Page 59 of Crown of the Fae King

“But he’s wrong.”

“Fine. I’ll do it.” They really were good at what they did, bombarding someone in stereo. “But if he asks, I won’t lie.”

“Did we ask you to lie?”

“Certainly not.”

As soon as I was alone and could think in a straight line, I knew that’s exactly what they hoped I would do.

The next morning,the sisters were in their cushy seats in the war room once again, smiling innocently, like they hadn’t already arranged to send a spy along with their brother. Wickham, standing in front of the maps again, sent a good scowl their way about every thirty seconds, like an exclamation mark at the end of every sentence.

An hour in, everyone had their assignments—his sisters were to keep their hands off the Muir brothers and stay at the house. “Consider yerselves on house arrest. If I find ye’ve stepped off the property, I’ll feed ye to O’Ryan’s monsters myself.”

They only laughed.

He never broke character.

So after lunch, we gathered in the landing room, closed the doors, and Wickham took the other four to their destinations. When he popped back for me, I was ready with a small bag of clothes and a purse. He grabbed the handle of his own bag and popped us back out again.

In the next breath, we stood in a narrow alley no more than six feet across. The only view from dozens of windows above was limited to the window across from it. There wasn’t a chance anyone could see us unless they leaned out.

A young couple came running around the corner and stopped, breathless, when they saw us. One glance at our joined hands and they turned and ran off again.

“We must have popped into Lover’s Lane,” Wickham said, then dropped my hand. “Like I said, this might take days or weeks. So first off, we’ll be getting’ a room. Can ye ride a bicycle?”

I hadn't ridden a bike since I was a little kid, but I nodded. Then I prayed we'd find an apartment or hotel within walking distance to this famous library they called The Bod.

As I had at Trinity College, I studied the students we passed--hundreds of people in their twenties--and I realized two things. First, my clothes would blend in just fine. And second, I was getting old.

Hormones and the stress of impending tests dripped off them as they hurried down the cobblestones in all directions. I could almost see little trails of droplets crisscrossing the ground. And they smelled...like cheap beer.

Wickham seemed tense. I realized he was thinking of his sisters, worried they'd be sneaking into town and tempting fate.

"They're not coming," I told him. "They said as long as I feed their curiosity, they have no reason to."

He stopped short and blinked at me. "Ye cannae read minds, perchance?"

I laughed. "No. Of course not. You just have that same expression on your face as you do when anyone saysOxford. I assumed you were thinking of Lorraine and Loretta."

"Aye. I was. They'll be the death of me." He started walking again. “They pressed ye into spyin', did they?"

"Yeah. They said what little you told them would drive them crazy, so..."

"So ye're to provide the juicy bits."

"I am. So, you know, be sure to find some juicy bits, or I'll be forced to make them up."

"Auch, nay. Dinnae do that, for those two definitely can read minds."

We found a cute little house with aFor Letsign in the front yard. When the landlady showed us the room, though, it smelled like a dozen sweaty basketball players had just moved out. So we passed.

The next two places we checked out were barely large enough to turn around and go back out the door, including one with a tiny kitchen in the corner. I suggested a hotel might be better. Wickham insisted we try three more, but eventually, we ended up at a real estate office.

In the two hours of daylight we had left, we saw four properties. Wickham seemed to know just by walking through the door whether or not something was suitable, so we didn't linger in the first three houses they showed us. The fourth was a freaking estate, two or three times the size of the Edinburgh house. We had only seen the living room and the large kitchen before Wickham announced we'd take it.

After the wide-eyed agent stepped outside, I asked, "Isn't this a little large for just two people?"

"Aye. But it doesnae smell like sweaty lads, and that's good enough for me."

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