“I don’t want to be a queen in anyone’s kingdom,” she started, shaking her head. “God, that sounds so ridiculous—like I’ve suddenly been sucked into The Lord of the Rings or something.”

  “You haven’t,” I started but Taliyah speared me with another look that told me to shut the hell up so I did.

  “I’m not some ‘chosen one’.” Her voice was icy, cutting through the silence of my living room. “I’m the Chief of Police, and that’s how I want things to remain. I’m not changing. Not for anything, or anyone.”

  Bea sent me a helpless look, like she wanted me to say something, but I did my best to convey a shrug with my eyebrows because there was no way in hell I was going to say anything and attract that furious glare my way again. Taliyah was scary when she thought she was only human. No way was I willing to tick her off with the growing power of a Faerie Queen behind her.

  Bea bit her lip, twisting her fingers together. “But you have to,” she told Taliyah apologetically. When Taliyah just glared at her and didn’t make any signs of creating another snowstorm in my living room, she pressed on. “That is to say, you’re a royal, Taliyah. And… well, your court needs you. They’ve been waiting for you, all this time, and if you don’t take the throne, then someone like Janara will. But not before a civil war that will rip the courts apart.”

  Taliyah frowned, glancing between me and Bea. “Janara? Who’s Janara?”

  “Bad Faerie,” I cut in before Bea could launch into the extremely complicated family lines and political factions of the various Fae courts. “Really bad Faerie,” I continued. “Like, bloody coup, child stealing, kind of bad.”

  “And where is this Janara now?” Taliyah asked.

  “Oh, well, she’s trapped in a Faerie ring for now,” I answered. “Thanks to Poppy and Wanda’s magic.”

  “A what?” Taliyah started, shaking her head and then breathing in deeply as she sighed just as deeply.

  From what I’d been told through the Haven Hollow gossip circuit, which was frankly just about a supernatural entity all on its own, Janara had blown into town thinking she’d find Olwen here, and had started stealing local supernatural children to try and force the town to give the nascent Faerie Queen over to her.

  Unfortunately for Janara, relying on prophecies for her news meant that she was a good year too early, and Taliyah hadn’t even shown up in Haven Hollow yet. That, combined with the fact that supernaturals of all species tended to be pretty viciously protective of their offspring, and she’d gotten herself locked up in a circle of magical mushrooms for who knew how long.

  “But the circle won’t hold Janara and her lackeys forever,” Bea hurried to add. “That’s something we’re all going to have to deal with sooner or later. And if Janara escapes, it won’t be just you she’ll come for.”

  “Though she will probably come for you first,” I added, just wanting to make sure Taliyah understood she was personally involved in this mess, no matter whether she was the chief of police or not.

  “Come for me?” Taliyah questioned me. “What does that mean exactly?”

  Bea’s face was so grim, she almost looked like a stranger. “For Janara to take over the throne of Winter, she’ll have to kill you. And then she will kill your children, your heirs.”

  “My sons are human,” Taliyah snapped furiously, her hands curling into fists at her side. “Barring some horrible twist of fate or cosmic joke, that is. I adopted them after I left Jonathon, my asshole of an ex-husband, before I came to Haven Hollow.”

  Little white teeth flashed as Bea worried her lower lip. She glanced at me, her expression distressed, before turning back to Taliyah. “I’m not sure that would matter to Janara. I’m sure in her mind, any child of yours, whether adopted or blood, is a threat and she… well, I’m sure she doesn’t like threats.”

  Taliyah just shook her head and kept shaking it as she walked briskly towards my door. “No one is going to touch a hair on my sons’ heads,” she announced. “And now I have to go.” Then she seemed to remember she hadn’t driven here. “So, either one of you gives me a ride back to the station or I just walk there.”

  Guilt sat on my shoulders like a lead brick. I hadn’t meant for all this to happen. I’d just wanted to give Taliyah a head’s up, not to huff and puff and blow her whole life down. “Taliyah, I’m so sorry. I had no idea that telling you the truth would lead, well, to this. I didn’t mean any harm, I just wanted you to be aware of what was coming.”

