turned blue, but it must be some trick of the light. “Are you going to the fairy con?”
Ringo and Kael exchanged a look she could read quite well. She worked around children every day.
The two of them were up to something.
“Yes, indeed. Are you?” The speculation in Ringo’s gaze would have been flattering if not for the sharp look Kael sent him. What was going on, and why didn’t Kael want Ringo admitting they were going to the con?
“Oh, yeah. I’ve been looking forward to it.” Michaela almost bounced in her seat, she was so excited. She’d managed to finagle the graveyard shift at the hospital just so she could attend the con. She’d be tired, but it would be worth it, and the kids would love the pictures she was planning on bringing them. “I have the prettiest pair of light-up butterfly wings. I’m wearing them to the fairy ball.” The gown had cost a pretty penny, too, but it would totally be worth it.
Ringo sputtered, nearly spraying them with macchiato. “Fairy ball?”
Kael groaned and dropped his head in his hands. “Butterfly wings,” Kael moaned. “Not more butterfly wings.”
Ringo’s lips twitched. “They light up too.”
Kael sobbed.
Michaela just stared at them. “You have something against butterflies?”
“No.” Kael made a face. “It’s…complicated.”
All righty then. Maybe he had mottephobia, fear of moths and butterflies, and was too ashamed to admit it. If so, he’d have one hell of a time at the convention. Almost all the women had butterfly wings strapped to their backs.
“So I guess you’ll be going as something else, then.” With his thin build, golden eyes and blond locks, he’d make an excellent— “Oh, I know! You’re going dressed as Puck!”
This time, Ringo did spray the table.
Chapter Four
“You heard?”
Robin watched Michaela leave the coffee shop. He still couldn’t understand why she’d been so vehement in her defense of him. The passion in her voice had both amused and humbled him. “Yes.” He tilted his head. “Tell me about her.”
Kael took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. “She’s twenty-eight, works in medicine, but I’m not sure where or in what capacity. She’s human, as far as I can tell. She has several friends she spends time with, but no boyfriend. Either that or she’s dating multiple men at once.”
Robin did not like that thought one little bit. Green fire danced in his eyes before he could subdue it. “Anything else I should know?”
“She goes away on the weekends sometimes with her friends. Sometimes she brings equipment, like skis or a snowboard, others she doesn’t. And you heard her—she’s got a thing for Puck.”
Robin smiled. That, he could live with. It was the thought of other men that would drive him insane.
Kael’s amused expression deepened, became wicked. “She thinks I should dress as you.”
Robin felt his eyes flare with green light. He quickly masked it by closing his eyes. It wouldn’t do to have the Unseelie alerted to his presence so quickly. “So she did.”
“Robin?”
Robin shot the boy an inquiring look.
“Go after her.”
He smirked. He’d caught sight of an unknown Sidhe sidling up to the coffee bar. Chasing after Michaela would not be wise. Black Court, Gray or White, the Sidhe were indistinguishable until they chose to reveal their allegiance. “While her defense was flattering, I hardly think we have the time to—” But Kael wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he was sitting straight up in his chair, his gaze glued to something outside the window. Something that had the pooka on high alert. “What?”
“I saw someone I recognized following her.”
Hell and damnation. That could mean only one thing. One of the Black Court delegates had seen the girl speaking with Kael and marked her as prey. If they recognized him as Prince Evan’s cousin their cover was already blown, despite the fact Kael lived and worked in the city. They would see his