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She trusts me, I realise with a start. Somehow, I have gained this amazing woman’s trust. I swallow hard, unexpected emotion rolling through me at the revelation. Clearing my throat I step into her side, wrapping an arm around her waist before walking her closer to the portal. “Ready?”
She nods, one of her hands snaking out to grip my shirt and she flashes me a toothy smile. “Yep.”
“Step up,” I murmur, guiding her and then we’re being sucked into the portal. Icy tar presses over us from all sides and I groan. Goddess, I hate portals. Some people refer to their travel experience as taking a refreshing walk through water, but for me it’s like jumping into a vat of black jello that’s hell bent on ensnaring me until I asphyxiate. Magic is so lovely at times.
We’re in limbo for a few seconds before we’re finally spat out on the other side. I’ve never been a graceful portaller and it seems that the same goes for Nessa as we’re literally tossed a few feet when we appear out of the portal. I yelp as my body makes contact with the ground, instinctively shoving Nessa away from me so I didn’t crush her on impact, and her echoing shriek rings through the air as she lands beside me and groans.
“Awe hell. What did I ever do to you? This is the second time you’ve thrown me like that. That’s just asshole-ish behaviour if you ask me,” Nessa mutters along with a string of colourful obscenities at the portal behind us, and my chest shakes with amusement as I watch her. She rubs at her ribs and a hint of concern goes through me, but she aims a smile at me.
Pushing up into a standing position, I help Nessa to her feet.Fingers crossed she likes our idea.
She blinks as her eyes adjust, face scrunched up and I wring my hands. Nessa scans the space, taking in the bustling crowd of people, stalls selling all sorts of things and the tops of rides in the distance, face blank. I swallow hard and open my mouth, ready to offer to go somewhere else, but a giddy grin finally bursts across her face and she laughs.
“Holy shit, are we at the famous Travelling Marketplace?” She spins in a slow circle, just taking it all in, joy practically radiating off of her. It travels throughout the Supernatural Realm every few weeks, moving between all the different cities and villages, alike. They are not usually open the entire time they’re stopped somewhere so it can be hard to organise a trip when they aren’t staying in a spot close to where you live. They do usually travel here around this time of year though. It seems to be a favourite place of theirs to visit because they seem to come here often.
I duck my head in a nod, clearing my throat when she aims the full force of her happiness at me. Then she shocks the fucking shit out of me when she leaps at me, her arms looping around my waist, hugging me tightly for a few moments before bouncing away again. I blink at her repeatedly, but she ignores my stupor and grabs my hand, leading us further into the rush of the crowd. “So where are we going, Poppy?”
“I was thinking we could check out the stalls first,” I say, watching her expression. It doesn’t waver.
“Sounds good. I have a confession to make, I’ve never been to this before so you’re going to have to be my guide.”
I stand up taller, excitement bubbling in my stomach even more than before at the prospect of offering her a new and fun experience. I give her a playful bow, tipping my head back to grin at her before I straighten up. “This way it is then.”
I offer her my arm, totally feeling the old fashioned vibe, and she chuckles before she slips her hand into the crook of my elbow, following my lead.
We move past stalls of all kinds and I wait for her to find one that catches her eye, but she seems enamoured with them all. Candy, jewellery, clothing, potions, supernatural creatures—she jolts to a stop when her eyes land on that one. “Poor little ones,” she murmurs, her words only just audible over the noise of the market.
This stall is one of the larger ones and I too grimace at the animals in cages. Most are full grown—stolen from their natural habitat most likely. It is technically against the law, but with it being difficult to prove their origin it is a practice that is rarely policed.
Nessa’s grip on my hand tightens and she steps into the tent, taking in the space slowly. It’s not one of the better setups. Creatures of all sorts line wire racks along the walls of it, most in cages too small for animals of their size and species. My jaw clenches, and I suck in a calming breath. Places like this always rile me up, but there’s nothing we can do. As we reach the end of the aisle, the owner comes into view, a stout older woman, with a scowl permanently etched into her features.
Nessa smiles at her politely, as do I. “Good afternoon, Ma’am. How are you doing?”
My eyes shoot to Nessa, eyebrows rising ever so slightly.What’s her angle here?
“You’ve got some beautiful animals here. My family owns a good sized livestock farm that backs onto a large forest and we’ve been looking to purchase a creature we could let loose into the woods. We’ve been having problems with bat rats weaselling into our feed stock.” I fight the urge to raise my eyebrows at her lie. Or at least from what I saw of her place, her words don’t seem to match.
The woman’s eyes light up at the prospect of a good sale and she eases to her feet, her claws flexing before she gestures down another aisle. “This way dear, I believe I have the perfect creature for you.”
Nessa’s brows draw together before she drops her chin, shoulders slumping. “I’m sure it’s beautiful, but alas without its wild instincts it’ll be useless to my family. Thanks anyways.” She turns as if to go and I place a hand on her shoulder, playing along. I’m more than a little confused but I also kind of want to see how this is going to play out.
“It’ll be okay, I’m sure we’ll find something.”
“Wait!” The woman calls, her voice sharp.
Nessa glances at her over her shoulder. “Yes?”
The woman visibly works to soften her body and when she speaks again her words have a sweet lilt to them. “There’s no need for that dear. All my creatures are of the finest stock and captured directly from the wild. For purposes such as this.”
Nessa spins on her feet, her eyes large and curious. Playing up her naive and slightly desperate act perfectly. “Really? But how were you able to catch so many creatures? Weren’t you hurt?”
The woman’s lips tug up into a slight smile, baring her shark like yellowing teeth. “Come here girl and I’ll let you in on a little secret.”
She nods, lips parted in awe. Nessa walks up to her, leaning in eagerly. The woman follows suit, but her low words still reach my sensitive ears. “Magical traps, girlie. The best you can buy. I’m the head creator so if your daddy ever needs some, have him give me a call. I’ll even throw in a five percent discount.” The woman produces a card from her person and passes it to Nessa.
I cock my head to the side, eyes narrowing as I try to figure out where Nessa is going with this. Even having the woman confess that these are wild caught, it will be our word against hersanddraw the supernatural council’s eye to us. Which is never a good thing. I’d be lying though if I said that Nessa’s acting skills don’t have me even more interested in seeing this little skit through, though.
I’m distracted from my thoughts when Nessa and the woman head down the aisle she gestured to earlier. She stops beside a cage that’s probably the size of a coffee table with a tiger-like creature shoved inside. I’m not well-versed in creature studies, but you’d assume that if wild it would be going nuts locked in a tiny cage like that, but it just watches us blankly.
