When I’d left my apartment that morning, I’d assumed I’d grab something to eat on the go. Now that I’d been walking all morning and afternoon, my belly was tight with hunger. I wouldn’t be able to deny the pangs for much longer.Heck, at this point I’d even take a greasy spoon diner, the type of place I usually disliked. I found their lack of healthy options frustrating, but I was so starving that I’d deal.
“Can we stop here for food?”
“Ohh, Oberon’s ears, this place has the most delicious food!” Dum squealed as she placed her hands on my chin to stabilize herself, and swung forward to look at Dee. “We have to take her to the Oyster House!”
“It’s the best tavern around,” the other pixie agreed, “but we must be careful. The Oyster House is rough and tumble, and we don’t know where Carpenter’s allegiances lie.”
“Allegiance? Do you mean you think he could work for the queen?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Dum’s face twisted into an expression of indecision. “Alice, we’d love to take you to the Oyster House, but if we do . . .”
“You can’t call yourself Alice,” Dee cut in.
“But . . . why? No one knows me here.”
“Most know your family, though,” Dum said. “If Carpenter is in league with the Red Queen, he’ll tell her you’re here. That could mean trouble.”
Clearly, these pixies didn’t know me very well. But pretending to be someone else was easy enough. I did it all the time on jobs.
“I’ve got this, girls. I playact all the time back home.” I grinned. “Just call me Camilla.”
The pixies didn’t look convinced, but I was their ride, and my stomach ached with hunger, so I wasn’t taking no for an answer.
I strode up to the Oyster House and walked in like I owned the place.
And then I stopped dead in my tracks.
“Oberon’s ears, we should have warned her!” Dum moaned. “Now she definitely looks like an outsider.”
“About theenormousstuffed walrus in the middle of the pub?” I whisper-hissed, taking in the figure in front of me. “Yeah, a heads-up would have been nice.”
It would have been one thing if the walrus was simply stuffed and lounging on a fake iceberg. But this walrus was easily three times the size of a normal walrus. It sat there, its mouth gaping open wide, with dozens of empty oyster shells filling it. Someone had even applied some shells to its skin, indicating a grotesque degree of overindulgence. Worst of all, the beast’s eyes had been gouged out, and hung a sign around its neck proclaiming the animal to be a “glutton”.
“Sorry, Al—Camilla,” Dee said. “It’s a long story. We’ll tell you later. For now, grab a table. And don’t stare at anyone.”
“Anything to get away from that,” I mumbled and stalked over to a table in the far corner.
Although I did my best to avoid eye contact with the dozen other patrons in the tavern, it was impossible not to notice the ugly trio of fae in the opposite corner. Their faces were young and smooth like children’s, but they were hunched over like old men, making a gross and confusing juxtaposition.
When I sat down, I sighed. The tavern stank like beer, and the chair wasn’t the most comfy, but after miles of walking, I’d take it. I leaned back, prepared to relax, when I noticed that the ugly fae weren’t the only ones staring anymore.
Everyone was.
I groaned. “I hope we don’t find trouble here, but if shit hits the fan, you two should stay out of the way.”
“You haven’t seen our teeth, have you?” Dum leapt off my shoulder, onto the table.
“Excuse me?”
Dee jumped down to join her sister, landed lightly, and spun to face me. A tiny growl left her throat, and I watched as her canines dropped much like a vampire’s would.
“Excellent,” I said. “But that’s like a pinprick on someone my size.”
“Not if our venom seeps into their bloodstream,” Dum declared proudly. For the first time, she sounded a lot like her sister.
“I didn’t realize,” I said, impressed.
“Pixies always get the rap for being cutesy,” Dee remarked with a sassy snap, I guessed to emphasize how badass pixies were. “We’re not as scary as someone like you, but get a swarm of us on the attack, or even a handful, and you’d be dead in a minute.”
