“What are they doing?” I asked as the harpy to my right, a woman whose dark brown skin matched the feathers of her wings, slid an arm around my waist.
Her companion did the same on my other side. She was one of those from the roof of the Blue Pepper earlier that night. The white and black in her hair distinctive enough to remember.
Speaking of, I was pretty sure her companion was also on that roof.
“It’s too dangerous to go by foot. They’re going to carry you out of here,” Natalia answered. “You can use the flight to ask any questions you have about earlier this evening.”
She took off into the sky before I had a chance to say anything.
A pair of harpies appeared next to Liam. They were more cautious than the two beside me, asking permission before they approached. Liam accepted with a tired nod.
“No dog this time, fanger?” the harpy next to me asked.
“If you’d like, I could call him for you.”
She snorted. “Try not to scream.”
Their hold tightened a second before they beat their wings, lifting themselves—and me—into the air in defiance of the laws of gravity. It made me light-headed.
“Don’t drop me and I won’t.”
An image of the harpies doing exactly that to the hunters flashed across my mind.
Their soft snickers didn’t make me feel better.
I glanced over my shoulder, my gaze finding Liam’s to reassure myself he was okay.
“I wouldn’t dare damage the flock’s main source of entertainment. My sisters would be so upset.”
“That fills me with warm fuzzies.”
I couldn’t help my snarkiness. Tense situations tended to bring out my sarcastic side.
“I’m Frankie,” the woman with the brown wings said. “That’s Leah.” She nodded at the woman with the white speckled wings. “Natalia said you had questions for us?”
“That’s right.”
The wind whipped my hair into my mouth, nearly choking me and momentarily blinding me. When I spit it out and could see again, we were much higher than before. The city felt tiny, its lights twinkling as merrily as the stars above.
“Can you tell me what you saw?” I asked.
Liam’s head turned toward us, showing he was also paying attention to the conversation.
The teasing disappeared from Frankie and Leah’s faces.
“Two men—a vampire and a human,” Frankie said.
“The vampire is a newcomer,” Leah agreed with a nod. “He’s only been in the city a week.”
Liam’s abrupt movement nearly caused the harpies carrying him to drop him. My heart lurched until their flight path steadied.
My gaze still on Liam, I resumed the conversation. “Are you sure he was here for a week? Not two nights?”
The harpy nodded with a thoughtful look. “I’m sure. I remember his stupid face.” Seeing my look, she lifted a shoulder, sending my heart into my throat as she bobbled me in the process. “Harpies have a thing about faces.”
That was interesting—but not important at the moment.
If they were to be believed, it meant Dominick and his people had delayed presenting themselves to ask permission to enter the territory. Thomas might be able to work with that. Maybe use it as an excuse to kick him and the others out?
