Page 54 of Tooth and Nail

“It’s not so much that I hate them…I just don’t trust anything they say. Back when I’d first started working with Gladys, she gave me the same speech I’m giving you. You’re not to trust them, agree with anything they say, or make any statements that sound anything close to a promise. Above all, don’t look them in the eye for more than five seconds. If you do, they’ll be able to decipher a lie or even an obfuscation.”

“What are they? Mind readers?” Ari laughed.

“Don’t laugh. This is no joke, Ari. They are so close to being mind readers, you’d be shocked by it. They’ve learnedto read body language and faces. They especially read what’s in your eyes, even the set of your jaw. They’ve got incredible hearing, so they can hear you grinding your teeth. If I didn’t already know it’s impossible to hear someone’s neurons firing, I’d be convinced that they could hear a person thinking.”

“Jeez.”

“Next, nothing they say is to be taken as the whole truth or for that matter, even a little bit of the truth. They lie constantly. I’m not convinced that they can communicate with anyone outside the space fairie race without lying. It’s a cultural thing with them and so ingrained in their daily lives that they project themselves and their methods of communication on everyone they meet. Because you can’t trust them, even if they tell you something, you must demand to see evidence of what they’re saying to know if it’s true. You never take anything they say as gospel. You’ll see what I mean when you meet them. It's very dangerous ground with these two, so, if you don’t think you can comply with everything I just said, then maybe you should just keep quiet and let me do the talking. If they ask, I’ll tell them you’re not much of a talker, if that makes you feel better. It’s up to you.”

“What about you?”

“I have no problem lying to them and since I have experience with them, I can do it convincingly. Then again, evenImust be very careful with what I say and the way I say it…the words and inflections I use. They can pick up on all of it when talking with someone who doesn’t have experience with them. They can read emotions. I can handle them. No offense, Ari, but I’m not so sure you can.” He glanced over at him when he was silent, before glancing back out the windshield. “Really, I mean no offense by it.”

“I’m not offended. I’m not good at lying, so I’ll just let you do the talking, Eoghan. I trust you.”

Eoghan glanced at him again before looking away. He felt himself flush with pleasure at hearing those words. He’d told him that before, but it was good to hear. “Good. That’s probably best.”

“So, tell me about this case you had with them before. Youdidhave a case, right?”

Eoghan inwardly cringed as he remembered the case with Gladys. “Yes.” He sighed. “I’d been working with the I.S.R. for about two years and Glad and I had a very good working relationship. I’d learned a hell of a lot from her over those two years and I respected her a great deal. I knew she was trustworthy and didn’t suspect she’d ever deliberately lie, so when she gave me the same speech I just gave you, I was curious to hear her talk to Oberon and Titania. I admit, I wanted to see if she’d lie and watch to see if they could detect it on her but only for selfish reasons.”

“So, what happened?” Ari asked.

“When they detected her lie, it very nearly got us both killed.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, it was bad and unfortunately, the situation was very much like it is now.”

Ari held up a finger. “Can I stop you a second to ask a question?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, back in the office, the chief referred to Oberon and Titania’s offspring as triplets, but she said two of their offspring are missing. But then she contradicted herself in almost the next sentence when she said that the parents are sure the ‘triplets’ are hiding out in the Sequoia Forest. Did she mean that only two of their three offspring are missing? They are triplets, not twins, right?”

“Oh, you’re not wrong and I was about to explain that,” Eoghan said. He turned and shot Ari a withering glance before looking back out the windshield.

“Sorry, I need to stop doing that,” Ari said.

“No, it’s good that you do that. It keeps me on my toes.”

Ari snorted. “Please…continue.”

“Okay, well, I have to preface what I’m going to tell you by giving a little bit ofmybackground before joining the agency. We have a long drive, so it’s a perfect time for me to catch you up on my past.”

“Okay.”

“So, I’d gone to college and graduated with a degree in criminal justice after my discharge from the Corps. My parents wanted me to become a lawyer and I honestly had every intention of doing that to please them, but I found myself attracted to law enforcement.”

“How’d that happen?”

“I was attacked by a fairie.”

“What?”

“I’d gone out on a date with a man. We’d had dinner and were headed out to a bar for a little dancing when we were suddenly jumped by a group of what we thought were human thugs…some sort of criminal street gang.”

“But it was fairies?”

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