The Urisk narrowed his eyes. “Tell me your names.”
“Why?” Glencora shifted against the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, Reyna could see that she’d grown tired of waiting. Her fingers plucked at the chains.
“One of you is important,” he said impatiently. “I need to know which.”
Reyna’s heart gave an uneasy thump. Did he know something about the Namhaid? Or the cure for the curse? Was there something inside these caves that would help them save Tir Na Nog?
“Importanthow?” Reyna asked.
“To the new High King, of course,” he said slowly, enunciating each word as though they couldn’t hear him well. “Isn’t one of you the future Queen?”
Glencora snorted. Reyna fought the urge to smack her arm, though she wouldn’t have gotten very far with her wrists tied together behind her back.
“I don’t know what gave you that impression,” Reyna said dryly.
“Well, you better get a good idea soon or we’ll kill you along with all your friends,” the Urisk said, waving his arms like windmills. “The king keeps sending his fae to attack us, trying to drink our blood. I don’t know what he wants. Our caves?” He shook his head. “I don’t know what it is he’s after, and I don’t care. All we want is for him to stop. So, we’re going to barter whichever one of you is Reyna in exchange for peace.”
“Oh.” Reyna’s heart sank at the hope in his eyes. She’d jumped to the worst conclusion about him, and all he and his people wanted was peace. No wonder they’d ventured above ground. The cursed fae had swarmed them, and they’d grown desperate for a way to save themselves. “I thought you wanted to eat us.”
Shock flickered in his amber eyes, and then he laughed. “Eatyou?”
“Yeah, well. We’ve run into these blood-crazed fae, too, and one of them even ripped into my neck.” Reyna decided not to mention Lorcan by name. The Urisk seemed scared enough without all that. “We’re all pretty on edge ourselves, and so I just assumed the worst. But to be fair, you did shoot poison darts at us, and you have trapped us in your cave. You can’t really blame me for thinking you might mean us harm.”
He shook his head, still chuckling. “We’re vegetarians.”
“That’s a relief,” Glencora muttered. “So, does that mean you’re going to let us go then?”
The laughter died, and the Urisk’s solemn frown fell like a hammer. “No.”
“What?” Reyna shook her chains. Her skin had almost gone numb from the iron’s flames. “We’re not your enemy. I thought I made that clear.”
“All you made clear is that you’ve had a pretty shit time of it, just like us.” He shrugged. “I’m sorry about that. I really am, but letting you go doesn’t solve the problem for us. The attacks would still happen. More of us would die.”
Reyna’s breath stilled. “How many?”
“Fifteen.” His eyelids fluttered shut. “Fifteen beautiful souls taken from this world far before their time.”
Her hands fisted. “What is it you want to do with us?”
“No,” Glencora hissed. “Don’t even consider it.”
“I just want to hear him out.”
The Urisk ran a hand across his scruffy jaw. “We take whichever one of you is Reyna, and we give her back to the king. But only if he swears to abide by peace with our people.”
“That will never work,” Reyna said with a shake of her head. “He’s of the shadow lands. The exiles. He can lie to you.”
The Urisk inclined his head toward the distant ledge where the others were finally awakening from their poisoned slumber. “Luckily for us, we have the air king here. He can undo the exile since his lot was the one to start it up in the first place.”
“I don’t think he can do that. He needs the power of his throne.”
“Well, he’s going to have to bloody well try!” The Urisk’s voice boomed, echoing like thunder across the slick, iron-lined walls. Reyna sat up a little straighter. He’d seemed harmless at first glance, but there was an anger burning inside of him. He was desperate to protect his people, same as she. And desperate people often did desperate things.
She ought to know better than anyone.
“Alright,” Reyna said softly. “Let’s calm down now. We’re both on the same side here, even if you don’t see it. I want to stop this curse. You want to stop this curse. There’s no reason to shout.”Or worse.
“So, you’ll tell me which one of you is which?” he asked eagerly.
