They nodded. “I am the pixie queen’s assistant,” the first pixie said. “She has me bring her requests and petitions to Mariam, who takes them to our king.”

“So, you must be here a lot, right?”

She nodded and her friend let out a laugh that sounded like tiny bells ringing. “Most days. Our queen has many petitions for the king.”

“Have you noticed anyone going into Mariam’s office over the past few weeks?”

“Just Mariam and her guests. And the humans who use their tools.”

I went still. “The cleaners?”

“Yes.”

I ground my teeth and scanned the list of names Mariam had given me. They were divided into groups, and there were no humans amongst them.

“Are there many cleaners in this building?”

One of the other pixies, a tiny male dressed in green pants and a white shirt nodded, his wings fluttering as he rose into the air. “There are many humans here. They don’t like us.”

His dark frown said he didn’t like them either.

My curiosity was piqued. “How do you know they don’t like you?”

“They call us rude names. And one of them attempts to use their sucking machine to make us disappear.”

Sudden fury ripped through me. “The vacuum?”

He nodded. “We were nice to the humans when they first started working here. But they weren’t nice back.”

“I’m sorry they weren’t nice to you. Don’t judge us all based on those assholes. Thanks for talking to me. If I have any questions later, can I talk to you guys again?”

They all nodded, and I got to my feet. I stalked back into Mariam’s office, throwing open her door.

She jerked her head up and I scowled at her. “Cleaners, Mariam?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Human cleaners. Why would you need cleaners in a fae building anyway?”

“This facility— and my position— was designed to be a bridge between the fae and every other race in this world.”

I was sure that somewhere, that logic worked for the fae. Personally, I had no fucking idea how. They’d invited humans in here. Humans who would get an up-close look at the wealth and power the light fae held after coming through those portals. How exactly would that help create a relationship of respect?

“So you thought hiring human cleaners would… what? Make you more approachable?”

Mariam flushed. “I didn’t make that decision.”

“Okay. This time I need a list of everyone who had access to this office. Including the humans.”

She picked up the phone, murmured a few words to someone and hung up.

“Adelina will have it for you.”

“Thank you.”

I turned, walked out, took the list from Adelina’s outstretched hand, and scanned it.