“And he’s done.” I leaned out of the kitchen. “Can you call Ricky down? Veronica’s here with breakfast.”

Gabriel’s steps reversed.

“I hate secrets,” Veronica said, still emptying the bag. “Odd for fae, but my kind simply don’t see the point of them.”

“Your kind being coblynau.”

She smiled. “Nice try, but that’s one secret I’m forbidden to share.”

“I think you kind of did.”

“Did I mention I’m terrible at secrets?” She took plates from the cupboard. “Other fae find them delightful. To me, they’re just tedious. Dangerous, too. You get knotted up in lies and misdirection until you can’t find your way out. That’s what’s happening here. The elders spent the night in a meeting. Well, all except Patrick, who wasn’t in on the original secret, and when he finds out, he’ll be rightfully furious, mostly with me, as the one elder he can count on to keep him informed.”

She set out a plate stacked with flapjacks. “Disagreeing with secrets in principle does not mean one is exempt from keeping them…or from suffering the consequences.”

“And this secret concerns the sluagh,” Gabriel said as he walked in.

She smiled at him. “Yes, Gabriel, I’ll get to the point. I was waiting because it concerns you. Patrick as well, and I considered having him here, but I suspect that’s a conversation best had in private, where he can properly tell me what he thinks of me for keeping it from him.”

She tried for a wry smile, but the sadness behind it made me curse Ida all the more. Veronica was right. Nothing good comes of secrets. People get hurt, often those who least deserve it.

“And Ricky,” she said as he walked in. “Good to see you.” There was no sarcasm in her voice—unlike some elders, she treated Ricky like an actual person. “Sit. Eat. You may have little stomach for it by the time I’m through.”

“That sounds ominous,” I murmured.

“Anything concerning the sluagh is ominous,” she said as she pulled out a chair.

“Before you begin,” Gabriel said. “As much as I want the truth, I need to ask how much trouble it will cause you to tell us. If you’ll suffer for it, I’d rather confront Ida. I do have leverage. I’m quite prepared to use it.”

She smiled. “They know I’m here and what I’m doing. I may have lost my temper at about four a.m. Blame a low tolerance for endless meetings and endless bickering. I informed them that I was telling you the truth, and if they had an issue with that, they could banish me.” Her smile grew, her sunken eyes twinkling, and I caught a hint of a much younger fae behind them. “Let’s just say that’s not an option.”

“Ida didn’t insist on coming along?” I said.