Changeling on the Job: A Changeling Wars Novella by A.G. Stewart Page A

first place.
    I turned back around. Kailen hadn’t let go of my arm. I was struck, suddenly, by the soft concern on his face, the way his brow furrowed just so, the intensity of his gaze.
    He cleared his throat and let go. “The Daelus family is ruled by both a king and a queen. The last I heard, they worked together as one, but that was years ago, and relationships are constantly altering.”
    “Another mad queen,” I muttered. “Great.” I dipped my hand into my pocket again, gripping the kelpie heart between my fingertips. “I’ll wait for him at home. All the Sidhe know where the only legal Changeling lives, and he’ll need the heart to complete the blood rite. He might take another mortal, but I’ll just have to somehow find another vial of unicorn-purified water. If I ask around more or just talk to the Oranthil family—”
    Kailen coughed, interrupting me. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled forth a dimly glowing vial.
    “Kailen,” I choked out, “you didn’t.” My gaze went to his face, raking over it for any signs. There didn’t seem to be any new streaks of gray in his hair, any new or deeper wrinkles. “Your exile—did you…?”
    “I didn’t go back to the Fae world,” he said. “I didn’t spend any more of my life. You forget that, despite my exile, I still have connections with the Fae world, mostly unsavory, but connections nonetheless. And, as you may have discovered, many of the Fae still jaunt over to the mortal world once in a while, for one reason or another.”
    I took the vial, a little uncertain, a little suspicious. “What did you have to do for this?” I’d had to implicate myself in a heist and the subsequent transformation of a priceless heirloom, potentially setting myself up with more enemies. As if I needed any more. What was it he had to do?
    “I traded something for it.” He hesitated. “A Le Fay heirloom. A crown.”
    I forgot sometimes that, with the imprisonment of Grian, Kailen was next in line for his family’s rule. And he’d traded the symbol of his rule for this little vial of unicorn-purified water. I clutched the vial to my chest, suddenly afraid I might drop it.
    “I’ve killed a lot of people,” he said. “Lesser Fae, Sidhe—it didn’t matter to me, not when I was seeking my mother’s favor. I may think you’re stubborn and a bit ridiculous for it, but I admire your reluctance to take lives. You might not be able to refrain from killing forever, but I want to help you for as long as you’re able.”
    I closed my eyes, and for a moment, all I could smell was his scent—sweet and faintly spicy. “This doesn’t change anything between us.”
    “I know,” he said quickly.
    I opened my eyes and backed away, putting some distance between us. “I’ve got to go. If I get back to my place before Mr. Cloaky decides to come for the kelpie heart, then I’ll have time to set up traps and figure out the most defensible position.”
    “I can help,” Kailen said, taking a step to follow.
    “No,” I said. “You’ve done enough.” He’d done more than enough. I could feel the balance shifting between us, into a relationship where I expected things of him, and he kept giving, saying he wanted nothing in return, but hoping for it. I didn’t want that from him. I wasn’t sure what I wanted from him, but this wasn’t helping.
    “But I—”
    I held up a hand to forestall him. “If you respect me at all, you’ll let me do this on my own.” I rejoined Anwynn by my car.
    “Well, that was very lone-wolf, spaghetti Western of you,” she said.
    “You were listening?”
    She nodded. “You were right over there. I have plenty good hearing. What did you want me to do? Start singing to myself to drown you out?”
    I couldn’t imagine what Anwynn’s singing would sound like—probably an avalanche of boulders down a rocky slope. “Well, I can’t keep expecting Kailen to step in and save me. He can’t travel between the Fae and mortal