Velario reached out an arm, stopping her from turning and continuing on down the street. “You can’t pound on the Geratisi’s door in the middle of the night, Reyn.”
She paused, noticing the silent darkness of the streets for the first time. She knew the hour was late, but she hadn’t really thought about it as she gathered her cloak and left the musicale. Waiting one more day to find answers was not the end of the world, but she didn’t want to give up with the answer so close at last.
Velario recognized her disappointment and had the gall to laugh. Then he held out his arm. “Come on, the Ferrinis may not have the same relationship with sprites as the Geratisis, but we have a pretty extensive library. We can probably find something as quickly as Lisca would manage. If she knew anything about sirens without consulting her Family’s records, she would have already spoken to you about them.”
“You’re right. Thank you.” What a strange turn of events that Reyn was grateful for the opportunity to spend the rest of her evening in a library with Velario. She reached for his arm and remembered that he had left his coat back in the Dachsi’s home. “We should probably make sure you don’t freeze on the way. Why did you come out here without getting your coat first?”
“I didn’t have time to get my coat. I don’t know how you managed to get your cloak so quickly, but you were already out the door by the time I reached the foyer. If I had stopped, you would have disappeared.”
“I was highly motivated,” Reyn explained as they turned back to the Dachsi home.
“So was I.”
“I have the voice of a siren and can encourage servants to fetch my cloak swiftly.”
“Did you really?”
Reyn shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. That’s why I am so desperate to learn about my power. Half the time I can’t tell if I’m using it and I can only call it up on purpose about a quarter of the time.”
Velario’s eyes narrowed. “You use it on me when we are arguing, don’t you?”
She looked up at him and put on an air of innocent affront. “Why would you suspect such a thing?”
He laughed. “No wonder arguing with you is so much fun.”
She was pretty sure he didn’t intend for her to hear the coda he added to that statement. “And frustrating.”
