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When Elisa came down to eat the grainy bread and boiled eggs I’d purchased, she wore a sleek caramel outfit, her hair pulled into a braid, her expression gentle and unworried once more. She accepted the food and, despite those looking at us, kissed me.
I sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too. You’re right… it will be worth the risk.” She picked at the bread, and crumbs trailed to the ground. “I want forever, too. I’m just trying to make the most of what we have.”
“I know you are, love. This is perfect. It just makes me want more.” I leaned my lips against her ear so I could whisper. “Just like every time I taste you.”
Her expression broke as she chuckled.
“Come on, let’s go. If we leave early, we should make it to the mine before sunset.”
* * *
The cavern glistened in the bobbing light of the lantern I held. The stone walls held streaks of dozens of colors: silvers, amethyst, sapphire, slate, and forest-deep greens.
Elisa walked around the cavern, brushing her fingers over undulations before her magic glittered to life. She drew metal and knitted it into her shift in delicate shapes of flowers and swirls. It looked like nothing more than expensive lingerie with intricate designs but would hold enough varieties of metals to make a dozen keys by the time she finished.
I slipped a knife free from my side as the echo of footsteps clattered around.
“Now what’s you twos doing here?” a man with a head of sable curls and sparkling blue eyes said as he walked into the light.
“For the Goddess’ sake, Niko, you could have announced yourself.”
“Just did. I ain’t seen you twos in some time.”
“We’re passing through and decided to gather some supplies while here.” I nodded to Elisa who smiled at Niko but returned to her job. With the delicate, minute patterns she formed, it would take her all night, and we wanted to be on the road in the morning.
Niko scratched his neck. “Yous here for the blood moon festival at the Seelie place?”
I scoffed. “You know us better than that. Do you think we’d get caught dead in that saints forsaken place?”
“Ehh… not fer the joy of it, course. But I hear they displaying a mighty fine item. Somethings someone like you with your sticky fingers might like, eh?”
“Elisa is just loading up.”
Niko smirked. “I see… I see… But I have a bit of news that may interest yous.”
Elisa pulled a length of bronze metal forth, sweat breaking onto her brow with the concentration. I opened my bag to find a coat for her. She’d get cold with how chill the air was down here and her sweating. “What news?”
“Rumor says the Seelie have a new enchanted metal of some sorts.”
Elisa turned towards him, the raw block of bronze gripped in her fingers. “What kind of metal?”
“Can’t say I knows… but they say you can’t break it with magic and it can reduce a fae’s powers. I’s thinks I’ll stay far from it if I knows what’s good for me.”
Niko wouldn’t go near the Seelie lands, regardless. He, like Elisa, had magic rooted with metalwork. Unlike her, he stayed away and kept out of potential conflict.
Elisa’s lips pinched, but she bobbed her head and returned to the cave wall. “We’ll keep that in mind, Niko.” She turned to face me, her curls sliding down her back as she gave me a firm look. She didn’t need to speak to rehash our conversation from that morning and now there was potentially some kind of enchanted metal. This job was dangerous. Was it worth the risk? I returned to shuffling through the bag to avoid answering her.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
SAI
Dark clouds pressedacross the sky, low and angry. A peal of thunder rumbled, and Lira stepped in closer to me, her boots squishing into the swampy ground. I longed to put an arm around her or clasp her hand. Sirens didn’t share the same heightened sight that fairies did; she couldn’t make out the world with the clarity I could. “We’ll get out of the elements as soon as we speak with the Naga.”
“How do you do this?” Her eyes which had taken on a silver hue in the low light skimmed the lanky lines of the trees surrounding the swamp we walked through.
“Do what?”
