My mouth must have been hanging open while I stood by the front door to Lacroix’s car, because he yelled at me to get it together. I had no idea that Jack had met my father, let alone talked to him. A dozen questions popped into my head to ask Jack, but I didn’t want Lacroix privy to the answers.

  “We need to get our stories straight before we get back,” Lacroix said to me and eyed Jack in the rearview mirror. “You got a call from your fiance saying he got mugged, saw the dagger, perps were gone, and he was at the church. We went down to the church and you came with me through the front expecting to see your boy, but when he wasn’t there, we got suspicious. We heard a commotion from the side room, he was strung up like Jesus on the damn cross and I shot that nutbag while she was trying to stab him for their crazy frog cult. His blood is around because they beat him, your blood is at the scene because you got a bloody nose from the stress or whatever. You both saw what happened to the other two.” His driving was slightly less erratic as he described the scene.

  “Sounds good,” I said.

  “Aye, Aye, Sir,” Jack said.

  When we walked into the station we were met by a man with greying hair and a stocky build. I noticed that the office seemed a bit quieter, Chen and Lopes were typing into their computers. Lacroix greeted him and immediately handed his gun over. Word had traveled fast.

  “Sergeant Herbert,” he said.

  “Lacroix.” Herbert said, “And this must be the new forensic photographer. Will both of you join me in my office?”

  Lacroix’s demeanor did not change, but Herebert’s request was clearly an order. We went into a medium office with a large wooden desk, filing cabinets and a computer. Herbert shut the blinds on the door before offering us chairs on the far side of his desk. He sat across from us without speaking. He was not a heavy man, but if he used to work on his physique, he had given up on that endeavor years ago. His hair was thinning, so he puffed it up in an attempt to appear otherwise, and his face had the deep creases of someone who often scowled.

  “Mighty fine mess we’ve got here?” Herbert said with a frown. “You think a camera’s gonna protect the newbie from a stab wound? I’m still dealing with the paperwork from her little run-in with that big bad rabbit. What was she doing in there anyway?!”

  “We had no reason to believe the perpetrators were in the facility,” Lacroix said in a statement he had likely been rehearsing in his head on the drive over.

  “Oh please, you can say what you want in your report, but I want the truth,” Herbert hissed and slapped his desk. A pencil rolled off of a pile of papers, landing on the floor by my foot.

  I opened my mouth to admit it was my fault. After all, I wasn’t going to be at that job for very long, and I didn’t want to negatively affect Lacroix’s career. But, Lacroix glared at me and I shut it.

  “Her fiance had expressed that he had been mugged outside and the perps left. Only reason I went to get his statement was cuz he saw one of them knives,” Lacroix explained.

  “I see.” Herbert settled back in his chair and eyed a hand-written note on his desk. “Well, word is you got the killers of that drug dealer from this morning. Our official statement will be that you followed up on a lead at the church and found them fixin’ to do another murder. We don’t need to mention who, and we certainly don’t need to mention anything about O’Malley being there.”

  “Yes, sir,” Lacroix said.

  I nodded.

  “Now, I been hearin’ Chen talking about the murderers sayin’ something homophobic. Since that’s hearsay, we don’t need to be spreading that around. As far as we’re concerned, it was a drug deal gone bad.” He took a swig from his coffee mug and made a face.

  “What about all the frog cult stuff?” Lacroix asked.

  “Hold on.” He pressed a button on the phone on his desk and said, “Martin, get me some real coffee will ya?” Then to me: “You know how to make a good coffee, O’Malley?”

  “Uhh…maybe?” I wasn’t entirely sure how to answer that question, since I didn’t think there was much skill to making coffee, but I also didn’t want to be dubbed the office coffee-maker.

  “Figures. Not one person makes a good coffee ’round here. Oh, and you know what?” He pressed the speaker. “Get some beignets while you’re out.”

  There was no response from Martin.

  “That big stack of paperwork ain’t gonna write itself.” Herbert turned to look at his computer as if the conversation were over.

  “Sir? What about the cult stuff?” Lacroix repeated his question.

  “Hmm? ‘Ain’t your problem. Starting today you’re on leave and vacation. Look at that, a double vacation. Lucky you.”

  “Couldn’t have asked for better,” Lacroix said sarcastically.

  “You’ll get your gun when you come back. Our photographer will have to take time off and talk to our counselor too. Have Chen or Lopes take pictures in the meantime,” Herbert said gruffly.

  “Fine by me,” Lacroix said.

