Page 20 of Immortal Sins
“He didn’t believe we were a thing before.” He shrugs without meeting my gaze. “He believes it now.” He starts to move deeper into the room.
I grip his arm to block his escape. “Did you have to bite me? Fae don’t care about blood.”
Flynn’s cerulean eyes pulse with shadows. “All immortals care about blood.”
Brie drums her nails over her red lips but fails to cover up her bright smile. Her hair gleams with golden accents. “Especially you, Verinos.” She rubs his shoulder blades over his shirt.
The Fae sidesteps fast enough for his heavy boots to scuff the carpet.
Brie snickers and braces her hands on her hips. “So, about my plan. Let’s get into the nitty gritty.”
What the hell was that about?
I tuck my chin in and ignore Lydia’s knowing smirk. The redhead will not let me live this down.
I know nothing about Flynn, his life in Faerie, or his family. I figured he was the son of a high-ranked courtier or a wealthy trader. When I picture Cole and Flynn as children, I see two spoiled devils running around Faerie, wreaking havoc on the less fortunate and throwing rocks at mortals. Maybe that’s a tad cliché and diminutive, and I wonder what else I missed.
* * *
Wet leavesand the acrid smell of rot fill my lungs. Dew hangs in the early night air, the spring days running longer and longer. Chipmunks sprint in and out of their holes along the crooked path leading to Oz’s cabin.
“You’re late.” Flynn joins me on the trail and falls into step with me. “Not looking forward to your date with the professor?”
A sigh escapes me. “I had to talk Jeremy through the whole plan again.”
“He’s jumpy. If tonight goes awry, we’ll know who to blame.” The washed-out gray Faerie clothes Flynn is wearing look soft to the touch. A carved dagger with silver and teal accents hangs from a belt at his side.
“What if the fire gets out of hand, and we hurt someone?” I rake my hands through my curls. I’m sure a few gray strands will grow after the night we had, trying to plan the perfect diversion to draw Oz out of his lair.
Brie’s big idea to set fire to the forest was first discarded after Trent’s interruption, but we circled back to it. She insisted that it would be easy to put out with her water magic, but I know how quickly a fire can get out of hand. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a better, more practical idea in so little time.
“If Oz is to leave you alone in his cabin with the unicorn horn, we need to create an emergency that doesn’t strike him as something a student might do. Something that could happen naturally. Lydia’s spell will ensure that the woods are empty and that the trees behind the line are protected from the fire.”
“What about animals? Chipmunks for example?” I point to a little rodent skipping along a broken trunk next to us.
“You’re worried about chipmunks right now? Oz summoned you to his cabin to talk about the trial. We’re about to steal his most prized possession and run off to Faerie with it through a portal we’re not even sure is still there. If I were you, I’d concentrate on that. Did you remember to eat one of Deveraux’s cookies?”
“Of course! I’m not dumb enough to go to him without taking precautions. What about you? Why the knife?” I point to Flynn’s side, trying to focus on anything else than our half-assed plan.
He unsheathes the weapon. The blade absorbs the ambient light, and a nefarious smog rises from it in waves like it was forged directly from shadows. “It’s called an Obscurion. A dagger strong enough to kill a Fae.”
“Why would you carry a weapon strong enough to be used against you?” Why would he carry a weapon at all? Magic is our thing, spells and orbs and illusions.
“Faerie’s a treacherous place, especially with a newbie—a mortal, no less—in tow. Sprites and pixies are not the only ones with wings, claws, and teeth.”
I click my tongue. He’s probably yanking my chain for his own twisted entertainment. “You didn’t carry a dagger for the beach games.”
“Ah—a crafted illusion of peace, a well-guarded sanctuary to awe earthlings. That’s not Faerie.” Flynn stops as we draw near Oz’s cabin. He rests one knee on the ground and laces up his knee-high boots. “You take your freedom—your safety—for granted. You could live a peaceful, privileged life in the human world, and yet you chose to attend the most dangerous school in the realm.”
“You chose it, too.”
His lopsided grin doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “Given the choice between poison or death, is poison a choice at all?” He muses at his own question, chin angled to the sky. “If Jeremy does his job right, you have about fifteen minutes to spare. Use them wisely.”
Pulling his dark hood over his platinum blond hair, he blends with the shadows once more and hides behind a large trunk.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, and I brace myself for what comes next. We arrived at the cabin from the east side, and I jump over a fallen tree to rejoin the main path. Fire flickers inside the cabin, its light visible through the large windows. Hands hidden in my hoodie’s pockets, I walk toward the entrance.
Deep breaths. Here goes nothing.I knock on the thick wood and shift my balance from one foot to the other.
