Page 40 of Enchantment of Silver and Sea
“What are you two chatting about?” Xiomara asked innocently, tossing her dark curls over her shoulder.
I pressed my tongue to the back of my teeth. It was like she knew that we had been talking about them. And she was relishing it.
Nya’s eyes narrowed. Then she flashed a smile that even I noticed was unusually large and toothy for her. “We were actually just talking about my dating life,” she said dramatically, resting her cheek on her hand.
“What dating life?” Kieran’s grin was as big as Nya’s.
She socked him in the arm. “I was actually just asking Maila…”
Something in her voice made me set down my fork again.
“…aboutherdating life.”
What the actual hell?
I instantly broke out in a sweat. Nya and Kieran were always making remarks about how naive they found me. Surely she knew my “dating life,” at least at this stage of my life, was nonexistent.
When I didn’t respond right away, Nya draped an arm over the back of her chair and continued. “Come on, Maila. Kieran and I observed you fordaysbefore you caught on to us and forced us to make our move. We saw you go to work every day at your ‘Knowledge Center,’ which was how we knew you’d be able to help us with the marsh wolves. And we also saw that hot Enforcer who can’t go two seconds without eye-fucking you.”
“Zander?” I choked out. I should have been concerned about all the possible implications of sharing his name. But that would’ve required a functioning brain.
“Mmm, he was gorgeous. I know your Enforcers despise us more than anyone, but that uniform didwonderfulthings for his ass. I would be down for some hate sex with him anytime.”She shook her head appreciatively. “How long have you two been a thing?”
Xiomara’s brows were furrowed slightly. She looked as confused as I was about where this conversation was going.
A creak and a flash of charcoal got my attention.
“I’m bored,” Kieran declared. “I’ll leave you all to your girl talk.”
He sauntered off. After a moment, Xiomara excused herself as well.
I turned on Nya. “What was all that about?”
When Nya made eye contact with me, her smile was gone and one brow was raised. “If someone’s going to come into my space and play games, they’ll find another willing player. But they’re going to lose.”
“Are you talking about Xiomara?” I asked, struggling to keep up.
Nya gave me yet another meaningful look. Frankly, having someone constantly look at me like I was a moron was starting to get old. Finally, she said, “Come on. That man you wanted to talk to just sat down.”
“Good morning, George!” Nya said brightly as we each dropped into a chair. “This is Maila. Believe it or not, she’s here because she managed to sneak out of Cyllene for a few days. And she specifically asked to meet you.”
I hadn’t had an image in my head for this mysterious exile before meeting him. And yet somehow he looked exactly like Iwould’ve pictured. He appeared to be in his seventies. Slender, with a frail disposition. His white hair was both thin and full at the same time, resembling the top of a dandelion. His dark eyes were two beady dots in the center of his face, but they were magnified by glasses that looked much too big for him. He was dressed in a cobalt button-up shirt and rumpled khaki pants, and he was neatly cutting his scrambled eggs into bite-sized pieces.
“Ah, a citizen of Cyllene, escaped in the night!” His voice wavered with the weakness of age, but his enthusiasm made up for it. “How exciting!”
“It is,” I agreed. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
He eyed me speculatively. “And why is it so nice to meet an old man like me?”
I swallowed. “My work assignment is in the Knowledge Center. Specifically in the Library. Along with Cato, I was responsible for…sorting your books. At least, I think it was you—”
George cut in with a barking laugh. “Deciding which ones to keep and which ones to burn, I suppose?”
I leaned forward in my seat. “To burn?”
He took a bite of egg. I tried to be patient as he chewed noisily. Finally, he finished swallowing and spoke, “I know who you are, Maila. I know you work in the Library. I’ve wanted desperately to meet you for some time now, but I was never allowed. I suppose if I had, my radical thinking might have corrupted yours, eh?”
He said the last part with emphasis, gesturing to the Strangers’ camp around us. The camp where I had ended up anyway, without his influence. He laughed until he wheezed, holding his stomach.
