Page 36 of Crown of the Fae King

The rest of them whooped and shouted words I didn’t understand, then came over to slap whatever body part Wickham didn’t have dibs on. When I was finally let up for air, and the rest of them had settled down, I laughed again.

“I guess I just earned that pair of Italian leather boots, then, huh?”

15

A Semi-Dangerous Life

The following days were chaos.

As an added bonus for my insight, Wickham moved us all to a house outside Edinburgh. He said we needed a safe place to pop back to that didn't include dumpsters and dark alleys. Before I did anymore popping, however, Everly and I found a pharmacy and the British equivalent of Dramamine.

"I think you'd better buy more than one package," she said. "Sounds like we might be...busy."

I bought everything they had.

We were only required to pack up our personal things because the house itself was completely furnished when we arrived. The east-facing mansion was the size of a small hotel back home and easily a couple hundred years old.

One of the rooms on the second floor was designated as our "landing" room. What Wickham called the parlor, I called the living room, was left alone for unexpected visitors. And the large study, with a passage to a private library, was designated as the war room.

Wickham, Persi, and I chose bedrooms upstairs and left the main floor master suite to the MacKenzies. Kitch went looking for a room by the back door. I picked the bedroom at the top of the staircase. I liked to know where my exits were--a habit born of being cornered in a dark parking lot by Andy Weaver, once upon a time. If I got spooked and felt the need to run, it was a straight shot down the steps and out the front door.

I wasn’t anticipating any panic attacks, though, considering the size of the place. Plenty of places to run and hide. Plenty of room to stand and fight. Anything but being cornered.

I had my own bathroom with a porcelain bathtub and gold fixtures. When I found Persi looking over my shoulder, I asked if hers had a shower.

She smiled and pointed to a pole that went up one side of my tub. "That's your shower. Called a French shower. The head attaches up there, if you want to stand." Thankfully, she didn’t laugh. "My room is pink. I'm not a fan of pink. Clashes with my hair. But it reminds me of the bedroom I had as a little girl.”

“We can always trade if it starts to wear on you.”

“Thanks.” She headed for the door. “Kitch said he’d feel more comfortable in the servant's quarters, but apparently, there areservantsin the servant's quarters. Two sets of Muir twins. Married to each other. It's going to get really confusing around here.”

"You're a Muir, right?"

"My grandmother was."

"And you’re a witch. But you don't have a twin?"

"No. I'm called aThird. Daughter of a witch who was the daughter of a witch. SomeThirdshave incredible power, like Wickham's niece used to have. But mine is pretty mild in comparison—I’m aminorThird."

I pointed out the obvious. "You can make yourselfinvisible."

"Technically, I keep my reflection to myself and will the reflections of the things around me to pass through. I have to concentrate. It's not just an on and off switch. And if I get distracted, I can let it slip, which is a problem."

"Still."

"Yeah. I know." She nudged me with her shoulder. "But you've got Hank, right? Might not be a power, but it's significant enough that the Grandfather knew about you." She bit her lips together, then started poking around the room and stopped at the window to take in the view. She wasn't going to ask for details about Hank, but I knew she was dying to.

"Hank doesn't do anything for me. It's just a...responsibility...given to my family. A babysitting job, really. Since I can never have kids, I don't know who I'll hand it down to. And come to think of it, if I'm going to be living this semi-dangerous life, I should make a plan--"

"Semi-dangerous?" Persi rolled her eyes, then dropped her smile. "No. You're right. Semi-dangerous it is. Ironic, though, that Wickham’s sisters call their powers The Responsibility, don’t you think?”

"I hate to pry,” I said, “but I feel like I need to catch up with the class, if you know what I mean. Do you mind telling me what power Wickham's niece had? And why doesn't she have it anymore? I didn’t know you could stop being a witch."

"Nowthatis a very long story. You'll have to have Urban tell you sometime. But Soni’s powers? Wickham thought her gift was to literally move the earth. The Grandfather thought it was to open graves. I don’t think Soni understood it completely, but she was forced to give it up to her very evil grandfather, who was Wickham’s twin."

"So there’s another bad guy out there? With the power to raise the dead, like she did?"

“Oh, no. We don’t have to worry about him. Dead and gone.”

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