He pressed his lips together, his gaze flitting impatiently from me to a door off of the living room. “You caught me in the middle of something very important. Not that your parents aren’t important,” he rushed to add. “But this is time-sensitive. I need to take care of it and then we’ll talk.”
“Okay.” What else could I say? I needed his help.
I followed him into an office and stopped short at the sight of the room that was such a contrast to the rest of the apartment. Where the living room looked like it was barely used, the office was bursting with color and personality. Magazine covers and celebrity photographs covered almost every inch of wall space, and the large bookcase was full of camera equipment instead of books. The L-shaped desk was cluttered with more cameras and piles of photos, along with a bowl of questionable food I suspected was Fae in origin.
Tennin sat at the desk in front of two large monitors and typed something on his keyboard. Since there were no other chairs in the room, I stood near the door, waiting for him to speak. He surprised me by calling me over beside him so I could see what was on his monitors. On one was an open folder of digital photos, and on the other was photo editing software.
“I need to get these uploaded ASAP,” he said as he selected a few dozen pictures and opened them in the software. He clicked around too quickly for me to follow him and ran some kind of batch program. In seconds, all the pictures had a watermark of his name across the faces. Opening a browser, he uploaded the edited pictures to a gallery on his website. The whole process took less than five minutes.
“How do you sell the pictures?” I asked, fascinated by this glimpse into his work.
He started to work on another group of photos. “Most I sell to agencies, who sell them to magazines. The hotter ones I auction from my website. When I upload new pictures, an alert is sent out to interested parties, and they can log in to bid on the pictures they want.” He tapped the monitor. “This lot is going to make me a fortune.”
“Who is he?” I leaned in for a closer look. Most of the pictures were of a blond faerie, probably royal if the pictures were as hot as Tennin said. Only royal Fae got people really excited these days.
Tennin smiled smugly. “That is Prince Rhys.”
“Who?” I furrowed my brow, trying to place the name. “Oh, the new prince, right?”
He spun in his chair to narrow his eyes at me. “Are you serious?”
I shrugged. “I’m not really into celebrity stuff, but I do know he’s a big deal.”
“A big deal?” he sputtered, shaking his head. “He’s only the crown prince of Seelie, whose debut the entire world has been going crazy about. Well, everyone but you apparently.”
“I know this will come as a shock to you, but some of us have lives that don’t revolve around your royalty.” I pointed at the monitor. “If no one has seen the prince, how did you get pictures of him?”
Tennin smiled deviously. “I have my ways. I found out he was going to be at the Ralston yesterday for a secret exclusive interview that will be aired with his official intro into society. People will pay seven figures for these photos of him.”
“That’s obscene.” Seven figures for pictures of some faerie prince whose face would be everywhere in a few weeks anyway?
“I know.” Tennin rubbed his hands together. “It’s all about supply and demand. I have a product everyone wants, and they are willing to pay big for it.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Wait. Aren’t you Court faeries already rich? Why do you do this?”
“Because I’m exceptionally good at it and I enjoy the game.”
I shook my head at his total lack of humility and studied the prince’s face again. “Why are you letting me see the pictures? Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell someone about the prince?”
Tennin laughed as if I’d said something hilarious. “My dear girl, by the time you walk out of here, these pictures will already be in the hands of my buyers, and in the process of being uploaded to their websites. By the time you reach the street, millions of ravenous fans will be feasting their eyes on the new prince.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling foolish.
“Even if you did run out and tell the world before I’d uploaded the pictures, you’d only be able to say that he’s blond and handsome, like half of the faeries in existence. No one has been able to get shots of him because this is the first time he’s left Faerie, so I doubt anyone would take you seriously.” He turned back to the monitors and uploaded the last batch of photos. “And now we wait.”
Guilt suddenly pricked me. I was supposed to be looking for my parents, and instead, I was chatting away as if this were a social call. “Can we talk about my parents now? I know they came to see you about a job they’re working on. Can you tell me what you told them and where they might have gone after?”
Tennin hesitated as if he was deciding how much to share with me. “I told them one of my contacts said the goren dealer is an elf, and they might find out more about him at Teg’s.”
“What is that?”
His brows drew together. “If you have to ask, it’s no place for you.”
I was getting tired of men trying to tell me what my place was today. “I can look it up when I leave here, or you can save me the trouble and tell me.”
Tennin huffed. “It’s a place where humans and faeries go to socialize and hook up.”
“I’ve heard of those. My friend Violet has been to a few Fae clubs.” Violet was a little Fae-crazy, like half the population. She’d started going to their clubs the moment she turned eighteen, because that was the legal age to enter a Fae establishment.
“Teg’s is not one of those upscale night clubs. It’s a bar, and it can get wild there at times.” Tennin looked like he regretted mentioning it. “That place will eat you alive.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He scowled. “Look at you. You might as well walk in there and ring a dinner bell.”
I looked down at my outfit of jeans, red top, and short puffer jacket. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“It’s not the clothes, silly girl. It’s you.” He waved a hand at me as if I should know what he meant. “And you don’t even know who’s who in Fae royalty. The moment you open your mouth, they’ll know you don’t belong there.”
I crossed my arms. “I can be tough if I need to.”
His arched eyebrow said he didn’t believe that for one second.
Tennin’s computer dinged, and a new email notification appeared on the screen. He rubbed his hands together. “And so it begins. If you don’t mind, I need to take care of a little business.”
“Sure.” I walked around to the other side of the desk to give him some privacy.
Tennin didn’t waste time. He hit a few keys and settled back in his chair, wearing a broad smile. “Two point five. I’d call that a good night’s work. Wouldn’t you?”
“Two point five million?” I nearly choked out the last word, unable to imagine having that much money. A tenth of that would pay for all the college I wanted.
“Like I said, it’s all about supply and demand.” He stood and began packing camera equipment into a bag. “I hate to cut our visit short, but I have to be in LA in two hours for Princess Titania’s birthday bash.” He stopped what he was doing to shoot me a quizzical look. “You do know who she is.”