AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I doubt any of the fools dining here are trading on the black market. Look at them, they’re happy and drunk. Perhaps we should check the rooms upstairs?” Devon pointed behind Orion’s shoulder, looking grim.
Orion glanced in the direction his brother indicated, up the narrow steps that led to an open second floor. Even in the darkness, Orion could spot doors up there. A woman exited a room, wearing nothing but a sheer slip, her tits bouncing for everyone to see. Someone nearby howled at the sight of her, but she didn’t pay them any heed as she fanned her shiny face. She looked utterly fucked and rumpled.
Orion raised his brows and looked back to Devon. “Do you think the rooms are rented by the hour?”
“Indeed, and I think sailors traveling across the sea for months can get awfully lonely. I wouldn’t put it past the worst kind of merchant to be up there. Which could explain why there’s no one down here—” A cough tore past Devon’s lips, interrupting his speech. He took a deep breath and reached for a new potion from his pocket, avoiding Orion’s eyes when he took it. “Perhaps you and Nava can accidentally stumble inside one of those rooms? It might be a way to discover if a pirate is exercising up there.”
“Exercising, really? What are you, twelve?” Orion scoffed. “Either way, we shouldn’t be calling more attention to ourselves than we have to. Coming here is already a risky move.”
“I guess you’re right. Sometimes I forget you’re important.”
“It’s not about being important, Devon. But we are on the run.” And he was feeling so on edge already. Like the tavern was telling him someone watched him. But there weren’t any Dark Ones here, and everyone else was too drunk, dirty, and definitively not paying attention to them.
“Isn’t being on the run and being important the same thing? I’m just fed up with hiding away from everything,” Devon said in a pensive tone. “It must be nice, being in this kingdom where you actually fit in.” He turned and patted the wooden backrest of his chair. “I’ve noticed the chairs here are designed for people with wings. Even the coat Leela gave me has discreet slits all across the back. It would accommodate someone like you, so you don’t have to hide your true nature.”
“I do like that,” Orion admitted. “Here, I’m not an outsider simply for being a fae.”
He paused and studied their surroundings again. Nothing had changed, but the anxiety within him was ramping up. It wasn’t Nava who needed him this time, but something else. The same old patrons he’d become familiar with over the last couple of hours sat around them. The same band played a merry tune.
Where was the source of danger?
Devon ate his meal without a worry in the world. Pottery shattered as a scuffle broke out to their left, the stranger’s drunken yells muffled by the general noise of chatter.
Most people ignored what was happening, but Orion couldn’t. Instead, he was inspecting the very shadows of the tavern, half expecting a royal guard to emerge from them to drag them away. Or perhaps it would be a Crow, blending into the busy night, much like the two of them were doing.
“You look tense. Talk to me,” Devon said.
“Something is off.” And there wasn’t a point staying here waiting if Nava could arrive in a potentially dangerous situation at any moment. “We’re being watched.”
“Now?” Devon stilled. His dark eyes darted from side to side as he slowly placed his spoon on the table. The air shifted with the spice of magic, and his fingers whitened with shimmering ice. “I see nothing.”
“I don’t think it’s anyone here, but I can’t be sure.” Orion stood, leaving his untouched meal on the table and closing his coat. “It’s like the city is telling me something is coming. We should search the area.”
Devon not even questioning how strange that sounded was perhaps even more unsettling than the fact that Orion was connected to the very land they stood upon.
“You check from the sky, and I will take the streets around the tavern. We’ll meet in the side alley in an hour. If you don’t come, I’ll assume something happened to you.”
“And if that’s the case, make sure Nava stays safe.”
“I swear it.”
From the sky, the ports looked small and the streets eerie in the wet night. Nava should’ve been here well before dark, and it complicated matters that she hadn’t arrived. Judging by the pull of the bond, though, she wasn’t far.
There was movement down in the streets, the sounds of footsteps amplified by the puddles on the ground. Women in ornate gowns clutched their parasols close to their bodies, taking refuge from the early evening drizzle. Their silhouettes moved beneath the gaslight, casting long shadows over the wooden planks.
Orion didn’t know how to explain the odd feeling he had. At least not without sounding like a madman, for it churned inside his blood, nearly suffocating him. But he’d learned that he needed to trust his gut, and if the land was speaking to him, then he would listen.
The cold bit at his cheeks as he circled the block around the tavern, inspecting the shadowy gable rooftops with care. It was unlikely that anyone would be able to stand on slick terracotta tiles. Not unless they were fae that hid in the shadows. Which could be the case…
He followed the instinctive pull that had led him here and landed in a crouch on one of the building’s rooftops. His feet fit inside the terracotta tile grooves as he stabilized himself low to the surface. The clay was still warm from the afternoon’s sun, and mist rose from it, warming his hands.
“Come out now. I know you’re there, and I’d rather not have to hurt you,” Orion said to the nothingness. He didn’t want to harm a guard. Many of them had become friendly with him over the past five months he’d spent in this kingdom.
He focused on the chimney that jutted out of the building, where the shadows shifted with barely perceptible movements.
After the emissary’s attack, the only thing consuming Orion’s mind had been to find the artifact. His father and the guards had been the last thing on his mind today. How foolish of him, to walk around the place without a proper disguise.
Slowly, a winged figure appeared from the darkness, wearing copper armor from head to toe.
