“You seriously had no clue?”
He shook his head. I searched his face for tells but found none. Maybe he hid them well, or maybe he really didn’t know.
“Don’t you control them?”
“Control them? I train them, yes, but I do not seek to control others. I leave that to Gwenelda.”
“Well, either she’s not doing a good job of it or—” I rocked forward in the booth, so that my whisper reached Kajika quicker. “Or she’s planning an attack. Which would really screw up the fragile peace betw—”
“Peace?” His lips contorted into a scowl. “What peace would that be, Catori? Yesterday, the golwinim killed one of ours.”
“They did? Who?” I secretly hoped it would be Alice. I’d only met her once, but I didn’t like her. And my dislike of her had nothing to do with the fact that she’d had sex with Kajika. The hunter was allowed to have sex with whomever he wanted. I just didn’t like her. She seemed wild and entitled.
“Tom. The former general.”
My mind clicked on a memory. The night I’d returned from Detroit, a man wearing army fatigues flanked Gwenelda. That must’ve been Tom. “Why did they kill him?”
“Because they could.”
“There must be more to it than that.”
“Why must you always take their side?”
“I don’t.” Did I? “It just seems odd to me they eliminated him out of opportunity.”
Kajika snorted. “For someone who spends much time with faeries, you do not appear well acquainted with them.”
Heat engulfed my face. I pulled the scarf looser and began unwrapping it when I remembered why I was wearing it in the first place. I froze and began to loop it back around. I wasn’t quick enough.
Kajika hooked a finger in the soft material and tugged it away from me. His eyes widened as they flashed up to mine. “You confiscated gassen?”
I bit my lip. Nodded. “Not on purpose, though.”
He frowned.
Making my voice as faint as possible, I said, “I ran into Stella, and, well…she tried to asphyxiate me. Almost managed it, but then a nurse saw I was choking and cleared my airwaves with her scalpel, and my blood…it magnetized Stella’s dust.”
Although Kajika remained quiet, a vein throbbed furiously at his temple.
I shrugged. “At least now I know how it works.”
He closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were almost black. “I will kill her.”
“No, Kajika.” I shook my head. “I didn’t tell you about it to get revenge.”
“That is twice that faeries attacked one of ours.”
I winced. One of theirs.
“I thank Gejaiwe Stella failed, but I will not allow their crimes to go unpunished.”
“Kajika—”
“Do not protect them,” he growled, and his growl attracted unwanted attention.
“Let me punish her,” I whispered. “You said you would teach me to fight, so teach me to fight.”
Kajika studied me.
“And no, I will never use what you teach me against you. I swear it.”
After a long while, he said, “Tomorrow morning. I will pick you up at nine o’clock.”
“In the morning or at night?”
Kajika’s face swung to the side, to the body looming over our table. The body I had failed to sense advancing our way.
“Why is Kajika picking you up at nine, Cat?”
I cringed.
Ace’s timing was awful.
“What Catori and I do does not concern you, pahan,” Kajika spit out.
Calling Ace pahan—the Gottwa term for faerie—was not a good idea. That was exactly the reason Kajika did it though, to irritate Ace. To think these two males had once agreed to work together to bring peace to their people seemed downright implausible.
Even though our booth was sort of secluded, it was in no way removed enough. Dad and the sheriff were leaning out of theirs to watch us.
Cass scampered our way. “’Morning, Ace.”
Ace didn’t acknowledge my friend. “Why is he picking you up at nine?”
Undeterred, Cass asked, “Coffee? Tea?”
“Ace, please…” I whispered. “Don’t make a scene. I’ll explain later.”
“Why would you explain yourself to him, Catori?” Kajika asked.
“Maybe I should come back later,” Cass said.
Ace dropped in next to me. I scooted away. He reached under the table. His hand settled on my knee. I jolted further away, stopping only when my back hit the brick wall.
“You are frightening her,” Kajika said.