  She didn’t answer me, just walked to the front door faster.

  Bea shot me a panicked look, and I lifted my hands helplessly. What did she want me to do? Tackle the next Queen of Winter? Even with my succubus strength, Taliyah looked like she could hit back hard.

  “Um, Taliyah?” I took a half step after her as she wrenched the door open. “You don’t have your coat or scarf.”

  I trailed off as she slammed the door behind her and when I opened it again, I watched her as she hurried down the block. I glanced at the rack where her stuff was hung up, and back at Bea who was wringing her hands together nervously.

  “Taliyah!” I called out. “Let me drive you back!”

  “I think she needs some alone time, Feef,” Bea said. “And the precinct isn’t very far from here.” That was true—it was maybe a mile and a half at most. “Give her some time to herself,” Bea finished.

  As I watched Taliyah’s form disappear around a bend in the road, something told me that the cold night air wouldn’t really be a problem for Taliyah. And with her powers coming back online, I mostly felt sorry for anyone or anything that tried to give her a hard time.

  Chapter Eleven

  The Next Day

  The phone rang and rang, and I finally hung up when I reached voicemail for the fourth time that morning.

  Either something was wrong, or Taliyah was screening my calls. I’d tried to reach her at the police station earlier, but the deputy who’d answered had told me that ‘Chief Morgan’ had called in sick that morning, and wouldn’t be in.

  I’d also tried calling Marius and Mihaela to check in and see if there was anything I could do for them, but they weren’t answering their phones either. It took me a second or so to realize I’d called them in daytime so of course they weren’t answering—they were dead to the world.

  I wouldn’t have bothered them at all, but trying to honor a supernatural’s death could be frankly, a real hassle, and the vampire family didn’t know many people in Haven Hollow yet, so I’d figured they would need someone who could handle some of the preparations.

  Any way I looked at it, I’d screwed up. I’d screwed up by being completely unprofessional in my clients’ home which, inadvertently, led me to their murdered daughter and then I’d screwed up by telling Taliyah the truth—way too soon.

  I’d screwed up so badly, and in so many different ways all in one night that I honestly didn’t know what to do about any of it. At that point, lying there face down on my kitchen table was the top contender for the rest of the day. Too bad it wouldn’t actually do anything to fix any of the problems I’d started. That was assuming that any of the problems were, in fact, fixable, and that wasn’t an option that looked super promising. It would probably give me a headache, too.

  Just then my phone rang and glancing down, I realized it was Roy.

  “Hi,” I answered.

  “Hi, how’d everything go last night?” he asked. After Taliyah had left, he’d texted me to make sure everything was okay and I’d told him we could just chat today.

  “Um… it’s a long story and I’d really rather not get into it right now, if that’s okay?” Mostly I didn’t want to admit to him that I’d told Taliyah the truth about her Fae heritage because I was more than sure he wouldn’t like it and I just couldn’t deal with hearing it from Roy. Not after I’d heard it from Bea as many times as I had.

  “Sure. So… I’d love to see you tonight. You free?”

  “I’d love to see you too but I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. “Can I text you later?”

  “Sure,” he answered and then we said our goodbyes and hung up.

  And my mind returned to Taliyah. I was worried about her. Was she okay? Was she actually sick, or just using that as an excuse to take time to process things? Bea had said that in telling Taliyah the truth early, I’d actually broken the spell early. And what if breaking the spell had backlashed horribly, and Taliyah wasn’t answering her phone because she was lying unconscious on her bathroom floor, or something? Or maybe breaking the spell early had even worse ramifications? What if she’d lost her mind or turned into some awful Fae beast? Maybe she wasn’t even sentient anymore—just a raving snow creature?

  Thoughts of raving snow creatures were what finally pushed me into action. I grabbed my coat and my keys and hurried out the door.

  As things went in Haven Hollow, Taliyah’s house wasn’t that far from mine, so I decided not to take my car and just walked over. The air was cool, but not terribly cold, thanks to the sun blazing through the few white and wispy clouds in the sky. Normally, I loved these bright summer days (because they were a rarity in Haven Hollow), but at this point, the sunshine just made me feel worse.

