Then again, he was clearly in full-on freakout mode, so he might not have been thinking as rationally as he did under normal circumstances. It probably wouldn’t hurt to cut him some slack.

  I shut the door and followed him into my living room, where he’d started pacing in front of my coffee table.

  “I don’t know what to do.” He flailed a hand. “I’ve got two depositions this week. And I’ve got client meetings, and I mean, I can’t just walk into the firm or a fucking courtroom like…” He gestured sharply at the pair, nearly smacking the demon in the process.

  “Okay, okay.” I put up my hands. “Slow down for a second.” I took a seat on the armrest of the couch. “How, um… How exactly did this happen?”

  He stopped pacing and rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the carpet.

  From over his right shoulder, the angel spoke up, fluttering his wings and smiling brightly as he said, “Oh, I do believe I can explain!”

  Matt and the demon said in unison, “No.”

  The angel glared at both of them, folded his arms, and muttered something I didn’t catch. If Matt hadn’t been so upset, the scene would’ve been comical. But it was hard to laugh when my friend was hanging by a fraying thread.

  Matt started pacing again, rubbing a hand over his scruffy and somewhat pale face. “I should never have let that client take me out to dinner.”

  “Client?”

  But then some pieces clicked. Matt represented a lot of magic users in his practice, especially fae. And this? I didn’t know the how or the why, but it had to be fae. I could feel it in my bones. Only a trickster could get past Matt’s carefully honed defenses, and only a fae would’ve come up with… that.

  I worked in the Fae District myself, so I heard and saw a lot of weird shit. People made careless requests of the fae, not thinking about every imaginable way their words could be interpreted. That was how they ended up getting their identities stolen—like seriously, how many times do people need to be told to never give their name to a fae? I mean, it kept me in business, since my entire career revolved around helping people start new lives with new identities after they stupidly—and legally—gave their name to a fae. I paid my bills via people’s carelessness with tricksters.

  And so did Matt, which was why I was so surprised he’d fallen for whatever the hell his client had done. He had to have known that wouldn’t end well. It never did. Though an actual angel and devil on someone’s shoulders? That was… new.

  “Okay.” I folded my hands in my lap. “One thing at a time. Did you… Did you actually accept food from a fae?”

  “No, no.” He waved that away. “I might be stupid enough to”—he gestured at his winged companions—“but it was at a restaurant, and I told her I wasn’t coming unless we split the check.”

  I nodded as he spoke. “So, what happened?”

  Matt made a miserable sound and sank onto the couch. Pressing his elbows into his knees, he covered his face with both hands. “I had way too much to drink. And then she asked how in the world I was single.”

  I grimaced. So did the angel. The demon might’ve too, but I couldn’t see him as well from where I was sitting. Honestly, I’d wondered that a number of times, too. Not enough to discuss it in the company of a fae, though I wouldn’t lie—in a moment or two of weakness, I had been tempted to ask a fae to help me turn his head and win his heart. But I didn’t, because love magic was just manipulative awfulness that I wanted no part of. I didn’t want Matt unless it was mutual. And after five years of close friendship… Well. It wasn’t happening without magic or divine intervention, so it wasn’t happening at all.

  Shame. He was the sweetest and smartest man I’d ever met. When he’d had boyfriends, I’d coveted those soft smiles and gentle touches. Even now I was tempted to make a deal with the fae—or with the Devil himself—just to be on the receiving end of one of those longing, heartfelt looks he gave a man he loved.

  Matt wasn’t hard on the eyes, either. He had a few years on me—forty-three to my thirty-five—and he was just… God, he was hot. Right now, he was just wearing jeans and an old T-shirt, and he rocked that look the same way he did those bespoke suits he wore to work. Time, genes, and law school had started turning his near-black hair silver. Sharp blue eyes melted my brain whenever he met my gaze and melted my heart whenever he was smiling. One laugh from him could scramble my thoughts for days.

  And seeing him like this… Fuck, it broke my heart. Even if he had stupidly brought it on himself.

