Page 75 of Prince of Darkness and Deceit

“How long have you had that book?” she asks with a tone that not so subtly points out that there are things I haven’t shared with her, either.

“A little over a day.” I roll my lip between my teeth then blurt, “Juniper gave it to me.”

Ferria huffs a laugh. “Of course. Who else would dare have such an item in their possession?”

I join in her amusement at our adoptive mother’s bold, defiant reputation.

“Is it a healer text, then?” Ferria asks.

“I think so? I haven’t been able to decipher anything from it yet. Nothing that a picture can’t tell me.”

“Why not ask the Fae for help?” She peers at me from the corner of her eye. “You seem friendly enough with them.”

I snort. “Friendly is not the word I would use.”

“Then why would they step in to protect you?”

I frown, forcing myself to ignore how my stomach flips. “Because they need me to hea⁠—”

Flames lick my throat, and I slam my mouth shut.

Ferria glances at where I press my hand to my neck and winces. “Sorry.”

I drop my hand and sigh. “It’s not your fault.”

She dips her chin. “All I’m saying is the Fae need you for something. If that book can assist your efforts, then I’d ask for their help.”

“The Shadow King banned those texts.”

And the punishment for possessing one is as cruel as the one for possessing magic. Yet another reason I consider Juniper the bravest woman I’ve ever met.

“Right. The king,” Ferria says with meaning. “But something tells me those Fae might be willing to overlook their sovereign's rules.”

I flick my gaze to her. “Why would you say that?”

She shrugs. “They made a deal to ignore the rebellion rumors in our town, as long as you helped them. Seems to me like they’re more concerned with their own goals than those of their ruler hundreds of miles away.”

I never thought of it like that. But she’s right. Maybe I can ask them to help me translate the book.

“Do they know about your power?” Ferria’s question makes my head snap to the side so fast, a neck muscle tweaks in protest.

I rub the sore spot.

“No,” I whisper. “Are you crazy?”

“What?”

I gape at her like she’s grown two heads. “Fae don’t approve of mortals with magic, either.”

When the Shadow Wars started, the first thing Fae did was hunt humans with magic flowing in their veins, effectively destroying the one miniscule weapon we had in our arsenal against them.

She huffs and shakes her head. “Fine. You’ve got a point. How about we try to read it together? We can take turns reading out loud to see if anything sounds familiar.”

“What if we mispronounce something and…I don’t know…our magic makes the other’s nose turn into a pig snout?”

“Then I guess you’ll have to figure out how to use your healing magic to make it normal again.”

I laugh with her, and some of the strain that has been tugging at me loosens with our banter. Comfortable silence falls.