Page 112 of Siren’s Secret

“Really? Hard to come by?”

He shook his head. “Not if you know who to ask.”

Marc cleared his throat. “This is why you wanted to see my father? To talk about books?” He looked a bit bewildered.

“Where are my manners?” Mr. Ulriche immediately said. “Please sit.” He indicated the chairs across his desk, but Wave shook her head.

“I believe we’ll be missed downstairs soon.” She looked around the office once more before locking eyes with Mr. Ulriche. “What do you do if the book doesn’t want to be found?”

Mr. Ulriche shook his head. “Unfortunately, that is not my expertise. Would you like me to make some inquiries?”

“If it’s not too much trouble.”

“Wayla?” Marc asked, finally picking up that they weren’t talking about books. Wave just shook her head. Mr. Ulriche nodded and flicked his eyes between the two of them. Wave gave another, more subtle shake of her head.

“Very well then. I’ll let you know when I have something,” he said. “Please let Heather know I’ll be down shortly.”

“Thank you. We will.”

As soon as they were out of the office, Marc grabbed Wave’s arm and pulled her to a stop.

“What was that about?”

“Tracking spell,” Wave whispered quietly. “He figured me out last time. I needed to know if he had told anyone.”

“The attack,” Marc murmured.

“I didn’t think he was behind that,” Wave hurried to say. “But if someone is tracking me—”

“You need a way to hide from spells.” Marc eyed her. “Why didn’t you ask me?”

Wave took a moment to swallow and breathe in deep. “Because you are not on that wall, Marc.”

“What?”

“Your father is.” Wave pointed at the portrait. “He might not be high tier, but he understands the game. You…” She hesitated a moment. “Esserieh said to keep you out of it. Your inquiries are not careful enough. A lot can be learned about an opponent based on what information they are looking for.”

Marc frowned. “But—”

“It’s not a bad thing to suck at those games, Marc. I’ve tried to avoid them my whole life, but I’ve never had the luxury of being bad at them.”

“Then why do I feel like I’ve let you down again?”

Wave smiled softly, but she had a hard time forcing the words past her lips. “Because you still think I need you to fight my battles for me.” She looped her arm around his and started walking. “We better get going.”

This time, dinner was a different affair. She was once again seated next to Marc and across from Mr. Ulriche, but Tanner sat on her left side. It almost felt like she was the guest of honor, not Tanner. When she glanced at the boy—young man, she corrected herself, he gave her a wide smile.

“I asked for you to be seated next to me,” he said.

Wave flicked her eyes to Marc and back. “Really?”

Tanner looked unrepentant. “Yes. It’s my birthday, after all.”

“That it is,” Mr. Ulriche joined in, ignoring his wife and other people vying for his attention.

When the food started to come out, Wave couldn’t help her delighted laughter. Instead of cold soup, the starter was an array of nuggets and croquettes. Chicken, beef, mushroom, potato, spicy cazzeth—root from the Hell Realm, sweet iseri—berry from heaven, orketh—a rabbit-looking creature from fae lands, and plenty more. There were at least twenty varieties and twice as many condiments to go with them.

“Man of taste,” she teased Tanner, who looked pleased.