Shadows of the Sky

3. Reine-2

By this point, I’d figured out I was somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains, and the longer I stayed, the more precise my sense of location became. Consequently, I’d landed somewhere in the north Georgia mountains.

How did I feel about being back in Georgia? Decidedly mixed. Prior to being given the mission to uncover the traitor at the Center for Paranormal Disease Control, my life had been an easy combination of managing my little crystal shop from afar, communing with the animals around my small house in the woods, and tweaking the Lycanthrope Council and Wizard Tribunal. Oh, and longing to return to Faerie. Now that I’d been back to Faerie, had been crowned its queen, and been snatched away with Lawrence—all in the span of a month or so—I had to figure out what to do next. I needed to return…but I also needed to sort out loose ends, including Lawrence and his goddaughter Kestrel.

I followed Barton back into the elevator and up to the third floor, where we met Agnes again, along with her two children and an entourage. Seriously, she had two nurses, a medical aide, and another physician trotting to keep up with her as she strode toward us. She’d be magnificent in her gargoyle form.

“…the moment he wakes up, improves, gets worse, or—oh, Doctor Lucia, there you are!”

“Regent Gordon.” He inclined his head. I made a mental note to ask him if he knew why she’d kept her surname after her second marriage, and then another note on top of it that I didn’t need to be any more involved with Barton Lucia than necessary.

“I was just telling your crew here that I want hourly updates on my son. And that she”—she narrowed her eyes at me—“isn’t to be allowed anywhere near him since it’s obvious that his involvement with the Fae have landed him in this predicament.”

My head spun with how out they were about paranormal things here, as opposed to, oh, everywhere else. What would they think about it at the PBI—Paranormal Bureau of Investigations? I’d definitely have to get word to them.

No, it wasn’t my problem. I needed to get Lawrence sorted, figure out where we stood and what kind of future, if any, we could have, and then get back to Faerie before the Great Rising.

Barton spoke deferentially, but firmly. “Actually, Doctor River has just the expertise we need in Doctor Gordon’s case, so I’d like to extend temporary privileges to her and make her part of the treatment team.”

Props to him for mansplaining and asking a favor in the same breath, and extra props to Agnes for seeming to listen.

With a sigh, she said, “Doctor River, a word?”

We walked into an empty room, and the view of the forest-covered mountains, their leaves deepening from spring to summer green, lifted my heart. I turned to face the dragon, er, gargoyle.

“Yes, Regent?” To be fair, unlike my mother, she hadn’t engaged in any plots to kill me yet. But then, we’d only just met.

Her expression softened, and she touched my hair. I clenched my hands so I wouldn’t bat hers away. I invoked a protective spell so she couldn’t steal any of the individual strands.

“You’re a pretty thing, aren’t you?”

Bitchy me wanted to say, “Your son seems to think so.” Instead, I remained quiet.

“And you’re the first Fae we’ve had in the Aerie in, well, a while. I’d like to give you the chance to help us out, and in doing so, repay the debt that the Fae who murdered my husband incurred with his foul deed.”

Her words, albeit old-fashioned, rang with power. I didn’t tell her that said murderous Fae was my brother, and that it had been a case of mistaken identity. Since I was related, the request stuck to me.

Yes, there I was, cleaning up Rhys’ mess yet again. Still, I wouldn’t agree without knowing exactly what she wanted. I’d relearned that the hard way with my last request from a paranormal.

“What do you want me to do?”

“We haven’t had a child born in the Aerie to gargoyle parents in almost two decades. Our community is dying without children, and I want to know why.”

Well, that wasn’t exactly a simple task. At least I knew that up front. “Have you looked into environmental toxins? Water contamination?” Regent bitchiness?

“We’ve eliminated all the obvious culprits. I’ve also had a witch come in and sweep for magic.”

“That would have to be one powerful spell, or group of them, to suppress the natural reproductive process, especially of an endangered group of paranormals.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What would you know of our status?”

Oooh, touchy subject. I shrugged. “Only that your son was the first I’d met…” Since the one who maimed Rhys. But I hadn’t met that one, only heard about him.

She didn’t seem to catch the incompletion. “There are pockets of us, only a few of them, across the world. We’re the only one with this problem. I want you to find out why. If you do, I will count the debt between my kind and yours to be satisfied.”

Again, I felt the power behind her words, but also the imbalance. In truth, no one knew the roots of the ancient rift between Fae and gargoyle, who had once been our allies and protectors. The records as to why the atmosphere of Faerie had become poisonous to them and exactly when that happened were lost. I’d recently found out that Fae historians kept the organizational scheme of the records in their heads—not even a card catalog—so it wasn’t surprising. Solving this task might cancel our family debt, at least most of it, but there was still the long-ago rift to address. Could this get me one step closer? Having the gargoyles as allies again would help in the conflict that approached.

Sir Raleigh appeared and twined around my legs. I picked him up and took comfort in his solid, purring warmth.

“What is that cat doing in here?”

“He’s my guardian. He keeps me from making stupid mistakes sometimes. What do you think, Sir Raleigh?” I didn’t expect him to answer, but he did.

“There is more here than I can see right now. Be careful in your agreements.”

“By the way, if you don’t agree, I will ban you from seeing my son ever again.”

All righty, then. I doubted she could keep me away from Lawrence forever, but my curiosity had been piqued.

I decided to go for a patented vague Fae answer. “I will do the best I can in the time I have.”

She gave me a look both measured and sad. “That’s reasonable. Come on, let’s see Lawrence.”