Not even a minute had passed, and I couldn’t deny that Donovan and the queen knew each other well. I was fine with it, mostly. He was my mate. I didn’t need to be intimidated by one of his exes.

But I was.

“I’ve a bit of a problem that I think might be one of yours,” Donovan said.

“Let’s not start casting blame about.” The queen shook her finger at him. “Weren’t you there with my daughter when she was caught on film? In the media? You especially know my feelings about this.”

“As I recall, we both agreed it was only a matter of time, but the way it happened was unfortunate. Believe me, this is not the manner in which we wanted to make ourselves known,” Donovan said.

“Unfortunate indeed.” The queen’s laugh was a harsh-sounding thing. “If it had been anyone caught but my Cosette, I might have been able to be a better ally to the wolves, but as things are…” Her eyelids fluttered. “The queens have spoken. The world changes, but our natures stay the same. We choose to hide and disappear rather than rise among the humans. We know what happens when the humans know of our kind… The power is too much, and we dare not risk what terrible things we’d become if we were worshipped again.” She held her hands wide. “I fear there’s nothing I can do to help your cause.”

I’d heard stories, but it was one thing to learn about how some of the fey turned to fearsome gods and ruled over the humans, and another to hear about it from someone who had lived it. Now that I knew why they were leaving, I was kind of thankful. If they really thought that they could turn into gods again, then I wasn’t sure I wanted them sticking around.

Even though I couldn’t scent her emotions through the mirror, the littlest bit of tension around the Lunar Queen’s eyes told me she didn’t agree with what her fellow queens had decided. So maybe there was another option. Too bad it sounded like she couldn’t go against them.

Which meant we might be out of luck, too.

“Is that your new mate with you?”

“Aye. Rude of me not to introduce her. This is Meredith Molloney, my true mate.”

The queen laughed. “I had heard tale of this on the wind, but I didn’t believe such a young one could catch the eye of the notorious Donovan Murry.” She made young sound like it was a bad thing. “And if I’m not mistaken, you were there with my Cosette?”

“I was.”

“Cosette!” The queen called, but her gaze didn’t leave mine. “Did you know your friend was here?”