Page 30 of Secret Origins
“He does have a good point,” the Fae murmured, while Marius was trying to become one with the sofa. Poor shmuck.
“Leave it to a human to enlighten us.” Fenrir chuckled, and I grinned at the old man to soften the sting of my words. “Well, General. I think we are about to test your bullets and see if they work on an actual goddess. Welcome to the freak show.”
19
“Myst?”
“Bow.” I was pointing at the tips of my boots while Fenrir was shooting daggers at me through his eyes.
“Myst …” My name was growled as a warning, but I didn’t budge.
“My mother was a goddess herself and I am the sole heir to a throne. Bow before you address me, peasant.” I’d been needling him like that all day from the time I woke up.
“You do know I am a royal as well.” Looking down his nose at me, he jutted his chin stubbornly.
“I don’t know where you’re going with this,” I deadpanned, blinking at him in confusion.
“A royal does not bow to a royal …” He blew a harsh breath through flaring nostrils, pinching the bridge of his nose with a thumb and a forefinger. “You don’t even want the crown, or the throne.”
“Yet I still have the crown.” Petting the invisible circlet that no one could see but I could feel sitting on my head, I grinned at him. “No one has seen my throne or the Courtless for centuries, so there are no rules biding me down. I can make up my own, and since I’m the one that keeps the balance, you will obey. Or until I can take this shit off my head. I’m not picky really. One or the other.”
“Will the two of you stop?” the General growled from our right, his face reddening in anger unlike anything I’d ever seen from him.
“You are taking his side now?” I gaped at the old man. “You didn’t even know him until yesterday.”
“I’m not taking sides.” He sounded as tired as Fenrir. “Come look at this and tell me what you think.”
Walking past Fenrir, I peered around the General at a bunch of bullets that looked … well, just like bullets.
“What am I looking at?” Prodding at one with my nail, I made it almost roll off of the table.
“Look.” The General snatched it before it dropped, bringing it to my face. “Can you see them?” He rolled the bullet between his fingers slowly. “On the casing.”
“Ah, I see,” Fenrir murmured over my shoulder, crowding me and sounding impressed.
I elbowed him in the gut.
“Back off, peasant.” Taking hold of the General’s wrist, I kept squinting at the bullet until what was on it gained clarity. Having my body broken into a heap of meat and shredded bone took its toll and I believed I was still healing. “Damn, General. I’m seriously impressed. No wonder you were ready to bite my head off when it comes to Marius.”
Barely visible runes were interconnecting all around the bullet casing, making it look almost decorative and pretty if you had no idea what you were looking at. What I was seeing was a mean magic waiting to be unleashed on whoever the poor sucker was who ended up with a bullet hole in their body. The human was becoming indispensable by the minute.
“Well done, Marius.” I turned to the mage, who was plastering himself to the wall in the corner and trying to stay as far away from me as possible. “You should be proud of yourself. This is genius.”
Marius blushed, which made Fenrir growl.
“Seriously, Fenrir? The male wouldn’t show me his dangly bits if I was the last female in all the realms and he was about to die of a case of blue balls. Stop scaring the help, peasant.”
The General released a pained sound.
“Make yourself useful, go bring me something to eat before I faint. All this healing left me starving.”
This time the old man looked ready to slap me, and after glaring for a good minute at my neutrally arranged features, Fenrir stomped off to bring me food while muttering to himself under his breath about stubborn Fae females being the death of him. I snickered at his back until he was gone.
“Okay, now that it’s just us, tell me how the runes work.” The words were hushed, though they came out in a rush. “There is no mage to trigger them with magic, not unless you have been breeding mages that will use the bullets without me being aware of it.”
The General frowned, his intelligent eyes darting from my face to the place Fenrir disappeared turning a corner.
“He won’t betray us on purpose, but he is a Daywalker oath bound to that cursed place. I don’t want him knowing everything until I’m sure he won’t feel honor bound to spill it at the Academy.”
