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“I didn’t say anything,” I protested.
“You needn’t speak to express your concerns. I can see your feelings all over your face. ”
I wondered if he’d meant it literally. The fae would be just the kind of being to have a magic way to read thoughts and emotions off your skin. Or some such thing. Who the hell knew what the fae could do? They could hide inside human bodies, breathe water and feed on the auras of virginal teens. I wasn’t about to make assumptions.
“Stop reading my face, Ghillie. ”
“Of course. ” He ducked his chin low with a nod, the woven fabric of his garment stirring in the light wind. The scent of him was familiar and odd all at once. Like a good friend’s perfume being worn by a stranger. The moss and leaves of his wardrobe smelled earthy—rightly so—much like the way my wolves smelled close to the full moon. But there was a coldness to the smell that made me uneasy. A sharp fragrance that burned the inside of my nostrils the way a deep breath on a winter day might.
My inner wolf’s ruff went up, and the tingle of fangs itched inside my gums. Both of my monsters were warning me to be mindful of him, and my common sense was more than willing to listen. I didn’t think Ghillie wished us any ill will. He seemed genuine enough. But the fae rarely did anything without a selfish motive.
I wanted to know what Ghillie’s motives were.
“Did you know we were coming?” I asked him.
Holden held back on the road, and when we had come to a stop, Desmond crouched down low, keeping his head nestled between his forearms. Both of them were watching me and the wood fae now. The vampire didn’t move a muscle, and the wolf kept making short, harsh breathing sounds.
“There were whispers,” Ghillie said.
“Do I look like I want to play a game of Guess that Riddle? Let’s dispense with the talking in circles and poetry, can we?” Catching a familiar bitchy tone sneaking
into my voice, I bit my lip to keep from saying anything I might regret and paused a beat before continuing. “Tell me why you’re helping us. ”
“Graciousness. ”
Holden snorted.
Ghillie’s gaze shifted from me to the vampire, and for the first time since our arrival I saw something unmistakably unfriendly in the fae’s countenance.
“Holden,” I said without looking at him, “can you give Ghillie and me some privacy?”
He didn’t have to say anything to project his unhappiness, I could practically feel the weight of his glare boring into the back of my head. Ignoring him, I kept my attention on Ghillie and knew the vampire had walked away when the fae finally turned his attention to me.
“The company you keep, miss…”
“My companions are my concern. ”
“They may be everyone’s concern if you do not manage them better. ”
“I will keep them under control. Now tell me what these whispers were. ”
“I heard one of the court had a new keepsake. Very pretty. Very…spirited. ” He was describing Kellen as if she were a thoroughbred pony. Fine breeding stock. I wondered briefly if the fae who’d taken her considered himself her owner.
If Ghillie thought my men belonged to me, I didn’t see how Kellen’s new keeper would think any differently of her.
Days like today made me long for a life where I worked at a desk job. If there really were infinite universes full of infinite possibilities, I wished there was a way for someone to transport me to that reality.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“We heard she wasn’t fair game. Heard she wasn’t meant to be taken. Too many messes. ”
“Your whispers got something right. ”
“We knew someone would come. ”
“And here I am. ”
“Here you are,” he repeated. “And it is my job to take anyone sent by the Lady Calliope and deliver them to His Majesty. You understand. ”
