“Who sent you?”
“No one. I heard the song.”
Canto scoffs. “Impossible.”
She heard the song? I turn to the ocean, taking a step towards it as the song restarts. Ronit, Reed, and Brio’s melodies winding together. That song is a summons, calling our mate to us. It’sa last-ditch effort, and we’ve been singing ourselves hoarse for months now.
“Right, I want to ask you about your world. What’s it like there?”
“Lirin?” she whispers hopefully.
I open my mouth, but Canto makes a slicing motion through the air with his hand. I snap my jaw shut, fold my arms over my chest, and ignore her soft call.
Even if it kills me. I will not answer her.
Mei cocks her head to the side and starts answering questions, slowly at first, and then with each hard-won compliment from Canto, with more enthusiasm. I don’t pay attention; my mind wanders in an effort to find a solution.
I hold out a pear to Canto, and he feeds her piece after piece. She doesn’t even protest. The creature trusts us.
Ridiculous.
The day creeps by and hours pass. Still, Canto is relentless. Mei is getting tired and grumpy. All her attempts to be cute have been met by a wall of Canto’s precision-like personality. I have tried several times to end this interrogation, but Canto won’t stop.
At last, he indicates he wants the fruit. I give him the unripened pear that will put anyone who eats it into a deep sleep. Ripened, the fruit is a glorious gold colour and safe to consume, but unripe fruit has a red skin and a sedative.
In silence, she eats. Holding his hand and licking his fingers. I grind my teeth and think of something else, anything else.
The song wobbles as something rips through the thin walls of the worlds and crashes into our world. Screams rip through the air, terrified, vulnerable, human. All three of us snap our heads in the direction of the cliffs. And there, framed in the paradise light, surrounded by jungle foliage and tropical flowers, is a woman.
An intense and slightly off-putting scent of flowers catches on the breeze and rushes towards us. Swirling around us. It’s strong.
Omega. This is an omega and a Fae lady.
The Fae temptress walks down the path towards us, while I stare at her, almost wishing she would go away. She’s beautiful, with a pale face and long dark hair, wearing a satin gown that flows around her like water. Something about her feels wrong.
“Who are you?” Canto says in eerie calmness.
“Delia Arron, of the House of Snow. I felt a disturbance. Something unnatural crossed a boundary it shouldn’t have. They sent me to check.”
So, a sacrifice, or she’s lying. I bet she came because of our song, and if she did, that means she must be our mate. Ronit is convinced that finding a mate should be able to set us free. It’s the loophole our jailers would never have imagined needing to build.
It’s our way out of this ocean.
I don’t know that house name, but I know there is a House Frost, why wouldn’t there be a House of Snow?
Canto exhales in a hiss, but I can feel the triumph flaring to life inside him. It’s wrong. She is wrong. My unease grows.
“Hello?” Her voice is a soft melody. A trap, like most Fae’s voices. “I’m looking for whoever is in charge. Is that you?”
“Yes. My name is General Canto Rethvn,” Canto says formally, but the softness of his voice is a lure, and she is falling hook, line, and sinker.
It’s a game of politics and willpower now.
She blinks several times, lifting an elegant hand to her chest. She looks him over appreciatively, then glances at me and away.
I frown. There’s something off here.
“I know you,” she says and claps in excitement. “You are the lost Fae, aren’t you? Things have changed, you have been pardoned.”
