Page 7 of White Little Lies

She scowled. “Oh don’t look at me like that. Iamcapable of love.”

“Could have fooled me,” I said before I could help myself.

Her scowl deepened. “Do you want to know what information I have on your mother, or not?”

My mood quickly sobered. “I apologize. You’re in love. Please continue.”

“His name is Rian. I only met him briefly when he hired a runner, butgodsEva, he’s perfect.”

I bit my tongue, knowing she wouldn’t take kindly to me questioning her being in love with someone she had only met once. “Let me guess, he doesn’t often leave Emerald Heights?”

“I believe he is nobility, he certainly acted that way, and he spoke like some of the old ones from their far realm.”

Well now I was even more curious. “What did he need the agency for?”

“He wanted a package delivered to the Crystal Vale, and a package was acquired for him in return. A bit of a trade with neither party having to meet beyond their boundaries.” She waved it off with one hand. “You know how it is.”

I did know. Trade was a big part of business for night runners, bringing something beyond a boundary and returning with trade or payment. It wasn’t unusual, but… the Crystal Vale? What might an elf need to trade with the fae? And could it possibly have anything to do with the fae the king sent in an attempt to scare me?

“How long ago did you meet him?” I asked.

“It’s only been a few weeks. I’ve done my best to find more information on him, but you know how the elves are.”

I thought things over. It would have been a lot more convenient for her to fall in love with a goblin. With her troll blood, she could actually walk across the boundary to the Bogs. But not Emerald Heights. She couldn’t step foot there unless she received a direct invitation from the king, like Sebastian.

“I’m going to Emerald Heights tomorrow. I’ll ask around.” And it wouldn’t be just for Dawn. If Rian had just been running an errand for the king or for himself, he was probably harmless. But if he was instead involved with Zenith… Zenith’s little brother tried to kill me. I couldn’t be too careful.

Dawn’s face lit up at my words. “Oh Eva, you’re a lifesaver.”

“I certainly am. Now about my mother…”

Her normal calculating smile slipped back into place. “Of course. I’ll tell you everything I know once you come through on Rian.”

“Like hell—” Incensed, I started to stand.

She cut me off with a laugh. “Calm yourself, Eva. I wouldn’t do that to you.” She lifted her periwinkle cup. “In fact, we even began this meeting with a hint.”

I stared at the cup, racking my brain. “My mom has assumed the identity of a barista and is hiding in plain sight?”

She rolled her eyes, lowering the cup. “The gargoyles, Eva. I couldn’t find anything on the angelic you mentioned, other than the fact that he’s powerful and not to be trifled with, so I went for the next best thing.”

I blinked at her. It was actually pretty clever. The angelics would never talk—all of their gossip was firmly locked away in the Silver Quarter. But the gargoyles… Despite their difference in appearance, they were actually from the same realm. Another near realm, though most had lost the power to travel there. While it was rare to see a gargoyle actually associating with an angelic, they could cross the border to the Silver Quarter, and many lived beyond the iridescent gates. If anyone wanted information on an angelic, a gargoyle was a pretty good place to start.

“What did you learn?” I asked as my thoughts finallycaught up with me.

She looked smug for a moment, and I was about to yell at her, then she answered, “I learned that about a month ago, Lucas received a message. No one knows what it said, but he’s hardly been around the Silver Quarter since. Many believe he’s on some sort of top-secret mission.”

I deflated with every word. I pretty much knew all of this. Lucas owed my mom a favor. He received a message with orders that he would have to complete to repay that favor, and he started stalking night runners after that. But it wasn’t some huge secret—he’d told Sebastian about it in an attempt to convince him to release me to Lucas’care.

Dawn closely watched my shifting expression. “This is obviously not news to you, and while I would haveappreciatedyou sharing with me who killed my last night runner, I’ll let it go. The important news is who delivered that message. Not another angelic, not a celestial, but adevil.”

My eyebrows shot up. Now it made sense why the gargoyles would even care about some secret message. There weren’t many devils in the city, and for one to have a secret exchange with an angelic?

“Do you know the devil’s name?” I pressed.

Dawn almost seemed embarrassed as she answered, “No, but I’m working on it. All I know is that she appeared female. And as long as you find out all you can about Rian, I will find out all I can about the devil.”

I sipped my coffee, deep in thought.If a devil was the one to deliver my mother’s message, did that mean she was hiding in the hells? Though Sebastian was yet to admit it to me, I had learned he couldn’t actually go there. He was just as trapped as most everyone else. Had my mom been hiding in his home realm all this time?

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