Page 134

LAYALA

In a shaded alleyway Layala peeked around the corner of a white brick building. The street was packed with dragon shifters, and unlike the small Podunk town they’d left behind days before, every one of them was dressed in expensive suits and dresses. Their bodies dripped in gold, silver, and precious jewels. Many ladies strolled with lace umbrellas or wide-brimmed hats to shade the sun. Unlike the dragon kingdom in Adalon, in this part of the city there weren’t layers upon layers of houses and bridge-like roads intersecting hundreds of feet in the air. No dragons shifted into their beast forms, and no one wore their wings or horns.

“This is a no-fly zone, or I’d have dropped us in at the other end where my shop is,” Presco said.

A black carriage with gold fixtures pulled by hippogryphs creaked by on the cobblestone street. Layala gawked at the half-horse half-bird creature. “Why?”

“The wealthiest of dragons pride themselves on being more civilized and less beastly. You won’t see scales or wings here unless something extreme happens.” Presco adjusted the collar of his jacket. The back of the black coat reached his knees, and with his hair combed back and fancy shiny shoes, he could be ready for a ball.

She had chosen to wear her favorite usual fitted brown trousers and a simple linen blouse, but as she stood surrounded by the glittering crowd in their expensive gowns, she suddenly felt underdressed. With a gust of wind, her clothing began to transform into an evening dress. Layala brushed her hands over the empire-waisted champagne dress hugging her curves. The long sleeves were sheer and wide, tightening in silk cuffs at her wrists. Moments before it had been on the mannequin in the window across the street. She narrowed her eyes at Hel who wore a black suit much like Presco’s. “That’s stealing, you know,” Layala said.

“Add it to my list of offenses, love.”

Layala lifted the flier for an opera she found pinned to the wall. Hosted by none other than the richest family in the realm, the Drakonans. “Are we going to this tomorrow night?”

Hel raised the crook of his elbow to her. “It’s our best opportunity to be introduced to the Drakonans and find a way into their treasury.” He turned to Presco. “It’s best if you’re not seen with us in public. If something goes wrong, you and your family will be ruined as well. There’s no need for that.”

“Fine. I’ll walk a few paces ahead. Follow me.”

Rather than take Hel’s offered arm, Layala stepped out into the sunlight and the busy street keeping an eye on Presco’s back. Even with heeled shoes Layala was the shortest female in the crowd and although her pointed ears were covered by her long hair, dragons’ gazes drifted to her. Hel slid up beside her and slipped his arm around hers. “While we are here, you are my wife. We’re wealthy elves from the east, a city called Neptu, in the diamond trade. New money or they’ll expect to know who we are. You can go by Layala. They won’t know that name and call me Zar. Our surname is Black.” With a snap of his fingers, a diamond bracelet, and a gaudy necklace, heavy around her neck, appeared.

“Oh yes, how could I forget Mr. Black. You thought about this on the way here, didn’t you?”

“Obviously. And you’ll have to pretend you actually like me, dear wife.”

“AndI’ll have to pretend I’m actually your wife. Don’t expect the benefits.”

“You are my wife. There’s no need to pretend, benefits or not.”

“You keep saying that but even if this wasn’t an entirely different life, didn’t we get divorced? Or is that not an option in Runevale?”

His brow lifted. “Have I ever called you my ‘ex-wife’?”

“No.”

“We chose a blood-bonded marriage, and you must go through a ceremony to end it. We never did, and neither of us ever signed the documents to record an official separation.”

“Why?”

Hel lifted his shoulder.Because a part of us didn’t want it to be over?she thought to herself.He gave her a knowing look that made her spine tingle but said nothing.

Layala cleared her throat. “Where did the diamonds come from?”

“That shop right there.” He pointed right to a robin-egg-blue building with pink peonies filling the ledge of the inside window surrounded by displays of diamonds and other precious jewels. “We can return them when we leave if it will make you feel less guilty.”

“I’d feel less guilty if you paid for them to begin with.”

“First she calls our marriage pretend, now she wants me to buy her diamonds,” Hel said loud enough for Presco to hear.

Presco glanced over his shoulder. “Give her whatever she wants. Best advice my father ever gave me when it came to my marriage.”

Hel laughed, crinkling the corners of his eyes, and Layala couldn’t help but smile at how genuine it sounded. Hel picked up her left hand and swiped his palm over top of it. Her left ring finger now held a silver band with a half-an-inch long, pear-shaped black diamond with two crescent moon diamonds on each side facing inward. She brought it closer to her face, and flecks of silver inside the black diamond looked remarkably like the night sky. Even if she remembered being married to Hel it still felt like someone else, and to even play pretend when it wasn’t pretend made her insides squirm. “It’s huge. Is this from the shop, too?”

“Of course, it’s huge. We’re diamond dealers. We must play the part. Act like you’re better than everyone and I’m sure you’ll fit right in.”

“You’ll have no trouble with that.”

“Ha.” Hel tugged her closer until their hips met. “When you’re a god it’s in the core to be a pompous ass.”