Page 44 of A Tale of Treachery

“Oh, this one here”—the ginger pointed at Ryken—“has spent years at that palace and not made one single friend, not talked to another soul besides me…until he met you. Welcome to the inner fold!” he proclaimed, as his hand shot out to grasp mine. “The name is Finley, but you can call me Fin. It’s so lovely to finally meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Fin.” I snickered. Boy, was Fin a charmer. After all this time, Eulalia would be delighted to finally learn his name, but I doubted the subject would be brought up tonight, not during the tribunal.

“You smell so nice, Dahlia.” Fin sniffed the air around me before grabbing a chair from another table and sliding it between the two of them. He patted the seat, and I carefully sat down and studied Ryken…or admired him, to be exact. His eyes watched me lower my hood.

Chirp. Chirp.

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror hanging from the wall across our table and laughed. I’d forgotten entirely about the pixies in my hair. They’d braided it into a beautiful crown that slanted around my head. Tendrils hung loose in certain parts, providing the crown with a very feminine touch. The hairstyle wasn’t what had me laughing, though. Five pixies had passed out drunk, sleeping in the center of the crown as if it were a bed, lazily throwing their hands over their eyes at the sudden brightness.

“Looks like you made some friends.” Ryken smirked as the waitress returned to fill our drinks, using the moment to press her breasts against his arm yet again.

“Do you need anything else?” she purred, looking at Ryken while ignoring my presence. I wanted to reach up and wipe that smile off her face.

Ryken noticed the flash of violence in my eyes and his lips fixed into a smug grin. A deep, rasping laugh fell from his lips. “No, sweetheart.” He smiled back at her and winked. “We’re all good here. Thank you so much for taking such good care of us,” he drawled, never taking his eyes off mine.

The woman blushed and pressed further into him. “You’re welcome. If you need anything else, please let me know. And I meananything.”

I clenched my glass so tightly that I feared it might shatter. When she disappeared, I stared pointedly at Ryken. “Did Redmond have you follow me?”

“No,” Ryken started. “I already had plans with Fin…maybe I should be concerned that you followed me.”

I stared at him and gritted my teeth. He was really on a roll tonight.

“It’s true.” Fin’s voice sliced through the middle of our stare-down, and I turned my attention to the friendlier of the two. “We had this scheduled. It’s the new moon, so it’s the best time for us to search for Ryken’s po—”

“Shut up, Fin.” Ryken interrupted, his eyes freezing into steely ice.

Fin looked between us, his brow scrunched in confusion. “You haven’t told her?”

I leaned back in my seat and took a large swig of wine. “Whatcha looking for?”

Oh, I couldn’t wait to hear this. Ryken was looking for an object and told me so himself, but maybe Fin’s loose lips would reveal what it was.

“Enough!” Ryken reprimanded, slamming his mug on the table. “She doesn’t need to know about anything. It’s frankly none of her damn business.” His head whipped in my direction, and I sat straight up. “What are you doing out drinking, anyway? After everything that happened today, you should be in bed resting, not out gallivanting around.”

As if he didn’t know why I was out here tonight. I bared my teeth in a sarcastic smile, reciting the sentence he used. “Frankly, it’s none of your damn business.”

A growl burst from somewhere within his chest, and the pixies fled my hair, spiraling straight toward Fin’s orange locks.

“Oh, no, you don’t, silly pixies.” Fin’s eyes flashed gold, and the pixies gasped and froze in place, held up by the fluttering of little wings. When Fin’s eyes transformed back into their natural amber, the pixies fled.

“What are you?” I whispered. I’d never seen a shifter’s eyes flash gold. But then again, I’d never had the chance to meet many fae shifters.

The men exchanged a look. Fin opened his mouth to answer but was quickly shut down with a shake of Ryken’s head. Silence spread across the table, making it clear that I was no longer welcome.

“Well, I’d better be on my way. I have important matters to tend to, and you two seem like you have some things to discuss.” Rising from the chair, I threw the hood back over my head and moved to leave.

“Dahlia…” Ryken grumbled.

I ignored him and inclined my head at Fin. “It was nice to meet you.”

He smiled and returned my goodbye as Ryken moved behind me. I whipped my head around, our eyes clashing. “Don’t follow me.”

I knew Redmond had asked him to follow me, but I didn’t think following me was the only thing on his list tonight. If I hadn’t been otherwise occupied, I would followhim. Maybe then I would figure out his reason for being in a kingdom where he clearly didn’t belong.

But it was nearly the witching hour. I threw the thought away as I made my way into the forest. I needed to be prepared to meet with Eulalia’s coven.

The witches wanted retribution.

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