Page 28 of White Little Lies

I narrowed my eyes at him. “When did you become so wise?”

He chuckled. “I am younger than Mistral, but I’m notthatyoung.”

He reclaimed my hand and led me up the stairs. I walked silently behind him, not for the first time realizing that I was completely out of my depth.

11

Crispin took us in,his blue eyes seeming to dance as they flitted between us. “An intriguing assortment of test subjects, that’s to be sure.”

He wore houndstooth pants and a saturated cornflower blue shirt that matched his eyes. He had made an effort to comb his tousled blond hair, but he had already run his fingers through it so many times that it was in complete disarray.

He probably had never expected to see a goblin in his tower, and according to Sebastian, it almost didn’t happen. King Francis had been resistant to the idea of a goblin coming in, but when the contract was brought up, he couldn’t exactly argue. I had personally made sure the goblins were included.

Only now, I found myself wishing I hadn’t pushed for the situation. Now there was one more person to see me fail.

“I’m interested in these magical reactions.” Crispin started pacing, still observing us.

I glared at Sebastian, receiving only a shrug in reply. He must have discussed it with Crispin when he came to speak with the king.

The door flew open, and Elena stumbled in. Her bare arms shone with sweat, though her white tank top and tight black jeans appeared pristine. “Sorry I’m late!” She tried to push some loose strands of red hair back into her braid, leaving her pointed ears on full display. “My father had me running all sorts of errands. No doubt trying to keep me away from today’s lesson.” She grinned at me.

I felt for King Francis. After his daughter had gotten drunk with werewolves and was nearly killed by fae, he had the parental right to worry. Never mind that Elena did exactly as she pleased regardless.

“Actually, I need to talk to you.” I stepped away from the guys, grabbing her arm to drag her back out into the hall.

As soon as the door was shut, Elena gave me a mischievous smile. “Is this about the big hunky goblin glaring at everyone? You never told me exactly what happened after you disappeared with him that night.”

“Well no—”

“Glaring at everyone except foryou, of course,” she continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Which I don’t know why. We fought side by side. Comrades in arms—”

“Elena,” I hissed. “We are not here to talk about my sex life.”

“Oooh so the sex life exists?”

I pinched my brow and shook my head. “I need a favor. Do you know an elf named Rian?”

Her face screwed up in confusion. “I’m going to need a little bit more to go on than that. There are a lot of elves.”

“This one is haughty nobility.”

“I spend as little time talking withthatlot as possible. Why?”

“I have a lead on my mom,” I explained, glancing at the closed door, wondering when one of the guys was going to interrupt us. “But I promised I’d get some information on an elf named Rian in return.”

Her brows lowered. “You’re not planning on killing him, are you?”

I rolled my eyes. “I just need to know if he’s seeing anyone, and if not, if he’s interested in the female gender. Particularly very tall, powerful females.”

Her brows shot up in the other direction.

“Someone has a crush on him,” I sighed. “And that someone is trying to find information for me. I was hoping you could take Gabriel and ask around.”

One corner of her mouth curled. “I’ll gladly ask around, but if you think Crispin will be letting me take Gabriel out of here—” She shook her head. “I was here earlier when Sebastian came with his plan. Now Crispin is very excited about these magical reactions.And wasn’t the whole point of bringing him to explore things further?”

My cheeks flared with heat. Served me right for telling Sebastian anything, but I couldn’t exactly be upset. I was the one who had brought up exploring the magical reactions further. The farthest jump I had managed had been in connection to Gabriel, and we had gone all the way across a boundary. I needed that same magic to jump to a near realm. I lowered my eyes, not having any good answer for her, but she figured it out anyways.

“Oh, you’re terrified,” she laughed.

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