  “Oh and Lacroix? Be a good lad and close that door behind you,” he said with an extra bit of southern twang to it.

  I was not a fan of Sergeant Herbert and by the way Lacroix balled his fists when he stomped back to his desk, I assumed he wasn’t either.

  The next few hours at the station were tedious to say the least. Lopes and Chen got sent to do forensics on our new crime scene, but not before they grilled us for the details about what happened. Jack and I were asked the same questions over and over from multiple officers. Lacroix went back to his pineapple shirt and filled out paperwork for hours on end, which he would occasionally have me verify or sign. Through it all, Jack appeared to be in good spirits. He was humming a peppy tune whenever he was waiting for the next officer to question him or writing his statement. I was sure it helped that the office had decent air conditioning.

  As soon as Jack and I were left alone together, I was able to ask him about what actually happened. “How did you get caught by the cultists in the first place?”

  “Ah, right. Well, after walking around all night, I came home to find you had left. I didn’t actually know where you went off to, but I was tired, and you hadn’t been injured, so I figured you went out to breakfast. That was when I shut my eyes for the tiniest second. When I woke up, I was worried that it was getting late and you were still gone. Then I was kind of annoyed that you didn’t leave a note, so I thought I’d head to the church. If you were trying to infiltrate them without me, I’d find you. Otherwise, I’d solve the case all on my own.” He nodded and then frowned. “At least, that was what I thought. When I got to the church, I thought they had you somewhere, so I didn’t freeze them right away. They slapped iron manacles on me before I realized it.”

  “Why didn’t they kill you right away?” I asked.

  There was a coy smile on Jack’s face. “I recognized the blond…Alicia? She kept going on about Pete, so I told her I knew where he was, and I’d tell her if she let me down. None of them liked that idea. But it stalled them a bit.”

  “And then you hung out waiting for me to save you?” I asked suspiciously. It really seemed like there was a piece missing from Jack’s story.

  “Well, no, I had to make sure you’d hurry up, so I said some unkind things to them to get them to rough me up a little with the iron pans.” Whenever he shifted, the pirate shirt would ride up to reveal his bare midriff.

  “You did that, knowing I’d get hurt too?” I could still feel the bruises on my legs and side even though they were gone.

  “Precisely because you would.”

  “That’s cold, Jack,” I couldn’t help but say, but it was a good enough plan to get out of there, and it worked.

  I was thoroughly sick of the case by the time Lacroix finished something at his computer and came over to me.

  “I just watched the video surveillance from the bar. Turns out those cameras work just fine. Nancy didn’t want us to know she was trading high end booze to Kurt for drugs. We got a clear video of the assailants, and the woman takes her mask off when she’s yelling at the victim. We got her face, which’ll help clear me on the shooting.” His words were a relief to all of us.

  I felt badly for what happened to Alicia. She seemed like a victim turned into a homicidal maniac, but then again, that was likely how many murderers started out. I regretted letting her leave the rooftop in a daze without at least offering to help her even though I had barely made it off the rooftop with my own life.

  Eventually, we were allowed to leave. I thanked Lacroix and he assured me he would collect the debt I owed him some day. I was too hungry and tired to dwell on how ominous his words were, so Jack and I went on our way out into the city.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I doubt the cultists will go back to the church,” I said, “We’re going to have to find out where else they meet.”

  “They’ll probably hang flyers again. We just have to be patient,” Jack said. “Hailey, you saved my life back there. You know I’ll never forget that.”

  “Sure, but I saved my life too, and you’re already my slave right now so I don’t see what else I can get from you,” I said, eyeing another brightly-painted cajun house as we passed.

  “How about, let’s be just tourists tonight? We can eat good food, go on tours, you can see all the pirate stuff or vampires. Let’s just have fun tonight. Tomorrow, we can go back to looking for the frog cult.” Jack had a sparkle in his eye.

  Part of me wondered if he was trying to keep his new iron immunity a little bit longer, but I didn’t hate the idea of having some fun for a change, especially after what we’d gone through together. “Fine.”

  “Fine? You mean it?” Jack actually leapt into the air and shook his fists in victory. “There’s a really great restaurant down this way. I wonder if the bug museum or aquarium are still open? Or the jazz museum? You like music.”

  “Let’s just start with food,” I said as we made our way into the rich scents of cajun spices.

  There was a fancy-looking restaurant with a natural wood patio and tables covered in red burgundy cloth. Waiters were walking over to finely dressed patrons with wine selections. The aroma wafting from the doorway was incredible.

  “That’s it,” Jack said.

