by Ellie Margot
She was not talking because she didn’t want to fight with Cassian more. Because she would get hurt, for one. Because she’d try hurting him, probably physically, for two.
Riette was reasonably sure she could take him, with or without magic, but she didn’t want to, even if she was burning up inside.
She scratched the tattoo on her back. It was glowing, letting off a soft light in the darkness, and she felt like a beacon for something that was probably out there going bump in the night around her.
“That makes it worse, you know?” asked Guy.
“What?”
“Rubbing it. It’s like a hard-on. Touching it makes it stronger.”
“Ugh.”
“Bad analogy?”
“Bad brain, not unlike a toilet,” said Riette.
“Duly noted.” He stretched and looked at the small clearing they were coming up on. “This good for you?”
“Are you going to say something else gross if I agree?”
“No. I’m not hitting on you anymore. You don’t appreciate it enough.”
“Would anyone?”
Guy looked behind him to Mekhi and Corin.
“I’m an acquired taste,” he said after a beat.
“Like when a person likes to eat soap or something that isn’t edible?”
“Just like that.”
Riette laughed, and Cassian noticed, turning around to look at her briefly at the sound.
She didn’t say anything at him looking.
“Don’t talk about me,” said Cassian. His voice was still and calm, as much as it annoyed Riette for it to be.
“Who says I’m talking about you?”
“Anyone with ears. We’re across a fire from each other. Not an ocean apart.”
“An ocean would be preferred.”
“That’s enough, children,” said Guy, his hands moving to his pants. “Don’t make me get the belt.”
Riette rolled her eyes, and she thought she saw Cassian doing the same.
“See?” asked guy. “Or quiet. Quiet is nice. Now I, for one, need sleep to be beautiful.”
“So, you haven’t slept in how long?” asked Riette.
“Bristly doesn’t suit you, hon.”
After feeding Bark and the sea monkey she had now dubbed Barry, after the berry blue of his fur, she got them settled back into her bag and headed toward the others.
Cassian drank from the cup he had acquired from their last town stop. She could smell the coffee from here.
It was new to them, Guy excluded, and she hadn’t found a taste for the stuff. Tea, yes. Coffee? She couldn’t have it.
Riette preferred her drinks cold and not bitter as death.
Cassian didn’t speak when he saw her, but he didn’t glare at her either, and she tried her best to do the same.
“We’ve been talking about our next destination,” said Corin. She scooted over to give Riette room on the logs that they had set up by the fire.
The morning air was still biting. The wind was cold, much colder than the night before. Riette felt the effects in the chill bumps that rippled across her arms.
Corin offered Riette tea and the food they had made for breakfast. That time, it was some rustic bread and berries smashed into its crevices.
Riette fought back the urge to groan in happiness over it, even if the meal was simple. They had mostly been surviving on fruit, bark, and water that Mekhi had the pleasure of carrying for everyone.
He was the biggest and widest of all of them. Cassian and Guy were both tall, as they all were, but with more lean builds. It allowed them to be more agile, like Riette was herself, but less useful when it came to carrying things for long distances.
The bag Riette was saddled with was more than enough.
“Where did you say the book was?” asked Guy. He drank his own coffee and sat close to Cassian, as if he acted as a buffer between Cassian and Riette.
Cassian caught Riette’s eye over the others but didn’t keep the gaze. He faced Guy and scratched the small area of flesh behind his ear before speaking.
“My grandmother gave it to a friend. Someone she trusted.”
“Do you have a name?” asked Guy.
“Elle. Ella? Something like that,” said Cassian.
“It’s important,” said Riette. She leaned forward.
“You think I don’t know that?” asked Cassian.
“Not everything needs to be a fight,” said Guy.
“I know,” Cassian said. He ran his hand through his hair. Lines in his hair showed that his hands had run a similar passage for at least most of the morning, if not longer.
“It was Ella,” Cassian said after sitting back. “I’m positive.”
“If she knew your grandmother, she was someone important,” said Guy. “I can almost be sure of that much.”
“You’ve heard of Ella?” asked Riette.
“Maybe.”
“How the hell could you possibly—” started Mekhi.
“If you’re worth knowing, I probably know you.”
“Cocky shit,” Mekhi muttered before drinking out of his cup.
“Well, I hope he does know her,” said Corin. “It would make me feel better.”
“Hey, we’re not going in circles,” said Guy.
“Oh yeah? Where are we right now?”
“Obviously, we’re in a somewhat wooded area at a camp—”
“That we made,” said Corin.
“Exactly. Clear as—”
“Mud,” said Riette. “But if you know this Ella, then that will give us a goal.”
“I’m not saying I know her for sure, but I know a guy who might know where she is.”
“He’s got a guy,” said Mekhi, and he and Cassian shared a brief laugh.
“Hey, life is about who you know, okay? And I happen to know a lot of people.”
“And not much else,” said Mekhi. Corin elbowed him in his side. “Look, I’m eager for him to prove me wrong.”
“And I shall,” said Guy. “If only for the pleasure of shutting your ginger mouth up.”
