Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“Let him stay,” I told her. “We have questions for him.”
“You’ll be responsible, then.”
“Yes,” I agreed.
“So be it. The others are the bounty anyway. What’s a faun worth?”
I smiled instead of arguing.
She glanced at Lorne, gave him an appraising look, missing nothing, and was about to take a step forward into the abyss when instead, she looked back at me. “Quick question: I’ve been looking for someone, and the usual scrying isn’t working, so I suspect he’s used glyphs or something else to shield himself. Any thoughts on what my potion is missing for divination?” When I didn’t reply right away, she added, “He’s a warlock accused of killing children. He does not deserve your pity or concern.”
No, he did not. “Have you added mugwort and goldenrod to your cauldron?”
She snapped her fingers and pointed at me. “Goldenrod. I knew something was missing.”
“Also, if you want to catch a psychopomp to aid you, add comfrey leaves and sugar to your perfume and they’ll be drawn to you.”
Her smile was like the sun. “Thank you, witch,” she murmured before jumping in after the men, the floor closing instantly.
The poor faun fainted, just done, out cold, dropping to the floor like a rock as Lorne slowly turned me around to face him.
“Hi,” I teased him, smiling.
“She liked me,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.
I was stunned. Not at all what I thought he was going to say. “You really are amazing.”
He nodded in agreement. “Yes, I know. But you do realize I’m just baiting you so I don’t completely lose my mind and pass out like your goat friend over there.”
“Faun,” I corrected. “Most people don’t know the difference between fauns and satyrs, but fauns are always prettier, like he is.”
“Okay,” he said, sighing deeply, and then pointed at the space where the lovely rug used to be. “The hell was all that?”
“Oh, she was a nymph and—”
“What? No. Nymphs hang around with satyrs and wear white togas and—why’re you looking at me like that?”
“You’ve been reading too many pastorals.”
“I assure you I’ve never read a pastoral anything in my entire life.”
I smiled at him.
“What you’re telling me is that nymphs are actually badass and hunt things?”
“Some of them. The ones like Nott, who cross over from their realm to ours, are hunters. I’m sure there are those who hang out all day beside rivers, dancing with satyrs, but I’ve never met any of them.”
“How many different supernatural creatures have you met?”
“You want a list?”
“Yes, I want a list,” he snapped. He walked around the table and knelt down beside the faun. “You know, if you can get past the ears and the horns, he’s cute in a Narnia way.”
I couldn’t stifle my laughter and went to my knees next to Lorne, putting my head on his shoulder, enjoying not being alone for once when weirdness happened. He was a big, strong, powerful man, and it felt nice to lean on him.
“What was with none of those guys attacking Nott? You’d think they would have rushed her instead of just freezing once she shot the first guy.”
“But she was shooting iron bolts, and if she decided to hit them in anything vital, they’d be dead in seconds. As it was, that one guy was in agony.”
“Why?”
“They were all from the fae realm, just like our friend here is,” I said, touching one of the faun’s small horns. “And iron is bad for them.”
“Isn’t Nott from the fae realm?”
“No. She’s from Arcadia or Delphi or Nemea—”
“You’re talking about places that exist in mythology.”
“No, they exist in different realms.”
He was going to ask more questions, I knew interest when I saw it, but the faun took that moment to shriek, sit up fast, and scramble back against the wall, wrapping his arms around his legs. It looked odd since he was wearing human clothes that fit his upper body well, but shoes on hooves weren’t really working.
“You’re all right,” I soothed him.
He only stared at me.
“Is there a Declan Grant at all, or was that always just you?”
Quick breath through his nose. “Always me. I’ve always wanted to be human.”
I nodded and sat back, crossing my legs. “Go ahead and redo the glamour. I won’t remove it again.”
Blink-of-an-eye fast, I was looking at the beautiful man who’d been at my stall earlier in the day.
“I know you didn’t kill the girl Chief MacBain here found,” I told him. Fauns were not killers. They couldn’t. It went against their natures. “But did you assist in her kidnapping?”
“Oh no,” he replied quickly. “No, no. I was sent to watch you, report on you, get you interested in me if possible, and then have you take me into your home.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” he stressed, glancing at Lorne and then back at me. “Truly.”
“There was a member of the fae on my property the other night.”