Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
A measure of respect filled Faye’s eyes. Not much, but I saw it.
“Well then, we will make do, won’t we?” Tanner said.
Slowly, I turned back to him, thinking he sounded like he had as much faith as I did that Tink wouldn’t create a mess by the time I got home. “I guess so.”
“We needed to speak with the Order because we’ve been noticing a disturbing trend.” Tanner took the file Faye handed to him. “Over the last month, several of our younglings have gone missing, and we fear the Order is involved.”
CHAPTER 8
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—”