  The air on Taliyah’s block was noticeably cooler than the rest of town. There were even traceries of frost on some of the windows. The grass of her lawn was silver, looking like millions of tiny knives sticking up and out of the dirt. I hoped that wasn’t a hint of how my welcome would go.

  My breath plumed in front of my face as I stepped up onto Taliyah’s porch. The temperature in the front of her house was arctic, and I shivered in spite of myself. Her car wasn’t in the driveway, but I figured it could also be in the garage. But I didn’t want to check, even though there were small windows in a row at the top of her garage door.

  I squared my shoulders and knocked on the front door.

  No response.

  “Taliyah?” I waited, listening for any hint of movement inside. “It’s Fifi. I just wanted to check in on you.”

  Still nothing.

  I knocked once more, and then let my shoulders slump as I stepped down off her porch and figured if she was home, she clearly didn’t want to see or talk to me. So much for that plan.

  Hallowed Homes was closed on Sundays, but if I just sat around by myself, thinking about all the varied and increasingly ridiculous ways I made a mess out of everything, I’d go crazy. I needed to do something, anything. I needed to help fix the things I’d ruined, and I didn’t have the slightest idea of how I might actually go about doing any of that.

  So, I walked down the walkway from Taliyah’s house and rather than turning back towards my own house, I just kept walking. The fresh air did absolutely nothing to clear my head, or help me make sense of anything, sadly. And after a while, I realized I’d circled Haven Hollow High School three times. It was with that realization that I finally decided to go to Bea’s house, to see if maybe she’d heard from Taliyah at all. My BFF, aka best Faerie friend, lived almost clear across town, but I really didn’t have anything better to do, so I hoofed it over.

  At least when I knocked on her door, painted a cheerful yellow, Bea called out for me to come on in.

  The inside of Bea’s house was full of plants and flowers, anywhere one of the huge windows let in enough sunlight, there was another blossom blooming. The main floor was very open concept, no Spring Fae could tolerate being shut in by walls, so it was easy to spot Bea as she flitted about in her kitchen, packing sandwiches and some full Tupperware containers into a little covered basket.

  It was warm inside, and I had to open up my coat a little so I wouldn’t overheat. What a stark difference to the temperature I’d experienced while standing in front of Taliyah’s house. I glanced out a window at the bright green leaves covering all the trees, and shivered at the memory of the nipping wind outside Taliyah’s house.

  “A picnic?” I asked Bea as I spied the picnic basket on her kitchen table.

  Bea offered me a little smile as she closed up the top of the basket. “It’s for Taliyah. I’m taking lunch over to her.”

  My heart leapt, and I took an involuntary step forward. “You spoke to Taliyah? How is she? Is she okay?”

  “She’s…” Bea tapped her finger against the side of the basket, lips pursed like she was carefully choosing a word. “Coping? This whole Faerie thing is and will continue to be very confusing for her. I mean, sure, she’s got some memories built in her subconscious that will continue to crop up.”

  “She has built-in memories she, what, forgot?”

  Bea nodded. “And by this evening, the spell keeping all those memories back will have completely unravelled. She’ll know her Faerie name, general information about Faeries, and probably a lot of specific information about her own court.”

  Bea’s wings flicked with her thoughts, and she grabbed a few sachets of calming tea and tucked those into the basket, too. Then she worried her lower lip, green eyes wide with concern. “The problem will be learning to control Winter’s magic. That won’t just come naturally, so she’s going to need to find a tutor for that. She called me about a half an hour ago saying that she’d woken up hip-deep in snow inside her house.”

  “Yikes!” I said and instantly felt guilty again. This was completely and totally and fully my fault.

  “Yeah.” Bea nodded, looking troubled. “She had to send the boys to the neighbors while she tried to figure out how to deal with it.”

  “Let me go with you,” I begged.

  “I don’t know if that’s such a—”

  “Please, Bea. There’s got to be something I can do to help.”

