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I ground my teeth. “We should—”
A man holding a rollicking lantern walked up to Elisa and the siren. “Who goes there?”
“Shit,” I cursed.
The two of us hurried over. The night watchman huddled in his cloaks, and the baroque patterned butt of a short sword gleamed on his hip. At least he wasn’t a Domorian—the group that policed magic among humans and were supposed to keep fae out. Of course, those laws, including the ones that forbid a fairy from taking another’s zevar, had broken down in the last dozen years. Worry that the fairy courts headed towards war seemed to hang around all our conversations lately. The vows and treaties made in the wars fought by fairies long dead seemed to dissolve like paper drifting into the sea. The night watchman tightened his eyes. “You all aren’t from around here, are you?”
Elisa flashed him a smile. “We’re travelers and stopped for the show tonight.”
The man nodded, and a silvery scar at the end of one of his eyebrows glimmered in the light. “I hate to bother you, but we’ve had reports of robberies during the show.”
The siren’s gaze darted to Sai, her expression shifting to panic, and I wanted to smack my face. The watchman’s eyes narrowed, and he lifted the bell tied to his hip and rang it.
Fuck.
Sai stepped in closer. “Sir, we mean no trouble. What can we do to ease your mind?”
The watchman took in his polished clothes, the refined lilt of his speech. If he scrutinized him much closer, it would be obvious he wasn’t human. “If you let me pat your group down, and you have nothing to hide, then we can put this all behind us.”
Elisa frowned. The idea of this man’s hands all over us didn’t appeal to me either. Sai looked at me, waiting for my response. We’d stashed all our supplies and he wasn’t stupid enough to get caught with gold on him. I offered a nod before I grimaced at Elisa. She shrugged. Sometimes unpleasantries were necessary.
The watchman set his lantern down and approached the siren who took an unsteady step back. Sai gasped and darted his wide eyes to me again. He’d just realized some detail he’d overlooked, and we were about to be fucked. Wonderful.
The watchman slipped his hands down the girl’s sides, and she froze, panic painted on her face. Something in me wanted to knock the man out for touching her. It wasn’t typical for me to feel protective of strangers, but the discomfort on her face, the way her body stiffened, caused my fingers to itch with a desire to teach this asshole a lesson. Sai shared my feelings. His expression had hardened until it took on a predatory slant and his zevar glowed beneath the dark fabric of his shirt. He’d connected with his magic and was close to unleashing hell here in Landre. I tensed, preparing for whatever might happen, but him releasing the full display of his powers this close to our goal was stupid as shit. Something about this girl had rattled him and had him unfocused in a way I’d never seen.
A jailer’s cart clopped up. The horses that led it gave their massive heads a shake before several men jumped down from the front of the wagon which caused the cart to creak and give a violent shudder before it settled again.
Fuck. We were going to get stuck in that damned thing. Sai took a deep breath and the glowing of his stone dimmed. I knew he hated using his magic on humans maliciously, but I had to bite back a groan. Now would be an excellent time for him—or the siren—to use a wisp of their powers and get us out of this situation. It would only be a little magic for him, barely enough to trace.
“What do we have here?” The watchman slid his hands under the siren’s skirts and she gasped as he pulled out a money bag, heavy with coin.
I darted my face towards Sai who gave me an apologetic grimace.
But no. That was not enough.
This was exactly what we needed, for Prince Lennox to get word of us being in the country that neighbored his kingdom because we got stopped by a damn human watchman of all things. Oh, if we got out of this job unscathed, I was going to end Sai.
“Please.” The girl’s voice trembled as she reached towards the bag, but the man tossed it to the other two. “That’s my entire fortune.”
“What respectable woman keeps her entire fortune on her person?” He lifted his lantern again, and the light glittered over the gritty texture of the cobblestone at our feet. “I believe we’ve found our thieves, boys.”
“A misunderstanding, sir,” Sai said.
“You can take it up with the constable. He should be around in a few days.”
The siren clasped a trembling hand over her lips. “What are we supposed to do until then?”
“You’ll wait in the jail. And if you’re smart,”—he eyed us like he doubted we qualified—“you’ll go without a fuss.”
Sai’s jaw worked for a moment, and then he nodded. The siren gaped at him going along with it. She seemed disappointed that he wasn’t figuring some way out of the mess. She wasn’t the only one, but if he didn’t want us to act; we didn’t act. I sighed as I headed towards the cart. Elisa and I climbed in behind Sai and the girl. The latter dropped onto the bench and scrunched her hands into her skirt. Her face paled as she shifted towards the barred windows. The men clicked a lock, and the metal banged against the bars. They jumped up to the front of the wagon and urged the horses forward into a lazy walk.
“Brilliant, Sai,” I said.
He rolled his eyes. “Let’s see which direction this heads. Maybe it will buy us time.”
“We’d have to circle back for our supplies.”
“Right.” He dropped his head against the wall with a thunk.
