Illusions
Page 74
Laurel peered into the pouch, unsure she knew how to begin testing such an unusual mixture. “You think this is fae magic?” she asked.
“Possibly. It could be some new troll magic. Or old human magic, for all I know. But we seem to be accumulating a lot of evidence of a rogue Mixer.”
“Are you still thinking it could be Yuki?” Laurel asked quietly.
Tamani hesitated, his brows knit. “I’m not sure. I never, ever discount a possibility, but she’s so young. Could you make anything like this?”
Laurel shook her head. “I seriously doubt it. It sounds incredibly complicated.”
“But who else could it be?”
They both sat silently, Tamani munching and thinking, Laurel absently sifting through the powder with her fingertips.
“You know, everyone seems to think Yuki is some huge anomaly,” Laurel said. “But if there’s one wild faerie, why not two? Or ten? Or a hundred? What if Yuki is just some kind of . . . diversion?”
Tamani pondered this for a moment. “It’s something to consider,” he said. “But we didn’t chase faeries to that cabin. Just trolls. And we don’t even know if they’re after you, or Yuki.”
Laurel nodded.
“Speaking of Yuki, I haven’t seen her in three days, and since we have a holiday next week, I had better go make amends while I can.”
Laurel suppressed a wave of jealousy. It was his job!
Tamani walked over to the back door and swung it open, taking a deep breath of fresh morning air. “Thank you for the exquisite comfort of your kitchen floor,” he said with a chuckle, though she knew he must be rather chagrined over the whole experience, “and for the excellent breakfast. I’m off.”
Tamani sprinted to his apartment, trying not to be seen. In his handmade breeches and bare feet he would probably look like a wild man to any humans who spied him. After taking a quick shower—an indulgence he was really starting to get used to—and throwing on new clothes for the day, Tamani dashed out of the apartment and toward Yuki’s house, hoping to catch her on her way to school.
He speed-walked up her driveway just as she was unlocking her bike from the porch rail. “Hey there,” he said, turning on his flirtatious grin.
Yuki’s eyes widened, then sparkled. “Hey, Tam,” she said shyly.
Tamani smiled back. He hated going from Laurel’s house to Yuki’s house. He felt like a traitor to both of them. He was beginning to understand why Sparklers avoided sentry duty whenever possible. Their abilities made them excellent spies, and Marion’s court used them extensively in the United Kingdom and in Egypt, where human proximity made intelligence and espionage almost as important as posting guards at the gates. But pretending to be someone else on the stage could not be nearly so taxing as pretending to be someone else every single day.
Nevertheless, Tamani had his orders. Yuki seemed to have grown quite attached to him, and if he could just get her to lower her defenses, maybe he could find out what he needed to know.
Or better yet, find out that there was nothing to know.
This, unfortunately, seemed unlikely. It was just too big a coincidence for Yuki to show up at Laurel’s school, especially when the woman who put her there belonged to an organization that hunted non-humans. Except for picking up Yuki after the troll attack, Klea had not shown her face since delivering the wild faerie to Laurel’s doorstep. She could be off hunting, as she claimed, but both times sentries sent to follow her had come back empty-handed, having lost her trail within two or three miles of Laurel’s house. Just like with the trolls—another “coincidence” that put Tamani’s teeth on edge. What was their connection? Klea always wore sunglasses, as though she were sensitive to light, or hiding mismatched eyes, but otherwise she didn’t look like a troll. Still, troll clans had been known to squabble over territory, which would explain her killing Barnes. But Tamani was at a loss to explain how Yuki ended up with a group of human troll hunters, never mind a clan of trolls posing as troll hunters. Laurel’s suggestion that Yuki might not be the only wild faerie definitely had merit, but what could possibly motivate such creatures to ally with the likes of Klea or Barnes?
There were still too many questions, but whatever the answers, Tamani didn’t see any way for Klea to be anything but a threat. She was hiding. Tamani didn’t know if she was hiding from him or from Laurel, but she was definitely hiding.
Animals hide when they are guilty—or afraid. Klea didn’t seem the type to cower in fear—so she was guilty. Tamani just needed to figure out what she was guilty of.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like Yuki—over the last few months, as he wormed in close, he’d found her company more than tolerable. She was smarter than she generally let on, and had a quiet confidence he admired. Which made his subterfuge all the more challenging. He was increasingly certain she actually liked him and it made him feel like a villain to be using that against her. If it did turn out that she knew nothing, he was never going to get over the guilt of this moment. But if she was a danger to Laurel in any way, it would be worth it.
“I thought maybe I could walk you to school this morning. Car’s in the shop,” he tacked on, scrambling for an excuse. In truth the car was parked at the head of the trail he and Shar had taken last night.
“I thought you ‘knew a guy,’” Yuki said coyly.
