He shook his head. He needed to stay focused. “But in her journal, Loriana said, ‘I will find the Witch and bind her with siren’s hair from home.’ Don’t you see?”
For he finally did. He saw Loriana as she grinned at him and berated him and kissed him—all the while with that thin, shimmery bracelet wrapped around her wrist.
Quint and Genna both stared at him.
“The head of a siren isn’t the only place we can get siren hair. The Kono Islands have it, too.”
20
Nes
The following evening, Nes wandered the Valley market, waiting for Toran to show.
Winter had arrived in true form. The morning had brought freezing temperatures and ice to the city. Icicles hung from the corners of rooftops, and water buckets turned solid. The souls of the Ditch unfortunate enough to get stuck outside the previous night were found in the morning huddled in balls, their dead eyes peeking out behind the ice crystals caught in their eyelashes.
Nes kept her hands tight in her pockets for warmth, and to keep herself from touching any of the wares for sale. The only exception she made was to pull the flask from her belt for a long swig, the eyes of Phineas’s snarling dog sigil gleaming in the low sun as she tipped the flask’s contents down her throat. She still had some left, but it was nearing empty. She’d have to find a way to fill it soon.
Phineas’s meeting loomed closer.
While she wanted to sabotage whatever plans Phineas had, she had no idea how to do so. What little spying she’d been able to do had informed her Keifer Harrow was nothing more than a common fisherman. A fisherman who kept the stringent fishing hours of three to ten a.m.
Of course, she knew what the man appeared to be could all be a facade. But she’d subtly asked around after the fisherman, and all anyone could tell her was he was out at sea every morning and working the docks every afternoon. It took hours of receiving the same answer before she had to admit Keifer Harrow was a boring man.
She couldn’t go to Suri for help. If their exchange the other day was any indication, Suri knew she, too, was being watched. Which left Nes with only this upcoming meeting to try to find more information. Information she hoped would help her bring Phineas down for good.
The vendor who’d been selling extra fingers the night Nes brought Marnie to Phineas eyed her angrily as she passed her table. She winked at her, and the woman harrumphed.
“I don’t think that vendor likes you very much.”
Her pulse jumped and she whirled, finding Toran at her back. She rolled her shoulders to hide the surprise skittering about her limbs. There was something different about him today. And it wasn’t the neatly tucked button-down or striking black and red of his uniform—she’d almost forgotten what he looked like when he dressed as a guard. It was something about his presence. Something that brought excitement to her veins and left it lingering like a tease.
She bit her lip. “You wouldn’t either if you were her.”
Toran smiled warmly and raised a hand in greeting to the extra-finger woman while his other hand came to rest at the small of Nes’s back. “Pleasant evening!” he called to the vendor then leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Remind me again how you survived the Ditch for so long.”
The hand at her back pushed gently, guiding her forward. “By not bathing,” she said. “My stench alone kept criminals away.”
“Right,” he said, the word drawn out. “Your stench.”
The way he spoke, like a memory loitered in his mind, made her wonder if he’d been breathing her in. She forced her feet to step away, to start walking again. She needed a little distance. Maybe it wasn’t Toran who was different, but her. Maybe it wasn’t her father who could fill that hole in her chest, but someone else.
He’d been so close yesterday. An anchor when she’d needed one most. And there had been a second, brief as it was, when she thought—a foolish thought for sure—but she’d thought he might kiss her in that water. Lay his lips on hers and kiss away her fear.
His hand shifted, curling tight around her side and tugging her against him just as a cart came rambling down the street. Her face pressed to the hollow part of his collarbone, and she gasped. His chin rested against the top of her forehead, his skin smooth against hers, and she realized he’d shaved since yesterday. She sucked in another breath. He was warm and firm, and maybe it’d be okay if she stayed here a minute more.
No. She had to remember they were working toward a mutual goal, nothing more. Once they reached that goal, her father would be released and the two of them would leave Gadore forever.No attachments.She had made that promise to herself long before she met Toran. She couldn’t slip up now.
She stepped out of his embrace. Crossing her arms over her chest, she said, “You came alone.”
He smirked. “That’s very astute of you.”
“Where’s Genna?”
The smirk fell from his face. “I don’t know. I asked around, but no one’s seen Genna all day.”
“We need her side of the story.”
She didn’t mention how it was her fault they hadn’t gotten it the day before. How she had been the one to storm off after the boat had tipped, halting their progress for the day. But she hadn’t been able to help it. Nearly drowning had unsettled her. More than she’d wanted to admit.
