Chapter 12 #2
“Okay, we’re going in the wrong direction here,” I told the owl girl, who only blinked at me again. “How about this—do you have any girls around my age? They kinda look like me, except one has dark brown hair and the other is kind of a dirty blond.”
“Oh.” She blinked some more. “Sure, I’ll go look.”
This time, the kid didn’t follow her, slowly taking in the room instead. Definitely high.
She popped back in, waving at him. “You. Come!”
He obeyed, leaving me alone in the strange waiting area once more.
I checked my phone again out of habit, then started to pace.
The chances of finding my family dropped drastically by the second.
When the door clicked open, I spun to look and instantly deflated.
Nope.
Oriel had brought out two girls, but that was where the match ended.
I couldn’t tell if they were teens or college students, but one was Black and the other was Asian, and both were so thin that their bones stuck out.
I thought Caius had said they fed them .
. . They looked like they hadn’t eaten in weeks and had the same apathetic vibe as the others.
What had the prince said about some of them having nowhere else to go?
Maybe these two had been recently rescued.
“When did you get here?” I asked them, but they only stared at me. I couldn’t tell if they were reserved, exhausted, indifferent, or if they were ignoring me on purpose, like the kids back home often did.
I raised my eyebrows at Oriel. “Why are they so quiet?”
“These two?” She shrugged, misunderstanding. “They’re new.”
No idea what that meant. Maybe they’d gone through something traumatic?
I studied the girls again and sighed.
What could I do, either way? I was as lost as they were.
Right now, I couldn’t think about anything beyond finding my family.
Pursing my lips, I looked past them to the door and had an idea. “Could you maybe . . .um . . . try one more time?”
That earned me about a dozen blinks in rapid succession. “I suppose so.” She herded the girls through the door, and this time, I peeked over my shoulder to make sure Caius was still out in the hall before I tiptoed after her.
Reaching for the handle, I pulled the door open softly, only to run face-first into Oriel, who’d been coming back.
She scowled at me suspiciously. “What’re you doing?”
“I’m—” I remembered the toddy just before I lied. “What’re you doing? I thought you were going to check again.”
She blocked my path. “It occurred to me that you didn’t specify what I should do differently.”
I tried to peer around her, but it was just a short gray hall that turned a corner. No sounds came from behind her, which was odd. I would’ve thought there’d be a least a bit of conversation back there. “Maybe I can just take a look.”
“Oh, no. You’re not allowed,” she said, sounding more smug than apologetic. “You heard His Highness. Only members of the court.”
Since the toddy was only a dozen or so feet away on the other side of the wall, I didn’t dare risk lying right now.
“Oh, right, okay.”
I remember how to get here. I’ll come back without the prince—or the toddy—nearby to stop me.
Waving over my shoulder toward the door, I started backing up. “I’d better get going.” I didn’t want her to tell Caius I’d tried to sneak in. That’d make him worry I might try again later. Which I most definitely would.
The prince was standing alone in the hallway when I pushed through the door, deep in thought, startling at my exit like he’d forgotten about me.
“No luck?” he asked in a bright tone.
A wave of frustration made me want to snap, “Oh, you didn’t see the invisible people behind me?” But I didn’t want to alienate the only fae willing to help me without a bargain. I felt too defeated to even speak, so I just shook my head.
“I can’t imagine what they have of yours that’s left you so disheartened,” he mused. “Perhaps they’ll turn up somewhere still.”
Taking his arm numbly, I asked, “Where?”
He led us back the way we’d come. “Many are in long-term service in various homes throughout the court, or sometimes merely for the evening at a party or other such event.”
“Like . . . a job?”
“Yes, you could call it that.”
Huh.
As we climbed the first flight of stairs, then the second, I considered this. Soren had hinted my family was in service to someone, hadn’t he? So, I just needed to figure out who they were working for.
“How exactly does this job . . . service thing work?” I asked, since I couldn’t come right out and ask if they were paid positions or if perhaps some used stolen humans.
Though the prince had been friendly up to this point, he grew serious now. “I cannot discuss it further with you, as that’s Seelie business. You understand.”
Right. It seemed there was some rivalry between his court and “mine.” That probably contributed to why Soren didn’t like him very much. Thinking of Soren made me want to check what time it was, but technically, I’d fulfilled my part of the deal, since I’d told the prince what he’d asked me to.
My stubborn mind circled back to the people yet again. “Those, uh, humans are here of their own free will, though, right?” I needed confirmation.
“Is that not what I said?” Caius laughed like I’d said something ridiculous, shaking his head.
“I guess you did,” I murmured. Once again, I’d made a fool of myself. It didn’t seem to matter if I was in the human world or otherwise.
We reached the court, spilling out of the tunnel near the thrones. The dance floor had swelled, and a few musicians were in an epic fiddle-off contest. If I’d thought the room was full before, that was nothing compared to this mass of gyrating bodies in the dim light.
Even if Soren was still here, I’d never find him.
But Caius didn’t stop to let me look, or release my arm, as he waded through the revel.
Once again, when fae recognized him, they stepped aside.
As we reached the opposite end of court, Caius continued on into the tunnels.
I spoke up then, casting a glance back at the wild fae. “Where are we going?” I’d memorized my way through the royal tunnels, but if we went too deep into these ones, I’d get completely lost again.
“I’m escorting you home.” He gave me a charming smile, not slowing for a second. “I wouldn’t expect a visitor such as yourself to know your way back.”