Ace raised one corner of his mouth in a half sneer, half smile. “I may provoke many feelings in Cat, but fright isn’t one of them.”
“Kajika agreed to teach me to fight,” I blurted out, because it beat discussing the feelings Ace roused in me.
“Absolutely not,” he said.
Kajika narrowed his dark gaze. “Because you believe you have a say in what she does?”
“I may not have a say in what she does”—Ace speared me with his incandescent blue eyes—“but I have a say in who she does it with.”
Ace tried to put his hand on my thigh again, but I shifted away…again. Letting him put his hand on me felt wrong. It felt like a statement—one I didn’t want to make right now.
My pulse accelerated. The W on my hand ignited, and then Ace’s palm began to glow.
“Catori, why does Ace have a say on who you spend time with?”
“He doesn’t.”
I half-expected Ace to rise, to storm off, like he always did when he was angry, but he didn’t move. He barely breathed.
Kajika studied my mark in charged silence. The last time I’d seen him, he’d asked why the V had morphed into a W, and I’d explained Lily had used magic to unlink me from her fiancé and pass my mark on to her brother. I pulled my hand under the table, but Ace didn’t move his hand out of the hunter’s sight. If anything, he fanned his fingers to make it more visible.
Anger honed Kajika’s expression into an inflexible, tangible thing as stiff and sharp as one of his rowan wood arrows. It slid into my breastbone, remained lodged there.
“What would have happened to Stella if she had killed Catori?” Kajika’s voice was as brittle as an arrow tip.
“I could’ve punished her as I saw fit,” Ace answered.
“Could you have killed her?”
Ace nodded.
“And yet she took the risk to attack Catori? She either does not care for her life, or she did not know the meaning of your mark. Or she did not fear retribution.”
Ace went very still, whereas Kajika leaned forward.
“Would you have avenged Catori’s death, Ace?”
The faerie’s shoulders tightened so fast I could almost hear the vertebrae of his spine click into place. “She didn’t die.”
“That is not what I asked.” Kajika shook his head just as Cass returned with a thick cream mug, which she deposited in front of Ace.
“I made you tea. You like it black, right?”
Ace didn’t respond.
“Can I get anyone any—”
Kajika’s eyes sank into Cass’s and gleamed. “Leave and do not return until we call on you.”
Although I wished Kajika hadn’t used his influence on my friend, I was thankful he’d sent her away. Cass had a minute amount of faerie blood in her, but no knowledge of it. Knowledge of it would have consequences. What if she went to Neverra? What if she turned on me? What if—
“You should not trust Ace, Catori.”
My throat went dry. I didn’t dare look at Ace. Instead, I studied my mother’s ring, spun it. I didn’t want to doubt him.
“I have heard of your reputation,” Kajika continued. “Your people believe you to be soft. Unfit to lead them.”
A vein ticked in Ace’s throat. “Glad to know what’s said about me, but I must say, I’m surprised my people gossip with your people. And I’m surprised hun
ters are interested in fae gossip. Aren’t you too busy raising a vengeful army to discuss Neverrian politics?”
“Neverrian politics are of much interest to us. We seek allies amongst your people. Preferably strong ones. Although I do not particularly trust Cruz, he has grown quite ruthless, has he not?”
Ace’s eyes burned with fresh anger. They burned so bright I began to worry fire would spurt out of them. Could it? Or could fire only leak out of his fingers? I studied Ace’s hands, watched for flames. None licked his skin.
“Why is Kajika picking you up at nine tomorrow, Cat?” Ace asked through gritted teeth.
“To teach me how to fight.” I bit my lower lip. Why was I ashamed of this? Ace knew I wanted to become tougher. I released my lip.
“No,” Ace said.
I shoved a lock of hair behind my ear. “It’s not your choice. It’s mine.”
Hurt stretched over him. “I can teach you to fight. You don’t need Kajika.”
The texture of his voice splintered both my resolve and heart.
