Again she laughed, the sound of it dampened by moss and wood.
“I see, I see. Then from you I will take a deed. There is a tree here. I want it gone.”
I frowned. “You want me to cut down a tree for the coin?”
“For the coin, I want the tree gone.”
I knew better than to agree before seeing the coinandthe tree, but Card stepped forward, and I wasn’t fast enough to slap my hand over his mouth this time.
“Done,” he said. “We will move the tree for the coin.”
“No, it is not done,” I said, glaring at him. “Not until we see the coin and the tree.”
The swamp siren shook her head at Card. “You should plant some common sense in your garden next spring. That’s twice now you’ve agreed to a deal blind.”
He curled his hands into fists and scowled. Even though it seemed like he was spoiling for a fight, he mostly just looked tired.
“I know how to strike deals. I also know trees. If a tree needs to be moved, I can move it.”
“And yet, this is not your deal to be struck, Cardamom Oak. I am negotiating with the Crossroads.”
“Why her? Why not me?”
The siren smiled, and I saw how she could knock someone clean off their feet with it. “You are erratic in your magic. She is deep rooted.”
Card sucked in a breath. I thought he might yell, but instead he just shook his head. “I cannotbelieve this. I have roots. Deep roots. You don’t have any idea the size of my roots, lady.”
“If we’re negotiating,” I said with a warning look at Card, “show me the coin.”
“Do you agree to move the tree?” she asked.
“Let’s see the coin. Let’s see the tree. Then you’ll have my answer.”
She stepped deeper back into the water. “Follow me, then.”
Doing what a siren said to do might be a bad decision, but I wasn’t convinced it was my worst decision of the day.
“All right,” I said, scratching at the itchy welts on my shoulder. “Lead the way.”
The tree was huge.
“Huh,” Card said. “That’s bigger than I expected.”
“It is my price,” Lilt Keyva said.
“Why do you want it moved?” I asked. She had looked more and more annoyed the closer we’d come to the tree.
“It offends me.”
“There are a lot of trees that size around here,” I pressed. “If we take this thing down, we’re going to need chainsaws, climbing gear, and a couple days. What’s so offensive about this particular tree?”
She put her hands on her hips. “Everything.”
Card was mucking through water up to his thighs, slowly picking his way around the roots of the tree.
“It’d be faster if you just lured yourself a lumberjack to cut it down,” I said.
She chuckled and stared at her fingernails. “I ate the last one. So sad.”
