Jamal gestured Ali to a varnished chair across from the other guests, the large couch could seat all of them with lots of room to spare and he too took his place alongside them before starting his introductions.

Albeit a bit nervously, Ali sat down, she glanced at the others faces and noticed that they were all quite relaxed for what she assumed would be a serious meeting.

Politely pointing to each person in turn Jamal began.

"Katherine here, you should know from our previous meetings."

The golden blond woman dressed in a rich cream business suit reached across and shook Ali's hand before returning to her seat.

"It's good to see you again Ali."

"Ah, it's my pleasure."

"The two on either side of Katherine are the Cords, Sarah and Ashley."

Sarah, the blond to her left in the nice pantsuit and jacket gave a nod, while Ashley, who sported a dark pixie cut hair style, black acid wash jeans and a black sleeveless tee shirt with the faces of a certain K-pop group, simply smiled and waved as her name was mentioned.

"Jamal, let me interject, Miss Thornhill this meeting has been called for both your protection and benefit, we've had an amicable relationship with you over the last few years but now that you've stumbled into a bit of trouble, we thought that it's about time you became aware of a few things. I'll let Jamal explain in more detail."

Katherine said deferring to Jamal then taking one of the fish cakes from the paper box that had been set on the table with a fork, the other two followed a step behind her but with their hands or napkins.

Ali was nervous from the tone the conversation was taking, from what she'd gathered from various sources over the years the Cords were a dangerous group. They were a dominant power for a long time but had fallen from grace only to reemerge a few yeras later as a smaller group who's reputation was rapidly growing again.

"You may not know this but the artifacts in your possession are an ancient and powerful magic, the coins themselves are mostly useless to all but yourself, as only you can use them but they can most certainly be stolen. Regardless of that little detail however, quite a few would stop at very little to try and pry them from your hands weather you are alive or..... Ahem, otherwise."

Jamal said, his eyes focusing intently on Ali.

"What?"

The metal tray resting on the table had at some point become empty except for the crumbs left in the paper box that once held the fish cakes.

Jamal looked down disapprovingly.

Ali didn't realize that she had managed to eat most of the snack by herself much to her embarrassment, two of the three women at the table across from her were snickering at Ali in a relaxed way, it was as if they had heard all of this before, the other blonde was on her phone checking missed messages while eating her remaining fish cake.

Ali finished off the fish cake in her hand, while trying not to talk with her mouth full.

"When I came here..."

Ali swallowed.

"When I came here and showed you them before you didn't mention any of this."

"Well now, at that time I didn't know much about them to be quite honest but after doing a bit of research and asking a few of my contacts, the relevant information on the matter slowly turned up."

Seeing that Ali's mood was quickly souring Jamal motioned for a waiter to quickly come take their tables' orders.

A glass of water sitting on the table was both seized and downed in a few short gulps as she continued to listen but she was now wearing a bit of a scowl.

"The coins you have in your possession are as valuable as they are powerful, most items over a certain age tend to get interested parties out hunting for them once word of them has gotten around. Old relics, be they of magical origin or not will easily fetch a hefty sum but your coins are far byond that, they are truly ancient and thus, some would consider them a prise like no other.

To put it simply they are the kind of prise that can get people killed, a lot of people."

"The only thing you told me that I didn't know for certain so far was that only I could use them...." Ali's reply was broken off when two waiters began placing plate after plate onto the table before them.

A few of the dishes Ali knew, like the bartered fish and chips with the side of salad next to Sarah. Katherine received a large grilled tuna steak with an orangish mash, carrots, broccoli and other vegetables on the side.

Ashley got two burgers on what looked like thick brown toast, she on the first one as soon as it hit the table while ignoring the disapproving looks from the other two women.

Jamal continued after the waiters left.

"The magic in those coins is ancient and powerful to be sure and they certainly grant the wishes to the owner or can be exchanged for something of equal worth if given to the right person or creatures but despite all that those coins are most certainly, a trap. A mischievous trick of the fae made to entice, bewilder and befuddle mortals, they have a strange sense of humor."

"You know how they say don't sign things without reading the fine print. That's fairy magic in a nutshell, you get what you want but never exactly how you wanted it."

Jamal paused to take a sip of his coffee, the others while the ladies beside him indulged in their meals.

Ali also took a moment to sample her order, a delicious smelling beef stew sat in front of her, it was in a halved roasted breadfruit that rested on a rack to keep its balance, she had had the chicken variation of the dish a few times she came here before to talk.

"Now Ms. Thornhill, would you care tell us the reason you were moving through London at incredible speeds around midnight last night?"

Ali almost spat up a little but quickly recovered and and covered her mouth with a napkin.

"You were detected by several reliable sources to be traveling at 'speeds that should be impossible for a human on land' I believe it was?"

Katherine and the others nodded in agreement.

The fact that you are somehow in one piece tells me that you have used a coin and from what our investigator reported, the car that you arrived at your home in London driving resembled something that had survived a warzone and reeked of higher magic."

"If you have any of the coins left do try to be careful with them, your coins are a gamble and should be treated as such, you will get what you wish for but as for anything else you get, be it a boon or something sinister is no more a flip than a flip of a coin."

"You need to bottle this jam and sell it Jamal." Ashley's voiced interupted them as she spoke with a mouthful of food.

All eyes moved to to her location as the tense atmosphere shattered in an, instant.

"I'll think about it."

He replied.

A portion of chips arrived for her with more of the yellowish green colored jam spread out on top like ketchup.

"It's way better than the mango chutney you made."

"Thanks Ashley, getting goose berries in any large amount is the issue. That's also something that could be of mutual benefit for both Ali's Orchard and our business." Jamal said before taking another sip of coffee.

A new plate of food was put in front of Ali and her empty one was removed, it had both a portion of battered cod on a bed of chips and one of the burgers with some odd fries that Ashley was enjoying. "Its call it the English surf with island turf platter," Sarah interjected, "it's a seasoned beef burger on sweet bread with plantain fries. "I figured if everywhere had their own burger why not make a Barbadian version."

A plate with the same food as Katherine was left before Jamal, with a smile to the servers he watched them go back to the other customers.

"Let's get back to the point, we told you years ago when we first met don't let anyone know you have those coins, the fact that they were left by a tooth fairy is probably the only thing keeping you safe."

Jamal stopped and thought for a second.

"Well, that and the ancient power you have potentially waking up."

"Now then, the main reason for this meeting is to let you know that the same person or people who tried to burn your orchard are the same ones who nearly wiped out our pack. A pack that I should add were one of the most powerful forces in England. Now before you ask, the reason they tried to burn down your business is simple, no busines means no reason for you to be in Cornwall and no magic train getting famous all over the world."

"From what I understand you're trying to grow your business, put down deeper roots and normally that would be a good thing but you have been touched by the old magic of the Fey, that kind of magic is incredibly rare and almost never happens nowadays.

Faries aren't exactly evil, they have a code of conduct from what I understand. They took from you so they returned it with equal value. Just in case you haven't already realized it. You have an ancient power bonded to your soul and coins that can be considered genies in bottles."

"But what you should be absolutely be concerned about."

Jamal leaned in using a quieter tone. "what should scare you and anyone else with common sense is that they traded all that power for YOUR, teeth."