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Her lip trembled.
I leaned against the corner of the wall, my shoulder brushing the windowpane. Perhaps if this woman worked for the Prince, I should unearth information. She could let him know our location. Or—worse than that—the details of the job we had planned. Neia would understand the logic of that argument. She’d worried on our entire journey so far, pointing out all the ways I’d been indiscreet, could draw the Seelie Prince’s attention or, more importantly, the focus of his father. As a high-ranking fairy from the court of their enemy, they would be only too happy to get their hands on me. I hoped for the same in return. I’d love nothing more than to take vengeance out of the Prince’s flesh after what he’d done.
“You have two minutes,” I said to the girl, my voice laced with bitterness that was intended for the Prince but caused her to shiver.
Her chest heaved, and the motion rippled the frilly fabric of her dress. Her clothing looked like the traveling performers’. Perhaps they were all sirens, and, again, what the fuck were magical beings doing in Landre where magic was forbidden? For all the problems I had, and that were my responsibility, however, this wasn’t one of them. The Maharani would want to know about unmonitored sirens traveling through the human realm, though. I tucked that away for later.
Lira set the knife down with a clack against the beaten surface of the table, and the sound echoed. The hum and clatter of the pub below, dulled by the walls, buzzed between us. “I… I didn’t mean to lead you along or anything. I didn’t realize you were…” Her eyes darted to the knife that protruded from the wall. “Please. I need help.”
It was almost humorous to have someone askingmefor help. If she knew who I was, I doubt she’d make that request. No, like everyone else she’d either fear me or try to see what advantage she could find with me. “As I’m neither a physician nor a priest, I’m afraid help isn’t what you’ll find with me.”
She licked her lips. “I could… I could pay you.”
“Are you propositioning me?” My eyes raked down the fluttering fabric of her dress and the undulations it made as it followed the dips and swells of her curves. She was appealing, but I would never take sex as a payment.
Her pale skin blossomed with color, and she crossed her arms. “No. I need help to get away from here. I could pay in gold.”
“Ah.” That was too bad. I didn’t have time for a side project despite the intrigue I felt. “A skill set I could actually help with, but there’s not a chance you could afford me.”
Her fingers drifted down to her leg and brushed over the outline of what had to be a money bag. “How much?”
From the size of the purse she carried, she probably had a few hundred coins at most. If she knew the fees others paid my team for our services, she would understand how little her purse would tempt me. “Have you considered I might harm you once I got you away from town?”
She squinted at me. “Would you?”
“Why would I admit that if it was my plan?”
“You seem more focused on getting away from me, not harming me. And I’ve found in life that many people are trustworthy.”
It was strange for someone to not immediately fear me. However, it was no commentary on me but more a reflection of her naivety. “You should trust no one.”
“No one?”
I pressed my hand against the window frame and debated swinging myself out to end this bizarre conversation. It was hard to concentrate with her massive crystal-blue eyes focused on me and her smooth skin glowing golden in the lamplight. There was something in her expression that drew me to her, made me want to stay, tuck her away from the shadows of the world she clearly didn’t know about. “Trusting others will get you hurt.”
“Sounds like you speak from experience,” she whispered.
“Look, Lira, this conversation has been… unexpected. But I have places I must be. Forgive me.” I shifted towards the whisper of night air again. She took a step forward and reached a hand towards me. A note spilled past her lips, and I tightened the magic of my wards as the silky sweetness of her song rippled over me. She clamped her mouth closed again and gave her head a shake like she’d changed her mind and wouldn’t use her powers on me after all.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Maybe I can find someone else.”
“Someone else?”
Her eyes darted up with a fierceness in them that showed while she may be naïve and uncertain, she had a ferocity lying dormant beneath the surface. “I must leave this town tonight, and I need help.”
Oh hell, she was going to get herself killed. “Why are you so desperate to leave?”
“My mother.” A long pause stretched, and someone in the street below called after a companion. The clatter of their feet echoed across the stone road. “She controls my entire life. She’s the owner of the traveling show.”
“Ah.”
Who was this woman? There was no way she worked for Prince Lennox. Not that I trusted her. I didn’t. But even his family wasn’t foolish enough to hire someone like this… unless she was an excellent liar. Maybe. She didn’t strike me that way, though. Could she truly just be a woman attempting to get out from under her mother’s authority? It was an odd coincidence that she was magical, but I supposed stranger things had happened.
“Where are you trying to go?”
“Just to the next town.” She took several steps closer to me. “If you could help me get past my mother, I can make it on my own from there.”
I doubted that, but the next town was less than a day’s walk and already on our path. Suddenly the image of my youngest sister came to my mind, the dimples in her cheeks and her bright trusting eyes. Goddess, what if she was in this situation? She could walk away from someone like me who wouldn’t harm her and into the hands of someone truly nefarious. Plus, it was rare for me to meet a being where my reputation hadn’t preceded me. To have this woman staring at me like I was her hope instead of her doom sent a strange chill down my spine. She didn’t see me as darkness, but as a light out of a sinister situation. I’d never had someone treat me that way outside of my family or team before. “All right.”
