Dad nodded. “I think he’s right, Jesse, but it’s up to you. We will go along with whatever you decide.”
“They’ll want to know how she survived the conversion,” Mom said anxiously. “If people find out about her goddess stone, that will put her in more danger.”
Lukas shook his head. “We are not telling anyone about the goddess stone. The only people who know about it are those Jesse has told, and we are keeping it that way.”
I stared at him. “You didn’t tell the king?”
“The goddess stone is your secret to tell,” Lukas said, his tone softening. “You trusted me with it, and I will never break that trust.”
My heart sped up as I felt something pass between us. “We would do the interview together?”
“If that’s what you want.” One side of his mouth lifted. “They’ll give you whatever you ask for to secure this interview.”
I inhaled and slowly let out the breath. I did not want to go on camera and share details of my private life with the world. But there was nothing I wouldn’t do for my mother, and this was a small price to pay for her peace of mind.
“How do we do this?” I said at last.
“You decide who you want to do the interview with, and I’ll make the arrangements. They’ll want to do a sit-down interview and a photo shoot. We can work out the details.”
“No live interview,” I blurted. This was going to be bad enough without doing it in front of millions of people. “I want Tennin to do the photo shoot.”
Lukas’s eyes lit with amusement. “Anything else?”
I pursed my lips, starting to warm to the idea. If this was my only option, I was going to make the most of it. “Maybe. I’ll let you know.”
* * *
“Jesse, Jesse, over here!”
“Are you going back to work as a bounty hunter?”
“Don’t you think it’s wrong for a faerie to hunt other faeries?”
I tossed a friendly smile at the small group of paparazzi, let them snag a few photos, and jogged up the steps to the Plaza. I was used to them dogging me, and thanks to some advice from Tennin, I could handle them like a pro now.
It had been two weeks since Lukas and my exclusive two-hour interview aired. We’d spun a story of how we’d met and worked together during the search for the ke’tain, which the whole world had heard of by now. We kept the host on the edge of her seat with a thrilling tale of how I’d been kidnapped and shot by one of Davian Woods’s men while trying to bring the ke’tain to Lukas.
Since I had been unconscious during the conversion, the host directed her questions at Lukas. She’d dabbed her tears away when he told her how I’d nearly died. Out of gratitude for my heroism, a group of Fae royals had attempted a conversion, and by Aedhna’s blessing, it had worked.
Now that the whole country saw me as a hero and we’d killed the rumors of a love affair with the Seelie crown prince, the media was kinder to me. The story wouldn’t go away anytime soon, but the situation was bearable now. A national hero was a lot less exciting than a Fae crown prince’s secret lover. Some paparazzi still followed me and tried to provoke me into giving them fodder for a new story, but they weren’t nearly as aggressive.
I entered the Plaza lobby, relieved they couldn’t follow me inside. The first people I saw were brother and sister team, Kim and Ambrose, and I smiled at them. Ambrose had been in a perpetual bad mood since the day I’d met him, but Kim and I got along well. I expected the scowl he shot my way, but hers took me aback.
A few feet from them stood a group of four hunters that included Aaron and Adrian. The Mercer twins smiled, and Aaron gave a friendly wave, but the two other hunters, whom I knew by name only, glared at me. I looked to the other side of the lobby and was met by more cold stares.
I’d heard from Maurice how unhappy the other bounty hunters were about the media attention, but that hadn’t prepared me for this chilly reception. Though I didn’t blame them for being upset, I had hoped they would be a little more forgiving. It wasn’t as if I’d gotten shot on purpose and asked for the conversion or the publicity that came with it.
I crossed the lobby to the elevators. Before I reached them, a hunter named Sean Murphy stepped in front of me to block my way. Sean was in his late twenties, wiry with long, sandy blond hair in a ponytail. He was one of the hunters who had challenged my story when I’d brought in a goblin as my first capture, but I hadn’t spoken to him since that day.
He crossed his arms. “What are you doing here?”
I bristled at his tone. “Same as you, I would imagine.”
“You’re not the same as me,” he bit out. “You’re one of them now, and you don’t belong here.”
“Yeah,” one of his friends called. “The only faeries in this building should be the ones in iron.”
Their open hostility was like a slap to the face, but I refused to let them see how much it bothered me. I looked at the second man. “There’s no law against a faerie being a bounty hunter.”
Sean’s lip curled. “There should be. How do we know you won’t take their side against us?”
“Whose side?”
“Faeries,” Ambrose spat from the other side of the room. “They look out for their own, and we look out for ours.”
Anger sparked inside me. “Is that so? I must have missed all of you looking out for my parents when they went missing in December. You know, the two human bounty hunters who almost died at the hands of faeries.”
“That’s different,” Sean protested. “The Agency opened an investigation and –”
“And you did nothing.” I shot them all a scathing look. “You know who helped me look for my parents? Faeries. So, don’t talk to me about how you take care of your own.”
The lobby went quiet, and everyone averted their eyes. I thought we were done with the conversation until Sean spoke. “That doesn’t change the fact that you lied to us. You didn’t tell us about the conversion, and then we got mobbed by reporters while you hid out at home.”
“I’m sorry about the reporters, but you can’t blame me for their actions.” I looked around the room and met the eyes that were watching me. “If any of you were in my shoes, would you want the world to know?”
“I sure wouldn’t,” said a new voice.
I turned to face Trey, who had entered the lobby without my notice. He gave me a small smile of solidarity and came to stand beside me.
“Jesse jumped into the East River to save me from a kelpie. I wouldn’t be here if not for her. I’d take her as a partner any day.”
“She was still human then,” Sean argued like a dog with a bone.
Trey waved a hand at Aaron and Adrian. “She was a faerie when she saved all of our asses on a banshee job.” He turned back to Sean. “You know what? I found out about her conversion weeks ago, and it didn’t change a thing. I’d still choose her as a partner.”
I nudged his arm with mine. “Aw, shucks.”
“It’s one thing to bring in lower Fae,” Ambrose said. “What happens if you ever have to deal with a Court faerie?”