Page 38 of Fairies Don't Fall

“Four invisible guards, the loan officer who was so disgusted with my lack of collateral, and you.”

“That’s only five.”

“There is another guard in the stairwell who watches out the window. I’m in his line of sight, but I don’t know if he’s actually looking at me. Why do you ask?”

His eyes widened like a goblin could look innocent. He almost pulled it off. “Because I’m going to rob the place. I didn’t know about the stairwell guard. I owe you two.”

“What? No. I don’t do deals like most fairies.” Particularly with anyone stupid enough to try and rob a goblin bank.

“It’s not a deal, it’s a debt. Two debts from one malcontent to another.”

“I’m not a malcontent, but thank you for the offer.” I hurried down the steps, holding my papers while I went away from the goblin, who was clearly looking for more danger in a more careless way than his sister. I went down the block, then another, then turned and was completely disoriented. I stood in front of a place with a flashing cat sign. Cat. I read it on the neon sign. A rush of pride went through me that had me pushing into the place, the scent of fish and rice mixed with something fresh and sparkling. Was that the smell of cooked cat?

A raucous instrument played inside, surrounded by people singing along to the tune with their drinks in front of them. A piano. That’s what it was called. It looked like so much fun.

“Welcome to the Cat’s Pause,” a girl with dark hair streaked with purple said, gliding by like she had wings. No, she had wheels on her shoes. Skates.

“The Cat’s Pause? What does that mean?”

She shrugged and motioned me towards the bar. “I don’t know, but my dad thinks it’s hilarious. I guess it’s a dad joke? Sit down. I’ll be right back.” She rolled off, faster than seemed wise in the fairly busy place. She delivered trays to some customers,so I sat at the bar with my papers in front of me and tried to gather thoughts about funding. Not my thoughts. There were so many different opinions about it, it was almost impossible to know who was right and who was crazy.

“Hey,” the girl said, touching my shoulder. “You okay?”

I blinked at her. “Sorry. I was trying to hear people think, but nothing’s making sense. Why go to a bank to fund your hat shop when they’re just going to say no?”

She frowned and peered at me closer. “Trying to hear people think? You can read people’s minds?”

“Only fairies,” I said, sitting up straight.

The girl looked right and left, checking to make sure the coast was clear and then leaned forward in my space in a way that felt much more intrusive than when Max did it.

“I’m Rynne, and I’m a police officer. I work undercover a lot, so I have to keep it a secret, but if you can really read fairy minds…” Her brows furrowed. “There’s this criminal, locked up, who has information he refuses to tell anyone. If I’m the one who could get him to crack, I could get a huge promotion, yes, but more importantly, I could get the kids the help they need. I don’t have much to pay you, not a loan like the bank, but I can help you work through logistics and find someone who could sponsor your shop.”

I looked at her skeptically. “You want me to read a fairy’s mind? How much fairy does he have?”

She shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“Yes, of course. The more fairy blood, the easier to read their minds.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “But you’re willing to try?”

I shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

She grabbed my arm and hurried me out of the place and into a yellow taxi. I wasn’t as alarmed as I’d been the first time.

“So,” she said while the cab pulled out fast, pushing me against the back seat. “Why do you want to open a hat shop when you don’t wear hats?”

“I don’t. I made a deal with another fairy for some information.”

“Oh. Well, do you know anyone who’s passionate about hats?”

An image of Max’s beast in a hat hit me hard. “Maybe. I mean, if you were in the woods, far away from civilization, but you wore a very nice fedora, that would mean that you liked hats, right?”

“Love. That’s a scary obsession with hats.”

“Definitely,” the cab driver agreed.

Rynne grinned at me. “So, you’ll just have to convince him to help you. How old is he?”

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