  I wanted to grab him by the broad, perfect shoulders and shake him as I said, “It’s the fae, Matt! The fucking fae! What did you think would happen?”

  But I didn’t. Because he was a wreck right now, and he was coming to me for help out of a mess he was already in. Kicking him while he was down wouldn’t help anyone.

  “So, you got drunk with your fae client,” I said gently. “And she asked about you being single.” I inclined my head. “Then what?”

  Matt lowered his hands and sat back, staring miserably at the opposite wall as the angel and demon fluttered on either side of his head. “I just… I don’t know. I guess I got drunk enough to start yammering on about it, and how I was so fucking done being single, and then—” He stopped, expression suddenly sharpening, and he tensed as if he were having some kind of revelation.

  I moved from the armrest to the cushion, though I left some space between us. “What?”

  Matt swallowed. As he closed his eyes and swore, some color rose in his otherwise pale cheeks. He swallowed hard before turning to me, his expression full of embarrassment. “I asked her if that matchmaking magic really works.”

  “Oh, no,” I breathed.

  “Yeah.” He sighed with defeat and despair. “Oh, fuck me.”

  “He could!” The angel pointed at me. “Then the spell would be broken and—”

  “Oh my God,” Matt groaned, turning even redder. “No.”

  My teeth snapped shut, and I was pretty sure I was blushing too; that heat was pretty unmistakable. Every time someone joked about the two of us getting together—and our friends were relentless about it—I died a little inside because I wished we could, and because of Matt’s predictable response.

  “He’s a friend,” he growled at the angel. “I’m not going to sleep with him just to get rid of the two of you.”

  I mean… at least he wasn’t going to ask me for a pity fuck. I’d sleep with him in a heartbeat, but only if he wanted me. Not in the name of being-be-gone. No matter how much those beings were clearly stressing him out.

  Desperate for some levity to distract from the sudden focus on Matt and me getting into bed, I chanced a smirk. “So you asked a fae—one you’ve had to represent over her shady practices—about matchmaking?” I snorted. “Did you fae around and find out?”

  Matt rolled his eyes. “Really?”

  “What?” I chuckled. “I’m just saying. You of all people know better than to ask a fae for something. Especially one who’s needed your help.”

  To my great relief, he managed a halfhearted laugh, too. “Please. What magic wielder hasn’t needed a lawyer at some point?”

  “Eh, okay, fair.” I cleared my throat, trying to collect my dignity and not make this any worse for him. At least we weren’t talking about us fucking anymore. “Do they, uh…” I gestured at his winged friends. “Do they have names?”

  “Um. I didn’t… I didn’t ask.”

  “No, you didn’t,” the demon said indignantly. “It’s just been ‘what the fuck are you?’ and ‘what the fuck is going on?’” He huffed. “Can’t even be bothered to ask what our fucking names are.”

  “Really?” The angel leaned past Matt’s head. “Must you curse so much?”

  “Of course I must! I’m a fucking demon!”

  The angel seemed to consider that, then said, “He does make a compelling argument.”

  “He does.” Matt exhaled, peering at the demon but then apparently thinking better of it. Probably because he was, I assumed, hungover. Looking that closely at anything must’ve hurt. Sounding defeated and miserable, he asked, “What are your names, anyway?”

  The angel straightened, smiling broadly and puffing out his chest as if he were about to deliver some kind of grand speech.

  But the demon spoke first: “I’m Andras. The feathered wankstain is called Raziel.”

  The angel—Raziel, apparently—deflated and crossed his arms.

  “Andras and Raziel.” Matt rubbed his face again. “Glad we’ve all been…” He paused, then gestured at me. “He’s Cory, by the way.”

  “Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Raziel said.

  Andras just gave a sarcastic wave.

  I… had no idea how to respond. Maybe because I hadn’t had enough coffee to process that I was being introduced to a tiny angel and a tiny demon at the same time I was trying to help my friend sort out a crisis.

  I shifted on the couch. “So she told you about her matchmaking magic.”

  Nodding, Matt grimaced. “The rest of the conversation is…” He chewed his lip. “I was drunk, so…”

  So he didn’t remember. Got it.

