Distracted, I finished the buttons. “You can turn around now,” I said, sitting on my bed to put on my boots.

Quen turned, rings clinking meditatively in his hands as his eyes traveled over me, taking in my choice of clothes. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. It had taken me three days in a car to learn Trent’s tells. Quen was a lot harder. “What about Nick?” he asked, his voice flat as the rings shifted from hand to hand.

I stood there, feeling my toes sink into my boots. Shrugging, I took the rings from him and put them in the single vest pocket. “Everything he hears or sees is going right into Ku’Sox’s head. I’m counting on it, which is one of the reasons we’re going to do it tonight. What happens after tomorrow, I’ll deal with tomorrow.” Turning to the mirror, I stood beside him, gazing at our reflection and evaluating my new look. I touched my hair, deciding the braid was holding up well enough. “So we good?”

“Just one thing.” I turned to him and he tossed his head to the front of the church when the bell gonged. “Don’t eat the pizza.”

I froze, as he reached for the doorknob. Taking a breath, I jumped into motion, confused. Don’t eat the pizza? “Quen?” I jerked him to a halt in the hallway. I could hear the pixies in the sanctuary, Jenks berating Nick. “Why not?”

Posture furtive, he winced. “Didn’t your father ever tell you not to eat with the elves?”

“Sure, because . . .” I stopped, my eyes narrowed as Quen’s smile shifted and became not nice at all. “Because you might forget your life as you drink and make merry,” I said, not liking this. It was a forget spell, temporary but effective, and Ivy and Jenks would be pissed. “Quen, I’m not going to lie to them.”

“Even to save their lives?” Without another word, he strode into the brightly lit sanctuary.

Stupid-ass elves . . . I followed, my stomach churning. This wasn’t right, and I felt torn as I stood at the top of the hall and looked over the sanctuary with Ivy’s piano, my desk, Kisten’s pool table, and the cluster of furniture. Quen was already there among them, looking as if nothing was amiss and he wasn’t about to charm them all into forgetfulness. Nick was still sitting in his chair, watching Ivy at the front door taking the pizza and paying the man. Pixies were everywhere, the colored silk and bright voices filling the air. Jax was sitting on the coffee table with Belle, but it looked as if she was talking, not guarding him. There was a cheer when the church door shut out the cold, and Ivy came back to drop the pizza on the coffee table right in front of Nick. Don’t eat the pizza.