To Catch a Queen (3 page)

“You are so very welcome,” Sophie said, fighting to dampen her enthusiasm. She felt like jumping in triumph. In fact, she did so as soon as she was well clear of the palace. For the first time, she started to allow herself to believe that she might actually pull this off. Then she immediately felt a pang of regret that she brutally brushed aside. She paused for a moment to collect herself before opening a gateway and stepping through.

She came out into a wooded area within Central Park in New York City and stopped to take her jacket out of her bag and put it on, since it was cooler here than back home or in the Realm. The biggest perk so far from being queen of the Realm was the ability to travel within the Realm to anywhere else in the world. That had done wonders for expanding the boundaries of her life. Once her cell phone had a chance to connect to the local network, she checked it and made sure she had just enough time to get to her professional-level ballet class.

New York City, the Upper West Side

4:00 p.m.

The bell over the door jingled as Sophie entered the little basement antique shop. “Why, this is a surprise!” Athena Abercrombie said when she saw Sophie. “Amelia! Sophie’s here!” she called toward the back of the shop. In deference to the upcoming holiday, the tiny old woman wore a sweatshirt with a giant jack-o’-lantern appliquéd on the front. “It’s funny, I was just talking about you with Detective Murray. He called us with some questions.”

“Oh, lovely,” Sophie said, her smile feeling tight.

“Come, now, he’s a perfectly nice young man, and he knows you’re doing all you can to get his wife back,” Athena soothed.

Sophie hoped that the red flush she felt spreading across her face would be excused by the fact that she’d just been walking outdoors on a crisp fall day after taking a strenuous dance class, but no such luck. Amelia Abernathy, Athena’s sister, joined them and picked up the conversation as though she’d been there all along. “You know, dear, it’s
him
falling in love that would jeopardize our efforts to rescue Jennifer,” she said. “You falling for him doesn’t matter.”

Arching an eyebrow, Sophie sat in one of the bentwood chairs by the table in the corner. “I’m enchantress and fae. If I want him to fall for me, he will. I may have a lot of self-control, but the fae aren’t known for resisting temptation, and I’m still learning to use my enchantress powers. There’s a risk that if I want something, I could will it to happen without even realizing what I’m doing.” She shook her head. “No, it’s safest if I just avoid him for now and not encourage any little crush I might have developed.”

Athena’s face softened, and she reached over to pat Sophie’s knee. “So you
are
in love with him.”

Feeling her face grow warmer, Sophie looked down and slipped off her shoes to flex and stretch her feet. “I wouldn’t go that far. I hardly know him. Maybe it’s just that I finally got away from my hometown and met a man who’s not a dancer.” She straightened, absently tucking one foot under her, and said with great resolve, “It doesn’t matter, because nothing is going to happen and I’m going to get his wife back for him in the next couple of days, and besides, my position in our little trio rather precludes that kind of relationship for me for the time being.”

She was currently serving as the “maiden” in the “maiden, mother, crone” trio of enchantresses, thanks to having had so little life of her own that she still counted as a maiden after the age of thirty. She’d barely noticed that aspect of life passing her by until a night spent holding a grief-stricken, semiconscious Michael Murray had awakened her long-dormant libido and left her with a raging and very inconvenient schoolgirl crush. She hadn’t yet written “MM+SD=true love 4ever” on the cover of her notebook, but otherwise she was belatedly living her teenage years suddenly and all at once. Next thing she knew, she’d be screaming her head off at boy band concerts.

“I’m sure you’ve got it all under control,” Amelia said in a way that made Sophie feel like she was being humored. “You’re close to getting Jennifer out, aren’t you?”

Sophie sighed as she gratefully took the cup of tea Athena handed her. “I think so. She seems so very, very close. Today, she even remembered her wedding to Michael.” She tried to will away a pleasant little frisson at the mental image of Michael’s hands shaking too badly to properly put the ring on Jen’s finger. It was so
adorable
. “I was wondering, would there be any benefit to giving her a tiny nudge? I know it wouldn’t work to put her under a compulsion and force her out, but she seems to already be heading in that direction. It wouldn’t take much pushing at all, and we’re running out of time.”

