“Each one has her own... motivations,” he responds without further explanation.
“I'm not doing jack shit for you,” I growl.
“Not even for Colt? How disappointed he'll be when they arrest him! And all because of you.”
The wind intensifies, whipping my hair. For an instant, I feel the urge to launch myself at him, to let this new energy I sense inside me explode. But that would be stupid. I don't know how to control this, and he clearly does.
“Be reasonable, Niletta,” this Kaelisar continues. “I'm not asking you to kill anyone. Just to steal a few objects. Something you already do regularly and that I'm sure you enjoy. The difference is that this time you'll have the help of a real team. Very specialized,” he adds, pointing to my three captors.
“If I steal what you're asking, will you destroy all the evidence?”
“Of course.”
“What guarantee do I have that you will?”
“None, though you don't have many options either.”
I look at my captors one by one. Althea, the dark-skinned woman, seems remorseful. The tall blonde woman with the green braid maintains an impassive expression, still as a statue, but there's a flash of sympathy in her eyes. Sabina, the one with the impossibly green eyes, looks like she's on the verge of bursting into tears at any moment.
“Yes, Sylara is an elf,” he adds, amused, seeing my gaze fixed on the tall girl's ears with the braid. “You'll get to know each other.”
“Fine,” I agree with a long sigh. “I'm not saying I'll do it, but I'm willing to listen. Though, if I do this, when it's over you'll leave us alone. All of us.”
Kaelisar smiles proudly. He knows he's won the battle.
“Of course,” he murmurs. “Now, I'll leave you to get to know your new companions better. After all, you're going to be spending a lot of time together,” he adds, suddenly disappearing.
Chapter 3
Nell
“Okay, that guy is bat-shit crazy, right?” I ask the second the door closes behind Kaelisar.
All three look at me with expressions that range between compassion and discomfort. The tall woman, Althea, rubs her hands together. Now I'm certain that small orange sparks jump between her fingers.
“Unfortunately, everything he said about magic and the Fae is real,” she responds with that strange accent I noticed when she chased me. “And Kaelisar is extremely dangerous. Just crossing dimensions like he did requires tremendous power.”
“Well, pretty crazy, yes, he is,” Sylara adds almost in a whisper as she gathers her green braid and places it over her shoulder with an elegant gesture.
“Great. So I've gone from having a shitty life to having to work for a very dangerous lunatic who you say comes from another dimension or whatever, right?” I sigh, letting myselffall back onto the couch. “And you all believe all that crap? About him being my father and all?”
The three exchange glances.
“Most of what he said about the Fae and elementals is true,” Sabina responds with that almost musical tone of voice that hypnotizes you. “But the part about being your father... we all know Kaelisar is capable of saying anything to manipulate people.”
“Oh, really? I barely noticed,” I say, shaking my head. “Hey, what about the pointy ears? Are they real or just a trick to impress me? Now you're going to tell me it's true that you're an elf?”
Sylara doesn't take offense. A slight smile appears on her thin lips as she extends her open palm toward an empty vase on the table. Before my eyes, small green shoots begin to emerge from nothing, growing until they become brightly colored flowers. She plucks one and offers it to me with a smile you could die for.
“My ears are as real as these flowers,” she adds with a wink.
Althea narrows her eyes and shakes her head.
“Always with the damn flower routine,” she grumbles, though I can see there's affection in her gaze when the elf creates beautiful flowers from nothing.
The scent they give off is spectacular. They're real, completely real.
“Okay, let's say the ears are real, they're cool, by the way. They give you a very elegant vibe. And the flower thing, wow, that's awesome, you could put on a magic show no problem. What about you two? Are you also... not human? Do you have powers or something?”
