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Nixie Maja Prince-Hughes waited in the limo with her dark sunglasses on. A pot-bellied slave dealer came up to her window and tapped on it with one greasy knuckle. She pushed the button to lower the glass and sent the slave dealer a scathing glare.

"Yes," she snapped.

"You said you wanted one with a nose--and this is all I got," the man retorted, lisping slightly. He jerked a leash and a grimy gray kitsune boy stumbled forward and fell against the shiny door of her limo. "So do you want him?"

Nixie looked down at the poor pathetic creature, and something in her heart tugged--which was odd, because she was sure her heart had frozen solid years ago. "Yes, I'll take him," she finally sighed, as if she was bored. "But half of what I offered you. He's scrawny and he probably has fleas. It'll take me weeks to get him back in condition."

"Three quarters," the man slurred, alcohol-breath pouring out of his mouth.

"Two thirds. And if you don't want that you can take him back," she said dismissively, looking back at the cellphone in her palm.

"Fine," the man sighed.

"Austin, please open the other door for our guest," Nixie instructed the driver. Then she looked back at the slave trader. "I just transferred the funds. Good day."

Grudgingly, the slave trader left, the leash hanging out of the open car window. Austin got out of the driver's seat and opened the door. Nixie scooted deeper into the limo and beckoned the boy, still on his knees outside the limo.

"Come on, I'm not going to bite," she said, sounding frustrated.

Nixie wrinkled her nose.

"You're definitely getting a bath as soon as we get back to the hotel," she replied. "And I'm going to have Austin burn your clothes. You are not fit to be seen with, at the moment."

She went back to her phone, making appointments, responding to e-mails, and checking the stocks of her companies. Austin expertly drove the limo away from the back-woods slave trading establishment and into the city. He pulled up at the Embasy Suites Hotel and a valet opened the door.

"Let's go," she said, not even looking at Jace as she got out of the car. She just assumed he would follow. If he didn't, Austin could always convince the boy to get out of the car, and if he tried to run, Austin would just tackle him. She walked briskly inside the lobby and went straight for the elevators. She punched buttons impatiently.

"This?" she waved her cell phone. "It's my constant tether to the outside world, and trust me when I say I'll be glad to be rid of it."

The elevator came and she punched the button for the penthouse suite.

"But some things must be taken care of first--which is where you come in," she continued as the elevator doors slid closed. "I didn't get you for your looks, obviously. I need your nose. I lost something--or rather it was stolen--and I have to find it."

The elevator doors opened and she lead the way into the suite.

In the suite, Nixie pointed to the bathroom.

"Go clean up," she ordered. "Just leave your rags on the floor. Austin is out buying you some new clothes right now."

She didn't look to make sure he was doing as she told; she just went into the living room and opened her laptop.

Nixie looked up at him and smiled for the first time. "You clean up nice," she commented. Then she stopped smiling and turned back to her computer. "I ordered some room service--it should be here any moment. If you want to put some clothes on while you wait for Austin to get back, there's a comfy set of sweat pants in my suitcase you can wear. When you're ready, I'll tell you more about your job."

"It's because I'm a very rich woman," Nixie sighed. "My husband, may he be dismembered by hagfish, died a little over a month ago and left me his entire financial empire. He owns the 4th largest aquaculture business in Europe, among other things. I've been working in the last month to upgrade the facilities so that they're more eco-friendly, because I want the ocean to be in the best condition possible when I get back to it."

She looked over at him and saw the question in his eyes.

"You think I'm just a regular rich woman, don't you? Well, I'm not. I'm more like you than anyone would guess. I'm--" She was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Room service."

"That would be dinner," she sighed, putting aside her laptop for a moment. "Do you mind bringing it in? I've been on my feet all day and they ache."

"Mmm, clam chowder," Nixie hummed as she lifted the silver cover off two steaming bowls. "I thought you might enjoy something easy to eat; it looks like they starved you in that hell hole. Just eat slowly so you don't get sick."

She ate a spoonful of chowder and smiled.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I'm a lot like you. I'm a selkie--a seal woman. My husband, may he rot in the bellies of a thousand squid, stole my seal coat that allows me to return to the ocean. I was silly enough to let him near it. I'd heard all the stories, you see, of seal women falling in love, of being loved, having children... I had this fantasy of living with a poor fisherman. I'd darn his socks and knit him warm scarves and cook him pots of clam chowder...and at Christmas, when the children were asleep, we'd stuff their stockings with small and simple gifts like tin soldiers or seashell bracelets..." she sighed whistfully. "It probably seems silly to you that I hoped for such a poor existence."

"Yes, that's why I need you. Your nose will be able to sniff out my coat where everything else I've tried has failed. Unfortunately, my late husband, may his soul sink to the depths of Davy Jones' Locker, hid it rather well, and he has houses, apartments, and bank safety-deposit boxes all over Europe and America. So it will be a bit of an extended hunt," she explained. She leaned close to him and wiped a bit of chowder from the corner of his mouth. "Maybe when we've found my coat, we can both be free."