I got about halfway into the room before I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Where is this guy? I need to get back home before Nina calls out the cavalry again.” And she would too. I’d lose my happy home if it happened again, whether I helped these people or not.

“I am the one you need to speak with,” a smooth voice answered from the other side of the room. It belonged to a girl who, at first glance, looked about my age. After a moment though, I found it harder to guess how old she was. Something about her whispered she’d been around a while. Fae, so hard to tell. She could be a hundred just as easily as the twenty or so she looked like.

The room was nearly bare and even more blindingly white than the hallway, if possible. The girl was wearing white too, making her blend in. Some Jedi robe outfit. Awesome boots that made me so jealous peeked out under this side of the desk she was behind. All the white made the girl’s jet black hair stand out like ink on one of Nina’s bleached sheets. Something about her made me really uncomfortable. Maybe the fact that she was probably the one that had ordered me snatched.

She glanced up from her paperwork, her face showing her utter disdain for the entire situation. “My name is Starren.” She nodded and to two chairs, exactly like the one she was sitting in. “Sit.”

I stepped forward and slid into the chair, half expecting it to grab me. With Wade being my only example of fae character so far, I was beginning to understand Mom’s paranoia. Easy to say I wasn’t a fan. But I would behave, follow along with their little games for now. Until I figured out if what Cumat had said was true or not.

“Mr. Cumat, you are dismissed,” Starren said. “Job well done.” Ah, so maybe the rudeness was reserved just for me.

The dwarf bowed to the girl behind the desk. “Thank you, milady.”

Milady? Was she some kind of royalty or was that normal? Mom, why don’t I know any of this stuff? You taught me all kinds of things about the fae, but nothing relevant! At least relevant as far as I could tell. I waited while the dwarf left. Starren didn’t say anything until the door clicked behind him. “A great retriever but a terrible gossip. That’s why when he complains that we don’t tell him anything, he’s telling the truth.”

“What do you guys want from me?” I asked, not even trying to find a polite way to get it out there. The sooner we got done in here, the sooner I could get out and the better chance I had of not being sent back to the group home because Dan thought I was being an idiot.

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Starren raised an eyebrow. She turned to Wade. “Are you sure she’s fae? She’s too direct.” True. I got that from the humans in my life. Fae were all tricks and games. Like Wade. Which reminded me how mad I was at him right now.

I turned a heated look toward Wade who had taken the seat beside me. He raised his hands as if to say no contest, he knew what I was thinking. “I don’t really consider myself one of your kind,” I said.

“Your services will only be forced for one job,” Starren ignored my comment. “After it is complete, you will be able to choose if you wish to continue working for us or to be left alone in peace. One retrieval and you will be free.”

“And clarify why I would trust you? You sure changed your mind quick, one week having me murdered and the next asking me to help you go after someone else.” I really wanted to avoid getting caught up with these guys if at all possible. They were bad news, always. I had a feeling that was why Mom left Faerie in the first place.

Starren winced. “About that. Most fae’s powers don’t manifest until the day after their eighteenth birthday. According to your paperwork with the homes you’ve been at, you aren’t there yet. You were supposed to be transported to Faerie where you could be properly trained. No one intended for you to die. How long have you been regenerating? Because you were unregistered, we don’t know who your parents are and therefore don’t have a good guess at your abilities. Do you have any other talents?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Me too, actually. I wasn’t supposed to start healing until eighteen? I’d started years ago.

“Trish, cut the crap,” Wade mumbled. “Not here.”

I ignored him, keeping my gaze on Starren. She seemed totally unfazed by my lack of cooperation.

“We suspected as much.” Starren said. “We weren’t even sure that you were fae. One of our trackers noticed something odd when he was doing a sweep and discovered you. Wade was sent to investigate. Once we knew that you were indeed fae, he was forced to act.”

Forced? I sent him a glare to tell him I didn’t believe it for a second.

“After our superiors heard of your ability, they decided to bring you in on this job. We are prepared to make you a deal. You obviously did not go back to Faerie. The Court frowns on this,” Starren said. “In normal circumstances we would be taking you there now, with or without your consent.”

So, she was a backstabber like Wade. Good to know. And this situation could become a whole lot more serious than I’d thought. Also good to know.

“If you help us complete this job, you will be left here where you wish to be. Otherwise you will be collected for training.”

I checked to see if she looked like she was trying to pull something.

She did not.

I’d better at least listen to what this job entailed. Otherwise, my life as I knew it was over.