The sisters exchanged one of their glances that made Sophie wonder if they could communicate telepathically. “It’s never come up,” Athena said at last. “But then, I haven’t found any stories about enchantresses or other fairies freeing a fairy captive. Religion seems to work in some stories. Do you know if she’s religious?”

“Michael is, and he’s a minister’s son, so I’d imagine she’s at least not hostile to religion. Thanks, I should have remembered that. The Lord’s Prayer comes up in a few of the stories, but I’ve never been sure if they’re inspired by true events or are meant as morality tales—knowing your prayers could save your life, so learn your prayers, and all that. It’s worth a shot the next time I see her.” She pulled her foot out from under her and felt around on the ground for her shoes, preparing to leave, but Amelia cleared her throat.

“There’s something else you need to know,” Amelia said, her face and voice grim enough that Sophie automatically tensed. “There may be an impostor queen. If you had a message from Detective Murray that you’ve ignored, that’s what it’s about. He called us about a case that turned out to be someone who’d been forced out of the Realm after decades in captivity.”

“Ouch,” Sophie said, wincing.

“Exactly,” Amelia said. “There was a fairy nearby who claimed they were cast out of the Realm by the queen. Detective Murray was sure that wasn’t you.”

Sophie tried not to sigh wistfully and grin like an idiot when she said, “Well, at least he gives me the benefit of the doubt.” Then she did sigh, but wearily. “And that’s one more item for my to-do list, but I’ll deal with it next week.”

The sisters exchanged a glance. “There’s more,” Athena said with a wince. “Detective Murray is worried about Emily. He thinks she’s acting strange, like she’s trying too hard to sound normal.”

Sophie nodded. “Lately, she’s been avoiding me as badly as I’ve been avoiding Michael. Something must be up. I’ll check on her.” She glanced at her watch. If she got another teacher to cover her first class, she could meet Emily after the matinee and still get back in time for the rest of her schedule.

As she left the shop, Sophie reflected on the irony of trying to reunite the man she loved with his wife and fighting to keep a throne she’d never wanted. When would she ever get to fight for something she wanted for herself?

The Theater District

4:45 p.m.

Emily Drake reveled in the applause as she took one last curtain call. She’d always lived to perform, but never more so than in the last couple of months. Only when she was onstage did she truly feel alive. But the applause eventually died, and the last members of the audience trickled out of the theater. Still, she hated to leave the stage. She stood there for a long moment after the curtain fell for the last time, until her friend Olivia gave her a nudge.

“Getting a bit greedy with the curtain calls, are we?” Olivia teased. “You’d better hurry and change before the crowd at the stage door gets ugly.”

“Ugly?” Emily asked as she allowed Olivia to steer her toward the wings.

“They’re waiting impatiently for you to make an appearance. You’ve got them eating out of your hand. You’re on fire. Say, you aren’t taking secret music lessons from some scarred guy who lives in the basement, are you?”

Emily twitched. “Why? What makes you think that?”

Olivia paused, frowning, and stared at Emily for a long time. “Are you okay?”

“What makes you think I’m not?”

“You’re a theater geek and a
Phantom of the Opera
joke just flew right over your head.”

Emily shook her head. “Oh, sorry, now I get it. It’s funny, really.” She held still while the sound tech removed her body mike. “I’m just off in la-la land, I’m afraid.”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time there lately.”

“Well, it’s not like I have time to take a real vacation. Not that I’m complaining about eight shows a week. It beats not working.”

One nice thing about being a star was not having to share a dressing room with the rest of the girls in the chorus, so she was able to ditch Olivia and get some peace while she removed her stage makeup, took down her hair, and changed into her street clothes,. She put on enough ordinary makeup to make herself look vibrant instead of drained and pulled her red curls back in a scarf before putting on her jacket, throwing her bag over her shoulder, and heading to the cast exit.

She paused for a moment before opening the door, bracing herself for the crowd that would be waiting outside. The surge of applause that hit the moment she opened the door gave her a lift, so she was able to smile and wave enthusiastically, even though she felt like she was watching an old movie on faded film stock. It wasn’t quite black-and-white, but the colors had washed out to the barest tint.

