“Yes, but most of them are morepossibleallies. It’s hard to determine. We can’t risk exposing ourselves until we know for sure,” Eyden answered, leaning against the secret door.
Lora flipped through the sheets of paper until she reached empty ones. On the last page, she found Layken’s name that now had an “X” next to it. She also found the current king’s name. It was the only other name Lora recognised. As she scanned the list, Eyden took the book from her hands before she could finish reading the last name “Varsha M—.”
She pointed to a different pile of notebooks on another shelf. “Are these the same?” Without waiting for a reply, she picked the bottom one up and opened the first page. There was another list of names but this one was different. It didn’t list positions. It listed powers and dates. Some were left blank, such as the first name on the top of the page “Adelio Kelstrel.”
“These are all fae who got taken. We don’t know everyone’s powers, but I’m sure they were all level fives or level fours.” Eyden snatched the book from her hands again and went to put it back in its spot. The movement made a piece of paper escape its folds. It fell to the floor and Lora took it before Eyden could react.
She unfolded the paper. It was a flyer with a sketch of someone’s face. Dark violet eyes stared back at her. The pictured fae had short light brown hair, and she noticed a scar drawn through his left eyebrow. Under his face, the name “Damir” was written. It said he was missing, taken by guards at River’s Point, the bar they’d been to yesterday on their stakeout.
“Who is he?” she asked.
Eyden shrugged. “One of the many fae I saw get taken.”
“Were you trying to get information about his whereabouts?”
“I knew nothing would come of it but I want people to know when someone goes missing. To be aware this is happening. I make these flyers and I put them all over Chrysa and Parae. It’s not enough, but it’s something.” Eyden picked up the notebook he’d been writing in earlier. He turned the open page towards her. Lora realised he hadn’t been scribbling down notes, after all. He’d been drawing the young red-haired fae from last night.
“The guards don’t stop you?” she asked.
He smirked, eyes gleaming with mischief. “Oh, they absolutely hate it. But they can’t catch me.”
She wondered if one day they would. It seemed inevitable. He was playing with fire and it would consume him soon enough. Lora found that the thought bothered her more than she wanted to admit. He couldn’t get caught until she was home with the cure. That was it.
“We should go now. We have a long walk ahead of us.” Eyden took the paper and stored it on the shelf before locking it shut.
Lora watched as the door disappeared in front of her eyes. The perfect hiding spot for all her valuables. Her phone was under her pillow and she planned to take it with her so she could write the same message she wrote every day. Something along the lines of, “Everything is fine. I’ll be back soon.” The more she wrote it, the less she believed it. Time was passing and the cure was still this blurry image she couldn’t quite grasp.
One last adventure and she would get a clear picture. Everything was going to be fine, she promised herself.
Lora was unsure if she was lying to herself or truly believed it.
* * *
Besides the obvious things, what Lora missed the most now were cars—or any other form of transportation from the human world. They had been walking for a long time and her feet hurt. The shoes Eyden had gotten her were giving her blisters.
“Why couldn’t we have taken a horse?” Lora said while trying to catch her breath.
Eyden, who walked a few paces ahead of her, glanced back at her. “I don’t have a horse. They’re expensive and I don’t need one.” He took in her exhausted appearance. “We should take a break. There’s a diner coming up.”
Before Lora could refuse, he said, “The path is going uphill soon. You’ll need your strength. A short break won’t change anything. I highly doubt we’ll make it before dusk either way.”
Lora spied the diner up ahead and gave in. Even ten minutes of sitting would be glorious.
Eyden opened the door for her and they entered a charming little place. It was a small restaurant but quite crowded. It was early afternoon, everyone was probably getting lunch.
“Why don’t you grab us a table? I’ll head to the bathroom quickly,” Eyden said, and disappeared before she could agree.
Lora looked around and found a few empty tables but she decided to order a drink first. Eyden had given her a few silver coins before they left, just in case they were separated.
She walked up to the counter and ordered a caftee. A fae appeared next to her and said, “Make that two.” The waiter nodded and took out two cups.
Lora had tried caftee before, having taken up Eyden’s offer when he’d made some for himself earlier. She usually wasn’t a big fan of coffee, but caftee tasted much sweeter. A dash of energy was what she needed now.
The waiter put the steaming cups in front of them and both Lora and the other fae paid for their drinks. The fae looked at her, so she gave him a polite smile as she picked up her drink and turned to take a seat at one of the tables.
Lora didn’t make it two steps before the fae put a hand on her arm in a forceful manner, stopping her movement. Alarm bells rang in her head and she turned back slowly, meeting the repulsed gaze of the fae.
“You were just going to walk away? I’ve never seen such disrespect.” The fury and disgust in his eyes made Lora more than uneasy.
