Page 16 of A City of Emeralds and Envy
“She was just there.” Glenna points to the corner of a building—a shop of some kind.
When I reach the corner I whistle, sharp and quick, a note so high it’s nearly inaudible. The sound cuts through the Fae music, and seconds later Fiero runs up to me, dodging Fae feet as if he’s been reveling in other realms his whole life.
“Come on,” I tell him. “We need to find Alice.”
As I walk into the shadows with Fiero trotting at my side, I sink one hand into my pocket, reassuring myself that the Tama Olc is still there. It’s a small book, but thick and heavy. I felt it bouncing against my thigh as I danced.
A quiver of power slithers from the spine of the book into my palm, and I feel the same tug I felt when I touched it back in the old barn on Alice’s farm. It’s a rhythmic pull, tightening with every step, every heartbeat. I’m nearing the thing that’s been drawing me all along.
Blood calls to blood.
I round the corner, and in the gloom I see Alice, standing in front of a metal-clad figure, a guard of some kind. He’s speaking in a low, male voice, but he stops abruptly when I appear. His head lifts, like a hound scenting the breeze, and then he walks around Alice, straight toward me.
“Who are you?” His tone is belligerent, but there’s a thread of curiosity in it.
“You’re the one who pulled us here,” I say.
“Pulled you here?”
“Yes. When Alice and I both grabbed this—” I take the book from my pocket— “I felt something tugging, just here.” I touch my heart with my other hand.
The helmeted guard nods. “I feel it too.” He touches his own metal-clad chest.
Alice stares at us, a desperate fury in her gray eyes. “Dorothy, I like you well enough, but if you’re fated to be his mate or something, I’m afraid I may have to kill you.”
The guard turns. “I thought you were angry with me, kitten.”
“Iam. I’m furious. That doesn’t mean someone else gets to have you.”
“No one will be having me until I get out of this armor,” he says dryly. “And don’t think you’re going to distract me from the fact that you gave away the Tama Olc to some insignificant human sorceress.”
Alice shrugs. “Seemed like the thing to do. Other than Drosselmeyer, she was the only person I knew who had magic.”
“A fact you discovered mere hours ago,” I add. “There’s something I’d like to make very clear—I’m no one’s mate. Nor will anyone be killing me, and also I object to being called ‘insignificant.’ Is there something I’m missing here? Do you two know each other?”
Alice sighs. “Dorothy, it is my greatdispleasure to introduce you to Riordan, sometimes called the White Rabbit.”
“I dislike that name,” says the armored man. “My ears don’t make me a rabbit, and I don’t wear white all the time—”
“Most of the time. Whenever you’re not wearing armor that looks as if it’s made from tin. Would you rather I called you ‘Tin Man’? Has a nice ring to it—” she bangs on his armored chest— “and it’s shorter than ‘White Rabbit.’”
My mind is spinning. Too much wine, dancing, and new information. “Wait… he’s one of the two Fae who held you captive? No wonder we were drawn here. You wanted to see him.”
“I did not.” Alice bristles when the armored man looks down at her. “I wanted to find Caer, not Riordan.”
“You didn’t want to see me, yet no one else is allowed to have me. A contradiction we can discuss later,” says Riordan. “I know where you’re both meant to stay. I’ll take you there, and then you can tell me exactly what happened when you traveled here.”
The cottage we’ve been given for the night is small and plain, with two cots, a washstand, and a chair. There’s a tiny privy closet with a toilet, as well, and Fiero immediately runs in to inspect the smells in that space. Three glowing orbs hover overhead, providing light.
I reach toward one, and it flies into my hand, not quite touching my skin but hovering there until I wave it away.
The armored man seems to be staring at me, his arms crossed. “You’re part Fae.”
“I don’t think so,” I reply.
“Only the Fae can manipulate the orbs so easily. Humans cannot affect them, and sorcerers can’t either, not without a spell.”
Alice seats herself on one of the beds and crosses her legs, letting the short skirts of her maid’s outfit ride up nearly to her crotch. She’s clearly doing it for Riordan’s benefit. “If she’s Fae, does that explain the ‘tug’ you feel between you?”
