"And that's why you're interested in me, right? Because I'm tool of power too?" Lane narrowed her gaze on Fiora. Her eyes seemed to glitter with something. If anyone had been watching Nora, they would have seen that she looked rather perturbed by the look. It was the sort of expression that sweet, caring Lane had never really used. Whatever James had managed to awaken inside her, something had definitely changed.<br/><br/>"Because kids aren't bargaining chips or tools of power, they're kids." Lane spoke evenly. Maybe she loved James, but she realized that was what was at the center of all this. Fiora saw the girl as a way to get what she wanted and at least if they got her away from the fairies, then the girl might have half a chance at a normal life. Lane didn't know Nora's companion, but she trusted Nora, who did not even seem to flinch when the fairy queen turned her gaze on her. Nora sat there casually, her arms folded over her chest. Lane's dark-haired cousin seemed to have a sense of who she had gotten into bed with.<br/><br/>"Lady, I don't work for you. I work for him," Nora gestured at Pace and unfolded her arms to lean her elbows on the table so she could lean forward. "And he's not the first monster I've fucked, so if you think you're gonna scare me with whatever boogie monster shit you're trying to pull, you're mistaken." Lane knew that the words were carefully chosen and that her cousin wanted to tell the fairy queen to go fuck herself, but chose not to provoke that sort of wrath.<br/><br/>When the room's focus went back to James, Lane already knew what his answer would be. He would tell Fiora "No." and he would try to find another deal he could live with.<br/><br/>"If I still get to keep my consent and you leave James be and the girl goes to Nora and her companion, then yes. And you don't go back for the girl or my book, once she's out of your hands, she's theirs..." Lane pointed at Nora and Pace, because she wasn't handing this kid over to just a guy she did not know -- who was apparently not a guy at all-- and was someone Fiora still held some control over. "Like I said, if you let him bargain, he's going to take me off the table. So if I'm what you want, I suggest you finish this deal before the ice melts..."