At the same time, at least we knew now. Assuming he was telling the truth. Of course.

And that was a dangerous thing to assume with fairies. The house shook right as I pulled the brownies out of the oven. “Uh oh.”

“Uh oh,” Kanesha echoed.

“Cold iron, remember, if you need to protect yourself. Defensive only.” Because I didn’t need a war with Sidhe royalty. I stepped out of the kitchen.

The shaking had been the Sidhe blowing our door in. It lay in the middle of the living room and she stood behind it. “Where,” she demanded, “Is…Loki?”

She was beautiful, I noted. Which was a good thing. Fairies resemble their morality – had she been ugly we would have been in real danger. “You think I know?”

Her gaze turned on me. “You are his daughter.”

“Doesn’t mean he tells me where he is.”

Clara was holding out the necklace. The Sidhe plucked it out of her hand with silver-manicured nails and then immediately hooked it around her neck. No doubt she felt it was safest there.

“He…”

“I know he took it. It’s not like that’s unusual for him.” Then? Kanesha offered her a brownie.

“Be careful,” Kanesha said. “They’re still hot.”

The Sidhe took it carefully with her other hand and then a bite. She choked. “You’re his daughter alright!”

“Kanesha, you should have warned her,” I chided.

She grinned mischievously. “Like you would have.”

It had, though, taken the wind out of her sails. “Would you strongly object to fixing the door before my foster father comes back?”

“Tell…”

“I already said. I don’t know. He shows up and leaves pretty much as he feels like it.”

There must have been some ring of truth in my words, because she turned, sighed, and magicked the door back onto its hinges. Clara was watching with visible envy.

Then, she strode over to the table and sat down. “I took your food so you would know I am not a danger to you.”

Fae laws of hospitality. She could not attack me now she had eaten one of the brownies. Kanesha had remembered that. But, of course, she could have refused.

Which meant she was probably only interested in, say, pushing Loki in the reflecting pool.