Page 99 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
“Selena, and she’s a pain in my ass.”
I rolled my eyes. “And he’s a cocky jerk.”
The man laughed, loud and cheery. “Nice to meetcha, Selena or should I say the Siren? I’m Finn. The lad’s been awful busy these past couple years. Mission after mission, so I haven’t gotta proper conversation with him in years. He needs to visit more. Do ya think ya can hound him into coming to see his hometown?”
“Of course.” I blinked as I processed what he said. While I was immensely curious about the village that had shaped Kieran’s childhood, the nickname I’d been given was too out of the blue not to question it. “What do you mean, the Siren?”
Finn grinned. “Ya haven’t heard? When I was travelin’ I met one of the villages ya worked with.They said ya have the skills of a siren, drawing them gryphons towards ya. Sounds awfully useful, if a bit dangerous.”
My mouth dried. “Oh.” It made sense I’d get a title and yet hearing it left me dumbstruck. Selena the Siren.Fuck.This was even more disorientating than wearing the dragonsguard uniform.
“It could be Selena the Gryphon Bait,” Kieran murmured in my ear.
I smacked him and ignored his smirk. But he had a point.
Finn saw the distress on my face and quickly said, “Don’t worry, kiddo. It was only a small group I heard use it. And they’re far from the capital. The name will only catch on ta those travelin’.”
“So, uh, where did Kieran grow up?” I’d much rather focus on that than my name being spread.
Finn narrowed his eyes at Kieran. “Where’s ya pride, boy?”
Kieran actually looked bashful—a look that delighted me. “She’s annoying and nosy. Besides, if she picked up a book, she’d know.”
“S-shut up. Are you going to tell me or what?”
Finn barked a laugh. “Both of us are from Elidad.” He grabbed one of the steaming pastries at his booth and handed them to us. “Apple tarts on the house.”
Kieran still reached for his wallet. “No. We’re paying.”
“No ya not.” Finn’s voice took a hard edge. Ifought the urge to roll my eyes. What was with this nonsense? If someone wanted to give you something for free, you took it. “Ya’ve shown me too much kindness for me to charge ya.”
“I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t—”
“Let me have my pride.”
At that, Kieran merely nodded and took his apple tart. I’d already grabbed mine. Finn winked at me, and I grinned. “Now ya two run along. I have a business to run. Can’t have ya distractin’ me.”
As we walked away, I arched a brow at Kieran. “You really going to let him win?”
Kieran didn’t look back but said under his breath, “My shadow’s delivering the coin as we speak.”
I bit into the tart and hummed in delight. “It’s good.” I took another bite. I never had an apple tart before, but clearly I’d been missing out.
“Of course it is. Finn’s the best in the business.”
I smiled at the pride in his voice. “How do you know him?”
“He practically helped raise me. The few times Adelaide kicked me out, he offered me a cot in his spare room. He’s a good man.”
The more I heard about Kieran’s stepmother, the more I hated her. “He seems like it.”
Kieran slipped his arm around my elbow and guided me toward another booth. I stared when I realized just where he was taking us. It was a game booth, one obviously rigged. At the booth, there were three rowsof bottles. The shelves were set up so that the highest shelf was the farthest away from the customers and the bottom shelf had bottles that were closest to us. So it made the first shelf, the bottom shelf, the easiest to hit. The top shelf was just inches from the back of the booth, so the bottles on its shelf were the hardest to hit, not only because of the height but because they were the farthest away.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to play this?” I arched a brow.
“Are you against having fun, little thief?”
I scoffed. “Not when you can’t win this game. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re glued down.”
