Page 3 of Royal Ransom

Charlie leaned in front of Marina, offering me a nervous and placating smile. Her teeth looked a touch sharper than they should have been, which gave me a clue about what sort of creature I was dealing with. Charlotte Rose was a vampire, which explained why she was bundled up. It was a dreary, overcast day, but the clothes offered coverage, just in case.

“We’re very grateful, Taliyah. Seriously—thank you. You have no idea how grateful we are. We lost everything when we had to flee Misty Hollow. Everyone here has been kind. Marina is just...” Charlie shot that nervous look and smile at her friend, who was giving her the same gimlet glare I was. “Well, she used to be our sheriff.” Okay, that made sense. “And… well, she wants to find the people Janara took. I do too. And, well, we thought you might have more contacts in that arena.”

I was pretty sure Marina hadn’t been about to say anything half that polite, but I thought I understood why they’d been paired together. It was the same reason I brought Maverick along when charm was necessary to solve a case: good cop, bad cop. Well, in our case, it was bad cop, charming bounty hunter, but the point stood. The tidbit about Marina was interesting enough to focus on, so I wouldn’t blow my top at the pair.

“Sheriff?” I repeated, giving her a once-over. She looked to be in good shape. “Were you in law enforcement before?”

Marina shook her head. “Private practice. My partner Mike Stewart was a police detective. He busted a dirty cop, but interdepartmental politics meant he got let go. He found me, and we founded one of the first P.I. offices that advertised to supernatural citizens.”

“Mike?” The name didn’t ring a bell.

Marina swallowed hard. “He was taken during the last stand against Janara’s forces.”

I winced in sympathy. We might not have had exactly the same knowledge and training, but I recognized something ofmyself and my fellow cops in Marina. She might not have the training, but she had the attitude. It was always hard to lose a partner, whether you had a badge or not.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

The useless platitude escaped me before I could stop it. It had been the wrong thing to say. Marina was on her feet, staring down at me a second later.

“He isn’t dead. Well, no deader than he was when he came to the Hollow.”

“He’s a vampire,” Charlie filled in for me.

Marina nodded. “And Fox said he was pretty sure most of the non-faerie captives were going to survive, possibly as pets and curiosities for the nobles of winter.” She said that last bit with a scowl on her face. “The point is, there’s still time for him. It’s the prince we came to talk to you about.”

Don’t look at the pinkie, Tally. For the love of God, don’t.

I managed to keep my eyes straight ahead with supreme difficulty. There was an angry supernatural leaning her weight against my desk, close enough that I could make out a subtle scale pattern on her arms.

Was she some kind of snake? Were Charlie’s fangs the only ones I’d have to deal with today? I didn’t know, and that pissed me off.

I folded my arms to avoid shoving her off the desk. I didn’t like people looming over me, but after the upheaval Misty Hollow had gone through, I was willing to be a little more understanding. People who’ve lost everything are rarely rational.

“You need to save Fox,” Charlie added in a small voice. To my horror, I realized it was choked with tears. “That evil bitch is hurting him, I just know it.”

I couldn’t help it. I glanced sideways at the paperwork instead of at her face. Thankfully, neither noticed when I edgedthe bit of bone a little further beneath the pile. Just making contact with the dry, carved appendage made me shudder. I hoped the finger didn’t belong to Fox, but with my luck, it would come back a match.

“I’m going to take it up with the Council,” I said as gently as I could. I didnotwant an emotional meltdown from the vampire or a lecture from her overprotective whatever the hell she was—giant lizard? “It’s going to be up to them to decide how we handle this. I’m running low on options at the moment. If I rush in without a plan, I’ll be in the same position Fox is. That doesn’t help anyone.”

“When is the meeting?” Marina pressed. “We’d like to have a representative present.”

It was a fair request. They might not be citizens now, but at least a few would stay. Besides, they’d trespassed on winter land. Janara might view that as a killing offense. It was better if they stayed here for now, until the battle royale coming for us all quieted down.

“Meet us at the Half-Moon Bar and Grill after last call,” I said. “If there’s Hollow business to discuss, we usually do it there. I’ll be visiting the coven house shortly after work, so I’ll have Wanda put out the call to the others. She’s better at that kind of thing than I am.”

Charlie dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve, waiting silently as Marina tried to bargain with me. Charlie looked the way I felt—miserable. Out of all our new arrivals, she was the one I was most curious about. Her reaction to Fox had been... odd, to say the least. Learning she was a vampire hadn’t been illuminating. It was just another piece in the jumbled puzzle that Fox had emptied onto my lap shortly before he disappeared.

Charlie blinked in surprise when I offered her a Kleenex.

“Thanks,” she muttered, blowing her nose.

“Were you and Fox... close?” I asked and I was surprised Ihad because I usually wasn’t the nosy type.

“Dating,” she said absently. “I think.” Then she paused and shook her head. “It was complicated.”

Which just went to show that there was someone out there for everybody. Fox Aspen had struck me as an arrogant son of a bitch the first time we met, which automatically rubbed me the wrong way. Then he had the gall to announce we were getting hitched without asking me first. That had clinched it for me. There was no way I’d ever be romantically inclined toward the man, even if he was technically on my side in a fight. There was too much history there. Even if he hadn’t demanded my hand in marriage, we wouldn’t have worked out. Fox was used to being in charge, and I didn’t take orders well. If wehadmarried, I probably would have murdered him in his sleep some dark night.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, and this time there was real feeling in the words.

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