“Sean, what’s wrong?” Roy asked. “Her.” I pointed towards the conference room. “What? She’s an elf. I thought you’d be happy.” “She’s Unseelie.” “How do you know that? You didn’t even speak to her.” “Dark skin, white hair? Those are marks of Unseelie, just like white skin and dark hair are marks of Seelie.” “I didn’t think you cared about skin color.” “I don’t. She could be purple for all I care. But she’s still Unseelie. It’s not about looks but what they’ve done. Unseelie terrorized both Underhill and the human world. It’s their nature and culture. Things mothers used to warn children about? They were created by Unseelie and let loose. They were the ones to steal children and leave changelings. You’ve heard conflicting stories about elves? Some have elves as helpful and benign, and others have them as mischievous at best. Now you know why.” “Give her a chance. Maybe she’s not like the others.” “That’s what my aunt said. She fell in love with an Unseelie man and had a baby with him. He tried to keep the baby with him. When she pushed to see him, he had her killed.” “Well, that woman in there is the one you’ve been agonizing over.” “What?” “That’s Froggy.” “What?” I asked again. “That’s Froggy. Sean, Yesanith, you’ve been friends with her for almost a year. She’s been in the same situation you have been in for the last six hundred years, living alone among humans. Maybe she’s learned a few things about being humane.” I hesitated. “She’s not the one to put money in a toilet and make someone fish it out.” I glared at him. “You said you wanted to help. Give her a chance.” I sighed and went to my desk for my bag. If she was no longer using a glamour, she was in bad shape. She would need it. “You’re not who I expected either,” she said as we returned. I gave her the bag. She hesitated. “Take it. You need it. I have more.” She opened it up. “Thank you.” She drank one of the Powerades and dug out a candy bar. “Everything there was iron.” “I figured it must have been something like that. The pills are special vitamins with no iron. They’re safe to take, and they help.” Hesitantly, she took one. “This is Roy. I’m Yes…” “I know who you are. Who do you think bandaged you up?” “That was you? Did you see what happened to the others? Is there anyone else?” “There’s no one else, only you and me. I don’t know what happened. Everyone was there fighting, and then there was an ear-splitting sound. The next thing I knew, everyone but you were gone.” “I don’t remember it. I don’t remember anything after a hit to my head. I lost consciousness. When I woke, no one was there.” “You didn’t lose consciousness when you were hit. You barely even staggered. You went up against that troll like you were the one made of rock. You killed it, and as you turned to the next opponent, someone conjured a wight almost on top of you. You didn’t stand a chance. It got your chest about two seconds before everyone vanished.” “Thank you for helping me. You could have left me to die.” “Don’t think I hadn’t considered it. But if there were no other elves, I figured I better help the only other one.” “But why didn’t you stay? Why hide from me?” “Like I said earlier, I know who you are, Yesanith Wysanorin, Champion of Oberon, Gods Blessed. I figured you’d wake, see me, and I’d be dead.” “Hardly. It took me days to recover. And I would have wanted answers.” “So, torture.” “I learned from the best.” I gave her a pointed look. “Apparently not. You never talked.” “You know who I am. What’s your name?” “I’ve used many names over the years.” “What is your real name?” I insisted. She just looked at me. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll call the army colonel who’s keeping an eye on me and will tell him I found a dangerous elf. They’re really jumpy about us.” “You wouldn’t.” “Do I lie? What is your name?” “Katrine.” “Katrine? Katrine Shedree?” I almost summoned my sword. If we weren’t in a police station, I would have.