Chapter 12
Audrey had just kicked the shit out of me, leaving me prone on my back as I struggled to catch my breath, when her messy bun came into view.
“Are you done for today?” she asked, all seriousness, barely breaking a sweat.
I choked my reply, “I think so.”
“You’re getting stronger and faster, Van,” Liam gave me his hand as he complimented me, pulling me off the ground as Audrey handed me a water bottle.
“Your one-on-one skills are definitely improving.” Most of what they were teaching me was self-defense, since I never pictured myself charging anyone in Hyvenmere.
“You’re helping the human train. This is good,” Hush’s voice echoed in the abandoned warehouse, startling me. “She’ll need to be on guard the next time she sets foot in our realm.”
I exchanged a concerned look with Audrey, who didn’t seem as surprised to see Hush in our secret training spot as I did.
“Why is that?” Audrey asked.
“Ilia is suddenly feeling very confident about closing the Mellhawn Gates soon,” Hush replied, stepping out of the shadows.
She approached our little table of weaponry, perusing everything Audrey and Liam brought for me to test out.
“I guess sending his son to the nereid’s birthday ended up being fruitful. ”
Liam stiffened. “What do you mean? All he did was harass Van.” He lifted a hand toward me, and I glared at the fae for reminding me of it.
Hush lifted a blonde eyebrow at Liam. Again, her face and most of her body were covered, but her eyes carried enough expression in them to let me know she was lowkey disappointed in Liam.
“Do you really think the Mad Siren Prince would bother crashing the Nereid Prince’s birthday celebration—for the first time in over a decade—with no other ulterior motives?
” Hush asked. When she said it like that, it felt obvious that Drustan wasn’t there just to fuck around.
“Where do you think Caelena was while Drustan kept all the attention on him—”
“Who the hell is Caelena?” I asked, desperate to keep up.
“His date, Drustan’s cousin,” Audrey answered. I locked that information away and gestured toward Hush.
“Got it, proceed.”
Hush gave me an annoyed look before continuing, “After Drustan and Caelena left, rumor has it that Ilia has been in talks with the nereid and fae governments, who have all suddenly been more open to bringing the issue of the Mellhawn Gates to a vote.”
Liam crossed his arms and said, “Ada hasn’t mentioned any of this to me.”
“Which should concern you,” Hush concluded.
“I doubt Fergus is aware of what his parents might have been discussing with Ilia, either. Whatever Drustan and his cousin found that night, it’s starting to sway the nereids’ initial support of having the gates open.
Rumors throughout Ilia’s guard on what to do once they have everyone’s vote secure are already being spread to my unit. ”
“Shit.” Audrey scraped her hands down her neck as she began to pace. “Shit. Shit. Shit. What could Ilia possibly have on the nereids and fae to feel this confident?”
“That, I haven’t been able to figure out quite yet.” Hush’s brows pinched together, “Though, based on the rumors I’m hearing, I’m positive that there is a text involved.”
“Like a book?” I asked.
“More like a journal,” Hush replied, trailing her finger along one of the swords on the table. “Is there anything of significance like that in the fae territory?” she asked Liam.
His expression pinched as he thought. “I mean, yes. There are lots of historical and precious texts in the Dahl family archives. As I’m sure the Shaws and the Ahlstroms have in their territories.”
Hush hummed in thought. “We need to find out what Ilia has.”
“You can’t do that for us?” I asked Hush. “I mean, you’re literally part of Ilia’s guard.”
“Yes, but to maintain my cover of complete loyalty to the old male,” Hush spat with irritation. “I must continue to run his errands and serve in my unit as expected. My time is not entirely my own, regardless of my proximity.”
“What if we go snooping?” Audrey asked, her hazel eyes on the ground. All three of us stared at her in confusion.
I pointed to myself, just to make my question clear as I asked, “We, as in, you want us to go to the siren territory?”
“We can’t let Ilia pressure the fae and nereid governments to close the gates.
” Audrey was shaking her head, and I caught an undercurrent of panic in her voice.
“I haven’t even found my actual family, yet.
We need more time. The knowledge of me defeating the solvyrn is probably just lighting a fire under Ilia to close the gates for good.
” Audrey stopped pacing and looked at Liam and me.
“We could go, maybe cause a distraction, and hopefully one of us could look around and see if we can find whatever Ilia has on everyone else.”