Kajika folded his arms and leaned back, the leather seat groaning beneath him. “Faeries do not know how to fight. At least, not fairly. But I suppose you could teach Catori dirty tricks.”
Anger sheeted from Ace. His fingers rolled into a fist. Before I realized what it would look like, I wrapped my fingers around his. They burned gently in mine but did not ignite.
Kajika stared at our linked hands.
“In Gottwa tradition, only lovers or mothers hold another person’s hand. Enemies do not touch each other, unless it is to kill. But I have observed humans hold friends’ hands. Is Ace your friend or lover, Catori, because he certainly is not your child.”
I let go of Ace’s hand. “He’s my friend.”
Something flickered in Ace’s expression. Disappointment?
“You should choose your friends more wisely.” He rose. “I should get back to my clan. I will see you tomorrow, Catori.” And then he was gone.
“Friend?” Ace asked.
“Would you have punished Stella?”
Ace cocked an eyebrow. “Is that why you demoted me to friend?” He spoke the word as though it tasted foul.
I pivoted to face him. “Would you?”
The lightbulb over our booth jeweled his eyes. “I would’ve done way worse than kill her.”
4
Broken Bonds
“I don’t want Kajika to teach you how to fight,” Ace said, as I recovered from the shock of his declaration.
Was anything worse than death in Neverra?
“I want to be enough for you,” he continued. “Is that unreasonable?”
“Kajika knows things you don’t.”
“I know many things.”
“Do you know how I moved water?” I murmured.
“You were angry—”
“I’ve been angry since then, but never managed to move anything. When Stella attacked me, I was powerless.”
“We could figure it out.”
“Why do you want me to choose? Why can’t I have both you and Kajika as instructors? You don’t see me asking you to pick me over your fiancée.”
“I don’t have a choice in the matter,” he responded stiffly. “You do.”
“Why can’t you break it off with her?”
“I could but then then I’d get barred from returning to Neverra. Which in and of itself wouldn’t be so dire if I didn’t actually need my home to survive. Remember when we spoke about changelings?”
I dug through my memory until the right conversation cropped up. They died.
“The fire in their veins,” I whispered. “It extinguishes if they don’t return to Neverra.”
His face smudged with a cold smirk. “Pretty dire choices, huh?”
The hinges that held my jaw shut slackened. Broke.
He ran his finger underneath my chin. I jolted away.
Our booth was secluded, but we were still in public.
Ace’s eyes narrowed. I tipped my head sideways, in the general direction of my father. I wasn’t sure if Ace would believe that was the only reason I’d jerked away.
Not when I didn’t believe it myself.
Kajika had planted a tiny seed of doubt in my mind. I hated him for doing it, but I also appreciated his concern. I trusted the hunter over almost everyone else in Rowan because he always voiced his true thoughts.
“Think we could go somewhere more private?” Ace asked.
“I have…I have stuff to do.”
His mouth tightened. Although I could tell he wanted to challenge me, ask what stuff needed to be done, all he said was, “I have stuff to deal with too.”
He rose so rigidly that my heartbeat shuddered in my ears. “Ace—”
“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And then he was gone too.
I planted my elbows on the table and rested my face in my open palms. I wanted to both growl and cry. I did neither. I remained strangely silent, trying to sort through my emotions and thoughts.
Inhaling deeply, I raked my hair off my face and gathered my jacket and bag. Although I wanted to leave without speaking to anyone, that wasn’t a possibility. Pasting on a smile, I stopped by Dad’s table. “I’m heading home.”
His gaze flashed to the inn windows. “Alone?”
“Yeah.” I held my hand out toward the woman at his table. “You must be Milly.” As she shook it, I added, “Welcome to our weird town.”
The sheriff said, “Charming town,” and Milly laughed.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She let go of my hand. “Catori, right?”
“That’s right.”
“My uncle tells me you’re a very bright girl. A doctor-in-training.”
I was surprised Mr. Hamilton knew what I was studying. “I’ve put the doctor part on hold for a little while, but yeah, that’s the plan.”