“Mouth’s not ginger, genius,” said Mekhi.
“I’m sure Corin wishes none of you were, but them’s the breaks,” said Guy before ducking as the closest stick to Mekhi came hurtling toward his head.
Guy righted himself and wiped the dirt off of his pants.
“We’ll pack shit up and head to my guy.”
“Where exactly is your guy, Guy?” Corin asked.
“This bar—”
“Not surprised,” said Riette, sharing a look with Mekhi.
“He’s about half booze at this point,” said Mekhi.
“And half ingenuity,” said Guy, smirking as he took another sip. “Talk shit if you want to, but when I’m the one who saves us all—”
“No one will be more surprised than me,” said Cassian, and Riette almost smirked before she cut it off by taking a sip of tea.
Chapter 3
A two days’ journey took them to the front of the Down & Inn just before nightfall. The location they were in was a smallish town. It wasn’t much compared to the port or other places they had been, but the streets there had just enough on them to be called streets instead of the dirt roads they were getting more and more used to.
It was a dive bar, a place where Riette wouldn’t have wanted Corin to travel alone.
She, on the other hand, would have traveled there, but only if she wanted to have trouble because from the looks of the place, there was a lot of it.
Men stood outside, catcalling any woman who walked by.
There was a man outside of the Down & Inn who had a hook for a hand and a long mustache that he twirled with it. It was hypnotizing in a way, but Riette didn’t let her eyes linger.
The rules that Guy had instilled in them at their first meeting were branded in the front of her mind, and they stopped her from letting her keep anyone’s eyes, although many eyes found her.
She walked up the steps of the stoop a
s she followed behind Cassian.
There was a candle in the window, the sign—as Guy told them—that they were open for boarders, and she was happy to see it, even if she knew better than to want to be by herself in there.
Her tattoo burned again on her shoulder, and through Cassian’s shirt, she saw his was at attention as well. She almost reached out to touch it, but she didn’t. Her face, although tan from the dark skin that came from her mother’s side of the family, burned with the “rubbing the tattoo” analogy that Guy had made, so she thought better of it
It was hard not to fall into old rhythms with Cassian, though, or the ease at which they knew each other.
The feeling wasn’t lost, just bubbling like a slow-moving brook below the surface.
She didn’t want it to come up yet, but it didn’t mean she didn’t feel the warmth of having him close.
Riette moved up the steps leading into the bar, but the breath of the man sitting on the right side of the doorway ran across her cheek. It smelled like alcohol, making her eyes water. It was a kind of burn that only liquor could bring. Being around Guy had taught her that.
It was a knowledge she still wasn’t sure that she needed.
She moved out of the man’s reach as his hand reached out as if he wanted to grab her hair.
“Back the fuck up,” she growled, and Cassian turned to check on her.
He stepped forward, encroaching on the man’s space.
Cassian was going to hit him, but the man was old. Most of his teeth were missing, save for a gray one in the front that was rotting from the inside.
“I’m not after any trouble,” he said, and his voice was like a tilted hiss on the wind.
“Then don’t come anywhere near her or anyone else in this group,” said Cassian. His voice was quiet but sure.
He shared a look over his shoulders with Riette, but neither said anything.
She didn’t need to be protected, but if the old man needed to hear it from Cassian, then so be it.
The doors at the top of the stoop were substantial. Each of the two doors opened out and looked big enough for several people to walk through at once. The designer had carved a smaller door into each of them too, to accommodate smaller parties, and in that was a smaller door still, so small that Riette could only think of one thing she’d seen in the journey so far that could fit.
The fairy that bit her at the first leg of their journey.
She ran up the steps, moving past Cassian to get to Guy, and grabbed his arm to get him to stop.
“Are there fairies here?”
“Of course,” said Guy. “We’re a stone’s throw from the Fairy Area of Esper. It has a cuter name, but Fairy Area just about rhymes. One bite doesn’t cause this violent hatred.” Guy stopped and crossed his arms over his chest, his face going hard. “You got something against smaller-framed individuals?”
“Guy—”
“I won’t stomach it, you know? I had a relationship with a very small Fairy woman one time, and they’re not small all of the time by the way. In fact, she had the biggest—”
“Not hearing this.”
“I’m just saying—”
“Let’s go in,” said Cassian, holding the largest part of the door open and gesturing for them to go inside.
“I don’t have a thing against smaller people,” Riette said to Corin and Mekhi as they walked through next to her.
“Guy has half a brain on his best day, and he hasn’t had a good day in a while,” said Mekhi.
“I heard that,” said Guy.
“And I spoke it,” said Mekhi. “These are things that have happened.”
They walked inside, and the place was darkly lit. Candles hovered above each table in small teacup-shaped glasses. Men and women worked the tables, and there was a greeter in the front. She was tall, taller than any of the Elves present, but she wasn’t one.
Riette didn’t know what she was.
“Don’t stare,” said Guy.
“I’m not,” said Riette.
“You are, and so am I, for fuck’s sake, but I’m sure for very different reasons.”