Tamani grinned. “I do, that’s why it will be done by this afternoon.”
“Possibly. It could be some new troll magic. Or old human magic, for all I know. But we seem to be accumulating a lot of evidence of a rogue Mixer.”
“Are you still thinking it could be Yuki?” Laurel asked quietly.
Tamani hesitated, his brows knit. “I’m not sure. I never, ever discount a possibility, but she’s so young. Could you make anything like this?”
Laurel shook her head. “I seriously doubt it. It sounds incredibly complicated.”
“But who else could it be?”
They both sat silently, Tamani munching and thinking, Laurel absently sifting through the powder with her fingertips.
“You know, everyone seems to think Yuki is some huge anomaly,” Laurel said. “But if there’s one wild faerie, why not two? Or ten? Or a hundred? What if Yuki is just some kind of . . . diversion?”
Tamani pondered this for a moment. “It’s something to consider,” he said. “But we didn’t chase faeries to that cabin. Just trolls. And we don’t even know if they’re after you, or Yuki.”
Laurel nodded.
“Speaking of Yuki, I haven’t seen her in three days, and since we have a holiday next week, I had better go make amends while I can.”
Laurel suppressed a wave of jealousy. It was his job!
Tamani walked over to the back door and swung it open, taking a deep breath of fresh morning air. “Thank you for the exquisite comfort of your kitchen floor,” he said with a chuckle, though she knew he must be rather chagrined over the whole experience, “and for the excellent breakfast. I’m off.”
Tamani sprinted to his apartment, trying not to be seen. In his handmade breeches and bare feet he would probably look like a wild man to any humans who spied him. After taking a quick shower—an indulgence he was really starting to get used to—and throwing on new clothes for the day, Tamani dashed out of the apartment and toward Yuki’s house, hoping to catch her on her way to school.
He speed-walked up her driveway just as she was unlocking her bike from the porch rail. “Hey there,” he said, turning on his flirtatious grin.
Yuki’s eyes widened, then sparkled. “Hey, Tam,” she said shyly.
Tamani smiled back. He hated going from Laurel’s house to Yuki’s house. He felt like a traitor to both of them. He was beginning to understand why Sparklers avoided sentry duty whenever possible. Their abilities made them excellent spies, and Marion’s court used them extensively in the United Kingdom and in Egypt, where human proximity made intelligence and espionage almost as important as posting guards at the gates. But pretending to be someone else on the stage could not be nearly so taxing as pretending to be someone else every single day.
Nevertheless, Tamani had his orders. Yuki seemed to have grown quite attached to him, and if he could just get her to lower her defenses, maybe he could find out what he needed to know.
Or better yet, find out that there was nothing to know.
This, unfortunately, seemed unlikely. It was just too big a coincidence for Yuki to show up at Laurel’s school, especially when the woman who put her there belonged to an organization that hunted non-humans. Except for picking up Yuki after the troll attack, Klea had not shown her face since delivering the wild faerie to Laurel’s doorstep. She could be off hunting, as she claimed, but both times sentries sent to follow her had come back empty-handed, having lost her trail within two or three miles of Laurel’s house. Just like with the trolls—another “coincidence” that put Tamani’s teeth on edge. What was their connection? Klea always wore sunglasses, as though she were sensitive to light, or hiding mismatched eyes, but otherwise she didn’t look like a troll. Still, troll clans had been known to squabble over territory, which would explain her killing Barnes. But Tamani was at a loss to explain how Yuki ended up with a group of human troll hunters, never mind a clan of trolls posing as troll hunters. Laurel’s suggestion that Yuki might not be the only wild faerie definitely had merit, but what could possibly motivate such creatures to ally with the likes of Klea or Barnes?
There were still too many questions, but whatever the answers, Tamani didn’t see any way for Klea to be anything but a threat. She was hiding. Tamani didn’t know if she was hiding from him or from Laurel, but she was definitely hiding.
Animals hide when they are guilty—or afraid. Klea didn’t seem the type to cower in fear—so she was guilty. Tamani just needed to figure out what she was guilty of.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like Yuki—over the last few months, as he wormed in close, he’d found her company more than tolerable. She was smarter than she generally let on, and had a quiet confidence he admired. Which made his subterfuge all the more challenging. He was increasingly certain she actually liked him and it made him feel like a villain to be using that against her. If it did turn out that she knew nothing, he was never going to get over the guilt of this moment. But if she was a danger to Laurel in any way, it would be worth it.
“I thought maybe I could walk you to school this morning. Car’s in the shop,” he tacked on, scrambling for an excuse. In truth the car was parked at the head of the trail he and Shar had taken last night.
“I thought you ‘knew a guy,’” Yuki said coyly.
Tamani grinned. “I do, that’s why it will be done by this afternoon.”