  Bea took my hands in hers and gave them a little squeeze. “I’m sorry, Fifi. But I think you coming along would only make things worse.”

  Her words landed like an unexpected punch in the stomach, knocking the wind right out of me. Doubly so because I knew I deserved it.

  “I think it’s best if Taliyah is around creatures of her own kind,” Bea continued. “Others who understand her.”

  “Right,” I said with a quick nod because what Bea was saying did make sense.

  “Just, let Faeries handle the Faerie stuff, okay?” She continued as she turned to grab the basket off the table. It looked too big for her to lift. Heck, she could have probably been able to ride in it. But Bea’s slender arms were a lot stronger than they looked, and she carried it easily on the crook of her elbow.

  “What am I going to do with myself all day?” I asked, shaking my head and trying not to feel sorry for myself but that was tough.

  “You should go visit some friends, keep your mind off things. Maybe see what Wanda and Poppy are doing today.”

  “Sure,” I mumbled as I followed her to the door.

  I could have called Roy but I didn’t want to—mainly because I didn’t want to explain how I’d put my foot in it this time. Yes, eventually I’d have to tell him that I’d royally screwed up Taliyah’s life (and maybe this would somehow turn into a council issue?) but not now.

  Bea snagged a cardigan that was hanging on a peg by the door to cover her wings, then locked up, and I was quick behind her as she headed out of her door. She turned and offered me a little wave of goodbye, not even taking notice of the fact that my car wasn’t parked anywhere in sight. I didn’t say anything, but just watched her go, and then sank down onto her porch with my head on my arms and my arms on my knees.

  Bea was right. I’d stuck my nose into Faerie business once already, and look where that had gotten me. I’d hurt Taliyah, possibly destroyed her life, and heaped yet another problem onto her shoulders when she was already floundering with the load she currently had. Maybe the thing to do was bring her a box of pastries later, with a little note?

  Yeah, let’s see how that can blow up in my face.

  Maybe I could set off a Faerie civil war, or something.

  What was wrong with me? It seemed like everything I touched lately was just going straight to hell. I’d tried to help a friend, and brought down a ton of extra trouble on top of her head.

  Maybe it was best if I just went home. But every time I walked through my kitchen, I kept hearing the scream Taliyah made as she collapsed, and I felt like useless garbage all over again.

  Bea might have been on to something though, when she’d mentioned Wanda and Poppy…

  I imagined if I reached out to Poppy and Wanda, they’d indulge me in an emergency session for the Black Cat Cocktail Club. But getting drunk wouldn’t fix anything, it would just delay thinking about it for a while. Besides, what if Darla showed up?

  Normally, I liked Darla. I didn’t always understand what she was saying, since a lot of her slang came from her youth in the nineteen-twenties, but she was always fun. The trouble was, Darla was currently acting as a medium host for the previous Chief Morgan, Taliyah’s brother, Cain, and that meant Darla would just be another reminder of my latest absolute screw up.

  My porch pity party stretched on. Judging by the way the sun had moved, I’d been sitting here waffling for almost an hour. Enough was enough. I had to do something. If I couldn’t help Taliyah, and she was out dealing with her Faerie royalty problems, then that meant no one was looking into Viviana’s death.

  And there was still a murderer to be found. If Taliyah was indisposed at the moment, then I’d just have to solve the crime myself. Yes, I was sure Taliyah’s seconds in command were already on the case, but I didn’t have a lot of faith in them since they were mundanes and had no idea about the supernatural side of Haven Hollow. In general, Taliyah was the only one who made any headway on any of the strange cases in the Hollow. And with her out of the picture, that only left me—well, in my mind anyway.

  Marius, Mihaela, and Stefan, they deserved justice. They deserved to feel safe in their home again. And besides, if someone had killed one of them, there was still a chance that said person wouldn’t stop there. Maybe that someone had it out for the whole family? Or maybe vampires in general? Or, perhaps, even supernaturals as a whole? For all I knew, everyone in the Hollow might be in danger.