Free Pink Princess Fairytini (Fairy Files #2) by Katharine Sadler

cheeks. “He’s a good boy, everyone loves him.”
    “We’ll need to talk to his friends,” Vin said. She got a list of names and addresses and we left. Frost met us in the hallway.
    “We should call the police,” I said.
    “Already did,” Frost said. “They came to talk to the mother, and she told them she doesn’t have a son. She was terrified of the police for some reason.”
    I shook my head. Nothing about any of this felt right. I stared at Frost, trying to make sense of all the different pieces and came up empty. It couldn’t be a coincidence that all of the missing kids were fae, and had recently left Rubalia. I needed to know what was making so many leave Rubalia. “I need to talk to my mother.”
    Frost flinched as though I’d slapped him.
    “No,” Vin said. “There is no reason to involve her. We’ll talk to Renny’s friends first.”
    So we knocked on doors and talked to more people, all of whom seemed wary and afraid of Frost, but none of whom could contradict anything Mrs. Rosen had said. “We got nothing,” I said, once we were back on the street. “I’m going to talk to my mother.”
    “No,” Vin said. “There’s no reason for her to tell you the truth and, even if she did, it wouldn’t get us any closer to finding this kid.”
    I looked at Frost, waiting for him to contradict me, but he looked thoughtful, his gaze distant. “I agree with—”
    “You people the ones been asking about the missing kid?” A brownie, recognizable by his short stature, stub nose, and scent of chocolate, walked up and inserted himself amidst us.
    “Yes,” I said, smiling brightly, hoping to charm him and get him to reveal what he knew. “Did you know him?”
    “Nope, but word on the street is that he didn’t run. He was kidnapped.”
    “Word on the street?” Frost asked. “Did someone see him taken?”
    The brownie shrugged. “I’m just repeating what I heard. Folks around here don’t talk too loud, they whisper, and the whisper about the boy is that he was taken.”
    “Taken where? By who?” Vin asked.
    The brownie shrugged. “If we knew that, we’d go and bring him home, now wouldn’t we?”
    “Would you?” I asked. “I’ve never known brownies to be overly helpful.”
    He shrugged. “I’m here now, aren’t I? Talking to you. Things are different here, the fae need to stick together.”
    He stepped away from us, done talking. Frost and Vin’s expressions matched mine, doubt and wariness. “What’s your name? Where can we find you if we have questions?”
    But the brownie walked away and didn’t look back. “I don’t like it,” Frost said. “It’s too convenient the way he showed up out of nowhere and gave us just enough to pique our interest.”
    “But what did he stand to gain?” I asked. “Why lie to us?”
    Vin shook her head. “I’m going to talk to Missella, and see if she knows anything about kidnapped fae kids. Frost, will you stay with Chloe? I don’t want her being left alone.”
    “I don’t need a babysitter,” I said. “This has nothing to do with me.”
    “And I have a job,” Frost said. “I can’t just drop everything to guard Chloe from someone who’s kidnapping kids.”
    I had to pinch myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. Frost and I agreeing about anything was just that rare. Frost looked at me and smirked like he knew what I was thinking.
    Vin sighed. “Because you’re going to talk to your mother, Chloe, and I don’t want you going alone.”
    “Wait…what?” This conversation was giving me whiplash. “Why?”
    “In case what that brownie says is true and this boy was kidnapped. Like you said, it’s too much of a coincidence that all of the kids are recent arrivals and fae. If they’re being kidnapped, it seems more likely they’re being taken by other fae than by humans. We need to know what’s going on in Rubalia.” She looked from me to Frost. “Go to Rubalia, but don’t trust what Althea tells you, investigate and see