Page 49 of Crown of the Fae King

They eyed me like I was a stranger walking in off the street. Persi’s mouth hung open and a bite of toast fell out onto her plate.

“What?” I pulled out my chair and sat between the sisters, who beamed at me, a hundred matching wrinkles around their eyes. “No pain this morning,” I said, to explain my mood.

That seemed to satisfy them, and they went back to picking at their plates.

Kitch cleared his throat. “We were, uh, hopin’ that after breakfast, ye might want to introduce us to Hank.”

One of the sisters poured me some orange juice and I took a sip. “Sure.”

After a moment of stunned silence, they all dug into their breakfasts, smiling and chatting. The sudden change in volume reminded me of the moment Wickham unfroze a café full of people, bringing them to life again.

Every once in a while, I’d catch someone watching me. Urban’s expression said he didn’t trust me, that he expected to be disappointed yet again. I just smiled and shoved a whole triangle of potato pancake in my mouth and winked. No one spoke to me directly. Maybe they hoped I would keep my head down and eat fast.

As soon as the four Youngs had cleared the dishes and food away, Wickham got up and closed the doors. With everyone’s attention on him, I slipped Hank out of my cast and laid him in the center of the table, then slid him to the left. Urban caught it, lifted it, and looked close. After a few seconds, he handed it to Everly, on his left.

“Impossible,” he whispered, but nothing more.

His wife’s mouth opened a few times, but she said nothing before she passed it to Kitch. And on it went to Persi, then Wickham, and the sister on my right, Loretta. She counted the stones aloud. “Yep, there’s nine.”

I handed it to Lorraine. She caught her breath, then nodded. “That’s the Pleiades all right.”

“What?” I took the stone from her hand and stared. “What does that mean?”

“Greek Mythology,” Wickham said. “The seven daughters of Atlas. A star cluster in the constellation of Taurus. Some of the closest stars to us.”

Persi chuckled. “It’s also on the logo for Subaru. The seven stars of the Pleiades.”

“Then why nine stones?”

“Two for Atlas and his wife.” Wickham held out his hand, asking for another look.

For some reason, I was horribly disappointed that my one-of-a-kind personal treasure could be explained away by something as ubiquitous as Greek Mythology and a car brand!

Kitch shook his head. “Ye see why that’s impossible, aye?”

Wickham nodded. “And she was right about the metal appearing molten. We need Macklyn.” He set my pet rock on the table, then stood. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared. Loretta picked up the stone again.

I looked across at Persi and struggled not to sound indignant. “Who’s Macklyn?”

“The Dragon’s wife. Long story. He’s one of Soni’s Highlanders from Culloden. She’s an expert jeweler. Possibly a jewel thief, but she also catches jewel thieves. Anyway. If there is something to know about those stones, she’s our resident expert.”

Hank made his way around the table again. Persi wrapped her hand around it and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she shrugged, then handed it back to me. If she’d felt some sort of connection, I’d have been pissed.

I fought the urge to tuck him back into my cast and run upstairs like a petulant child who doesn’t want to share her toys.

Ten long minutes passed before Wickham popped in again, this time with a man and a woman clinging to his arms and to each other. I immediately related.

I made a mental note to ask Persi if all the men Soni brought back to life were as big as a mountain. This one made Wickham look small.

“Lennon Todd, this is Macklyn and Ander McFie. I realize now I should have asked before bringing others to see yer…uh…”

“My pet rock?” I shook his hand, then hers. “It’s okay. They told me you’re an expert.” And once again, I put Hank in someone else’s hands.

Macklyn sat in Wickham’s chair at the end of the table and cradled the stone with both hands as if she appreciated it as much as I did. Her husband opened her bag, pulled out a small leather kit, and spread a small cloth on the table. She laid the stone in the middle, then pulled on a pair of familiar white gloves. Next, she strapped a jeweler’s loop to her head before she picked Hank up again.

“There’s a plastic coating?” She didn’t look up. “Can we remove it?”

“No!”

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