“If you ever want to discuss medical school, I’ve been there. Done that,” Milly said.
Mom had also been there, done that. Even though I felt a twinge of sadness, I said, “I might take you up on that. Dad’s medical knowledge is limited to Pepto-Bismol and Band-Aids.”
Dad said, “Hey,” but grinned.
“I need to get to work, folks. Was a real pleasure meetin’ you, Milly. If you need anything, you know where to find me.” Sheriff Jones got up and put on his khaki jacket adorned with a shiny gold star. I bet he polished it every night. “You ain’t allergic to nothin’, are ya, Milly?”
“I don’t eat red meat.”
“That won’t be a problem. We’ve got real good fish here in Michigan. Thursday night, then. Seven PM.”
Milly smiled. “I’ll be there.”
“Derek?”
“I should be free. Unless Cat—”
“I have plans for Thursday.” I didn’t want to hold my father back.
“Then I’ll be there. With a six-pack.”
“Good man.” Sheriff Jones smiled at me. “You watch out now, Catori. Those boys you hang out with seem like trouble.”
Even though I wasn’t made of faerie fire, I smoldered. “They’re nice to me.”
“Are they?” Dad asked.
“Yes.” My cheeks flamed brighter.
Nineteen, Cat. You’re nineteen. Act like it.
“Your daughter’s a beautiful woman, Derek,” Milly said. “Better get used to seeing her surrounded by boys.”
I blinked at Mr. Hamilton’s niece, while Dad grimaced.
“I don’t think any father can get used to that.”
I needed to put an end to this torturous topic. “Will you be home for lunch?”
“I was going to show Milly around. Unless you want me to come home for lunch?”
“I should finish reading this article on microbiology. I’m trying to keep up with my classes.” I hadn’t studied in months, but I wanted my father to feel free.
“Virology was my favorite,” Milly said.
I used to think I lied to protect my father, but the
truth was, I lied to protect myself. “I’d love to hear your thoughts once I read the paper.”
Milly nodded eagerly.
“Enjoy your tour of Rowan,” I said. Cass called out my name, and I went over to the bar where she was wiping down glasses.
Voice thankfully low, she said, “I swear I could smell the testosterone all the way over to here. Were they fighting over you? Is that it?”
“They’re not. They’re just fighting with each other.”
Her eyebrows quirked up behind her bangs.
“How much do I owe you for the coffee?” I took my wallet out.
“Nothing. It’s hot flavored water.”
“Cass—”
“Your money’s no good here.”
I was about to put away my wallet, but unzipped it instead. I pulled out a dime and placed it on the bar. “Then the least I can do is leave you a tip.”
Cass laughed. “Get out of here.”
I tucked a five-dollar bill underneath the coin even though Cass insisted I take it back. And then I went home to my empty house.
5
The Sap
Before dawn crept over the horizon the following morning, a dream pulled me out of sleep. It was neither good nor bad. Only strange.
The air had smelled sweet in my dream. A fire crackled. Sap boiled in iron kettles. Patches of thin snow dappled the bare earth. Laughter whirred as soft as the flung-open wings of the blue bird I chased through a clearing. Words spilled out of my mouth as swiftly as my breaths. Ishtu, maagwe! I was excited. Thrilled by the sight of the bird. In a hurry to catch up with it, but how could I catch up with something that flew? And yet my footfalls were quick. Almost as quick as the bird’s flight. I floated through the long grass.
Magena! Magena, bekagwe! a girl called to my dream-self. Black hair ribboned behind her like an inky stream, but the rest of her features were blurry, her body as ethereal as mist.
Had I dreamed of Ishtu?
Ishtu had been Kajika’s mate. Apparently, I resembled her—too much. Kajika had been crazy about her and crazed with grief when the faeries had murdered her. Recently, he’d learned she’d had an affair with a faerie—Borgo Lief—and that had shattered him.
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