  I sat straighter. “Wait, doesn’t that mean the contract is null and void? If you can’t remember agreeing to it? Or even what the terms are?”

  Matt pursed his lips. Then he shook his head. “Unless she’ll voluntarily rescind it, I’m pretty well fucked.”

  “Why?”

  “Because in order to push the issue, I’d have to file something formal. There’d have to be a hearing. In a courtroom.”

  “Ooh.” I sagged back against the cushion. “Yeah. That… complicates things, doesn’t it?”

  “Just a bit.” Matt made an unhappy sound. “Fuck. I have court next week! I can’t walk into the courtroom like…” He gestured wildly at Andras and Raziel. “Like this!”

  “No, no, you can’t.” I patted the air. “Let’s… Why don’t we go see her? Maybe she’d be willing to negotiate something else.”

  “We?”

  “Well, yes.” I inclined my head. “Unless you want to handle this alone?”

  Matt chewed his lip, looking unusually sheepish and vulnerable. “No. I’d rather not.”

  “Right. So. We.”

  “Thanks.” He smiled flicker fast, then sighed. “Ugh, I don’t imagine any new deal will land in my favor.”

  “Probably not. But maybe you can live with those terms instead of… um…” I gestured at my own shoulders.

  Matt glanced at each of his tiny companions. Then he sighed and pushed himself up off the couch. “Let me go make myself a little more presentable.”

  “All right.” I got up too. “Let me get some coffee. I’ll drive.”

  Chapter 3

  Matt

  Cory did end up driving, but we took my car. Suddenly those tinted windows I’d splurged on didn’t seem so pretentious. Not when they blocked Raziel and Andras from view. And I couldn’t exactly tell them to take their fifteen-minute break because they’d done that while I’d been getting dressed.

  “I don’t see what the big deal is,” Raziel said indignantly after I explained that to Cory. “We saw it all while you were sleeping last night.”

  Andras gave a snarky little chuckle. “He just doesn’t want to listen to you talkin’ about his willy again.” Then, in a high-pitched voice and a badly imitated version of Raziel’s accent, he added, “Wouldja lookit that, Andras? I had no idea the hair down there turned gray, too!”

  Beside me, Cory snorted, though to his credit, he at least tried to muffle it. When I shot him a glare, he managed a not terribly sincere, “Sorry.”

  I just rolled my eyes.

  “What?” Raziel still sounded as indignant as ever. “I’ve never seen gray hair down—”

  “Okay, okay.” I put up my hands. “No more discussing anything you guys saw while I was asleep, all right?”

  They both grumbled. Cory suppressed another laugh. And I thanked whoever was listening that I’d been able to send them on a “break” while I’d taken a shower.

  “So. Um.” Cory cleared his throat and shifted a little in the driver seat. “Where exactly am I going?”

  “Do you know where the Unseelie Building is?”

  He shot me a wide-eyed look.

  “Don’t worry—we’re not going there.” I motioned vaguely ahead. “Her office is across the street. It has a parking garage, too. I’ll point it out when we get there.”

  Cory exhaled. I didn’t blame him. There was nothing overly sinister or dangerous about the Unseelie Building. Like all the fae, the Unseelies were required by treaties to abide by human law, and they generally wouldn’t fuck with anyone who didn’t fuck with them first. But if a rogue fae was inclined to fuck with someone unprovoked, they would almost certainly be an Unseelie. Most of us treated them as respectfully as we did any of the other magic beings living among us, but anyone with any sense of self-preservation regarded the Unseelies with the same sense of caution we did goblins and that one clan of particularly antisocial ogres: don’t harass them, don’t confront them, and—most relevantly here—don’t go wandering through their territory uninvited or unescorted.

  “Have you, uh…” Cory glanced at me. “Have you ever gone into the Unseelie Building?”

  I nodded. “I represented a changeling a couple of years ago, and I went to his office a few times to discuss the case.”

  “Really?”

