afterward?”
Nadia asked, “Do you have an extra keycard? I can bring them up and we can have dinner delivered.”
“Dinner on the patio, then. The elevator to the suite is through the door behind the VIP check in.” As Aerin was talking, Geneva pulled a gold keycard out of her pocket and passed it to Nadia. Aerin paused while the mongoose chittered in her ear. “Oh, that’s right. Danya and Willow are here, too, so they’ll probably join us as well.”
“How…delightful.” Nadia hesitated, trying to contain the expression one gets when asked to eat a slice of thrice-gifted fruitcake. “Is Natasha here?”
“No, she’s in…Monaco?” Aerin glanced at Geneva and received a confirming nod. “Someone got a yacht for his birthday, so she and the Glitter Ponies are helping him break it in.”
Nadia snorted. “Of course. Those leeches can smell an open bar half a world away. Why is Danya here?”
“Saving the world through art, as usual.” Aerin pointed to the art charity booth. “She’s spending the weekend teaching kids to draw pandas for charity.”
Rose’s eyebrows shot up. “Danya… Cullan ? The fantasy artist? Lives in Hawaii? That Danya Cullan?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “ Your daughter illustrated my books? I cannot accept that as mere coincidence. What is going on?”
Angus leaned close to Aerin and said something in what sounded like Scots Gaelic. Aerin nodded and said something brief in the same language. Angus growled and stood back, shaking his head.
Geneva’s watch chimed an alarm. She switched it off and tapped Aerin on the wrist. “Your ‘everybody ignore us’ spell is about to wear off.”
“Thank you, Geneva.” Aerin looked back at us with an apologetic smile. “Everyone get ready to act normal. Rose, I’m pretty sure Danya doing your illustrations wasn’t a coincidence. Someone wanted us to meet and arranged things so we’d eventually run into each other.”
Rose snorted, blowing tiny smoke rings out of her nostrils. “And that would have been Josephine, I suppose?”
The glowing blue gem racing around us slowed to a stop and lost its glow. Aerin caught the stone, and at her touch it faded from view. She made a little tossing gesture and looked back at Rose, shaking her head. “No, it wasn’t Josephine. She’s not that subtle. It was probably Crom.”
I stifled the first thought that came to mind and asked, “Crom who?”
As though explaining something to a child, Aerin said, “The god Crom.”
What do you know? I was right the first time.
“Mmm. Let’s do explanations later,” Angus said. “Time to meet Danya. See you tonight.”
Rose said, “I’ll come with you. I’ve wanted to meet Danya for some time. We’ve emailed and spoken on the phone several times, so meeting in person is overdue.”
“Just don’t interrupt her when she’s drawing,” Angus said. “Introductions this way.” The group moved off, cutting through traffic to cross the aisle.
I went back to showing people our demo. In retrospect, finding out Danya had Elven blood made an odd sort of sense. It was the elements of classic Elven style in her artwork that had attracted Rose’s attention in the first place.
Ten minutes later, Nadia came back by herself. “Rose is joining one of Danya’s drawing classes. She started getting a bit…ah…giddy when we got over there.”
Oh, great. “Kids make her high. Their energy is like catnip for her.”
“It does the same thing to me. Catnip, I mean.” Nadia smirked and shook her head. “Not that I ever inhaled or anything.”
“Catnip is a narcotic for Elves?”
“No, of course not, and I’m ninety percent Human anyway. Even for Elves, catnip just causes a mild euphoria.” She blushed and looked away. “Annnd…it can make other activities more…intense. It’s not illegal as much as embarrassing. At least for consenting adults.”
“Ah. I think I’ll leave that line of questioning alone. What does A’Tavi
Nadia asked, “Do you have an extra keycard? I can bring them up and we can have dinner delivered.”
“Dinner on the patio, then. The elevator to the suite is through the door behind the VIP check in.” As Aerin was talking, Geneva pulled a gold keycard out of her pocket and passed it to Nadia. Aerin paused while the mongoose chittered in her ear. “Oh, that’s right. Danya and Willow are here, too, so they’ll probably join us as well.”
“How…delightful.” Nadia hesitated, trying to contain the expression one gets when asked to eat a slice of thrice-gifted fruitcake. “Is Natasha here?”
“No, she’s in…Monaco?” Aerin glanced at Geneva and received a confirming nod. “Someone got a yacht for his birthday, so she and the Glitter Ponies are helping him break it in.”
Nadia snorted. “Of course. Those leeches can smell an open bar half a world away. Why is Danya here?”
“Saving the world through art, as usual.” Aerin pointed to the art charity booth. “She’s spending the weekend teaching kids to draw pandas for charity.”
Rose’s eyebrows shot up. “Danya… Cullan ? The fantasy artist? Lives in Hawaii? That Danya Cullan?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “ Your daughter illustrated my books? I cannot accept that as mere coincidence. What is going on?”
Angus leaned close to Aerin and said something in what sounded like Scots Gaelic. Aerin nodded and said something brief in the same language. Angus growled and stood back, shaking his head.
Geneva’s watch chimed an alarm. She switched it off and tapped Aerin on the wrist. “Your ‘everybody ignore us’ spell is about to wear off.”
“Thank you, Geneva.” Aerin looked back at us with an apologetic smile. “Everyone get ready to act normal. Rose, I’m pretty sure Danya doing your illustrations wasn’t a coincidence. Someone wanted us to meet and arranged things so we’d eventually run into each other.”
Rose snorted, blowing tiny smoke rings out of her nostrils. “And that would have been Josephine, I suppose?”
The glowing blue gem racing around us slowed to a stop and lost its glow. Aerin caught the stone, and at her touch it faded from view. She made a little tossing gesture and looked back at Rose, shaking her head. “No, it wasn’t Josephine. She’s not that subtle. It was probably Crom.”
I stifled the first thought that came to mind and asked, “Crom who?”
As though explaining something to a child, Aerin said, “The god Crom.”
What do you know? I was right the first time.
“Mmm. Let’s do explanations later,” Angus said. “Time to meet Danya. See you tonight.”
Rose said, “I’ll come with you. I’ve wanted to meet Danya for some time. We’ve emailed and spoken on the phone several times, so meeting in person is overdue.”
“Just don’t interrupt her when she’s drawing,” Angus said. “Introductions this way.” The group moved off, cutting through traffic to cross the aisle.
I went back to showing people our demo. In retrospect, finding out Danya had Elven blood made an odd sort of sense. It was the elements of classic Elven style in her artwork that had attracted Rose’s attention in the first place.
Ten minutes later, Nadia came back by herself. “Rose is joining one of Danya’s drawing classes. She started getting a bit…ah…giddy when we got over there.”
Oh, great. “Kids make her high. Their energy is like catnip for her.”
“It does the same thing to me. Catnip, I mean.” Nadia smirked and shook her head. “Not that I ever inhaled or anything.”
“Catnip is a narcotic for Elves?”
“No, of course not, and I’m ninety percent Human anyway. Even for Elves, catnip just causes a mild euphoria.” She blushed and looked away. “Annnd…it can make other activities more…intense. It’s not illegal as much as embarrassing. At least for consenting adults.”
“Ah. I think I’ll leave that line of questioning alone. What does A’Tavi
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