There was one person in the crowd who stood out in sharp contrast, like fully restored Technicolor. Her strawberry blond hair seemed to burn, and her odd eyes, one blue and one gray, were bright enough for their color to be visible even at this distance. The blue eye was a vivid blue, and although Emily wouldn’t have thought gray could be bright, the gray eye had a silver gleam. Emily didn’t understand why the crowd was so focused on her when Sophie was standing right there, so radiant that it was impossible to look away from her.

Emily signed a few
Playbill
s as she worked her way through the crowd to her sister, who shone like a beacon against her drab surroundings. “Hey, this is a surprise,” Emily said, hugging Sophie and making a concerted effort to look as normal as possible. If Sophie thought she had reason to worry, there was no telling what she might do, and she usually went for the nuclear option at first strike.

“I was in town to take a class, and I got Deb to cover my first class in Maybelle, so I thought I’d stop by before I headed back. Do you want to grab a bite? I’m starving.”

“I don’t have a lot of time between shows, but I’ll join you for coffee.” Emily draped her arm across her much-shorter older sister’s shoulders as they headed for the nearby diner Emily and her cast mates frequented. “You know, one nice thing to come out of all the fairy stuff is you being able to just stop by like this. I’ve missed hanging out with my little big sister.”

She knew Sophie was worried about something when that description didn’t get the usual reaction out of her. But what was she worried about? Had Michael said something? No, he’d said Sophie wasn’t taking his calls. Maybe it had nothing to do with her. She decided to pretend that was the case so she wouldn’t look like she was hiding anything.

Once they were in the diner and seated, Emily ordered coffee and Sophie ordered a soup, salad, and sandwich combo with a cup of tea. “I thought ballerinas didn’t eat,” Emily joked.

“When you take a class, walk all over the city, and open a couple of portals between worlds, you work up an appetite,” Sophie said dryly. “And I still have to teach a couple of classes tonight.”

“I don’t know how you do it. Just doing a show every night and taking a couple of classes a week is about all I can manage, and I’m not even putting up with Mama and looking after Nana. How is she, by the way?”

“Mama or Nana?”

“Either. Both, I guess.”

“Both are pretty much the same.” Sophie sighed and rubbed her temples, and for a moment she looked like an overwhelmed young woman with way too much on her plate instead of like an almost invincible fairy queen. “I hate to put Nana in a home, but she’s reaching the point where she needs more care than we can give her. And then a part of me wants to do it because it means I can get out of there, and I hate myself for that.”

Emily reached across the table and patted her sister’s hand, then squeezed it, unwilling to let go when it was the strongest physical sensation she’d felt in at least a week. Lately, her senses had been so dulled that it was like living inside a cotton ball, and being around Sophie was like having the cotton stripped away. “You’ve done so much, more than anyone else. Look at me, I left the state. I bet Mama’s driving you crazy.”

“She’s treating me like a teenager, even though I’m the one more or less running the household. She seems to know something’s different, even if she doesn’t realize I’m ruling the fairy realm.”

The waitress brought the tea and coffee. Emily dumped two packets of sugar into her coffee, took a sip, and added two more packets plus a package of artificial sweetener. Finally, she could almost taste the sweetness. She looked at Sophie over the rim of her mug and realized that Sophie had noticed. Of course she had. She noticed everything. It would have been easier if Sophie had remarked on it because then Emily could have responded and made some excuse, but since Sophie said nothing, responding would only make matters worse.

“I talked to Michael today,” Emily said, picking a topic sure to put her sister on the defensive. “He said he’s been trying to reach you.”

Sophie focused on swirling the tea bag around in her mug. “I know. He called Amelia and Athena, and they told me.” It was hard to tell, because from Emily’s perspective Sophie was already glowing, but she seemed to glow brighter. “There are some things I’ll need to look into for a case he’s working on.” Yep, she was definitely glowing brighter. Emily thought she knew why Sophie was dodging Michael.
Well, whattaya know,
she thought, resisting a smile. Sophie was human, after all. Mostly.