  “Mmhmm. It was… I don’t remember all the details, but he had a dispute with a couple of fauns running a travel agency, and his schedule didn’t allow him to come to me as often as I could come to him.” I half-shrugged. “It wasn’t as big a deal as people make it out to be. Probably because everyone who saw me knew I was there to help one of their own, so they left me alone.”

  “Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” He adjusted his grip on the wheel. “I probably wouldn’t be very popular there.”

  I studied him. “Why’s that?”

  Cory laughed softly. “Dude, I make my living helping people who’ve had their identities stolen by tricksters. Sometimes that includes getting law enforcement and the legal system involved.” He grimaced. “Not exactly a line of work that endears me to that crowd.”

  “Eh. You’d be surprised.”

  Cory shot me a look before facing the road.

  I chuckled. “They’re tricksters, but they’re not—well, most of them aren’t evil. Hell, some of the fae I’ve represented clients against have ended up hiring me themselves later. They see lawyers kind of like they do salespeople and evangelists—people who perform trickster magic without the magic.”

  “That sounds like a bit of a backhanded compliment.”

  “It keeps me in the good graces of most of the fae, so…”

  “Okay, I can see that. You have to exploit loopholes and technicalities—I can imagine the fae respect that.”

  “They do.” I laughed softly. “Even when they’re on the receiving end of it, they respect it.”

  “Huh. You really do know your way around the tricksters, don’t you?”

  My humor faded. “You wouldn’t know it, given my current situation.”

  Cory didn’t say anything right away. I half-expected Andras or Raziel to chime in, but they seemed to be preoccupied. Andras was once again poring over a piece of parchment that I assumed was a copy of the agreement. Or maybe it was the briefing he’d accused Raziel of neglecting to read. I don’t know. Raziel, meanwhile, had moved from my shoulder to just below the window, and he currently had his hands and faced pressed to the glass like a child peering into a toy store. I couldn’t imagine this was his first time seeing a city. Maybe his first time in this city? Well, whatever—I didn’t even mind if he left tiny handprints on the window as long as he wasn’t chattering in my ear.

  After a block or so of silence, Cory took a breath and glanced across the console at me. “I don’t blame you, honestly.”

  That was unexpected. “Really? For getting drunk with a fae and scoring myself a pair of…” I motioned toward Andras and Raziel.

  “I mean…” Cory shrugged. “Okay, fine, you could’ve gone into it differently. But like… I get it, you know?”

  I tilted my head. “You do?”

  “Well, yeah.” Some color rose in his cheeks, and he breathed a quiet laugh. “I’ve been single almost as long as you have. It fucking sucks.”

  I chewed my lip. This was one of those moments when I realized how little sense the entire world actually made. How in hell was Cory alone? I could give a laundry list of reasons why I totally understood my own inability to land a partner. My less than sparkling personality. The endless hours of my demanding job. That whole thing where I was a partner at my own law firm but couldn’t afford to buy a house because on top of a mountain of student debt, my ex-husband was a better lawyer than I was and had taken my ass to the proverbial cleaners.

  But I was mystified that Cory was still single. He was cute as hell, of course, but he was also one of the sweetest people I’d ever met. The fact that he was patiently driving my stupid ass over to the Fae District this early on a Saturday morning underscored how willing he was to help his friends, even when they’d put themselves into ridiculous situations. I adored how much his quick wit could catch me off-guard with a perfectly timed punchline. The fae thought my work in the courtroom was trickster craft? They’d all be in awe if they ever tried to hold on to their train of thought when he gave one of those spectacular smiles. Or maybe that was just me, though I doubted it. I’d seen him smile and trip up friends, waitstaff, bartenders—even that one cranky cop who’d been about to write him a parking ticket.

  If there was any human in this car working actual magic, it sure as shit wasn’t me.

  And my mind had spun out just thinking about how absurd it was that no one had snatched him up.

  I shook myself, prompting a yelp from Andras, who I’d dislodged. As the demon righted himself amidst some more swearing, I said to Cory, “Have you been looking? I, uh… I thought you were staying single for a while. On purpose.” God, I was rambling.