“Your presence in Lydhavn will be a spectacle,” Hush said. “I doubt you will be able to snoop sufficiently.”
“My presence will always be a spectacle,” Audrey said, flitting her gaze over to me. “But both of us would be even more so.” I immediately picked up on her train of thought.
“I’m sorry.” I lifted a palm at her. “Are you about to suggest using me as bait, with you, so someone else could look around?”
“Yes.” Audrey blinked at me before turning to Liam. “Perhaps you could sneak away while Van and I create a distraction.”
“Just existing in the Shaw estate will be a distraction enough, I’m sure,” Hush scoffed as she studied me behind her facial coverings.
“When we were teens…Caelena had an interest in me.” Liam scrubbed his jaw in thought. “Perhaps I could fuel that again and use it to get her to show me around. Sneak me off, maybe even persuade her to share what she knows if I act like I’m on her side.”
Hush’s eyebrows jumped at his suggestion. “That’s not an entirely bad idea, fae. No one takes the Shaw cousin that seriously.” She waved a dismissive hand in the air. “She’s a pretty face who often flies under the radar. I doubt Ilia would be worried about her pulling you into a dark corner.”
Audrey’s hands were balled into fists, and her mouth was in a firm line, as if she was clenching her jaw.
“When do we do this?” Audrey asked through clenched teeth. All three of us gave her confused looks, but I assumed I was the only one who picked up on how much she absolutely loathed the idea of Liam getting close and personal with another woman. Even if it was for the greater good.
“Bandthral is in a week. Very few outsiders join, but it would make sense for the halfling who wants to step into the role of the Chosen One destined to unite the realms to make an appearance, in an attempt to make peace with Ilia—not that he’d ever consider it.”
“What is Bandthral?” I asked.
“Our seasonal mating ritual,” Hush replied.
My brain immediately translated that to an orgy.
I had way too many questions floating to the front of my brain; I didn’t even know where to start.
Instead of pressing for every single detail I could gain from Hush about a “mating ritual,” I decided to let it pass, because I seemed to be the only one in the warehouse spiraling about those particular words.
“I may or may not be stationed during the ritual,” Hush added, “However, we obviously cannot act like we know each other if we are in the same room. I will be Ilia’s loyal pet, and you will have never heard of me. The next time we communicate will have to be after you visit the Shaw estate.”
“Understood,” Audrey confirmed. “Thank you for helping us.”
Hush shook her head before walking backward toward the warehouse exit, “I’m not just doing this for you. This is for the good of all Hyvenmerians.”
“Of course,” Audrey replied. “Regardless, your help is appreciated.”
“I know.” With that, Hush disappeared into the shadows.
“He’s been texting you?” Audrey asked me later that evening.
Liam was here again. He had just popped popcorn and brought us each our own bowls and plopped his massive body on the floor. Audrey and I each took an end of our couch, and Liam sat with his back against Audrey’s side.
I got why he felt the need to be so present, to keep us both safe, but it also annoyed the hell out of me.
“He has,” I replied, focusing back on our conversation.
Drew didn’t have his phone on him when we chatted in my office, and part of me wondered if I was getting ready to be courted by some annoying hipster who turned his nose up at normal things, like always having a phone on your person.
However, I had given him my number on a scrap of paper before we left my office, and he said he’d call.
I hoped he wouldn’t call. I hoped that he would send a text like a normal person. Thankfully, two days later, I got my first text from him.
Drew: Vanessa?
Me: You got her.
Drew: Hmm, not quite yet, but I will.
Me: You seem very confident about that.
Drew: I still think about the way your entire body flushed during our conversation in your office, so yes, I am feeling very confident about that.
And that was the point that I whipped out the vibrator before replying. We’d texted only a couple of times since. Thankfully, though, our first date was going to involve dancing, and I was very excited to show him one of my favorite pastimes this weekend.
“He is very familiar with texting women,” I added, after eating a bite of popcorn.
“I get the feeling that he’s dated a lot, because his intensity can be panty-melting.
” I tilted my head in thought, ignoring the sitcom we were watching.
Liam, though he tried to act like he didn’t, was very enthralled with the plot of Gilmore Girls.
I guess they didn’t have human programs in his realm, and he was fascinated by human culture from a few decades ago.
“Intense, huh?” Audrey smiled at me, sitting cross-legged in her seat on the couch. “You haven’t dated anyone like that before. That’s kind of fun.”