She sighed in annoyance. " Great. "

Turns out, they were in the basement of her mansion.

"So, Leanansidhe has you guys steal from dragons?" Puck asked the girl as they walked down the dimly lit corridors, torchlight flickering over the damp stone walls. Whatever the house looked like, the basement was huge. It resembled a medieval dungeon, complete with heavy doors, wooden portcullises, and gargoyles leering at them from the walls. Mice scurried over the floor, and other things moved in the shadows, just out of sight. The girl, Kimi, grinned at them. "Leanansidhe has lots of clients with very unusual tastes," she explained. "Most of them are exiles, like her, who can't go back into the Nevernever for some reason. She uses us--" she gestured to herself and Nelson "--to fetch things she cant get herself, like that thing with the dragon. Apparently, a banished Winter sidhe in New York is paying a fortune for real dragon eggs."

" Why would anyone want a dragon egg? "

,, Why a dragon egg? Theres plenty of normal lizards. ,,

"We have no idea."

Puck made a noise that might've been appreciation. "And what do you guys get out of this?"

"Free room and board. And the rep that goes with it. We'd be out on the streets, otherwise." Kimi and Nelson shared a secret glance, but Warren was staring at the girls. He'd been doing that since they left to meet Leanansidhe.

"The pay's not bad, either," Kimi went on, oblivious to Warren's scrutiny.

"At least, it's better than the alternative--being hunted down for what we are, getting stepped on by the exiles and the fey who just like it better in the mortal realm. Leanansidhe's made it safer for us--you dont screw around with the queens pets. Even the redcap gangs know to leave you alone. For the most part, anyway."

She ignored...Warren. " Is it honestly that good? "

,, Im betting theres some sort of twist. ,, Isiea guesses flatly. ,, If there wasnt everybodyd adore her. ,,

"Because," she said cheerfully, twitching her ears, "we're half-breeds. I'm half-phouka, Nelson's half-troll, and Warren is part-satyr. And if there's one thing an exile hates more than the fey who banished him, its half-breeds like us."

She blinks in surprise. ,, Is the other half human? ,,

" So hating half-breeds is a common thing? That makes me feel...slightly better. "