Read Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale for Free Online Page B

than most cats. The wild only calls us for short stays, not permanent ones.”
    Luc stifled a chuckle. “Yeah, so I’ve noticed. But I admit that’s a relief for me. I know you want Seoc returned to Faerie with all possible haste. Which means I can use all the help I can get finding the bastard. The last thing I need is for you to go off after some cute little furry thing and leave me to do this on my own. Or worse yet, some cute little mortal thing.”
    “Be careful, my friend. Your arrogance and Faecentrism are showing.”
    Luc shifted in his seat. It wasn’t that he disliked humans, precisely, but he couldn’t understand how an Other like Dmitri or Graham could possibly have a lasting relationship with such a…such a mundane creature as a human. What could they possibly have in common?
    “But you needn’t worry,” Rafe continued, twirling his snifter. “The Council will, of course, completely support your mission. We want nothing to happen to the Queen’s nephew, especially not while he is on our turf, as they say. Now that Mab has sent you after him, I’m certain he will be easily found.”
    “You obviously don’t know the Queen’s nephew.”
    “I have not had that pleasure, no. But if he is moving among the humans now, as you say, I have a feeling an introduction will be inevitable.” His eyes firmed, even as his mouth remained in its customary subtle curve. “Rest assured that if you have trouble with your mission, I will step in on behalf of the Council and see to his removal myself. The situation appears to be reaching a flash point. Since we had not yet heard of Seoc moving among the humans, we can still hope his presence has gone unremarked. If they begin to take note of him, our secret will be in jeopardy. No matter how many among the Council talk of the necessity of Unveiling ourselves to the humans, Luc, I shouldn’t have to tell you that the Council would look very unfavorably on having such a monumental decision forced upon it prematurely.”
    Luc could hardly miss the underlying message there. “If you were all so anxious to have him back in our hands, why didn’t you do something about it?”
    Rafe’s shoulders lifted in a lazy, boneless shrug. “We discussed the problem at length, but we believed we still had time to deliberate. Plus, we agreed that things would go much more smoothly if we didn’t try to handle this ourselves. The last thing we want is to have an interdimensional incident on our hands.”
    Luc frowned.
    “Like the kind we’d get if reports reached Mab that her nephew was being returned in a bucket,” Rafe explained with a pointed look. “Some of our people have difficulty remembering their manners during a good game of chase, Luc. Even a Fae prince can look like prey if he’s running fast enough.”
    “Great.” Luc drained his brandy and set the glass aside. “So because you can’t manage to keep your fangs to yourselves, I’m on my own until I fail miserably?”
    “Of course not. As I said, we will assist gladly in whatever way we can. The Council simply feels we should not be handling such a potentially delicate matter on our own. Dmitri, damn his pale, chilly hide, has also volunteered his assistance. Which is the least he could do, considering he left his position as head of the Council to me when he married.” Rafe rose, crossed to a heavy, mahogany desk, and rifled through a drawer. “Of course, his idea of ‘assistance’ and mine do not exactly match. Now that he has the distraction of a new bride, he often takes a kind of hands-off approach to assisting.”
    “That doesn’t sound very helpful.”
    Rafe’s teeth flashed, white and sharp, as he handed over a small, white card. “Feel free to point that out to him. His number is on the back.”
    “Thanks. I’m overwhelmed.”
    Luc was spared a response to his sarcasm by a throat being carefully cleared in the doorway of the large office. Rafe turned to acknowledge the intrusion.
    “Forgive