Emily’s Apartment
Saturday, 10:00 a.m.
Emily could have sworn she smelled bacon. It couldn’t have been one of those fairy dreams that took her other places, considering she still had a bag full of herb bundles guaranteed to fend off the fae. If one bundle would protect someone, she didn’t know what a bag would do. She’d given Will one—well, hidden it inside his bag—but hadn’t yet passed out the rest. She wanted a test case. She’d been tempted to leave the bag in her dressing room and see what happened, but she had a matinee on Saturday, so it was a bad day for staying up all night.
Even if had been a fairy dream, they were into dancing, not bacon. It had to be real bacon, and the smell was still there. She rolled over and opened her eyes to find her sister sitting at the bistro table on the other side of her studio apartment, takeout boxes sitting in front of her.
“I thought bacon would make a good alarm clock,” Sophie said.
“Have you heard of knocking?” Emily asked, groping for a bathrobe.
“Would you rather wake up to the sound of a knock or the smell of bacon?” Sophie bent to feed a bit of bacon to Beau, who gazed adoringly up at her.
“Traitor,” Emily accused. “Some guard dog you are. Letting just anyone in.”
“I’m not just anyone,” Sophie said.
“I hope you brought coffee, too,” Emily said, taking a seat and pulling one of the takeout boxes toward her. Sophie often forgot that coffee was essential to life for other people. Without a word, Sophie handed over a cardboard cup. “Okay, you may be forgiven,” Emily said, lifting the lid so she could revel in the aroma before taking a long, reviving sip.
“I needed to talk to you, and it’s not the sort of thing you want to discuss in a diner,” Sophie said. “Since it’s matinee day, I figured this was the only time I was likely to catch you.”
Emily concentrated on inhaling eggs and bacon until her brain was fully awake. “It must be important and of the fairy persuasion if we can’t talk in public.”
“Are you still in touch with Eamon?”
Emily tried to will herself not to blush. In spite of her own fae blood, Sophie tended to be rather anti-fae, so Emily still wasn’t sure what her sister would say about any relationship between Emily and a fairy, even one who’d proven to be a staunch ally. “He came to the show the other night.”
“Oh?” Emily didn’t need to look at her sister to see the slightly arched eyebrow.
“Yeah, he’s a fan of the show—remember, that’s how all this started.”
“If you see him again, could you pass on a message for Nana?”
“Can’t you get into the Realm and see her yourself?”
“Not with enchantresses possibly watching. I can’t afford to let them know what I am.”
“Sounds serious.”
“It might be.”
“I can’t guarantee I’ll see him again anytime soon,” Emily hedged, even though she already had a plan brewing. “The other night was the first I’d seen of him since the last trip to the Realm, and he didn’t seem to notice it had taken any time at all. It could be weeks before he shows up again. What do you want him to tell Nana?”
“We need to see if she can calm the fae down a bit, just until the enchantresses get over the transition. They’re becoming alarmed.”
“I already mentioned something about that to him, so maybe it’s under control. Is it really that bad?”
“I don’t know. Amelia and Athena seem worried.”
“They’re always worried about something. Don’t let this distract you. Focus on the ballet right now.”
“You know me and my overexpressed responsibility gene.” Sophie attempted a smile that didn’t quite work, and Emily wondered what she wasn’t telling her.
“Your responsibility is to the ballet and all those kids who are going to love the Snow Queen. Villains are cool these days, you know.”
“Yes, and that rather alarms me,” Sophie said primly. Emily tried not to smile, but it did seem like Sophie was back to her usual self after a momentary lapse.
“You should also talk to Michael. He keeps running into fae kind of people.” As Emily expected, Sophie immediately turned a bright shade of pink. “What are you blushing about? He’s available now.”
With a sheepish glance upward, Sophie hissed, “Keep your voice down!”
“The floors are pretty thick here. I doubt he can hear me. If he’s home. See, that’s how poorly sound travels. I don’t even know if he’s home.”
“Well, it is rather tacky to move in on him so soon after he’s given up on his wife, especially when it was all my fault in the first place.” Sophie still kept her voice low.
“But this is business-related. That gives you an excuse to talk to him. Be friends now, and when he’s ready—”
“If he’s ever ready.”
“When he’s ready, you’ll be there.” As much as Emily was enjoying this, she had to admit that it was also a little unsettling to see Sophie so discomfited. Sophie was supposed to be totally in control of every situation. That was how the universe worked. Sophie being awkward, shy, and blushing like a schoolgirl meant something was seriously wrong. Or maybe it just meant that she was human and Emily didn’t know her as well as she thought. “Anyway, I think he’d want to be involved because this is affecting him,” she added. “He’s having to deal with some weird stuff at work.”
“True,” Sophie said with a nod so serious that it was almost comical.
“And maybe you could talk about it over dinner,” Emily couldn’t resist adding.
“Emily! And to think, I brought you breakfast.”
“You came into my apartment while I was sleeping.”
“With bacon.”
“True, true. And coffee. But come on, I didn’t get to tease you back in the day because there was nothing to tease you about. You’ve got to let me enjoy being the bratty little sister.”
“Just try to show a little discretion, please.”