. Any fae targeted by the Order is monitored now and based on whatever evidence gathered—”
“You and I both know that most Order members operate on the basis that the Summer fae do not interact often, if ever, with the human populace.” Faye’s pale blue eyes glinted. “They assume that every fae they see on the street is the enemy.”
I stiffened. “That is not the case.”
“Really?” Faye challenged. “Solomon posed no harm to humans and he was slaughtered.”
Solomon was a fae who’d been killed a year ago, having been wrongly identified by one of the newer Order members.
“That was a mistake, a terrible mistake, and I’m sorry that it happened.” And I was. I wasn’t remotely okay with any innocent being killed, fae or human. “But that doesn’t mean that is the case with these guys.”
“There hasn’t been just one mistake,” Faye pointed out.
“I know that.” There’d been… several mistakes. “And I wish there was something I could say or do to change that, but—”
“But the Order is trying to adapt. We understand that and we also understand that this is a learning period for all of us,” Tanner said, ever the diplomat. “We know that many Order members have died with the new protocols in place.”
Many had.
Six times more than any Summer fae who had been injured by the Order.
Taking the time out to make sure you were killing the right fae proved to be a wee bit dangerous. We’d lost the upper hand and the element of surprise. By the time we’d figure out if a fae wasn’t on Team Human, the fae realized who we were.
The Order had been nearly decimated two years ago, and we hadn’t been able to rebuild our numbers.
Which was why Miles was always busy with new recruits.
“Is it possible that these fae chose to go off the grid?” I asked, toying with the neck of my sweater. “Perhaps they don’t want to live here. There’s a big world out there, and some of them that live here have to be interested in seeing it. Especially since they watch our TV shows and movies, read our books and magazines. As nice as this place is, maybe they wanted to experience the world beyond these walls, this city?”
Tanner stared at me like he hadn’t considered that.
Silence crept into the room. Faye shattered it as she reached over, picking up a photo of a dark-haired fae. “This is my younger cousin. His chosen name is Benji. He’s been missing for a week, and I can assure you that he would not do that to his mother. Not after his father died two years ago, fighting the Queen.”
My stomach twisted as I focused on his picture.
“This is his friend Elliot, who went missing about two weeks ago. Benji had told his mother he was going to look for Elliot,” Faye continued. “He disappeared since and we haven’t heard from either Elliot or Benji.”
“I’m… I’m sorry,” I whispered, lifting my gaze to hers. “Truly, I am.”
“Then help us,” Faye said quietly. “You will help us find my cousin and these young fae if you feel sorry.”
“All we want is to know if the Order has any idea what happened to them and if they could possibly keep an eye out for these younglings.” Tanner spoke up as Faye looked away, her throat working. “Kalen has been out there, searching for them with no luck.”
I jolted at the mention of the fae who’d worked closely with Ivy and Ren. I’d assumed he was with them and Prince Fabian.
“I can help,” I said after a moment. “Can I have those photographs?”
Tanner nodded.
“I can check with the members to see if any of them look familiar.” I wasn’t sure if any of the Order members would fess up if they had anything to do with these fae. They were supposed to, but I was learning in the last two years there was very little consequence for these types of situations. “I can also make sure they keep an eye out for them.”
Faye handed over the photo of her cousin to Tanner, and he closed the file. Rising from the desk, he walked it over to me. “We appreciate anything the Order can do.”
Nodding, I took the file and stood, hoping that none of the Order members recognized these young men. If they did, it probably meant they’d met a tragic, unfair ending.
The meeting was officially over. Faye and Tanner were quiet as they led me out of the office and down an empty wide hall. Upon entering the building, I’d been escorted through the front and not the amazing courtyard, and it looked like they were leading me to the front once more.
As we neared the cafeteria area, I began to see more fae. Some lingered outside the wide archway, others walked to and fro, in small groups or alone. Most didn’t pay any attention to me. Others looked on in curiosity while some stared with outright distrust as we made our way to the grand, brightly lit lobby that truly reminded me of an upscale hotel.
“Please contact me directly, whether or not you have any information,” Faye said as we passed several occupied couches and chairs.
“I will.” I reached into the pocket of my purse, searching for my phone. From here, I was going to have to Uber it back to headquarters over on St. Phillip Street. I glanced over at Faye, and could see the worry etched into her face. The concern tugged at my heart. Lord knew I had this same kind of wretched experience of living through the disappearance of someone you loved and not knowing what happened to them. The desperation was the worst, the need to do everything and anything to find them, but not knowing if what you were doing was right or would even help.
Faye was experiencing all of that.
Stopping, I reached over and placed a hand on her arm. The contact surprised her as she swung her head toward me. “I’m sure your cousin is fine.”
Faye held my gaze. “I hope so. After losing his father….”
A slight frown pulled at my brow as Faye trailed off. She tilted her head slightly as a hush descended over the lobby and then she turned back to where we came from. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Tanner turn back as well.
“You should leave now, Brighton,” she whispered.
An acute shiver danced over my shoulders and the tiny hairs along the nape of my neck rose as I stared down at her dark, bowed head. Don’t turn around. Keep walking. That’s what I kept telling myself. I was done here, and Faye was right, I should leave now.
But I turned around, because some primal instinct inside me already knew who had arrived. And some insane, disturbed part of me just had to see him.
The Prince had entered his lobby, dressed very much like he had been Saturday night. Dark pants. Dark thermal. He wasn’t looking at Tanner or Faye or any of the other fae.
Pale, ancient eyes fixed on mine. He didn’t recognize you. That’s what I kept telling myself as a wave of goosebumps spread along my flesh.
I took a step back. Wrong move. Oh God, total wrong move.
The Prince’s eyes narrowed.
Tanner murmured something in his native language, and the Prince spoke. I didn’t understand a single word he said, but his voice was deep and booming and yet quiet somehow.
The fae turned to stare at me, because the Prince… the Prince hadn’t taken his eyes off me.
My heart hammered in my chest as I opened my mouth to say what, I had no idea, because the words turned to ash on the tip of my tongue as the Prince strolled across the lobby, heading straight for me.