Page 31 of Night and Silence

“Too bad you didn’t think so when you called the cats,” said Arden, shooting a sharp look in my direction. Then she sagged and sighed. “That wasn’t fair. I’m sure they know about this place, too. They have to. It’s their job to find the lost places, and this isn’t a lost place, but it’s got to be close enough to attract their attention, and this is their kingdom, too. There’s no way they didn’t receive the same message my grandparents did.”

“Which was?” I pressed. Quentin was still holding the bundle of Gillian’s clothing. I pointed to it. “Because whoever owns this place, someone wanted me to think they were the ones who took my child. Someone wanted to start trouble for them, or for me. I think I have a right to know.”

“I think that’s a very human approach to a very inhuman problem,” said Arden levelly. “There are secrets in this world that you have no right to. Not every question you ask demands an answer.”

“My daughter is missing.”

“And Madden has already confirmed that she is not, and was never, here. The person who took her was laying a false trail.”

I agreed with Arden, but in that moment, I couldn’t say so. All I could do was stare at her, my heart in my throat and the blood pounding in my ears until I couldn’t hear anything else. Quentin stepped up next to me, lending support through his silent presence. Only Quentin. May was nowhere to be seen. I glanced around and didn’t find her in the shadow of the trees.

Quentin didn’t seem alarmed, which meant May had told him where she was going. I returned my focus to Arden, trying to breathe levelly so as not to start shouting at the queen. That never ends well for me.

“Your Highness,” I said, through gritted teeth, and watched Arden flinch from her own title like it was an enemy’s blade. “I am a hero of the realm, named so by your own tongue. I am in pursuit of a missing child who was born of Faerie, even if she no longer claims it. You say there are secrets I have no right to. Well, by your own admission, I’m already standing in the middle of one of those secrets. Someone led me here, probably because they were trying to incriminate whoever lives here, and hence means them harm, which I think is sort of more important than preserving their privacy. I don’t have a lot of time to waste, since I need to get back to finding my daughter. What is this place? Why is it here?”

“This place is an agreement,” said a cool, unfamiliar voice with a strong Taiwanese accent. I turned. May had stepped back through the brick wall with a short, willowy woman at her side. The stranger’s blazingly blue eyes and cat-slit pupils betrayed her nature even before I tasted her heritage on the breeze.

I bowed, showing her all the courtesy and regard I had denied Arden. It was an intentional snub, and from Nolan’s small gasp, I knew it had been received. “It is an honor to stand before a Queen of Cats,” I said.

“Yes, it is,” agreed Shade mildly. “But we have met before, and this should be done quickly. Have you touched anything? Taken anything?”

“Only what was taken from me.” I indicated the bundle in Quentin’s arms. “We were led here by the blood trail of my daughter’s clothes.”

“There should be no objection to reclaiming lost property, as long as it is followed by swift departure.” Shade looked to Arden. “Are we in agreement?”

In her feline form, Shade was a Blue Point Siamese, perfectly designed to blend into the fog that sometimes shrouded the city streets in the early morning. Her bipedal shape echoed that coloration, with snowy skin that darkened to a deep gray at her wrists, the points of her ears, and in an accenting stripe across the bridge of her nose. Her hair was black at the root, lightening slowly to that same blue-gray, and finally bleaching itself white for the last few inches. She could have chosen to look more like one of the Daoine Sidhe, as Tybalt often did: it was rare to see him with his stripes showing. The fact that she hadn’t showed how little she cared for the good regard of the Divided Courts.

It was interesting, sometimes, being reminded of how unusual a King of Cats Tybalt was, and had been long before I’d come along to turn his world upside-down. He cared about things outside his Court. Not all Cait Sidhe bothered.

“Yes,” said Arden.

I straightened. “I still want to know what this place is. Someone thought they could use it to hide my child.”

“It is, as I have said, an agreement,” said Shade. Maybe it was the fact that my own Queen clearly hadn’t been telling me what I needed to know, or maybe she just didn’t care about keeping secrets that didn’t belong to her, but she continued, “When this city was still forest and field, still owned at least in part by those mortals who were here before the new Americans came and drove them out, an individual came before the rulers of our spaces, our kind. They held certain charms and a grant of land from Oberon himself. This, here, is what they asked for, and it was given. Did you never wonder why it is the Divided Courts claimed no authority here? There is a Court of Cats, for there must be to keep the shadows open, but the ones who should have demanded allegiance keep their distance.”

“Because Oberon told you to.” I glanced at Arden. She was glaring at Shade, her hands clenched. That, more than anything, confirmed Shade’s story. “Do you know who the land grant was for?”

“No,” said Shade.

“My father tried to find out before he died, but he never succeeded,” said Arden. “This is the first time I’ve been here. We’re breaking a dozen rules of etiquette just by breathing this air. We need to leave.”

I thought of the absence of magic in the house, of the spare décor and the empty rooms. Whoever lived here was keeping an intentionally low profile . . . but apparently, they had still made at least one enemy.

“All right,” I said. “But if I have to come back to save my daughter, I will.”

Arden sighed. “I know. I couldn’t stop you if I tried.” She sketched an archway in the air with her hand. A portal opened, showing her throne room in Muir Woods. “Please be careful. I don’t know who owns this land, but I know they were able to win it from Oberon himself. That’s not a person to toy with.” Then she was gone, Nolan behind her, leaving the faint scent of blackberry flowers and redwood bark hanging in the air.

I turned to Shade. “Did the Prince of Dreaming Cats come with you?” I asked. It would have been nice to see Raj, if only to confirm that he didn’t know about this place. I knew Tybalt couldn’t tell me everything about the Court. It wouldn’t make sense to expect him to. But the hurt in Madden’s eyes might well be mirrored in mine, if I found out he’d been hiding something that had been used to hurt my child.

“I dismissed him,” said Shade airily. She studied my face for a moment before she smiled. “I see. You worry that he knew and did not tell you. That my opposite number knew and did not tell you. You forget that our fiefdoms are smaller than those of the Divided Courts, for we must deal much more closely with our subjects. This is a secret kept by those of us who rule here, over the Court of Golden Cats. Your mate did not keep a secret of this size from your ears. How is he?” There was actual concern in the question. “I have heard things that are . . . troubling to my ears. I would that he were well.”

“I don’t know enough about how your Courts function to be sure I won’t do him some political damage if I start answering questions now,” I said. “But I appreciate you telling me he didn’t know about this place, so I’ll tell you this much: he’s doing the best he can, and I’ll be here for him when he wants me. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Truth from the Liar’s daughter; who would have thought I’d see the day?” Shade offered a small smile and a smaller bow. “If you have need while he is unable to assist you, call upon the cats of my Court. They may not come, but if I hear, I will do what I can.” She stepped backward, into the shadow cast by a branch of the apple tree and was gone.

“Well,” said May, after a long pause. “You’ve pissed off the Queen who’s actually in charge of us and convinced a Queen who isn’t that she should help us out. That’s . . . pretty true to form. You’re still you. I just checked.”

“Ha fucking ha,” I said. “Come on. We need to get out of here before the owner comes back, and we need to find another trail. One that actually gets us there. Quentin?”