I let out a breath. “That’s good to know.”
He tilted his head to study me. “You’re not going to ask about Lukas?”
“No.”
“If that’s all then.” He reached for the door.
“There is one more thing. Do you have time to redo the ward at my apartment while you’re in town?”
He let go of the doorknob. “You have no ward at home? What happened to the one I created for your parents?”
“It was kind of destroyed when Conlan created a ward on the apartment.”
“You should be good then. His magic is as strong as mine, maybe stronger.”
I shifted uncomfortably. “His ward also lets him and his friends enter my home whenever they want.”
“Ah.”
“Exactly. I hired another faerie when I couldn’t get you, but he wasn’t able to take down Conlan’s ward.”
“I’m not surprised.” He stroked his chin. “I’ll come by in a few days and see what I can do.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t ask him how much it would cost because I already knew it wouldn’t be cheap. A ward like his old one could run upward of five thousand dollars, but leaving things as they were was not an option. I tried not to think of my other expenses, such as the building’s intermittent water pressure problems that were most likely going to require a very expensive plumber.
“Okay then.” Tennin opened the door. “I’m out of here. Prince Rhys is in town, and I found out where he’s having dinner tonight.”
“Of course, you did.”
He smirked. “See you around, Jesse.”
* * *
“Jesse, you haven’t listened to a word I’ve said.”
Violet’s exasperated voice broke my concentration, and I glanced up from my task. “Sorry. But you were amazing the first four times you ran through the lines. I didn’t think you needed me to listen again.”
Her scowl transformed into a pleased smile. “You’re just saying that.”
“You’re fishing for compliments. You know those lines so well you can probably say them in your sleep. Like I told you an hour ago, those people are idiots if they don’t give you that part.”
“You’re right.” She tossed the pages she’d been reading on the coffee table and sank down on the other end of the couch to grin at me. “How long have you been at that?”
I shrugged and adjusted the position of the pick I was using to free myself from the shackles on my wrists. “About an hour.”
“I thought you’d already figured out how to pick every lock in this place, Miss Smarty Pants.”
“Every normal lock. These are Agency shackles, and the lock is a lot more complicated. I’ve been working on them for the last few days, and I’m determined to get it tonight.”
In addition to training with Maren, I’d dedicated time each day to practicing with my parents’ weapons and mastering my lockpicking skills. I had also been going through Mom’s computer files that detailed every one of their jobs. Her notes were meticulous. If she and Dad ever wanted to retire from hunting, they could make a killing writing how-to books.
Violet snorted indelicately. “You expecting the Agency to arrest you?”
“Not anymore, but it never hurts to be prepared for any situation. I… Ow!” I rubbed my ear as I glared up at the tree house across the room. There was no sign of Finch, but I knew the little brat was watching me from behind the vines that covered his house. “Stop that!”
“Why is your brother throwing peanuts at you?” Violet asked, not trying to hide her amusement.
“He’s sulking because I went to the hospital without him to see Dad.” I raised my voice. “And if he doesn’t behave, I might not take him tomorrow.”
An indignant whistle came from the tree house, and I bent my head to hide my smile. I’d never follow through on that threat, but it was enough to make him stop trying to injure me.
Violet snickered and picked up the TV remote. She turned on the TV and flipped through the channels while I went back to trying to pick the shackle lock.
“Did the doctor say when your mom and dad will be moved to the treatment facility?”
“Not for another week, at least.”
As much as I wanted my parents to get better, I wasn’t looking forward to the move. Dr. Reddy had informed me last week that the facility limited family visits to only one a week for the first month. I was already trying to figure out a way around that restriction, more for Finch’s sake than mine. He was going to be crushed when he found out he couldn’t go see them every day.
“Once again, here is tonight’s top story,” said a female voice from the television. I looked up at the breaking news headline scrolling across the bottom of the screen beneath a live aerial view of a big house in Hollywood hills. “Jackson Chase has died. The twenty-one-year-old actor, who famously began an exclusive relationship with Princess Nerissa last summer, died earlier today during an apparent failed conversion.”
Violet and I shared a stunned look before turning our attention back to the television. The news anchor tried unsuccessfully to maintain a solemn expression, but the gleam in her eyes betrayed her excitement as she recited the limited details they had about the star’s death. As she spoke, a clip played that showed agents leading a sobbing dark-haired faerie from the house.
“Is that the princess?” I asked.
Violet nodded and placed a hand on her throat. “She looks totally destroyed.”
I swung my gaze back to the news report that was replaying the same footage on a loop. “Why would they risk it?”
Violet wiped away a tear. “They were in love. I guess they couldn’t bear the thought of not being together.”
“But he was too old. They had to know it would never work.”
“Love makes you do crazy things.” Violet shook her head sadly. “Poor Princess Nerissa. What do you think will happen to her?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Nothing. She’ll probably just be sent home.”
It didn’t matter that the princess had broken the law and violated numerous treaties. She was Fae royalty and not subject to punishment in our realm, no matter how serious the crime. And there were few crimes more grievous than an unsanctioned conversion.
Conversion was a simple term for the process to change a human into a faerie. It was so dangerous that it was illegal unless permission was granted by a member of the Fae monarchy. In the rare event that it was allowed, there were certain conditions that had to be met.
The first condition was that the human had to be sixteen or younger. Once the body finished puberty, the risk of it rejecting the change increased exponentially. The younger the human, the greater their chance of survival.
The second was that the child had to be terminally ill. No healthy children were allowed, and there were no exceptions.
The third condition was that only a royal could perform the conversion because of the amount of magic required. Not all royals were created equal, so only faeries with the bluest blood were powerful enough to attempt it.
Even if all conditions were met, there was still a risk of the child not surviving the change. To my knowledge, there had been only nineteen successful conversions in the thirty years the Fae had lived among us. All of the children had been under the age of sixteen.