He studied her. “I meant no offense.” His gaze switched to me. “But we are in your debt.”
“There is no debt.”
He waved his hand through the air at that. The dismissive action reminded me of Samael, and my breath caught in my throat.
“My name is Fotadh. I knew your parents,” he said. “I have a contact who was close to your father.”
“How do you know who I am?”
“I am particularly adept at memorizing magical signatures. Yours is a unique mixture of witch and demon. And I have met that demon.”
I was curious, sure. But I didn’t have time to waste in this realm. “My father abandoned my mother and left her alone and pregnant. I have no interest in him.”
“My contact also knew of your mother.”
I hesitated and Fotadh gave an elegant shrug of one shoulder. “I will be paid for the reconciliation of the problem those creatures presented to this community. My honor demands that I also pay the debt to you.”
I studied him. “You’re a Theon.”
He gave me a courtly bow and said nothing.
The Theon were a sect of seelie who traveled the realms, removing any threats to their people. It was rumored that they were the rare third children born to seelie, and handed over to be trained in assassinations and warfare.
They had a very stringent code of honor. I trusted that Fotadh wasn’t sending me into a trap, but with the clock ticking, I couldn’t risk spending any more time in this realm.
But what if this contact knew something about mom that could lead me to her killer? There were so few people who knew my mom, and if this person had known both of my parents…
“How far away does he live?”
Fotadh smiled. “Not far. I will lead you to him.”
The village was beginning to come alive when we walked through it. The smell of cooking meat hung heavy on the air, and a group of goblin children played some game which involved running around the decrepit huts.
“What’s going on?” Kyla asked.
“The people in this village have been too terrified to leave their homes. Every few days, those creatures would raid all of the villages in this area. There was nothing of value left, so they would steal the food. There are no warriors living nearby. Before the creatures arrived, this was a welcoming community for the poorest of paranormals.”
“Why are they here?”
“Many of them were driven out during the wars centuries ago. Some of them are the descendants of those who were banished for various crimes in the fae realms, and do not have enough power to cross through the portals.
I wished I could kill the giant scorpions again. “At least one of the creatures survived.”
The seelie gave me a pleased smile. “Two of them survived. I dispatched them this morning.”
Excellent.
Fotadh’s contact didn’t live far from the village, but unlike the villagers, who had been living in poverty, his home was a large log cabin, obviously built to last.
“I’m guessing the creatures we killed didn’t attempt to steal from this guy.”
The seelie nodded and it pissed me off.
“So he’s been living his life, ignoring the fact that the village was being targeted every few days?”
Fotadh sighed. “Ugales is not… right any longer. After what happened to your parents, he was unable to function. Please try not to judge him by your usual standards.”
I’d make my own mind up about that. From the disgusted look Kyla sent me, we were on the same page.
