Lex chuckled, giving me a grin that made my stomach do a fluttery flip-flop. “Sure do. I haven’t been to one in awhile though, been pretty busy.”

“Uh-huh. How’s Marie doing?” Marie was one of Lex’s many sisters, and the only family member of his I’d met.

“Not bad. She’s still out in Denver, though our mama’s been tryin’ to get her transferred back home.”

“Why?”

“Well the Duquesnes are based in Louisiana,” a voice offered from behind me. “It’s tradition that they eventually go home to roost, as it were.”

Startled, I turned to see an aged janitor leaning against a mop, his tired brown eyes looking down at me from behind a pair of wire-rimmed eyeglasses. The man wore a plain gray coverall with an ID badge as its only decoration, and I wondered how I’d missed seeing him before. I guess he just blended into the background too well.

“Large family, the Duquesnes,” he continued. “French originally, quite an interesting history.” The janitor turned his gaze to Lex and then ran a gnarled hand through his wispy white hair as he eyed the younger man. “Figured I’d see you here, sooner or later. Looks like it’s sooner. I don’t have anything for you.”

Curious, I surreptitiously sniffed at the newcomer, noting that beneath the strong smell of bleach was the subtle papery scent of a librarian. Guess that explained why we’d come out here-a librarian would have access to the sort of information we needed, and one who based himself in an international airport would hear all sorts of interesting information. There must be more magicians around us than I’d first assumed. It did make sense. Obviously we don’t live by magic alone and we don’t travel by flying on broomsticks.

“Nice to see you too, Pete. Pete, this is Cat.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Baker.”

“Likewise.”

“You sure you haven’t heard anything?” Lex asked him, appearing unconvinced.

“All I have is speculation. Everyone’s talking about Morrow’s candidacy, of course, but no one knows the reason for it, or if they do they’re not telling.”

“What are they saying about his candidacy?” I inquired.

Pete picked up his mop, plopped the head into the bright yellow bucket on wheels next to him and took the seat next to me. “It’s Laura’s doing, obviously. I doubt Morrow’s made a decision of his own since he took up with her, and she’s got enough ambition for a dozen vampires. No one knows why she’d make this move though. In life she had no link to Faerie, so she isn’t looking to reconnect with her past. She’s prone to wild stunts, but this is odd even for her.”

Tension pinched my shoulders at the mention of Laura’s name. Lovely Laura Barrenheart was the reason my father left my mother and became a necromancer. She’s the vampire who mentored him. Laura was not high on my list of favorite people.

“And that’s all you’ve heard?” Lex prompted.

“There’s some paranoid speculation that the vamps have figured out how to dilute pure faerie blood enough so they can feed on it and not kill themselves. It’d give ’em a big boost, might tip the balance of power. I don’t put any stock in that though.” Pete shook his head. “Right now the big money’s riding on Morrow to win, since the vampires put a price on Catherine’s head. No offense, Miss.”

“None taken.” Sipping my latte, I resisted the urge to sigh-I was sighing entirely too much lately. Any more angst and I’d be adding black bodices to my wardrobe and shopping for matching lipstick.

“The vamps have been tight-lipped on this one.” Pete rose to his feet and took hold of his mop. “You know what you need to do, Duquesne, if you want real answers to your questions.”

There was a grim expression on Lex’s face at those words, and a sinking feeling settled into my stomach. Whatever the other option was, it couldn’t be pleasant. The guardian nodded and took a long drink of his coffee.

“I was hopin’ to avoid that particular option.”

I opened my mouth to ask what they were talking about, but all I managed was a strangled gasp as the worst migraine in the history of mankind suddenly threatened to implode my skull. I covered my eyes and blocked out the painful light, whimpering like an injured kitten. Before anything important popped inside my brain I felt Lex’s hand grip my forearm. Waves of soothing energy flowed out from where his skin touched mine, driving the invading magical migraine away until I was able to open my eyes again.

“You’re all right, sugar,” he murmured to me.

I blinked at him as I regained my focus, and I noticed that he stared at something behind me. His hand still gripped my arm as I turned around to see what held Lex’s attention, and I spotted my father standing across the room.

Because he was out in public he’d left the cheesy wizard robes at home and wore a simple black suit instead. Three men stood with him, dressed in similar dark suits and looking as though the Secret Service had started recruiting from the Addams family. I knew the strangers weren’t the ones who’d attacked me, considering my father was smiling. I tensed to leap to my feet and charge across the room to claw that smile off his face, and Lex tightened his grip on my arm and tugged toward him.

“Cat. Don’t.”

“What is he doing here?”

“If you promise to stay put, I’ll go ask him.”

“No way. I have a few choice words for that asshole.”

“I’m sure you do. How ’bout we let me do the talkin’ then?” Lex countered, his voice soothing.

“Fine, fine,” I grumbled. It was a good idea-just because we’d breezed through security to get in here didn’t mean they wouldn’t arrest me if I cussed out Dorian and lit him on fire. Not that I could, seeing as I had no fire to work a spell with, but it was a pleasant thought.

“Nice talkin’ to you, Pete,” Lex said as he rose to his feet. The old man nodded, looking uncomfortable, and hurried to get far away from the scene that was about to unfold. I stayed close behind Lex as we crossed the room, staring poisonous daggers at my father the entire time. To prevent any further attacks on his part I made sure to put my shields up as we moved.

“That was just low. Couldn’t resist takin’ a cheap shot, could you, Dorian?” Lex said, drawing to a halt. Now that we were close I could smell the magic rolling off the group, and easily recognized them as necromancers from their unholy stench. It was all I could do not to gag.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked. “I’m willing to bet you and your buddies aren’t taking a trip to Disney World. Unless you’re planning a hostile takeover of the Haunted Mansion.”

Dorian ignored me, concentrating his disdain at Lex. “Duquesne. I’m surprised to see you here, especially with her. I wasn’t surprised to hear you’d chosen a side in this, but a man in your position really should be more careful.”

“Just trying to keep things fair. You know it’s not legal for applicants to try to kill the competition. It’s considered cheatin’.” Lex eyed the necromancers. “Assuming y’all even remember what it’s like to abide by the rules. Course you’ve already proved that you’ve got the paternal instincts of a snake, Dorian.”

I choked down a bitter laugh and it came out as a cough instead. Dorian glared at me and I gave him a sardonic smile. “Hey, what happened to your eyebrows? Get a little too close to a fire?”

Apparently his ego hadn’t recovered from his toasty dragon encounter and he took a step toward me. Lex moved in front of me, blocking him. “Play nice, now. Wouldn’t do to make a scene.”

Dorian paused, glaring first at the guardian and then at me. “You won’t be able to hide behind him forever. He won’t be able to protect you during the next test,” he said, his voice low and threatening. “I’m surprised you’re trusting him at all, after what he did to you.”

“That’s none of your business. I’m not worried, but you oughta worry more about yourself. Next time you might lose something more important than eyebrows.” I tried to sound more confident than I felt, but it didn’t come out very convincing.