“One which I might very well condone under the circumstances,” Gabriel said. “But no, presuming you aren’t actually tired, Ricky, and are only attempting to politely extricate yourself from an intimate situation, I’ll ask you to join us in the drink. I believe we could all use it.”

—

We’d barely poured the Scotch when the doorbell rang.

“I would hope that was Patrick coming to tell us Pamela got back safely,” I said. “But it’s a little soon for that.”

“Actually, he will text as soon as she does,” Gabriel said. “I sent him a strongly worded message to that effect, as well as a warning that he may not wish to contact you directly for at least forty-eight hours.”

“Good call.”

The knocker banged. I winced and said, “Tell me we can ignore that.”

“I don’t hear a thing,” Ricky said. “Lloergan? Get back here. You don’t hear it, either.”

Gabriel got to his feet. “I’ll answer and tell the caller, in no uncertain terms, to go away.”

Ricky grinned. “Dare you to say exactly that. Just open the door, give your best Gabriel stare, say ‘Go away,’ and shut it again. Better yet, slam it.”

“I don’t slam doors.”

“You should start. It’s very therapeutic.”

I listened to Gabriel’s footsteps. Then the click of the deadbolt, the whoosh of the door, and a very eloquent sigh.

“Pepper,” he said.

I went into the hall to see her standing in the doorway saying, “Gwy—I mean, Gabriel.”

“You may call me Gwynn, Pepper. I have told you that.”

He sounded deeply resigned, and I knew it wasn’t so much the name as general exhaustion from the endless evening, but Pepper stumbled over herself to apologize.

Grace wasn’t kidding about Pepper’s near worship of Gabriel. If Pepper were actually as young as she looks, it’d be seriously creepy. But it has nothing to do with that. To her, he is Gwynn, legendary king of the Fae, and while she could flip Grace the finger at her teasing, it was a whole different story when she stood in front of Gabriel himself.

“Hey, Pepper,” I said as I walked in, and I swear they both gave sighs of relief.

“Liv,” Pepper said. “I know it’s late. I know you guys must be tired. I wouldn’t come by if it wasn’t…”

She trailed off, and I said, “Important?” thinking she’d blanked on a word again, but she said, “Right, except I’m not sure it is. Maybe it’s just me. I still get confused and…” She inhaled. “I should talk to Veronica first. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bug you guys.”

I caught her arm as she went to leave. “Just tell us.”