Page 40 of Tell Them That I’m Coming

I’m sure he’s wrong. He has to be. He’s on the other end of my bond, but I’m not ready to tell that. Not yet. Instead, I answer his questions, throwing back some of my own, and keep on moving forward until he tells us it’s time to settle down for the night.

Until this eve. Until Thane sees that I’m dragging again, that I flinch a little when he says that we should start searching for a safe place to rest, and pauses.

And then he says five magic words that nearly had me genuflected in front of him the way that Corbin once did to Stever:

“Want to find an inn?”

The inn that Thane leads Binx and me inside is older than it looks at first glance. Makes sense. This is a fae world full of immortals, and like Sombra, you often get the feeling that—with so much time for its inhabitants—it’s almost frozen in it.

Its timbers lean inward, the dark wood polished smooth by centuries of travelers who came through Noctavara. A low fire burns in the hearth, casting warm light over rough tables filled with wary faces. Most of them are covered in cloaks like the one Thane wears. Others have softly glowing golden skin, but nowhere near the level of beauty and refinement that he has. In fae realms, there are high fae—the nobles—and low fae—the tradesman, the seamstresses, the farmers, and the slavers. This inn serves as a tavern for the low fae, and one that Thane has used when he had a coin to spare for a night indoors where the inn keeps rooms on the second story.

The way I see it, his pouch is a lot fuller because of me. He can buy my supper in the kitchen below, plus a soft bed upstairs for me to sleep on, and I won’t even feel like I need to ‘thank you’. If only for the night, I want to pretend I’m back home with all my amenities.

So consumed with looking around, it takes me a moment to notice that all conversation began to falter the moment our trio stepped inside.

Not all at once. Not so dramatically that it’s undeniable. But I feel it: the subtle shift, the pause between words, the flicker of curious attention that hits us before bounding away again before they’re caught.

Thane feels it, too.

As our guide, he’d walked in first to make sure it was safe. Now? He moves to my side, taking a step back. His hand finds the small of my back, firm and deliberate, fingers pressing through fabric. He’s making it clear that, no matter what, I’m with him.

Kind of like he’s claiming me…

With Binx on my shoulder and Thane keeping his hand there, he jerks his chin to the end of the room. There’s a counter with a gorgeous fae female leaning forward, showing off her bosom. She has the Noctavaran coloring, from her amber eyes to her golden skin, though her hair is the color of honey. It falls in loose curls around her pointed ears, making me all the more aware that my hair’s been a tangled mess since I arrived.

She’s stunning, and I tighten up as Thane makes a beeline right for her. Does he know her? Does he thinks she’s pretty? What is he⁠—

“Innkeeper,” he says, warm voice friendly enough without being too friend. “We need two rooms for the night.”

The innkeeper’s eyes dart to me, though she never loses her welcoming smile. Then she’s glancing where my horns usually are; they’re glamoured, barely noticeable unless you know what to look for. Then, lastly, to Binx, who peers out from my shoulder with glowing white eyes and a deceptively innocent expression.

“I’m afraid there’s only one room left for the night,” the innkeeper says after a moment. “With one bed.”

One bed… for the three of us?

I open my mouth, ready to argue, but Thane speaks first.

“That’s even better.”

Up close, the bed the innkeeper led us to upstairs looks even smaller.

It’s too narrow. Too intimate. The walls seem to press in, the single window shuttered tight against the golden woods beyond it. The innkeeper murmurs that there’s fresh basked bread and gnome stew for supper if we’d like some sent up before pointing out the facilities down the hall in case we want to freshen up.

It irks me that her gaze shoots my way when she adds that part, but Thane quickly confirms that we’ll head down ourselves to try the cook’s famed stew before we turn in for the eve. Then, making it clear that that was a dismissal, he waits until she leaves to close the door behind her.

Now it’s just us, and though we’ve been traveling in close quarters for our fifth moon now, I’ve never been so intimately aware of Thane Aurex before.

“I can take the floor,” I blurt out, because I am not weak and I am not helpless and I am definitely not swooning just because he’s removed his cloak and is currently rolling his shoulders like he can’t wait to lie down on that bed.

Thane turns to me slowly. “No,” he says, gentle but unyielding. “You won’t.”

Something in his tone stills me.

“But—”

“We’re out of the woods now,” he continues. “The low fae have a tendency to talk. They watch. I’d hoped that the innkeeper insisted we only have one room because I couldn’t let you out of my sight, Alana, but I didn’t want to unnerve you. I’ll take the floor, but I won’t leave you alone. As it is, if there are already rumors spreading through Noctavara, I don’t intend to feed them any further.”

“Rumors,” I echo. “What kind of rumors?”