“Guy—”
“We need a table and a room, but either order is fine,” Guy said, pushing past the rest of the group and going to the stand where the woman waited.
The woman swallowed, taking all of Guy in before looking briefly at each member of the group.
“I can help you with the table, but you’ll need to go to Jackson for the room,” the woman said.
She was blonde, but her skin and her hair were almost translucent. Her hair was thin and walked the line between blonde and silver. It caught the little bit of light in the room and shimmered as if it was active on its own.
Her eyes were blue but wider than anything Riette had ever seen. They were edged in coal and didn’t stop to focus at any one place. Their size made her look almost frightened, as if their presence was enough to send her off kilter, but in a room full of strangers, Riette doubted that was the case.
Maybe she had seen something worth being afraid of before.
Maybe everyone in there had.
“Well, I couldn’t possibly leave without collecting your name as well,” Guy said. He leaned over the small table that worked as her station.
“She’s Cara, and I’m Jackson, and just who are all of you?” asked another voice.
They looked up at the booming baritone that questioned them.
The man came closer and put a hand on Cara’s shoulder. She placed her hand on top of his, but then he took it away, squaring his shoulders to face all of them.
“Guy here. Riette, Cassian, Corin, and the monkey we took pity on in the back.”
“Fuck you,” said Mekhi.
Jackson didn’t laugh, but he didn’t look angry at the outburst either. Riette was inclined to think he was used to it.
“Well, what can I do you for exactly?” asked Jackson.
Riette took him in. He was tall, like Cara, but where she looked like the breeze could take her away if it so fancied, he looked solid. Strong. He wore red, but he didn’t need it to stand out in a room. His hair was cut short on the sides and long on the top, and he had tattoos covering every inch of each of his arms.
It was a lot to process, and Jackson caught her looking, but because he was kind, she was guessing, he didn’t call her out on it.
“A table and a room.”
“One? For all of you?”
“We’ve gotten to know each other very well—” Guy started.
“What he means to say is, we’d like more than one if it were available, but we didn’t want to presume,” said Cassian.
“I have a couple of rooms if you all have the money to pay for them,” said Jackson. He still stood close to Cara, but they didn’t touch, despite her leaning close enough to close the distance easily.
“Two then,” said Mekhi. He pulled Corin close to his side as he did so, and she sighed.
“Honeymooning?” asked Jackson.
“What’s a honeymoon?” asked Corin.
“Elves,” Guy said and rolled his eyes.
“Aren’t you one?”
“Well, yeah, but I’ve been around—”
“Truer words have—” started Mekhi.
“Okay, now,” Guy said. “Let’s not all continue the ‘shit on Guy’ tradition we’ve become accustomed to.”
“I’ll show you all to it. Thank you, Cara.” Jackson touched her arm again but released her just as quickly. She nodded and closed her eyes briefly before opening them.
She caught Riette’s eyes over the others, and her face was flushed.
Riette knew there was something between them, but whether both of them knew that was something else entirely.
The place was quieter and had fewer sharp edges than Riette expected.
“It’s like a speakeasy,” said Guy as the group navigated their way through the tables, but no one knew what the hell he was talking about.
There was an opening to
the right of the main room just beyond a bar.
Through the opening, there was another bar, and all of the opulence of the first room was left behind.
The men who were outside, the one who tried to grab Riette as she passed, would have been among their people in there.
It was still dark but not quiet. The one door between the two spaces was indeed a separation, of class, of noise, and of sin level.
The peculiar thing was that Jackson looked at ease in both places. But he did own the place, so it shouldn’t have been too surprising.
Riette moved closer to Mekhi and Corin when a fight broke out beside her.
Two men—one old enough to know better but drunk enough not to, and the other younger and rougher edged still—shoved each other and almost pushed into her side.
Cassian closed the distance, but Jackson made it there first. He stood between them, each at arm’s length.
“Now what the fuck is going on here?” Jackson asked. His arms weren’t straining with the containment. “You?” He gestured toward the older one.
“He took my drink.”
“Fuck no. He’s trying to claim every drink in the fucking bar.”
“Is this a shithole?” asked Jackson to the younger one.
“What?” he sputtered. The hand that was on his chest found its way around his throat.
“Is. This. A. Shithole?” Jackson asked slowly.
“No—no.”
“Then do not fuck my shit up and make it that way. Have I been heard?”
The old man nodded, and the younger pulled at Jackson’s hands, wanting air that his lungs weren’t finding.
“Nod to say you’ve heard me.”
After he dug his dirt-filled nails into the flesh of Jackson’s arms, he acquiesced.
“Good boy,” said Jackson. He released them, and then he turned back toward their group. “This way.”
Riette shared a look with Guy, but his face was split in a smile. He was in awe of Jackson, even though Riette suspected he would have found the same end as those two if he had continued to mess with Cara.
They continued through the crowded restaurant until they got to the opening just in the back of that room. They saw a narrow landing of stairs and a cluster of doorways at the top. A hallway was just beyond that, and Jackson led them to the end.