The Autumn Prince

46. Illusions

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

She looked up, surprised but obviously amused, and considered my request before answering. "Privately?" she asked at last, but with a twinkle in her eye that made it deliberately awkward.

"Please."

"Sure Tom, but make it quick. I have a business to run."

She followed me into the office upstairs and sat on the edge of the bed while I paced the floor, trying to order my thoughts.

"Parasol and Morgan," she said abruptly.

"What?"

"The name of my company. I'm not sure you believe I'm responsible for a whole ass company. We have a logo and everything."

"What are you talking about?"

"I have responsibilities, Tom, I wasn't joking when I asked you to make it quick." She wasn't being rude. If anything, the exchange only heightened her entertainment.

"Whatever, Finn," I said in exasperation. "I don't know if I can trust you, but I don't have anyone else to turn to. Miss Gold wants to keep me ignorant, and Becca's the only one who can understand the Glim."

"What makes you think I'm any different? I'm just a contractor."

"You're a hell of a lot more than that, and I think you're willing to share more than Miss Gold. I don't know if you're as honest, but you're on the inside and I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Hmm," she answered in an exaggerated tone. "Maybe I just want people to think I know more than I actually do."

"I doubt it."

"What makes you so say that?"

"My foster father taught me how to play poker, and he was very good at it. You act like someone who's always got a winning hand, but you hold your cards close and drag out the betting so people will ante in more than they can afford to lose."

I was afraid I'd just insulted her, but she burst out laughing. "I like that, Tom, I like it a lot. I'll have to add it to my resume. Okay, you earned at least one honest answer for accepting Amy. What did you want to know?"

"How dangerous am I?"

Nothing in her expression changed, but the fire in her eyes dimmed. She was quiet for so long I thought she decided not to answer me after all.

"Well?" I said into the silence.

"Cutting right to it, are we?" Finn replied, then sighed. "Look, I won't go into the details, but I'll throw you a bone then I have to get back to work, is that fair?"

"I'll take whatever I can get," I said, relieved that she hadn't dismissed me completely.

"You are the offspring of powerful creatures, that alone is enough to get everyone's attention even if you never changed. The leanan sidhe is among the highest order of Fae, and the gean canagh is one of the most feared. Each, in their way, can reshape reality. That's an oversimplification, but for the sake of time just roll with it."

"Okay, I get the part about my grandmother, but how is my dad doing anything to reality?"

"You really haven't studied any of this, have you?" I was embarrassed to admit I had been relying on what others told me, so I kept silent and she continued. "The gean canagh are shapeshifters, not the kind you read about in comic books or fantasy novels, but they can alter their appearance in subtle ways."

"I didn't know that. They have innate magic, not just the toxins?"

"In a sense. The gean canagh are promiscuous by nature and their bodies have developed in a way that reinforces mating bonds. Their chemistry is one of them, but the other is a subtle, physical reconfiguration. When they find a potential mate, each becomes the other's ideal."