Page 25 of Forked Tongues Are Fun
Keeping my gaze glued to my every step, I slunk forward on tiptoe, careful not to brush shoulders with anyone and draw their attention.The birdcage was tucked in behind a mass of people, all of whom were facing away. I doubted once someone on the other side of the pond saw the birdcage open that everyone would keep looking away. Unless I somehow created an escape at the back of the birdcage where no one could see...
“But we have a pretty good idea who it was,” Vance continued. “It was either Petra or Rio’s henchmen.”
Gasps sounded around the rooftop, some of them a little too dramatic to be real.
“That’s quite an accusation,” a woman shot back.
“Is it, Rio?” Vance asked, his voice as smooth and dangerous as the devil’s. “You both know about the seer who had a vision about this night.”
“What seer?” someone asked.
“What vision?” another asked.
“One in which Léas chooses a new queen.” Vance paused for effect, and to buy me more time. “Tonight.”
Every kid inside the birdcage stared at the shifter causing all the commotion and the other two swooping across the silvery moon. Even Asa, his eyes full of wonder despite his predicament. Being so close to him kicked my determination into overdrive. I sneaked up behind the cage and grabbed the bars. Solid, unmoving, and made of gold. A metal I could work with, no keys required.
“So a seer saw a vision,” a female voice called, her voice icy and shrill. “You pay anyone enough money, and they’ll say anything you want to hear.”
“Not this seer, Petra, and you know that,” Vance snapped. “Not with her level of accuracy.”
Petra and Rio, both women Oliver and the guy who’d shot him had talked about in the office downstairs. I flicked my gaze in the direction Vance was glaring, toward a woman with long dark hair and a gorgeous royal blue ball gown similar to mine. If I’d had nothing else to think about, I might’ve thought we were twins. But I had a birdcage to break into. I pulled my Titanosaur knife loose from my taped-up thighs and held it to one of the bars. Cutting into gold wouldn’t take long.
“So who is this queen?” a female that sounded like Rio demanded.
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Just as Vance said it, the moon’s reflection in the pond darkened to nothingness, even blacker than black.
The crowd took a step away, not in surprise it seemed, but in reverence, and bowed their heads. A tremor shook through me. Was Léas really coming, or was this just a trick to make worshippers fall in line? I’d never met a goddess before, let alone a dragon goddess, but I’d always just assumed she wasn’t real, a false goddess used as an excuse for bloodshed of innocent children. Compared to some human religions’ traditions, it wouldn’t have shocked me if the whole full-moon ritual thing was just to make someone feel better about themselves.
But what did I know?
Not a whole lot, because something was happening inside the pond. A slight splashing but not a hint of noise from the dragon shifters. I didn’t dare look though. I was just about through one of the bars.
There. One more cut and I could remove half a bar so someone small could squeeze through. I started in again, as quiet as I could.
Movement from the shifters, and then a collective sigh of fabric as they knelt down on their knees. All of them, even my three, I meanthethree. Tavis and Calhoun had shifted back and now knelt next to Vance.
And there, in the middle, stood a woman on the surface of the black pond. My breath caught. She was beautiful. The moon crowned her and bathed her in silver and shadow, highlighting the extreme cut of her cheekbones and her bright eyes that shone like stars. Each individual strand of her long white hair waved around her head as if she were swimming underwater, and iridescent dragon scales decorated her curvy body in a sort of low-cut dress, the ends of which blended seamlessly with the dark water under her feet.
“Léas, we are humbled by your presence,” Petra said.
“Begging your forgiveness, Léas,” what sounded like Rio said. “Our full-moon ritual was interrupted by those who think they know better than y—.”
“Wrong,” Vance cut in. “We interrupted because we want exactly what Léas wants.”
“Where is she?” Léas asked, her voice spun through with gold and power.
She couldn’t be talking about me. Not right now. Not ever.
“Um. She’s....” Tavis started.
I cut through the last of the bar and tore it loose.
“Yara Parmstone,” Léas said.
I stiffened. No.No. I just wanted my brother back. That was the only reason I was here, not to get caught up in another species’ religion and monarchy and bullshit.
A gasp came from inside the birdcage. My brother. It had to be him hearing my name and then realizing I’d come to save him.
