“It’s not so easy as that, okay?”
“It’s quite easy,” Grimly argues. “Yank a strand and be on your way.”
I can’t do that—and not only because Morgan is so kind, so helpful, so sweet that she doesn’t deserve that. Something tells me that, if it was that simple, Grimly could have pulled it off himself without involving me. And, okay, maybe the gnome gets off on having me do his bidding, but I think it’s more than that.
Which is why I’m seriously second-guessing this.
Besides, I like Morgan. After spending all day, every day with her at her cottage, she’s become something like a friend to me. And, while I’m sure I could come up with some way to convince her to give me her hair eventually, do I really want to? The plum should have been enough. The feather should have been enough. All I freaking did was give him an absent “thanks”. It wasn’t that serious.
Too bad Grimly doesn’t agree.
Seven days. It’s been seven days. A freaking week. I’ve spent most of them hanging near Morgan’s little cottage where it’s safe and cozy. She told me early on that it’s shielded from the dangers in the Shadow Realm. So long as we stay inside her grove, we’re as protected as I am inside my circle. Shoot, if it wasn’t for Grimly’s nightly visits to check on my progress, I might’ve actually taken her up on her generous offer to stay at the cottage with her around the clock.
It would be nice. Even though the circle of flowers protects me, it’s nothing compared to a roof over my head. She’s gracious enough to let me use her facilities a couple of times, so I’m nice and clean, plus it’s fucking wonderful to share a dinner that isn’t just an apple—and isn’t squirrel, either. Morgan doesn’t ask me for anything, either. She does it all because, as she tells me, she’s bartering what she has for my stories.
She’s super into the human world. But, more than that, she’s super lonely. I can tell. The quiet, sweet Dark Fae female was looking for a friend when I found her.
I know, because I think I was, too.
The hair will change everything. I’m sure of it. Either Morgan will figure out that I only started to visit her because I had an ulterior motive—which, yeah, true—or I won’t have any reason to go by her cottage. Not to mention, once I give Grimly the hair, I’ll be on my way out of the Shadow Realm anyway and—
“Give me some more time, okay. I’ll get the hair.”
“You sure? Because it’s not me I’m too concerned with. You’re the one that’s running out of it.”
I am? “What do you mean?”
“Ol’ Grimly keeps his ears to the ground, he does. He hears things. I’ve been traveling between both realms and I’ve learned of a stray human who’s worth a pretty number of coins. Name of Elle.” At the gasp I can’t quite keep back, his black eyes glimmer maliciously. “You’ve heard of her?”
I’m not in the mood to play his games. It doesn’t really matter that he knows I’m called Elle—he can’t do shit with that name since it’s not my true one—but I’ve been careful to guard it all the same. Well, until I totally just gave it away like that.
I decide to own it. “Yeah. I have. But what do you mean, worth a pretty number of coins?”
“A bounty, girly. Seelie noble by the name of Veron has a bounty on your head. Whoever brings you back to the lord, he’ll be a very rich faerie indeed.”
Why is he telling me this? I mean, I know why—little bastard gnome is trying to convince me to betray Morgan and steal her hair for him—but if Veron is so desperate to get me back that he’s willing to pay even more coins, then why is Grimly telling me instead of just selling me out?
“And you don’t want the bounty?” I ask.
He snorts. “The hair is worth more to me than any amount of coins. But ol’ Grimly can’t stop the Seelie lord from hunting you. ‘Course, he seems to think you’re still in the Summerlands. You still have some time, but how long before he sends his vassals to the Shadow Realm, I can’t say. So, if you want my help, you better get me that hair.”
I’m trying not to freak out at this latest development. Since escaping Siúcra, I thought the only thing I had to worry about was the guards that are most likely chasing after me. Sure, the rider made me nervous for a bit, and Grimly’s tasks have basically taken over my life, but if there was one thing I wasn’t worried about, it was Veron.
In my experience, the
Seelie noble is so arrogant, so haughty, so freaking pompous that when I refused him for the second time, choosing to stay in prison instead of accepting his offer to go free and be his pet human, I believed him when he said he was done with me. Dusk certainly did, otherwise he never would’ve made his move to claim me after Veron rebuked me.
So why the hell is he coming after me again?
It’s pretty obvious. Because the fae are also mercurial, their moods changing from one moment to the next. Veron probably decided on another whim that I still belonged to him and, despite paying five hundred coins for me at the Faerie Market, he’s throwing out more money in the hopes that he can get me back.
Not. Gonna. Happen.
“I will,” I promise, not sure if I’m lying or not.
It’s one thing, bringing him a plum and a feather. There’s something different about bringing him hair from a fae. What if he uses it to hurt Morgan? It all seems so sinister, the most I think about it. It’s not right, but I also really don’t want to get on the wrong side of Grimly in case he changes his mind and sells me out.
“I’m not so sure about that.” At the curious look that flashes across my face, Grimly sneaks a look down at the nearest lily of the valley. “Perhaps you’d work a little faster to leave the Shadow Realm if you didn’t have any protection.”