“Take us to your leader,” Kyla said.
I shot her a look and she winked at me.
The tengu turned and walked deeper into the forest. We followed him. I watched my steps so I wouldn’t trip over any tree roots or fallen branches. Kyla instinctively put her feet in the right places as she scrutinized the surrounding forest.
Within a few minutes, the tengu let out a low whistle. The exact same sound was replicated from deeper in the forest and he gestured for us to step forward.
In the time it took for me to blink, we were surrounded.
There must have been fifty tengu circling us. Their presence at my back set my teeth on edge.
“Half-blood,” one of them said, stepping forward. “Why do you come here?”
“I’m hoping for your help,” I said.
The tengu looked vaguely intrigued, his long nose wrinkling. “You wish for us to teach you magic?”
“No. We’re looking for the sword that was used to kill Grendel’s mother. One of the Dearg Due told us to come to you.”
“And you expect that I will tell you where to find it?”
“I’m sure there’s some bargain we can make.”
Exhaustion suddenly washed over me like a wave. Another day, another bargain, and still, Samael faded away in his bed. Alone. For a moment, the unfairness of it all hit me like a fist to the gut.
I straightened my shoulders. The tengu was watching me out of dark eyes.
“We do not have the sword,” he said.
“But you know where it is?”
“I know where itwas. Several centuries ago.”
“And what do you want for this information?”
One of the tengu approached Kyla, his eyes curious. Another followed in his footsteps and within moments, she was surrounded by tengu as they sniffed at her.
Her vicious growl ripped through the air.
The tengu backed off a few paces, but if anything, they now seemed more interested.
“My people are considering a new business venture,” the leader said.
I attempted to hide my surprise. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting him to say, but that definitely wasn’t it.
“We have an opportunity to work with the seelie in your realm, selling our swords.” He pulled his sword free of its sheath and paused as I admired it.
“There is a spell that we would like to use for luck in our new venture. We require the blood of a gnome who has traveled through the portals.”
“Why a gnome?”
He shrugged. “You haven’t heard of the luck of the gnome?”
He said ‘luck of the gnome’ as if it was a spell itself. I frowned. “No.”
“Gnomes carry with them the luck of the gods. Particularly when it comes to commerce. Since we will be trading with your realm, the luck we create will be greater if the gnome has been in multiple realms.”
“Why can’t you get your hands on gnome blood yourself?”