  Peering over at our pirate t-shirts, I said, “I think we’re a bit under-dressed.”

  “Nothing a little glamour can’t fix,” Jack said with a wink.

  In an instant, I could see the illusion of a black suit over Jack’s t-shirt and shorts. I looked down to find myself in a long blue gown. If I had the power to disguise my clothing that morning, I would’ve worn pajamas all day.

  Jack stepped up to the host who was standing by the front entrance to the patio. The man barely looked up from his seating chart to acknowledge we were standing by him.

  “We would like a table for two,” Jack said.

  “Do you have a reservation?” The man asked in a slightly french accent.

  “No,” Jack said.

  “Then, I am afraid it is impossible. We are fully booked.”

  I began to turn around when a voice as warm as tea with honey said, “good, the other two members of my party have arrived.”

  Maron was sitting at a table in the corner with two empty chairs in front of him. He was wearing a black dress-shirt that he had left unbuttoned on top to expose his umber skin. His hand held a glass of red wine out as if inviting us to partake in it with him. There was something about his facial features that always looked friendly to me. He had a round nose and wide eyes which drastically contrasted all of Jack’s sharp features. If I took the time to compare the two, they were physically the opposite in many ways, but their personalities had some similarities. They were both faeries, afterall.

  Before I could stop him, Jack walked over to the table and took the seat across from Maron. I begrudgingly followed and sat beside him.

  “Great, what’s good here?” Jack opened up the menu.

  “I guess we’ll both have to find out for ourselves,” Maron said.

  “I believe I was pretty clear this morning when I said I didn’t need your help.” I crossed my arms over my chest and contorted my mouth into the deepest frown I could muster.

  “I take it you two know one another?” Jack asked, “Ooh, Hailey, they have crawfish!”

  “Jack, meet Maron, my ex,” I said with a sigh.

  “You dated a Satyr? That must’ve been fun,” Jack laughed. “So, Maron, what brings you to town?”

  I thought about telling Maron off one more time and walking out, but when I saw a couple on the other end of the patio get their meals, I decided better of it. Stomach-2, Hailey-0.

  “As I told Hailey, you did. I was curious as to why both of you remain in New Orleans when the job, as far as the Queen is concerned, is finished,” Maron said.

  The conversation paused as the waiter, dressed in black and white, placed glasses in front of us and filled them from a pitcher. He then asked for our orders. I had been too flustered by Maron’s arrival to give the menu a proper look.

  “My lovely fiance and I will be sharing the crawfish and having a Banana Foster for dessert, isn’t that right darling?” Jack said with a grin.

  I saw no fault in the order, so I nodded. Maron’s mouth was ajar for a second until he collected himself and placed his own order. After the waiter left, there was silence that lasted an excruciatingly long time.

  “Fiance?’ Maron nearly choked. “That’s not possible.”

  I wasn’t an easily angered person. Generally, I liked to gather all of the information before I acted. The downside of this was that I had a tendency to act or speak a little later than I should. This time, however, I could feel the rage building that had been smoldering for over a year. “What? You don’t think I could find happiness without you?!” I asked.

  “No, that’s not it. I just…it hasn’t been that long since we…” Maron was flustered, and I was glad for it.

  “You don’t believe us? Hailey, why don’t you show him the ring?” Jack asked, grabbing my hand and holding it up.

  I was immediately embarrassed from the farce. Even though I was mad at Maron, I could see his hurt expression, and I was never a big fan of lying. But something changed when he looked at the ring. He eyed it curiously at first and then knowingly.

  “Ah, I see now. Whatever it is he’s making you do…or wear,” he said, eyeing our matching pirate shirts, “you don’t have to. I’ll figure out a way out of that spell,” Maron said.

  “I doubt that,” Jack said. “You should stick to making wine or the other proclivities of Satyrs.”

  “I’ve been around long enough to see a trickster’s charm,” Maron said.

  “Been around long enough?” Suddenly Jack’s countenance changed. He had stopped slouching in an attempt to appear small and his boyish expression vanished. As he straightened his back the porch felt darker and a little cooler. His voice grew lower in tone as he said, “What would a rake like you know of time? You think pissing your days away on sweet drinks and women in the heat of lust is worth the everlasting tenacity of those fighting to survive a second in the icy stillness?”

  “What are you even talking about?” Maron asked, unfazed.

  I, however, was unnerved. It was the first time I had been given a glimpse of what Jack was hiding under his meticulously-constructed, childish facade.

