I consider the townsfolk once more. The eerie lack of response or wariness from them toward thesestrangersis a warning that thrums against my skin. It’s possible the Igeeyin were hunting us the same way we’ve been hunting them, but I have a sinking suspicion this is something else. We’ve been working our way up from coastal town to coastal town. We didn’t know where to start or where it would end, but we hoped to stumble upon something that would help us make sense of what we already knew.
Our hunt has been quiet up to this point. It hasn’t yielded more answers than we’ve already collected, and I didn’t realize how much I’d grown used to finding nothing and moving on to the next town, expecting much of the same. However, the fae here seem to know these Igeeyin and are clearly comfortable in their presence as though it’s a common occurrence. The way they reacted to us versus the lack of any kind of reaction to these cloaked figures tells me that the town of Krieger is either where the Igeeyin live or close enough to it that they’re a familiar sight to the locals.
I ache with the need to do something, to demand to know what is going on, but Riall’s warning is clear. Both Tarek and Curio have gone back to eating as though the approaching envoy is as insignificant to them as they are to everyone else here. I’m the only one still watching as the figure at the front of the trio pulls her hood back.
I expect moonbeam-colored hair and pale skin, but instead, the fae reveals a dark flowing mane, skin the color of raw sienna, and rich brown eyes. Her confident gaze narrows as she strides closer, shaking her head as though she’s disappointed in something. She doesn’t look overly hostile or reach for a weapon, like I’m itching to do. She appears annoyed, which is an odd reaction to have in this situation. It’s as though she was expecting something from us and we didn’t deliver.
I keep my breaths even and will my racing heart to calm. We’ve been scouring the coast for answers. The fact that they’ve just waltzed in as though they’ve been expecting us is both worrisome and suspiciously promising. I realize I’m glaring at the fae as she closes the distance. She doesn’t seem bothered by this reaction in the slightest, but I settle back in my chair, and adopt the same careful mask that the other Scorpions have slipped in place. I now look unbothered, but really I’m screaming inside in both alarm and eager anticipation.
“Are youtryingto piss off Faline?” the beautiful fae asks as she draws even with our table. “I get that you and Lutyn like to blow off steam at her expense, but do it on someone else’s watch. I’m not getting demoted so you can fuck some strangers who happen to be passing through. Smarten up and stick to the Phase like the rest of us do.”
“Beva!” one of the cloaked figures behind her hisses, the sound a chiming feminine censure.
“And who are you?” Curio asks as he lifts his ale to his mouth and takes a sip.
“I’mherproblem, not yours.” She gestures to me. “I suggest you keep it that way,” she snips at him.
“Beva!” the fae behind warns again, her bright voice a little too silvery to be taken seriously.
My scowl returns as I take in the high-handed fae. Curio’s eyebrow twitches up with amusement, but I can tell he’s also trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. Beva turns her attention back to me.
“Careful,” I warn the overconfident stranger, not appreciating the disrespect and dismissal she’s showing him let alone me.
She’s either oblivious and doesn’t know who she just gave her back to or she’s addled and has a death wish. Either way, I find myself wanting to watch her piss in her light-gray leathers as she realizes the mistake she’s made. I have no clue why she’s talking to me like she knows me or treating me like some petulant greenling in need of a solid scolding. One way or another, she’s now on a collision course with one of my blades.
“No, really, who are you?” I demand, and she rolls her eyes before leveling me with an annoyed glower.
“Please, your glamour isn’t fooling anyone here. Does Lutyn even try anymore or did you insist on keeping your face to lure these three in?”
She gestures to the Scorpions, looking at each of them as though they’re some foul stain she just found on her cloak.
“It’s okay, we didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” Tarek interjects charmingly, cutting off my confused retort.
My bewildered scowl snaps from Beva to him. He eyes the three Igeeyin inquisitively, and I can tell he’s formulating a plan, although to them, he probably just looks flirty. His gaze flicks over to me, and I can see the coaxing in his eyes to follow his lead.
“If you have to go,” he tells me pointedly, the wordgoextra silky as it slides out of his mouth, “we won’t hold it against you.” Tarek winks at me, the gesture saucy but loaded with meaning.
My heart starts revolting in my chest as what he intends sinks in. Unease sours the stew in my stomach, and my mind whirs. He wants me to play along with whatever is happening here. To either walk willingly into whatever trap is being set or take advantage of the providence that has these three Igeeyin somehow thinking I’m someone else. It makes absolutely no sense, and yet here are three Igeeyin strangers staring at me intently.
Does my glamour make me look like someone else they know?
But how could that be, this ismyface?
My thoughts drift to Verus and how he had recognized me too, but his reaction was very different from what I’m getting from Beva and the two cloaked figures guarding her back. Verus was shocked and then horrified when he saw me. Hatus had described the Igeeyin as ghosts, but Verus looked at me likeIwas the haunting specter. Beva looks inconvenienced by my presence and pissed that I’m still sitting here instead of doing whatever it is that she thinks I need to do.
What in the crowns are they playing at?
Stalling for time, I kick out the empty chair next to our pile of cloaks. “Why don’t you have a seat for a bit. Grab a drink. Take a load off,” I offer, a hint of bite in my tone that I hope saps her of some of this unwarranted attitude.
One of the fae at Beva’s back steps forward as though they’re going to take me up on my offer and plop down, but Beva’s hand shoots out, smacking the cloaked mystery figure in the chest. They stop in their tracks immediately, and I swear I catch a small, irritated sigh.
“Nice try, but I’m not Lutyn, Auset. Let’s go before anyone else notices you’re gone and the Crescents converge.”
Air freezes in my lungs.
Chaos rings in my ears.
I fist my hands where they rest on my thighs to keep from shaking.
