I pulled the ring off my finger, saying a silent goodbye, and held it out to him. He reached out and extended a bony finger toward me. The nails were sharpened to points and painted black. Maybe a disguise so he would fit in with the other fey in town.
I was suddenly wondering what he did to land himself in Magic City Prison. Snaking the ring from my hand, he held it up to the light, grinning.
Pointed teeth.
Okay … he was part dark fey … good thing I was under this veil because I couldn’t control my reactions right now.
“Five carats?” He pulled out a magnifying glass.
I stepped forward. “Uh, I guess so. It’s worth at least a hundred grand,” I guessed.
Sage sidled next to me. “Half a million. It’s colorless, flawless, and round cut by a master jeweler in Paris.”
I could see the physical greed come over Seam at Sage’s words. His eyes practically glittered as he rolled the gem in his hand.
Half a million!Whoa. I looked at my bestie with surprise.
“I helped him pick it out.” She winked at me.
The man handed me the ring and I shoved it back on my finger. “What knowledge do you require for such an impressive payment?”
I took in a deep breath. “I need to know how to break someone out of Magic City Prison.”
The Ithaki considered me for a long moment, just staring at me through the holes in my veil. “Fine. It’s your funeral.”
“I’ll need you to give me your word, sir. You will give me all of the information you have on Magic City Prison, including maps of the buildings, in exchange for this ring.” I held up my hand.
He was fey and I knew with fey that words were important.
He smirked, crossing his arms. “I promise to give you all of the information I have on Magic City Prison, including maps of the buildings in exchange forthatring.” He pointed to my hand and I relaxed a little. “Oh, and you can take off the veil. I know who you are and that you’ve come to try and break out Sawyer Hudson.” Then he turned on his heel and walked into the house.
Sage went rigid beside me and I froze, looking at her in shock.
Shit.
How did he know?
“Come along!” he shouted, and we scrambled inside after him.
Well, no sense wearing this sweaty thing if he knew who I was already.
I ripped off the veil and gasped for air as a cool breeze touched my skin. Sage stared at me and I shrugged. We still had our plan that if things got shady I could rip off my cuffs and fight him.
The fey walked deeper into the foyer, to a set of glass doors that led to a garden, and turned to face us. The second he laid eyes on my veil-less face, the color drained from his complexion and his gaze flicked to a picture on the entry table.
I followed his gaze and saw a photo with a younger Seam. A little girl was perched on his shoulder. She had the same white-blond hair as him.
“I don’t have all day,” he snapped, and opened the doors, stepping out into the garden.
I tore my gaze from the photo, wondering where the little girl was now. She was clearly his daughter, they looked so much alike. Sage and I ran through the dingy foyer with peeling paint walls and warped wood floors before following him into the courtyard outside. There was a large table set up with a steaming hot teacup and a plate of food. We’d interrupted his breakfast.
“How did you know?” I asked him, taking in the courtyard and looking for exits in case he attacked. There was a white picket fence only three feet high that I could easily climb over. There were also dozens of beautiful rose bushes that dotted the edge of the red brick patio. The outside garden had clearly been maintained, whereas the inside had been left to rot.
Seam sat down, sipping his tea and then finishing off a cookie. “You travel with a werewolf…” He gestured to Sage: “You have a half a million dollar ring, and you want to break someone out of Magic City Prison the day after they announce all over the news that Sawyer Hudson is sentenced to death.”
Dammit. He was right, it was so obvious.
“Why not call the vampires, get the bounty?” Sage asked, her hand twitching at her hip where her sword was.