  Jack glanced at me and then settled back into his chair. “Nothing, probably.” The shadow faded and the thick heat embraced us once more.

  When the meal came, I was glad to have a distraction. Each piece of crawfish was more delicious than the last, but I found I had to eat more than I would have liked to feel satiated. The little crustaceans were annoying to open and left a mess of shells like lobster but with less meat. At least, that left plenty of room for dessert. Since the conversation was exceedingly awkward, I ordered wine for myself and Jack followed suit. I wasn’t a very big drinker, but that night was going to be an exception.

  “Not that it’s any concern of yours, but all I have to do is solve the case we’re working on, and the ring should come off,” I eventually said.

  “Then, let me help you,” Maron said.

  “No,” Jack and I said in unison.

  “Who even told you about this?” I asked.

  Maron put his hands up. “Don’t be mad.”

  I refused to agree to his terms and waited for him to respond.

  “OK, your mom,” he said.

  “What?!” I practically yelled and got a few glares from the couple on the other side.

  Jack waved at them.

  “She said she was worried about you and wanted me to check,” he said.

  “Why would she even talk to you? Does she know?” I could feel the heat rushing to my face. The thick air around me was beginning to feel like a smothering blanket.

  “Know what?” Jack leaned onto the table with both elbows in anticipation.

  “Yes, of course, she does,” Maron said. His lips were forming the adorable pout I absolutely hated.

  “Then why would she talk to you?”

  “Can someone tell me what you’re talking about?” Jack asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Fine. It’s the whole reason Maron and I broke up. He betrayed me and my family.”

  “Ooh, I just assumed he cheated on you, being a Satyr and all,” Jack said while stealing a truffle fry from Maron’s plate.

  “That is a hurtful stereotype,” Maron said and slid his plate to the center of the table to give Jack easier access to them.

  “No, you see my dad, the whole reason I’m working for Mab. My father stole something from her,” I started.

  “What did he take?” Jack asked.

  “I don’t know, but she wanted him to pay for it. He was hiding from her, and Maron turned him in,” I said, when the wine arrived I took a big gulp.

  “I had to, Hailey. The Fae cannot disobey the Queen’s command,” Maron said.

  Jack was now leaning on both of his hands watching us like a daytime drama. He was popping fries into his mouth as if they were popcorn.

  “You could’ve let him get away,” I said.

  “I tried. You made contact with him a few times while we were together, and I ignored it until he showed up that day.” Maron rubbed the spot between his horns as if he were getting a headache. “He was the reason the Queen put me there, and you know it.”

  Jack gasped as if there was a sudden plot twist. Just then, the banana Foster was placed in front of me with two spoons. I was no longer in the mood for eating.

  “I suspected,” I said. “But until you said it now, I wasn’t sure. Was our relationship real or were you just trying to capture my dad?” I asked the question that had been bothering me for over a year.

  “I wasn’t supposed to get to know you, Hailey. My job was to follow you and wait for your dad to visit you, but you saw me and insisted on talking to me until we became friends, until I fell in love with you. Giving your dad to the Queen was the hardest thing I ever had to do, because I knew I’d lose you,” Maron said. The tears in his golden eyes were sparkling in the fading daylight.

  “Well, you did it anyway,” I said.

  Looking down, I saw that Jack had eaten most of the ice cream from my sundae. He licked some chocolate syrup from the side of his spoon and then saw me eyeing him.

  “You deserved better, but, Hailey, I never wanted you to work for the Queen,” Maron said.

  “He’s still alive,” I blurted out.

  “What?”

  Now Jack appeared more interested in the conversation as well.

  “My dad. She didn’t kill him. That’s what I’m working for. Mab said if I do her detective work for seven years, she’ll let him go,” I said.

  “Hailey, you can’t trust the Queen. She’s vindictive. Even if he’s alive, you don’t know what he’ll be when you get him back,” Maron said and reached his hand across the table as if he wanted to hold mine like we had done so many times in the past.

  “He’s got a point.” Jack agreed.

  “What do either of you know about family?!” I slammed my hands onto the table. Glasses fell drenching the tablecloth while silverware crashed to the ground. I could feel the eyes of those around us staring at me and the heat became unbearable. Without wasting any time, my feet took off running from the patio. My mind caught up with them in time to realize I was jogging down the crooked sidewalk. I had no destination except away. Away from faeries and their lifeless immortality. Away from faerie games and payments. Away from the overreaching fear of a cruel monarch. I had to find somewhere that wasn’t being suffocated by the dark Queen’s grasp.