Hidden Crown by Emma L Adams

Author:Emma L Adams [Adams, Emma L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-17T16:00:00+00:00

13

As it turned out, I needn’t have worried about my return to the Gatekeeper’s training base. Coral had mobilised the other half-Sidhe to prepare for my return, and I entered one of the training rooms to find them seated around a makeshift picnic table laden with the bottles of wine from the earlier training exercise and plates of pizza that looked like they’d been lifted straight from the mortal realm.

“It’s not quite the same as a party,” she said. “Hope it’s okay.”

“Are you kidding? It’s perfect.” I picked up a plate. “I’d take this over a fancy ball. It’s just what I need right now.”

“Awesome.” She beamed, passing plates around. “We’re on your side. All of us. What the Sidhe did to you was bullshit.”

“It was,” agreed one of the half-dryads.

It looked like all the other bodyguards had come to join in. Except for Aila, but that suited me just fine. “I don’t want you in trouble for slacking off on duty.”

“We’re rotating shifts. Anyway, we won’t get into trouble for smuggling in pizza and shot glasses.” Coral winked, taking a seat at the table.

“I knew you smuggled it in.” I grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza, dripping with mozzarella.

“Faerie doesn’t have Dominos,” added Willow.

“I like you already.” I gave Coral a grin. Willow’s olive-tinted skin and thick dark hair put me in mind of Lady Aiten, and I wondered if Coral had seen them side by side and put two and two together.

I’d never been shy about making friends, and I had a great buzz going by the time we’d finished the first round of shots, enough to introduce the others to a few drinking games from the mortal realm and share some of the less scandalous of my stories.

Darrow entered the room in the middle of a long anecdote about the time I’d accepted a dare from a half-Sidhe and ended up chased across the Highlands by a pack of Little People wielding sharp instruments.

I gave him a wave. “Come to join in?”

“No. There are some Sidhe here who want to talk to you?”

“Seriously?”

I dragged myself to my feet and walked into the entrance hall to find three unfamiliar male Sidhe standing side by side.

“What is it now?” I said. “We were playing Never Have I Ever, not plotting murder.”

Coral stopped beside me. “Uh, Hazel, they aren’t from around here.”

Now she mentioned it, the newcomers wore long dark clothes, in total defiance of Summer’s usual bright fashions. While their eyes glittered in the same green shade as most Seelie fae, their hoods were up, masking their ethereal beauty. The Sidhe in the centre stood a foot taller than the others, a giant even by faerie standards, which made his two companions look puny in comparison. Unfortunately for all of them, their cloaks looked like they’d been bought by someone who hadn’t bothered to check the sizes, because the two shorter Sidhe were surrounded by puddles of spare fabric while the central Sidhe’s cloak ended around his knees.

“Who are you?” I said.

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