Black Night by Christina Henry

us.
    “So,” J.B. said as soon as I entered the room. “I hear you’ve got a big mission coming up.”
    I glared at Gabriel. “What did you blab about that for?”
    Gabriel looked surprised. “Because he is Amarantha’s son.”
    “The court that I’m supposed to be going to.”
    “Yup,” J.B. said.
    “That’s your mom.”
    “Yup.”
    “Do you think you might have mentioned sooner that you were a faerie prince?” I said, annoyed.
    “Do you think you might have mentioned sooner that you were the daughter of one of the fallen?” he retorted.
    “I didn’t find out until . . . Never mind,” I said, not wanting to get into a childish argument. “Whatever. So, you’ve got an in with the court. You can help me negotiate with your mom, then.”
    J.B. shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. I’m her heir, but she doesn’t really like me.”
    “Wonderful,” I said. “Is there any useful information you can give me?”
    “Yeah. Don’t go. The last emissary from the fallen was beheaded in front of the entire court.”
    I stared at J.B., who looked completely serious. “You’re not fucking with me, are you?”
    He shook his head. “The negotiator sent by Lucifer so offended the queen—”
    “Your mom,” I interjected.
    “—that she had him summarily executed in front of the assembled court. Upon review of the diplomat’s actions, Lucifer agreed that offense had been given and that the queen’s actions were correct. However, it’s taken almost a year for the queen to accept the possibility of a new negotiation. My mother tends to hold grudges.”
    “I see. I’m so looking forward to this trip. Hey, wait a second,” I said. “When I told you that I was Azazel’s daughter, you acted like you knew nothing of the fallen.”
    “Which is exactly what I was supposed to do until I had discussed the matter with the queen.”
    “Why?”
    Gabriel glanced at J.B. “Faerie courts are very tightly protected, even among supernatural beings. Faeries tend to be quite . . .”
    “. . . rigid and unreasonable,” J.B. finished. “There is a certain order, a certain procedure, for everything.”
    “So that’s why you’re such an anal stick in the mud when you’re at work,” I said.
    He ignored my jibe and continued. “Contact with other species is strictly limited by clearance from the queen. I came into contact with you at work, but that did not mean that I could reveal to you what I knew about the fallen without telling you my own identity.”
    “If your identity is such a big secret, then how come Nathaniel knew who you were?”
    “I met with him during the negotiations to accept a new diplomat to the court. I am frequently my mother’s errand boy,” he said, and he didn’t look too happy about it.
    I supposed I could be annoyed at J.B. for not telling me about this sooner, but really, what right had I to the information? We were friends, but nothing more than that. Still, it made me look at him in a new light. He seemed just as constrained by his heritage as I.
    “Are there any useful tips you can give me at all? I’d really like to make it through my first diplomatic mission without getting my head chopped off.”
    J.B. blew out a breath. “There are so many rules, so many potential breaches of etiquette . . .”
    “I am not entirely sure that Madeline is the best person for this mission,” Gabriel said.
    “Sarcasm is not productive,” I said.
    “I am not being sarcastic. Lucifer surely has members of his own court that understand the complex rules of the faeries and could negotiate them better than you.”
    “That means there’s some special reason why he wants me there,” I said.
    “What reason could that be?” J.B. asked.
    “I don’t know yet,” I said grimly. “But I will find out, sooner or later.”
    “Let’s hope that in the meantime you manage to keep your head,” J.B. said.
    Literally and figuratively, I thought. My temper always ran close to the surface. And when my emotions