AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I sank against the back of my chair. A man with a bulbous, reddened nose watched us and whispered to his companions. I lifted my mug and flashed him a smile. He took another swallow of his drink but bobbed his head and returned to his conversation.
“Look at my charmer,” Elisa said.
“You admire a liar?”
“I desire you most when you’re spinning beautiful falsehoods.”
I forced a smile, but it probably came out as more of a grimace. “It’s difficult here.”
Among humans, I meant. In fae lands, we were safe to be ourselves. Whenever we traveled outside our home’s borders, it brought up uncomfortable emotions for both of us. I didn’t have to explain that to Elisa, though, and she wouldn’t push me on it. It was the beauty of our relationship. Love and respect flowed between the two of us like a river replenishing the sea. Five years ago, I would have never thought a partner like her was possible. There was no treasure we’d stolen that I valued as deeply as Elisa. It was the reason I’d agreed to this foolish quest, my friendship with Sai aside. We risked everything, and he was being his usual unpredictable self.
As if my thoughts summoned him, his tall figure appeared at the bottom of the stairs, the ebony of his coat—cut too similarly to fae fashion to blend in with human clothing—rippled in the lamplight.
The singer followed him, and her eyes darted about nervously as the hem of her dress jumped with flight.
I grabbed Elisa’s fingers, paused for a moment to graze over the long, slender digits, and nodded in their direction. She took another swallow of her drink before we jumped up and weaved between tables filled with buzzing conversations. The man I’d nodded to watched us as we worked our way through the room. Sai slid the key to the innkeeper who gave him an unimpressed look—they’d only been up there long enough for one thing and not even a lengthy variation of it.
Sai whispered some question to the man who scowled before he gestured to a hallway behind the counter. Sai flipped him a coin, and the silver form of it twisted in the light. Great… more of our human money gone for whatever impulsive decision he’d just made without conferring with me. Oh Goddess, he was dead.
He gestured for us to follow. The singer chewed on the edge of her thumb and tucked into the passageway with him. We rustled between the narrow walls, following Sai as he took a right and banged through a door. Outside, the flickering flame of a lantern that swayed in the wind illuminated the alley.
“Sai,” I said, “we need to talk.”
He flashed me a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I assumed we would. Elisa, would you stay with my friend?”
Elisa turned towards the girl, her mannerisms growing gentle. She’d encountered nervous humans before. Had a soft spot for them, even. “Of course,” she cooed.
I yanked Sai’s arm and pulled him out of earshot, into the shadows that slipped along the angles of the building. “Explain. Now.”
“She needs help.”
Frustration ricocheted through me. “No, that’s not an explanation. Let’s start with you diverging from the plan. Why did you go with her to a room?”
He crossed his arms and leaned against the building.
“Sai.”
“She’s a siren.”
A pulse of silence passed between us, and the distant, musical voice of Elisa filled it as she spoke to thesirenof all the beings in existence. What was a siren doing in Landre so far from the sirens’ lands? Bare tree limbs clattered above as they clawed over the pale expanse of the moon. And then I realized what Sai meant and had to swallow my howl of laughter. “She compelled you, didn’t she?”
“Neia.”
“Did you have your wards down, or did she break through them? Please tell me it’s the latter.”
He jerked his jacket to straighten it. “I had my wards down. And not a word of this to anyone else.”
I brushed away tears formed from my silent laughter. “Oh, Sai, you have done some stupid things, but this one tops them all.”
“Okay. You’ve gloated. Can we return to you being angry with me instead?”
Fair enough. It was rare for Sai to let his defenses down, and I understood the urge to do so here in this mundane human country where magic was rare and fae scarce. Then again, we were here. So, perhaps letting his wards down was foolish, and that was atypical for him. Sai was brazen but not imprudent. Plus, who was this siren who could break through Sai’s defenses? I looked back at her and how meek she appeared. Most fae would find it impossible to surpass Sai’s perception of magic even with his wards down. He should have noticed the intrusion and stopped it before it happened. In the five years we’d worked together, he’d had no one break through his wards. I leaned against the wall, patchy weeds lacing around my boots. “Fine. Why did you bring the siren down with you?”
His gaze darted to where she curled into herself. Next to Elisa—who stood radiant and sure as her coppery curls graced her shoulders—the siren looked as skittish as a starved street dog. Elisa was shorter than her but somehow seemed to take up more space as the siren hunched down. “I don’t think she knows I’m aware she’s a siren. I’m not even certain she knows I’m magical.”
“What?”
“She wants to run away from her mother, who I gather is abusive.” He gave me a firm look. We both had strong opinions on that. The discomfort of remembering bits and pieces of my childhood flooded through me. My mother had two expressions she wore—the hazy, drunk one and the raging, sober version. Sai continued, “All she wishes is help getting out of town and a traveling party to accompany her to the next one.”
